Five System Hours later, the news that the Astral Express was collaborating with the Corporation to rescue the fallen planet of Punklorde made the front-page headline of the Interastral Peace Daily. A photograph of Himeko shaking hands with an IPC official was featured prominently.
For the Corporation to make such a grand announcement, there was no way something wasn't going on behind the scenes. Even Stelle could see that!
But for now, it seemed they had no choice but to go along with it.
On a side note, because the Corporation and the Astral Express had formed a friendly alliance, the Xianzhou, leveraging its relationship with the Express, further expanded its trade with the Corporation. As one of the Corporation's major clients, how could the Xianzhou possibly let such a golden opportunity slip by?
Under the Express's influence, the forces of the Hunt and the Preservation began to draw closer.
But that was a story for another time. Since the Corporation had officially entered into a partnership with the Astral Express and promised to provide all possible assistance, Welt pushed up his glasses, their lenses glinting white, and personally went down to mercilessly fleece the Corporation.
This was a rare opportunity, and Welt wasn't about to be polite!
The Express planned to dock at Pier Point for one day to plan their route and purchase supplies. They hadn't initially realized how completely unknown the situation on Punklorde would be, so they had to be fully prepared.
The procurement task was thus handed to Wende and Tingyun. Thanks to Tingyun's past experience as an interstellar merchant, the shopping trip was exceptionally smooth. Better yet, the Corporation was footing the bill. At Himeko's subtle suggestion, Wende even purchased three times their usual amount of supplies!
The crew's motto was to fleece them! Fleece them for all they were worth!
---o---
"Miss Topaz, is this your pet? It's so cute!"
Gazing at Numby, who was so glossy and smooth it looked perfect for petting, March 7th suddenly felt her hands getting itchy.
"Yes! He's my best partner, right, Numby!"
Topaz nodded, looking down at Numby in her arms. She scratched under its chin and then patted its head with a smile.
"Num-by~"
Numby acted cute and cuddly in Topaz's embrace, sending ripples of adoration through the air.
"By the way, Miss March, I heard that Conductor Pom-Pom is also a very remarkable figure. Is… is that true?"
Recalling a photo of Pom-Pom she had accidentally seen on her phone some time ago, Topaz's breathing hitched, and she seemed a bit flustered and uneasy.
"The Conductor? Of course, he's amazing! The fruit juice Pom-Pom makes is the best! Huh? Miss Topaz, why are you shaking?"
Seeing Topaz's body trembling slightly, as if she were afraid of something, March was puzzled. But then, recalling her words, she patted Topaz on the shoulder reassuringly.
"Don't worry! Pom-Pom is really nice! And very cute! Definitely not the scary tyrant you're imagining! And he won't just kick you off the train for no reason!"
March said with an air of absolute certainty.
"Is… is that so? My apologies, I lost my composure for a moment."
Topaz stared at the picture of Pom-Pom's fluffy, oversized ears on her phone—ears that looked absolutely perfect for petting—and silently gulped. She then looked at March with an apologetic expression.
"No need to apologize… Ah! We're here! Miss Topaz! Welcome to the Astral Express!"
March enthusiastically opened the train door for Topaz, and a bright golden light illuminated her face.
"Passenger March! You're back, Pom!"
The adorable Pom-Pom was standing at the entrance, holding a tray of juice and smiling at Topaz and March.
"H-Hello! I'm Topaz!"
The moment she saw Pom-Pom, Topaz jolted. She darted forward, helped hand the tray of juice to March, and then clasped Pom-Pom's small, round hands, her face a picture of pure bliss.
"Uh… Hello, Passenger Topaz. I am Pom-Pom, the conductor of the Astral Express. It's a pleasure to meet you!"
"Yes, yes! Conductor Pom-Pom! I'm your biggest fan! Can I… can I touch your ears?"
"Er… uh… o-okay, but just for a little bit, Pom…"
Pom-Pom was clearly taken aback by Topaz's enthusiasm, but seeing that she seemed to have no ill intentions and even claimed to be a fan… well then, this conductor could make a small exception to fulfill a fan's humble wish, Pom!
"Wow~ So fluffy, it feels amazing…"
Topaz stroked Pom-Pom's big ears with a look of sheer ecstasy, her cheeks flushed red.
"Puh-woo!"
Sensing its position was being threatened, Numby indignantly bit down on Topaz's cape and tried to pull her backward.
"Hey, hey, hey! Alright, alright, don't be angry now!"
Topaz steadied herself and then picked up her dear Numby, stroking its back to soothe it before turning to Pom-Pom with another apology.
"I'm so sorry, Conductor. My Numby is a little…"
"Mm! It's okay. What does it like to eat? I'll go make something for it, Pom!"
"Haha, thank you so much, Conductor!"
Watching Topaz get along so splendidly with Pom-Pom, March stood frozen in place with the juice, unable to process the scene for a moment.
"When… did Pom-Pom become so easygoing?"
"Yeah… good point."
Stelle, who had witnessed the whole scene, nodded silently. She still remembered how Pom-Pom had tried to act all stern and majestic when she first boarded the train.
Turns out, he's just a mascot after all (she whispered).
"I get the feeling this Miss Topaz really likes the Conductor."
March sipped her juice, shaking her head as she watched Topaz and Pom-Pom head towards the dining car.
"Maybe it's because both their names have 'Pa' in them?" Stelle speculated, pinching her chin.
"Hey, is that a lame joke you just learned in Belobog? It's so bad!"
---o---
Real World
The first banner of Version 1.4 was Jingliu's, which of course came with her Companion Quest…
Everyone had expected to see the love-hate drama between the four surviving members of the High-Cloud Quintet. But after finishing the quest, they discovered…
Basically, Jingliu took a tour of the Xianzhou, told you the real reason the High-Cloud Quintet fell apart, then casually used Dan Heng to bait out Blade, went to the Seat of Divine Foresight to drag Jing Yuan out, and the four of them had a meal together with sullen faces. They added each other as contacts right there and then, before being forced by Jingliu to go get a group massage at Wende's massage parlor…
The arrested Luocha: "???? I thought we were all leaving together?"
"How should I put this… this development… I thought it was going to be super angsty… but now that I look at it… doesn't it just look like four tsunderes on a team-building exercise?"
Dogzi scratched her head, looking completely bewildered at the incredibly "harmonious" get-together on her screen.
Seriously, I was all prepared for the knives! How did this turn into a space comedy again?!