Bai Ming didn't share a close bond with everyone on the Astral Express.
Take Dan Heng, for example.
He was well aware of the kindness Bai Ming had shown him, and given his naturally taciturn personality, he couldn't help but carry an air of unconscious deference whenever they spoke.
Spending time with him never felt quite as effortless as it did with Himeko.
On the other hand, there was Welt. Though they hadn't known each other long, they had bonded while he was still piecing together his understanding of this new world.
While he was certainly respectful, he wasn't burdened by a direct life-debt, which actually made their conversations feel much more relaxed.
Razalina found herself in a situation similar to Dan Heng's. As a veteran Nameless who had once offered herself up as kindling for a sacrificial flame, she had only been brought back from the brink because Bai Ming willed it.
Bai Ming had even gone so far as to trouble two Pure Children to assist in fishing her soul back from the depths.
To be honest, when Razalina first learned what had transpired, her immediate reaction wasn't relief at having survived.
Instead, she spent her time wondering what she had done to deserve being saved by the joint efforts of an Aeon and two Pure Children.
Bound by the weight of that gratitude, Razalina's reverence toward Bai Ming was far more intense than even Dan Heng's.
Bai Ming actually wanted to become better friends with her—after all, a girl with short hair and glasses was quite cute—but unfortunately, Razalina got incredibly nervous whenever they were alone.
After a while, Bai Ming felt bad about bothering her too often. She figured she'd just take it slow; once they had spent enough time together, Razalina would eventually desensitize.
As for Void Archives... well, that was mostly a matter of that mouth of his.
While Bai Ming didn't exactly give him the cold shoulder, he shouldn't expect her to go out of her way to strike up a chat with him either.
After Hysilens and Cerydra confirmed the status of the Ursarctic Big Dipper, Cerydra fell head over heels for the absurdly powerful mothership.
She felt that if this ship were placed in any top-tier faction, it would be enshrined as their flagship representative.
Upon returning to the Express, Cerydra thanked Bai Ming with the utmost sincerity. She had never dreamed she would get her hands on such a vessel.
So this is what it feels like to have someone backing you from above, she thought.
Cerydra felt profoundly lucky for Amphoreus.
If Bai Ming hadn't been supporting them—whether intentionally or not—they likely would have been carved up and divided by the various factions in the universe the moment they moved past the threat of Irontomb. After all... Amphoreus was the legacy of the First Genius.
Regardless, Amphoreus had finally gained a foothold, and it no longer needed a tyrant to dictate its direction.
Cerydra didn't overthink it; after a proper farewell, she and Hysilens boarded the massive warship and set sail into the unknown, beginning a brand-new adventure.
Since Bai Ming hadn't seen the specific drama she was hoping for, she left shortly after them. This time, her destination was Herta City. It was time to pay back what she had promised Herta.
It was the same familiar Herta City, but this time, Herta wasn't lost in thought or having afternoon tea.
She was... blowing up the kitchen.
And I mean that literally.
The moment Bai Ming landed, she heard a violent roar echoing from the kitchen area, followed by the sight of puppets carrying out firefighting and emergency protocols with practiced efficiency.
It was hard to imagine anyone in this world could actually manage to cook so poorly that they caused an explosion.
In this day and age, while kitchens are full of various combustibles, you really need a specific set of skills to make one lose control and detonate.
Yet, Herta had managed it. And it wasn't like she had added any strange explosives to her pantry.
Following the bizarre scent mingling with the smoke, Bai Ming found Herta lurking by the kitchen door, waiting for the puppets to finish the cleanup.
Herta was frowning slightly, head down in deep thought, muttering under her breath.
Listening closely, Bai Ming realized she was conducting a post-mortem analysis of the failure. She was so serious about it that she didn't even notice Bai Ming until she was standing right next to her.
Her train of thought interrupted, Herta looked over with a scowl. "You really picked a bad time to show up. The kitchen just blew up; it's still being repaired."
"What did the kitchen ever do to you? Why did you feel the need to assassinate it?" Bai Ming teased with a smile, only to be met with a massive eye-roll from Herta.
"I was just exercising a little creativity with the recipe. The explosion was just a minor accident."
Bai Ming glanced past her at the absolute wreck of a kitchen. Scraps of charred ingredients were scattered everywhere, which was normal, but mixed in among them were pieces of Curios that looked like they might have been edible.
That was decidedly not normal.
Adding Curios to a recipe? Now that was creative.
Bai Ming looked away, exasperated. "Since when did you get interested in cooking?"
Herta thought of Ruan Mei saying something similar, and of Bai Ming, who was always running off to Ruan Mei's place claiming she wanted to eat her pastries. "Just now. Ruan Mei said making snacks is relaxing, so I felt like giving it a try. I plan to keep at it for a while."
"I'll make sure to keep a tally of how many kitchens you lose."
