On the way back, March 7th noticed something odd: "Hey? Uncle Yang? Seele? Have you guys noticed that on our way back, there aren't that many bugs? I mean, we just hit it really hard, shouldn't it be chasing us down?"
Just as she voiced her confusion, their group encountered another ship. Sure enough, it was the one carrying Velite and Argenti. At that moment, Argenti was standing on the ship, waving a long spear.
With every sweep of the spear, countless bugs fell from the sky. Seeing this, March 7th exclaimed excitedly, "Look! It's our backup~ Though it looks like Dan Heng and the others aren't back yet?"
Welt: "Then let's stay here and help Argenti hold off the bugs until Dan Heng's team returns!"
March 7th: "Got it!"
Seele: "Understood!"
While this group was linking up with their reinforcements, on the other side, Dan Heng, Stelle, and Silver Wolf had also located their target. Listening to the roars of the beast and the buzzing of insects, Dan Heng focused on their strike point.
"We need to move faster. Stelle! Silver Wolf, buy me some time."
Stelle: "No problem!"
Stelle drew upon the Preservation power of the War-Flaming Lance, enveloping the group in protective strength. The tip of the lance shimmered with a preservation glow that formed a massive barrier, blocking the pursuing bugs.
However, Stelle's power wasn't limitless. Some bugs managed to slip through the barrier, only to be instantly teleported near the train by Silver Wolf's Aether Editing.
After all, with Pei Guang harvesting bugs on a massive scale, one more or one less wouldn't make a difference.
Compared to Welt, Dan Heng's attack was much more direct and violent.
The power of a High Elder's slaughter was concentrated into his spear: Dan Heng, who already possessed the ability to repel a Doomsday Beast, hurled his spear at the massive True Sting without hesitation.
However, from an outsider's perspective, what they saw was the adorable pink bunny in Dan Heng's hands suddenly emitting a blinding pink light, and accompanied by an earth-shaking cat's meow, the massive True Sting was blasted open with a huge hole by the pink bunny doll.
This massive hole caused the True Sting to temporarily lose the ability to move. Even if countless bugs tried to fill the hole, it would take at least several weeks and a pair of wings to fully recover before it could resume its movement.
But unfortunately, Pei Guang wasn't going to give it even two days.
Just as Dan Heng's group was preparing to leave, Silver Wolf showed an awkward expression. "Uh-oh. There's been a slight deviation in the train's coordinates. I can't use my ability to take us back. What do you think? Should we just teleport back?"
Dan Heng: "No rush. Ah Guang said that once we enter combat, we shouldn't use that ability unless absolutely necessary. Since we can't locate the train directly, we'll just head back the regular way. I imagine Welt and the others are returning through normal means too."
Stelle: "No problem! Besides, we've got backup!"
The three of them began making their way back, with Silver Wolf using her Aether Editing to clear the path. Because others were helping hold off the swarms, they didn't face much resistance on the way back.
En route, they encountered the ship with Argenti and the waiting Welt and the others. Once the three groups reunited, they began heading toward the direction where the train should be.
Silver Wolf: "Reminder: the train's no longer at its original location. Ah Guang's mini-map shows the inside of the train, but can't detect what's happening outside."
Welt: "It's possible they encountered danger and moved the train temporarily to avoid it. Since they didn't call for support, the situation shouldn't be too serious."
March 7th, considering Pei Guang's personality, thought for a moment and then happily said, "I bet Ah Guang is totally making the train chase the bugs! Who is Ah Guang anyway? Like this number of bugs could ever stop him?"
Dan Heng: "But with that giant one seriously injured, the enemies inside will become more aggressive. We need to watch out for their frenzied attacks."
March 7th waved her hand dismissively. "It's fine, it's fine~ You've gotta believe in him. Hmph! I'm telling you, Ah Guang is totally directing Pom-Pom to pilot the train and chase those bugs around~"
Once again, March 7th demonstrated her uncanny prophetic talent. If Pei Guang relied on his wealth of experience to make deductions, then March's prophecies were all about getting the process completely wrong.
