The Star Train's Journey Through the Heavens

Chapter 98 Ah Xing's Revenge: It's Never Too Late

"Ahem." Meng Huaifeng coughed twice to attract everyone's attention, and then said, "Let me tell you about the information I found."

"According to my research, the apparent source of this mana phenomenon is the birth of mana flowers caused by human immortality experiments. But in fact, mana phenomena have erupted many times in the history of this world."

"Although the Mana ecosystem is disguised as the planet's own periodic correction of the natural environment, its multiple outbursts are extremely abrupt and deliberate, more like a behind-the-scenes manipulator."

"However, the mastermind does not seem to be on this planet. He is also extremely cautious. There is no information about his existence from the planet. We can only find evidence of his existence from many suspicious points."

Currently, Meng Huaifeng's Heavenly Inquiry Technique can only cover this planet. If someone uses methods outside the planet, he can only detect the anomalies caused by those methods, but not the person themselves.

Only by expanding the scope of future inquiries can we find more and more accurate information.

"Since we can't find the mastermind behind this for now, let's leave him alone. Once we resolve the Mana ecosystem issue, if he dares to interfere again, he'll naturally slip up. So, will destroying the Mana Flower end the Mana ecosystem?" Himeko asked.

"No, the Mana Flower is only the apparent source of the Mana ecosystem. In reality, there is a Vortex Space behind it. I cannot directly search for this space. It should not be on this planet, and it may even be a separate small space."

"I can only observe this space from the few times it opened the entrance on this planet. The true origin of the Mana ecosystem should be in the Ape Vortex Space," Meng Huaifeng speculated.

"Ah, it's so complicated! Even your Heavenly Inquiry Technique can't completely determine it. If we were to search for it ourselves, who knows how long it would take?" March 7 exclaimed in surprise.

"So how do we get into this Ape Vortex Space?" Himeko asked.

“You can enter the Ape Vortex Space through the Ape Vortex, but the Ape Vortex has a recognition function, so humans cannot enter. You must use special methods, and someone has already tried it,” Meng Huaifeng said.

"It seems the people on this planet are also trying to save themselves," Himeko remarked.

“The Ape Vortex will only appear when the Devouring Beast has collected enough Life Essence, absorb the Life Essence and evolve the Devouring Beast, and then disappear. As the number of survivors decreases, the collection of Life Essence slows down, and the frequency of the Ape Vortex's appearance also decreases,” Meng Huaifeng continued.

"In that case, it's a bit troublesome," Himeko frowned.

"We're not going to have to wait for years until the Ape Vortex opens before we can solve it, are we?" March 7th asked, his eyes wide.

“It won’t take that long. The fact that the Ape Vortex Space doesn’t reveal itself doesn’t mean we can’t find it on our own; it just takes a little more effort.” Himeko shook her head.

"The Ape Vortex Space knows that the Devouring Beasts have collected enough life essence, and the Devouring Beasts also know that the Ape Vortex Space is about to open and gather ahead of time. Therefore, there must be a medium for communication between them, and this medium is undoubtedly the Mana Flower."

"The Ape Vortex Space can understand this world through the Mana Flower, so we can also use the Mana Flower to locate the Ape Vortex Space in reverse," Meng Huaifeng said confidently.

"Shall we go to the nearest Mana Flower first?" March 7th asked.

"Okay, let's go." Meng Huaifeng opened the map in his mind and walked towards the nearest Mana Flower marked on the map.

"Hey, are we just going to walk like this, Uncle Yang?" March 7th looked at Walter with her bright, watery eyes.

Walter waved his hand and arranged eight off-road vehicles, saying, "Those who want to drive can drive one each, and those who don't want to drive or can't drive can sit in the back."

Meng Huaifeng, Xing, March 7, Ji Zi, and Walter each rode in a car. Zhu Zhuqing, who couldn't drive, and Hong Kou Po Xiao, who was wearing a gravity suit and couldn't drive, sat in the back row of Xing, March 7, and Meng Huaifeng respectively.

"Want to have a race?" Xing suggested.

"Come on then! Surely you don't have to pay for things you break in this world?" March 7th said excitedly.

Hongkou hesitated for a moment, then silently jumped out of the car and got into Walter's car, which looked very composed.

"What are the prizes and punishments?" Meng Huaifeng asked.

"Himeko-nee's coffee!" Hoshino said without hesitation.