"Shoo, shoo!" Herta raised her hand irritably, trying to drive away the Bai Ming who was only there to provide snarky commentary. This girl knew exactly how to be passive-aggressive. How annoying!
Bai Ming chuckled as she let herself be pushed out, deciding not to linger and admire Herta's "heroic" culinary efforts. She didn't particularly want to get caught in a blast.
After resting in Herta City for half a day, Herta finally seemed to pull enough energy away from her great culinary crusade to find Bai Ming, who was lying on the courtyard grass scrolling through the news.
A dark shadow blocked out the warm glow of Noa.
Bai Ming looked up from her phone, meeting Herta's eyes. "Finally free?"
"Hmph. You come all this way and don't say what for? Good thing I remembered that if you suddenly show up, you must have something to do. Out with it, what is it this time?"
Bai Ming sat up, her waist brushing against Herta's leg. A pleasant fragrance mixed with the faint scent of food ingredients drifted into her nose.
"Didn't you say before that you wanted to research the Herrscher of Finality?"
Herta's eyes lit up, and she looked at Bai Ming with pure anticipation. "You got a sample?"
"Yep."
As soon as Bai Ming said the word, Herta reached down, hauled her off the ground, and practically hoisted her over her shoulder to march away.
"Why didn't you say something so important sooner? Why were you just lying here? If I hadn't remembered, were you just never going to tell me?"
"?"
If I had dragged you away while you were in the zone, you would've been even crankier, Bai Ming thought.
Once dragged into the laboratory, Bai Ming demonstrated some of the Authorities of the Herrscher of Finality she understood. She even manifested a Herrscher Core for Herta to study.
Herta had some interest in Honkai energy, but her real fascination lay in the Authorities themselves. Additionally, Herta was incredibly curious about the Cocoon of Finality Bai Ming had mentioned.
"I've brought over more research data from Kiana's world. You can look through all of it."
"Good, very good. This is exactly what I like." Herta blinked happily at Bai Ming, hooked her chin with a finger, and gave her a quick kiss. Then, she immediately dove into her research with feverish excitement.
"So, when are you heading over there?"
"In a while. I can see you're in the middle of something big, and besides, if I go there now, I'd just be stuck on the Moon. It's a bit boring."
"Doing research is boring?" Herta shot her a glance, her eyes silently condemning Bai Ming's lack of academic discipline. Bai Ming just laughed it off, completely unbothered.
As Herta's research continued, Bai Ming stayed in Herta City for the time being. She helped out with the studies while spending some quality time with Herta.
Although Herta wasn't someone with high emotional demands, she wasn't without them either. Being able to conduct research and be with Bai Ming at the same time was something Herta was more than happy with.
By comparison, Ruan Mei seemed much more detached. She didn't feel the need to see Bai Ming constantly, nor did she care if Bai Ming stayed with her long-term.
Yet, when Bai Ming did appear, the joy in Ruan Mei's eyes was genuine. Even after knowing her for all these years, Bai Ming still found it hard to grasp Ruan Mei's true thoughts.
Meanwhile, Silver Wolf was diligently grinding levels and challenging the Stellaron Hunters. Well, specifically, she was only challenging Silverwing.
With only one opponent to focus on, Silver Wolf's spirits were high, showing a "clear the game or die trying" kind of momentum. It was anyone's guess what she'd become in the future.
On the other side of things, the Stellaron Hunters—who were being constantly harassed by Silver Wolf—had not long ago completed Silverwing's debut mission when Elio brought back a new member.
The new recruit actually made Bai Ming do a double-take.
That grey hair, the trench coat, the short skirt... it was all too familiar. It was the Trailblazer, Stelle.
Bai Ming was dying to know where Elio had picked her up. She was curious if Stelle and Caelus were truly related to the Aeons of Trailblaze and Finality—perhaps as reincarnations or representatives.
Unfortunately, Elio's lips were sealed tight; he wouldn't tell her a thing.
Stelle herself didn't seem too sure of her own origins. She wasn't a total blank slate like in the main storyline, but she hadn't revealed any key information either.
Much like the original plot, Elio left Stelle in Kafka's care.
However, Stelle turned out to be just as chaotic as she was in the game. She was constantly saying, "I have an idea," followed immediately by something completely unhinged.
Chaotic or not, having someone so lively join the group definitely made the atmosphere among the Stellaron Hunters a lot more vibrant.
And just recently, news of Robin's debut had begun to reach Bai Ming's ears.
Over the years, Bai Ming hadn't seen Robin often, but they kept in touch online. Bai Ming had even taught her a few songs—the wholesome kind, of course.
Strangely, Bai Ming hadn't heard a word about the debut from Robin herself. It felt like the young girl was holding it back, waiting to give her a surprise.
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T/N: If you want advance chapters, you can find it at [email protected]/AspenTL