As soon as Stelle arrived at the Parlor Car, she saw March 7th single-handedly carrying a wardrobe several times her size, trudging up the stairs step by step.
In terms of visual impact…
"Oh? Stelle, what are you doing here?"
Welt noticed Stelle's arrival. "Sorry, our prank earlier went too far. To make up for it, we'll take care of setting up your room."
"It's fine. It was my first time, so I wasn't used to it. I'll get the hang of it." Stelle quickly waved her hand. "Uncle Yang, there's a lot of stuff here. Let me pitch in too. It's my room, after all—it wouldn't feel right to let you all do everything."
"Don't worry."
Welt waved his hand grandly, proudly tapping his cane. "Star of Eden, Promax Edition: freely adjustable gravity field, the gospel for manual labor, making your work more efficient!"
"I tweaked the gravity in the Parlor Car. These things may look heavy, but in reality, you only need to move a finger—"
Welt lifted a sofa with one finger. "And you can easily carry them."
Stelle: Wow~ ⊙o⊙
"Uncle Yang, you're amazing!"
Nearby, Shush watched as the drink it had just prepared inexplicably flew out of the cup, sinking into deep thought.
"Hahaha! That's nothing. Besides that, it can also be used as a 'posing artifact,' like this."
Welt's body suddenly floated into the air, arms spread wide, his tone smug. "See, this kind of levitation is completely natural. Someone unaware might even think it's some kind of magic trick, hahaha—"
Stelle: Memories from the future are starting to attack me.
And Uncle Yang, is it really okay for you to strike that pose?
Welt beckoned to Shush. "Shush, please prepare some red wine and steak. Don't tell Himeko we haven't actually eaten. Understood?"
"At your service, my master." Shush gave a bowing salute and turned to leave.
Stelle: ??? Shush, what did you say?! Who's your master?
"Uncle Yang, is Shush a robot you invented?" Stelle's eyes widened, unable to resist asking.
"Oh? Hahaha… I almost forgot, you haven't been on the train for long." Welt paused for a moment, then chuckled. "If you spend enough time with Shush, you'll probably hear this story from it."
"To be precise, Shush's masters are me and another passenger who's already left the train. We found it in a junk pile and fixed it up."
"That passenger who left was also one of my old comrades from Earth, named Void Archives. I knocked out a certain lunatic with one punch to rescue it, granting it freedom."
The more Stelle listened, the more outrageous it sounded. She swallowed hard and cautiously asked, "So… Uncle Yang, you and this Void Archives were pretty close?"
"Of course. When I was saving my homeland, it was my weapon. Its abilities are similar to mine, and when we combined our powers, we could create the incredibly powerful 'Divine Key' with our bare hands… (the following 10,000 words of Uncle Yang's passionate exposition omitted)."
Stelle's expression gradually turned blank. "Tch… Then what about its former master? I mean, a companion as loyal as Void Archives—could it really forget its previous master?"
Stelle's inner thoughts: Forget? How could it forget? After centuries of being together day and night, Void Archives was practically molded into the shape of the Bishop. How could it switch allegiances so easily? Even if Uncle Yang has surpassed the original, would Void Archives really be that obedient?
"I just told you, its former master was a lunatic. Even Void Archives couldn't stand them," Welt said, stroking his chin. "Oh, now that you mention it, I remember when we first rescued it from its original master, it did have a bit of that 'lingering attachment' vibe."
Stelle perked up: See, I knew it! With Void Archives' personality, how could it just obediently let itself be controlled?
It's probably been scheming to escape from Uncle Yang ever since, right? Poor Uncle Yang, thinking he's earned Void Archives' loyalty…
"I told it back then: I only knocked your master out because I had no other choice. You may have lost your master, but you still have me! I can absolutely be your guide for the next chapter of your life, just like how I led Anti-Entropy!"
"After I patiently counseled it, it became much more obedient in the days that followed. You could even say it was 'extremely cooperative.'"
Stelle covered her face: …
She suddenly understood why Void Archives worked so obediently for Uncle Yang.
It's the same with everyone, isn't it?!
"Later, after spending some time on the train, it went off to pursue its own dreams. I hope it succeeds," Welt said with a cheerful laugh.
Stelle: Uncle Yang, you're such a good guy.
On the other side.
Shush hummed a tune, deftly navigating the kitchen—lighting the stove, searing meat, adjusting the heat, plating the dish… all in one fluid motion, as if it had done this hundreds or thousands of times before.
According to its system's calculations, Himeko should be in her room doing her 'secret workout' at this time, with the door locked for two to three hours, absolutely not appearing here.
Current exposure risk: 11%.
"Oh? Passenger Shush, what are you doing here, pa?"
However, at that moment, a mischievous chuckle sounded. Pom-Pom waddled into the kitchen, asking with a surprised expression, "Who's this for? I don't recall any guests on the train, pa."
Current exposure risk: 100%.
Shush remained calm and composed, replying elegantly, "Reporting to the Conductor, this is lunch for all passengers except Miss Himeko. According to them, they didn't actually eat before returning to the train."
"I estimate they were making excuses to deceive you and Miss Himeko."
If Welt were here, he'd probably be shocked at how quickly Shush betrayed him. He was supposed to be Shush's master, so why didn't this guy even bother to act before selling him out?
"Pa?! You just sold out Passenger Welt and the others like that?" Seeing Shush's honesty, Pom-Pom grew suspicious instead. "You're not trying to trick me, are you?"
"Answer: I am not," Shush replied. "My behavioral logic stems from a piece of my core code."
"My other master, Void Archives, once set a command: when the time is right, I may betray Mr. Welt's orders."
Pom-Pom had a sudden realization. So it was a power play between two masters—how interesting, too interesting.
"Everyone not eating? That won't do! Wait, I'll go get Passenger Himeko to help you, pa!" Pom-Pom scampered off excitedly.
Meanwhile, in Himeko's room.
"Haa… Haa…"
Himeko was drenched in sweat, breathing heavily, her face flushed as she murmured, "As expected… this is still the most satisfying."
She wore boxing gloves on both hands, and in the center of the room hung a massive punching bag, two to three meters tall.
Himeko took a deep breath, her eyes suddenly sharpening. Her fists rained down on the punching bag like a storm: "Ora ora ora ora ora—"
…
"Achoo!"
Stelle suddenly shivered. Why did she have a bad feeling about this?