Yun Fan's lifeless eyes stared blankly as he fell backward, crashing onto the floor with a thud, producing a muffled sound.
The instigator of this incident, Dan Heng, who had taken his life with Cloud-Piercer, let out a slight sigh of relief.
Then, Dan Heng turned around, his voice low as he spoke.
"March, look closely. He's not Mr. Yun Fan."
Hearing Dan Heng's words, little March, whose eyes were already brimming with tears, froze for a moment. Subconsciously, she widened her eyes and looked at the fallen Yun Fan.
At some point, a black mist had begun to emanate from the body of the fallen boy. Moments later, the mist dissipated, revealing a massive insect lying unwillingly on the ground.
Its wings trembled faintly, and its enormous pincers flailed as if refusing to accept its demise.
"This… is an insect?"
Stelle, who had never seen a true sting bug before, cautiously approached the lifeless creature. The curious girl summoned her Galactic Baseball Bat and gently prodded it.
"It's a true sting bug, and a large one at that… a remnant of The Propagation. Why would it suddenly appear on the train?"
Looking at the dead true sting bug on the floor, Himeko's brows furrowed deeply.
After a moment, the navigator seemed to realize something. She glanced at the unsettling scenery outside the train, a flash of understanding in her eyes.
"I think I understand!"
'Click——!'
Another sound of the door opening rang out as the dining car's door was pushed open from the outside once more.
"Himeko, I and…!"
The person who entered was none other than Welt. The moment Old Yang stepped inside, everyone in the dining car suddenly drew their weapons, aiming them uniformly at Welt standing at the doorway.
Seeing this, Mr. Welt was utterly bewildered. What was going on? Why were the people on the train suddenly pointing their weapons at him the moment he returned?
"Himeko, March… what's this about?"
"Wait a moment."
Himeko's expression remained vigilant. After telling Welt to wait, she nodded to Dan Heng.
The latter understood her signal, channeling the power of the Dragon Lord into his eyes. In an instant, a flash of void-piercing light flickered and vanished.
"He's the real Uncle Yang," Dan Heng said, retracting Cloud-Piercer. Seeing this, March and Stelle also lowered their weapons.
"Himeko, what happened?"
Welt was no fool. The tense, almost hostile reaction from everyone just now made it clear that something significant had occurred in the dining car during his brief absence.
"It's that thing."
Himeko pointed to the dead true sting bug in the corner, her tone slightly heavy as she spoke.
"A true sting bug?" Welt adjusted his glasses, then crouched down to inspect the creature's corpse.
"It looks like we're in trouble. This true sting bug is in its splitting phase. If my guess is correct, the train is likely already filled with its eggs."
— — — —
Herta Space Station, Main Control Segment, Simulated Universe Research and Development Center…
"Query: It is now the agreed-upon time, yet Herta has not arrived as promised. Hypothesis: There is an 80% probability that Herta has bailed at the last moment."
Glancing at the clock on the metal wall, Screwllum spoke as such.
"As expected, and within reason," Ruan Mei said with a faint smile, setting down her dessert cake. She had already anticipated Herta's behavior.
This woman boasted big yesterday, but if she can't follow through today, she'll probably come up with some excuse.
For example:
Herta: 'I suddenly got an invitation and have to head to the Scholars' Assembly. We'll talk about the Aeon of Causality next time.'
"But speaking of which, Screwllum, you're a mechanical lifeform yourself. Why bother with something as meaningless as checking the time?"
Ruan Mei asked with slight curiosity. Screwllum, the leader of Screwllum's Planet, was a mechanical lifeform—essentially a supercomputer.
So why would a computer bother with something as pointless as checking a clock?
Hearing Ruan Mei's words, Mr. Screwllum fell silent for a moment.
"Response: The act is indeed meaningless. It is merely an attempt to emulate the lifeform of humans more closely."
"The lifeform of humans?" Ruan Mei murmured to herself, a hint of confusion and bewilderment flashing in her eyes.
As a fellow emissary of the Erudition Star God Nous, her pursuit and research direction was 'life.'
So, the question arose: what exactly is life? From a material perspective, life is a carbon-based organism.
But if that were the case, could a mechanical lifeform like Screwllum still be considered life?
In pursuit of the essence of life, Ruan Mei left the Xianzhou Alliance, abandoning her homeland.
After enduring countless hardships and failures, this determined and courageous girl finally beheld a deity.
Ruan Mei asked the deity: What is life? To the girl's disappointment, the concept of life was too vast, and even the all-knowing Nous could not provide an answer that truly satisfied her.
"Hey, you're all here? Oh, sorry, I was catching up with a friend, so I'm a bit late."
As Ruan Mei picked up her dessert again and sank into thought, the research lab's door was suddenly pushed open from the outside. Lady Herta walked in, accompanied by a handsome black-haired man.
"Alert: Lady Herta, you are 27 minutes and 31 seconds late, nearly half a system hour."
"Deduction: Half a system hour is enough for Screwllum's Planet to gain thirty-five new residents, enough for Anbilas Star to continue surviving…"
"Stop, stop, stop! This delay is on me, and I'll make up for it."
Hearing Screwllum's string of remarks, Lady Herta felt a headache coming on.
She was over 200 years old, and being lectured like this felt like mosquitoes buzzing around her—utterly annoying.
"Who is this gentleman?"
Hearing Herta's words, Screwllum dropped the matter and turned his gaze to the man beside her.
The power of Erudition flowed, enhancing his mechanical eyes, allowing him to see more things and concepts.
Yet, what intrigued him was that even with the power of an emissary-level Erudition, he could not see through the man's true nature.
It was as if… the man before him was just an ordinary person, nothing more than an utterly ordinary human.
=====
New Story posted:
Mushoku Tensei: The Imbibitor Lunae Template