The dizziness of spatial travel receded like the tide, and the bizarre, distorted streaks of light around her quickly stabilized and solidified.
Mercy felt her “feet” finally touch something solid…
or rather, make contact with some kind of physical object?
She had just gotten used to the feeling of stability when she instinctively “opened” her perception.
And then she saw it.
A massive wall of metal, gleaming with a golden-red sheen and stamped with a familiar train emblem, was hurtling toward her at an unstoppable speed.
The angular front, the enormous observation window, the sleek streamlined shape…
it could only be the front of the Astral Express!
“Wait…
what?!
What is this?!” Mercy’s mind went completely blank.
Hadn’t she used the ticket and been teleported to a safe coordinate near the train?
Wasn’t “near” supposed to be a little further away?
This was practically face to face!
She had no time to react, not even to scream (if her energy body even had a throat).
BOOM!!!!!!
A heavy, deafening impact echoed across the unknown star system.
Mercy felt an indescribable force, as if she had been hit head-on by a high-speed planet.
She lost all control, tumbling through space.
The destruction energy inside her instinctively surged to protect her, but she forcibly suppressed it.
No way.
If she lost control and blew up the train, that would be a disaster of epic proportions.
After a dizzying series of tumbles and collisions, accompanied by the grating screech of metal and the crackling hiss of energy annihilation, all movement finally stopped.
Mercy realized she was…
stuck.
She dizzily “looked” around at her situation.
It seemed the immense force of the impact had embedded her directly into some structure on top of the train.
More specifically, she was upside down in a highly undignified posture, her lower body wedged deep into what appeared to be…
a smokestack?
Her upper body and arms dangled outside, swaying slightly with the train’s vibrations.
Her light blue energy hair was a mess, with several strands falling across her face.
“…” Mercy.
“…” (A brief silence from inside the train.) After a moment of dead quiet, a slightly nervous announcement echoed from within the train (Pom-Pom’s voice?).
“Emergency!
Emergency!
The train has been struck by an unknown object!
The warp stabilization program has been slightly disrupted!
We have safely exited warp!
Passenger Himeko, Passenger Welt, please proceed to the roof to investigate, pom!” Soon, Mercy heard the sound of an airtight hatch opening above her, followed by two steady sets of footsteps.
With difficulty, she raised her head (this posture made it really hard to look up).
Her eyes met two faces she knew intimately, faces that were now looking at her with serious, scrutinizing expressions.
One was a mature woman with long wine-red hair, elegant posture, and sharp, capable attire.
She held a cup of coffee that seemed to still be steaming, but her gaze was as sharp as an eagle’s.
It was Himeko.
The other was a middle-aged man with glasses, a composed demeanor, and a black cane that resembled a cavalry lance in his hand.
It was Welt Yang.
The two of them looked at Mercy, who was wedged in the smokestack in such an unusual fashion, and both showed a flicker of surprise.
But more than that, there was caution in the face of an unknown threat.
After all, anything that could collide with the train mid-warp without being torn apart by spatial forces and still get stuck in the train’s structure, was clearly no ordinary thing.
“Miss…?” Himeko was the first to speak, her voice gentle but carrying an unmistakable note of inquiry.
“Are you alright?
Can you tell us what happened?
It seems you’ve…
boarded our train in a rather unconventional way.” Welt said nothing, but his gaze behind his glasses was even sharper.
His grip on the Star of Eden tightened slightly, clearly ready to respond to any sudden developments.
Mercy let out an internal wail.
This was such an embarrassing way to show up!
She forced out the most harmless, awkward smile she could manage.
“Uh…
hi?
So…
what if I said this was an accident?
Would you believe me?
I used this…” She tried to raise her hand to gesture, but her arm was stuck a little too tightly.
She could only manage to wave the ticket she was still clutching.
It was the [Astral Express Single-Use Group Ticket], now dull and slightly crumpled.
“I’m fine!
Really!
I’m just…
stuck,” she added, her voice muffled by her awkward position.
Himeko and Welt’s gazes simultaneously fell on the ticket in her hand, and both showed clear surprise.
An Astral Express ticket?
And it looked like some kind of special premium version?
“Let’s get this…
passenger out first,” Welt said in a low voice.
His tone had softened slightly, but his caution remained.
With careful assistance from Himeko and Welt (mainly Welt using the Star of Eden to manipulate gravity without direct contact), Mercy was finally “extracted” from the poor smokestack and gently set down on the roof of the train.
She quickly straightened her energy-based clothes and hair, trying to salvage some dignity.
“Thank you, thank you so much,” Mercy said quickly, while quietly assessing her internal state.
The destruction energy remained calm, not stirring from the impact or the close proximity to the two powerful individuals.
That was a relief.
“Please follow us.
This isn’t the place for conversation,” Himeko said, gesturing for her to follow.
Her gaze still lingered on Mercy, especially on the ticket in her hand.
Mercy nodded and followed the two through the airtight hatch into the interior of the Astral Express.
The familiar parlor car lay before her.
The vast starry sky streamed past the huge windows.
Warm, bright lights, comfortable carpets and sofas…
everything was almost exactly as she remembered from the game.
A strange sense of belonging, mixed with the feeling of being in a different lifetime, washed over her.
Just then, Pom-Pom, the conductor of the train, came running over on short little legs.
He was wearing a uniform, his ears flopping, his face filled with worry and seriousness.
“Passenger Himeko, Passenger Welt, what happened, pom?
That impact just now…” Pom-Pom’s words trailed off as his gaze fell on Mercy, especially the faint but undeniable aura of destruction she carried, even though she was suppressing it as much as possible.
Pom-Pom’s little nose twitched.
His round eyes grew even wider.
His little paw pointed at Mercy, and his voice trembled with disbelief.
