"That makes sense."
Nolan nodded and stopped while he was ahead, not bringing up the topic again.
Gaining a girl's affection couldn't be rushed.
Since he had nothing else to do, it wouldn't be appropriate to disturb Chiori and Navia catching up, so he excused himself and left.
After returning to the Wonderland Space, he continued searching for world bubbles in the Sea of Quanta.
The next two days passed in the same way. With nothing pressing to handle, all he could do was diligently cultivate with the girls and explore the Sea of Quanta.
Over two days, he found ten world bubbles and fused them all into the "Assembled Continent" world bubble.
Among the ten newly fused world bubbles, eight contained life, but only five had intelligent life.
That number wasn't small, though what mattered most wasn't how many had intelligent life, but population size.
Ten world bubbles with only a few million people each couldn't compare to one with hundreds of millions.
These five world bubbles varied in population, totaling two hundred million. Thus, the Assembled Continent now held 1.8 billion intelligent beings.
Nolan looked at his character panel and saw the progress gained per second surge again to over 30,000:
Lv154 (3055124 — 30000+/640 Million)
In these two days he had leveled up twice, reaching Level 154. At this rate, he could level up again in roughly six hours.
He was satisfied with this speed.
Today was the third day — the day the Astral Express would visit Herta Space Station. He planned to go take a look.
With his current strength, he could protect Teyvat in interstellar society — especially against factions like the Antimatter Legion and the Abundance followers.
As long as an Aeon didn't personally act, Nolan was confident he could handle any difficulty. And even if an Aeon intervened, he could simply take Teyvat and leave.
There was nothing to worry about.
Thus he had the idea of letting Teyvat interact with interstellar society, starting with Herta Space Station. This visit wasn't just to meet the Astral Express, but also to discuss cooperation with Herta and Asta.
If things went smoothly, Teyvat and the space station would exchange personnel, and later cooperation with the Xianzhou through Tingyun would make exchanges even more frequent.
Unlike his own unnoticed teleportation, this would definitely attract Celestia's attention.
After settling cooperation matters and before formally beginning, he would also need to check Celestia's situation.
From Ruan Mei's visit last time, Nolan learned that if Teyvat were compared to a person, its strength would be around Level 140.
This meant that life in Teyvat had already reached its growth ceiling using only local resources.
Teyvat lacked the resources to support further growth, so expansion beyond the world was necessary.
Celestia governed all rules of Teyvat and should be at least around Level 140. If it also gained power from outside the world, it would likely be stronger.
Even so, it probably wouldn't reach Level 150 — the level of an Emanator — otherwise it wouldn't remain guarding Teyvat.
So seeking out Celestia wouldn't risk unexpected danger from overwhelming strength.
Thinking as he went, Nolan teleported to Herta Space Station.
It was around nine in the morning there. Researchers were busy with academic work, and many people moved about the Master Control Zone.
They weren't wandering idly — all were occupied.
Nolan walked to the Monitoring Area and saw Asta working. She noticed him and said:
"You're here. The Astral Express has sent a docking request and will arrive at the platform in about ten minutes. Want to come welcome them with me?"
The Nameless of the Trailblaze faction mostly explored the universe and connected civilizations. Even the IPC benefited from Trailblaze.
Therefore most factions respected the Astral Express crew.
Since they were visiting the station, it was natural for her as station chief to welcome them — and good for Nolan to join as well.
It would let her introduce him to the Astral Express crew, paving the way for his later request to hitch a ride.
"No problem. Let's go."
Nolan already intended to, so he agreed.
"Mm."
Asta and Nolan took the space elevator from the Master Control Zone down to the Supply Zone, the busiest place on the station.
Most traffic to other areas passed through here.
Exiting the elevator, they looked toward the platform outside. A black train was slowly docking — a locomotive pulling three carriages.
It looked much larger than an ordinary train.
"This is the Astral Express. Though only slightly larger than a normal train, it was once the vehicle of the Trailblaze Aeon Akivili — essentially Their symbol. It possesses many incredible abilities."
Asta explained as they walked.
"Oh? Like what?" Nolan asked curiously.
"Hmm…" Asta rested her arms under her chin and thought. "For example, as long as it travels along tracks, it automatically gathers fuel. With enough fuel, it can teleport anywhere, no matter the distance."
"Isn't that basically a perpetual motion machine?" Nolan said in surprise.
"That's not wrong. They never list fuel when resupplying at the station."
Asta nodded.
As they chatted, they reached the platform just as the Astral Express fully stopped.
The carriage door opened, and a pink-haired girl jumped down first, shouting:
"Woohoo! Space station — we're back!"
She had shoulder-length pink hair, wore a wide-collared long-sleeve shirt exposing most of her shoulders with a light-blue outer garment tied around her waist, and a short pleated skirt. Her fair legs shone brighter than the surrounding lights.
"Welcome, Miss March 7th," Asta greeted with a smile.
"Ah, Miss Asta! Long time no see!"
The girl named March 7th waved excitedly, then noticed Nolan beside her and asked curiously:
"Huh? Someone this close to Miss Asta — who's this?"
"Hello, Miss March 7th. I'm Nolan, the station's security consultant. I handle major crises when they occur — otherwise I'm pretty idle."
Nolan introduced himself briefly.
"Oh? So you're very strong then?"
