Jarilo-VI
The Eternal City, Belobog
"Hehe. Himeko, Uncle Yang, our Trailblaze journey on Jarilo-VI is going super smoothly. The leader here is called the Supreme Guardian. She's pretty normal. A bit hard to talk to at first, but once you reason with her, she's actually quite gentle."
"We've already gotten her promise to help us deal with the Stellaron disaster. It's been a long day, so we're planning to look around a bit. A heart-freezing adventure. Day one, total success."
A cute pink-haired girl flashed a peace sign at her phone and ended the recording.
Behind her, a gray-haired girl wore a blank expression, while the black-haired young man looked confused.
"March, based on our observations, the Fragmentum corruption has already spread into the city. The signal is bad. Recording such a long video, it won't even send."
"Oh please, I planned for this. Even if it can't send now, we can just play it all at once for Himeko and Uncle Yang when we get back."
March 7th looked smug. "Dan Heng, you're still on the first layer. I've already calculated the second."
"Calculated the second," Stelle raised her hand and repeated.
"You parrot!" March jumped and smacked Stelle's head.
…
Dan Heng sighed helplessly.
He was used to March's chaotic personality, but now with Stelle added in, the Astral Express crew had taken another big step toward full-on chaos.
He worried about the crew's future, but then again, Nameless were all a bit strange. According to records, the Aeon of Trailblaze was a strange Aeon to begin with.
"Ah. I can feel it!" March suddenly turned to Stelle. "You're thinking that this pink-haired girl hasn't even properly started the Trailblaze and is already planning the celebration, and that she's a total idiot, right?"
"…Huh?"
Stelle's expression became confused.
March's gaze sharpened. "It was you. Dan Heng. Again. I can feel it. One of you definitely just mocked me in your head."
"Uh… could it be Stelle?" Dan Heng tried to clear himself.
"Look at her face. She's even more of an idiot than me. How could she call me an idiot?"
March pointed at Stelle. Stelle's face turned serious.
"March, you're mean. You called me an idiot."
"Ah!" March stepped back, scratching her head awkwardly. "Haha. Sorry, Stelle. I meant it as a roundabout compliment. You're cute."
"Really?"
"Really, really."
March nodded hard, then turned toward the streets of Belobog. "Whoa. Stelle, look. There's a restaurant. There must be lots of good food. I'll treat you to local specialties as an apology, okay?"
Stelle: (?﹃?)
The less-than-three-days-old Stellaron baby was instantly hooked.
The Trailblaze team's first stop on Jarilo-VI was a restaurant. Belobog red sausage, fried rock crab, black bread soda ice mountain. With such extreme conditions, the food culture was simple.
And so.
After eating their fill, while freely exploring Belobog, the Stellaron baby encountered the first trash can of her Trailblaze journey.
Stelle: (⊙_⊙)
A perfectly ordinary trash can.
She stared at it for a long time. Still ordinary. No. Trash cans should not be this ordinary. An urge to open it overflowed in her heart.
March noticed Stelle spacing out and patted her shoulder, seeing the curiosity she could not hide.
"Uh… what are you planning?"
"Can I… open it?"
"No. You. Cannot." March dragged Stelle away in a panic.
Five minutes later.
March could separate them for a moment, not a lifetime. While March and Dan Heng were repairing a heater at the Neverwinter Workshop, Stelle quietly snuck back.
One day apart felt like three autumns.
It had not actually been that long, but the trash can felt different now. More mature. The rust along its rim had vanished, the dents smoothed out.
There was even a faint golden glow seeping from beneath the lid. Sweet and tempting. For a moment, Stelle thought it was not a trash can, but a treasure chest.
And no one can refuse a treasure chest.
She took a deep breath and lifted the lid. Nothing inside.
No. That's not right.
She bent down, reached inside, and picked up a piece of scrap metal from the bottom.
At last, a treasure.
So this was what treasure chests were like. Full of useless junk, but gathered in quantity, it might become useful.
Just like this scrap. Flip a dozen trash cans, get a dozen scraps, and you could make a barely useful scrap weapon.
Strange memories flooded her mind.
March 7th: (⊙⊙)
Dan Heng: (⊙⊙)
Stelle turned around holding the scrap, only to see her companions staring at her with complicated expressions. She opened her mouth, unsure how to explain.
"…No need to explain. My fault, my fault. I get it. For you, this impulse is just too strong," March laughed it off.
"March, you need to keep an eye on Stelle. Don't let her flip trash cans or wander off."
"Yeah, yeah. I know." March protested. "I was fixing the heater. I just got distracted."
"You're completely counterproductive," Dan Heng said flatly. "Anyway, it's late. Tomorrow we still need to help Jarilo-VI deal with the Stellaron. Let's head back to the hotel arranged by the Supreme Guardian."
Not long after the Trailblaze team left.
The trash can Stelle had touched began to change. Rust vanished, dents smoothed out, even the garbage inside disappeared.
Finally.
The trash can grew limbs and stood up. "I can feel it. Endless desire corrodes this world. All beings lose themselves. Humans become like trash cans. Trash cans become like humans."
"I have come in response to the call of the Garbage King, Tatarlov."
"I ask…"
Though it had no eyes, it was clear that this posing trash can noticed there was no summoner before it.
"Ah. Was I summoned by the world's own will? Am I to bring order to this decaying world?"
The trash can was invigorated.
At first, no one cared about this single trash can, thinking it was just another ordinary trash can theft. Until the bins educated themselves, formed an alliance, and challenged the Supreme Guardian of Jarilo-VI.
…
Memoirs of Jin Lajitzde
The bearer gains the basic skill set 'One Bin Under the King.' By contacting trash cans, the bearer can manifest the trash can heroes recorded in Memoirs of Jin Lajitzde into reality.
Only those who firmly believe that 'trash can heroes' truly exist can equip this strange object. Fewer than those who believe in light. Perhaps only a soul as pure as a newborn less than a month old can equip it.
And
Influenced by Historical Fictionologers, the early Trailblaze history of the Astral Express has grown blurred. How did Akivili fall? Was Akivili truly an Emanator of Elation, and was Aha truly an Emanator of Trailblaze? No one in the galaxy can give a definite answer anymore.
Until someone found this book in a decommissioned train.
Memoirs of Jin Lajitzde
Cast list:
Akivili, as the Garbage King Tatarlov
Aha, as the Trash Can Sage Pure Jin Lajitzde
…
Ah. My head hurts. Damn Historical Fictionologers.
The contents are so absurd that the Armed Archaeology faction's chief scholar of the Intelligentsia Guild let out a prairie dog scream.
…
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Let me know if I got a name wrong. I know basically nothing about MyGO.