O Silver Chariot, Hasten Toward That Black Land

When the Trailblazer woke up, the galaxy beyond the window glowed with hazy morning light.

It was already morning.

Who knew whether it was because she had inhaled the scent of sleep-inducing flowers, or because soaking with a handsome man had been such a feast for the eyes.

In any case, she had slept incredibly well!

Stelle stretched, then opened her eyes to see a little yellow duck sitting on the bedside table.

There was no need to think about it. It had to be Dr. Ratio's doing.

She reached over and scooped up the little duck, as though it still retained the warmth of the bathwater from when she had bathed with Dr. Ratio.

How wonderful.

This was the last moment of peace before the warp.

Boarding Amphoreus was already imminent.

Finally, she had spent one last stretch of time with the Express Crew.

Today was the day of the warp!

The Trailblazer rolled out of bed. After washing up and getting herself ready, she sat on the sofa with a very serious expression.

One by one, she pulled her weapons out of thin air.

Her bat, Flame Lance, and hat.

She wiped them all clean while muttering under her breath.

"My buddies, a blade sharpened before battle may not cut faster, but it sure shines brighter. If we have to fight after reaching Amphoreus, we absolutely have to be invincible!"

After especially polishing her beloved bat until it gleamed, the Trailblazer finally waved her hand in satisfaction.

The weapons vanished back into thin air.

Once she had finished maintaining her weapons, someone knocked on her door.

March 7th's voice came from outside.

"Stelle, are you awake? Today's the day of the Express meeting. Are you ready?"

"Ah, coming, coming."

Stelle hurriedly got to her feet and followed March 7th to the observation car.

Welt, Himeko, Dan Heng, and Pom-Pom had already been waiting there for quite some time.

Although Stelle had already learned from Aha, from a god's-eye view, where the Express Crew's next warp destination would be, the others had not truly settled on it yet.

This Express meeting was being held to determine their next destination, as well as plan out their itinerary along the way.

Pom-Pom had originally wanted to go through the motions.

And let everyone vote on their next destination.

The options were:

the Ocean Planet, Lushaka

the Onyx World, Melusstein

the Eternal Land, Amphoreus

Compared to Amphoreus, the first two worlds could hardly be called safe either.

Known dangers and unknown dangers, when weighed against each other...

People always tended to lean toward the unknown.

It was a gamble.

A gamble that maybe it would actually be safe, maybe it would only be a close call with no real danger.

Besides, Amphoreus was a place even Akivili had never set foot in—a forbidden land that, aside from the Garden of Recollection, no one had even heard of.

The Star Rail existed for the sake of Trailblazing!

Most importantly, the train was running low on fuel.

If they could successfully complete their Trailblazing journey through Amphoreus, the Express Crew would not need to worry about fuel for quite some time.

For all those reasons, everyone chose Amphoreus as their destination.

The Trailblazer had even less to say about it.

She had long known that this vote was merely a formality.

The journey to Amphoreus had been set in stone from the beginning.

Thus, the Express Crew unanimously approved the proposal to head for Amphoreus.

Sunday did not take part in the meeting.

Perhaps to him, anywhere other than Penacony was the same.

The destination did not matter. Anywhere was fine. Going anywhere made no difference.

So he simply left it to the Express Crew's arrangements.

Black Swan, meanwhile, quietly remained in the party car.

The cards in her hand had long pointed to a single outcome: the Express Crew would certainly choose Amphoreus.

This was the only information she had divined. Beyond that, she knew nothing of Amphoreus, nor did she know how the Express Crew would be affected after the warp.

But that was fine.

Smiling, the woman lifted a glass from the bar and gently brought its sweet liquid to her lips.

The mission of Memory was to "record," to "observe," and to "watch all things in the world tirelessly repeat the same mistakes."

She only needed to offer the Express Crew an option, then silently record everything she saw and heard on Amphoreus. That was enough.

As for the rest, it did not matter even if she could not divine it.

Much later, after Fuli's gaze swept across Amphoreus, Black Swan finally came to regret it.

So Amphoreus had been even more dangerous than she had imagined?

It had actually drawn the attention of the Aeon of Memory.

Had her "intervention" been right or wrong?

But that was a matter for later.

The destination the Express Crew settled on was, as expected, "Amphoreus."

Black Swan came to the observation car and, beneath the Express Crew's gazes, tapped the window with her fingertips.

In the universe beyond the window, something slowly emerged—

"8."

Even though the Trailblazer had long known that their next stop was Amphoreus, she had never expected Amphoreus to look so bizarre?!

It was literally a sideways "8"!

Himeko gazed at the sight beyond the window and mused, "It would be more accurate to call it a Möbius strip."

Welt nodded, affirming Himeko's observation.

Still, calling it an 8 did not seem wrong either.

With the warp imminent, March 7th returned to her room to sort through her camera.

According to her, this trio absolutely had to take some gorgeous pictures this time too!

Dan Heng said nothing.

He had no reaction to this whatsoever.

Even if he voiced a fervent desire not to be photographed, the final outcome would still be March 7th and the Trailblazer pinning him between them while the flash went off wildly.

Since that was the case, he might as well stop resisting and obediently enter the frame.

The Trailblazer lowered her gaze.

Because she knew what March 7th was about to face. After all, only she and Dan Heng would be going on this Trailblazing journey.

But looking at the excited little March, she could only smile and choose silence alongside Dan Heng.

After learning that the Express Crew had decided on their destination, Sunday, who had finished preparing for the warp, also came to the observation car.

He looked at the 8 beyond the window. It was an unfamiliar celestial body, unlike the magnificent Penacony.

When he thought of how he had left Penacony, whether he was on the train, on Car Wash Planet, or in any other world...

Nothing really mattered. Nothing was any different.

"Then, passengers, get ready. Warp, begin—!"

Pom-Pom's voice rang out. Sitting in her chair, the Trailblazer felt an intense sense of weightlessness and squeezed her eyes shut.

As the warp began, with Amphoreus only a step away, March 7th indeed grew terribly weak.

The Trailblazer knew this was the future the Aeon Aha of Elation had spoiled for her in advance.

She and Dan Heng would soon get off the train, and after she left, March 7th would be frozen by the Six-Phased Ice.

"It'll be okay."

Looking at her weakened companion, Stelle unconsciously clenched her fists and quietly cheered herself on.

I'm the Galaxy Bat Knight. There's nothing I can't do!

March 7th, I'll work diligently under Aha. I'll do everything I can to obtain the script that tells me how to thaw you!