Chapter 96 - 96 - Becoming a Nameless

Welt looked at the young man before him. For some reason, he felt a very familiar sense from him—not a specific scent, but an indescribable feeling. "Hello, Mr. Welt." Xin Yu looked at the middle-aged man sizing him up. The man appeared to be quite advanced in age, with wrinkles at the corners of his eyes and white hair already sprouting on his head. "I sense something familiar from you. Can you tell me where you're from?" "The place I'm from hasn't had contact with interstellar civilizations yet. The people on our planet call it Earth, and our planet is, at the very least, plagued by a disaster known as Honkai..." "Cough, cough, cough!" Before Xin Yu could finish speaking, he saw Mr. Welt before him start coughing violently. "Mr. Welt?" "...May I ask, is there an organization called Schicksal on your planet?" "Yes, as far as I know, it's the largest force on our planet fighting against the Honkai. And the Schicksal Overseer I know is named Otto Apocalypse." Dun dun DUN! Xin Yu looked around, somewhat puzzled. For some reason, after he uttered Otto's full name, he felt as if a strange sound effect had just played. "...Calm down, Welt. That guy is dead. That's a recognized fact... Perhaps this young man transmigrated from a much earlier time point and has only just appeared before us now. After all, when it comes to matters of time and space, no one can say for sure." Welt took a deep breath, suppressed the turbulent emotions within him, and continued to ask. "Then do you remember the year, month, and day you left your world?" Xin Yu scratched his head. He couldn't answer this question. After all, he had been chaotically traversing through time and space before, completely unable to keep track of such things as year, month, and day. If he were to seriously answer such a question, he would even have to carefully consider which historical timeline his own time should be calculated by. "To be honest, my personal concept of time is quite vague. I don't know what year, month, or day it was when I left my world." "...Then do you know about the outbreak of the Third Honkai Eruption?" Upon hearing this question, Xin Yu looked at Welt in astonishment. This person actually knew about the Third Honkai Eruption. Could it be that he had been to Earth, or was he also an Earthling? As if noticing Xin Yu's astonished gaze, Welt pushed up the glasses on his face and said, "You guessed correctly. I was originally an Earthling too, though our time points might be quite far apart. By the time I left Earth, the Honkai had already been defeated, and the Schicksal Overseer you know had long since passed away." "The Honkai was defeated..." Xin Yu became thoughtful. It seemed Mr. Welt's time point was likely after Kiana had single-handedly sealed the entire Honkai on the moon, becoming the Herrscher of the End. "I do indeed know about the Third Honkai Eruption. After all, I myself am a resident of Nagazora." "...So that inexplicable sense of familiarity I get from you, is it because there's Honkai energy within your body?" "Yes." Xin Yu raised his left hand. Under the watchful eyes of everyone on the train, purple patterns climbed up his arm. His skin rapidly turned pale, and his five fingers instantly sharpened, like the claws of a wild beast. "...This is indeed Honkai energy." Welt watched as Xin Yu's hand returned to its normal human appearance. Truthfully, he was quite shocked, because this situation of Honkai energy erosion was actually reversible. It reminded him of a technique recorded in the Previous Era known as "Artificial Honkai Collapse." Although he was reluctant to admit it, that bastard had indeed unearthed a lot of technology and data from the Previous Era. Those things played a significant role after Theresa took over Schicksal and Anti-Entropy returned to Schicksal. "That's great, Uncle Yang! This is someone from your hometown." March 7th congratulated Welt on reuniting with someone from his home planet in the vast universe. "Ahem! I say, are you all forgetting something, Pom!" A voice rang out, attracting everyone's attention. Then, March 7th, looking embarrassed, came to the side of the speaking creature and introduced it. "This is the conductor of our Star Rail, Pom-Pom!" Pom-Pom, short and resembling a rabbit doll, tilted its head and puffed out its chest, walking up to Xin Yu. After sizing him up for a good while, it nodded and said, "Welcome aboard. But you must also consider this carefully: once you choose to become a Nameless, it means you must bear the responsibilities that come with being a Nameless. On this journey, you will encounter many civilizations or individuals who need our help. Often, what we give far outweighs what we receive. Even so, do you still wish to become a Nameless?" "I am willing." "Since you have made your decision, please recite the Nameless Creed with me." Xin Yu saw that everyone in the train crew had placed their hands over their hearts. Everyone seemed to hold this oath in reverence. He naturally followed suit, placing his hand over his heart and listening with solemn gravity as the conductor began to recite. "One: Though Paths rise and fall, Trailblazers shall assert their freedom." "Two: Though facing tempests and surging waves, the Crew shall steer a united course." "Three: Though caught between survival and ruin, one must still resist injustice." "Four: Though forgotten by the world, one shall not reckon gains or losses." "Five: Though the galaxy dims to vast twilight, one must still light up the endless night." "Six: Though the situation be chaotic and without order, one must still look forward and crush the pandemonium." "May this journey, at last, reach the stars." After Xin Yu finished reciting this declaration, he suddenly felt a gaze from an extremely distant place, spanning across space, across time. It was as if, due to his unique nature, that gaze had traveled from the exceedingly remote past to the present, to look upon him. And the power of the Paths within his body increased once more; the Path of Trailblaze had now emerged. The powers of Void and Honkai had forged the foundation, forming the crystal core and the beating heart within. The power of Abundance had formed the continuous networks. And the power of Trailblaze made the energy circulate swiftly and naturally. At the same time, Xin Yu could feel a hazy light appear within his crystal core, causing the originally clearly visible heart and blood vessels to disappear from view, as if something was being nurtured inside. Even the surface of the crystal core developed extremely fine cracks. "Welcome, new Nameless." "Why is it that when I recite it, the lines always feel so cringey, but when Xin Yu recites it, there's always a special kind of coolness, and just now there was such a solemn atmosphere? It feels way cooler than when I joined." Xing scratched her head. Perhaps others hadn't sensed it, but she had indeed felt that when Xin Yu recited those lines, it seemed as if some existence had truly responded to the oath. "This isn't fair! I'm the protagonist! Why don't I get this special treatment?" "Alright, alright, you're very cool too," March 7th said in a tone used to coax a child. "To celebrate the joining of a new crew member, how about everyone tries my newly concocted coffee..." "The log of this leg of the journey hasn't been entered into the databank yet. It still needs to be recorded. I'll go get busy." Dan Heng turned and left without hesitation. Though he appeared to be walking, why did it feel like he was running? "Um! Xing, her room still needs tidying! Aiya, it's been so long, and this girl still hasn't tidied her own room. I'll go help her first!" After saying that, March 7th directly covered Xing's mouth and forcefully dragged her away quickly. "There are some things in Belobog that I'm interested in. I'll go collect some data and be back soon." Mr. Welt also left quite decisively. Xin Yu looked around and found that only he and Himeko were left. Huh? Where was the conductor? When did Pom-Pom disappear? "If you need my help, no problem." And so, Xin Yu once again drank a cup of Himeko's coffee.