Chapter 272

But before she could let that emotion linger for long.

Her three companions had already begun to "blaspheme against the gods."

"My lord Commander, it's been several years; you seem to be getting younger every day," Seele said.

"You have simply grown up."

Lin Qi sized up Seele and noticed she had changed greatly.

Just like Bronya, she had already turned eighteen.

Her long purple hair was neither tied up nor styled much, just drifting naturally.

She looked somewhat lazy as a whole.

But upon closer inspection, one could see she had grown a lot more.

Whether in strength or anything else.

"Is that so?"

Seele looked at herself and felt there was no change.

But that was not the point.

The point was, she had come this time to ask for something.

"My lord Commander, I've been on the Astral Express for so long; can I not return to Jarilo now?"

Huh?

What was that?

March 7th was a bit suspicious of her own ears, wondering if she had heard wrong.

No, was Seele getting off the train?

Was her Trailblazing journey about to end?

Although she had long heard that Seele had boarded the train only on Lin Qi's orders, and returning to Jarilo this time was, for Seele, like "visiting her maiden home."

But March 7th truly never expected that Seele actually wanted to get off the train!

No wonder her expression had been so serious on the way here.

For a moment.

March 7th felt a bit sad.

But the conversation between Lin Qi and Seele that followed completely exceeded her expectations.

"Didn't you just return?" Lin Qi said.

"It's different! I mean... not having to leave Jarilo again," Seele said seriously.

Lin Qi shook his head. "Even if you return to the Underworld Legion, you will still have missions from time to time; your time in the Jarilo system won't necessarily be much greater."

"But if I don't come back now, I'm afraid the journey ahead will be dangerous!" Seele's tone was very serious. "My lord Commander, you don't know this, but in several recent battles, I felt I was unable to keep up, repeatedly falling into perilous situations; if not for the Express crew's help, I might not have made it back!"

Hearing these words.

Question marks rose in March 7th's mind once again.

Unable to keep up?

Was she talking about Seele?

That simply never happened, okay!

Wasn't the biggest trouble encountered recently in Herta's Space Station?

She clearly remembered how Seele had slaughtered her way everywhere.

The ones who fell into peril were those Wingweavers, right!

The logic March 7th could understand, Lin Qi naturally would not fail to grasp.

In fact, from the moment Seele began speaking, Lin Qi knew what she wanted to express.

It was nothing more than feeling that her Apostle mecha had not been upgraded for several years, going from the latest model before to several generations behind.

"Did Lu Ka teach you a lesson?" Lin Qi said teasingly.

"How could that be!"

Seele boasted, "Even if my mecha is inferior to his, I can still... fight him to a draw!"

"I thought you had defeated him!" Lin Qi said with amusement.

"As long as you upgrade my mecha just a little, I will absolutely knock his teeth all over the ground! Let those new members know why the Legion Commander is the Legion Commander!" Seele said, puffing up with determination.

Clearly.

She was not telling the truth.

At least she had concealed a little bit.

Lin Qi estimated that Seele must have taken a small loss from Lu Ka.

Rather than the so-called "draw."

But how could Seele tolerate that?

So on the way here, she had been thinking constantly about how to ask Lin Qi to help her modify her mecha.

No wonder her expression was as serious as a scholar's?

She was truly conducting research!

She was not really planning to quit the Astral Express.

Lin Qi smiled and said, "Actually, even if you hadn't mentioned it, I was already preparing to help you modify it, and with new technology that even Lu Ka hasn't used."

"Really?" Joy instantly appeared on Seele's face.

As if she had become a different person.

Beside them, March 7th, having witnessed Seele's transformation the entire time, couldn't help but think that if they weren't there, Seele would probably have lunged at Lin Qi.

Overwhelmed with excitement.

"How could that be fake? Let me give you a sneak peek: with the new technology applied, your mecha can activate in its normal humanoid form, instead of only transforming into a giant humanoid weapon. How about that? Isn't this feature great?" Lin Qi smiled.

After Lin Qi finished speaking, Himeko hadn't yet opened her mouth.

On the other side, Stelle couldn't hold back first.

Her tone was even more excited than Himeko's.

And then, pure exhilaration.

"Himeko! You're about to take off! This isn't a mecha anymore; it's a knight! Or... a masked superhero! Himeko, can I borrow your mecha to play with later? Please~"

Stelle looked as if she were desperate.

She was just short of kneeling before Himeko.

"That's probably impossible. Every Apostle mecha is custom-made for a specific person; others cannot use it. Besides, the transformation device is implanted within my body." Himeko refused without mercy.

There was no way around it.

Stelle could only look at Lin Qi, her eyes full of expectation.

Now March 7th completely understood why she had that expression earlier, like a pilgrim.

She actually wanted to pilot a mecha!

"Doctor, can I pilot a mecha? As long as I can pilot a mecha, I'll do anything!"

"Is that so?"

Lin Qi looked at Stelle and felt she hadn't changed at all.

Still so impulsive.

Speaking of which.

Ever since the Astral Express crew arrived, Lin Qi had been distracted, observing Stelle.

He wanted to see what exactly made a "Stellaron Hunter" different.

Unfortunately, shallow probing couldn't find any useful information.

He could only detect a massive power lurking within her body.

Obviously.

That was the Stellaron.

Aside from that, there was no other information.

However, Lin Qi wasn't in a hurry.

There was plenty of time; he would figure it out eventually.

Right now, just researching the existing projects left him stretched thin.

Even if Stelle were given to him for research, Lin Qi would still be too busy.