Honkai: Star Rail — A Nameless Traveler, a New Path Every Day - Chapter 4

March

“Speaking of which, regarding the path of reproduction… you don’t have that kind of urge, do you?”

“Buzz…breeding…buzz…not reproduction…buzz…it’s replication…buzz…”

You Yan corrected March 7’s mistaken idea.

“Too inefficient…buzz…”

What’s going on in the little girl’s mind?

“The train is about to undergo a jump. Passengers, please hold on tight! Our destination: Black Tower Space Station!”

“Oh dear, a leap is about to happen!”

March 7th immediately dropped her joking attitude and looked at You Yan with some concern.

“Your body right now… is it okay? Don’t you need to wear a seatbelt or be secured anywhere?”

“Should…buzz…no need…buzz…”

The view outside the window began to distort, the once brilliant starry sky was stretched into colorful bands of light, and a strange sense of compression followed.

“Buzz—”

He couldn’t help but let out a long cry, and his carapace vibrated in sync with the frequency of the jump portal, making the fluorescent veins flowing on his wings instantly dazzling.

“Wow! You’re glowing!” March 7 exclaimed in surprise, covering her eyes. “So bright! Have you turned into a giant light bulb?”

“It hurts…buzzing…it feels…buzzing…I’m going to break…buzzing…”

“Hang in there! Take it easy! It’ll be over soon!” Although March 7th said it was easy, he still reached out and gently patted Youyan’s thick carapace on his back, trying to comfort him. “You didn’t get carsick during the last warp, so it seems that bugs are not very used to interstellar travel.”

Fortunately, although the leap process was difficult, it did not last long.

With a slight jolt, the band of light outside the window solidified again into a tranquil and profound starry sky.

“Are you alright?” March 7th crouched down and carefully poked his shell. “Hey? Still alive? Buzz?”

“Buzz…”

Youyan responded weakly, its tentacles drooping on the ground.

The resonance from the jump made him carsick.

“Are you alright? Do you want some water? Wait, how do insects drink water again…” She gestured with the mouthparts of the flame, then immediately withdrew her hand.

“No need… hum… slowly… hum…”

Youyan struggled to sit up, but after only half of it, he fell back down with a thud. His elytra drooped weakly, and the fluorescent veins on them had dimmed considerably.

Then, he rolled over, curling up all his limbs, and lay on the floor like a dead worm.

“March 7th passengers? Flame Wanderers? The warp drive is over, are you all alright… Pa?!”

Pam’s little head, which had been peeking in, froze.

This is what it saw:

A huge blue-purple insect lay on its back on the floor, its six barbed legs limply curled up on its chest, and its elytra spread out in a wrinkled state. The insect looked as if it were about to die.

“Flame Passenger! What’s wrong, Flame Passenger!!!” Pam’s short legs instantly took off with superhuman speed, thumping over and circling around Flame. “Don’t die, Pam! You only just turned into an insect today, you haven’t lived enough yet, Pam!!!”

“Not dead…buzz…”

Youyan weakly flapped its wings.

“Motion sickness…buzz…”

“Motion sickness?” Pam paused for a moment, then breathed a sigh of relief, but immediately tensed up again. “But can bugs get motion sickness too, Pam?”

“Probably… hum… it’s related to form… hum…”

Youyan tried to turn over.

Then he realized he couldn’t flip back.

The insect’s six legs waved futilely in the air, its carapace screeching against the floor, but it couldn’t muster any strength.

“puff–“

March 7th couldn’t help but burst out laughing.

“I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry!” She quickly covered her mouth, but her shoulders were still shaking. “I didn’t mean to laugh, but you really… look like a giant overturned beetle! No, no, no, you *are* a giant beetle right now!”

“You…buzz…stop laughing…buzz…help me turn over…buzz…”

“Me? Help you? You expect me, a delicate and beautiful young girl, to help a giant worm like you turn the tables?”

“Should Pam go and call Walter’s passengers to come and help Pam?”

“No need…buzz…” You Yan gave up struggling and simply lay there. “Let me…buzz…lie down a little longer…buzz…carsickness…buzz…I haven’t recovered yet…buzz…”

“Hey, your tentacles moved.” March 7th reached out and carefully touched the two long tentacles.

The tentacles trembled sensitively and reflexively wrapped around March 7’s fingers.

“Wow! It’s wrapped around me!”

“Instinct…buzz…can’t let go…buzz…pull it out yourself…buzz…”

March 7th tried to pull her fingers away, but the tentacles only tightened their grip: “Hey, wait, these tentacles of yours are pretty strong?”

“I already said…buzz…instinct…buzz…”

“Can’t you control your instincts?”

“I’ve got it under control…buzz…but…buzz…it’s a bit difficult…buzz…”

This is the scene that Walter and Himeko saw when they walked out of the observation car.

Walter adjusted his glasses, paused for two seconds, and then said, “Looks like you’re adapting quite well?”

“Uncle Yang, look at him!” March 7th pointed at You Yan, who was still lying on the ground. “He can’t roll over!”

“This…” Walter hesitated for a moment, then looked at Himeko, “Should we lend a hand?”

Himeko took a sip of her coffee, a slight smile playing on her lips: “I think it would be quite interesting to let him try his best.”

“Buzz!” The flames let out a mournful cry.

But here’s the problem—

How do you get such a big bug off the train?

…

“Come on…! Come on! Get smaller!”

Youyan’s appearance shrank rapidly… until it was just big enough to be pushed out of the car door sideways.

With a whoosh, Youyan shrunk back to its original size of about seven or eight meters and lay down on the platform floor of the space station. Then it rolled over and lay on its back, its antennae crossed into a cross, its legs tightly folded. The floor of the space station was cool and felt comfortable against its shell.

This action makes him feel more at ease.

In short, he was faking his death.

For example, beetles or ground beetles, which are Coleoptera, have this instinct. When touched, they will instantly lie on their backs, fold their claws tightly against their abdomen, cross their antennae into a cross, and remain motionless, as if they were dead.

If touched repeatedly, the time spent playing dead will be extended.

“Is he still alive, Youyan?”

The first habit of Coleoptera insects: When threatened or touched strangely, they will die for a while.

If he could barely control the flapping of his wings to make a sound just now, after being poked twice by March 7, his nervous system directly took over control of his body and issued the highest priority command.

Let me die for a while first.

“It seems… it really is dead?” March 7th withdrew his hand, glancing back guiltily at Danheng and Walter who were getting out of the car. “Um, Uncle Yang, Danheng, I didn’t use insecticide, I just poked it lightly a couple of times…”

“He shouldn’t be dead,” Dan Heng said with certainty. “His carapace hasn’t darkened, and his vital signs… though weak, are stable.”

“What is he doing? Trying to stage an accident?”

“This is a fake death.”

Walter adjusted his glasses.

“Many Coleoptera exhibit this reaction when disturbed. They may remain motionless to deceive predators, or it could simply be due to nerve stimulation causing stiffness. And…”

Walter looked at March 7th with a sense of helplessness, wanting to poke it again.

“Moreover, in this state, the more frequent the external stimuli, the longer the feigning death will last. March, if you don’t want us to stay here until dinner time, you’d better stop.”

“Huh? There’s such a setting?” March 7th withdrew his hand. “I didn’t know! I saw he wasn’t moving, and I thought he had fainted and wanted to wake him up.”