Chadwick nodded upon hearing this and retreated. While everyone was still discussing the Triple Paths of Amphoreus, he quietly leaned in close to Fu Zhu and whispered in a voice only the two of them could hear.
"Apologies, Sir. The information is too scarce; I cannot draw any reliable conclusions."
"It's alright, Doctor. It's enough."
Fu Zhu looked at the others. By this time, Himeko and the rest had also finished their discussion.
"Although it is unclear which Path this third one is, this will not hinder the [Trailblaze]. Everyone, make your preparations. The jump is about to begin."
"Mn." xN
Everyone followed their habits from previous jumps and took their seats in the parlor car. March 7th and Xing sat directly on either side of Fu Zhu.
March 7th propped her hands on the seat on both sides of her, leaning her body against Fu Zhu and swinging her legs. She tilted her head and asked Fu Zhu with some excitement, "Fu Zhu, what kind of world do you think Amphoreus is? Is it primitive? Or technologically developed?"
Fu Zhu thought for a moment and replied with a smile, "I don't know, but it must have its own beautiful scenery. How about we take a few photos when we get there?"
"Okay, okay! Then I'll have to bring a few extra batteries. It would be bad if we landed in some primitive area!"
Sitting on Fu Zhu's other side, Xing poked her head out, looking Fu Zhu up and down with a suspicious expression.
"What's wrong? Why do you keep staring at me?"
"Old Bro, I feel like you're acting weird. Ever since we came back from Penacony, apart from when you're facing Little March, you haven't smiled at all. Is it bias? or did something happen?"
Fu Zhu paused, not expecting Xing to be observant enough to notice this. He immediately curled his lips into a smirk and poked her forehead hard with his finger.
"Of course it's bias."
Xing clutched her forehead, staring at Fu Zhu in disbelief. "Wow, Old Bro, you actually said something so unforgivable so righteously! I'm still your sister, hey! You forgot your sister once you got a wife!"
"If you stopped being so abstract and behaved yourself, I would definitely be biased toward you too."
"If I stopped being abstract, would I still be your sister?"
"True..."
While the three bickered, the train began its jump. The familiar sensation of weightlessness took over, and the scenery outside the window turned into streaks of flowing light like stretched silk. But not long after, the speeding train came to a halt.
Fu Zhu and the others hurriedly stood up from the sofa and looked out the window.
The starry sky where the train was located was pitch black and silent, just like anywhere else, but in the distance, there were many twinkling stars.
However, their destination, Amphoreus, did not appear before everyone's eyes.
Xing looked at the scenery outside the car window and scratched her head in confusion.
"Where's Amphoreus? Did it wander off?"
The others also turned their heads in confusion to look at Black Swan, who was wearing a smile on the side. Black Swan walked gracefully to the window, turned to face everyone, raised her hand, and gently brushed it over the window pane. Following the movement of her palm across the glass, it was as if a curtain had been pulled open. A "ribbon" glowing with strange light appeared before everyone's eyes.
"This is the [Eternal Land], Amphoreus."
"Wow, it's so big!"
Xing blurted out her inner thoughts immediately. Fu Zhu also walked to her side, curiously observing the Amphoreus before him.
From its external appearance, rather than calling Amphoreus a planet, it was more accurate to call it a ribbon connected end-to-end. Its appearance at this moment strongly resembled the Mobius Strip in Fu Zhu's memory.
This shape indeed matched the name [Eternal Land].
After admiring Amphoreus, Fu Zhu turned to Himeko and said, "Himeko, I'll go back and prepare something first."
Himeko nodded lightly. After Fu Zhu left, she began calling for Dan Heng, Xing, and March 7th to go back and prepare their things. This time, for the Trailblaze expedition, she still planned to hand it over to the young ones.
---o---
Fu Zhu returned to his room. Instead of packing any luggage, he took out his phone and sent his current coordinates to Jing Yuan.
[Fu Zhu: Coordinates sent to you, Jing Yuan. The train is counting on you.]
[Jing Yuan: Received. The Luofu will set off immediately. I will also report this matter to the Xianzhou Alliance to secure more support for the Astral Express.]
[Fu Zhu: Many thanks.]
After finishing the conversation with Jing Yuan, Fu Zhu thought for a moment and then sent the coordinates along with the situation regarding Amphoreus to Herta. After all, Amphoreus involved the [Erudition] Path, and as an Emanator of Erudition, Herta might discover something.
However, after the message was sent, a long time passed, and the status remained unread. Herta was likely busy with other matters.
