Into the Cosmos (Star Rail SI, Chaos Gacha) (Patreon)

Chapter 38: The Jade Gate

The literal second Kafka announced her presence, the mood on the Express turned tense, with everyone around me immediately casting wary glances at Kafka’s projection.

I even saw Himeko turn her head to the side in dismissal and let out a quiet huff while eyeing me for a moment before standing in a relaxed pose.

‘Does she suspect something?’ I thought curiously, but soon dismissed it a moment later since it could also mean that she thought Kafka was here for me as Kafka began speaking again.

“I came at a good time. You’re all here…” Kafka began as she walked between us, making sure to ignore me completely and focus her gaze mostly on Himeko.

“Every single one.” She finished while eyeing Serval, Aries, and Virgo for a moment, but not making any expression.

‘Heh, bet that surprised you, huh?’ I thought silently to myself as my lips twitched in amusement.

“No need for the mysterious introduction…” Himeko began while carelessly looking down at her nails. “Stellaron Hunter.” She made sure to stress the name as her disinterested gaze disappeared and she leveled Kafka with a steely look.

Smiling in seemingly amusement, Kafka chuckled before focusing all her attention on Himeko and pointing at her teasingly.

“Himeko… correct?” she asked carelessly, as if it were an afterthought.

Seeing the two mature women duking it out with words made me a bit hot under the collar, I must admit, and I discreetly wiped the small sweat that had developed on my neck.

‘Who was I supposed to root for in this situation? Kafka, who I shared a mysterious past with and definitely considered someone precious to me? Or Himeko, the woman who had taken me in when I was abandoned and had my memory erased by the previously mentioned woman, while treating me with care and respect?’

It was impossible for me to decide.

For while I knew that Kafka had erased my memories, there was obviously a very good reason behind it, and she and Wolfie had even made sure I ran into the Astral Express immediately after so I was never left alone.

I would just privately root for both of them and hope that in the future they could come to see each other as acquaintances at least… even if I had to make them both my women.

Because of course I was doing that. There was no possible way I wouldn’t shoot for that route, especially now that it was made possible for me with the Chaos Gacha.

All praise the Gacha Gods!

“Apologies for interrupting your little get-together,” Kafka began again, interrupting my inner monologue. “But I’m sure once you’ve heard my request… you’ll forgive me,” she stated as she went around the Express, idly tapping the furniture and looking around in a carefree manner.

“I’d like you to make a… destination alteration,” Kafka finally stated what she was really here to say as she turned to us with a self-assured smirk.

Once more, Himeko and Kafka seemed to clash with words as the rest of us watched the tennis-ball match with interest. Well, at least I was interested. I didn’t know about anyone else, since all my gaze was focused on the two mature and extremely beautiful and sexy women.

‘Go Kafka! Go Himeko!’ I mentally cheered, cursing myself for not having made some personal handmade signs with their faces attached to them.

‘I’m totally doing that when I get the chance,’ I thought in determination, making sure to add it to a mental checklist.

I was so distracted that I didn’t even listen to their verbal spar, more focused on their expressions, with Kafka being her usual teasing and mocking self while Himeko was the cool and collected beauty who used polite words to disguise her thrown barbs.

I wanted some popcorn.

Eventually the conversation dragged in the others, namely March, who was pretty witty herself, and Welt, who responded calmly.

I was forced to pay attention again when Himeko politely mocked Kafka as she described what Herta thought of them.

“…I will say, Herta certainly paid you all a compliment: ‘A maniac (Elio) that claims he can see destiny, leading a bunch of wild lunatics (Stellaron Hunters) in pursuit of the most dangerous objects in the universe!’ …And Herta doesn’t give out compliments often.”

Those words finally got a genuine reaction out of Kafka as she laughed in amusement — which, by the way, I had no fucking clue why I knew it was genuine, just something in my gut telling me so — before she finally turned her attention to me.

“Fufufu, while I would normally ignore that comment about Destiny’s Slave, it seems this time there is some truth to those words,” Kafka began as her hologram walked up to me a bit sensually, causing me to gulp silently, before stopping right in front of me and looking at me with an amused and interested gaze.

I absently noted that March, Himeko, Aries, and Virgo had subtly moved closer to me when Kafka did that, and even Welt became a bit stiff.

Ignoring all others, though, Kafka walked around me once before continuing.

“Destiny’s Slave can actually see destiny to some extent, including most of you in this room, but for whatever reason something happened in Herta’s Space Station that made it impossible for him to even glimpse at a particular someone. Anything you have to share on that, young man?” Kafka asked me while looking at me directly in the eyes with a fake — again, something I just knew — interested expression on her face.

