Honkai: Star Rail: I Can Fix This Gender-Bent World — Chapter 11

Chapter 11: I Don’t Agree

Apparently, one new recruit wasn’t enough to satisfy March 7th. His head swiveled, and his gaze landed on the gray-haired girl—the one they were calling Qiong—who was still staring blankly toward the spot where the Doomsday Beast had just been obliterated.

The girl, Sister Qiong, wore a dazed expression that practically screamed, ‘Who am I? Where am I? What just happened?’

Without a moment’s hesitation, March 7th reached out with his other hand and deftly snagged her wrist. The motion was so smooth and practiced it was as if he had done it a thousand times before, like a parent wrangling a daydreaming child.

“Hey, you don’t get to space out either!”

With one hand gripping Chen, who had just voiced his reluctant agreement, and the other now holding the bewildered Sister Qiong, March 7th beamed. He towed them both toward the center of the group, his face alight with a brilliant smile that held no trace of the recent battle’s gloom.

In a voice clear and bright, he announced, “I think you two are a perfect fit!”

He shook their arms gently for emphasis. “One can’t find his way home, and the other just woke up with no memories. You’re a matched set!” he declared. “So why don’t you both just join our Astral Express!”

He looked between them with sparkling excitement, as if showing off two rare and fascinating creatures he’d just discovered.

“Besides, Sister Qiong, you’re just as lost as he is. Isn’t following us to trailblaze across the galaxy and see the universe better than standing here in a daze? Right, Sister Dan Heng?”

Suddenly addressed, Dan Heng, who had been observing silently with her arms crossed, let her cool gaze sweep over Chen and then Qiong. In the end, all she offered was a nearly imperceptible sigh. It was a silent, weary acquiescence to March’s usual antics. Or perhaps, more accurately, she was simply acknowledging the unspoken approval she could already sense from Uncle Himeko and Ms. Welt.

Tugged by March’s enthusiastic grip, the Trailblazer, Qiong, finally snapped out of her stupor. She blinked her silver-grey eyes, looking first at the cheerful boy holding her arm, then over at Chen, whose other hand was similarly captured. She didn’t seem to have fully grasped the situation.

But March 7th’s infectious smile was a force of nature. Influenced by its sheer power, she subconsciously nodded and gave a soft, quiet, “Mm.”

“See! She agreed too!” March 7th announced triumphantly, as if he’d just won the grand prize in a lottery. He gave the wrists he was holding a vigorous, celebratory shake.

Chen was speechless.

He glanced down at his wrist, held in a surprisingly firm grip by the boy who looked so much like a girl, March 7th. Then he looked at Sister Qiong on the other side, still looking utterly confused despite having just been volunteered into a space-faring crew.

‘This feels… wrong,’Chen complained internally.’Is this onboarding ceremony always this casual? Did they really just run a buy-one-get-one-free special on new crew members?’

Yet, as he took in March 7th’s purely joyful grin, the gentle, knowing smile playing on Ms. Welt’s lips, and the “ah, youth is so energetic” expression on Uncle Himeko’s face, he found the resistance melting away.

He didn’t feel quite so alone anymore.

He even had a “fellow sufferer” who seemed just as clueless as he was.

At that moment, Ms. Welt Yang stepped forward. Her deep gaze lingered on Chen and Qiong for a moment before she turned to look at Himeko.

Uncle Himeko gave her a slight nod, took a slow sip of his coffee, and then spoke. His tone was steady and formal, befitting his role.

“Then, in my capacity as the Navigator of the Astral Express, I welcome you both aboard as temporary passengers.”

He gestured subtly with his cup. “Welt will explain the specific regulations and your responsibilities to you later.”

Just as Himeko’s words of welcome faded, a childish voice—one completely at odds with the warm atmosphere—cut through the air.

It came from behind the group, sudden and sharp.

“I haven’t agreed yet.”

The voice wasn’t loud, but it had the effect of a bucket of ice water, freezing everyone in place.

Chen’s head snapped toward the source of the sound, and a prickle of unease ran up his spine.

He saw the Herta puppet, the one modeled after her as a child, which had been standing silently by the passageway with its eyes closed. It had, at some point, walked over to them.

There was still no discernible expression on the puppet’s delicate, doll-like face, but its large, glassy eyes were now wide open. They scanned over Chen and Qiong, still held captive by March 7th, before finally fixing on Himeko and Welt.

“Herta?” Uncle Himeko raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean by that?”

“I mean exactly what I said, Himeko,” the little puppet replied, its voice devoid of warmth. It crossed its arms over its chest. Though it was small enough to be a child’s toy, it projected an aura of towering authority.