Fu Zhu sighed lightly and put away his phone.
He could only hope Herta saw it in time. It wasn't until everything was concluded that he noticed his own messages.
After completing these preparatory tasks, Fu Zhu returned to the observation car and found Chadwick.
"Doctor, I need the Radiant Feldspar to be ready to rendezvous with the train."
Chadwick was somewhat puzzled, but seeing the urgency in Fu Zhu's eyes, he didn't ask many questions and simply nodded in agreement.
"...Understood."
"Then I'll use Yamato to send you back."
Fu Zhu slashed open a spatial tunnel and sent Chadwick back to the Radiant Feldspar. The Radiant Feldspar had undergone Chadwick's modifications and could fully travel along the silver rails laid by the train to reach Amphoreus. He didn't need to use Yamato to open a channel to transport the Radiant Feldspar over.
---o---
After doing all this, Fu Zhu finally relaxed a bit. He sat on the sofa and waited for March 7th and the others to finish their preparations.
After one System Hour, Himeko, Welt, Dan Heng, and Xing returned to the observation car one after another. Only March 7th had yet to appear.
"Where's March?"
Fu Zhu looked at the group who had returned to the observation car and asked casually.
Himeko and the other three looked at each other and shook their heads. They didn't know why March 7th hadn't come out. One System Hour should have been enough for her to finish packing long ago.
Fu Zhu instantly realized something was wrong. He immediately stood up and walked toward March 7th's room. The others exchanged glances and quickly followed.
Fu Zhu walked to March 7th's door, raised his hand, and knocked anxiously.
"March, are you in there?"
"Here..."
March 7th responded, but her voice sounded extremely weak. Fu Zhu hurriedly pushed the door open and walked in.
As soon as he entered, he saw March 7th sitting on the edge of the bed with a weak expression. She raised her head and forced a smile.
"What's wrong?"
Fu Zhu's expression tightened. He rushed forward, squatted down in front of March 7th, quickly pulled a [Golden Apple] and [Milk] from his backpack, and handed them to her.
"Quick, eat these."
March 7th nodded. With some lack of strength, she took the milk and apple. Seeing her like this, Fu Zhu simply took the items back and personally fed her.
After the others entered, they also noticed March 7th's weakness. A look of tension appeared on everyone's face.
Ten minutes later, March 7th had eaten the Golden Apple and drunk the milk with difficulty, but her face remained pale as paper.
Fu Zhu stared tightly at her. In his vision, there was a [Weakness] debuff on March 7th's status bar. Logically, after drinking the milk, this buff should have disappeared, but the buff did not vanish. The problem on March 7th's body was not simple.
"Fu Zhu, how is Little March's condition?" Himeko walked over, holding March 7th's hand with some worry.
Fu Zhu shook his head. "I don't know either. I've never seen this kind of situation."
Himeko frowned slightly. She immediately turned her head and said to Welt, "Welt, ask Sunday and Black Swan to come over. They might find some problem."
"Mn."
Welt left quickly. Not long after, he brought Sunday and Black Swan into the room. Fu Zhu also made way for them to inspect March 7th's body.
However, after a round of inspection, both of them frowned and shook their heads.
"We didn't find any problems... Or perhaps because the [Memories] in this star sector of Amphoreus are quite dense, March 7th has developed some discomfort."
"No, I'll take March 7th away from Amphoreus first. I'll send her to the Luofu to recuperate for a while."
Fu Zhu made a move to pull out Yamato to open a spatial tunnel and take March 7th away, but March 7th reached out and stopped him.
"I'm fine, Fu Zhu. I'm just a little uncomfortable, that's all. I'll be fine after a rest. I don't want to miss this Trailblaze expedition, so you guys go ahead..."
"But you don't look like it's just 'a little uncomfortable'!"
"Trust me, okay?"
Fu Zhu opened his mouth but ultimately swallowed the words of persuasion.
Seeing that Fu Zhu had stopped, March 7th breathed a sigh of relief. She then took out her camera and handed it to Xing, who was standing to the side.
"Xing, you guys go first. Remember to take lots of photos for me."
Xing took the camera and looked at March 7th in confusion. "Why not give it to my Old Bro?"
March 7th rolled her eyes grumpily. "He takes straight-guy photos. They don't look good. I believe in you!"
"Alright..."
Seeing Xing agree, March 7th's eyes curved into crescents. She squeezed out a bit of strength to stand up and pushed Fu Zhu, Xing, and Dan Heng out of the room.