“Wait!
Y-you…
that aura…
Destruction!
It’s the aura of a Lord Ravager, pom!!!” That cry was like a boulder dropped into a calm lake.
HUMM—!
Almost instantly, a low, rumbling hum came from somewhere in the parlor car, even from the entire train, as if heavy energy weapons were being charged up.
Hidden turrets in the walls seemed on the verge of opening.
Himeko’s gentle expression vanished, replaced by cold solemnity.
Her coffee cup was gone, replaced by an invisible, coiled power ready to strike.
Welt took a decisive step forward, placing himself between Pom-Pom and Mercy.
He struck his cane against the floor, and a heavy gravitational field began to radiate from him.
The air in the entire carriage seemed to freeze.
Lord Ravager.
They knew all too well what that name meant in the universe.
It was the embodiment of destruction, the enemy of civilization, one of the ultimate threats the Astral Express must guard against on its Trailblaze journey.
Mercy was startled by the sudden hostility.
She quickly raised her hands, along with the ticket, to show she meant no harm.
“Hold on!
Don’t shoot!
I’m on your side…
I mean, I mean no harm!
I really mean no harm!” Her anxious gaze swept over Himeko and Welt, who were on high alert, and finally landed on Pom-Pom, who was still behind Welt, pointing at her with a look of utter bewilderment.
Pom-Pom looked at the special, authentic Astral Express ticket in Mercy’s raised hand, then sensed the unmistakable aura of a Destruction Emanator emanating from her.
His little head seemed to have entered a logical loop.
“The ticket…
is real, pom…
with a ticket, you’re a passenger, a good person, pom…” Pom-Pom muttered, his paws waving unconsciously.
“But…
a Lord Ravager…
is a bad person, pom…
a bad person of Destruction…
but she has a ticket…
a good person…
a bad person with a ticket…
Pom-Pom…
Pom-Pom can’t process this, pom!!!” He clutched his big ears and spun around twice, his face a mess of confusion and blankness, as if his CPU had overloaded and was about to start smoking.
Mercy looked at Pom-Pom’s adorably conflicted expression and almost laughed out loud.
But feeling the still-present vigilance from Himeko and Welt, she suppressed her amusement, took a deep breath, and asked a question that was very important to her.
“Before I explain everything…
can I ask one thing?
What year is it in the Star Calendar?
Or…
how long has it been since the Stellaron disaster on Radiant Star, near Penacony?” Himeko and Welt exchanged a glance, seeming surprised by her question.
Welt adjusted his glasses and answered in a low voice.
“It is currently Star Calendar Year XXXX.
If you’re referring to the tragedy on Radiant Star ten years ago, caused by a Stellaron and the Antimatter Legion invasion…
it has indeed been ten years.” (T/N: The author doesn’t really know the precise timeline so they will be kinda vague.) “T-ten…
years…” Mercy repeated the number softly.
Even though she had mentally prepared herself (since time could flow differently during interstellar travel), hearing it confirmed brought a wave of inexpressible grief and loss.
Ten years.
For short-lived species, that was a long time.
How were Robin and Sunday doing now?
Were they doing well in Penacony?
Did they still…
remember her?
Their mother’s sacrifice, her father’s disappearance…
ten years was enough to change so much.
The genuine, deep sadness in her eyes did not seem like an act, and it caused Himeko and Welt’s tense nerves to relax just a little.
Would a Lord Ravager show such emotion over a planet that had been destroyed ten years ago?
“I…
mean no harm,” Mercy repeated, her voice a little hoarse.
“My appearing here was a complete accident.
I used this ticket hoping to find a safe place, but I ended up…
crashing into you.
As for my identity…
it’s complicated.
But I can assure you, I am not your enemy, and I have no intention of harming anyone on this train.” She waved the ticket in her hand.
“This should at least prove I mean no harm to the train, right?” Pom-Pom finally seemed to snap out of his confusion a little.
He looked at the ticket, then at Mercy, his small face scrunched up.
Finally, he seemed to make a difficult decision.
“Hmm…
according to the rules, holding a valid ticket means you are a passenger, pom…” Pom-Pom said hesitantly.
Then he turned to Himeko and Welt.
“Even though her aura is terrifying, pom…
but…
the ticket is real, pom!
And she really doesn’t seem to want to fight, pom…
Maybe…
we should observe her for a while, pom?” Himeko pondered for a moment, exchanged a look with Welt, and nodded slightly.
The train’s defense systems remained on high alert, but the obvious gun barrels and charging sounds gradually faded.
“Very well,” Himeko said, her tone still cautious.
“Given that you hold a special ticket for the train and have shown no hostile intent so far, we can temporarily accept you as a…
special passenger.
However, please understand our position.
Your identity is too sensitive.
We must take necessary precautions.” “I understand.
I completely understand,” Mercy said quickly.
Pom-Pom pointed to a relatively isolated corner of the parlor car.
“Then, until we get this sorted out, please stay in this area of the parlor car, pom.
Please don’t wander around, and especially don’t go near the core areas of the train or the other passengers’ rooms, pom!” “Alright, alright!
No problem!
I’ll behave!” Mercy agreed readily, immediately walking to the designated corner and sitting down obediently, like a child being punished.
She looked out at the flowing star river beyond the window, then at Himeko and Welt, who were still watching her warily, and at Pom-Pom, who kept sneaking glances at her with a conflicted, fearful expression.
Her heart was full of mixed emotions.
Ten years.
So much had changed.
She had arrived on the Astral Express in the most absurd way possible, but her identity was that of the least welcome “Lord Ravager.” The road ahead was long.
How could she earn their trust?
And how could she find her long-lost siblings in this complicated universe?
At least she had taken the first step.
Even if that step had been made by crashing into them.