The Astral Express vanguard squad—Stelle, Stella, March 7th, and Dan Heng—soon set foot on the soil of Jarilo-VI.
The moment they arrived on Jarilo-VI, an extreme chill, like countless icy needles, instantly pierced through all defenses (and mental preparations), stinging everyone's skin.
"Hiss—!!!"
A collective sound of sharp intakes of breath rang out.
"I was wrong... I was really wrong... I shouldn't have talked big... What kind of Hell Mode start is this..."
The first one to wail was Stella.
At this moment, she was maintaining the form of Hook, and those seemingly thick Mole Gang overalls were like thin paper in the face of this planet's severe cold.
Her small body trembled uncontrollably, her teeth chattered, and she felt as if her blood was about to freeze.
She deeply regretted why she hadn't chosen a form with built-in fur or thicker fat.
"Stella, come here and let me give you a hug! I feel so cold too!"
Although March 7th had stepped onto the Trailblaze Path and her physical fitness far exceeded ordinary people, this chill that seemed capable of freezing the soul still made her shudder violently.
Seeing Stella in Hook's form shaking like a sieve, she immediately treated the little one like a heat source, pulling her into her arms, trying to share a bit of pitiful warmth through close contact.
"Ugh... a tiny bit... warmer..."
Stella in Hook's form curled into an even smaller ball in March 7th's arms.
"It really is a world of ice and snow..."
March 7th gazed at the endless expanse of white before her, her exhaled breath instantly condensing into white mist, as she sighed from the bottom of her heart.
As far as the eye could see, there were only undulating snowfields, craggy icicles, and the silhouettes of broken buildings half-buried in snow; the world was a desolate expanse of silvery white.
"It really is a world of ice and snow."
Standing nearby, Stelle repeated in the exact same tone, her eyes also filled with awe for nature's "unreasonably powerful" cooling ability.
"You're like a repeater!"
March 7th was startled by this synchronization and gave Stelle an annoyed look.
"Hehe! That's what you call chemistry!"
Stelle made a face at March 7th, trying to dispel some of the chill with her antics.
She turned around, intending to take the lead and scout the way like a proper Stelle, showing off her courage.
And then—
"Aieee—!!"
A short cry of surprise was followed by a muffled "thud" sound.
Stelle, walking at the very front, felt her foot step into empty air, and she instantly lost her balance!
The spot she stepped on, beneath the thick snow, actually hid a shallow pit covered by a frozen crack!
"Pfft—! *Ptooie, ptooie, ptooie*!"
Stelle's head and upper body plunged into the snow pit, leaving only her two legs kicking futilely outside.
She struggled to pull her head out, her hair, face, and neck covered in icy snow, and she loudly complained in a pathetic state: "What kind of ghost place is this! How are there even camouflaged snow pits! Is there no civic-mindedness at all!"
"Hahahahaha!!!"
March 7th, who was following behind and witnessed the whole process, was stunned for a moment before bursting into earth-shattering laughter, doubling over until tears almost came out.
"Stelle! Are you performing snow diving for us? Your form was quite standard! But the entry posture gets zero points! Hahaha!"
"Wait! March 7th! Stop laughing! I'm still in your arms! I'm going to fall!!"
Stella in Hook's form shouted in terror.
Because March 7th was laughing so hard her whole body was shaking and her arms went weak, her grip on her suddenly loosened. Terrified, she grabbed March 7th's collar with her short hands, feeling like she would follow in Stelle's footsteps and be "airdropped" into the snow the next second.
"Ah! Sorry, sorry!"
March 7th barely managed to stop laughing and quickly held Stella tightly.
The shaken Stella felt that this couldn't go on; Hook's equipment had poor cold resistance, and being carried around was inconvenient.
With a thought, blue light flashed on her body.
As the light dissipated, the little white-haired, red-eyed girl Clara appeared in her place, replacing Hook.
Then, almost at the same time as Stella's transformation, the tall mechanical body Svarog was also summoned.
His crimson electronic eyes scanned the environment and immediately made a judgment. He leaned down and, with those huge but exceptionally steady mechanical palms, carefully lifted Stella in Clara's form, letting her sit on his sturdy forearm armor, away from the icy snow.
"Phew... saved."
Sitting in Svarog's arms, Stella in Clara's form swung her bare little feet and suddenly had a flash of inspiration, saying as if she had just realized something: "Ah! I think I suddenly understand why the real Clara doesn't feel cold even walking barefoot in a place like this!"
