"Please sign the agreement."
"As the nineteenth Supreme Guardian of Belobog, Jarilo-VI, I fully authorize the Astral Express to carry out the planet's ecological restoration."
After the signing of agreement, March 7th blinked her eyes.
"Is it really going this smoothly? Were there no... voices of opposition?"
"There were, but... I'll persuade those with reasonable objections. Unreasonable ones are just grounds for their liquidation." Bronya shook her head helplessly. "In the hands of the previous Supreme Guardian, there was a lot of dirt accumulated on what the ministers had done."
To the point where it gives you a headache just looking at it.
"Alright, then let's prepare a bit. It'll be quick."
The Hyperion tore open a spatial rift from the Sea of Quanta and appeared outside the barrier. After returning to the ship, Aidan followed the dummy-proof operation manual he had left for himself while in Erudition mode, step by step.
A dummy-proof operation manual naturally needed to be simple and easy to understand, with the precision of feeding food into your mouth and then helping you move your jaw to chew, or giving you soup for fear of choking—the kind that even March 7th could operate with ease.
An invisible force field spread out from the bottom of the Hyperion, sweeping across the entire planet like ripples, the outer barrier also shrank along with it.
Vroom!
"Capture successful."
Aidan picked up the square transparent container on the table in front of him. Jarilo-VI floated in the center of the container. Gently pressing the button next to it could also pop up a holographic projection to monitor the state of the humans on the miniature planet in real-time.
"See, how efficient this is."
The clouds flowed slowly, and the snow-covered land reflected a faint light under the simulated starlight of the transparent container. The Preservation barrier wrapped around the entire planet like a layer of translucent amber shell.
March 7th's face was almost pressed against the outer wall of the container.
"This doesn't look real at all."
March 7th reached out her finger and tapped twice on the side of the transparent container.
"Do the people inside really not feel anything? I see the passersby in the holographic projection are still going about their lives as usual. Won't they think the sky suddenly went dark, or the floor beneath their feet has become harder?"
"Of course not. So let's return to the Astral Express first and take this to show Uncle Yang, Sister Himeko, Dan Heng, and the Conductor. It's super cool, right?"
— — —
Welt's hand holding the teacup froze in mid-air.
He stared at the miniature planet inside the transparent container on the table and remained silent for a short while.
"...Say that again. What is this?"
"Jarilo-VI." Aidan pointed at the container. "I just packed it up and brought it back."
Himeko put down her coffee cup and leaned in closer. Her gaze slowly swept over the planet's surface, finally observing that layer of translucent crystal barrier carefully.
"What about the Company's fleet?"
"Still spacing out outside, I suppose." Aidan shrugged. "They should be discussing why the target planet suddenly disappeared right now."
Pom-Pom stood on tiptoe, short arms clinging to the edge of the table, staring at the container.
"Once the environment is restored, we can put it back."
Dan Heng leaned against the back of the sofa, rarely showing a subtle expression.
"So how do you plan to restore the environment?"
"That's simple." Aidan pulled another silver cube from his pocket. "An Ecological Restoration Device, made on a whim while on the Path of Erudition. It can accelerate plant growth, purify the atmosphere, regulate temperature and humidity... Just put it in and let it run for a few days, and this planet will return to a habitable state."
Welt took off his glasses, wiped them, and put them back on.
"The creativity of young people is truly... astonishing."
Stelle squatted by the table, her eyes staring at the container without blinking.
"Can I touch it again?"
"Be careful, don't drop it."
Stelle carefully reached out her hand, her fingertips gently touching the outer wall of the container. The miniature planet rotated slowly in front of her, the glow of the aetherial crystal barrier reflected in her golden eyes.
"So pretty."
March 7th leaned over and also reached out to poke the container.
"It really is pretty. It just feels a bit strange thinking there are so many people living inside."
"They don't know anyway." Aidan leaned against the back of the sofa with his hands behind his head. "In any case, helping others within one's capability—isn't that what a Trailblazer should do?"
"Since that's the case, let's let this planet rejuvenate." Himeko looked at everyone with a smile. "It's getting late, everyone should go back to their rooms and rest. Tomorrow morning, we should be able to see the appearance of the first patch of green."
"By the way, Sister Himeko, are there holographic projections of Jarilo-VI from a thousand years ago in the Astral Express's navigation logs?"
"You want to replicate it?"
"Correct."
"Wait a moment, I'll pull up the records."
Himeko pulled up the original navigation logs for Aidan. Aidan nodded repeatedly and fine-tuned the device according to the requirements in the operation manual.
— — —
At midnight, March 7th sneakily left her room.
No one around, great!
"Little March, what are you doing?"
Himeko's figure appeared silently behind March 7th.
"Hi... Sister Himeko! I... I'm sleepwalking! Yes! I'm sleepwalking."
"Zzzzzzzzzz..."
March 7th lay on the ground and loudly said 'Z' to pretend she was already asleep.
"Sleepwalkers don't usually lie on the floor shouting 'Zzz', Little March."
"Zzzzzzz..." March 7th remained undeterred and continued to fake sleep, even turning over to face away from Himeko.
Himeko didn't expose her, but just squatted down and asked softly, "Then, sleepwalking Little March, can you tell me where you're going?"
"..."
March 7th's 'Zzz' stopped for a second, then continued again.
Himeko couldn't help but laugh and gently poked her waist.
"Ahaha—don't, don't poke! Sister Himeko!"
March 7th bounced up from the ground as if a switch had been flipped, clutching her waist and jumping away, her face written with the guilt of being caught red-handed.
"So, why aren't you sleeping so late? Where are you trying to go?" Himeko stood up, arms crossed, looking at her with a beaming smile. "Do you want to go see Jarilo-VI in the Parlor Car?"
"Ye... yeah."
March 7th guiltily looked away.
Actually, she had quietly gotten up in the middle of the night to get some juice & ice cream from the fridge.
That stuff is really delicious. Once you start, you can't stop, and the more you can't stop, the more you want.
"Hmm~ That's normal. After all, watching a planet's life being restored little by little right before your eyes is indeed a wonderful thing. Since you can't sleep, let's watch it together."
Hearing that Sister Himeko wasn't going to press her about faking the sleepwalking, March 7th's tense shoulders slumped instantly, and she exhaled a long breath.
"O-okay!"
She quickly ran a few steps, huddled by the table, and pretended to put her face close to the transparent container, staring at the tiny clouds and snow without blinking.
That was close, I almost got caught. Fortunately, Sister Himeko didn't look further into it...