【“Carriage separation prepared! Three... two... one!”】

【In space, the engines at the rear of the Astral Express spewed fierce flames, heading towards the center of that infinite loop of light—Amphoreus.】

【Getting closer... closer, the light band continuously expanded before her eyes. Then, the carriage seemed to pass through something, and her vision entered an unknown darkness, but just then—】

【“Memi?”】

【A very soft, thin voice sounded in Stelle's ear.】

【Stelle felt her consciousness becoming a bit chaotic and murmured, “Who is it?”】

【There was no response.】

【The silence only lasted a few seconds before her vision suddenly cleared. Light flooded her eyes, and the darkness abruptly dissipated—the Astral Express had pierced through the clouds and entered the interior of Amphoreus. In an instant, mountains, rivers, and the earth... under the gloomy sky, countless sights began to flash past the window, so fast that it was impossible to see any details clearly.】

【But just as Stelle planned to lean against the window for a better look, suddenly—】

【“BOOM—!”】

【A giant spear suddenly shot straight out from an invisible direction, accurately piercing the flying carriage!】

【Before the two could even react, flames instantly swallowed half of the carriage. A scorching airwave hit them head-on, Stelle's hair danced wildly in the gale, and ear-piercing alarms and red lights blared frantically!】

【The carriage beneath them tilted violently, and the control stick failed. For a moment, Stelle only saw the mountains outside spinning wildly, heaven and earth turning upside down. After a period of violent jolting, her vision went black, and she completely lost consciousness.】

——

Kamen Rider Build.

“???”

Ryuga's eyes almost popped out of his head.

“This, this... huh???”

Although after experiencing Belobog, he had considered being treated as an enemy upon arriving in a new world... but wasn't this a bit too fast? Please, can't you give them a moment to catch their breath and have a drink of water?

Every country has its laws, and every trade has its rules. How can you attack someone before even meeting them? The local forces are far too impolite!

Besides, isn't the Astral Express a creation of the Aeon of Trailblaze? How did it get blown up right at the start?

“What on earth is going on? Why would someone attack the Astral Express right from the start? And with such a huge spear?” Misora was completely stunned; she hadn't expected the Astral Express Crew's debut to be so explosive.

For outsiders like them, shouldn't a big figure with some authority like Yukong or Cocolia come out first to play the 'good cop,' followed by others to help the Astral Express Crew, thereby securing their cooperation? Who starts a fight right away?

“This is bad... it looks like the Astral Express is severely damaged. Himeko's idea of a safe house has vanished into thin air from the very beginning.” Sento immediately calmed down. “Who exactly harbors such great malice toward the Astral Express Crew? Logically, it shouldn't be...”

“And that giant spear looks like some kind of ancient war weapon... From a physics perspective, to achieve this effect, the energy storage of the launching device must be incredibly massive.”

For a moment, he found it hard to imagine who could shoot such a large spear into the sky with such precision and destructive power to pierce an entire carriage. What kind of divine strength was that...

——

【Some time later...】

【Stelle opened her eyes dizzily. Everything she saw had four or five overlapping ghost images. She rubbed her head, and it took a long time for the intense dizziness to gradually subside.】

【“Ugh...”】

【Her whole body felt like it was falling apart.】

【The Astral Express, which had just been mentioned not long ago, was now completely scrapped. At this moment, it was burning with a raging fire, thick smoke billowing upward. Flames licked the metal hull from the cracks in the carriage, making a “crackling” sound.】

【Dan Heng had also been thrown out, sitting motionless in a corner of the ruins, his fate unknown.】

【“...Dan Heng?”】

【It seemed like it was time to name the third generation of his reincarnation...】

【However, she soon saw Dan Heng's chest rising and falling, proving that his vital signs were not yet weak.】

【(Looks like I'll have to do mouth-to-mouth.)】

【Stelle remembered the scene when she first met Dan Heng and March 7th...】

【It was as if someone was shouting in her ear: Go ahead and do it! Truly a devilish, seductive voice. She hesitated again and again, and finally leaned down...】

【“...Sorry, Dan Heng.”】

【But just as she got close, Dan Heng suddenly raised his head and stared at her blankly: “...Sorry for what?”】

【The mischievous grin on Stelle's face instantly turned into disappointment.】

【“—Sorry for failing to protect you.”】

【Dan Heng struggled to get up from the ground and looked around: “Ugh... how long were we out? After the carriage was hit, you lost consciousness. I carried you out and then fainted too. Luckily the carriage protected us, otherwise we would have been smashed to pieces. Let's try to contact the Express first.”】

【Stelle and Dan Heng began sending messages in the Astral Express group. As expected—Himeko had said earlier that Amphoreus was likely outside the range of Interastral Peace Communications, and none of the messages on their phones could be sent.】

【“As expected, it failed... now we can only rely on ourselves.” Dan Heng looked up and carefully examined the nearby temple-like buildings. “We need to find a safe place as a base first. Judging by the surrounding buildings and this statue, a civilization definitely exists on Amphoreus...”】

【“The bad news is, they might be hostile toward outsiders.”】

——

Dragon Raja.

“Looking at the architectural style here, it seems very similar to Ancient Greece.”

Caesar looked at the towering buildings of Amphoreus; the style of the pillars here was somewhat similar to the Parthenon he had visited as a child. If there were similar temples everywhere in Amphoreus, rather than just happening upon a local tourist attraction, he could almost guess the level of civilization here.

“Yeah, that spear that destroyed the Express should also be a local weapon used for war.” A hint of contradictory confusion appeared on Caesar's face. If the civilization level here wasn't high, it would be impossible to create a weapon that could damage a high-speed train; conversely, if the civilization level was high... such heavily religious temples wouldn't appear.

“These are minor issues.”

Anjou sat in a chair, holding a cigar thicker than his thumb in one hand. Smoke curled around him, making his face—which was over a hundred years old yet still radiant—appear indistinct.

He took a long puff of smoke: “It's not the first time we've had a bad start. As long as the people here use cold weapons for combat, it shouldn't be a problem for those two.”