"Whoosh~"
"Whoosh~"
The Stellaron Train, which had been docked near Disguise Town, set off once again.
It was not hard to see that when Kevin chose to use his brain, he was undoubtedly a smart man.
After entering the Observation Car, he did not think of starting a boring, formal conversation with Ling ke, who was currently using the Trailblazer Model.
Instead, after the two had initially greeted each other, he took the opportunity to issue a commission.
Then, he used the time spent executing this commission... to chat with Ling ke during the process.
The destination for this commission was the Mu Continent.
With Ling ke deliberately slowing the Stellaron Train's speed, it would take several hours to arrive.
This provided ample time for conversation.
So now, as the Stellaron Train departed smoothly, Elysia stood by one of the windows, experiencing the novelty of "taking a train to the sky."
After all, while she (her original self) had ridden in many flying vehicles during this period and even possessed the ability to fly herself, she still lacked a special and precious, beautiful memory like the one preserved in the memory bubble: taking a "giant whale to the sky" under the moonlight.
This meant...
The good news was that she had temporarily stopped pestering Pamu.
Even with her capricious nature, she wouldn't cause trouble, make a scene, or act recklessly in front of unfamiliar people at a time like this.
At the very least, she would wait until they became good friends... hmm, that was the bad news.
The bad news was that she had set her sights on Pamu and Ling ke (Caelus).
Although, fundamentally, she didn't have any bad intentions.
Right now, her feelings toward Pamu and Ling ke (Caelus) were the same as her feelings toward everyone else:
Because they were interesting, she "liked" them.
Perhaps the Ling ke of the past, who would have likely chosen to become the "Grand Player of Deliverance," would have readily accepted this overly proactive friendship.
But now...
"I'm not interested in playing the role of a 'friend' who takes a passive stance for the moment."
"Hmm, I'll think about it after I've grown bored of playing the Trailblazer."
"Though by then, I'll probably have found something more interesting to do."
This was Ling ke's current line of thinking.
He knew all too well that while Elysia was popular and seemed lively and gentle to everyone, it was wildly naive to think one could easily get close to her.
To even give in to certain desires and take this relationship a step further... or many steps further... was sheer wishful thinking.
Because, fundamentally, Elysia was a remarkably assertive person.
She had no ill intentions, but she thoroughly enjoyed it when people followed her lead.
In short: she wanted the dominant role.
And not just over one person, but over a whole group, occupying every dominant position.
That was why, back in the Moths Who Chase the Flames, she exuded a peculiar aura of someone who could "pass through a forest of flowers without a single petal clinging to her body."
That's also why in the original story of Honkai Impact 3rd, Raiden Mei, who had also become very assertive by then, was led around in circles by Elysia after entering the Elysian Realm.
Ling ke, however, declined with thanks.
Call him a giant baby or high-maintenance if you will.
At this moment, he was clearly more willing to spend time with an ordinary girl like Pardo, who also possessed high emotional intelligence but was willing to follow his lead for a change.
Only then could he feel a rare and precious "tranquility" from within his heart.
In plain English: during his leisure time, he didn't want to use his brain to untangle useless nonsense... like the harmless jokes others cracked with a smile just to liven up the atmosphere.
Even if the other person had no ill intentions, it was still the same.
Right now...
"Mr. Qiong."
On the circular sofa, Kevin looked at Ling ke from several seats away. "Would you be willing to tell me about your past?"
The two of them had already been chatting idly for a while.
Therefore, Kevin was not abruptly asking this somewhat sensitive question.
In response to this...
"What? Want to investigate my origins?"
Ling ke was in a playful mood, deliberately responding with the sharpest possible words in the style of a "conversation killer."
Hearing this...
"I am indeed very interested."
Kevin's expression remained unchanged. "But that's only if you're willing to tell me."
The subtext was clear: I won't force you to answer. This is just a normal conversation.
So...
"Then I definitely don't want to answer."
Ling ke's lips curled slightly as he spoke bluntly.
