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The music-loving machine shop owner had numerous questions swirling in her mind.
Now, she eagerly unleashed them all at once.
Bochang glanced at Bronya and said, "Regarding this matter... I believe she can provide you with answers."
"They are esteemed guests from beyond our world, their purpose being to..."
Taking over the explanation, Bronya meticulously recounted everything to Serval, revealing the full truth.
After listening, the blonde big sister was stunned; she never expected her dreams to be entirely real.
However, the only difference lay in who would undertake the mission against Stellaron.
"The sole commonality is... Bochang, but... how did they know Stellaron's location? Wait, could it be that during my dream, I inadvertently revealed...?" A realization dawned on Serval.
This theory was just too bizarre.
So...
Serval couldn't be certain.
The idea of inadvertently leaking information through dreams seemed strange no matter how she looked at it. Even she found it hard to believe, so she had no intention of voicing her suspicions lest others think she was foolish.
Serval turned to Stelle and said, "Everything Bronya told you is true. We truly are visitors from beyond the heavens—you can consider us travelers from another world."
"Or passengers on the Astral Express," March 7th added, ever ready with her camera to capture interesting moments. She had documented plenty of footage during Bochang's relentless beating of Cocolia earlier.
"I...I understand..." Serval's gaze flickered, then after a pause, she spoke up again, "Um...if you're indeed visitors from another realm, does that mean...mean you'll be leaving soon?"
"That's correct. We've been traversing the universe, with Belobog merely serving as a temporary stop... It was solely due to Stellaron distorting space and hindering our progress that we had to intervene here. Once this matter is resolved, we should depart quite soon."
Dan Heng didn't mind sharing these details.
Upon hearing this, Serval realized the disappearance of the bassist was indeed true.
After all, Bochang and his companions were leaving Belobog.
Consequently...
Serval asked numerous questions about Astral Express and Stellaron.
With the immediate issue now resolved, everyone simply needed to wait for Himeko or Welt Yang to arrive and seal Stellaron. Since there wasn't much else happening, Dan Heng patiently answered each of her queries.
"Once Stellaron is sealed, the Frostwave will gradually recede, and the rift in this world won't expand further... However, it won't disappear completely..."
At this point, Bochang no longer needed to restrain Cocolia with his Invisible Hand.
Beside them, Bronya approached her mother, offering comfort while also keenly eavesdropping on the conversation.
Snowflakes drifted down, melting upon contact with their skin. Cocolia knelt on the ground, distraught and unmoving, allowing the snow to accumulate around her.
She paid no attention to the nearby mother-daughter pair.
Bochang glanced at Sampo and asked, "What brings you here?"
"I did mention I'd come find you today, didn't I? See... Sampo always keeps his promises." The seemingly carefree man spread his hands helplessly. "Unfortunately... it seems you got your hands on Stellaron's information first. That is truly... surprising and puzzling..."
Sampo had been closely monitoring Bochang's group but couldn't fathom where they obtained such intelligence.
Initially, he expected Dan Heng to steal the information from Qlipoth Fort, only for Cocolia to catch him red-handed.
Unexpectedly...
Just as they completed their preparations, Bochang and his group swiftly headed straight for Stellaron.
It made no logical sense at all. Sampo felt like he had encountered something inexplicable.
Bochang smiled reassuringly, "Don't worry, even without your intel about Stellaron, we would have still moved to unlock the passage to the Upper Underworld. The righteous Astral Express crew cannot stand idly by in such matters."
His words were spoken with unwavering conviction.
Sampo was taken aback. Were these individuals truly so virtuous? Yet somehow, it didn't seem quite right to him.
Bochang continued, "With the Great Guardian here and the leader of the Silvermane Guards present, all we need is a mention from them to open the passage. It shouldn't be troublesome, right, Bronya, Cocolia?"
At Bochang's voice, a slight change flickered across Cocolia's expression, but she showed no inclination to respond.
Bronya readily agreed, "No problem, it's just about unsealing the passage to the Upper Underworld."
Although they were unsure of the current state of the Upper Underworld, it likely wasn't good. Like the Overworld, it had also suffered from rift erosion. With no permanent presence of the Silvermane Guards and only some robots stationed there, one could easily surmise that chaos must reign in the Upper Underworld.
From the start, Bronya had been puzzled by the order to seal off the passage to the Upper Underworld... Now that Bochang brought it up, she didn't hesitate and immediately concurred on behalf of both herself and Cocolia.
The disheartened Great Guardian sitting on the ground remained silent, seemingly endorsing Bronya's decision without objection.
Cocolia's passivity was indeed correct. If she dared to interfere or give orders, Bochang would have considered giving her a resounding slap to jolt some sense back into the Great Guardian.
"See... wasn't that easy?" The black-haired youth didn't consider it much of a challenge.
Sampo paused for a moment before responding, "Opening a passage to the Upper Underworld isn't as simple as you think. Besides the Overworld's Silvermane Guards' blockade, the Underworld itself has numerous robots guarding the access points. Without convincing Robot Svarog, all our efforts would be futile; it is incredibly powerful."
Initially, when Cocolia sealed off the Underworld, her aim was to consolidate forces and deploy more Silvermane Guards to the war against the rift. Essentially, she had abandoned the Underworld, leading to Robot Svarog gaining command over all its robotic inhabitants—an ideal setup for regional control.
"But robots? Didn't the Architects develop them? Surely, there must be a way for you to regain command authority," Bochang questioned with some confusion.
Bochang seemed uncertain.
Bronya responded, "While that's true, considering how much time has passed... it's genuinely questionable whether the Architects can still control the robots underground."
"Then leave it to me; one shot from my cannon and..."
Before Bochang could finish his sentence, Bronya swiftly interrupted him.
"This matter should be handled by the Architects. There's no need for you all to worry about it. Now that the rift-causing Stellaron is under control, we don't have to concentrate our forces in the Overworld anymore. We have ample military strength to take over the Underworld... If Svarog resists, I'll ensure compliance through force if necessary."
As the next Great Protector of Belobog, Bronya felt it was her duty to prevent Bochang from acting recklessly. She was well aware of the immense power contained within a single blast from his cannon.
If just one such blast were unleashed in the Underworld—
Even if it was only one.
The entire city of Belobog would be at risk of annihilation.