A long time had passed since the Astral Express left Herta Space Station and began its warp jump.
The long journey through the universe was not as interesting as one might imagine. Much of their time was spent drifting through space. Without stops at stations or planets, their daily options were limited to admiring the view in the parlor car, looking things up in the Data Bank, and playing on their phones.
Jiang Yu was certainly not the sort to spend all his time in the Data Bank. At the moment, he was lying on his bed, chatting on his phone, with the Train Pot sitting on the small table beside him.
Since leaving Herta Space Station, Jiang Yu had gained quite a few more contacts on his phone.
During the journey, he had taken plenty of photos of the stars and sent them to Asta. The wealthy young lady loved them.
He had barely been in touch with Herta. That genius of a woman would not reach out to him on her own, and he had yet to have any further exchanges with Aha.
Mengming, the owner of the Evernight Marquis, and Mr. Xiyan, however, now had time to reply. Aside from the Astral Express family, the two people who had first taken him in were the ones Jiang Yu had chatted with most during this time.
He had told Mr. Xiyan about his experiences at Herta Space Station. Mr. Xiyan was delighted and asked if he could turn those experiences into a story. Jiang Yu readily agreed.
Right now, Jiang Yu was chatting with the two of them from the Evernight Marquis again.
Mr. Xiyan: "You actually boarded the Astral Express?"
Jiang Yu: "Yep! I couldn't get back to the Xianzhou on my own, after all! So I had to ask the Astral Express for help."
Mengming: "Will you be back soon?"
Jiang Yu: "No, the Express has already decided on its next stop, so I might have to travel around with it for a while before coming back."
Mr. Xiyan: "That sounds pretty good too! Remember to tell me about your adventures!"
Jiang Yu: "No problem. I get along well with everyone on the Express. When I come back, I'll bring them to the Evernight Marquis for tea!"
Mengming: "Great! I'll give you all a thirty-percent discount! Oh, right, Miss Tingyun mentioned you when she came for tea a few days ago."
Jiang Yu: "She mentioned me?"
Mengming: "Yes. Miss Tingyun told me she'd heard the Evernight Marquis had found a pretty new face to draw in customers, so she made time to come see what you looked like."
Jiang Yu: "Why do I get the feeling she wants to sell my photos?"
Mengming: "I'll give you Miss Tingyun's contact details. You two can talk it over yourselves!"
Jiang Yu: "Oh."
And just like that, Jiang Yu obtained Tingyun's contact details.
Before he could say anything to Tingyun, a rapid knock came at the door, followed by March 7th's voice.
"Jiang Yu! Jiang Yu! We've reached Jarilo-VI! Come on out!"
"Coming!"
Jiang Yu got out of bed and opened the door to find March 7th standing outside with a bright grin.
The pretty girl took his hand and led him toward the parlor car.
As they went, a series of system notifications sounded in Jiang Yu's mind.
[Ding! The host's popularity continues to soar. The host's strength has increased again!] [Ding! The host has gained the attention of over seventy thousand people. Reward: 300 Stellar Jade.] [Ding! The host has been awarded Strength Enhancement.]
Jiang Yu did not know how much time had passed in the real world on Blue Star, but the system's responses told him his popularity was still steadily increasing.
That was very reassuring news.
When Jiang Yu followed March 7th into the parlor car, Himeko, Stelle, and the others were already there.
Through the parlor car's windows, they could see a planet close at hand amid the vast sea of stars.
Although Himeko had described it as a very small planet, Jarilo-VI's sheer scale was still astonishing from this distance.
Perhaps it was because Earth was the only planet he had seen in his previous life, but despite their differences, both Blue Planet and Jarilo-VI looked quite similar to Earth in Jiang Yu's eyes.
At that moment, Jarilo-VI beneath the Express appeared grayish-white overall, its swirling atmosphere evoking images of howling, icy winds.
Looking at the pale planet below, Himeko could not help remarking:
"After several thousand years, has Jarilo-VI really become like this?"
"Huh? That white planet is our destination this time?" March 7th blinked and looked at Himeko.
Himeko nodded, her gaze calm.
"That's right... this Trailblaze journey won't be easy, either."
While everyone was talking, Jiang Yu was looking at his phone. Aha had finally sent him a message again, using the same account as before.
"Buddy, I tried it. It felt pretty good! I heard Herta detained you?"
"I got out ages ago! What point in time are you even watching Herta Space Station at?!"
"Whatever point is the most fun, obviously! Hehe... how did you get out?"
"Hehehe... I sold Herta our chat history, and then I got out."
"..." Aha sent a string of ellipses, followed by a brief silence.
Then, as though truly angry, the Aeon sent a string of exclamation marks.
"What! How could you do that! I treated you like a buddy, invited you to the Tavern for drinks, and even invited you for a spa session! And this is how you repay me! You sold my private information to an, an, an... an Emanator of that heap of scrap metal!"
Jiang Yu did not know whether Aha was genuinely angry, but he was convinced the Aeon was not.
The Aeon of Elation might even be enjoying this. As far as Aha was concerned, Jiang Yu's actions had provided a fresh source of amusement.
How did that saying go again?
Even if a god merely farted, mortals would ponder what special meaning lay behind it.
That rascal Aha would surely hide somewhere in the universe and watch Herta study that conversation, watch her run into difficulties, watch her rack her brains, watch her solve problems, and watch her find answers...
Then the Aeon would burst into laughter out in the universe.
As the saying went, man thinks and God laughs.
Perhaps even his thoughts right now were giving Aha a quiet chuckle.
Jiang Yu did not mind, though. Besides, he had no time to reply to Aha just now, so he pocketed his phone and left the Aeon hanging.
Aha had Aha's amusements, and he had his own.
We're about to head to Jarilo. I need to find a chance to take a few more sets of photos for the Azure Sea Group.
"Abnormal spatial readings. Star Rail stability has dropped by twelve percent."
At some point, Pom-Pom had come up behind the group and made that announcement.
"Change of stopping plans. Our stay at this station has been extended from seven days to an indefinite period."
Stelle looked puzzled. "By indefinite, you mean...?"
Pom-Pom answered, "Indefinite, until the anomaly is resolved!"
"To compare it to an ordinary train on land, imagine the tracks ahead suddenly breaking, with a bottomless chasm opening beneath them. At that point, we'd have no choice but to make an emergency stop." Himeko explained it to the two new passengers, Stelle and Jiang Yu.
Pom-Pom nodded as well. "Forcing our way forward could have terrible consequences."
March 7th raised a hand to scratch her head and sighed helplessly. "Ugh... this again... let me guess, the cause of this Star Rail anomaly is another...?"
Old Yang's voice came from beside them, finishing March 7th's thought. "The preliminary scan results are in. The source of the anomaly is once again a stellaron."
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