But the result? Strangely accurate.
And this operation further confirmed her words, because when they reached approximately where the train was, the scene that unfolded rendered everyone speechless.
Not far off in the distance, the train was spinning at high speed in a full 360-degree rotation. The flames and light blazing from its exterior testified to just how terrifying it had become.
If this were in a game, players would absolutely see the Star Rail Express's current stats displayed as:
[High-Speed Rotating Star Rail Express: A special weapon formed by the Star Rail Express spinning at high speed. Not a standard armament. While aboard, passengers can conduct a limited degree of attack. High-speed rotation delivers guaranteed hits to enemies along the track, dealing a set multiple of the train's weight as damage, and a portion of each crew member's skill power as additional damage.]
[Note: As a passenger-carrying train, in times of need it also possesses a certain level of combat strength. Depending on passenger strength, it can deal 1 to ∞ damage.]
This was how the Aeons of the universe evaluated the train.
"If it merely spins lightly, it shakes the entire galaxy with shock. That year it spun among the swarm, and countless bugs perished under its wheels. Yes, it was the rotating Star Rail Express."
Had Akivili still been alive, They would have commented:
"When I saw the train begin to spin, I knew the Path of the Trailblazer no longer belonged to me. If the train had spun like this when facing the Aeon of Propagation, Their swarm would never have overwhelmed my star tracks."
The Aeon of Destruction, Nanook, commented on the rotating train:
"If I had faced a spinning train back then, I wouldn't even have had the chance to leave a wound: death would have greeted me immediately."
The Aeon of Preservation, Qlipoth, said:
"The walls I construct couldn't even hold off the rotating train for one second. The moment it appears, it would smash through every barrier I've built!"
Even the Aeon of Elation, Aha, lamented loudly:
"Back then I only blew up a section of the train, and Akivili chased me through over three hundred galaxies with it!"
The legendary large-scale documentary The Spinning Star Rail Express would have these Aeon commentaries delivered by the most helpful Aeon in the universe.
Not that anyone cared about this non-existent documentary. All anyone could do was fall into silence as they watched the spinning train.
After who knew how long, they all unanimously decided to teleport into the train: stopping this glowing, rotating train by any other means now just didn't seem realistic.
Now that everyone was gathered, they might as well all head inside together.
They teleported back aboard the train. Inside, they were greeted by the sight of Himeko calmly sipping coffee. Through the internal cameras, they saw Pei Guang hopping and dancing at the front of the train—and everyone fell silent once again.
The rotating train wasn't the surprising part. What truly stunned everyone was the fact that Pei Guang was actually dancing, and dancing with style, atop the spinning train at such insane speeds.
As Pei Guang danced and swung his weapon atop the train, everyone was deep in thought.
Stelle was the first to speak: "Wait… does this mean we can attack from within the spinning state?"
Dan Heng: "Let me try."
With that, Dan Heng used Hydrokinesis and a water dragon emerged outside the train. Though in his own view it was a majestic dragon, from everyone else's view, it looked like a long, thin pink bunny spraying outward.
As the train spun, the cat's meow echoed throughout the interior of the massive True Sting, and countless bugs fell into silence upon hearing it.
In that moment, Dan Heng experienced a transcendent kind of power. Though he didn't know who Neuvillette was, with the spinning train assisting his technique, he made this world understand the true strength of the Elemental Dragon Sovereign's strike.
Everyone else remained silent. Aside from Dan Heng, no one else could send their abilities outside—but it didn't matter, because Pei Guang was out there.
And in that moment, a bold idea formed in everyone's minds. Pei Guang was about to bring it to life.
So just minutes later, the rotating train not only featured the pink bunny controlled by Dan Heng: now there were also scythes, ice blades, baseball bats, and pseudo black holes spinning along with it.
Those who could witness the scene fell silent in awe. Those who wanted to join pounded their chests in frustration.
Unfortunately, only a very small portion of people were even aware of what was happening inside the massive True Sting.