After a period of rest, the train slowly departed the Space Station, but it didn't immediately initiate a warp jump.
Bai Luan sat on the sofa in the carriage, gazing at the starry sky outside the window.
How should he put it... this finally felt a bit like interstellar travel.
Leaning by the window to watch the scenery outside was itself a part of the journey.
Neither the university shuttle nor his own use of the Anywhere Door had offered this step before.
He was glad that the train journey had completed this missing link for him.
Although, upon reaching the designated location, the train would still use a warp jump.
As the galaxy outside the window swirled, Bai Luan's thoughts drifted.
His trip to Jarilo had two purposes: one was to lend a hand to that frozen land, and the other was to test Elio's bottom line.
If possible, Bai Luan didn't really want to interfere too much with the main storyline, after all, the main storyline was full of troublesome matters that couldn't be left unattended.
Once things went wrong, it would also affect his own life.
If he interfered too much and caused problems with the script, he would have to find a way to fix it, which would be too much trouble.
Now it was good; Silver Wolf told him that Elio knew of his existence.
This meant that Bai Luan didn't need to grasp the extent of his interference himself; Elio would do it for him.
That was great; this way, he wouldn't have to rack his brain cells.
What butterfly effect, world-line changes, what gibberish are they talking about!?
He didn't understand!
Let Elio talk to the script that needed changing!
This trip to Jarilo was to test Elio's bottom line and see how Elio would stop him if he insisted on interfering with the script.
If there could be some unexpected gains, that would be even better.
Just as Bai Luan was anticipating what his vacation trip to Jarilo would be like, Stelle's voice pulled him back to reality.
"Uncle, what are you thinking about?"
Bai Luan looked at Stelle helplessly.
"Stelle, how about we address each other differently from now on? I'll call you Grandma Stelle, and you call me Uncle Luan. How about we each address each other as we see fit?"
"No."
Stelle decisively shook her head.
"It makes me sound so old."
"Aren't you clearly aware of how it feels not to want to be called old by others?"
"But I just woke up from the Space Station not long ago, right? You're not like me."
"..."
Ah, forget it, call me whatever you want.
After several attempts, Bai Luan finally chose to give up.
"What are you two talking about? Can I join?"
Bai Luan naturally shifted over, making space for March 7th.
March 7th sat next to Stelle.
"What are you talking about?"
"Uncle is really looking forward to the upcoming journey."
March 7th glanced at Stelle and said:
"You still haven't changed your way of addressing him? Speaking of which, with you calling him that, I don't even know what to call Bai Luan anymore."
Hearing March 7th's words, Bai Luan quickly spoke:
"March 7th, I beg you, please don't let Stelle infect you, okay? If one more person calls me 'Uncle'…"
March 7th looked at Bai Luan and chuckled, saying:
"Haha, you wouldn't be that scared, would you?"
"No, you don't understand that feeling."
Bai Luan looked at March 7th, then pointed at Stelle, saying:
"Can you imagine Stelle calling you 'Auntie' every day? Can you imagine that?"
"Uh..."
March 7th imagined it for a moment, then felt a chill. She rubbed her shoulders and looked at Bai Luan with some sympathy, saying:
"That's truly... a huge mental blow. I understand you now."
"Good that you understand."
Just then, Pom-Pom scurried over with small, quick steps, announcing that the train was about to warp.
Then he specifically ran over to tell March 7th to sit down properly.
Bai Luan, of course, complied and sat down on the sofa.
The train then entered warp drive. After Pom-Pom told her off, March 7th still didn't give up on the challenge of standing steady during warp.
She stood up before the train warped, a determined expression on her face.
The train entered warp drive, the entire carriage gradually turning blue... and with a whoosh, the train appeared in the sky above Jarilo-VI.
Then Bai Luan heard the sound of March 7th falling to the ground.
Hmm, she seemed to have fallen quite painfully.
Stelle got up and helped March 7th to her feet.
March 7th smiled, rubbing the sore spot where she fell, and said:
"Looks like I failed the challenge again, hehe."
