Honkai: Star Rail – From the Moment Tom The Cat Became My Passenger

Although there was no flash of golden light and no new character, Yevenko felt he'd at least gained something this time.

It was just like pulling for cards before transmigrating—maybe he hadn't drawn a character's signature Light Cone, but pulling a "Dance Dance Dance" was already decent enough.

He still had some [Star Rail Passes] left, but Yevenko decided to save those for later.

He figured he'd used up most of his luck on this round. If he kept pulling, it'd probably be just like before—burning through almost all his [Star Rail Special Passes] to get a pile of trash. If not for pulling Tom, Yevenko would've been hanging from a crooked old tree by now.

Done with gacha, Yevenko took a look at the regions he could currently jump to.

He saw that the second region was nearly fully unlocked.

Unlocking regions was closely tied to his Exploration Value; his Exploration Value had been close to maxing out, so the second region was almost ready, just missing a sliver.

That wasn't a big deal. He figured he could top it off easily—maybe rummage through some trash cans at the space station, or poke around for curios. That'd be enough to max his Exploration Value and unlock Region Two.

At the same time, he finally understood something.

He'd thought his Astral Express didn't need "fuel" to jump, but now it seemed it actually ran on Exploration Value.

Not that he was complaining. This gave him more options.

Should he go with Himeko and March 7th, or do his own thing?

As he pondered this, Yevenko focused his attention on the second region, curious what would show up once it was unlocked.

Once you'd lit up more than half the map, you could get the basic info about a region.

In the next second, the name appeared before him:

[Jarilo-VI]

"Come on!"

"You've got to be kidding me."

Wasn't that exactly where the Astral Express was headed anyway? So what difference did it make, going with Himeko and the others or not?

Yevenko felt like he'd unlocked Jarilo-VI for nothing.

Since the region was almost fully revealed, more info about Jarilo-VI popped up:

After the Mythic War ended, the planet 'Jarilo-VI'—named for the Spring God Jarilo—entered a long period of stable peace, developing from primitive farming to interstellar travel.

This rapid progress brought Jarilo-VI cutting-edge technology, but also its downfall. Resource exhaustion, Stellaron impact, and a global cold snap… A string of disasters completely buried Jarilo-VI's brief, glorious civilization.

Now, the survivors cling to life in a corner of the frozen world, having forgotten the old name "Jarilo." They built the city of Belobog—a shelter against the endless winter, preserving a last spark of civilization. Cut off from the wider universe by the "Cancer of All Worlds" and a hostile environment, Jarilo-VI lost contact with the outside.

Yevenko already knew all this. There wasn't much here to pay attention to.

But then, a new line of text appeared. Yevenko, who'd been about to close the window, stopped short, eyes widening.

Yet fate's sorrow hasn't spared Jarilo-VI. Now, a swarm has discovered this planet…

Yevenko stared at the line for a long time before he finally let out a quiet sigh.

"So the changes still happened."

Honestly, the moment he realized the Doomsday Beast had arrived late, Yevenko knew his existence was going to throw this universe into endless chaos.

He just hadn't expected that, while he was still stuck in the "newbie village" of the space station, he'd already triggered a new disaster light-years away on Jarilo-VI.

Of course, he wasn't sure if it was actually his fault.

The universe was vast, after all. Things were happening every second, and even the tiniest decision from anyone could ripple out and change everything.

But Jarilo-VI really was disaster-prone: Stellaron impact, Antimatter Legion invasion, a never-ending winter—now a swarm, too.

What did a tiny planet like this ever do to deserve so much?

If it got a "Blessing of Abundance" next, that'd be truly overpowered.

While Yevenko was lost in thought, a new pop-up danced across his vision.

[Astral Express (Pom-Pom) requests to link with you]

So they wanted to link the trains?

Yevenko accepted without hesitation.

The next second, his train door vanished, replaced by a shimmering gold portal. March 7th strode out from the light.

For a second, Yevenko almost thought he'd pulled March 7th from the gacha.

The moment she arrived on Yevenko's Astral Express, March 7th looked all around, her dazzling rainbow eyes sparkling with wonder.

"So it really worked."

Tom, who'd been napping in his cat bed, blinked awake at the sound of March 7th's arrival. He rubbed his eyes, realized she was actually here, and sprang up, leaping out of the bed.

The blanket he'd been napping under fluttered down and landed perfectly over the bed again.

Now Tom, arms outstretched, was balancing two chairs on his forearms, a table on his head, and all sorts of plates and food—ham, milk, sandwiches, you name it—stacked high.

He dashed forward, the whole teetering tower swaying dangerously, but somehow nothing toppled.

Until, in the next instant—

CRASH!

A deafening bang—Tom faceplanted spectacularly on the floor.

Everything—table, chairs, plates, food—went flying straight toward March 7th.

Amazingly, just before it all would have crashed into her, everything screeched to a halt midair, then carefully settled itself in front of her in perfect order.

First the table and chairs, then the plates and utensils, the food landing neatly on the plates, and even the milk poured itself perfectly into the goblets, settling on the table without a drop spilled.

Tom rushed over, quickly tying a napkin around March 7th's neck, finishing with a neat bow behind her.

Then, with impeccable manners, he pulled out her chair for her to sit.

March 7th's eyes went wide as she watched, her lips parting in amazement.

"Is this your guest-welcoming ceremony? Isn't it a bit over the top?"

Tom then pulled out a chair for Yevenko, who sat down with perfect composure and said calmly,

"No, Tom and I always eat like this. This is just normal for us."

Then he frowned, noticing his and March 7th's goblets were only half-filled with milk, and barked,

"Tom, what's going on here?"

"Why is there only half a glass of milk? People will think we're stingy. Fill them up!"

"You know what, just give us each a whole kilo."

At that, Tom reached behind his back and produced two enormous goblets, each a full meter tall, ready to set them on the table.

March 7th quickly waved him off.

"That's enough, that's enough—Yevenko, quit messing around."

"I came to ask about what Himeko mentioned earlier. Have you thought it over?"

"Stelle is awake now. Before long, our Trailblaze journey is about to begin."