Kevin nodded and did not press the matter further.
Across from them, on another circular sofa, sat Kalpas and Sakura.
Unlike Elysia, who wandered around like a curious child, he and she remained seated.
Nearby, Pam was busy cleaning with a small broom.
It seemed as if the cleaning on this train would never be finished.
Fortunately, she seemed to be enjoying the task, subconsciously humming a tune with her eyes narrowed.
It was precisely in this atmosphere that...
"Rest assured, Mr. Kevin," Ling ke said suddenly. "You don't need to worry too much about my identity. Likewise, I won't pry into your affairs."
"Between us, it's simply an employer-employee relationship."
"You pay the money, issue the commission, and I decide whether to accept it."
"Once I accept a job, I will get it done well and look forward to our next collaboration... That is all."
Hearing this definitive answer, Kevin replied, "Understood."
His expression remained unreadable.
Ever since he had sealed his heart again, he had always worn this ice-cold poker face.
Still, Ling Ke was now certain that he had achieved his goal for this trip.
To put it bluntly, the Newborn World Serpent only wanted a clear stance from him.
He didn't need to be especially friendly, as long as he wasn't "hostile."
The ability to cooperate was enough.
Because, to elaborate a bit...
Now, due to the descent of the super AI Prometheus, the Newborn World Serpent had already reclaimed the Void Archives.
And as for the Cosmic Juggernaut, even if Otto's reckless actions had caused it to sink into the depths of the Sea of Quanta... it wasn't necessarily impossible to retrieve.
With these two profoundly significant Divine Keys... if nothing else, the Newborn World Serpent would finally have obtained the ability for spatial teleportation.
One must know that even without using Zeroth Rated Power, the Divine Key's spatial teleportation ability could allow someone to travel freely between Earth and the Moon. (Note: This is also the original setting.)
Not to mention, with the return of the Void Archives, the research data on the Key of Blankness had also fallen into MEI's hands.
With it, the bodies of the Herrscher of Reason and the Herrscher of the Void, which had been sealed away for a long time, finally had a use.
To be honest, if it weren't for the biological mass extinction event caused by Kali recently, which was too troublesome and needed to be resolved urgently, leaving MEI with no time to spare, she had actually wanted to redevelop the Key of Blankness long ago.
Because, now that she had become a Pathstrider, she could obviously create a Key of Blankness armor with fewer side effects.
And because of the leap in her own life level, her ability to resist side effects had also increased.
With this two-pronged advancement, it could be said that as long as the new Key of Blankness took shape, she could obtain and use the Authority of the Herrscher of Reason and the Herrscher of the Void simultaneously as a human.
Under these circumstances, the Newborn World Serpent's space-type means would be even more abundant.
Moreover, letting a scientific genius develop the Authority of the Herrscher of Reason, and using that Authority to snowball her way up the technology tree...
MEI would definitely become a terrifyingly powerful existence in a short period of time.
She could even catch up to Fu Hua, the "Returnee," or even surpass Kevin without any problem.
Therefore, in summary, after today, the Newborn World Serpent would no longer really need Ling Ke... or rather, "Trailblazer Caelus's" Astral Express.
Of course, if Kevin and the others knew that the Astral Express was actually a god-made vehicle capable of interstellar jumps across the universe, and that a damn black hole biological embryo had been born somewhere in the depths of Earth's ocean...
Their attitude would definitely become even more enthusiastic.
However, Ling Ke did not have any intention of proactively revealing this information for the time being.
And when the Memories of the Flame-Chasers were still in the Elysian Realm, he occasionally chatted with the group, but never mentioned anything related to the Astral Express.
As the saying goes...
"Only a superior 'actor' can obtain the reward he needs most."
Ling Ke clearly had no intention of giving away benefits for free.
At worst, if this "script" falls apart, he would either start over from scratch...
Or simply change the "stage."
For example:
"The universe of Honkai: Star Rail is also under the domain of the Imaginary Tree."
"I can go there at any time."