The Stellaron Hunters?
In such a short time, another mysterious faction has appeared?
"Who is this Kafka person?"
Across the infinite dimensions, Conan asked with a puzzled expression.
In the light curtain barrage, Kafka had commented more than once. And... she seemed to have a close relationship with Stelle, yet that girl named March 7th, also a crew member of the Astral Express, seemed very wary of her.
"What a powerful genjutsu. This woman is no simple character!!"
In the Pure Land of the Naruto world, Madara Uchiha couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. Although he didn't know what Spirit Whisper was, the ability to control an entire squad with just a few words, effortlessly dismantling an Interastral Peace Corporation combat unit, was no small feat.
From this alone, Kafka's true strength was likely far from simple.
March 7th: "It's that wicked woman, damn it! What are the people from the Corporation doing? How could they let the Stellaron Hunters sneak in without even knowing?!"
Aboard the Astral Express, March 7th stood with her hands on her hips, speaking angrily. Perhaps due to the Stellaron Hunters' infamous reputation, she always held a strange hostility towards Kafka.
She was afraid that Kafka would harm everyone on the train, especially Stelle. After all, Kafka was always staring at Stelle, and Stelle had been with the Express ever since she could remember. She hadn't experienced the harshness of society and could easily be deceived by this kind of wicked woman!
Galaxy Baseballer: "Crap, how did Kafka get on the ship too!"
Unlike March 7th's disgust, Stelle felt nothing of the sort. In fact, she was even a little happy. Since Kafka was also heading to the end of the sea of stars, she might be able to see her again.
She still had so many questions she wanted to ask Kafka. Even though she couldn't remember, she was certain that Kafka held absolutely no malice towards her.
Universal Loiterer Zero: "...I've been wanting to ask since just now. What's your relationship with this woman, Stelle?"
On Planet K76, Zero, who had finally gotten a moment's rest from Leo's training, asked the Stelle in the barrage.
Stelle, however, pondered for a moment before slowly saying, "I don't know either, but... she's very important to me."
Even though Kafka was the Corporation's most-wanted criminal and had done many evil things.
In Stelle's eyes, she was still the most important person, even if Stelle herself didn't remember her relationship with her.
"An important person? Hmph... so that's how it is." Zero rubbed his nose and said no more.
Since Stelle herself had said she was an important person, then all he needed to do was keep a close eye on things. After all, he was Stelle's partner. Stelle's friends were his friends, and people important to Stelle were, by extension, important to him.
Wants to Drink Mei's Sister Juice: "The Stellaron Hunters, I don't know about that Kafka, but... why does that Silver Wolf look exactly like Bronya!!!"
She looks like her, she really looks like her. Aside from her hairstyle, she's almost identical to Bronya. Even her voice is the same, and her hacking skills are so similar to Bronya's!! Could it be... she's Bronya's twin sister?
The Kaslana brain wasn't quite sufficient. Heaven knows how shocked she was when she saw Silver Wolf's appearance.
Super Alloy Bronya: "You idiot, Kiana. This is just an alternate-universe counterpart. Even Teacher Himeko has appeared, so what's so strange about another me showing up?"
Although Bronya was surprised, she wasn't as clueless as Kiana.
It was just the same situation as with Teacher Himeko and Mr. Welt.
---o---
[On the light curtain, Silver Wolf finally decrypted the Corporation's battleship, bringing all the Stellaron Hunters aboard.]
"As expected of Silver Wolf. Even a creation of geniuses can be easily hacked by you."
After boarding the ship, Kafka praised Silver Wolf.
After all, this mission was very important. It involved an Aeon. One careless move... and it could cost them their lives.
Otherwise... Elio wouldn't have dispatched so many people.
"Hmph... but of course. Don't you know who I am?" Silver Wolf puffed out her chest proudly.
For someone who could even hack the Simulated Universe, a small battleship was naturally no problem.
Besides, this was just an ordinary battleship, not one of the central command ships.
But that being said, a serious Corporation was still very difficult to deal with.
