On the Astral Express, Welt slowly stood up.
"Conductor, I need to go out for a moment."
"Mm, go ahead. Cyan will keep the Conductor company, right?"
Pom-Pom stroked the somewhat restless Cyan.
Hum.
Welt walked out of the Astral Express and stood on the platform.
It was truly a cataclysmic scene—a chaotic battle between the swarm and the Void Rangers.
He looked up at the sky and struck his cane heavily against the ground.
Thump!
Star of Eden, Zero-Rate Output, Pseudo-Black Hole!
The Doomsday Beast on the left had one of its wings torn off by the Pseudo-Black Hole, but it violently broke free from the massive Pseudo-Black Hole—after all, it wasn't a real black hole. The Star of Eden that Aidan had modified for him had exploded because he used it against Nanook.
Aidan did not miss the opportunity Welt had created for him.
The disadvantageous situation of being pincered by two Doomsday Beasts took a turn for the better due to Welt's intervention.
His two pairs of massive, sharp, scythe-like forelimbs descended like an executioner's guillotine, clamping toward the Doomsday Beast's engine.
Aidan abruptly retracted and applied force, and with a purely physical strangulation, the target was snapped in two. Violent blue energy and black antimatter collided fiercely at the break, emitting blinding sparks.
His mouth began to charge energy.
Hum—!
A blue quantum torrent spewed from his mouth, a death ray capable of tearing apart celestial bodies, slowly disintegrating the Doomsday Beast that had been clamped in two but not yet fully dead.
Boom!
The two Doomsday Beasts certainly wouldn't just stand there; their giant hands slammed down with a roar.
— — —
The girl woke up with a splitting headache. When she opened her eyes, the first thing she saw was a massive blue insect in front of her.
The insect was about as tall as a person.
"Awake?"
The insect spoke to the girl.
"...The bug talked."
The girl blinked, but felt a bit dizzy.
"...What... are you?"
"I am Aidan." The clone pointed to itself with its forelimb. "A Trailblazer of the Astral Express. Do you remember anything else?"
"...My name is Stelle."
"Anything else?"
"I don't know."
Stelle sat on the cold metal floor, pressing her fingers against both temples. Kafka's soft whispers seemed to linger in her mind, but the reality before her seemed extremely... bizarre.
A giant coleoptera with six legs and a body covered in glowing blue armor was looking at her.
That was probably examining her.
A violent tremor came from above. The ceiling of the entire Storage Zone emitted a teeth-grinding sound of twisting metal, and dust and tiny debris showered down onto Stelle's hair.
"It's not safe here. Follow me."
"Oh, okay...?"
Stelle sat on the back of this body of Aidan.
"Why are you sitting on me?"
"My legs are weak, I can't walk..."
"Fine, take that baseball bat. Consider it for self-defense."
"Oh."
Stelle picked up the bat from the floor, sat on Aidan's back, gripped the baseball bat tightly with both hands, and dangled her legs in the air.
"So... why am I here now, sitting on a bug?"
"That's a good question." Aidan's clone replied while crawling forward. "But I don't think now is the time to discuss it."
"Fair enough. It feels pretty good, actually. Really cool." Stelle grabbed its two antennae.
"Don't pull hard, it hurts."
"By the way, what is the Astral Express?"
Stelle lowered her head and asked the big bug.
"It's a train that can run on the Space. A very big, very long train. The passengers are a group of people called Trailblazers. They travel everywhere, go to places they've never been, see people they've never met, and help others."
"Sounds pretty interesting."
Turning a corner, the passageway ahead was blocked by a few Void Rangers from the Antimatter Legion.
Hearing the commotion, the Void Rangers turned their heads in unison.
"What are those?" Stelle gripped the baseball bat in her hand. "They look so ugly."
"Minions of the Antimatter Legion. Just a bunch of troublemakers."
"Hold on tight, grab my antennae! Don't fall off!"
"You got it!" Stelle grabbed the two long antennae on top of Aidan's head, raised the baseball bat high with her other hand, and shouted, "Charge! Big bug!"
Quickly clearing out the remaining Void Rangers and stepping over the ashes they had turned into, they continued toward the elevator shaft.
"The elevator to the Master Control Zone is just ahead. Once we get there, we'll be safe. It's a complete mess out there right now, we need to hurry and rendezvous with the people from the Astral Express."
"Your friends are fighting outside?" Stelle asked.
"I'm fighting outside too. This is one of my bodies; the consciousness is mine."
"Oh, you mean you're controlling many bodies?"
"Yes."
An ice-blue arrow flew past Aidan's antennae, instantly freezing a Void Ranger that was preparing to ambush them into an ice sculpture. Immediately after, a cyan spear struck out like a dragon, shattering the ice sculpture to pieces.
"Dan Heng, March, I saved someone with amnesia."
"Saved someone with amnesia?" March 7th paused, her gaze sweeping up and down between Stelle and Aidan. "Wait, where did you pick her up from?"
"The Storage Zone." Aidan wiggled its antennae. "She was lying on the floor, so I just grabbed her."
"You..." Dan Heng's gaze lingered on Stelle for a moment, then he looked down at Aidan. "How is the situation outside?"
"Not great. I'm currently being held down by two Doomsday Beasts. It hurts."
He didn't dare to unleash his power and split with full force; otherwise, if he lost control, it wouldn't just be a matter of one galaxy.
If he could unleash his splitting ability, the swarm would have drowned these few Doomsday Beasts long ago.
If The Propagation doesn't split, it would naturally be spun like a top.
"They can't actually do anything to me, they just bite, which hurts. But I can't do much to them in the short term either."
"Do you need us to go outside and help?" Dan Heng asked.
"No, no, no, you absolutely must not go out." Aidan waved its forelimbs repeatedly. "It's chaotic out there right now, and if you go out, you'll just be adding to the trouble. My shell is hard, I can take a beating. They won't be able to kill me for a while. You hurry and take her to the Master Control Zone; it's safer there."
Stelle slid off Aidan's back, staggering slightly when her feet hit the ground. March 7th was quick to react and caught her.
"What's your name? How did you end up fainting in the Storage Zone?" March 7th looked the gray-haired, golden-eyed girl up and down.
"I... my name is Stelle." Stelle rubbed her temples, her brows slightly furrowed. "As for the rest... I don't remember."
As soon as she finished speaking, a heavy sound of footsteps came from the end of the corridor.
"Trouble's here again." Dan Heng's eyes sharpened. "March, prepare for battle."
"I'm in too!"
Stelle stood beside Dan Heng and March 7th, raising the baseball bat in her hand.