When the citizens saw a train falling from the sky like a streaking meteor, they braced for an explosion. But after waiting a moment, not a single sound came. Some people were immediately confused. They gathered their courage and ran toward the Janus District train station to see what had really happened.
However...
Compared to the strange train, most citizens were far more focused on the golden light shining from hundreds of kilometers away, along with the vast golden plume rising from the explosion—its scale rivaling that of Hollow Zero itself.
And it wasn't just ordinary citizens.
At this moment, over at Hollow Zero, the battle had nearly concluded. According to plan, the vast majority of the Ethereal had been wiped out, leaving only a few stragglers. More importantly… after the Sun-Colored Starlight Giant was driven out of Hollow Zero by Sam Li and several Adepti, and with most of the Ethereal slain, the hollow could no longer sustain such an immense scale and had officially entered its decline phase.
Humanity had secured the first stage of victory.
Thus, the Public Security Bureau, the Defense Force, and the Hollow Investigation Association officially took over Hollow Zero to carry out the remaining suppression efforts. Meanwhile, groups such as Cunning Hares, Victoria Housekeeping, Sons of Calydon, and Belobog Heavy Industries had begun withdrawing from the hollow one after another.
Yet despite this, Tsukishiro Yanagi showed no joy—only worry. Even though Hollow Zero had entered decline, as long as the Sun-Colored Starlight Giant remained alive, if it ever returned to the hollow, the hollows would immediately erupt again—and the resulting catastrophe could be far worse.
Thinking of this, Tsukishiro Yanagi, Hoshimi Miyabi, Asaba Harumasa, and Soukaku all looked up toward the distant sky. A massive golden cloud, like a colossal hollow made of light, blanketed the far-off land, with some of the drifting dust even reaching the New Eridu metropolitan area.
Tsukishiro Yanagi took a deep breath.
"Section Chief, let's go check it out. Maybe we can help."
Hoshimi Miyabi nodded.
"Right. We move now—"
They should have been with Sam Li and the others. But earlier this morning, when Sam Li's group drove the Sun-Colored Starlight Giant out of the hollow, Hoshimi Miyabi, Tsukishiro Yanagi, and their team had run into a massive swarm of Ethereal and helped Zhu Yuan and No. 11 eliminate them.
Only after nearly finishing the extermination did they finally leave Hollow Zero—just in time to witness the huge meteor falling from the sky and the massive explosion that followed.
Just as Tsukishiro Yanagi and Hoshimi Miyabi prepared to return to the battlefield—
At that moment, Nicole, Anbi, Billy, the Traveler, Paimon, Proxy, Caesar, Lucy, and the others walked out of the hollow together.
Seeing the golden smoke cloud filling the sky and the colossal plume rising from the distant blast—everyone was stunned.
Billy jumped in shock.
"What's going on? Why's the sky turning gold? Wait… that looks familiar—the same color as when Sam Li casts his spells!"
Tsukishiro Yanagi explained.
"It's a meteorite. A massive golden meteorite hit the Outer Ring."
Nicole quickly asked,
"The same kind as the one we saw at Scott Outpost last time?"
Tsukishiro Yanagi nodded, then shook her head.
"No… this one is much bigger. As you can see, the dust from the explosion traveled hundreds of kilometers from the Outer Ring all the way here…"
Then Tsukishiro Yanagi recounted everything she had seen: how the meteorite fell, how it exploded. And she added seriously:
"Strangest of all, a train also fell from the sky. It might be the work of those Adepti."
Nekomata said excitedly,
"Nicole, let's go help Sam Li too!"
Billy cheered, waving his arms.
"Yeah—woo-hoo! Traveler, Proxy, Caesar Boss, Nicole Boss, Xiangling, Guoba Bro, let's roll—"
Nearby, Paimon, Traveler, Xiangling, along with Keqing, Shenhe, Ganyu, and the others all stared at the massive smoke cloud rising in the distance.
Paimon's eyes widened.
"This is just like how the Chasm was formed back then, right?"
Shenhe's expression turned solemn.
"Senior Sister, we must hurry and assist Master and Geo Emperor."
Ganyu quickly nodded.
"Yes—"
Seeing that everyone intended to go together, Hoshimi Miyabi and Tsukishiro Yanagi naturally didn't object. They quickly rounded up several vehicles to head to the Outer Ring.
Before leaving, Tsukishiro Yanagi asked Belobog Heavy Industries' young president, Koleda, to investigate the "falling train" incident and determine what happened.
Koleda agreed immediately.
"Leave that to me. You all handle the Outer Ring. If you need anything, contact me right away—Proxy has my number and my Knock-Knock chat."
Then Koleda led the Belobog Heavy Industries crew into the city to investigate the strange "train fall" incident, while Tsukishiro Yanagi, Hoshimi Miyabi, and the others secured several vehicles and headed to the Outer Ring with the Cunning Hares, the group from Liyue, and the Proxy's team.
Along the way, Koleda kept muttering, "A train? Falling from the sky? How bizarre. Could be a Cataclysmic or even a World-Ender Ethereal causing trouble. We need to check it out."
Grace smiled as always. "A train falling from above… I really want to see it soon."
Ben reminded her, "President, we've fought for two days and nights straight with no rest. Shouldn't we take a break?"
Koleda replied earnestly, "No. I gave Miss Tsukishiro Yanagi my word, so I must follow through."
Anton added excitedly, "Exactly! Real men don't need rest! Let's see if it's an Ethereal—then we fight again!!!"
Ben fell silent.
"…"
However—they still didn't know the precise crash site. Tsukishiro Yanagi and Hoshimi Miyabi had only given them a rough direction. After asking around the whole way, they finally learned the strange train had fallen near Janus District Subway Station No. 6.
...
When Koleda, Anton, Grace, and the others arrived at Janus District Subway Station No. 6—
At that moment, inside the station, a train completely unlike any New Eridu train car stood parked at the platform.
A crowd gathered immediately.
"Look! That's the train that fell from the sky… I thought it would explode, but it actually landed safely right in the station. Is this thing really a train?"
"Damn, it's even tougher than old-era aircraft…"
"It doesn't look like any New Eridu train. Look at the decorations—nothing matches our style."
"Hey, look over there! The doors just opened—someone's coming out."