Being hit by a car, dying suddenly from staying up late, working to death… While Shi Hui avoided the numerous “demonstrations” of previous transmigrators, he still unlocked a new method of transmigration.
He flipped through a slip of paper with absurd jokes recorded on it, and then was taken to another world by that very slip of paper.
As an old bookworm who had read countless novels, Shi Hui quickly accepted the fact that he had inexplicably transmigrated to the Astral Express world.
It was just that he seemed to have transmigrated a bit too early.
The current Navigator of the Astral Express was Amundsen, and after Amundsen’s sacrifice, the Navigator was Glanholm.
After Glanholm’s passing, the story of the Astral Express quietly faded, disappearing among the stars, until a red-haired girl unexpectedly encountered the stranded train.
Specifically, Himeko repairing the train and the Astral Express resuming its journey was in Amber Era 2157, and Mikhail bidding farewell to Glanholm and arriving at Penacony was approximately in 2149.
For Shi Hui at this moment, all of the above were futures yet to arrive.
At this moment, he was almost struck by the Astral Express, much like a certain chicken-winged boy.
Although Glanholm noticed Shi Hui standing on the Void Crystal Wall in time and adjusted the train's direction, this still caused immense trauma to Shi Hui's young heart.
As compensation for his mental distress, and with the idea of driving the train to crash through the Great Attractor's base plate to add a new record to the Think Tank, Shi Hui naturally became a glorious Nameless.
…
Among a multitude of planets lacking liquid water, Luka's pure blue stood out especially in the Przesmyk star system.
She was like the cradle of the ocean mother, where all things were conceived and grew, but also held, grasped, and entrapped by her… until there was no escape.
Meteorites from beyond the heavens seemed to follow some obsessive desire, spreading the ocean across the entire planet Luka.
Endless terrifying waves submerged all homelands, leaving only a vast blue.
And on the Astral Express connected to planet Luka, a train rested quietly.
Inside the observation car, a creature resembling a lop-eared rabbit, wearing a red uniform, a tall hat, and with gray and white fur, spoke with a serious expression.
“Space readings abnormal! Astral Express stability rate has dropped to 11%!”
“Docking plan changed, the docking time at this station is extended from 7 days to indefinite!”
Shi Hui silently stared at the blue planet outside the carriage, lost in thought.
“Passenger Shi Hui, what are you spacing out about?”
“Nothing, it’s just that this planet named Luka looks a lot like my hometown,” Shi Hui replied to Pam.
“Just as blue, just as beautiful.”
“Speaking of which, Glanholm, the cause of this Astral Express anomaly is also—”
“The Stellaron,” Glanholm said with a helpless expression, having just emerged from the train's cockpit.
Every time he sped through the universe in the Astral Express, treating the Klippah-built Star Wall as a speed bump, the Stellaron would cut off the train's Astral Express, forcing Glanholm to brake.
Seeing Glanholm's still-eager expression, Pam became furious and, while at it, scolded Shi Hui, who was watching the show.
“Passenger Glanholm, although the train's carriages are very sturdy, that’s no reason for you to race the train, Pam!”
“Every time you and Passenger Shi Hui finish racing, you two hide in Tiernan’s room to avoid the repair work.”
“Do you two not know that the Conductor also gets tired from repairing the carriages, Pam!”
“Little Pam, didn’t you say the train received a distress signal from a Nameless?” Shi Hui couldn't bear to see his good brother being scolded (actually, he didn't want the Conductor to reveal his own dark history), so he quickly changed the subject.
“Call me Conductor, Pam!”
Of course, Pam also knew that urgent matters were at hand and there was no time to teach Shi Hui how to properly address the Conductor, so he gave up.
“That’s right, seven system days ago, the train received a distress signal from Passenger Mikhail.”
“However, at that time, you were still in the Zorena-Urd star system dealing with the memory matter disturbance caused by the Stellaron, so the train couldn’t arrive here in time, Pam.”
Shi Hui nodded and looked at Lazarina, the curious and vibrant young scholar beside him.
After dealing with the Stellaron incident in the Zorena-Urd star system, which was under academic dictatorship, Lazarina chose to leave her hometown and board the train to seek a broader academic world and delve into the study of memory matter dynamics.
Luka affected by the Stellaron, Passenger Mikhail's distress signal…
Connecting these two pieces of information, Shi Hui made a deduction—the Nameless who sent the distress signal should be the grandfather of the famous Clockmaker of the future, "Navigator" Mikhail.
“Has it already been seven system days? I hope we’re not too late.”
However, looking at the planet before him, already submerged by the sea, Shi Hui knew very well that it was likely too late.
Amundsen walked out of the train's observation room, his black hat brim shadowing his eyes, his voice somewhat low.
“Half a system hour ago, I received a message from Mikhail.”
“He said, someone has to stand up and save Luka, why can’t it be him? Retreat is not the choice a Nameless should make when facing difficulties.”
“It’s just that he was worried about his grandson, little Misha, and asked me to take good care of him.”
Amundsen silently walked towards the train door.
“Now, Luka has been submerged by the seawater brought by the Stellaron, so let me go alone this time.”
“I’ll bring back the Stellaron and little Misha.”
Amundsen gently caressed a broken pocket watch with a slightly weathered finger; it was a gift from Mikhail when he left the train.
The first part of the pocket watch to break was its chain; it suddenly snapped during a warp jump, scattering everywhere.
Next was the back casing; it was struck by a lead bullet, becoming dissevered.
Finally, the dial's markings, which gradually wore smooth over a long period, becoming almost invisible.
Damaged and repaired repeatedly, its original appearance was unrecognizable, only the motionless hand still pointed to the unchanging front.
Shi Hui also noticed Amundsen's actions; he said nothing more, only lowered his head to look at the mobius strip he had made into a necklace and hung around his neck.
Ever since he first transmigrated, when it, like a protector, emitted a nebula that absorbed the fragments of the Void Crystal Wall shattered by the Astral Express, this mobius strip had shown no further reaction.
Even Glanholm's mind would know that this thing was definitely not simple.
Shi Hui had also tried to disassemble this paper ring from its original adhesive point, but no matter how he fiddled with it, the paper ring showed no reaction.
Moreover, the humorous short stories recorded on the paper ring were also gone, as if they had never existed.
A standard mobius strip made of white paper—aside from a faint amber glow, Shi Hui found nothing special about it.
Perhaps, this thing would become his golden finger one day in the future, after experiencing some special event. But for now, it was still in a dormant state, completely unresponsive.
