Su Yan didn’t pay much mind to the increase in affinity.
When moving from strangers to acquaintances, affinity typically rose quickly in the early stages.
For extroverted individuals, it was even faster.
Like Stelle, for instance…
Su Yan handed a baseball bat to Stelle, and in the very next instant…
[Affinity +3]
Another increase…
Even if early affinity was easy to gain, this was bordering on effortless.
With an internal scoff, the two left the Curio storage room.
The moment the hatch slid open, the Voidrangers outside detected life signs and lunged toward them like ravenous wolves, reeking of murderous intent.
*Whoosh—*
Before Su Yan could even react, Stelle had already charged forward.
The baseball bat ripped through the air with a low whistle, shattering the two nearest Voidrangers on the spot.
Even with her memories lost, the instincts honed from countless battles and rigorous training remained intact.
Stelle was still an exceptional combatant.
Seeing the Voidrangers crushed by Stelle, Su Yan realized what he needed to do.
He raised his gun and aimed at the Voidrangers farther down the hall.
*Fusion Beam—*
In the next instant, all the Voidrangers within Su Yan’s line of sight dissolved into light, fusing seamlessly with the potted plants that had simultaneously turned to light, coalescing into twisted vegetation bearing the dark color scheme of the Voidrangers.
“???”
Faced with such an unexpected development, Stelle’s charge ground to an immediate halt.
She spun around to look back.
Seeing Su Yan holding up the gun, she deduced that the absurd scene before her was his doing…
In her current state, Stelle was like a blank slate; if she was curious, she simply asked.
“…How did you do that?”
“With this!” Su Yan gave the gun in his hand a slight wave and offered a concise explanation.
“It can fuse any living being and object together.”
“Any?
Sounds amazing…”
Stelle’s eyes sparkled as she stared at the ordinary-looking Fusion Gun, practically itching to try it.
“Let’s go!
Keep moving…”
Ignoring Stelle’s eager gaze, Su Yan advanced down the corridor.
Whenever he encountered Voidrangers along the way, he fired off a Fusion Beam…
Walls, potted plants, plastic bottles…
The Voidrangers fused with all manner of objects, giving rise to various new life-forms and bizarre creations.
Walking alongside him, Stelle watched Su Yan’s antics with increasingly radiant eyes.
The words “I want to play” were practically leaping out of her gaze.
No, they were already leaping out—straight from her mouth…
“Let me try!
I want to play with it!
Please!”
Su Yan did not refuse Stelle’s plea.
“Here!”
When creating the item, Su Yan had included a defusion effect in its design.
Even if Stelle caused trouble, Su Yan had the means to resolve it.
His system was thoroughly reliable!
“Yay!” Stelle cheered.
[Affinity +10]
Having gotten her hands on the item, Stelle immediately started messing around with it.
Light flashed repeatedly as one bizarre creation after another appeared…
A potted plant bearing beverage cans as fruit, a Voidranger-flavored soft drink, bread as hard as an alloy…
Had her fusion materials not been so limited, the resulting items would have been even stranger.
*…I’d better not lend dangerous items to Stelle in the future.*
At that same moment, at the other end of the corridor.
“Dan Heng, look ahead…”
March 7th pointed toward the end of the passage, where light was flashing like a flickering lamp.
“It’s blinking!”
“It might be the enemy!
March…”
Hearing this, March 7th immediately cast an ice shield over both Dan Heng and herself.
Moving one behind the other, they approached the corner of the corridor with utmost caution.
Then, March 7th saw it…
With a flash of light, a Voidranger and some spilled liquid turned into beams of energy and merged into a single, peculiar puddle.
“Huh?” March 7th gasped in astonishment, looking as if she had just witnessed the impossible, her gaze darting back and forth between the puddle and the gray-haired girl.
*A Curio…*
Dan Heng’s gaze fell upon the gun-like Curio for a brief moment before shifting to the two strangers, his guard clearly raised.