The pink-haired girl stepped closer and looked Nolan up and down.
Aside from his neat features and youthful, handsome appearance that didn't look like a bad person — giving a somewhat trustworthy impression — there didn't seem to be anything particularly special.
"Haha, not exactly strong… just invincible below the Aeons."
Feeling the lively pink-haired girl probably had a sense of humor, Nolan joked.
"Wow, big talk! I don't believe it!" March 7th widened her eyes and put her hands on her hips, convinced he was bluffing.
"Alright, March, don't be rude."
Another figure stepped off the train behind her — a woman with long crimson hair and amber-like eyes.
She wore an open coat over a white halter dress with a side slit revealing a red inner lining and her fair legs. Walking forward in black heels, she parted her soft lips and continued:
"Anyone who can serve as Herta Space Station's security consultant must have exceptional ability. Hello, I'm Himeko, navigator of the Astral Express."
Facing the red-haired woman's introduction, Nolan — who had felt a strange familiarity since seeing her — instantly remembered after hearing her name.
Himeko… the Valkyrie teacher of St. Freya Academy. No wonder she looked so similar.
This was a character from Honkai Impact 3rd, another game from the same company as Genshin Impact, through which Nolan had first learned about the Sea of Quanta.
And the setting of Honkai Impact 3rd was Earth!
When he learned about the Imaginary Tree and the Sea of Quanta, Nolan had guessed he hadn't merely transmigrated to Teyvat, but into the universe of the "Hoyoverse system."
Earth might exist here — just not the one he originally lived on.
After all, his Earth didn't have St. Freya Academy, Valkyries, or Honkai disasters.
Speaking of which, he once planned to ask Mona to use astrology to locate Earth. But if this universe's Earth were the one from Honkai Impact 3rd…
Wouldn't he end up finding that Earth instead?
The thought made his heart sink.
No — Mona studied the starry sky belonging to his original Earth. Even if another Earth existed here, they weren't fundamentally the same.
So there was still hope.
"Hey, why are you staring at Himeko? Don't tell me you got dazed because she's too pretty — I'm cute too, you know!"
March 7th stood with hands on hips, glaring at Nolan.
"Ah, sorry." Nolan realized spacing out during someone's introduction was indeed rude.
After apologizing, he quickly explained:
"I just felt Miss Himeko looked familiar, like someone I know, so I was a bit surprised."
In Honkai Impact 3rd, that Himeko Murata had sacrificed herself to save her students — so she shouldn't be this one.
"That pick-up line is outdated by hundreds of Amber Eras!" March 7th complained.
"Mr. Nolan did look surprised when he saw me. The universe is vast — it's normal for similar people to exist."
Himeko didn't mind.
"That's right. In such a big universe, not only appearances but even life experiences can be similar," Asta nodded lightly before continuing,
"Miss Himeko, Miss March 7th, would you like to look around first? The supplies are ready — should we transport them to the train?"
"Either is fine, but we still have companions who haven't come down. Please wait a moment."
Himeko brushed aside a few strands of red hair covering her eyes and nodded slightly.
Before transporting supplies, she needed to sign and archive paperwork at the proper location — it wouldn't be handled casually here.
"Sigh, Uncle Yang and Dan Heng are so slow. Are they putting on makeup or something?"
March 7th bent slightly with hands on her knees, eyes widened in disbelief — lively and adorable.
"Men also have the right to pursue beauty," Nolan couldn't help replying.
Just as March 7th was about to retort — "Why don't I see you wearing makeup?" — two more figures stepped off the train.
One was a quiet-looking black-haired young man. The other was a handsome middle-aged man with brown hair, black-rimmed glasses, and a gray coat and trousers.
Nolan felt they looked familiar… could it be someone he knew again?
Because of Himeko, his thoughts first went to the Earth of Honkai Impact 3rd, and he quickly matched the image.
The leader of Anti-Entropy — Welt Yang!
In early Honkai Impact 3rd lore, the head of the "antagonist" organization Anti-Entropy — though the truth was more complicated; this Welt Yang had saved Earth multiple times.
But this "Uncle Yang" was probably only a similar counterpart, right? Otherwise how would someone from Earth end up on 'the Blue' Planet?
Before transmigrating, he remembered Earth in Honkai Impact 3rd had developed incredible technology due to Honkai energy, but hadn't yet begun cosmic exploration.
Humanity was still dealing with Honkai disasters.
However, he had been here for quite some time, and timelines might not match — so the possibility this "Uncle Yang" truly came from that Earth wasn't zero.
Nolan wanted to ask, but before he could speak, March 7th teased again:
"What now? Captivated by Uncle Yang's handsomeness this time?"
"Ahem, haha, indeed. I've always felt I lack maturity. Seeing such a mature and handsome gentleman makes me want to learn. Miss March 7th, perhaps you could introduce him?"
Nolan coughed lightly and went along with it.
He couldn't exactly say he felt familiarity again — meeting two such counterparts in the universe would be absurd odds.
Better confirm first.
"You've got good taste! Uncle Yang is one of the senior members on the train, second only to Himeko — a true veteran—"
As March 7th enthusiastically introduced him, the black-haired young man who had just stepped down noticed Himeko's expression darken slightly at the words "senior," and quickly interrupted:
"March, let's talk while we walk."
(End of Chapter)
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