Although Aha’s prank had brought Ye Cang no small amount of trouble, there was no doubt that after all this commotion, the fear of the eldritch calamity and the confusion about the future in Ye Cang’s heart had mostly dissipated.
His originally tense nerves involuntarily relaxed.
Before March could swing her chainsaw to chop off his hand, he decided to strike first.
Under the shocked gazes of the girl and the others, he directly tore a piece of fabric from March 7th’s sailor uniform, then quickly tore off a large piece of his own clothing and covered her with it, preventing March 7th from being exposed.
Thus, the method of shedding the golden cicada’s shell was complete!
Ye Cang casually put away the Death Diary, letting the diary spin and disappear into his palm, as if he carried a pocket dimension with him.
At the same time, with a thought, he took out the mask Aha had given him from that “pocket dimension” and displayed it before the Astral Express crew.
“This is an item the Aeon of Elation gave me.
I think this can prove I’m not lying.”
Hearing this, everyone’s gaze was immediately drawn to the comical and bizarre black-and-white mask in his hand, and they couldn’t help but believe his words somewhat.
Welt reached out, took the mask, and examined it for a moment.
He nodded in acknowledgment: “It is indeed a token of the Masked Fools.
I can sense the power fluctuations of the Elation Path within it, and it seems…
no less than Emanator level.”
March was shocked, looking at Ye Cang in disbelief: “Ye Cang, you’ve become an Emanator of Elation?”
“…” Ye Cang’s heart skipped a beat.
Oh no, have I become an Emanator of Elation?
No, that’s not right.
Aha probably wouldn’t think much of a boring person like me.
Himeko looked helplessly at the two staring at each other and explained, “It’s just that this mask contains Emanator-level Path energy.
That doesn’t mean Ye Cang has become an Emanator of Elation…
At least, until now, I haven’t sensed any Path power fluctuations from him.”
“In other words, the current Ye Cang is still just an ordinary person.”
Dan Heng rested his chin on one hand, his eyes appearing slightly sharp under the red eye makeup at the corners.
“But if he’s just an ordinary person, how could he attract the gaze of an Aeon, and even be given such a precious [token]?”
He said, then gave Ye Cang a deep look: “You may not understand how precious this mask is, but in the eyes of those Masked Fools who play in the world, the one who wears this mask can be regarded as an [Emanator of Elation]!”
“In the future, if you have a chance to visit the Tavern at the End of the World, you’ll understand what I mean.”
“The Tavern at the End of the World?
What’s that?”
“Um…
you can think of it as the gathering place for those lunatics, the Masked Fools.”
“And what are the Masked Fools?”
“Uh, followers of the Aeon of Elation.
They’ll stop at nothing to find amusement, often turning everywhere they go upside down…
That’s why I don’t like them much.”
“Oh, I see.” Ye Cang nodded.
At the same time, Welt returned the mask to him, but before he could warm it up, March snatched it away, holding it up to her eyes like a curious child, examining it with great interest.
Ye Cang didn’t rush her.
After all, he was in the wrong first.
Not to mention March just took a look; he wouldn’t mind even if she borrowed it for a few days.
Moreover, rather than the matter of the mask, what he cared about more now was…
“Fellow Nameless, may I ask which era it is now?”
“Amber Era 2158.
What is it, pom?” Conductor Pom-Pom tilted up his cute big head and reached up to adjust his red top hat.
Only then did Ye Cang notice this little cutie who had been at his feet all along.
He immediately crouched down, reached out with both hands, and cupped Pom-Pom’s furry, soft cheeks.
A satisfied smile appeared on his face, and then…
Storm inhale!
So good!
This was way better than petting a cat!
“Mmmph…
let go…
five pom!
No disrespect…
to the Conductor…
pom!”
“Please, just one more sniff, pom!”
Ye Cang clung to Pom-Pom tightly, refusing to let go, burying his head and inhaling wildly!
It wasn’t until Dan Heng and Welt couldn’t stand it anymore and forcibly separated him from the Conductor that he finally composed himself.
He calmly and quietly straightened his tattered clothes, looked around at everyone, and spoke with a smile: “Fellow Nameless, allow me to reintroduce myself.
My full name is [Ye Cang].
As you can see, I am a [Pathless Walker].”
“It seems a lot happened on the train while we were unconscious…” Welt Yang looked at the handsome youth before him with a complicated expression, and nodded slightly: “Welt Yang.
Ye Cang, I’m probably a few years older than you.
You can call me Mr.
Yang, like March and the others do.”
“Okay, Mr.
Yang.” Ye Cang smiled, but inwardly he was grumbling.
A few years older?
Try a few hundred years, okay?
Others might not know your glorious deeds of doing “sit-ups” on Earth, but as an old captain, Ye Cang could recite them backwards and forwards, if not fluently.
At the very least, he could count them like family treasures.
But jokes aside, Ye Cang still held great respect for Welt Yang’s character.
After all, he was a man named after the world.
With Ye Cang and Welt starting, the other Astral Express crew members also introduced themselves one by one.
They were all old acquaintances, so there’s no need to elaborate here.
Ye Cang’s action was just to shift their way of addressing him, from [Cang] to [Ye Cang].
Otherwise, always using someone else’s name felt strange.
In the following conversation, Ye Cang subtly probed and learned that his predecessor, the original owner of this body, [Cang], was not officially a member of the train crew, but just a temporary passenger.
Although Navigator Himeko had tried to invite [Cang] to join the Nameless, due to their differing ideals, after being rejected once by [Cang], she didn’t bring it up again.
Considering that he would likely be traveling with the train crew for a long time to come, Ye Cang had no objection to joining the Nameless.
But due to [Cang]’s previous behavior, he couldn’t abruptly change his stance.
He could only wait for a future opportunity to bring it up.
The Astral Express traveled through the sea of stars.
The light of distant stars twinkled faintly on the dark curtain of the universe.
Ye Cang tried hard to digest the information in his mind, organizing everything he had experienced since transmigrating into a book in his mind, then placing it in the library of his “memory palace.”
This method wasn’t foolproof.
Just in case, he had personally written down some important information in the Death Diary.
He had completely forgotten the memories of the previous “loop.” He could only touch upon some horrifying scenes from the fragmented words in the diary.
He couldn’t imagine what he had experienced in that “loop,” nor could he feel that nearly hysterical despair.
From this perspective, perhaps the Death Diary’s function of sacrificing memories was less a price and more a kind of “protection” for his mental state.
The fact that he could stand here and banter with March and chat freely with Welt and Himeko, was largely because he had forgotten that painful, desperate memory.
Thus, he remembered what Aha said before leaving:
“I forgot the beginning, I forgot the middle, anyway…
there must be laughter!”
Only in this way could he walk through this journey destined for madness with an open and optimistic heart.
Ye Cang gazed at the brilliant sea of stars outside the window, as if he could see a pair of invisible hands slowly lifting the vast curtain of the Star Rail universe for him.
From then on, the legend of the Pathless Walker had begun.