After seeing the Jarilo planet, Bai Luan also stood up from the sofa.
"Well then, I'll go ahead to Jarilo."
Stelle looked at Bai Luan, asking in confusion:
"Uncle isn't coming with us?"
"No, you have your adventures, and I have things I want to do. But if you call me for help, I'll rush over at any cost."
Bai Luan was about to put on his mech suit when he suddenly thought of something. A portion of the nanobots on his body separated, forming three small badges. With a wave of his hand, the three badges flew towards March 7th and Stelle.
Stelle picked up the badge and asked:
"What is this?"
"It's a life support device. Wearing it will keep you warm, and it's quite cold on Jarilo.
However, you have the power of path, so you probably won't need it much. Its main purpose in your hands is to let me know your location."
Bai Luan looked at March 7th and Stelle, complaining:
"Seriously, you two look truly 'beautifully frozen' in those outfits."
After hearing Bai Luan's complaint, Stelle said:
"'Beautifully frozen' and 'beautifully moving' sound similar, which is amusing."
Bai Luan and March 7th both looked at Stelle speechlessly. March 7th even retorted:
"Your explanation of the joke makes this pun even colder."
Stelle put her hands on her hips, a smug expression on her face.
"That's not a compliment to you!"
Bai Luan looked at March 7th and Stelle, recalling his days of playing games in his previous life.
Indeed, the train crew was still the same.
Bai Luan waved his hand, bidding farewell:
"I'm leaving now. Please give Dan Heng's share to him."
"Okay, thanks, Bai Luan."
March 7th put away the badge, looked at Bai Luan, and said with a mischievous smile:
"You're so thoughtful, I'm almost tempted to call you 'Uncle'."
"Please don't. One person calling me 'Uncle' is more than enough for now."
Bai Luan put on his mech suit.
"Alright, that's enough talk. Bye-bye."
After saying that, Bai Luan flew out of the train's exit.
Before leaving, Bai Luan looked back at the train, seeing March 7th and Stelle waving goodbye through the window.
Bai Luan smiled and waved back in response, then turned and flew towards Jarilo-VI.
He easily broke through the atmosphere, and a quick scan from his detector pinpointed the location of Belobog.
Bai Luan didn't plan to go to the Upper Zone; instead, he intended to head directly to the Underworld. He found more things of interest in the Underworld than in the Upper Zone.
With his mech's stealth system activated, he easily bypassed the Silvermane Guards and entered Belobog's Underworld.
Upon entering the Underworld, Bai Luan took off his mech suit and, using mimicry technology, changed his clothes into a trench coat, matching the local style.
Bai Luan took a deep breath, then coughed twice. To be honest, the air in the Underworld wasn't very good.
Well then... let's start by gradually testing how much Elio would tolerate him doing.
First, he'd try doing something to improve the lives of Belobog's citizens to see if it would trigger Elio's reaction.
Bai Luan walked a few steps in the Underworld and found an abandoned heater.
The mech scanned for blueprints, then he opened the blueprint and quickly understood its structure.
Hmm, so simple.
Bai Luan quickly disassembled the heater, repaired its faulty parts, and then optimized it, increasing its energy efficiency by several times.
『Curio: Repaired Heater』
『The heat it emits is very warm and can relax people's minds』
The Curio's effect is pretty good.
An artifact against emo.
This can't be spammed, this truly makes one feel warm inside.
Bai Luan casually put away the heater, intending to give it to Natasha later.
This would be quite suitable for doctors to use with patients; it could warm not only the body but also the heart.
He'd let her use it for a few days to pave the way for its circulation in the Underworld.
He believed the leader of the Wildfire would clearly understand the importance of this heater.
Before going to Natasha, Bai Luan first went to the Mechanical Settlement.
Belobog's automatons also showed signs of sentience awakening. Collecting their data might provide some reference for the civilization of Beta Star.
However, Bai Luan didn't intend to just take; at the very least, he had to help out here first.
There was also one very important point.
He wanted to study the defense system of the true Preservation Aeon, the Traffic Light God of War, the Automaton Beetle.