Chapter 249 - 249: Poor Little Raccoon, Losing Her Identity Just Like That

Ahahaha! That's right, it was all Aha's doing!

The phantom laughter of the Elation echoed in the air. Leon ripped off the mask, tearing it in half with a sharp rip and casually tossing the pieces aside.

The very next second, the torn fragments reconstructed themselves in mid-air. The mask floated right back into his pocket, a cheeky, mocking grin plastered across its painted surface.

Serval stared in deadpan silence. Bai Heng blinked, speechless. Himeko simply palmed her forehead with a soft sigh. The familiar, chaotic Leon was back.

Bai Heng's eyes lit up with curiosity. "Wow, is this mask real?"

"Of course it's real." Leon casually pulled the mask back out of his pocket and tossed it over to the Foxian. "Want it? It's yours."

The painted, cheeky smile on the mask instantly warped, twisting into a comically exaggerated crying face.

Aha doesn't want to—! Aha doesn't want to be given away—!

After a bit more chaotic fooling around, the atmosphere finally settled. Himeko stepped forward, her expression turning solemn and gentle as she handed a golden Astral Express Pass to Bai Heng.

"From today onward, you are an official Trailblazer," Himeko said. A warm, welcoming light rippled in her crimson eyes as she smiled. "Welcome to the Trailblazer family."

"Thank you, Himeko!" Bai Heng held the small, carefully designed ticket tightly against her chest. Her fox ears twitched happily, and her eyes curved into delighted crescent moons.

A wild dream from her youth had unexpectedly come true a thousand years later. To her, that millennium had passed like a fleeting slumber. The terrifying moment she crashed her starskiff into the Emanator Shuhu was still vividly burned into her mind, yet here she was, waking up a thousand years in the future.

And now, just a few days after waking, she had boarded the Astral Express and become a genuine Trailblazer? This was going entirely too smoothly.

As expected of me, she thought with a smug little internal cheer.

The moment her slender fingers brushed the surface of the ticket, an indescribable, comforting power gently enveloped her, quietly merging into her very being. Bai Heng blinked in surprise, feeling a sudden, refreshing lightness wash through her entire body.

"You really are well-suited for the Path of Trailblaze." Himeko's eyes filled with quiet gratification as she observed the seamless resonance.

"Of course she is," Leon chimed in with a lazy laugh. "After all, crashing a starship into Shuhu is fundamentally the exact same thing as us driving the Astral Express into people's faces. It's an absolute match made in heaven."

He paused, a mischievous glint flashing in his eyes as he added meaningfully, "Back in the day, Akivili absolutely loved ramming the Express straight into Qlipoth's celestial wall."

Himeko shot him a look. If I recall correctly, Qlipoth's Emanator is still right outside on the Xianzhou Luofu, isn't he? Is this really something you should be saying out loud?

Bai Heng tilted her head, her tail swishing thoughtfully. "...Why does that actually sound kind of exciting?"

Serval rubbed her temples.

"Passenger Leon, do not teach the newcomer such strange ideas, pom!" Pom-Pom stomped their plush little feet anxiously, waving their short, stubby arms in a frantic panic. Was this really the kind of orientation a newcomer needed to hear?

Seeing the dangerous spark of inspiration gleaming in Bai Heng's eyes, an ominous premonition surged in the Conductor's fluffy chest. This child... she wouldn't actually be thinking about crashing the Express into someone, would she?!

Leon just smiled without a word, casting a deeply meaningful glance down at Pom-Pom. He knew the truth. In the next version, over in Penacony, the one who would ruthlessly drive the Astral Express straight into Dominicus's face would be none other than this very same, currently anxious Conductor.

Though, to be fair, that only happened within a dreamscape.

Oh my, why is Sunday such a meanie, making poor Pom-Pom only able to ram the train into people in a dream? Leon suddenly had a brilliant, terrible idea. How about... I make that scene a reality?

Somewhere far away, Sunday sneezed. How can you be so selfish?

With the ticket matter settled, the next order of business was naturally the living arrangements. With Leon and his absurdly abundant Power of Trailblaze on board, this wasn't a problem in the slightest. It was infinitely more convenient than the game mechanics allowed.

"Leon." Himeko elegantly took a sip of her freshly brewed coffee, looking up at him over the rim of her cup. "I'll leave the room arrangements for Bai Heng and Serval to you, alright?"

