Chapter 31

Chapter 31: Asta: No, Don't, Don't Say It!

Star Calendar Year 8099, Amber Era 2157, Herta Space Station — Main Control Sector

"Xing, keep up the hard work. The station belongs to me, but also to all of you."

Asta gently patted the gray-haired girl on the shoulder while her other hand swung the practice longsword behind her back in a rather dashing reverse grip.

She tried to make her tone sound weighty and seasoned, but a barely suppressed hint of giddiness made it come out a touch airy. So this was the addictive allure of a swordsman's elegance that you saw in movies and dramas.

Fresh-out-of-the-oven senior energy. Not bad at all.

"If I work hard, will I be able to swing my hand and send out a sword beam dozens of meters tall?"

Xing rubbed her chin, instinctively sizing up the baseball bat in her hand.

In that case — she didn't need this bat anymore!

"Dream on, Stellaron kid."

A teasing snicker drifted over from nearby. "You'd need a cheat, at least."

Herta sat with arms crossed, perched sideways on her wand. Asta's strength was genuinely formidable now. Was it from hard work? Then why wasn't there a single drop of sweat on her forehead?

"A cheat?"

Xing froze for a second, then her eyes lit up with blazing anticipation as she turned to Herta.

"Then, oh peerless, supremely brilliant, devastatingly beautiful Grand Ms. Herta! About this Stellaron inside me..."

She didn't spell it out, but Xing was certain that Ms. Herta — who could flatten a Doomsday Beast with a casual wave — would understand... Could this Stellaron work as a cheat?

"Huh?"

Herta tilted her head.

"Ask me again tomorrow. My interest in you is running low for today."

She yawned lazily, drifting away on her wand, leaving behind a trail of gradually fading, faintly girlish humming.

"I'm heading out. Don't interrupt me while I'm contemplating the mysteries of the universe."

"..."

Xing, left standing alone, clenched her fists. An inexplicable chuuni flame ignited within her. She would — she absolutely would — climb to the very top. Make Ms. Herta, make everyone orbit around her, unable to ignore her. She would gather the gaze of the entire universe. She would become — Zhao Xing!

"Xing! We're heading out!"

Nearby, the pink-haired March waved her hand, trailed by the gentle-looking Dan Heng and the I'm-just-passing-through Welt Yang.

They were strangers who'd met by chance, but an odd friendship had already taken root. It was just that compared to the Grand Herta who'd casually swatted down the Antimatter Legion assault with a wave of her hand, the Express crew looked like they'd been completely upstaged.

【Bright Future Chat Group】

Asta: "That's roughly the situation. Pretty incredible, right? Who'd have thought Stellaron power could be harnessed by a human."

Jingliu: "Incredible indeed."

Wangshu: "So the Trailblazer Xing just... stayed because of you?"

Asta: "Yep. Luckily, this station chief showed her full power and won over the little one's heart, making her willingly stay at the station. Otherwise she'd have been whisked away by the Express crew to rough it across the universe."

Asta: "Ms. Herta mentioned there was apparently some Stellaron Hunter business today too, but they didn't cause trouble during the chaos, so she didn't look into it."

Wangshu: "..."

Asta: "^_^"

Wangshu: "..."

Asta: "Have you finished your sword practice? Just sitting here typing ellipses."

Besides, endless ellipses were rather off-putting — like someone silently saying they were speechless.

Wangshu: "I was just thinking — maybe you should... gently persuade Xing to get on the Express and try out the Trailblaze life?"

Asta: "No need. Even if Ms. Herta loses interest in her in a few days, with this station chief's connections and resources, arranging a stable, promising, well-compensated position at the station would be a walk in the park."

Who was she? The most popular, most employee-caring station chief of Herta Space Station!

Asta: "But you seem to know Xing too. Was your pre-transmigration timeline pretty far along?"

Wangshu: "Yeah. If Xing doesn't embark on the Trailblaze journey, the universe will most likely spiral toward Destruction's end. This prophecy should become fairly well-known in a few years. The space station is supposed to be the starting point of her journey."

Asta's confident smile froze slightly: "..."

Jingliu: "Is the little gray-hair really that important?"

Wangshu: "From what I've heard — and this is just hearsay — that little gray-hair, once she boards the Express, is basically the past Akivili. She apparently has deep ties to the Finality as well."

It was almost certainly true, but stating it too definitively would be hard to explain.

