Chapter 101: Stop! All of You, Stop! Stop Fighting!
After leaving the Valkyrie space, Midnight Absinthe—Raven, wandered aimlessly through the Underworld.
The hood of her gray, tight-fitting leather suit provided excellent cover. It was this very hood, after all, that had protected Raven from the harassment of the amorous ruler of the Elysian Realm during her many visits. No one could see the charming face beneath the hood, a face identical to that of Wildfire's true leader.
Her sharp hearing was drawn to the sound of angry disputes. Following the noise, she arrived at a mining area to find two groups in a standoff. What began as a verbal conflict escalated into mutual cursing, then pushing and shoving, and finally devolved into a large-scale armed brawl.
Miss Raven finally couldn't stand to watch any longer and stepped out to mediate.
"Stop! All of you, stop! Don't fight anymore!"
"Stop fighting!"
The two conflicting parties were the two main classes of the Underworld. One group consisted of vagrants whose homes had been consumed by the Fragmentum, who had lost all their possessions and couldn't even guarantee their next meal. The other was the miners, a common sight on the streets, who knew that if their hands stopped working, their mouths would soon follow.
Of the two factions, the vagrants were the more chaotic. Many of them were troublemakers who fought with the miners every other day, often stealing their supplies. Some of the most desperate ones would even commit crimes in town. However, not all vagrants were scum. The vast majority were pitiful souls, and even the troublemakers were often driven to extremes by sheer desperation.
The incident was sparked by a mining team's discovery of a small, new Geomarrow vein. With most mining areas contaminated by the Fragmentum, many miners had lost their jobs. If news of a new vein spread, it would be like a temple full of monks fighting over a tiny bowl of porridge. Some of the vagrants decided to seize the opportunity to extort the mining team for hush money.
The result was a violent clash between the two groups.
Her crimson-decorated cape swayed with her movements. Raven chopped down with the edge of her hand, striking the necks of a fighting vagrant and a miner.
"You're Na—ugh!"
The miner's eyes widened in disbelief as he saw the face under the hood, before fainting with a look of incredulity.
"Oh, you saw me," Raven said, the corner of her lips, dotted with a beauty mark, curving into a bewitching smile. "Oh well."
She pulled down her hood, revealing a pair of serpentine, rose-red eyes. Raven grabbed the collars of the vagrant and the miner, one in each hand, and tossed them behind her to join the pile of 'sleeping' bodies lying scattered on the ground. To completely extinguish the flames of chaos, Raven decided to simply take care of everyone involved.
"Hey, you two over there."
Raven put on a Natasha-style gentle smile and looked toward the two remaining miners in the corner.
"Yes, ma'am!"
"Dr. Na-Natasha..."
"What... what are you..."
It was the same gentle smile they saw when they visited the clinic, but it didn't bring the slightest warmth to the two trembling miners. They were the only two who hadn't joined the fight—or rather, they hadn't had the chance before they saw a black shadow flash past. Then, one by one, both the vagrants and their own comrades had fallen to the ground.
"It's nothing, just preventing the conflict from escalating," Raven said, gently clapping her hands together. "Don't worry, I know my limits. They're all just unconscious."
Truth be told, all these people had Bronya to thank—the one from the Honkai Impact 3rd universe. It was that "Little Duckie" who had taught Raven some of the Ural Silver Wolf's assassin techniques, including how much force to use and where to strike to perfectly knock someone out. Otherwise, with one chop from Raven, these people would likely be joining the past Supreme Guardians in the afterlife. After all, reality wasn't a turn-based game, and these miners and vagrants were ordinary people, not some mobs from a video game.
"Help me tie up those vagrants and lay them out nicely, would you?" Raven asked the two miners with a warm smile.
"Yes, yes!"
"Right away!"
The two miners answered in a flurry, nodding like chickens pecking at rice. In their minds, they frantically tried to recall if they had ever disobeyed the doctor's orders or done anything to make Dr. Natasha angry.
Under the gaze of those crimson, serpentine eyes, the two miners, drenched in cold sweat, quickly got to work, using ropes from the mining area to tie up the unconscious vagrants. Then, one lifted the shoulders and the other the legs, arranging them in a neat row.
Raven glanced at the newly discovered mine vein and clicked her tongue in amazement. "Just how ridiculously rich are the mineral deposits on this planet?" The area beneath Belobog was a tiny speck compared to the whole planet, yet they had been digging for hundreds of years and could still find new veins. It was simply absurd.
Crossing one plump, alluring leg over the other, she sat down on the Geomarrow ore. Resting her chin on her hand, Raven contemplated whether she should activate auto-battle and call her 'Didi backup.' But the timing didn't feel right. It was probably better to save her call for help for an enemy she couldn't handle on her own. When faced with an emergency, people couldn't think clearly, which made it much better for... ahem, communication. How should she approach contact with her more explosive counterpart?
While Raven was lost in thought, the two miners had finished arranging all the vagrants.
"Dr. Natasha, what should we do next?" one of the miners asked, still finding it hard to believe. But that face was undeniably Dr. Natasha's! Ninety-nine percent of the people in the Underworld recognized her!
"Lock them up here for now. You two go tell Oleg about the new mine vein and the vagrants here. Let him handle it."
Raven stretched lazily. She wasn't the real leader of Wildfire and couldn't be bothered with the trivial affairs of the Underworld.
