Inside the Observation Car, the eternal flowing sea of stars lay beyond the massive, curved viewing window, but no one was in the mood to appreciate it at this moment.
The atmosphere was so heavy it felt like it could be wrung out like water.
The members of the Astral Express Crew sat gathered around the central sofa, their faces bearing varying degrees of worry and seriousness.
Herta sat on a single chair to the side with her legs crossed, tapping on the armrest absent-mindedly, seemingly deep in thought.
"Full train scan complete. No life signs for passenger March 7th detected, Pom-Pom."
Pom-Pom reported the disappointing result, "All door and airlock records show that the last opening was at 22:47 standard time yesterday. They were closed after the daily inspection and there have been no abnormal opening records since."
"What about the surveillance?"
Himeko asked, her fingers unconsciously stroking the edge of her coffee cup.
Danheng shook his head, his voice calm but carrying a trace of imperceptible tension: "Mr. Welt and I checked the surveillance records for all areas. From bedtime last night until Stelle discovered the abnormality, the corridor surveillance outside March 7th's room, as well as the surveillance in other public areas of the Astral Express, did not capture any footage of March 7th leaving her room. There is no surveillance inside her room."
This meant that March 7th had indeed vanished into thin air from within a sealed, locked room.
"Interesting."
Herta finally stopped tapping and crossed her arms, a look of excitement appearing on her delicate face, "To think someone could'steal' a living person from a sealed space right under my nose, and I didn't even detect a single sign."
She tilted her head slightly and looked at Welt: "As for your question about whether I detected any abnormalities? No, nothing at all. The method was clean and efficient, perhaps... too clean, to the point where it gave me a rather unpleasant sense of familiarity."
Himeko took a deep breath and listed the abnormal events that had occurred recently: "First, that mysterious girl calling herself 'Long Night Moon' approached March and instilled some strange stories in her. Then, we experienced 48 hours of soul swapping. After that, Stelle started showing symptoms of'sleepwalking.' Now, March 7th has gone missing from a locked room... Could all of this be related to that 'Long Night Moon,' or the 'master' that might exist behind her?"
Welt nodded and began to analyze calmly: "March 7th's shoes and everyday clothes were left in the room, which suggests she was likely only wearing her pajamas when she disappeared. She didn't leave any notes or marks to provide clues, which doesn't fit her personality. The most likely scenario is that she vanished instantly, without any preparation or even awareness that an abnormality was occurring, leaving her no time to react."
He paused and looked at Stelle, who was sitting to the side with a red mark still on her face, looking a bit dispirited: "And Stelle, who was sleeping on the same bed, didn't notice a thing. This suggests that the perpetrator either possesses extremely sophisticated concealment, or... their power far exceeds the scope of our current perception."
Just then, Stelle raised her hand weakly.
"Um... I have another situation, I don't know if it counts as an abnormality..."
Stelle said softly, "It's just that... I've been having the same dream for the past few days."
"A dream?" Everyone's gaze immediately focused on her.
"Yeah... it's called a dream, but it feels so real, like I'm actually fighting."
Stelle tried hard to recall, "The content... is basically just fighting. At first, I was fighting a man with white hair. He was incredibly strong, and every punch and kick was terrifyingly heavy. Later, I fought a masked man who was covered in fire... Anyway, they didn't really listen to reason; they just knew how to fight."
This description made Danheng frown slightly, and Himeko's eyes showed deep thought.
Welt listened particularly carefully, a faint sense of unease welling up in his heart.
Stelle continued, "Oh right! I also met a little girl with white hair! Her name is... Kiana! She's actually quite nice, but sometimes she seems to... switch states? Yeah, that's right, Kiana."
"Kiana?!"
Welt's voice rose sharply, interrupting Stelle's narrative.
His hand, which had been adjusting his glasses, stopped in mid-air, and his pupils constricted slightly.
(Kiana? How is that possible... Is it a name duplication? It must be a coincidence... The universe is so big, people named Kiana...)
He tried to use reason to soothe his instantly turbulent emotions, but a corner of his heart began to throb uncontrollably.
Stelle was startled by Welt's overreaction and nodded: "Y-Yeah, that's how she introduced herself. She seems to be from... the Solar System, a place called Earth, and is a student at some 'St. Freya Academy.' Her full name is Kiana Kaslana."
"Solar System... Earth... St. Freya Academy..."
The corner of Welt's mouth twitched uncontrollably, and the lingering shred of hopeful fantasy in his heart burst with a "pop," like a soap bubble under the sun.
(Good grief... This isn't a name duplication; this is basically reading out the coordinates and the character's resume!)
"Mr. Yang, do you... know her?" Stelle asked curiously, watching Welt's complex and indescribable expression.
Know her? He didn't just know her; he knew her all too well!
Believe it or not, I even taught her history, watching her go from that reckless girl step by step...
Welt immediately cut off this overly personal and complex thread of memory; now was not the time to indulge in the past.
"...I suppose I know the name."
Welt quickly adjusted his emotions and asked in as calm a tone as possible, "In your dream, what exactly did that girl named Kiana look like?"
Stelle tried hard to recall: "White hair, braided into two pigtails hanging on both sides, blue eyes, she looks... um, energetic, but also a bit silly?"
(White pigtails, blue eyes, energetic personality, occasionally ditzy...)
Welt quickly made a judgment in his heart.
(It's definitely Kiana from her time at St. Freya Academy. It seems the dream's connection point is not Kiana who has already become the Herrscher of Finality.)
The formation of this realization caused the faint flame of "perhaps I can find a way home" in his heart to dim just as quickly as it had ignited, replaced by an inexplicable sense of melancholy.
But for now, March 7th's disappearance was more important.
"Regarding the matter of 'Kiana'... it might be quite complex. With insufficient clues for now, let's set it aside."
Welt brushed it off lightly, even though his inner state was far from as calm as his exterior.
He brought the topic back on track: "The priority is March 7th's whereabouts. Judging from the current situation, her disappearance was likely forced. We don't even know the identity or motive of the mastermind, so we can only temporarily list 'Long Night Moon' and the forces behind her as highly suspicious."
Pom-Pom had been listening quietly and spoke up with worry: "But, according to the information we just received from Kafka, the Xianzhou Luofu seems to be facing a crisis and hopes we will head there, Pom-Pom. Now that passenger March 7th is missing, should we continue with the jump to the Xianzhou as planned, or..."
This was a difficult choice.
A companion had gone missing, and they should rightfully search with all their might.
But Kafka's warning concerned the safety of a world, and standing idly by was certainly not the style of the Astral Express.
Himeko was silent for a moment, her gaze sweeping over every member present, before finally landing on the vast sea of stars outside the window.
Her voice was clear and firm:
"We go. Proceed with the jump to the Xianzhou Luofu as planned."
"I believe that if March knew, she would also support this decision. We cannot abandon our responsibility to extend a helping hand to other worlds just because of an accident involving one companion. Besides,"
She paused, "The Xianzhou Alliance has vast influence and a developed intelligence network. Perhaps during the investigation, we can leverage their power to search for clues about March. That is better than searching without any leads."
Welt nodded in agreement: "Himeko is right. Dual-track parallel is the most reasonable strategy at the moment. We will participate in Xianzhou affairs in the open, while secretly investigating the connection between March's disappearance and 'Long Night Moon.' Danheng, what do you think?"
Danheng was silent for a moment, then spoke: "...Agreed."
Stelle also nodded vigorously: "I'm going too! We must find March and bring her back!"
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