The Astral Express’s Trailblaze journey continued.
The silver train body, like an indefatigable traveler, shuttled between one Stellaron crisis after another that demanded resolution.
With Mercy’s “unconventional” combat power joining the team, the process of neutralizing Stellarons became remarkably efficient, even a little surreal.
Faced with those “cancers of all worlds” that would give ordinary Pathstriders, even entire armies, a headache with their ominous fluctuations, Mercy’s approach was refreshingly simple.
She would walk to the epicenter of the Stellaron’s affected area, and under the watchful eyes of Himeko and Welt, open her mouth.
She channeled her destruction energy inward, forming a microscopic energy vortex, and then…
Gulp— Like eating a candy bean, she swallowed the world-shattering Stellaron whole, along with the negative energy radiating around it.
No earth-shattering explosions.
No grueling tug-of-war.
Just a slight swallowing motion in Mercy’s throat, a brief brightening and circulation of the dark-golden destruction energy within her, and then everything returned to calm.
The chaotic, twisted power of the Stellaron seemed to be nothing more than a minuscule “snack” added to her body, which was itself composed of the essence of destruction.
[Ding!
Detected high-density chaotic energy intake.
Being assimilated by the core of the Destruction Path…
Mental Contamination Resistance checking…
Check passed!
No side effects.] Daria’s notification occasionally echoed in her mind, calm and matter-of-fact.
This inconceivable “digestive” ability left even Welt Yang deeply shaken.
He had once seriously asked Mercy if she felt any discomfort.
She just scratched her head and said with an innocent look, “I don’t feel anything, really.
If I had to describe it…
it’s like eating a mint candy with no flavor?
It feels cool.” The key to this likely lay in what Daria had mentioned: “Mental Contamination Resistance.” Mercy herself hadn’t paid much attention to it.
Day after day, without fail, the [Free Daily Shop] would refresh seemingly useless little items like [Constitution/Endurance Boost (Minor)], [Mental Resilience Glimmer], [Soul Stabilization Elixir (Diluted)], and so on.
Through constant use over the years, her mental defenses had been built up to an unimaginable level of strength.
Combined with the natural affinity and suppression that a Destruction Emanator’s essence had over negative energy, devouring Stellarons, an act that would be suicide for anyone else, really was just “eating a snack” for her.
Yet powerful strength and solid mental defenses could not completely fill the void in her heart.
Whenever a Stellaron cleansing mission ended and the train sailed quietly through the sea of stars, Mercy would always retreat to her small rest room deep in the warehouse.
She would close the door, turn on the high-fidelity portable music player she had spent a fortune on from the information terminal, and put on noise-canceling headphones.
Then, ethereal, heavenly singing would fill the cramped space.
It was Robin’s voice.
Ten years had passed.
Her little sister, once timid and dependent on her family, who had only hummed softly at home, had now become the galaxy-renowned “Galactic Songstress” with her god-kissed voice and the Halovian’s innate ethereal quality.
Her albums sold out instantly upon release.
Her concerts were impossible to get tickets for.
Her merchandise was priced high.
Mercy was one of Robin’s most devoted and most “bankrupted” fans.
She had collected all of Robin’s albums since her debut, including the earliest limited-edition demo versions, special editions released in different star systems, and even deluxe collector’s editions with autographs (verified to be genuine).
She bought every product Robin endorsed, from high-end custom apparel to limited-edition interstellar travel sets (even though she barely used them).
The only “decoration” in her rest room was the several large Robin posters on the wall.
In them, her little sister had shed all traces of childhood, appearing even more beautiful and moving.
Her eyes held warmth and determination, and her voice seemed to pierce through the poster itself, soothing Mercy’s soul directly.
All of this had cost her the meager allowance she received from Pom-Pom as a “supply keeper,” along with the extra money she earned from occasional odd jobs (like using her destruction energy to precisely cut particularly tough scrap materials).
She had even secretly sold a few seemingly useless but apparently rare items that had appeared in the daily shop, like [A Pocket Watch That Looks Like an Antique] and [Known Star Chart Fragments], just to sustain this expensive fan habit.
Today, the train had just finished cleansing a frozen planet and was en route to the next destination.
Mercy sat cross-legged on her small bed, her eyes sparkling as she stared at the freshly refreshed interstellar shopping platform interface on her information terminal.
“Here it comes, here it comes!
Robin’s new album, Starry Dream Whispers, the ultimate deluxe edition!
Comes with a holographic MV and unreleased recording outtakes!
And a limited-edition feather-shaped interstellar USB drive!” Mercy rubbed her hands excitedly, looking at the jaw-dropping price: four hundred thousand credits!
She didn’t hesitate for a moment.
Her fingers flew across the screen, tapping “Purchase and Express Delivery to Current Coordinates (Astral Express)” and entering her payment password (almost emptying her entire savings).
The entire process was so smooth it seemed rehearsed countless times.
“Done!” She let out a satisfied sigh, a blissful smile spreading across her face as if she could already see the shiny album flying into her arms.
Just then, a soft knock came at the rest room door.
Mercy opened it to find Himeko standing outside, holding a cup of coffee.
Her gaze casually swept over the still-open shopping interface and the eye-popping payment amount.
“Mercy,” Himeko said, her tone carrying a subtle hint of concern and curiosity, “I’ve noticed you seem to be a very big fan of Miss Robin’s work.