She had to admit it—the Power of Trailblaze flowing through Leon's veins was consistently the most abundant and stable among their entire crew. Now that the Express was safely docked at the Xianzhou Luofu and resources were plentiful, there was no need for Bai Heng to temporarily crash in Leon's room the way Serval had been forced to.

"No problem, leave it to me." Leon nodded easily. He glanced at the two women. "But you'd better design the room blueprints yourselves and hand them over to Pom-Pom. I can help you expand the spatial dimensions, but the decoration and interior design are much more meaningful when you do it with your own hands."

"Hooray!" Bai Heng was so pleasantly surprised she practically bounced on her heels. She got to design her own custom room? This was incredible!

But then a thought struck her, and she turned to look at the blonde rocker with wide, curious eyes. "Serval, wait... don't you have your own room either?"

"I boarded the train back in Belobog," Serval explained, crossing her arms. "Not long after I got on, Kafka showed up and said we had to rush straight to the Xianzhou Luofu. My room wasn't ready yet, so I've just been staying in Leon's living room for the time being."

"So you two are... living together?!" Bai Heng's jaw dropped. Wait a minute. Shouldn't Serval have been arranged to bunk with March 7th or Stelle? Staying directly at Leon's place? That was way too reckless!

"It's just living together in the same space, not sharing a bed," Leon grumbled, rolling his eyes at the Foxian's dramatic reaction.

"Sha... sharing a bed?!" Bai Heng's fox ears stood straight up, her imagination running wild.

"Miss Bai Heng, exactly what is going through that head of yours?" Serval sighed, gently pushing away Leon's leaning face with one hand. A faint flush dusted her cheeks. "His place can't even be called a standard room; it's more like an entire house."

Joking and bickering along the way, the trio finally arrived at the heavy metallic door to Leon's quarters.

The moment the door slid open with a soft hiss, Bai Heng froze solid.

"Oh my god..." She stood dazed in the doorway, her amber eyes wide as saucers. How on earth was this a train cabin? It was clearly a luxury villa! It had a massive living room, a separate bedroom, a private en-suite bathroom, and even a small, beautifully lit balcony.

"T-this... can my room be this big too?" she stammered, pointing a trembling finger at the expansive space.

"Of course," Leon smiled, leaning against the doorframe. "I made this space myself using the Power of Trailblaze. If you want one this big, you'll have to put in the hard work to design it yourself."

"I see..." Bai Heng nodded, only half-understanding the mechanics behind it.

Leon raised his hand. Starlight seemingly began to swirl within the depths of his dark eyes. The dense, golden Power of Trailblaze surged out from his palm like a silent, glowing tide, pouring into the empty corridor and seeping into every corner of the adjacent carriage.

Bai Heng gasped, startled. She could clearly feel the surging, impossibly pure nature of that energy. After receiving her Express Pass, she seemed to have awakened a mysterious, innate perception of the Path.

Before her very eyes, the metallic walls of the adjacent storage room seemed to come alive. They stretched and extended outward in all directions, defying the physical limits of the train. The originally cramped, utilitarian space expanded rapidly, its structural outline becoming crisp and clear, eventually transforming into a massive, square, brightly lit, and entirely empty new carriage.

"Let's leave it at that for now." Leon casually withdrew his hand, the golden glow fading from his skin. "This will be your room from now on. When you've decided exactly how you want to decorate it, come find me anytime."

Serval was already entirely used to these casual displays of god-like power and merely watched with a calm, appreciative smile.

Bai Heng, however, was still staring in absolute daze. Having just officially stepped onto the Path of Trailblaze, her perception of this specific power was incredibly direct and overwhelming.

"...You aren't actually the reincarnation of the Aeon of Trailblaze, Akivili, are you?" she blurted out, suddenly recalling the wild speculations Jing Yuan and the others had thrown around earlier.

"What? Me? Akivili's reincarnation?" A string of invisible question marks practically popped into existence above Leon's head. What on earth was she talking about?

How could he possibly be Akivili? Wait a minute...

Leon stepped into Bai Heng's perspective for a moment, mentally reviewing everything that had transpired since he arrived on the Xianzhou Luofu.

It seemed... maybe... there actually was a tiny bit of twisted logic to that theory?

His mouth slowly curled into a deeply meaningful, highly amused arc.

Good grief.

If he were Akivili... then what exactly would that make Stelle and Caelus?

The two poor Stellaron Receptacles, losing their main character identities just like that.

Dammit, I have no time to play the game; watching Sparkle and Yaoguang on TikTok is so much fun.

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