Himeko glanced at Hoshi with a cold look in her eyes. Hoshi smiled sheepishly and scratched his head, saying, "I mean, the winner gets to drink coffee as a reward from Himeko-nee."

The passion of the game vanished instantly.

"I'll give you coffee even if you want it, but how about we switch to the train's duty shifts?" Himeko said.

“Okay, the last place will take on all the duties of the first place!” March 7th was the first to agree.

“I don’t want to mess around with you guys, but I don’t want to be on duty either,” Walter sighed, a flash of light appearing on his glasses.

"Target: Mana Flower, prepare to depart!" Meng Huaifeng sent the map to the other people's phones.

Walter tapped his finger, and the navigation function appeared on everyone's off-road vehicle control screen.

"Brother Dawn, hold on tight." Meng Huaifeng glanced at Dawn behind him and instructed.

"Don't worry, we've been chased by Devouring Beasts a lot while sitting in armored vehicles," Dawn said.

"3!"

"2!"

"1!"

"boom!"

As the countdown ended, the five off-road vehicles roared to life and launched into the air.

Himeko took the lead, her driving skills were surprisingly wild, followed closely by Welt, who was not only fast but also incredibly stable.

The remaining three are all terrible at the game but addicted to it, so they're evenly matched!
"Ah Xing, ditch! Ditch! Ditch!" Zhu Zhuqing screamed from behind Xing.

"LOL LOL LOL LOL!" Xing replied enthusiastically.

"boom!"

Xing drove his SUV and plunged headfirst into a ravine.

Zhu Zhuqing rolled over and landed safely. She cautiously looked at the burning SUV and soon Xing crawled out from under the vehicle, covered in soot.

"Oh no! My car broke down, does that mean I'm in last place?" Xing was extremely anxious.

A new off-road vehicle appeared out of thin air next to the star. Walter sensed that his creation was damaged and rebuilt another one for the star.

"Uncle Yang, that's awesome!" Xing exclaimed excitedly.

"Get in the car quickly!" Xing urged.

Zhu Zhuqing reluctantly got into the car, and Xingyi floored the accelerator.

Because of the rollover, she's already fallen to last place. If she doesn't hurry up, last place will definitely be hers!
"Ah Xing, slow down, you're scaring me." Zhu Zhuqing gripped the seat tightly.

"Don't worry, trust my skills!"

"Slow down! Slow down! It's turning!"

"Don't be afraid, watch me drift around the corner!"

"boom!"

"Do you really have the skills?" Zhu Zhuqing, who jumped off the train early, asked Xing, whose face had darkened.

Two hours later, Xing finally arrived at the destination last.

"Ah Xing is so lame! Do you know how much slower you are than me?" March 7 asked with her hands on her hips and a smug look on her face.

Although she was the second to last to arrive, she was a full twenty minutes faster than Xing.

Xing looked March 7 up and down; his clothes were covered in dust. He confirmed, "You crashed."

March 7th was taken aback: "So what? Anyway, you're the last one."

"You crashed."

"I'm faster than you!"

"You crashed."

"You flipped through even more!!"

"You crashed."

"I'm so angry!!!" March 7th chose to take action.

I didn't care about the accident at first, but now I suddenly feel really angry!

"Um, I shouldn't be considered last place, right?" Zhu Zhuqing asked uncertainly.

“Those who don’t drive don’t count,” Meng Huaifeng said.

"That's good." Zhu Zhuqing patted the panda, relieved.

"Ah Xing, don't forget to help Pam with her duties when you get back to the train," Himeko reminded Xing, who was playfully fighting with March 7th. "Oh, and here's another ten cups of your favorite coffee as a reward."

"No!" Xing cried out in despair, bending forward, but was pressed down by March 7.

……

After the playful fighting ended, everyone began to explore their surroundings.

This is a city. Due to violent tectonic movements, many parts have collapsed, but some parts are still intact and can be used as temporary shelters if cleaned up.

However, strangely enough, there are many human statues in this city, each with a different pose and lifelike appearance.

"Why are there so many statues here?" March 7 asked curiously, feeling a little uneasy.

“These aren’t statues, they’re all made of flesh and soil,” Hongkou said with a complicated expression.

"Flesh soil? What is that?" March 7th still didn't understand. Meng Huaifeng seemed to have mentioned this word before, but he hadn't explained it.

Hongkou and Poxiao exchanged a glance, feeling extremely puzzled. How could they not even know about the Flesh Soil?