Her gaze had also traveled to Virgo and Aries when she mentioned Elio being able to see most of everyone’s destinies, which made sense since they also came from the Gacha itself.

I knew she was obviously lying, of course, as Firefly herself had already told me that she had a lengthy discussion with everyone and they were made aware of what had happened to me. She was also quick to change the topic when I asked for more details which I found curious.

It took me a second to suddenly remember that I had the Expert Communication skill, which let me know when someone was lying by cold-reading them, along with making me great at communicating what I wanted to say very easily.

Right now Kafka was actually having fun, and I could tell that she was actually happy deep down inside, which naturally made me happy as well, since it showed she cared.

Before I could get a word in, however, I was suddenly and firmly yanked back as the figures of March and Himeko now stood in front of me protectively. At my back, the figures of Virgo, Aries, and Serval surrounded me as well, leaving me stuck in the middle of female flesh.

“Back off, Stellaron Hunter!” March declared strongly with a glare of clear mistrust directed at the amused Kafka.

“Say what you came here to say already, Kafka. But I will not have you interrogating a member of the Nameless,” Himeko also declared with an expression forged in ice as all traces of calmness left her.

Seeing them stand up for me, a warm sensation grew in my chest and a smile came unbidden onto my lips. Also, seeing March and Himeko looking so fierce was hot as hell.

“Fufufu, fine, fine. I can see that I might have stepped over a line,” Kafka said as she backed up a step. Her smile relaxed as I saw her shoot me one last look — one full of hidden warmth that only I could sense — before she shifted her attention elsewhere.

=====

Sometime Later

The discussion that followed had Kafka reveal to everyone that the Xianzhou Luofu had suffered a Stellaron burst in the past few days, and she wanted us to head there so we could offer a hand.

Of course, she had other agendas as well, mainly going to rescue Blade, who had recently been captured by them during the chaos. Most importantly, though, and the true reason, was having the Xianzhou Luofu — and the Xianzhou Alliance as a whole — become acquainted with the Nameless and owe us a debt of gratitude by helping them in their time of need.

Everyone debated for a while on whether or not to follow Kafka’s words, bringing up and discussing several points.

The topic of Elio, or Destiny’s Slave as he was known to most in the universe, came up again. They questioned Kafka that if what she had said was true, then what was the guarantee that anything she said would actually happen.

In response, Kafka had turned to me again for a brief moment, while I was still being surrounded in a circle by female flesh, and stated that while Elio might not be able to see my future, the rest weren’t as lucky.

With those parting words, Kafka left with a satisfied expression, and Dan Heng was summoned, where we held a vote to decide our destination.

“Five against one. Well, it looks like the Astral Express crew has a majority vote to head for the Xianzhou,” Himeko declared calmly.

In the end, everyone but Dan Heng voted for going, which didn’t surprise me, since everyone on the Express were good people.

Virgo and Aries had abstained, since they stated that they would go with whatever I chose because I was their Master and it wouldn’t be fair to the others.

“I thought you were voting against? What happened?” I asked as I turned a raised eyebrow to the suddenly sheepish-looking March.

“Haah, I calmed down and thought about it. If it turns out that woman isn’t lying, then a lot of innocent people are gonna get hurt… Now’s the time for thinking about other people… hehe,” March sheepishly answered with a blush before sighing in the end, as if not entirely convinced of her decision.

“You’re so capricious,” I said with an amused shake of my head, getting a pout from her.

“Alright, alright. I think we’re all used to March’s modus operandi by now,” Welt jumped in with a small amused look thrown March’s way that got her to smile nervously.

“So, Dan Heng, you want to stay here?” Himeko asked as she turned to the only person who had voted against, with no judgment in her expression or tone.

“Yes. I’m staying this time,” Dan Heng said simply, with some complicated emotions behind his expression that I could sense.

With all his history with the place, I didn’t blame him either, so I stayed silent.

“I will also be staying put this time,” Serval joined in next with a calm smile as we turned in her direction. “Himeko was going to show me around all the details about this marvelous train, and I don’t want to miss it.”

Nodding at her choice, Himeko clapped her hands and brought the meeting to a close.

“In that case… Welt. Ready for a trailblazing expedition? I know you’ve been itching to get out there for a while now. But make sure you take good care of Caelus and March,” Himeko declared, turning to the man, who nodded in agreement.

“…Don’t worry. I will.”

“Destination Xianzhou, here we come!” March declared, suddenly looking all excited and like her regular self again.

“Animal-eared girls, here we come!” I declared in turn with a proud look on my face and my hands on my hips.

