Jarilo-VI, Boulder Town
A flashily dressed, blue-haired young man walked into the shadows, and a virtual screen appeared before him.
That was right, this blue-haired fellow was none other than the legendary wild man of Belobog! Sampo Koski.
He had countless nicknames: Uncle Cold Legs, Dark Blue Handsome Guy...
"Look, Miss Hunter, you've been messaging me all day. I'm a busy man too."
"LMAO, a Masked Fool saying he's busy... who'd believe that?" Silver Wolf's chibi avatar appeared on the screen.
"Sigh... that really hurts my feelings. We've been through life and death together, you know." Sampo lowered his head dejectedly.
"I could solo the Escape the Church dungeon."
"Fine, fine. So what favor did you want this time?" As Sampo spoke, he unscrewed his water bottle. He was thirsty.
"Ye Yan's coming here. Arrange an identity for him."
"Who?!"
Sampo nearly spat out the water he had just drunk. "Did I hear that right?"
"Ah... that's all I had to say. I've already transferred the money. Logging off."
Even after the call ended, Sampo still hadn't recovered.
"Buddy, what did Belobog ever do to deserve a personal visit from the Aeon of [Eternity]?!"
Unlike Silver Wolf, Sampo knew Ye Yan's identity. Everyone in the Tavern knew his legendary stories!
The most widely circulated one was how he had pulled down their own god of fun's underwear! He had even made a special trip to the Garden of Recollection to cause a huge commotion and turn that moment into a Light Cone.
There were stories about him eating a planet in three bites, or brazenly declaring before a Knight of Beauty that he was Idrila II, that he had lost all his divine power and urgently needed five hundred thousand Credits to rebuild his foundation, and that once he succeeded, he would make the knight an Emanator of [Beauty].
The story ended simply: he was hunted by a Knight of Beauty for an entire Amber Era.
No normal person could do such things, but if he was a Masked Fool, it all made sense.
Who could have imagined that this legendary Masked Fool was actually a role played by the Aeon of [Eternity]!
Only a handful of people in the Tavern knew this secret, and Sampo was one of them.
As for how Sampo had found out... that story began when he stumbled into the [Church of Eternity].
That experience was too painful to look back on and impossible to forget. It was also when he had met Silver Wolf.
Back to business: a paying client was a good client, so Sampo had to make sure everything was properly arranged.
This was an Aeon, after all. He had to provide impeccable service!
Silver Wolf's words just now also allowed him to deduce one useful piece of information.
The Aeon of [Eternity] was with the Astral Express bunch!
"Sigh... she never said he was aboard the Astral Express. Now old Sampo's role as the director behind the scenes will have to change again."
Sampo had no need to take the leading role. He only had to play the masked clown and nudge the plot along.
"They'll save Belobog in the end anyway, so it makes no difference..."
"...As long as the Church's people don't come." He shuddered.
Astral Express, parlor car
"Strange. Passengers March 7th and Stelle said they were going to get you, so why did you come down while they stayed up there?" Holding a little broom and some juice, Pom-Pom walked up to Ye Yan with small steps.
"Passenger Ye Yan, this juice is yours. You can decide whether to give it to Passenger March 7th later, pom!"
"But just so we're clear, if you spill it, you're cleaning it up, Passenger Ye Yan, pom!"
"Don't worry, Conductor. If I drink it now, it won't spill." Ye Yan smiled and patted Pom-Pom's head.
Before long, the train's announcement sounded, and March 7th and Stelle returned to the parlor car.
Stelle sat on the sofa, feeling a little nervous for some reason.
[Warp jump commencing. Ten-second countdown!]
"It feels novel the first time, but you'll gradually get used to it. As for how it works... ahem, if you're interested, I'll find some time to explain it in detail next time."
Welt sat beside Stelle and explained. Himeko picked up where he left off:
"If you want something more thrilling, you could also have Ye Yan take you."
Stelle looked over at Ye Yan, who was leaning off to one side.
