At the thought, a chill ran down his spine, and every hair on his body stood on end as if in a stress response.
Was the March 7th in front of him really March 7th?
Why did she seem to know everything—even his exact identity as a transmigrator?
“March 7th, you…” Ye Cang stared at the girl with the flawless smile before him.
Sensing that his doom was at hand, he violently jerked out his diary to leave a thirteenth critical warning.
But a pale, ice-cold arm had already slammed down onto the leather cover of the *Death Diary*.
No matter how much force Ye Cang exerted, the arm didn’t budge an inch.
Ye Cang’s breath hitched.
Turning toward the owner of the arm, he saw a red-haired woman covered in blood.
Half of her beautiful face was shredded by bloody tears, and her eyes stared at him, dull and lifeless.
“Himeko?” Without a doubt, the Navigator before him, Himeko, was merely a cold corpse.
Yet her body seemed to be controlled by some eldritch force, mechanically stopping Ye Cang from using the *Death Diary* to record the scene like a puppet.
Could she see the *Death Diary*?
No…
Ye Cang turned deathly pale, quickly rejecting the thought.
The deceased Himeko couldn’t possibly see the *Death Diary*.
[Cang]’s notes in the diary weren’t wrong either—no one aboard the Express possessed the ability to see the *Death Diary*.
But that didn’t mean higher entities couldn’t!
Emanators, Aeons—or even the abominable contamination that [Cang] so feared—might all possess the status required to see through the *Death Diary*!
Then…
what on earth was the March 7th before him?
Ye Cang’s mind raced.
His eyes shot to the strongest person at the dining table, the former Sovereign of Anti-Entropy and the only one who might break the deadlock through sheer strength—Welt Yang.
But despair seized him instantly.
Welt Yang had already turned into a heap of rotting, humanoid flesh, squirming endlessly as foul-smelling green pus oozed out.
Dan Heng, on the other hand, was shrouded in dense black mist.
His form was warped and monstrous, letting out terrifying, low growls from time to time.
As for Conductor Pom-Pom, its once-cute exterior was completely overrun by horrific, frantic sharp teeth and tentacles.
Slick tentacles repeatedly scooped up chunks of meat from the dinner plates and stuffed them into a maw filled with spiral rows of razor teeth.
As it chewed, it ground up its own arms and tentacles along with the food, producing a spine-chilling crunching sound while juice and shredded meat splattered everywhere.
Glancing across the tabletop, where were the fine wines, delicious foods, and sweet cakes?
It was nothing but nauseating insects and human limbs—an utter horror!
Even the small slice of cake March 7th had handed him earlier had turned into a severed head!
The head belonged to March 7th herself!
“Ha…
haha—” Ye Cang panted violently, his eyes bloodshot.
Saliva mixed with nosebleeds dripped down his chin.
His sanity shattered completely.
As his mind lost control, his body actually began to mutate, sprouting hideous tumors and tentacles.
“Losing control already?
If this is all you’ve got, then [Cang] really put his desperate gamble on the wrong person.” “March 7th” leapt onto the long table, lightly walking up to Ye Cang.
She crouched down and poured the blood-red wine from her goblet straight over his head, making him look like a drowned stray dog, utterly despondent.
“Let’s make a deal.
Try guessing—” She pinched his chin, pulling his face forcefully toward hers.
At such close range, her sly smile brought a brief moment of clarity back to Ye Cang.
Then he heard a deep whisper, as if echoed from the abyss: “Who am I?
How did [Cang] break the cycle of the 25th?
After he drank the potion and completed the ritual, what was the blessing of the [Abundance]?” March 7th extended her tongue, licking the blood off her lips, and said with a beaming smile, “As agreed, if you answer these three questions correctly, I’ll lend you a hand and tell you the truth about [Cang] and the 25th.
Otherwise…
you die right here and become part of the sinister contamination.” “You…
the cycle of the 25th?
The blessing of the [Abundance]?” Ye Cang’s Adam’s apple bobbed.
Once his forced-down sanity suppressed the madness, everything he had witnessed—the records left by [Cang] in the *Death Diary*, his experiences on the Express, this grotesque feast, and every single word spoken by “March 7th”—surfaced in his mind as he frantically recalled them.
Then…
a palace broke through the quiet sea of his mind, organizing, categorizing, summarizing, and displaying every clue and Remembrance like exhibits in a museum.
Suspended between life and death, sanity and madness, pain and numbness, his brain operated at an unprecedented processing speed!
Three questions: 1.
What actually is the “March 7th” standing before him?
2.
How did [Cang] break the cycle of the 25th?
3.
After [Cang] drank the Potion of Abundance and completed the ritual, what was the blessing of the [Abundance]?
One premise: Even if he answered all three questions correctly, would the “March 7th” in front of him truly keep her promise—telling him the truth about [Cang] and the 25th, and letting him live?
One contradiction: Aside from striking a deal with “March 7th,” did he have any other means to escape his current plight?
Ye Cang held his breath, ignoring the agony and physical mutations.
His gaze darted frantically around the room, finally landing on the pale hand of “Himeko’s corpse” pressing down on the cover of the *Death Diary*.
Clearly, he had none.