Just looking at this fleet that nearly filled the entire starry sky was enough to know. Silver Wolf had never seen such a formation in her entire life. Forget her, Kafka had probably never seen it either. Anyone who didn't know better would think the Aeon of Propagation had been revived.
The entire Corporation had now entered a state of high-intensity work. Combat, logistics—all aspects were being pushed to their limits.
Fortunately, the Stellaron Hunters' mission this time was only infiltration, not a direct confrontation with the Corporation.
If they were discovered, they probably wouldn't be able to flee unscathed.
And what's more... within this fleet, it was highly likely that there were 'Emanators'... Emanators of Preservation, and probably more than one.
The Stellaron Hunters were powerful, but against an Emanator of Preservation, they could only run. They might not even be able to do that.
"Kafka, what do you think is the meaning of the Amber King's revelation?" Blade, who rarely spoke, actually initiated a conversation, his eyes fixed on the moving battleship beneath his feet.
"Who knows? Didn't Elio fail to see the outcome of this operation either?" Kafka leaned elegantly against the window, gazing at the unchanging scenery of the starry sky.
"But one thing is certain. Those dark creatures, whether it's the one captured by the Xianzhou Alliance or the few still being researched in the Corporation's laboratories, all come from another universe."
"Perhaps... the end of the sea of stars mentioned by the Amber King is the passage to that other universe?"
Kafka's lazy voice drifted over, seeming completely unconcerned with the other starry sky.
And in fact, that was the case. From the very beginning until now, Kafka had hardly ever shown any obvious emotions.
She could end a planet's life with a smile, and she could activate her nearly inescapable Spirit Whisper without a flicker of emotion.
It had been this way ever since Blade joined the Stellaron Hunters. However... if one were to speak of the time Kafka's emotions fluctuated the most, it would have to be not long ago.
When that little ghost disappeared, it was the first time Blade had ever seen Kafka show such violent emotional fluctuations.
Glancing furtively at Kafka, Blade closed his eyes.
Forget it. It was better not to bring up that little ghost in front of Kafka. His Mara hadn't flared up yet, and he didn't want to test Kafka's Spirit Whisper.
"Speaking of which, the Astral Express... has been missing for a long time."
Seeing that everyone had fallen silent, Sam, clad in his white mech suit, spoke up in his mechanical voice.
He didn't think as much as Blade. To Sam, Stelle was important. That was all.
"The Astral Express..." Kafka said slowly, the pupils in her eyes shifting slightly, her thoughts unknown.
No one knew where the Astral Express had gone, not even Elio. But for Kafka, this wasn't important.
Because Stelle had gone missing before the Astral Express disappeared. Even though she had used every method at her disposal, she couldn't find a single trace of Stelle.
"That train has been out of contact for a long time. Although they're still alive, we just can't find them."
Bringing up the Astral Express gave Silver Wolf a headache. First Stelle had vanished—one person disappearing was one thing, that could be explained as a kidnapping. But now, the entire Astral Express was gone.
Aside from an Aeon, Silver Wolf couldn't think of anyone who could make the Astral Express vanish from the cosmos in an instant. Even an Emanator couldn't pull that off.
No one actually thinks the Conductor of the Astral Express is just some mascot, right? You don't, do you? That's a fellow who once traveled with Akivili. Who knows how terrifyingly strong he is, but at the very least, escaping with the Astral Express shouldn't be a problem.
"I have a theory. Since they're still alive, given the Astral Express's character, they would never abandon Stelle."
"In other words, since both the Astral Express and Stelle are in an unobservable state, could it be that the Astral Express... has already found Stelle?"
Sam's mechanical voice echoed in the empty space, causing Silver Wolf to glance over. "That makes sense, Sam. When did you get so smart?"
"This is just a guess. After all, I'm not like you. Besides fighting... I have nothing." Sam said coldly. When it came to brains, he was no match for Silver Wolf and Kafka.
"Sam's guess makes a lot of sense, but... we've tried every method and still can't find any trace of the Astral Express or Stelle. Even with Silver Wolf's technology, we can only confirm that the Astral Express is still active."
