‘Thinking’
“Talking”
“Attack”
Act 4 (Part 6) – Shadows of the Past on the Astral Express
[ Location: Astral Express – Party Car ]
[ POV: Himeko ]
The aroma of freshly ground coffee beans drifted through the warm air of the party car as I stepped out from the kitchenette.
Over by the main lounge table, Welt and Dan Heng were quietly sipping tea, while March 7th was happily swinging her legs, drinking a glass of orange juice.
Pom-Pom stood at the end of the long table, meticulously adjusting their conductor hat.
I walked over with a bright, welcoming smile, holding up the glass pot.
“Good morning, everyone.
I just brewed a fresh pot.
Anyone care for a cup?”
The moment the word coffee left my mouth, all four of them stiffened simultaneously.
It was like watching four people suddenly realize they were standing in front of a ghost.
“We’re completely fine with what we have, thanks!” they chorused in terrifyingly perfect unison.
I blinked, staring at the four of them with a mix of amusement and suspicion.
“Alright, alright,” I chuckled, setting the pot down with a faint, dramatic sigh.
“I won’t force my culinary art on you.”
Pom-Pom cleared their throat, looking up at me eagerly.
“Navigator Himeko!
Where are we setting the navigation coordinates next?”
I rested my hands on the back of a plush chair.
“That depends.
Does anyone have a preference for our next Trailblaze destination?”
Welt set his teacup down with a soft click, tapping a holographic display on his wrist.
“Before we make any long range warps, a supply run is in order.
Herta Space Station is our closest option.
Beyond that…
I dug up an old archival log for a world roughly two billion light years out, designated as the Blue Planet.
It’s ninety percent water with almost no ground level data on file.
It would be an ideal location to forge a fresh path.”
Dan Heng nodded in agreement.
“I concur on restocking at the station first.
However, I also flagged an interesting entry three billion light-years away the Six-Faced World.
Legend has it that six distinct realms violently collided, but instead of shattering, one planet absorbed the surrounding landmasses.
It disconnected from the Star Rail over a thousand Amber Eras ago, so it’s bound to have evolved drastically.”
March rubbed the back of her neck, offering a helpless grin.
“Yeah…
I got nothing today.
I’m down for whatever!”
“No worries, March,” I said softly, turning to the conductor.
“What do you think, Pom-Pom?”
“After we restock, both are solid routes!” Pom-Pom declared proudly.
“One is completely uncharted territory, and the other is a lost world waiting to be reconnected!”
I opened my mouth to weigh in, but before I could speak, a strange, resonant hum vibrated directly through my mind a universe-wide frequency broadcast exclusively to Pathstriders of Erudition.
It was an official decree straight from Nous.
“The Genius Society welcomes its newest member: #85, #85, Kiana Kaslana, Unveiling the Tree-Sea Multiverse Structure and Parallel World Lines.”
I froze mid-breath, my hand pausing over the table as the sheer weight of the announcement washed over me.
March tilted her head, her smile fading into concern.
“Himeko?
What’s wrong?
You look like you just saw a phantom.”
“Nous…
just broadcasted an announcement,” I murmured, taking a slow breath to steady my racing pulse.
“A new member has been admitted to the Genius Society.”
That caught everyone’s attention.
Welt leaned forward, his curiosity piqued.
“Do we have a name or a field of study yet?”
“Let me pull up her profile in the Erudition Archive,” I replied, pulling out my data pad and typing in the high-clearance bypass codes.
March leaned over the back of my chair, practically bouncing.
“Come on, come on!
Is she super famous?
What’s her name?”
“Member #85…
Kiana Kaslana,” I read off the loading screen.
“Her paper outlines a mathematical framework for the Tree-Sea Multiverse and parallel world lines–”
CLATTER!
A sharp crash cut me off.
Welt’s porcelain teacup had slipped through his fingers, shattering against his saucer.
All the color drained from his face in an instant, leaving him looking sickly pale.
“What…” Welt’s voice cracked, raw and barely above a whisper.
“…what name did you just say?”
Instead of repeating it, I projected the theoretical abstract into the center of the table so everyone could see the floating text.
[ Erudition Archive — Entry #85 ]
Researcher: Genius Society Member #85, Kiana Kaslana
Topic: The Tree-Sea Multiverse Model and Parallel World Line Mechanics
All existing universes and parallel world lines originate from and are anchored to the branches of the Imaginary Tree.
Primary Cosmic Structure 2: The Sea of Quanta
Universes that lose structural integrity or reach a dead end fall from the Imaginary Tree into the Sea of Quanta, dissolving into chaotic nothingness.
