Chapter 236: Recommending Everyone Who Joins the Astral Express to Watch EVA
The path of Permanence symbolized his original form, the ancient lineage of the Vidyadhara. The emerging light of The Hunt represented their alliance with the Xianzhou Luofu. Then came the shattering of that very Hunt—a fracture born from Dan Feng being crushed under the weight of impossible pressure. Lost within his best friend's desperate obsession and his own blinding arrogance, he and Yingxing had experimented with the forbidden power of Abundance. That catastrophic mistake birthed a mindless, wicked dragon, cementing the unforgivable sin known as the Sedition of Imbibitor Lunae.
That monumental transgression had completely snapped the string of The Hunt within his heart.
Yet, just as the darkness threatened to swallow the memory whole, a familiar, brilliant blue light flared to life. The guiding beacon of the Trailblaze washed across the tabletop like a purifying tide. It cascaded over those shattered fragments of the past, entirely eclipsing the suffocating weight of his former fate.
Ah, the Trailblaze... truly the greatest of them all.
"The Trailblaze."
Sunday stood quietly to the side, softly murmuring the word. His golden eyes shifted thoughtfully between Dan Heng and the glowing die resting on the table.
"Omedetou." Rekka nodded solemnly, clapping his hands together with a slow, deliberate rhythm.
"Omedetou!" March 7th chimed in, her bright voice ringing out as she joined the applause.
"Omedetou," Stelle added, her face entirely deadpan as she clapped in perfect sync.
The three of them formed a neat semi-circle around Dan Heng, initiating the classic, recurring program: the legendary Neon Genesis Evangelion congratulations segment. Honestly, it should be a mandatory requirement for anyone joining the Astral Express in the future to watch that anime just to understand the sheer absurdity of these daily interactions.
Dan Heng's stoic facade cracked just a fraction. He expressionlessly shifted half a step to the right, attempting a stealthy retreat through the narrow gap between Rekka and March 7th. However, dealing with this chaotic duo was never that simple. With synchronized precision born from months of ruining his quiet reading time, both Rekka and March slid sideways, forming an impenetrable wall that completely blocked his escape route.
"You guys..." Dan Heng let out a long, helpless sigh, his shoulders dropping. "It was just rolling a die. Is this theatrical display really necessary?"
"It absolutely is," Rekka replied, not missing a beat. "Congratulations on your character development."
Despite his outward exasperation, the corners of Dan Heng's mouth twitched upward in a faint, almost imperceptible smile. He had to admit, being relentlessly teased by this makeshift family—people who knew exactly where to draw the line and how to respect his boundaries—was actually quite comforting. They joked around, but the underlying warmth was always genuine.
"...Thank you," he finally muttered, looking away to hide his softening gaze.
March 7th beamed, placing her hands on her hips. "We're all family here! No need to be so polite~"
Stelle nodded sagely from the side, resting her baseball bat on her shoulder. "Exactly. If anything else pops up in the future, don't keep it bottled up inside that brooding head of yours. Speak up. We'll carry the burden together. And hey, if we ever hit a truly catastrophic, world-ending crisis, we can always just have Rekka transform into a giant, horrifying bug and carry us all to safety."
"Speaking of carrying people," Rekka suddenly interjected, his eyes gleaming with a familiar, mischievous spark. "I actually prepared an incredibly awesome surprise for you guys in the dreamscape the day before yesterday."
"A surprise?" March 7th tilted her head, her ahoge twitching with curiosity.
"Yep! And the timing is perfect. Because of that whole chaotic incident yesterday, I officially gave the students of Origami University a two-day break. There are absolutely no classes today, which means the main teaching building is going to be completely deserted."
Stelle's brow furrowed in confusion for a brief second before her golden eyes widened in a sudden, dramatic epiphany. She pointed an accusing finger at him. "Wait... was this all part of your calculations, Rekka?!"
"What was part of my calculations?"
"All this trouble! The chaos, the incidents! You orchestrated all of it just to give the poor, overworked students of Origami University a holiday!" Stelle gasped, looking at him with newfound reverence.
He truly was the People's Principal. Whether it was aggressively canceling torturous 8 AM classes or overhauling outdated textbooks, every single action this man took was purely for the welfare of the student body. And now, he had managed to manufacture a perfectly legitimate excuse to grant them an emergency vacation.
'Damn! Principal Rekka, we love and respect you!' Stelle thought, mentally saluting his chaotic benevolence.
A few minutes later, the group stood in the empty courtyard of the university, their jaws practically hitting the floor.
"This... this is..." March 7th stammered, her camera hanging forgotten around her neck.
Stelle and Dan Heng were equally dumbstruck, staring up at the towering metallic behemoth casting a massive shadow over them.
"Please enjoy—my ultimate masterpiece!" Rekka declared loudly. He stood at the base of the machine, his arms spread wide like a visionary artist unveiling a masterpiece.
A Super. Combining. Giant. Robot.
Every single one of those words was practically engineered to tickle Welt Yang's deepest, most passionate fantasies. The only tragic flaw in this glorious moment was that in this exact place—a place where even the usually mature, steady, and stoic Mr. Yang would absolutely squeal and smile like an innocent child—there was no Welt to be found.
Right. Rekka had conveniently forgotten to invite him.