This is already the third album of hers you’ve bought this month, isn’t it?
And all expensive special editions.” Mercy smiled a little sheepishly.
“Mm!
I really love her songs.
Her voice makes me feel at ease.
It feels like home.” There was a faint trace of nostalgia in her words.
Their conversation caught the attention of Pom-Pom and Welt, who happened to be passing by the warehouse.
Pom-Pom poked his head in just in time to hear Himeko’s comment.
His little face immediately scrunched up.
“Oh my goodness, pom!
Passenger Mercy!
You’re wasting money again, pom!
How many credits this time, pom?!” He trotted in on his short legs and stood on tiptoe, trying to see the terminal screen.
Mercy instinctively tried to hide it, but it was too late.
Welt Yang also stepped inside.
He adjusted his glasses, looking at Mercy’s guilty expression and the still-visible transaction record on the terminal.
The long string of numbers made even this well-traveled former Anti-Entropy sovereign raise an eyebrow slightly.
“Four hundred thousand credits?” Welt’s voice carried a note of disbelief beneath its calm.
“Just for one album?
Mercy, I understand you appreciate Miss Robin’s art, but isn’t this spending a little impulsive?
On a Trailblaze journey, credits are also an important resource that should be managed wisely.” Even someone as composed as him found this level of fan spending a bit excessive.
Four hundred thousand credits was enough to buy a decent house on quite a few planets, or to fund several medium-sized maintenance upgrades for the train.
Pom-Pom was even more distressed, patting his chest with his little paw.
“Four hundred thousand, pom!
That could buy so much good food and useful supplies, pom!
That’s enough for so many train maintenance sessions, pom!
Passenger Mercy, you need to be more moderate, pom!
Buy fewer things, pom!” Faced with their advice, Mercy showed no sign of remorse.
Instead, she straightened her back and declared with complete confidence: “How is this wasting money?
What’s wrong with supporting someone you love?!
And besides, Robin is my sister!
What’s wrong with me spending money on my sister and buying her albums?!
Isn’t that only natural?!” Her words fell, and the entire warehouse rest room fell into utter silence.
Himeko’s hand, holding her coffee cup, froze mid-air.
Welt Yang’s motion of adjusting his glasses stopped.
Pom-Pom’s mouth fell open, his ears shooting straight up, as if he had just heard something that overturned the very laws of the universe.
“Wh-what did you say?” Himeko was the first to recover, her voice carrying a rare note of shock.
“Miss Robin is your sister?” Welt’s gaze behind his glasses sharpened.
He repeated the words slowly, trying to confirm this astonishing information.
“You mean to say that the current galaxy-renowned ‘Galactic Songstress,’ the Halovian star of Penacony’s ‘Family,’ Robin, is your, a ‘Lord Ravager’s,’ biological sister?” (T/N: That was a lot of apostrophes, but it’s grammatically correct now, I think.) Pom-Pom finally found his voice and shrieked, “That’s impossible, pom!
Miss Robin is a member of the ‘Family,’ pom!
She’s a Halovian who follows the ‘Harmony,’ pom!
How could she be the sister of a Destruction Emanator, pom?!
That background is way too big, pom!
No, it’s way too confusing, pom!” Mercy looked at the three faces before her, each wearing an expression that read “Are you serious?” and “Information overload, cannot process.” She belatedly realized she had accidentally let slip a rather significant secret.
She rubbed her nose, a little embarrassed, and added, “Uh…
yes, biological sister.
And I have a younger brother named Sunday.
We used to live on Radiant Star.
And then some things happened, and we were separated.” There was a faint, genuine trace of loneliness and longing in her voice.
The emotion was not feigned, and it eased the shock in Himeko and Welt’s hearts somewhat, replacing it with deeper curiosity and a glimmer of understanding.
If what Mercy said was true, then many puzzles seemed to have answers.
Her faint affinity for the power of Harmony and her Halovian features.
That deep-seated softness and protective instinct that seemed so incompatible with Destruction.
And that extraordinary, almost obsessive love and support she had for Robin.
One, a Lord Ravager representing destruction and finality.
The other, a galactic songstress symbolizing beauty and harmony.
The difference between these sisters in identity and standing was not just vast, but the polar opposite of Paths.
What a twist of fate lay behind this, and what sorrow.
Himeko took a slow sip of her coffee to steady herself, looking at Mercy with a complicated gaze.
“It seems your past is even more eventful than we imagined.” Welt was silent for a long moment.
In the end, he simply gave Mercy a long, deep look and said nothing more about her spending habits.
If it was for a long-lost family member, perhaps it was understandable.
Pom-Pom, meanwhile, remained in a state of utter confusion.
He clutched his head with his little paws and paced in circles around the room.
“Her sister is a galactic songstress, pom…
her brother is probably some big shot too, pom…
are all Lord Ravager families, this impressive, pom…
Pom-Pom needs a moment to process this, pom…” Mercy watched their varied reactions and let out a quiet sigh of relief, though a trace of melancholy lingered.
She put her headphones back on.
Robin’s soothing voice filled her ears once more, enveloping her.
She looked at her sister’s poster on the wall and silently thought: Little bird, is Sister a little closer to you now?
One day, I will find you.
In my own way.
And her bombshell revelation that the “Lord Ravager’s sister is the Galactic Songstress” had undoubtedly planted a seed of dramatic unpredictability for the train’s journey ahead.