Himeko took the spiritual stone and placed it into the Spiritual Qi Coffee Machine.
The indicator light in front of the coffee machine instantly lit up, and the machine began to run.
Stelle and March 7th also crowded over to see what was going on.
Soon, Himeko expertly brewed a cup of coffee.
Himeko turned around and looked at Ye Yun, Stelle, and March 7th.
"Want to try some?"
March 7th felt a chill run through her entire body. Himeko's coffee was definitely not something one could safely drink!
"Um... well... I'm going to go see if Dan Heng has picked out what he wants, you guys enjoy!"
With that, March 7th turned tail and bolted. If she didn't run now, she'd end up having to drink Himeko's brew!
The smile on Himeko's face grew somewhat stiff.
"Stelle, Ye Yun, would you two like to try a cup?"
Stelle didn't quite understand the situation. Why was March 7th panicking like that? Wasn't it just a cup of coffee?
You could only say she was a newborn calf that wasn't afraid of tigers, as Stelle reached out and took the coffee from Himeko.
"Thanks!"
Stelle downed the coffee in the cup in a single gulp.
Himeko stared at Stelle with eyes full of anticipation.
"How is it, Stelle? How does it taste?"
Stelle wore a smile on her face and gave a thumbs-up.
"Delicious!"
With that, Stelle beckoned to March 7th.
"March! Come quick and drink some coffee, this coffee is really good!"
March 7th peeked her head out from beside Dan Heng.
She saw Stelle proudly displaying an empty coffee cup that she had just drained.
A wave of confusion popped up in March 7th's little head.
Did Himeko's coffee actually become delicious? Judging by Stelle's reaction, it really looked good. Should she... give it a try?
March 7th mustered her courage and asked Himeko to brew her a cup of coffee.
March 7th took the coffee and first gave it a sniff.
Mhm! It smelled normal! No weird odors!
Stelle urged from the side.
"March, hurry up and taste it, it really is good."
Ye Yun, standing nearby, was barely able to hold back his laughter. He had seen the whole thing clearly—Stelle's legs were trembling slightly.
Judging by the situation, Stelle probably wanted to drag March 7th down with her so she wouldn't be the only one suffering.
March 7th raised the coffee cup and poured a large mouthful into her mouth. The very instant she swallowed it—
Stelle and March 7th simultaneously collapsed flat on the spot, kicked their legs out twice, rolled their eyes, and passed out cold.
"Squawk!"
Ye Yun watched the two of them with schadenfreude. Tsk, tsk, tsk, the lethality of Himeko's coffee was simply too strong.
Looking at the two people sprawled on the ground, Himeko began to faintly doubt her own coffee-making skills.
However, she quickly cast that thought to the back of her mind, turned around, picked up a book on hand-brewed coffee, and began browsing through it to see where she had gone wrong.
Seeing the two unconscious figures lying on the floor, Ye Yun kindly carried them both over to the sofa so they could lie down comfortably.
At that moment, Dan Heng had chosen the item he wanted: a pair of headphones with an infinite power supply. The price wasn't high, costing only 300 Credits.
Dan Heng took out 3 Stellar Jades, exchanged them for Credits to make the purchase, and then, holding the headphones, bid farewell to Ye Yun and Himeko before heading back to the Archives.
Ye Yun looked at the two people who had passed out on the sofa, thought for a moment, and decided to talk to Himeko about renting a carriage.
Ye Yun walked over to Himeko's side.
"Himeko, there's something I'd like to discuss with you."
Hearing this, Himeko put down the book in her hand.
"Oh? What is it?"
Ye Yun took a sip of water and slowly said.
"I'd like to rent a carriage to set up a shop. Would that be alright?
Of course, I won't use it for free. Every month, your Express crew can take one item from me whose value does not exceed 3,000 Credits. How does that sound?"
After listening to Ye Yun's proposal, Himeko fell into contemplation.
This was something that had never happened before on the Express—at least, not in the history of the Nameless known to Himeko.
However, renting it to Ye Yun wasn't entirely out of the question. Every month, they could obtain a treasure from the myriad worlds right from Ye Yun's shop.
As for whether Ye Yun would pose a threat to the Express crew? For now, that seemed unlikely.
As for her evaluation of Ye Yun, Himeko could only say he was a pure merchant, and a conscientious one at that.
After pondering for a moment, Himeko said.
"I can't make the call on this alone. I need to consult everyone on the Express crew."
Whenever major matters concerning the Express crew arose, everyone adhered to a rule that had existed since the birth of the train: voting by majority.
Ye Yun smiled.
"That's only natural. I'll be leaving first then, send me a message once you've all decided.
By the way, we don't have each other's contact information yet. Shall we exchange contacts?"
After Ye Yun and Himeko exchanged contact information, he returned to the Space Station.
After getting off the train, Ye Yun sent Herta a message asking her to help arrange a place for him to rest.
There was no help for it; he simply couldn't find any external inns or hotels in this Space Station.
The researchers here all had rooms uniquely belonging to themselves, and they were all provided free of charge.
Don't even ask—to ask is to know that the IPC is wealthy and doesn't care about such a small expense.
...........
Over two hours later, inside the parlor car.
Himeko, Welt, Pom-Pom, Dan Heng, March 7th, and Stelle were gathered together.
Welt, Pom-Pom, and Dan Heng had arrived here long ago, and Himeko had already told the three of them about Ye Yun's request to rent a carriage.
They were just waiting for March 7th and Stelle to wake up so everyone could cast their votes.
Just a moment ago, March 7th and Stelle had groggily crawled up from the sofa.
After having a cup of hot water and regaining some of their energy, Himeko informed the two of them of the matter.
Stelle was a bit puzzled. She wasn't even a member of the Express crew, so why was Himeko telling her this?
Seeing Stelle's perplexed expression, Himeko smiled.
"Stelle, do you remember when I invited you aboard the train earlier? Have you given it any thought?"
Hearing this, Stelle rubbed her chin in thought.
March 7th chimed in from the side to persuade her.
"Stelle~ You should just join us! Come uphold justice across the galaxy together with us! And by the way, save a few worlds as a savior—how about it?"
Upon hearing this, Stelle thought it sounded extremely cool! Over the past two days at the Space Station, she hadn't felt a single shred of belonging.
Aside from Asta, Arlan, and Herta, absolutely no one here was willing to pay her any mind.
Everyone was busy with their own tasks, and you couldn't sense an ounce of human warmth here.
On the contrary, spending time with everyone on the Express crew felt genuinely joyful.
"Alright, I'll join the Express."
March 7th let out a happy cheer.
"Yay!"
Himeko took out a train ticket and handed it to Stelle.
"Stelle, wear this. This is the symbol of your identity as a Nameless."
Stelle took the train ticket and pinned it to the collar of her shirt.
Welt and Dan Heng also expressed their welcome to Stelle for joining the Express crew.
After chatting for a while, Himeko steered the conversation back on track.
"Alright, now that everyone from the Express crew is here, let's vote on Ye Yun's request to rent a carriage.
The usual rules: the minority yields to the majority. Those in favor, raise your hand; those opposed, do not raise your hand.
3
2
1
!"
The results were in: Stelle, March 7th, Himeko, and Dan Heng all voted in favor, leaving only Welt who did not agree.
Welt explained.
"Count me as abstaining. I haven't interacted with this Ye Yun, so I can neither directly reject nor directly agree. I need to spend some time with him before I give my opinion."