Key Theoretical Concepts:
Main Branches, Sub-Branches, Leaf Worlds, Bubble Universes, Imaginary Energy Dynamics, and the Perpetual Energy Cycle between the Tree and the Sea.
While Dan Heng and March leaned in to study the complex terminology, Welt looked like he was about to faint.
“Welt…
are you alright?” I asked gently, stepping closer.
“You look terrified.”
Without a word, Welt practically snatched the pad from my hands.
His eyes darted frantically across the lines of glowing text, reading the abstract four times in under two minutes, his chest heaving.
March leaned over to Dan Heng, whispering behind her hand, “Why does Mr.
Yang look like a ghost from his dark past just walked through the front door?”
Dan Heng kept his eyes fixed on Welt’s trembling hands.
“Because he clearly knows her.”
March’s eyes widened with sudden, dramatic realization.
“Wait…
don’t tell me she’s his…
ex?!”
“March, please,” I said, unable to hold back a faint, amused sigh despite the sudden tension.
“Let’s not invent scandals.”
Welt finally finished reading.
He slumped back into his chair as if all his strength had been drained, staring blankly at the ceiling while hyperventilating.
Cold sweat beaded along his temple.
Then, he slammed a fist onto the table, his voice echoing through the car.
“WHY THE HELL WILL THE HONKAI NOT LEAVE ME ALONE?!”
Silence fell like a heavy blanket over the party car.
March blinked, looking thoroughly spooked.
“What…
what is a ‘Honkai’?
Is that some kind of monster?”
“There is no record of that word in any database on the Express,” Dan Heng noted quietly, his brow furrowed.
Pom-Pom wringed their paws anxiously.
“Is Mr.
Welt having a breakdown?!”
“It appears to be a severe reaction to trauma,” I said softly, motioning for everyone to give him space.
We waited in silence as Welt slowly regulated his breathing, reading through the document one last time until the sheer terror in his eyes hardened into cold, exhausted grimness.
I poured a glass of cool water and set it gently in front of him.
“Drink this, Welt.
Breathe.
Whatever you’re remembering…
you aren’t carrying it alone anymore.
Talk to us.”
Dan Heng, March, and Pom-Pom all gave firm, reassuring nods.
Welt picked up the glass with trembling fingers, taking a long drink before setting it down.
He looked up at us, his eyes shadowed with ancient grief.
“I have to tell you,” Welt began, his voice raspy.
“Because if the Honkai has found a way into this cosmos…
we aren’t just dealing with another faction.
We are looking at an entity with a threat level that rivals the Destruction, coupled with the existential corruption of the Nihility.”
A heavy, suffocating chill settled over the room.
I sat down across from him, my tone solemn.
“Start from the beginning, Welt.
What is the Honkai?
And how does it connect to Member #85?”
Welt leaned forward, resting his forehead in his palms for a brief second before looking back up.
“The Honkai is a natural mechanism of the Imaginary Tree the absolute Pruning Force of existence.
Its sole purpose is to test civilizations.
It forces them to evolve, and if they stagnate, falter, or fail…
it erases them entirely.
I used to believe it was a calamity isolated purely to my homeworld…
but Kiana’s paper proves that the Honkai acts as the ultimate arbiter across the entire Tree.”
Dan Heng leaned in.
“And your connection to this Kiana Kaslana?”
“I was her high school history teacher,” Welt admitted quietly, a ghost of a smile touching his lips before vanishing.
“But…
the Kiana I knew hated studying.
She was brave, stubborn, and had a heart of gold, but she certainly wasn’t a scientific prodigy capable of astonishing the Genius Society.
Which means…
this Kiana comes from a completely different parallel world.”
Dan Heng and I exchanged a glance and nodded.
Given the nature of her published multiverse framework, parallel variants made total sense.
March raised her hand hesitantly.
“Can someone translate that into simple terms for me?”
“In simple terms, March,” I explained softly, “the Kiana that Welt used to teach and the Kiana who just became Member #85 share the same face and name, but they come from entirely different realities.” I turned back to Welt.
“How dangerous was the Honkai on your world, Welt?
Give us context so we know what we’re facing.”
“It began fifty thousand years ago, during my world’s Previous Era.
Humanity discovered a high-density energy source and named it Honkai energy.
At first, it seemed harmless clean, efficient, and virtually unlimited.
But as human technology advanced, the energy mutated.
It became wildly toxic to organic life.”
He paused, resting his hands on the table.
“High concentrations of Honkai energy began warping ambient matter into silicon-based monsters called Honkai Beasts.