"Why?"
Stelle, who was patting snow off herself, and March 7th, who was still giggling, both looked over curiously.
Stella in Clara's form extended a small finger and poked the armor joint of Svarog, which was cold but emitting a faint stream of heat, saying seriously: "Because—Mr. Svarog, he really comes with a built-in heater! Look!"
Vents on Svarog's breastplate and joints were continuously releasing a gentle warm breeze, forming a small but sufficient warm air pocket to envelop the little girl in his arms.
The heat formed a small patch of hazy white mist in the cold air.
"Really? Let me try!"
Hearing this, Stelle immediately perked up. Ignoring the snow still on her, she took a few steps closer to Svarog and pressed her face against the side of his heat-emitting breastplate.
"Ooh... so warm!"
Stelle squinted her eyes comfortably, like a cat that had found a heat source.
"Svarog, did you turn on heater mode? The power is quite high!"
Svarog's electronic eyes flickered, and he replied in a steady synthesized voice: "Continuous low-temperature environment detected. To protect Clara and prevent her body (referring to Clara herself) from being damaged by the low temperature, the built-in environmental maintenance system has automatically started, including the directional heating unit. Yes, I have turned on the heater."
"Ah—???"
Stella in Clara's form and March 7th both made sounds of confusion, their expressions simultaneously turning into (ὀ⌓ὀ⑅).
After all that, Clara wasn't unafraid of the cold because of a special constitution or maxed-out ice resistance, but because she carried around a walking, smart, constant-temperature "humanoid heater/air conditioner outdoor unit"!
What was this? Technology conquering nature? Or the overindulgence of a mechanical father?
"To protect Clara, the heater has been installed and turned on."
Svarog added another sentence, his tone matter-of-fact, as if saying something as ordinary as "refueling a car."
"...Alright, I get it."
The three of them were silent for two seconds before accepting this setting in unison.
It was reasonable, very reasonable, full of a certain clumsy yet direct mechanical care.
Just as the atmosphere became slightly comical due to the "heater mystery" being solved, Dan Heng, who had been keeping watch and observing the surroundings, suddenly spoke, breaking this brief "warming time":
"Everyone, at eleven o'clock ahead, there's an abnormal energy reaction. It's Abominations of the Void."
Before he could finish his sentence, behind a patch of ice rocks in the distance, several distorted Abominations of the Void made of ice crystals and dark energy emerged unsteadily, emitting an ominous aura.
Almost at the same time as Dan Heng's warning—
"Hostile units detected! Threat assessment: Low. Executing clearance protocol."
Svarog's electronic eyes instantly locked onto the targets, combat command priority immediately overriding the environmental maintenance program.
"Leave Clara alone!"
He barked lowly. The arm holding Stella in Clara's form remained steady, but his other giant mechanical arm lifted with lightning speed. The armor plate in the center of the palm slid open, revealing an energy convergence port.
Hum—Zzzzt!
A searingly bright energy laser cannon roared out, cutting through the cold air and precisely hitting those Abominations of the Void that had just appeared!
Boom!
The ice crystals and dark energy instantly vaporized and disintegrated under the high temperature of the laser, leaving not even a trace of residue behind, only a small charred pit and wisps of blue smoke on the snow.
The whole process took less than two seconds.
Clean, efficient, not very noisy, but the visual effect and energy fluctuations were quite prominent.
Dan Heng, maintaining his posture ready to throw the cloud piercer, looked at the "threat" that had been cleared in an instant, then at Svarog's slowly retracting cannon muzzle, which was still emitting a trace of heat, and fell silent for a moment.
What he had originally thought was that he would quietly move over, one spear strike per enemy, and solve it quickly, trying not to attract wider attention.
After all, in an unfamiliar environment, acting low-key is common sense.
"...Actually, there was no need to cause such a big stir."
Dan Heng put away his spear and sighed helplessly, feeling that the "stealthiness" of this mission had departed from them right from the start.
He looked at the innocent-looking Stella in Clara's form sitting in the arms of the "humanoid self-propelled heater and turret," and then at Stelle and March 7th nearby, who were eager and seemed to want to find something to warm their hands on. He suddenly had a subtle, ominous premonition about this trip to Jarilo-VI.
The vibe of this team seemed to have been off right from the beginning.