"Okay, okay, hurry up and set off. We'll catch up with you soon!"
The three of them were pushed out the door. Welt followed them out and closed the door behind him. He looked at the silent Fu Zhu and reached out to pat his shoulder.
"Relax. March has us watching over her. If it really doesn't work, we'll send her elsewhere to recuperate."
"Mn. Then I'll leave March to you, Uncle Yang."
"What are you saying? We don't need to speak of such things between us." Welt laughed and shook his head, then patted Fu Zhu's shoulder again and said, "Alright, go prepare. The Conductor has prepared a special train carriage for you all. It will allow you to enter Amphoreus while riding the train, ensuring your safety to the greatest extent."
"Okay."
...
Fu Zhu and the other two sat in the carriage prepared by Pom-Pom, listening to the countdown on the broadcast, preparing to head to Amphoreus.
"Bro, still worried about March?"
Xing, while waiting for the countdown, was fiddling with March 7th's camera. She looked up and saw Fu Zhu frowning and thinking about something, so she asked subconsciously.
Fu Zhu shook his head. With Himeko and the others taking care of March 7th, he was very relieved. What he was thinking about right now was the prophecy Elio had given.
[One travels to the past, seeking the center of the world; two remain in the present, aiding the journey of chasing fire; one body and soul split in two, hard for others to find yet close at hand.]
This prophecy made it hard for him not to think about who among himself, Dan Heng, Xing, and March 7th would play which role. This left him confused.
Moreover, March 7th remaining on the train and not entering meant that if the prophecy referred to the four of them, it would indirectly prove that March 7th would recover sooner or later and join them. This was one of the reasons he was relieved.
However, more information would probably only be deciphered after arriving at Amphoreus.
"The carriage is about to launch in 3, 2, 1!"
As the countdown ended, Fu Zhu and the other two immediately felt a strong push against their backs. The carriage accelerated rapidly toward Amphoreus.
However, just as Fu Zhu planned to take advantage of the train entering Amphoreus's atmosphere to observe the terrain, the scenery beside him suddenly changed in the blink of an eye. He didn't know why, but he appeared alone high up in the sky, his body plummeting rapidly!
"What the hell?!"
Fu Zhu was shocked. He immediately checked his minimap, trying to find traces of the train carriage, Xing, and Dan Heng, but he searched the entire minimap and couldn't find their landing spots.
In the short time he checked the minimap, he was already less than a hundred meters from a city on the surface. Fu Zhu had no choice but to deal with the immediate situation first and look for Xing and the others after landing.
Swoosh.
Just as he was about to hit the ground, Fu Zhu pulled out a [Water Bucket] and performed a perfect [Water Bucket Clutch].
As soon as he landed, voices erupted around him.
"Mom, look! This big brother fell from the sky!"
"Shh! Don't get involved in such things!"
Fu Zhu collected the water on the ground, put the bucket back in his backpack, and turned to glance at the crowd gathering out of curiosity. He immediately realized he couldn't stay here any longer.
His unusual entrance would definitely trigger the alerts of the local defense forces.
To avoid unnecessary trouble, Fu Zhu decisively switched to [Observer Mode] and disappeared in front of everyone. He then picked a secluded spot before canceling [Observer Mode].
Leaning against a wall, Fu Zhu locked his brows tight.
In that brief moment when he entered [Observer Mode], he tried to find the landing spots of Xing and Dan Heng again, but the result was that he found nothing. However, he keenly noticed the moment the scene changed—he had crossed the timeline.
In other words, he and Xing and Dan Heng were not on the same timeline.
"One travels to the past, seeking the center of the world..." So it refers to me? But... why?
Fu Zhu thought for a while but couldn't come up with a clue. But since he had come to the past, it proved that things were developing according to Elio's prophecy. Since that was the case, he would follow what the prophecy said and go look for this so-called "Center of the World." Once he found it, he might get the answer.
After figuring this out, Fu Zhu stood up, planning to find a high-ranking figure in this world to learn about the local situation.
Just as he walked out of the alley, an old woman walked past holding a little girl's hand.
"Grandma! Is the Saintess really as beautiful as you say?"
"Of course, child. The Saintess is the gentlest and most beautiful."
"Then I really want to meet her!"
"Hoho, there will be a chance."
Fu Zhu listened to their conversation, thoughtful.
Regardless of the story, a "Saintess" was always a very important figure. Even if not the protagonist, she must be a key supporting character. She definitely knew many things about this world.
"Mn, let's go meet this city's Saintess first."