When Kevin returned to North Africa, MEI, Vill-V, and a growing number of young female androids (Prometheus) were working urgently in a secret temporary shelter near headquarters to study the viral gas brought into the underground base by the invaders.
According to MEI's analysis, while the virus had a high fatality rate and was highly contagious, it wasn't particularly difficult to handle.
"Perhaps the enemy isn't completely united," she explained. "This virus hasn't been modified or optimized using the Herrscher of Death's all-too-convenient Authority."
"If it had, things would indeed be much more troublesome."
"Of course, it's also possible... they released this simply to buy time."
"It might even be a precaution against their own allies."
"In short, this was never meant for a 'frontal assault.'"
So analyzed MEI.
After handing over his spoils to MEI for further study by her and Vill-V, Kevin headed toward Disguise Town. His spoils included a Herrscher of Death Core and the wreckage of a certain Quantum Robot.
At this moment, Elysia (the original body), who had been away on a mission, had already returned.
She was talking with Sakura beside a uniquely designed, massive train. Nearby, Kalpas, who had been on his routine duty of destroying several Undersea Temples, sat alone amidst the ruins of a building, looking completely idle.
Elysia's Sim had not yet returned.
Kevin decided not to wait any longer.
In truth, he hadn't planned on bringing anyone else to meet that Pathstrider, whose face was completely unfamiliar to him.
However, if he happened to encounter other allies on the way, he wouldn't refuse their wish to accompany him.
And that was how...
"Hmm?"
When Kevin reached the Stellaron Train and saw the somewhat steampunk-style locomotive for the first time, he clearly froze for a moment.
This thing bore a strange resemblance to the construction of the Cosmic Juggernaut.
Especially that prominent component that looked so much like a revolver's cylinder...
"Caelus, this person..."
What was his origin?
Recently, after the Newborn World Serpent received the relevant information reported by Himeko, they had naturally dispatched professional intelligence personnel to investigate all clues related to this person.
The result...
There were no results at all!
This was truly a familiar feeling.
Just like... that person (Ling Ke).
However, people with no records in this world were not uncommon.
Recently, many Pathstriders had suddenly appeared, and even some elite talents who performed exceptionally well in certain fields had no traceable origins.
Kevin had wondered: could all these people be the work of Ling Ke?
After all, before ascending to godhood, the latter was the true Herrscher of Dominance.
The thousands of Puppets of Dominance under his command all possessed the eerie ability to transform.
If those elite individuals and Pathstriders all shared such an origin...
"There's nothing wrong with that."
"Or rather, it's useless for us to feel there's something wrong."
Recently, Kevin and other high-ranking officials had held a special meeting on this matter.
During the meeting, MEI had specifically mentioned, "First, we have already understood a definitive premise: we must not make an enemy of the Ascended (Ling Ke)."
"Therefore, under this premise, no matter what the opponent does, we cannot take any extreme measures."
"Consequently, while we are unable to determine the true identities of those people, our best, most appropriate, and most stable method of negotiation is to treat them kindly with a calm heart."
"In short: maintain a proper attitude and just do our own jobs."
Clearly, although the Newborn World Serpent had not discovered Ling Ke's true identity, they would make the most prudent considerations and treat them properly as long as any related incidents could be connected to Him.
As for why Sakura had brought the Jizo Mitama on the Stellaron Train...
In fact, from beginning to end, unless they were one hundred percent certain that Caelus's identity was not related to Ling Ke, was not human, and would cause great harm to the current civilization and become an enemy of humanity... all these conditions had to be met simultaneously, otherwise Sakura would not have the idea of using this Key of Corruption to deal with the former.
The sword, Jizo Mitama, had been by her side even when she slept recently.
Obviously, these sisters who had been separated for a long time and then met again were simply unwilling to be separated from their family members.
Even if... it was only for a minute or a second.
Precisely because of this, MEI considered that this Twelfth Divine Key was a gift from Ling Ke, so... she had somewhat generated a few ideas of testing.
But it was not to test whether the other party was related to Ling Ke.
But...
Her group also had to consider another possibility:
Could Caelus, who possessed a special Path Ability, be an Alien Monster disguised as a human, created by the Herrscher of Blood?
Undoubtedly, this possibility was a massive hidden threat that the Newborn World Serpent could not afford to ignore.
After this probe...
If the other party was indeed an Impostor, it would be a successful preemptive strike, nipping the threat in the bud.
If not...
Then the "apology gift" would be delivered immediately.
Unfortunately, MEI never imagined that Ling Ke's temper would be even weirder than she had thought.
Or rather, it was arrogant of her to assume that because Ling Ke was a "Human" who had ascended to godhood, she could speculate about him using her own psychological model.
On Ling Ke's side, with the mindset of a "Player," he did not care about your difficulties, nor whether his actions were reasonable from your perspective.
At the end of the day, he simply had no interest in empathizing with them.
If your actions piss me off, I'll make things even worse for you.
That way, I'll feel much better.
It was as simple and straightforward as that.
As a result, the only reason the Newborn World Serpent didn't suffer a more severe backlash was their good luck today. They had just happened to run into Ling Ke while he was in a good mood.
Looking back, the attack on the Newborn World Serpent Headquarters, which had seemed to catch Kevin and MEI off guard, had actually been a blessing in disguise.
Seele's excellent performance had pleased Ling Ke enough to make him drop the idea of making life difficult for the Newborn World Serpent.
The only reason he decided to settle was that he didn't want to ruin his own good mood.
As for now...
Knock, knock~
Adopting a cautious approach, Kevin came to the door of the Observation Car on the Stellaron Train and knocked gently.
Accompanying him were Elysia and the Sims of Sakura and Kalpas.
The four of them were led inside by Pom-Pom, the Train Conductor's replicated version. They had just walked through the passageway into the Observation Car...
"Nice to meet you all! You look like you're about to get scammed... cough... You look like you're super rich!"
"..."
Kevin almost lost his composure at the young man's first words.
It seemed that, just as Himeko had said, the gray-haired youth before them, who called himself the "Trailblazer" online, had a rather flighty and irreverent personality.
And...
"..."
For some reason, in his silence, he saw a strange reflection of his younger, goofier self, who sometimes failed to read the room, in the young man.
Was it because his voice sounded so much like his own?
And as for his aura... Although you couldn't say he was exactly like his younger self, he at least fell into the "externally outgoing" category, right?
Indeed.
If the young man had also been wearing a stoic, deadpan expression, Kevin would have wondered if he was looking at his own reflection in a full-length mirror after dyeing his hair and wearing colored contacts.
Alright, shaking off these stray thoughts for now, Kevin stepped closer and looked the youth straight in the eye.
"Nice to meet you, Caelus..."
He was about to respond to the young man's greeting, but just then...
"Wow! It's just as Sakura described, so cute!"
A certain young lady beside him exclaimed in surprise.
"Elysia..."
Kevin, his opening line interrupted, looked at her with a hint of helplessness.
At the same time...
"The new guests are so rude! You're treating Pom-Pom like a pet, pom!"
The replicated Train Master, still waddling on short legs, said with great dissatisfaction: "Pom-Pom is the Conductor of the Astral Express, not a pet, pom!"
Tch, some memories from a parallel universe that didn't belong to him were attacking him.
Another pink-haired girl!
And that's not all. It was a pink-haired girl who, the moment she saw him, wanted to pounce on him, strangle him unconscious with a hug (and rub her face against his), and who might even hold him in her arms by force, playing with him like a dress-up doll.
Such an excessively enthusiastic creature was simply...
Too terrifying!