In any case, Star Rail's Aeons didn't really follow conventional timelines — there was a philosophical, rule-level peculiarity to it.

Asta: "..."

Jingliu: "Damn"

Wangshu: "Pretty wild, right?"

Asta: "Did I just screw up?"

Wangshu: "I'm just saying — some Aeons apparently have candidates before they ascend. Maybe Trailblaze and Finality have candidates too, and she's not the only option."

Wangshu: "Maybe if she doesn't join the Trailblaze, the mandate just transfers to someone else."

Asta withdrew her gaze, looking toward where the Astral Express had long since vanished. She wanted to speak but held back.

Because Ms. Herta had intervened so swiftly, the Express crew hadn't encountered any real trouble. They didn't need to rest and regroup, and Xing had already become a member of the station as a research subject.

"What's wrong, Station Chief? Does Ms. Herta have new orders?"

Beside her, Xing — who had already completed a remarkably swift mental transition from drifter to space-station employee — sidled over. Her eyes were bright, her face painted with an eager please-give-me-orders smile.

She seemed to have fully embraced her new identity and... the possibility of being studied.

Asta's throat felt sticky again.

"Xing, Ms. Herta's temper can be a bit... difficult. If you ever regret this and want to go back to the Express, just tell me."

Regardless of anything else, the universe's destruction couldn't be her fault. That pot was way too heavy to carry!

Xing shook her head. "No, Station Chief. I have no regrets. I've found a new dream, and here, I can see the hope of making it real."

She turned, gazing out at the infinite, star-studded abyss beyond. Her eyes went momentarily distant, as if swallowed by the universe's grandeur and depth. But soon, a fiercer, more resolute fire replaced the haze.

"This universe — how vast, how magnificent."

Xing's voice was soft, yet carried a strange, infectious power. "If I were merely a passenger, riding the Express from stop to stop to witness it all — that would be too slow. Too inefficient."

She reached out, fingertips pressing lightly against the cold glass, as if trying to capture that distant starlight in her palm. "I've been thinking... why must I go to the mountain? Why not let all the scenery, a thousand civilizations, countless wonders — come to me? Gather right here. Wouldn't that be far more... efficient?"

Asta's mouth opened. Wait — what's your new dream? I'm not sure I follow?

"Xing, could you be a bit more specific?"

Xing pulled back her hand and clenched her fist tight, as if squeezing that ethereal starscape into something solid and digestible:

"Station Chief — human power has its limits."

I know, Asta nodded instinctively. Which is why in the future, you apparently stop being human... you become an Aeon.

"Therefore!"

Xing's voice shot upward, brimming with hot-blooded passion: "I've decided! Once I've familiarized myself with the station's operations, built up some capital and experience — I'm going to join the Interastral Peace Corporation!"

Asta: ...

"In my own way! By the rules of commerce! By the power of capital!"

Xing's eyes practically glinted with golden credit points: "I'll make this universe run according to my blueprint — more efficient, more prosperous, more... concentrated! All resources, all attention, all beauty, converging toward profit — ah no, toward a greater order!"

Asta's vision went dark. Her brain felt oxygen-deprived. It was over. The kid's brain had broken.

"Xing, getting ahead in the IPC is extremely difficult... It's... ruthless in there."

She tried to gently bring Xing back to reality.

Xing didn't seem to hear. She stood at the station's edge, spine straight as a rod, surveying the vast sea of stars.

The Grand Herta seemed very special — everyone respected her. She could leverage that. Plus, after a day of exploring the station, she'd discovered that Asta's status wasn't ordinary either.

With that, her mental preparation grew even more complete. Xing took a deep breath, suddenly turned, and strode up to the still-dazed Asta.

"Xing?"

Asta tensed at her abrupt solemnity.

Xing extended both hands, seizing Asta's without preamble, gripping them tight. Her gaze was impossibly sincere — even carrying a touch of classical theatrical gravitas. She spoke with perfect enunciation:

"Station Chief!"

"Xing — orphaned since youth, adrift and alone — was blessed to be taken in by the Station Chief. You gave me a place to stand, recognized my worth. This grace is as if you gave me life anew!"

She paused. Under Asta's increasingly horrified gaze, she raised her volume a notch:

"If my lord does not find me unworthy—"

Asta: No, don't — don't say those words!

"Xing would pledge herself as your sworn daughter!!!"