"I'm fine with it, if she's willing. Also... Miss March 7th, please stop staring at my juice."
March 7th was holding a horse stance to keep her balance while fixing her eyes on that cup of orange liquid.
When the countdown ended, Stelle felt a powerful thrust against her back and nearly fell to the floor.
Looking at the rest of the Astral Express Crew, Dan Heng wasn't in the parlor car, Ye Yan and Welt hadn't budged, and Himeko was calmly drinking her coffee.
Her coffee didn't even spill with all this shaking? March 7th had taken a tumble.
"After thousands of years, has Jarilo-VI become like this...?"
Himeko gazed thoughtfully at the snow-white planet.
"Huh? Is that our destination this time?" March 7th had finally gotten her wish and was drinking the juice.
"That's right... I imagine this [Trailblaze] journey won't be easy either."
"Abnormal spatial readings! Star rail stability has dropped to twelve percent! Change of docking plans: our stop here has been extended from seven days to indefinitely!"
Pom-Pom emerged from the cab and informed everyone of the unexpected situation.
Seeing Stelle's bewildered expression, Pom-Pom repeated:
"Indefinitely, until the anomaly is resolved!"
Worried that Stelle still didn't understand, Himeko explained, "To use an ordinary land train as an analogy, it's like the tracks ahead suddenly breaking apart, with a bottomless chasm opening beneath them."
"At that point, we'd have no choice but to make an emergency stop, right?"
"Forcing our way forward could lead to terrible consequences!"
"Sigh... this again. Goes without saying, the star rail anomaly this time must be caused by a Stellaron too."
"Huh?" Stelle froze, then pointed at herself. "Me?"
"We're not talking about you!"
There were differences between Stellarons, too. At least the Stellaron inside Stelle wouldn't bewitch her.
"The preliminary scan results are out. Little March is right. It's the same substance as the [Stellaron] placed inside you."
"What exactly is a Stellaron?"
"The Cancer of All Worlds." Ye Yan began explaining it to Stelle. "Along the interstellar routes created by the [Trailblaze], certain obscure, mysterious substances disrupt the flow of Imaginary Energy."
"It's like encountering a sheer cliff while climbing a mountain, or tsunamis and whirlpools while sailing... a once-clear interstellar journey becomes fraught with danger and uncertainty."
"So can I take that to mean I'm the Cancer of All Worlds?"
"We already said you're not! Stelle, how could you be the kind of bad seed that endangers the universe?" March 7th couldn't understand Stelle's train of thought.
"There are many mysteries surrounding [Stellarons]. Even Herta can't fully analyze them."
"Still, you don't need to worry too much. This isn't the first time we've encountered a route blocked by a Stellaron. Even without understanding its fundamental principles, we still have ways to counteract its effects."
"Besides... we now have an Emanator who can seal a Stellaron directly."
"Oh, right! When we fought the Doomsday Beast, didn't Ye Yan flick Stelle, and then the Stellaron inside her was suppressed?"
March 7th remembered it vividly. She had never expected a flick to the forehead to stop a Stellaron from running rampant. The Emanator of Eternity was truly terrifying.
"The arrival of a [Stellaron] causes drastic changes to civilizations and ecosystems, and also produces spatial distortions such as the Fragmentum. Its influence is inseparable from why Jarilo-VI became a frozen planet like this."
"Our theory is that Stellarons are seeds of disaster scattered across worlds by a certain Aeon. Unless we remove the source of the calamity, there can be no [Trailblaze]."
"Got it. We're cosmic heroes who uphold justice!"
"Those are Galaxy Rangers. Want to be one?"
Stelle brimmed with righteousness. "A pure heart is not easily shaken. If I hadn't boarded the Express, I might have followed in the Galaxy Rangers' footsteps!"
"Not bad. Try a little harder, and you might just draw a glance from the Aeon of the Hunt!"
"Yikes... am I really that much of an Aeon magnet?"