Somewhere out there, Welt was probably dramatically leaning on his cane, completely oblivious to the mecha-shaped betrayal occurring behind his back. Rekka insisted this definitely wasn't prejudice, nor was it a petty personal vendetta for past lectures. Probably.
As if responding to its creator's dramatic flair, the giant robot's massive arms slowly spread outward. The complex golden core embedded in its broad chest began to spin at a dizzying speed, emitting a deep, resonant hum that vibrated right through their bones. Every single neon light strip across its chassis flared to life, cascading from the heavy ankle thrusters all the way up to the sharp, V-shaped golden antenna perched on its head.
"Hot-blooded!" Rekka shouted, pointing at the sky.
Heavy treads built into the mecha's legs ignited with blazing crimson light strips. The fiery glow climbed rapidly from the ankles to the reinforced knee joints, accompanied by a mechanical roar that made the dreamscape's ground tremble beneath their boots.
"Invincible!"
The heavy core armor on the torso flared with a blinding, pure white radiance. With a heavy pneumatic hiss, the golden armor plates slid apart, revealing a vortex of churning, highly concentrated blue energy locked within. Countless tiny, luminescent specks of light burst from the exposed core, orbiting the massive chassis like a localized galaxy.
"Courage!"
The massive arms shifted with the heavy, satisfying crunch of mechanical transformation. A hexagonal, transparent energy shield snapped into existence, projecting outward from the left forearm with a sharp electric crackle.
"Trailblaze King!"
With every passionate shout from Rekka, the magnificent machine—dubbed the Trailblaze King—lit up a new segment of its armored body. Showers of brilliant blue-gold particles drifted lazily from the heavy thruster nozzles mounted on its back, glowing beautifully in the air like mechanical fireflies.
Even within the boundless, rule-bending reality of Penacony's dreamscape, manifesting something with this level of complex engineering was nothing short of stunning.
"Rekka..." Dan Heng rubbed his temples, staring at the glowing behemoth. "While you were acting as the principal... were you just secretly tinkering with this the entire time?"
"Not entirely!" Rekka defended himself, waving a hand dismissively. "I actually built this in my spare time while I was researching the antidote for that memetic virus. I just briefly conceptualized its internal skeletal structure, the power transmission grid, the localized energy recycling system, the modular weapon hardpoints, and the neural-mental link framework... Honestly, it only took me a few minutes in total."
Sure, shaping reality in a dreamscape wasn't inherently difficult. But rendering something with millions of moving, functional parts and complex physics in a matter of minutes was so far beyond the norm it bordered on monstrous.
"So cool..." Stelle whispered, her eyes practically sparkling with stars.
In that exact moment, she completely, utterly understood why Uncle Yang was so hopelessly obsessed with mechas. No one could judge her. If anyone was presented with a towering, super-combining giant robot painted in their absolute favorite colors, hitting every single aesthetic interest they possessed, they would have the exact same awestruck reaction.
In fact, this rugged, heavily armored design suited Stelle's personal tastes even more than the sleek Thunderbolt or the classic Arahato parked back on Rekka's personal battleship.
It was just too perfect. The raw, heavy mechanical aesthetic, the overwhelming sense of kinetic power radiating from its chassis, those ridiculously massive thrusters mounted on its back... And to top it all off, it was painted in the crisp, iconic black, gold, and red color scheme of the Astral Express.
"A true work of art cannot compromise on a single detail," Rekka stated proudly, admiring his own handiwork.
"Can I drive it?" Stelle asked, her voice trembling with excitement.
"Of course you can. Why else would I build it? Just to leave it sitting here as a glorified tourist attraction?"
"Heck yeah—!" Stelle let out a triumphant cheer.
Without wasting another second, she sprinted forward and began scrambling up the yellow maintenance ladder bolted to the side of the mecha's massive leg. Halfway up the climb, she paused and glanced down at March 7th, who was still frozen on the ground.
"March! What are you just standing there for? Come up with me!"
"Me? I... I get a turn too?" March 7th blinked, pointing a finger at her own chest in surprise.
"I specifically said it's a super combining giant robot. Of course there's a spot for you," Rekka said, jerking his chin toward the towering machine. "Co-pilot's seat. The one on the left."
March 7th's eyes instantly lit up with unrestrained glee.
The interior layout of the cockpit wasn't overly complicated, focusing on function and visibility. The main pilot's seat sat dead center, facing a massive, seamless circular holographic projection screen that offered a 360-degree view of the outside. The co-pilot's seat was positioned slightly to the side and a bit further back, bathed in a soft, warm yellow ambient light that glowed gently between the two stations.
"Are the hatches closed up?" Rekka's voice crackled through the internal comms.
"Closed and locked!" Stelle gripped the dual control sticks, a feral grin spreading across her face. "Trailblaze King, launch!"
The optical sensors of the Hot-blooded! Invincible! Courage! Trailblaze King! suddenly flared with an intense, icy blue glow. The three-story-tall mecha slowly straightened its heavy spine, rising fluidly from its kneeling position. With a deafening grind of metal, it rolled its massive shoulders. The crimson treads locked around its ankles began to spin rapidly, kicking up dust, before a pair of brilliant blue light-wings violently erupted from the back thrusters, scorching a dazzling, fiery trail across the courtyard as it prepared for liftoff.
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