Hearing the roaring, the singing, and the mechanical growling of trash cans, March 7th immediately guessed that Pei Guang and Stelle were up to something again.
And worse: they didn't invite her to something that sounded so fun?!
Furious, March 7th stormed toward Stelle's room.
Outside the door, she could hear the wailing even more clearly. Her mind flashed back to the snowy fields of Belobog—back then, Pei Guang had also sung wildly .
Still just as bad. But it still made your blood boil and made you want to go out and fight a couple of Doomsday Beasts or Lord Ravagers.
And the moment she did, March 7th went silent. Inside, she saw the two idiots dancing and raving in trash can armor.
Her heart raced. Blood pressure spiked.
She shut the door quickly, took a deep breath—
"Terrifying… utterly terrifying…"
Once again, the same multiple-choice question that had appeared many times before flashed before her eyes. Maybe before she'd had options, but now, her choice was clear:
She was the universe's #1 "help your friends even if they're wrong" kind of girl. Ah Guang and Stelle were family and comrades.
No matter how chaotic things looked inside, she had to join them and share the joy.
Without another thought, March 7th opened the door again. This time, she gave up thinking altogether, walked in, and closed the door behind her.
Let's backtrack a few minutes.
When the duo got hyped, Dan Heng had been sorting through the archives. He also heard the familiar sounds.
At first, he tried to block them out with headphones and keep working, but the voices of Pei Guang and Stelle seemed to pierce through any barrier. He sighed deeply, stood up, and decided to check what was going on.
When he reached Stelle's room, he saw March 7th open the door, shut it, then re-enter without hesitation.
Her surrender to nonsense made Dan Heng fall silent.
After traveling two planets with Pei Guang, he already had a deep understanding of the guy's ability to lead others astray.
But now Dan Heng was even more curious about what was going on inside. Compelled by that curiosity, he walked up to the door.
What had been just Pei Guang and Stelle's howling now had March 7th added in.
Normally, March 7th had a lovely singing voice. Sometimes she'd be a little off-key, sure, but even off-key, she was pleasantly off-key.
But now? Not only was March 7th off-key, she'd actually synced with Pei Guang's rhythm.
And because it was so terrifying, Dan Heng's curiosity grew stronger. He had to know what was happening.
He took a deep breath and opened the door.
The instant he did, his mind was once again hit with a shock.
Even though he spent his days poking people with a pink fluffy bunny, the surreal scene before him still slammed into his brain.
Pei Guang was flailing his head around in a trash can armor suit, Stelle was spinning inside a trash can, and March 7th… well, even she no longer looked like a proper cute girl anymore, just someone fully lost in the madness of fun.
This scene left Dan Heng silent as he quickly closed the door. In that moment, he felt his brain trembling, as if a voice was calling out to him to join in, but his final shred of reason stopped him.
These past days, having stayed away from Pei Guang, Dan Heng had returned to some semblance of normalcy.
But now, he felt as if another world was beckoning to him.
Just then, hearing the noise, Welt approached out of curiosity. "What's going on in there? It's quite the ruckus."
Welt opened the door, and the moment he did, his eyes lit up. Still, as the elder in the group, he managed to maintain a hint of seniority.
"So the young folks are throwing a party? Looks fun. Hm? That trash can looks like armor? Interesting."
He adjusted his glasses and confidently stepped into the room, closing the door behind him.
At that moment, Dan Heng was shocked! He hadn't expected Welt to just go in like that… without hesitation?!
For Welt, there was really nothing to hesitate over.
When it came to the joyful gatherings of young people, he was happy to join in.
If Pei Guang weren't involved, maybe he'd spare a thought for his dignity as a senior… but with Pei Guang there? No point thinking about it.
Don't ask—if you must ask, it's just that Pei Guang led him astray.
Welt's decisive entry shattered Dan Heng's last thread of reason, and he finally opened the door and walked in as well.
What had started as a simple celebration between Pei Guang and Stelle had now become a full-blown karaoke session as more and more people joined in.
For Trailblazers, singing on the Astral Express… wasn't that a kind of exploration too?
As for Himeko? She happened to be in the parlor and didn't hear any of the commotion, so she completely missed this curious event.
Pom-Pom, on the other hand, realized there was a party going on and brought drinks and juice for everyone.
The party went on for several hours, and it only ended when March 7th ran out of stamina.
Rubbing her sore shoulders and speaking in a slightly hoarse voice, she said, "I'm done… I can't keep going. I'm heading back to rest~"
Pei Guang: "Go on, go on! Stelle and I will stay here and keep working on things!"
Pei Guang didn't even know how their little jam session turned into a full-on party, but as they say, let things happen naturally. Since everyone came, they might as well enjoy it together.
Welt and Dan Heng also left.
After relaxing for so long, both felt mentally refreshed and far more at ease.
Once they were gone, Pei Guang and Stelle packed away the trash-can gear they had built. They'd already made some progress today and had plenty of fun.
There was no rush to keep experimenting with the trash cans.
Just then, Pei Guang received a message on his phone.
The sender was a foxian girl named Qingni.
She wasn't a stranger: she was Yukong's daughter. Though not by blood, their bond was as strong as any biological mother and daughter.
Qingni: "Hello, Trailblazer. I have a request…"
Back when the crisis on the Xianzhou Luofu had just been resolved, she had secretly taken out a starskiff, intending to help her mother Yukong with some troubles.
But unexpectedly, she ended up seeing Pei Guang piloting a starskiff: spinning, dodging, and darting forward all at once.
That experience shook Qingni's mindset.
But after some time, she managed to recover and adjust her state of mind. Around then, she started hearing some things from her colleagues at the Sky-Faring Commission—rumors about the Trailblazer.
Those stories made something clear to her: the one piloting that starskiff that day had been none other than the famous Trailblazer. She had wanted to reach out before, but hadn't known how.
Recently, by chance, she managed to get Pei Guang's contact info.
With her resolve restored and hearing more about the Trailblazers' godlike piloting skills, she was determined to learn how to pilot a starskiff. Her mother Yukong disapproved, but Qingni longed to reach the skies.
And so, today, she finally contacted Pei Guang.
NOTE: My bad, I forgot to upload the first chapter!