"Holy shit!"
"No way, dude, did we really crash?"
Watching the cutscene of the crash, Little Bear was completely stunned.
A carriage of the train carrying the Stellaron Spirit, the Vidyadhara High Elder, and the Pseudo-Emanator Swarm King... had crashed the moment it entered Amphoreus. How were they supposed to play this?
You tell me, how do we play this?
[Holy shit, Amphoreus's combat power is insane!]
[Change of plans, retreat, retreat, retreat!!!]
[Change of plans! Call in Lumina, The Herta, Ruan Mei, Jing Yuan, Feixiao, and Screwllum! All of them!!!]
[Ten-minute speedrun of Amphoreus, my ass! (facepalm)]
[Ten minutes? Try one second!]
"Hey, where's Little Swarm?" Ignoring the comments, Stelle woke up in the game. Little Bear scanned the surroundings with her, but only saw one player marker instead of two.
Without overthinking it, Little Bear guided Stelle toward Dan Heng.
After waking him, Stelle asked, "Dan Heng, where's Little Swarm?"
"I don't know..." Dan Heng's expression darkened as he surveyed the area. "When the train crashed, I couldn't find any trace of Little Swarm on board. I had to prioritize getting you to safety first."
After saying this, Dan Heng looked Stelle up and down. Seeing no bloodstains or injuries on her, a flicker of surprise crossed his eyes.
But he remained silent, not commenting on it.
"Could she have been thrown somewhere else when the train crashed?" Stelle asked, looking down at the burning carriage.
"That's a possibility, but..." Dan Heng nodded, paused for a moment, then continued, "The attack caught us off guard, but with Little Swarm's strength, she should have been able to block it..."
"Even if she didn't react in time, her physique would have ensured she survived the crash without any issues."
During the fall, Dan Heng had been conscious the entire time he carried Stelle out of the train.
But in that period, he hadn't found any sign of Little Swarm on board.
"..." Hearing this, Stelle finally understood.
Little Swarm... she had vanished from the carriage before the crash, before the attack even struck the train...
The power to make Little Swarm vanish without a trace could only belong to an Emanator or someone even stronger...
Clashing with an Emanator right after entering Amphoreus filled both Stelle and Dan Heng with a deep sense of unease.
Especially now, with the train crashed and their way back cut off.
Their phones had no signal, making it impossible to call for rescue...
"Don't overthink it," Dan Heng said, surveying the ruins and the burning carriage. "The unknown Emanator didn't attack us. Perhaps... it has no malicious intent toward Little Swarm either."
Stelle: ...
Hearing Dan Heng's words, Stelle couldn't help but feel speechless, even though she knew he was just trying to comfort her.
"Huh? Wait a minute..."
"We can contact the outside world."
Just as Stelle was feeling exasperated by Dan Heng's attempt at reassurance, she glanced down and saw the ring on her finger.
Her eyes cleared instantly.
"Hmm? You have a way?" Dan Heng asked, puzzled.
"Of course. See this ring?" Stelle held up her hand, waving the ring on her finger at Dan Heng.
"All I have to do is shout, 'Help me, Sister Lumina!'"
"The sky of Amphoreus will shatter instantly, and Sister Lumina will descend on a seven-colored cloud to save us."
"Then, we'll naturally be able to contact the outside world."
Stelle pulled her hand back, placed both hands on her hips, and spoke as if this were the most obvious solution in the world.
"Hmm... That's certainly one way to do it." After a moment's thought, Dan Heng nodded in agreement.
Asking Lumina for help was undoubtedly the fastest, most direct, and easiest solution available.
"The choice is yours. I'll support whatever you decide."
In this situation, Dan Heng had no objections to either advancing or retreating.
They had encountered danger the moment they landed, and Little Swarm was missing. Even Dan Heng had lost the mood to Trailblaze.
1: Activate the ring and ask Lumina for help.
2: Improvise and continue the Trailblaze.
From the player's perspective, two options appeared on the screen.
"Uh... If I choose 1, won't I just clear the Amphoreus chapter instantly?" Little Bear muttered, staring at the familiar-looking choices on his screen.
[Pick 1! Pick 1! I wanna see my waifu!]
[What? My waifu is coming to Amphoreus?! (Sss... haa...)]
"Let's pick 2. They'll probably force us into it anyway." Little Bear was no longer the naive sweetie he once was. He knew the developers wouldn't create so much story content just to let players speedrun through it. Without hesitation, he chose option 2.
[You activated the ring. As it pulsed with green light, a woman in a white dress materialized before you. With a wave of her hand, she repaired the train. Another wave, and a still-dazed Little Swarm appeared beside you...]
[With a third wave, you, Dan Heng, Little Swarm, and the woman herself were all transported onto the train. She went to March 7th's room, waved her hand, and March's symptoms vanished...]
[Then she disappeared for a while, returning shortly with the fuel the Astral Express needed from Amphoreus...]
[Finally, she replenished the energy in your ring, spent some time playing gently and kindly with all of you, and then departed from the train...]
[And after her departure, you all decided on your next Trailblaze destination...]
[With the fuel from Amphoreus—the Land of Eternity, the Unperceived Land—the Astral Express's Trailblaze journey became exceptionally smooth...]
[As for what happened to Amphoreus? What's that got to do with you? You speedran the game, why would you care about Amphoreus?]
[The Astral Express will never cease its Trailblaze journey, but perhaps you should use the speedrun option a little less often...]
[The Eternal Land, Amphoreus]
[End]
[Honkai: Star Rail]
[Starring: Little Bear; Co-starring: ...]
[Special Thanks: Lumina]
[May This Journey Lead Us Starward]
The screen went black.
[Mihoyo~]
"Alright, folks, that's a wrap. The Amphoreus arc is over. My story's already reached the 3.7 ending." Little Bear chuckled at the expected Easter egg.
He then loaded the game. As expected, only one option remained.
"I'll save the ring for when things get dangerous. Little Swarm has the protection set up by Sister Lumina and Ruan Mei, so she'll definitely be fine."