Chapter 75 - 71 - What's Happening? What in the World is Happening?

"The girl next door is all grown up, with strength to uproot mountains and might that eclipses the world..." Tingyun watched, dumbfounded, as Stelle wreaked havoc on the front lines, sighing with admiration. Stelle brandished her lance with ferocious power, creating a whirlwind that no Mara-struck Cloud Knight could penetrate. Their feeble attacks couldn't even breach her lance's defense; instead, the attackers would be run through for their trouble. "How gratifying. I never imagined Stelle would have grown to this extent." Welt watched Stelle take on multiple enemies at once, a look of profound satisfaction on his face. It seemed the trials on Jarilo-VI had truly allowed her to mature. That lance she wielded must be the weapon of Jarilo-VI's first Great Guardian, right? "Uhm... is this really what you'd call... growth?" March 7th watched Stelle go full Musou mode, weakly tugging on Wende's sleeve. "It... should be, right?" Wende replied, a hint of uncertainty in his voice. Puchi! The lance instantly skewered a Mara-struck Cloud Knight. "Aaargh!" Another Cloud Knight, deep in the throes of Mara, swung his blade at Stelle, who was momentarily unable to pull her lance free. Without hesitation, Stelle released the lance. In a flash of light, a baseball bat appeared in her hand. BONG! Thud... Infant-like sleep... Hiss... Wende sucked in a sharp breath. What the hell? Has this kid figured it out? This... this can't be right, can it? "Hiss..." Watching the unexpected CG combat sequence, Sister Guoguo drew in a cold breath. "This... this isn't right! Why can the Trailblazer in the story use weapons from two different Paths at the same time? Why can't our Trailblazer do that!?" [Planners! I want this!] [You won't get anywhere with those damn planners! Dawei-ge! I'm willing to become a catgirl and bend over for you! Just give me this! Your child needs it!] [So... did Honkai Star Rail always have this many CG cutscenes?] [What's wrong with more? Give me ten more scenes like this! Don't act like we can't afford it!] [Gramps is so cool! Ah! My star is rising!] [Huh? You won't even spare yourself?] [A "self-loving" person, are we?] [Cyno, log into your main account and say that!] "Sigh... just think about it. It's a turn-based game. You guys are asking for the planners' lives here." Sister Guoguo shook her head helplessly. She, too, desperately wanted a dual-Path protagonist. It would be so awesome! "Could... could she really be a genius?" March 7th stared in disbelief as Stelle effortlessly dispatched the last of the enemies. "As expected of the Astral Express. It truly is full of crouching tigers and hidden dragons~" Tingyun narrowed her eyes, her ears twitching slightly. "Miss Tingyun... we're not actually as exaggerated as the stories make us out to be." Welt said, silently tightening his grip on his cane. "Don't worry, Uncle Yang." Seeing Welt's gesture, Wende immediately understood his concern. He was simply worried that something might go wrong with the Stellaron inside Stelle's body. With him here, nothing major would happen to Stelle. "Wende!!!" After finishing off the enemies, Stelle immediately ran to Wende's side, looking like she wanted hugs and praise. "Alright, alright. I'll treat you to a grand Xianzhou feast tonight." Wende chuckled, stroking Stelle's head. "Okay! Can I rummage through the trash cans?" "No..." "Aww~~" Watching the intimate interaction between the two, Tingyun found herself increasingly baffled by the relationships aboard the Astral Express... He looks so young... but his daughter is already this big? "Uh... Miss Tingyun, don't misunderstand, they're not biological father and daughter!... Ah, no, that's not right either, they don't have a father-daughter relationship at all!" March 7th, having suffered a slip of the tongue, immediately corrected herself. "Oh... if that's not the case..." Miss Tingyun tactfully closed her mouth, but the look she gave Wende grew even more peculiar. "Ugh... I feel like even though you didn't say anything, you somehow said everything." March rubbed her forehead, feeling a headache coming on. "Ahaha... how could that be? This little lady is not one to gossip." "Er... alright, alright." Seeing Tingyun's cunning expression, March threw her hands up in resignation. It was just as you'd expect from a foxian—as beautiful as a fox, but just as sly! Looking at the "Mara-struck soldiers" lying on the ground, Wende frowned. This familiar aura... he had felt it many times in his memories, from both his "Master" and that "Bad Person"... "Sigh..." Looking at the soldier before him, deeply afflicted by the Mara, Wende could only offer him a lightning needle to end his suffering. "..." The Mara-struck Cloud Knight trembled under Wende's lightning needle, and then his movements ceased. "Captain! Captain!" At the Starskiff Haven port, a Cloud Knight soldier ran in a panic toward his captain. "What happened? Why are you in such a fluster? How many times have I told you, as a Cloud Knight, you must always maintain a calm mind..." "The brother who just fell to the Mara has suddenly returned to normal!" the soldier shouted, cutting off the captain who seemed ready to launch into a lecture. "What?! Quick! Take me there!!" The squad captain, who had just been stressing the importance of staying calm, instantly lost his own composure. He grabbed the soldier and sprinted toward the site of the recent battle. "...get away... get away..." A Cloud Knight who had succumbed to the Mara moments before was muttering incoherently. His armor had already been removed by the other soldiers. Separated from his armor, the Cloud Knight had returned to a "normal" appearance. "Ah Jie! How is he?!" the captain shouted from a distance to a soldier standing before the "recovered" man. "Captain..." The soldier named Ah Jie turned to look at the squad captain and silently shook his head. "Ah Jie... what's with that look?" "Captain..." Another Cloud Knight nearby wore a similar look of despair. Seeing the captain arrive, he silently wiped away the tears under his helmet. "Just what... happened?" The captain's eyes widened in utter disbelief as he stared at the faintly breathing "old man" behind the two Cloud Knights. The originally young Cloud Knight soldier, after being cured of the Mara, had transformed into an old man with skin like withered wood. He lacked any trace of vitality, as if he could pass away at any second... A Cloud Knight who had fallen to the Mara had suddenly recovered, only to become a "decrepit old man" as if his very life force had been stripped away. What in the world was happening? "Report this matter immediately!" the Cloud Knight captain ordered decisively. He then crouched down beside the "old man," seemingly trying to find any clues.