Blade interjected. Although he didn't want to discuss this topic, since Sam had brought it up, he didn't have to pretend he hadn't heard.
"Silver Wolf, a train, what would have to happen for all the backdoors you left behind to fail completely?"
Without jumping to conclusions, Kafka first asked Silver Wolf in a soft voice.
To be honest, to ensure the script proceeded smoothly and to guarantee Stelle's safety, Silver Wolf had left more than one backdoor on the Astral Express.
If anything happened to the train, Silver Wolf's side would be alerted.
But when the Astral Express disappeared, not a single one of Silver Wolf's backdoors activated. Now, they were all out of contact. Unless it was premeditated, only an Aeon could have done it.
"I don't know. From the images left behind, the Astral Express vanished from the cosmos out of thin air."
Silver Wolf crossed her arms and replied helplessly. The little gadgets she had placed on the Astral Express had all turned into a pile of scrap metal the moment the train went offline.
"Do you remember what I said? Those dark creatures are from an unknown, brand-new universe. And the end of the sea of stars is the passage to that other universe."
Kafka seemed to have figured something out. A gleam of light appeared in her eyes as she said, "Since we can't find them using any of our methods, could it be because... the Astral Express and Stelle are not in this universe right now...?" ]
---o---
[Light Curtain Barrage]
Shocking. This was truly shocking.
With such a pitiful amount of information, they were still able to deduce the existence of another universe, and even deduce the location of Stelle and the Astral Express.
Are these the Stellaron Hunters? No wonder they can remain unscathed despite being wanted by the Corporation for such a large bounty. It seems they have some real skills.
Across the infinite dimensions, countless viewers who saw this scene couldn't help but feel a sense of admiration for the Stellaron Hunters.
Yukino Yukinoshita: "It seems Kafka really does care about Stelle."
Kurumi Tokisaki: "More than just care, she's practically treating her like her own daughter."
In the world of Date A Live, Kurumi Tokisaki revealed a smile. If they didn't look so different, she might have actually thought Kafka was Stelle's mother.
It really made one curious. What kind of past could a Stellaron Hunter and a Stellaron have that would make them see each other as the most important person?
Galaxy Baseballer: "Kafka... I caused a 'violent emotional fluctuation'?"
Compared to those guesses, Stelle was more concerned with Blade's words. Although Kafka's attitude towards her had always been different from others, she never thought that her disappearance would worry her so much...
Damn it, what exactly is my relationship with Kafka? The more Stelle thought about it, the more puzzled she became. It couldn't really be mother and daughter, could it?
Stellaron Hunter Kafka: "Listen to me, child. Knowing these things now won't do you any good. You only need to know that I care about you for a certain reason."
Galaxy Baseballer: "So if it weren't for that reason, you wouldn't care about me?"
Stellaron Hunter Kafka: "..."
In the Star Rail universe, Kafka fell silent for a long time. She chose not to answer Stelle's question. After all, there were so many comments on the barrage; it was fine to just pretend she didn't see it.
As for the answer... it was naturally no. She just simply didn't want Stelle to know her inner thoughts.
"When did I become so hesitant?"
Kafka let out a self-deprecating sigh and continued to focus her gaze on the screen.
---o---
[On the light curtain, the members of the Stellaron Hunters were discussing information about the Astral Express.]
[And they were indeed getting very close to the truth. In fact, they were now on the path to the truth.]
[However... even powerful individuals like the Hunters failed to notice the smiling mask watching everything from the periphery.]
[When did that smiling mask appear in the corner?]
[Perhaps it was when they arrived, or perhaps it was when they had just started their discussion. Of course, it was also possible that it had been there from the very beginning.]
"Ah-ha~~ Sneaking into the Corporation's fleet to get an audience with the Amber King... what a fine piece of fun!"
[Aha, the Aeon of Elation. He laughed equally at everything, even at The Nihility.]
[The Stellaron Hunters' conversation had piqued his interest, which is why... he had appeared here.]
---o---