Considering what they've been saying about this world and this planet, could they be aliens?
Hongkou and Poxiao were filled with thoughts. Meng Huaifeng explained, "Flesh and earth are formed from people who have lost their life essence." "You mean, they used to be living people?" Sanyueqi's pupils shrank, and he took a few steps back.

Turning people into stone statues is something that has been heard of but never actually seen, but Dugu Bo could do it.

But one or two is one thing, but such a large group of people, or even the entire planet's inhabitants, turning into stone statues is still somewhat creepy.

"Losing the life essence turns one into flesh and soil? That's strange," Himeko said. She had previously suspected that the life essence was the soul, but losing the soul wouldn't turn one into flesh and soil.

"It seems that the connection between the life essence and the people of this world is even closer than I imagined." Walter had already discovered this energy when he examined the people of the Lighthouse.

Now it seems that what he thought was true. The life essence was so important to them that no matter what cultivation method they were taught, as long as they became stronger to a certain extent, they would inevitably discover the life essence.

I just hope that no one will go down that evil path that flashed through his mind.

"If the life essence returns to their bodies, can they be resurrected?" March 7 asked curiously.

"Just thinking about it makes it impossible. It's barely understandable for a living thing to turn into stone, but for a stone to turn into a living thing, it just seems unlikely," Meng Huaifeng said.

Himeko walked to a piece of broken flesh and soil, picked up a bit of soil to examine it, and confirmed, "It has completely turned into real earth and stone, and there is no possibility of reversal."

"How pitiful," said March 7th, unable to bear it.

"If I lose my life essence, will I also turn into flesh and soil?" Xing asked, rubbing his chin.

“We don’t have life essence in our bodies,” Walter said, for the time being the person who knew the most about life essence.

"Oh." Xing was inexplicably disappointed.

Hongkou and Poxiao finally realized that they were indeed not from this world.

However, they saved themselves, and it sounds like they intend to resolve the disaster for their world.

Why not follow them? After all, I have nowhere else to go.

Hongkou manipulated the gravity body to grab the hand of the Dawn gravity body, thinking to herself.

"Right, isn't it said that Devouring Beasts can sense emotions? Since we don't have life essence, can we still attract Devouring Beasts?" Xing suddenly came up with another crazy idea.

“The life essence of this world contains too many things, including emotions, which should also be part of the life essence. I don’t know if what attracts the Devouring Beasts is simply emotions or life essence triggered by emotions. We don’t have life essence, so it’s really hard to say whether we can attract the Devouring Beasts.” Meng Huaifeng also became somewhat curious.

"Come on, let's give it a try. It just so happens that Sister Himeko brought a light and shadow detector from the lighthouse." March Seven hurriedly took out the device that Himeko had given her.

“There must be quite a few Devouring Beasts in the city. If we attract them, we might be in danger,” Hongkou warned.

"Don't worry, with our strength, we're not afraid of any number of Devouring Beasts, no matter how many come," Xing said confidently.

Hongkou stopped trying to persuade them; everyone knew the consequences.

"Then who will attract the Devouring Beasts?" March 7 asked, holding up the light and shadow detector.

"Who among us is most prone to mood swings?" Meng Huaifeng asked.

Everyone looked toward March 7th.

"Huh? Me? I'm just a little lively... okay." March 7 was dumbfounded. She wanted to explain, but found that everyone else on the train was quite calm, even Xing was just a little smug.

So on March 7th, he had no choice but to obediently hand over the light and shadow detector to Meng Huaifeng.

Meng Huaifeng didn't turn on the device. Instead, he summoned his mobile phone martial spirit, opened the virtual screen, and performed a series of rapid operations.

"Alright, I don't need it anymore, here you go." Meng Huaifeng handed the equipment back to March 7.

The software on the device wasn't too complicated, and Meng Huaifeng didn't need to fully understand the principles; he simply copied it to his own phone, so it was over in just one minute.

If we were to truly understand the meaning and function of each piece of code, it would take more than a short time to do so.

These can be addressed gradually later when there's time; they will definitely be analyzed eventually, and these will all serve as stepping stones for Meng Huaifeng's progress in editing with ether.

Meng Huaifeng pointed his phone at March 7 and said, "March, try getting angry now."

"Are you angry?" March 7th tensed her little face, pursed her lips, and made a fierce expression.

"Hmm, it's just reached a fluctuation level, far from enough. Think about what made you angry!" Meng Huaifeng suggested, looking at the screen.

