“That’s right... all of this was Jiang Lin’s doing...” He looked at the tragic scene before him, a thought bubbling up in his mind.
“Oh no, rear-ending is entirely my fault. Star wouldn’t use everything I just taught her against me, would she?”
Jiang Lin shook his head, casting away all the jumbled thoughts.
His newly acquired ship was already unrecognizable.
He got up and left, heading straight into the Astral Express.
As for how he got in? Well, he just walked right in.
After entering the Astral Express,
Jiang Lin hadn’t even taken two steps when he met Dan Heng and Star, who had come to investigate the anomaly.
It turned out that when Pam deduced that the Astral Express had been rear-ended once again,
everyone suspected it was a similar situation to Argenti’s Rare Beauty.
However, they weren't sure if the newcomer was friend or foe, so they split into pairs to search the Astral Express.
Conductor Pam, meanwhile, returned to the Conductor's Room to maintain the Astral Express's basic functions.
When Star saw Jiang Lin, she instantly realized something... “You’re so fast?”
Star asked with a dazed expression.
Jiang Lin found the question a bit difficult to answer, so he looked at the other person, Dan Heng.
Dan Heng looked at Star, then at Jiang Lin, and asked,
“Mr. Jiang Lin, why are you here?”
Perhaps because Jiang Lin had actively shown goodwill towards Dan Heng on Xianzhou, Dan Heng didn’t harbor too many suspicions at this moment.
But before Jiang Lin could answer, Star spoke up:
“I called him! Don’t underestimate the connections of the Galactic Baseballer~”
Star put her hands on her hips, feeling very proud of herself for easily summoning a genius.
Dan Heng sighed, but still said to Jiang Lin:
“Thank you for your righteous assistance, Mr. Jiang Lin. Let’s head back to the observation car.”
And so, without saying a single word, Jiang Lin was led to the observation car by the two of them.
“Hello, Mr. Jiang Lin, I am Himeko, the navigator of the Astral Express.
I’ve already heard the full story from Dan Heng. Thank you for coming all this way to help us, Mr. Jiang Lin.”
Himeko smiled as she thanked Jiang Lin.
Even though she still felt a bit wary of Jiang Lin,
since Star had actively sought him out, and out of trust for Star, she didn’t say much more about the matter.
After all, the side he showed in his live streams wasn’t exactly easy to get along with... Afterwards, after everyone introduced themselves, the conversation returned to the predicament they were currently facing.
Himeko was the first to speculate:
“Perhaps the previous rear-ending caused damage to the Astral Express, allowing something unexpected to slip inside.”
Star then looked at Jiang Lin, then at Himeko, and said with a dismissive look:
“I know the answer to this question, it’s — Jiang Lin! He slipped into the Astral Express!”
“Oh, come on, be serious! We’re talking about something important.”
March 7th helplessly covered her face, and then her mouth.
Dan Heng then asked, “Have you found the exact source of the sound?”
Pam said uncertainly, “It seems to be the passenger car, but it also seems to be the Conductor’s Room.”
Pam recalled the trauma this incident had caused her and timidly retreated behind Welt.
Just then, Jiang Lin spoke calmly:
“I know this. It’s an Everwinter Shadewalker.”
“Huh?” A big question mark hung over March 7th’s small head.
“Mr. Jiang Lin, how did you come to that conclusion?”
Welt, seeing this, also asked with a serious expression.
“Because I saw them. Outside the Astral Express, there were many.”
“Ah? Did many get into the Astral Express too?”
March 7th asked, a little scared, even though she didn’t yet know what this “bug” was.
But bugs were the last thing a beautiful girl wanted to see.
Immediately after, Dan Heng also proactively explained.
“I’ve read about Everwinter Shadewalkers in the archives.
These insects shed fibrous debris when they flap their wings, causing those who inhale it to hallucinate.”
Then Argenti also offered his own conjecture.
“I thought I had driven them all away, but given the current situation, the Everwinter Shadewalkers seem to still be pursuing us.
Could it be Villett? Did you get insect pheromones on you?”
Villett also looked bewildered and at a loss,
“I... I don’t know...”
And Dan Heng continued to add:
“Moreover, these creatures are extremely stealthy. They might be hiding in the dark or moving around. We must stop them from breeding, otherwise...”
“Oh, then let’s quickly split up and search. I don’t want to see bugs all over the car.”
March 7th said with lingering fear.
Everyone nodded in agreement, planning to first check the extent of the Astral Express's infestation... The result was... terrible!
In just this short amount of time, there were traces of insect eggs and insects everywhere on the Astral Express... Even during the inspection, March 7th and Argenti both fell victim.
March 7th saw herself as a mature woman, while Argenti saw a Wubba... This scared Villett quite a bit, almost making him jump to the ceiling of the car like Teacher Tom.
Pam was also pacing anxiously, saying to Villett,
“This won’t do at all. We must find a more efficient method quickly.
Pam thinks... Hmm... We must also play our part! Villett!”
But... “Huh? Who am I? What am I supposed to do?”
Villett was confused, feeling that as a company employee, he probably wouldn’t be of much use.
This infuriated Pam so much that she was practically fuming.
“Use your brain to think of a solution!”
“Don’t you, as the Conductor, have any methods for dealing with emergencies?!”
Pam’s reaction made Villett even more afraid... Finally, Pam gave her cleaning machine to Star, telling her to use it to inspect the Astral Express... But Star seemed to have entered some indescribable channel?
Because, as Jiang Lin observed, when she was checking the potted plants, she seemed to want to taste them?
However... Jiang Lin quickly stopped paying attention to that situation.
Because just now, while everyone else was looking for bugs,
he had quietly experimented. His Requiem could put all the bugs on the entire Astral Express to sleep.
After all, he had encountered bugs before, and the fact that Requiem could put bugs to sleep didn't surprise him at all.
But that wasn't the most important thing. What Jiang Lin was most concerned about was the Everwinter Shadewalker that had swallowed the Astral Express... When Jiang Lin first tried to use Requiem...
he sensed the consciousness of that Everwinter Shadewalker.
For him, being able to sense it meant he could make it sleep.
But this wasn't the optimal solution, as the Astral Express was still in its stomach.
However... when Jiang Lin tried to activate the Insectoid Empress's remains that he had refined... he felt a clear fluctuation in that bug's consciousness... At this moment in the starry sky... the Everwinter Shadewalker's eyes were dull, because it felt a presence from inside its stomach...
Even if it wasn't very intelligent... it couldn't help but look bewildered... I... I ate... the King?