At that exact moment…
[March 7th’s Affinity unlocked, Affinity: 0]
[Dan Heng’s Affinity unlocked, Affinity: 0]
As Su Yan laid eyes on the two, system notifications popped up, and corresponding sections appeared in the shop for both of them.
“Hello!
I’m Su Yan, a traveler.
Ending up on the Herta Space Station was an accident!”
“This is Stelle.
She has amnesia from an accident, so I was planning to take her to the Master Control Zone to see a doctor.”
Taking the Fusion Gun back from Stelle, Su Yan briefly introduced himself and his companion.
With her toy taken away, Stelle didn’t seem downcast.
Her curiosity had been satisfied.
Looking at Dan Heng and March 7th, she gave a radiant smile.
“Hello!
I’m Stelle!”
A bright, sunny smile was always easier to trust.
March 7th introduced herself and Dan Heng in turn.
“Hello!
I’m March 7th, a Nameless from the Astral Express.”
“This is Dan Heng, also a Nameless from the Astral Express.”
Lacking common knowledge, Stelle asked curiously, “What’s the Astral Express?
And what are the Nameless?”
March 7th wasn’t surprised by Stelle’s questions.
Having lost her own memories in the past, she understood Stelle’s current state all too well and patiently explained the basics: “The Astral Express is a special train that voyages across the sea of stars, and the Nameless are those who walk the Path of the Trailblaze…”
“A special train that voyages across the sea of stars?
I’d love to see it!” Stelle’s eyes sparkled with curiosity, wondering what the Astral Express looked like and how a train could travel across the cosmos.
“The Express will be docking at the platform later.
Once your checkup is done, I’ll give you a tour of the train!”
March 7th gladly offered to fulfill her wish.
“Thank you, March!”
While Stelle and March 7th chatted happily, Su Yan and Dan Heng exchanged a quiet look.
“I suppose we’ll be traveling together for a bit…”
Su Yan broke the silence and asked, “What’s your mission?”
“Search and rescue for researchers who couldn’t evacuate in time,” Dan Heng replied succinctly.
“Need a hand?” Su Yan asked.
“No need, I’ve already found him,” Dan Heng answered.
After another brief silence, Su Yan asked, “Heading out now?”
Dan Heng had no objections, and the group proceeded toward the monitoring room.
[Arlan’s Affinity unlocked, Affinity: 0]
“Are you all together?”
Arlan looked at the group entering the room.
Two of them were Nameless he recognized.
Were the other two recent additions to the crew?
“I’m Su Yan, a traveler.
I ended up on the space station by accident.”
“I’m Stelle.
As for the rest, I forgot…”
“Forgot?” Surprised by the answer, Arlan glanced over, somewhat concerned.
“She has amnesia.
She probably hit her head while dodging the Voidrangers…”
March 7th spoke up to clear Arlan’s confusion.
“Hmph, mere Voidrangers are no match for me!” Stelle retorted.
Just Voidrangers—she could crush them with a single swing of her bat.
“Oh yeah?
Then how did you lose your memory?” March 7th rested her hands on her hips and countered.
“I don’t know, I have amnesia,” Stelle stated matter-of-factly.
“All right, we can discuss this later.
Let’s evacuate first,” Dan Heng intervened before they could continue.
“You guys go ahead!
I’ll stay here,” Arlan explained his reasoning.
“The elevator needs to be locked down after use to prevent the Voidrangers from invading the Master Control Zone.
Besides, my leg is injured, making it difficult to move.”
“Locking the elevator can be done from the Master Control Zone as well.
As for your injury…”
Su Yan flicked his fingers, sending a wisp of emerald light straight into Arlan’s body.
Arlan’s wound began healing at a visible pace.
“Are you a Pathstrider of the Abundance?”
“No, it’s a Curio!
Like I said earlier, I’m a traveler, and I’ve picked up a few Curios during my journeys!”
Hearing this, no one doubted him; with enough luck, coming across Curios was entirely possible.
With the injury resolved, Arlan had no further reason to stay behind.
Wasting no time, the group followed Arlan’s recommendation and headed toward the top level of the Storage Zone to take the elevator.