Starting on March 7th, I began to recall getting myself all dirty from flipping through the trash can, secretly eating my favorite little cake, and making my own self-deprecating video...

Anger began to surge.

"We're about to be in danger, give it your all!" Meng Huaifeng encouraged.

She even posted photos of herself performing CPR on Huaifeng in the group chat...

"Strange, why did it suddenly drop again?" Meng Huaifeng frowned.

"I'm always optimistic and cheerful, how could I get angry so easily!" March 7 said, pouting, her pretty face slightly red, as if she was forcing herself to be angry.

"Then why don't you express a happy or joyful emotion?" Meng Huaifeng suggested.

"Okay." March 7th smiled, but then withdrew her smile after a while, saying expressionlessly, "You're acting all happy for no reason, like a silly girl."

"What should we do then?" Meng Huaifeng asked helplessly.

Emotions are not so easy to control, whether suppressed or deliberately expressed.

"How about an immersive dream experience?" Meng Huaifeng suggested.

"No! What if it gets posted online and everyone gets slammed?" March 7th crossed her arms.

"Not necessarily. For example, it might be Xing dreaming, but you and Silver Wolf are the ones who die in the society," Meng Huaifeng advised.

"Let me do it! Let me do it!" Xing volunteered eagerly. After the death of the March 7th Society, Xing had been banned from playing Meng Huaifeng's Dream of Divine Machine Virtual World.

"No! You think you can't play before Huaifeng gets around Aha's blessing!" March 7th excitedly stopped Xing.

"Let me play for a bit, I can't connect to Qianxing.com right now," Xing pleaded pitifully.

“No! There’s no internet now, but it will automatically upload when we get back.” March 7th objected again.

"I swear, I won't have any wild thoughts in my dreams!" Xing promised.

March 7th still shook his head, his attitude very firm.

"Huh, Ah Xing's emotions are about to become dangerous." Meng Huaifeng pinched his chin. "I just realized."

"Ah Xing, you lost the game."

Your pentakill got stolen!

"You're playing terribly, you've lost ten straight!"

"Ah Xing, your account has been banned!"

……

"boom!"

A terrifying destructive power erupted from Xing's body, and a baseball bat appeared in his hand, surrounded by lightning.

"Who? Who dares to ban my Galaxy Baseball Man's account?!" Xing Liu's eyebrows shot up.

"Great, the light and shadow value has fallen. We're on the ground, so the Devouring Beasts should be attracted soon, right?" Meng Huaifeng gave Xing a thumbs up.

Xing realized that Meng Huaifeng was deliberately provoking her, and her anger began to subside.

"Keep it up, Ah Xing!" Meng Huaifeng said hurriedly.

"This... I can't control it at all. Why don't you say something more?" Xing scratched his head, his light and shadow value dropping even faster.

"Remember those days in Belleburg when you got completely destroyed in the game? It was Silver Wolf who did it!" Meng Huaifeng betrayed Silver Wolf without hesitation.

Xing suddenly recalled those days of dark and hopeless gaming, which was the most terrifying nightmare in her gaming history.

I get eliminated as soon as I land, I'm instantly killed the moment I peek out, I feed like crazy every game, all my gear drops, all my enhancements shatter...

"Ah! Silver Wolf, I'm going to fight you to the death!" Xing finally exploded completely!

"abyss!"

Three minutes later.

"Why haven't the Devouring Beasts arrived yet?" Meng Huaifeng asked curiously.

Xing walked up to Meng Huaifeng with a long face: "Did you already know that it was Silver Wolf who did it?"

Meng Huaifeng gave an awkward smile: "Speculation, all speculation. Think about it, you just killed the Silver Wolf Society, and the Silver Wolf is still in Belloberg. Do you think she wouldn't retaliate against you? As one of the strongest hackers in the galaxy, she knows what you're doing, and then deliberately matches you against her every time to snipe you. That makes perfect sense, right?"

“Well said.” Star nodded, raising his bat high and vowing, “I will make Silver Wolf taste all the pain I’ve suffered!”

“Silver Wolf is unwilling, and you will never be able to make her feel this kind of pain in your life.” Meng Huaifeng wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.

You might win a few rounds against her, but if you win too many, you'll be facing the Great Love Wolf Lord, the Wolf King Heavenly Emperor!

“Good brother, you’ll help me, right?” Xing grabbed Meng Huaifeng’s arm tightly.

Who do you think taught me how to edit Ethereum?
“…Give me ten years,” Meng Huaifeng said helplessly.

(End of this chapter)