His only option was to gamble!
Gamble that the *Death Diary* possessed the ability to rewind time!
Gamble that he could use the diary’s time rewind function to return to the moment before he stepped into the Parlor Car!
If his theory was correct, committing suicide right now might send him back to the car corridor.
But—without any warnings written in the diary, he would undoubtedly walk right into the trap in the Parlor Car all over again, even if time rewound.
It was a dead loop!
An unsolvable endless loop.
Right now, Ye Cang was no different from fish on a chopping block, waiting to be slaughtered!
And clearly, the unknown entity wearing March 7th’s skin wouldn’t give him the chance to rewind time anyway!
Taking a step back, the time-rewind capability of the *Death Diary* was merely an inference Ye Cang deduced from [Cang]’s entries; he had no way to verify its authenticity!
Therefore, only one path remained open to him: the deal.
If it was a deal, the other party had to gain something from him through it.
Otherwise, it would be charity, not a deal.
The answers to the three questions?
Obviously not.
Her true goal lay hidden beneath the answers to those three questions!
The true identity of “March 7th”…
wasn’t actually hard to guess.
Given her ability to see the *Death Diary*, her status had to be extraordinarily high—at least on par with an Aeon’s Emanator, or quite possibly an Aeon in the flesh.
Assuming the worst: “March 7th” was an Aeon.
After all, before rewinding time, [Cang] had been an Emanator of an Aeon himself, so it wouldn’t be unusual for him to possess a method to attract an Aeon’s arrival!
If that was the case, the second question was explained as well—how did [Cang] break the cycle of the 25th?
Because he had used some method to summon the entity standing before him!
Both [Cang]’s disappearance and his own transmigration might be the handiwork of this very being!
Then which Aeon’s incarnation was this elusive girl?
Without warning, a quote surfaced in Ye Cang’s mind— “Erudition is a heap of scrap, Preservation is a blockhead; Hunt has no sense of humor, Destruction is like a lunatic.” All Aeons were single-minded—except for *that one*!
Ye Cang snapped his head up, locking eyes with the pink-haired girl once more.
The instant a smile curled on her lips, he called out Its true name— “You are Elation…” “Shh—” The pink-haired girl extended a finger and pressed it against Ye Cang’s lips, preventing him from uttering Its true name any further.
She chuckled, “Bingo!
Correct answer, but I wouldn’t recommend saying it out loud.
Because it’s not just me who will hear your call…
*It* will too.” Ye Cang’s pupils shrank.
“*It*?” “The sinister contamination.” Possessing March 7th’s body, the Aeon of Elation patted Ye Cang’s shoulder.
A ridiculously comical grin spread across her face as she pointed outside the window of the Parlor Car.
“Look, right there.” Ye Cang whipped his head around.
The starry expanse outside the window was gone.
Appearing before them was another Astral Express, cruising right alongside theirs!
Inside that parallel Astral Express, a horrific humanoid monster draped in jester masks was slowly wandering.
Its form was twisted, twitching and shuddering rhythmically as black mist surged from its body and pus dripped onto the floor.
It covered its face with both hands, weeping and wailing at the same time.
The spine-chilling sobs seemed to breach the vacuum of space, sending an inexplicable dread surging from the depths of Ye Cang’s heart.
Was *this* the abominable contamination?
No…
wait!
Those jester masks…
Ye Cang looked at the Aeon “Aha” beside him in utter disbelief.
Scalp tingling, he stammered, “You…
were infected too?” “Yep.” Aha nodded, giggling.
“Before this universe got reset, a pathless wanderer named [Cang] caught my attention.
He told me the sinister contamination was super dangerous, so I tried touching it.
Hee-hee-hee, turns out it really *is* super dangerous.” Ye Cang: “???” Although shocked, he wasn’t surprised at all.
Because…
this was *exactly* the kind of absurd nonsense the cosmic fun-seeker Aha would do!
“You touched the source of contamination without taking any safety precautions?!” “Safety precautions?
Hahaha…
aren’t I one?” “You?” Ye Cang cast another glance at “March 7th,” still unable to process it.
“Sinister contamination…
haha, let’s call it that for now.” Aha shrugged, twisting March 7th’s cute face into a bizarrely ridiculous grin, whispering, “It’s like a marionette puppet…
I controlled my own body to touch the source of contamination, and successfully infected myself!
Hee-hee-hee!
So now that I lost my body, I can only hitch a ride inside this little girl’s body for now!
Hahaha!” “That’s completely insane!” Ye Cang spat through gritted teeth.
“March 7th” suddenly stiffened.
Her entire head snapped 180 degrees around to face him stiffly, speaking with a hollow, forced smile, “You believed it?
Hahahahaha…
you *actually* believed me?” “You really believe I’m [Aha]?
Do you really think my mind hasn’t been corrupted?” The instant “March 7th” uttered the name “Aha,” Ye Cang felt his entire body go cold.
Boundless frost-like dread swept over him from every direction!
And at that exact moment, out of the corner of his eye, he saw the monster covered in jester masks inside the “second Astral Express”—cruising parallel to theirs—abruptly turn its head.
It stared straight in their direction, flashing an eerie, horrific smile.