Chapter 11: The Train Sets Sail

“But I actually managed to draw something from another world—I thought with how they looked, I’d probably only get stuff from this world.”

Hermes’ lips curled slightly; he had to admit, this egg was extremely useful to him.

Not to mention, he already had a preliminary design concept for his supercomputer.

In good spirits, Hermes sent the image to the group chat.

The Wisdom of Exploration: “Image··jpg”

【Digital Egg·Blackball Beasts: A digital egg from the Digital World; after hatching, Blackball Beasts possess numerous evolution lines, including powerful Ultimate forms such as WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon.】

The Ultimate Female Lead of Crossovers: “A Blackball Beast digital egg? How to put it… it should be a very useful reward for Itachi, right?”

Luo Qianqiu was no naive, ditzy group owner—her mind raced at lightning speed.

She clearly understood what kind of impact a digital egg infused with digital energy could have in the hands of a member of the Genius Club.

She wouldn’t be surprised if, a while from now, Hermes claimed he’d built a Digital World within the Honkai: Star Rail universe.

Never underestimate the members of the Genius Club!

The Star Sea Traveler: “???”

The well-traveled traveler, from just a few words of the group owner, roughly grasped the egg’s value.

Had he really become the cushion?

The Ultimate Female Lead of Crossovers: “Perfect, now it’s my turn!”

The Ultimate Female Lead of Crossovers: “Draw card!”

“Ding! Congratulations! Itachi’ve obtained the top-tier Ghost-Seeing Power—Youdu Heavenly Eye.”

【Note: A ceiling-level ghost-seeing ability from the crossover world, possessing ultimate 【Seeing】—capable of perceiving the existence of any non-natural phenomena, said to hold the latent power to pierce dimensions and dominate Youdu.】

After reading the description, Luo Qianqiu smiled, then casually tossed the image into the group chat.

The Ultimate Female Lead of Crossovers: “As expected, the group’s tone is righteous. Those first three were purely their own issues—nothing to do with the group chat.”

The group chat froze for several seconds—two SSR cards drawn in a row. Had they really just become the cushion?

The next moment, another image appeared in the group chat.

Flos’s 【Imperial Dew】

Akatsuki Nan’s 【Five Thunder Talisman】

Sirana’s 【Wave Guidance Power】

Each one looked amazing—seemed perfectly suited to them?

The Star Sea Traveler: “?”

The Master of Mount Hua: “?”

The Most Evil Criminal in History: “?”

The group chat screen overflowed with their three minds’ bewilderment.

Well, they really had become the cushion.

Ignoring the lively group chat, Hermes turned his attention back to reality.

Because his destination was about to arrive!

…

Hermes stood quietly atop the mountain peak, silently gazing downward.

There, alone and parked amid the mountain wilderness, lay a black train that had endured countless ages.

Though the train was now broken and worn, faint traces of an indestructible, ten-thousand-eon aura still lingered upon it.

This was none other than the original Star Rail, crafted by the Explorer Akivili himself.

At this moment, a beautiful woman with waist-length crimson hair and golden eyes was fully focused on repairing the train.

When sweat soaked her forehead and she gently brushed it away, Akivili’s power seemed to subtly resonate with her.

As the repair work progressed, the crimson-haired woman also advanced steadily along Akivili’s path.

Hermes did not disturb her.

She was the current Navigator chosen by the Star Rail.

As the train gradually restored itself, Akivili’s power surged like tides, and the crimson-haired woman grew ever more attuned to Akivili’s path.

“Hello, I’m the train captain of the Star Rail—Pam!”

A rabbit-like creature with a tall red hat and two long ears appeared out of thin air.

“Hello, Captain Pam. I’m Ji Zi, the newly appointed Navigator of the Star Rail.”

They exchanged glances and simultaneously smiled.

A gentle evening breeze stirred, and a streak of crimson danced in the wind, exuding unique charm.

“Pam, welcome back to running through the stars.”

At that moment, a rich, magnetic voice naturally arose, drawing their attention.

“Who are Itachi?”

Looking at the handsome young man before her—with white hair and green eyes—she sensed a quality she had never encountered in all her years.

“Su Mo! Hermes! I never expected Itachi’d still be here, Pam!”

Seeing this long-absent figure, the train captain exclaimed in delight.

“If the train is restarting its journey, how could I not come to see?”

Hermes smiled warmly at the two, and in that moment, even the evening breeze seemed to soften.

Though he had never set foot on the Path of Pure Beauty, every movement of Hermes seemed to embody the very essence of beauty.

No wonder his mother once believed that, when he grew up, he would inevitably walk that path.

“Captain, who is this?”

Ji Zi snapped back to herself, a faint blush rising on her cheeks, then asked calmly and gracefully.

“Ji Zi, let me introduce Itachi—this is Su Mo. Of course, we all call him Hermes—he was once a renowned Explorer!”

Pam spoke excitedly.

“Heh, unfortunately, Akivili’s sudden disappearance had a massive impact on our Explorer faction—otherwise, Pam wouldn’t have fallen into slumber.”

Recalling the fleet of Explorers that once roamed the stars—hundreds, even thousands of trains—

Now, the only one still intact was this single true creation of the Star God.

“Huh? Does the Star God’s disappearance affect the Path?”

Ji Zi was startled upon hearing this.

Her home planet had only just stepped into the stars; she knew only the basic information everyone knew.

As for deeper secrets of the Star God, she knew very little.

“No, once a Path is opened, it never closes—like the most ancient immortals. The Ancestor of the Ten Thousand Celestial Dragons fell countless eons ago, yet still remains there.”

Hermes shook his head: “But during the Star God’s absence, the Path falls silent. Only with the arrival of a new era will the dormant Path awaken again.”

After a brief rest, the two and Pam began explaining to Ji Zi the deeper secrets of the Explorer faction.

A vast Path faction doesn’t vanish easily.

Even now in decline, its latent power remains formidable.

Right now, Hermes was teaching Ji Zi what to do—and where to seek aid—in various situations.

Some remaining resources of the Explorer faction… some networks of connections…

“By the way, Ji Zi, I have some ties with Black Tower of the Genius Club. She’s built a space station on her home planet, Azure Star. If Itachi have time later, Itachi should visit.”

Recalling that Black Tower had once sent him a collaboration invitation, Hermes decided—better to help the new Navigator build some connections first.