Black Herta took a slight breath and slowly exhaled, as if calming a suddenly tightened mood.
A sense of losing control, even if only a slight trace, was enough to make Black Herta feel that things were not looking good.
"Under the assumption of 'leaving this universe' or 'entering an isolated domain',"
Black Herta's voice grew a few degrees colder, "is there a way to track or locate? Even just a general direction."
"Requires higher-level authorization protocols."
The system replied, "Current repair level (39.4%). Support for range-oriented tracking attempts is available, but accuracy and success rate cannot be guaranteed, and it may attract unnecessary attention."
"Open the necessary permissions."
Black Herta waved her hand without hesitation. "She must be found. I need her alive, or if she's dead... at least I need to find out how she died, by whom, and where."
"Instruction confirmed. Opening permissions... Connecting energy interface... Loading Cross-Universe Anchoring Protocol... Estimated scan preparation time: 15 minutes."
Data streams flashed rapidly through the system's inverted cross pupils.
Black Herta nodded, her gaze falling back onto the large screen, scanning the other names that were still lit up, especially those related to the Xianzhou Luofu.
"What's the reaction from the Xianzhou officials? Any unusual movements from the Ten-Lords Commission or the Generals Mansion?"
"Within the current monitoring range, no emergency reports directly related to 'Huo Huo's disappearance' have been retrieved from the Xianzhou Alliance's public communication channels or encrypted networks."
The system reported quickly, "Internal communications within the Ten-Lords Commission showed a small abnormal spike twenty minutes ago in standard time. The encryption level is high; preliminary analysis involves keywords such as 'mission report', 'target lost contact', and 'field investigation', but it hasn't spread. The Generals Mansion and the Cloud Knights' hidden sentries are maintaining their routine surveillance and have not escalated their response."
"Forget it,"
Black Herta made a decision after a moment's thought, her tone resolute, "I'll go to the Xianzhou myself. There's some risk, but I can't worry about that much now."
The repair level hadn't reached a critical node yet, and her Envoy-level power was limited, but Huo Huo's disappearance was too strange; it had to be investigated as soon as possible.
This concerned the bottom line of her tolerance for 'accidents'.
She turned, and the pure white space once again opened the door for her to return to the car.
Inside the warm car, Tribbie had already cleared the cups and saucers from the coffee table. She was humming an unknown little tune while carefully wiping the bone china cup Black Herta had just used with a soft flannel cloth.
Hearing the door open, she immediately turned her head, a smile appearing on her face. "Ms., you're back? Is everything handled?"
Looking at Tribbie's carefree face, the coldness in Black Herta's heart caused by the loss of control melted slightly.
She walked over, took the cup from Tribbie's hand to put it away, and patted her head. "Not yet. Things are a bit more complex than expected. I need to leave for a while to handle it personally. It might take some time."
Although Tribbie was a bit puzzled, she still nodded with a smile.
"Okay."
The corners of Black Herta's mouth curled up slightly. After giving a few more instructions about not touching the control panels in the car, she prepared to leave again.
This time, she was truly leaving the car to head for the Xianzhou Luofu.
Shortly after Black Herta's figure disappeared behind the door again, Tribbie put the clean cup back in the cupboard and was about to go to the bookshelf to find a book to read when—
"Click."
A faint sound, which seemed exceptionally clear in the car at this moment, came from the other end—from the direction of the hidden door leading to the main body of the Astral Express.
Tribbie's movements froze instantly. Her ears perked up alertly, and her azure eyes turned toward that door.
That door had remained tightly closed ever since she arrived in this hidden car.
Madam Herta had told her that this door connected to the 'Astral Express' outside, but it was hidden by a very clever method, and the Astral Express Crew didn't know it existed.
Unless actively opened, it looked like an ordinary car wall from the other side of the train.
But Madam Herta had also sternly warned her: this door must never be opened randomly, especially when it's uncertain if anyone is outside.
Because once opened and not closed in time, the stealth effect would temporarily fail, and people outside might notice these 'extra' cars.
(Just now... was that the sound of the door lock? Or noise from outside?)
Tribbie's heart rate quickened slightly.
She put down what she was holding and tiptoed to the door, gently pressing her ear against it.
Total silence.
(Did I mishear?)
Just as Tribbie breathed a sigh of relief and was about to step back—
"Knock, knock."
Two clear sounds, as if knuckles were lightly tapping on the door panel, came from the other side of the door!
Tribbie was so startled she jumped back a step, nearly crying out. She quickly covered her mouth and stared at the door with wide eyes, her heart pounding wildly.
(Someone... is outside? Knocking on this hidden door?! Who is it?! Did the people on the Astral Express find it? No, that shouldn't be possible... Could it be...)
Flashes of certain beings Madam Herta had mentioned needing to be wary of crossed her mind... Rewinding time slightly, the Astral Express, Party Car.
Herta was standing impatiently in the center of the car, surrounded by some temporarily set-up detection instruments.
With one hand on her hip, she quickly swiped her other hand through the air across an interface only she could see, muttering under her breath:
"Soul Swap? Lasting forty-eight hours? A restrictive curse? Or some kind of meme? Tsk, this bunch from the Astral Express Crew really knows how to cause trouble... the samples are too messy, too many interference factors... though, it is a bit interesting..."
She was trying to analyze the source of the chaos the Astral Express Crew had encountered.
As Genius Society #83, she had a natural desire to research such unconventional phenomena, even though on the surface she had been half-invited and half-dragged here by Himeko on the grounds of 'just in case there are side effects'.
While she was retrieving the train's environmental monitoring records to look for residual clues, her gaze inadvertently swept across the wall near the rear of the Party Car.
It was supposed to be a smooth decorative wall panel printed with the train's logo and a starry sky pattern, connecting to the rear structure of the car.
But at this moment, under Herta's extraordinary perception and keen intuition, she felt that the... space curvature of that wall had a tiny bit of something wrong with it.
Like a 0.01% deviation in the color transition of a meticulously painted artwork.
"Hmm?"
Herta narrowed her eyes, temporarily set aside her data analysis, and paced toward that wall.
She reached out her hand and moved it slowly a few centimeters from the surface, as if feeling some invisible force field.
(The space structure here... seems to have been folded? A very subtle method, how interesting.)
Herta's curiosity was piqued.
She walked around the wall twice and even pulled out a small, pocket watch-like probe and pressed it against the surface. The readings on the probe fluctuated slightly but could not provide a clear conclusion.
"What the hell..."
Herta rubbed her chin, staring at the wall with eyes shining. "Either it's my imagination, or... is there something good hidden on this train that even I didn't notice right away?"
She hadn't discovered the existence of the hidden door, of course, but that intuition of'something is off here' was enough to make her suspicious and decide to put this on her list of 'pending research projects'.
Perhaps it was her intense focus that made her subconsciously move, or perhaps it was some coincidence, but her fingers unconsciously tapped twice on the spot on the wall where she felt things were 'wrong'.
"Knock, knock."
The sound echoed in the empty car.
Herta herself was stunned for a moment, then shrugged, withdrew her hand, and walked back to her instruments, muttering, "Whatever, I'll deal with this Soul Swap mess first... I'll tear this crappy wall down and take a look later..."
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