Humans who succumbed to the radiation died and reanimated as feral Honkai Zombies.”
He looked at us.
“Any questions so far?”
“What do you mean by ‘Previous Era’?” March asked carefully.
“Fifty thousand years before the era I was born in, humanity reached the absolute peak of technology,” Welt explained solemnly.
“That entire first civilization was completely obliterated by the Honkai.
Humanity was wiped out down to a handful of survivors thanks to the sacrifices of thirteen genetically modified warriors.”
Dan Heng spoke up.
“Are Honkai Beasts uniform, or do they possess a hierarchy?”
“They are categorized into strict threat tiers,” Welt said, counting them off on his fingers:
Lower Tiers:
Charger-class: Small, fast ground units with basic aggressive instincts.
Chariot-class: Mid-sized mobile units built for heavy kinetic attacks.
Templar-class: Armored defensive variants utilizing energy shields and artillery.
Upper Tiers:
Emperor-class: Massive entities capable of flattening military bases.
Judgement-class: Cataclysmic apex beasts capable of leveling entire continents.
Vipralopa-class: Extremely rare entities that embody godlike, localized authorities.
“And above the beasts…” Welt’s voice dropped, heavy with dread.
“…are the Herrschers.”
The room grew dead silent.
“When Honkai energy reaches critical density in an area, it chooses a human host with high compatibility and transforms them into a Herrscher a living embodiment of a physical law.
Reason, Void, Electromagnetism, Gravity, Thermodynamics…
Herrschers possess absolute authority over physical reality.”
Welt closed his eyes tightly.
“In the Previous Era, a Herrscher’s human mind was completely erased upon awakening, leaving only a relentless drive to erase humanity.
They fought them off one by one, but the Honkai adapted.
Every time a Herrscher fell, the next one awakened stronger.
When the 9th Herrscher appeared, an entire continent was swallowed whole by a localized black hole.
Humanity was pushed to the absolute brink, reduced to just a few surviving dome cities.”
He took a slow, heavy breath.
“In a desperate attempt to survive, there greatest scientists created the MANTIS Project.
They spliced human DNA with high-tier Honkai Beasts, creating super soldiers known as the Flame Chasers.
They gained the power to kill Herrschers, but the side effects were horrific.
Their bodies mutated so severely that they could no longer live as humans.
Their leader’s body temperature dropped so low that touching him would instantly freeze a person to death.”
“They harvested the cores of fallen Herrschers to forge twelve supreme weapons called Divine Keys,” Welt continued.
“Some were forged for battle, while others were built to manipulate biomes, preserve life, or shelter survivors.”
He looked down at his lap, his voice quiet.
“They fought valiantly, but when the 11th Herrscher awakened, it hijacked there digital networks and turned all remaining automated defenses against them, destroying our final three cities.
Knowing their era was lost, the surviving Flame Chasers put the remaining humans into cryostasis inside the 5th Divine Key to sleep through the extinction event.
When the ultimate entity the Herrscher of Finality descended on the moon, the Flame-Chasers launched a suicidal attack, stalling her for thirty minutes so the cryostasis sequence could complete.
They all died…
but their sacrifice bought humanity a future.”
Welt looked around at us.
“That was the end of Era Zero.
A simplified summary of a fifty thousand year extinction event.”
We sat in stunned, breathless silence.
The sheer scale of tragedy and cosmic horror left no room for words.
I cleared my throat softly, trying to process it all.
“Welt…
is there any limit to a Herrscher’s power?”
“Only two things,” Welt replied.
“Their conceptual understanding of their own Authority, and the amount of Honkai energy they have to fuel it.”
“Can you give us an example?” Dan Heng asked quietly.
“Which Authority are you most familiar with?”
Welt looked up, a faint, nostalgic glint returning to his eyes.
“The Herrscher of Reason the Authority I inherited.
Its power is total structural comprehension and reconstruction.
Anything any weapon, mechanism, or physical phenomenon that the Herrscher of Reason fully understands, they can recreate out of thin air using energy.
It is the first step toward omnipotence.”
He looked directly at me.
“Omniscience yields omnipotence.
Imagine that power in the hands of a Genius…
If someone like Emperor Rubert possessed the Authority of Reason, all organic life in the universe would have ceased to exist overnight.”
Pom-Pom’s ears drooped, their eyes wide with terror.
“So…
if a Herrscher has infinite energy and the mind of a Genius…
wouldn’t they basically be as strong as an Aeon?!”
I looked at Pom-Pom, then back at Welt, feeling the heavy, undeniable truth settling over the room.
“Yes, Pom-Pom…” I whispered softly.
“They very well could be.”