"That's all. I'm leaving."
Waving a hand at the two miners who 'knew' her but whom she didn't know, Raven's figure flickered and vanished before their eyes, leaving the two men staring at each other.
"Do you think... maybe we've been mining too long and started hallucinating?"
To see the gentle and kind Dr. Natasha single-handedly take down all the vagrants and most of the miners? This had to be a dream!
Back when she was studying at the Belobog Medical College in the Overworld, Natasha had learned from ancient texts in the library that life existed beyond the stars and that they had frequently visited this planet hundreds of years ago. She had often imagined what these outsiders would be like.
Would their biological structure be the same as the people of Belobog? Natasha was a medical student, after all, and her professional training made her first consider biological differences, followed by cultural ones.
And now, watching the two gray-haired individuals stroking the black stockings she had just taken off with an expression of bizarre fanaticism, Natasha felt that her understanding of off-world guests had taken a monumental leap forward.
"Dr. Natasha, please don't misunderstand! Not all outsiders are like these two."
Seeing an expression she had previously seen on Serval and Pela's faces, March 7th immediately stepped forward to defend herself and her kind.
"Is that so... Well, that's truly a pity then."
After removing the highly insulating black stockings, the direct contact of her fair legs with her tall boots felt a little strange to Natasha, and she lightly stomped her foot. The movement sent a ripple through her chest, affecting both the pale green medicine vial and the plump, dark fruits of longevity upon it.
March 7th: "???"
What does she mean, a pity?
"Please don't misunderstand me. I was just referring to the magical ability to turn Fragmentum creatures into special candy." Natasha smiled at March 7th. Such a vibrant and beautiful girl was a splash of color long-since absent in this dreary underground. As vibrant as the colors of those candies.
"...That's true. That kind of ability is incredible anywhere in the galaxy. Oh, right."
Forcing down the urge to comment on the two gray-hairs fondling Natasha's stockings, March 7th nudged Caelus with her elbow. "Caelus, what's the deal with that amazing power anyway?"
"It's okay if it's a secret you can't talk about," March 7th added thoughtfully.
It wasn't so much a rule of the Express as it was a mutual understanding among everyone. Each member of the Astral Express had their secrets—Dan Heng, for instance, never talked about his past. Not prying into teammates' secrets was a sign of respect, and the way their loving family got along.
Dan Heng's gaze shifted toward them at her words.
"It's just like when Stelle's body turned into a musical instrument before. It's a special ability exchanged for a crystal, with a time limit."
Caelus pulled a crystal from the still-warm, soft black stockings, opened his hand, and showed it to March 7th. There was no need to hide a one-time shop ability, nor could he. Anyway, in the world of Star Rail, anything that couldn't be explained could be blamed on the Aeon of Elation.
"..."
From March 7th's perspective, Caelus had just flipped the stocking over and presented it to her. She instinctively leaned her head back.
"A crystal..." Dan Heng murmured. He still didn't quite get it, but it was easier to just accept that the two of them would intermittently possess strange abilities. As for the deeper secrets, unless Caelus told them himself, the crew of the Express wouldn't press the issue.
Natasha didn't understand what they were talking about, but she understood one thing: the ability to turn Fragmentum monsters into supplies was obtained through an exchange.
"...Can stockings be used to exchange for your abilities?"
After a few seconds of hesitation, Natasha couldn't help but ask. If Caelus said yes, she would immediately organize Wildfire to collect all the stockings from every girl in the Underworld!
"Hmm, stockings from ordinary people won't do. It has to be black stockings worn by a beautiful older sister like Natasha!"
Stelle took out the last of the blue-and-orange crystals and carefully put the 'black stocking treasure chest' away in Caelus's pocket. To her, the 'treasure chest' was more important than the 'black stockings'!
Hearing the compliment, Natasha first chuckled and shook her head, saying she wasn't young anymore, then asked with a serious expression, "Really?"
If hers worked, did that mean she could help Stelle and Caelus create a massive wave of supplies for the Underworld in the future? As for giving away personal clothing, compared to life-saving supplies, a little shyness was nothing.
"It seems like it only works with one pair of stockings that a person has worn for a long time," Stelle said, scratching her head sheepishly.
A flicker of disappointment crossed Natasha's red eyes. The older Seele looked thoughtful. Was it too late for her to start wearing stockings now?
Back in Boulder Town, the news spread quickly.
From the moment the first wave of energy candy was brought back, people began to spread the news that 'heroes from beyond the sky have brought supplies to the Underworld and weakened the Fragmentum's erosion.' The assassination of the Supreme Guardian had already given the people of the Underworld a very high opinion of the Trailblazer team; this wave of supplies multiplied that goodwill several times over.
Everyone in town greeted them with smiles, thanking them endlessly, which made even March 7th feel a little embarrassed.
As 'heroes,' the Trailblazer team was arranged by Oleg and Natasha to stay in the largest hotel underground, the Goethe Grand Hotel. It shared a name with the Goethe Hotel in the Overworld, but the conditions were several levels below.
"You all get some rest. If you need my help with anything, just ask."
After settling everyone in, the older Seele turned to leave. As she walked down the steps in front of the old hotel, she suddenly snapped her head to the side, looking at the roof of an old house nearby.
"Who's there?"
Her eyes only caught a black afterimage, but it gave her a very familiar feeling. Seele frowned.
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