Lingzhou was not a Masked Fool.
Lingzhou:
“Big sis, your aura is extraordinary. One look and I can tell you were born for the sea of stars.”
“In the future, you’re bound to become famous throughout the cosmos.”
“Staying on the Space Station just so Herta can poke and prod at you would be a tragic waste of talent.”
“Board the Astral Express.”
“Become a Nameless.”
“And begin a magnificent journey that belongs to you.”
“You’ve got my blood pumping. Fine, I’m in!”
“Does joining the Astral Express include meals?”
A-Xian really wanted to immediately click the first option.
But the second one stirred just a tiny bit of curiosity.
Lingzhou immediately burst into hearty laughter.
“Of course meals are included.”
“The Conductor prepares plentiful food for everyone every day.”
“Occasionally, you’ll even get afternoon tea personally prepared by Himeko.”
“The benefits are excellent.”
“Any other questions?”
“Nope. Please take care of me from now on.”
Lingzhou:
“Welcome aboard.”
“Once you get on the train, remember to come find me for your boarding gift.”
The game transitioned into a CG cutscene.
A soft, soothing melody quietly began to play.
Little March swaggered toward the Express with the sort of gait that recognized neither kin nor authority, chatting and laughing with Lingzhou as she went.
Himeko gently patted Stelle’s shoulder.
“Come aboard.”
Stelle slowly nodded.
She looked back once, waved goodbye to Asta and the others, then stepped toward the train.
When she saw Herta turn around and leave without even the slightest hesitation, Stelle suddenly felt glad about her choice.
Lingzhou was right.
If she remained at the Space Station as Herta’s research specimen, she’d probably be tossed aside and forgotten within two days.
“Why does Stelle’s little expression look kind of relieved?”
A-Xian muttered to herself.
She didn’t think too deeply about it.
As soon as the CG ended and she finished talking to Pom-Pom, she immediately swept her camera around the Express.
Found him.
Lingzhou:
“You’re here.”
“Here, a small gift.”
“Nothing much.”
“These mysterious glowing stones have no known purpose.”
“Sometimes you can find random amounts of them in the forgotten corners of the universe.”
“You’re rather special.”
“Perhaps you’ll discover what they’re useful for.”
The moment Lingzhou’s clear voice finished speaking and the conspicuous reward appeared on screen—
The players exploded.
[FATHER!]
[IS THAT TRUE, FATHER?!]
[Well, now I HAVE to pull Lingzhou.]
[A ten-pull as a welcome gift? What else is there to say? If my lord does not disdain me, I am willing to recognize you as my foster father!]
[The preview stream never said we’d get an extra ten-pull… This is insane.]
“From now on, none of you are allowed to say anything bad about Lingzhou!”
“He’s my dad!”
[Dad or husband? Pick one.]
[Ohhh, so A-Xian likes that kind of play…]
[Honestly, calling someone Daddy is a pretty good seasoning.]
[Different titles for different occasions?]
[Keep talking and this stream is getting deleted.]
Lingzhou:
“Like it?”
Players had different tastes.
Different preferences.
But in a gacha game, there was one thing almost nobody hated—
Pulling currency.
Only a saint among saints would dislike free pulls.
Lingzhou:
“Come to think of it, we never had a proper introduction.”
“My name is Lingzhou.”
“I’m the doctor aboard the Express.”
“If you ever feel unwell, tired, or lacking energy, come find me anytime.”
“When it comes to relieving fatigue, I’m something of an expert.”
“There’s still some time before the Express makes its next jump.”
“Want to relax a little right now?”
“Sure.”
“Not right now. I still have things to do.”
“There is absolutely no universe where I pick option two.”
“But how exactly are we relaxing?”
A-Xian’s imagination immediately began running wild.
She was an artist specializing in “cultured” works.
What kind of scenes crossed her mind needed no explanation.
Unfortunately, this was a general-audiences game rated 12+.
There was no chance of anything remotely like what she imagined appearing.
All the players saw was a short animation of Lingzhou spreading out a row of silver needles.
“My father in heaven!”
“He really can relieve fatigue and restore stamina!”
“And he gives Stellar Jade too?!”
A-Xian immediately spoke to Lingzhou again, trying to see whether she could get another reward.
Instead, she was informed that she could only ask him to relieve her fatigue once per day.
“Ohhh, I get it.”
“So basically, we can visit Lingzhou every day for sixty Trailblaze Power.”
“That’s pretty damn good.”
“It’s basically three hundred stamina per day.”
[More than Genshin!]
[It IS more than Genshin, but we don’t know how expensive progression materials are yet.]
[No rush. We’ll know soon.]
Whenever a new game launched, information about free resources always spread absurdly quickly.
More and more players learned that Lingzhou could restore sixty Trailblaze Power every day.
The first time you spoke to him after boarding the Express, you also received 1600 Stellar Jade.
And beyond those two things—
Restoring Trailblaze Power had an unknown chance of giving additional rewards.
It didn’t take long before someone in A-Xian’s chat started bragging that they had received an extra ten Special Passes.
“Seriously?”
[If I’m lying, may I lose ten centimeters. Check my feed. Screenshot proof!]
A-Xian switched windows, captured the viewer’s profile, and opened their latest post.
Sure enough—
The first post was a screenshot showing an additional ten Star Rail Special Passes.
“Holy ten-pull jackpot!”
“If there’s a chance of getting this every day…”
“Everyone, tell me what kinds of bonus rewards you’ve seen so far.”
“Actually, wait.”
“I’ll make a HoYoLAB poll. That’ll be faster.”
She watched chat for a long while and eventually confirmed something.
The only bonus rewards were—
Stellar Jade.
Special Passes.
Regular Passes.
All randomly awarded.
After some time, she refreshed the real-time poll.
Hundreds of thousands of responses had already poured in.
More than 97% had received only sixty Trailblaze Power.
A little over 2% had received ten Stellar Jade.
The remaining less than 1% accounted for every other bonus reward combined.
The highest-tier reward was ten Special Passes.
So far, only two people had submitted screenshot proof.
One of them was the viewer from her stream.
[Life suddenly feels worth looking forward to!]
[Liben, stop calling me. I’m afraid Father Lingzhou might misunderstand.]
[HE IS LITERALLY GOD!]
At that same moment aboard the Astral Express—
Lingzhou sat resting on the sofa.
The Faith he had spent had already returned at least a hundredfold.
Creating the daily check-in system had indeed been the correct decision.
For once, the System wasn’t completely useless in this lifetime.
It had finally managed to contribute something.
If it possessed the ability to cry, the System would probably already be sobbing in relief.
Finally…
Finally, Host didn’t think it was complete garbage anymore.
“Lingzhou, Welt.”
“Here’s your afternoon coffee.”
Himeko gracefully set two steaming drinks down in front of them.
She didn’t notice that both men—each fully capable of doing sit-ups from a dead stop—had an identical flicker of unease pass through their eyes.
“…Um.”
“Is today’s coffee a new recipe?”
“Or our usual flavor?”
Welt forced himself to remain calm and subtly sniffed the aroma.
It smelled normal enough.
The question was whether it would taste abnormal.
Or…
Would tasting good be the abnormal outcome?
“It’s a new recipe.”
“I plan to continue experimenting tomorrow.”
Himeko smiled gently, anticipation entering her voice.
“The supplies we restocked this time included quite a few excellent new ingredients.”
“I should be able to create dozens of new combinations.”
Lingzhou:
“…”
Damn.
Looks like he absolutely needed to get off the train during the next Trailblaze expedition.
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