My comment got amused giggles, smiles, and cute glares from the others, mainly March, who turned to me with narrowed eyes.

Just barely avoiding the swat to my arm, I led March on a merry chase around the Express as Pom-Pom got the train ready to make the jump.

“The train is about to make the jump!”

With a final countdown, March and I were forced to stop our playing — or at least I considered it that — as we were knocked off our feet. We traveled across space in an instant, and by the time we opened our eyes, we found ourselves in front of a massive ship.

By massive, I mean even bigger than Jarilo-VI, which was mind-blowing considering that this was just one ship of many that the Xianzhou Alliance had.

March, being the silly goober that she was, was immediately enthralled by the massive planet-sized ship. Dan Heng, being a native, shared some of his knowledge with us while sounding sad and melancholic.

When even the ever-oblivious March called him out on it, he immediately clammed up and didn’t say anything anymore.

Thankfully for March, who suddenly felt awkward for bringing up what was obviously a touchy subject, Himeko came to her rescue.

“This is the Astral Express. I repeat, this is the Astral Express. We have arrived in Xianzhou territory. Requesting permission from ground control… f-from the bridge, I mean,” Himeko talked out loud as she tried to make contact with someone inside.

We got an automated response a moment later that just repeated itself over and over, and that’s when the feeling of something being very wrong began to settle in.

Himeko tried several times to get someone to answer, to no luck, as March started whispering crazy theories about this being the scene of how every horror movie started and other wild things.

Eventually, though, the automated response suddenly changed and announced that the Jade Gate was opening and welcoming us to the Xianzhou Luofu.

“…That was weird. Something definitely is going on over there,” I commented with a small frown, joined by March, who had suddenly grabbed my sleeve.

“This is definitely getting creepier and creepier. Maybe I should stay behind too,” March muttered with a nervous tone.

To her added nervousness, though, and to my hidden amusement, Welt turned to us and urged us to go down and see the situation for ourselves while counseling those staying behind to stay vigilant.

“Virgo, Aries, you two stay here as well,” I spoke up, turning to the two spirits and getting small frowns from them. “We don’t know what we might find down there, and the fewer people that go, the better we can get around in case we have to sneak around like before,” I explained patiently.

“…Fine, but you definitely owe me, Master,” Virgo said with a small pout on her face.

“D-Don’t worry, Master. We’ll make sure we are useful,” Aries muttered a bit nervously but still looking determined.

Smiling, I patted both their heads for a moment and nodded. “I know you will.”

With those parting words, March, Welt, and I made our way out of the Express and entered the Xianzhou Luofu for the first time.

The moment we stepped inside, the blackness of space disappeared and was replaced with a literal world inside, with a breathable atmosphere and buildings as far as the eye could see.

Or at least that’s what I would like to say. Instead, what we were greeted with was containers.

Humongous containers everywhere, actually.

March, being her usual witty self, immediately commented on it too with a disappointed expression.

“Ugh, look, it’s just containers as far as the eye can see,” she muttered as we looked around. “This area isn’t for receiving guests, it’s for unloading cargo! Who decided to send us this way?” March asked as she crossed her arms and pouted, looking offended.

‘I think I have a pretty good guess,’ I thought as my mind went to a certain midget hacker girl with silver hair.

“Such a huge port and not a soul in sight. It gives me the creeps…” March continued nervously, still going on with her horror story.

“Hey March, how much you wanna bet we’re going to be seen as invaders again?” I asked in a teasing voice as I turned to her.

As if hit, March immediately cringed and backed away with her hands crossed as she shot me an angry look.

“Don’t jinx it, dummy. I really don’t want to be wanted by the world’s authorities again!” March exclaimed with a glare.

“Hihihi, I’m just teasing.” I laughed and patted her back in a friendly manner before summoning my lance and turning to Welt.

“Lead the way, Mr. Yang~” I declared with a happy grin that soon dimmed as Welt remained silent for some time while having all of his focus on my new lance.

Not knowing what to do, though having some idea, I turned to March, who looked similarly perplexed at the man’s attitude and shrugged at me as if saying she didn’t know.

“…Uh, Mr. Yang?” I asked once more with a raised eyebrow.

This time he thankfully managed to hear me as he shook his head and warned us to stay vigilant before taking the lead, though not before shooting my lance one last look.

“What did you do to Mr. Yang!?” March asked me in a quiet whisper as we followed behind the man.

“Nothing. I’m innocent, I swear,” I said, looking back at her with an innocent expression.

‘…Okay, well maybe not completely innocent, as I did want to see his reaction to my new lance. I just didn’t expect such a reaction,’ I thought inwardly as my lips twitched.