She slowly sat up.
Her white afro-style hair still held its shocked shape, her red and white modified uniform was wrinkled from the impact, and her face still wore a dazed expression from the electric shock.
“Where is this place?”
She looked around, feeling a sense of familiarity—it was as if she had seen a similar scene in a game.
“The Path’s Interstice?”
“Is that what it’s called?”
Then she suddenly remembered what had happened.
Stelle, that thief, had sabotaged her!
When that thing blocked the way in front of March 7th, it actually recited that line again!
“Rules are made to be broken!”
She had finally blasted the Doomsday Beast to death with her barrage, and just as she wanted to catch her breath, she was hit head-on by that beam of light!
Sparkle clutched her head and spun around in place; a thousand words were stuck in her throat, and she couldn’t spit out a single one.
“That Stelle!”
She couldn’t help but open her mouth and scream with all her might—
“Ah—!!!”
After screaming, she squatted down, hugged her knees, buried her face in her arms, and curled up into a small ball.
That shocked white afro trembled with her movements, looking both pitiful and funny.
It was just too hard to keep a straight face.
Really, just too hard.
She had finally escaped Herta’s clutches, finally teleported to the battlefield, finally blasted the Doomsday Beast with her barrage, and finally was about to latch onto the Astral Express—
—only to be sabotaged by the ridiculous skill she had drawn!
No, wait, she was sabotaged by that Stelle!
Why did it have to recite that line for no reason!
After her frustration subsided, Sparkle finally calmed down a little.
She lifted her head and looked around again, and that question finally surfaced in her mind—
It was still so quiet here, and nothing had happened.
Could she have…
died?
She looked down at her hands; they were still there and could move.
She pinched her face—it hurt.
She pinched it again—it hurt even more.
She wasn’t dead.
Then where was this?
She stood up, brushed the dust off her body, straightened her messy hair, and began to walk forward cautiously.
Her white hair swayed gently behind her, and her red eyes scanned the surroundings vigilantly, her face still wearing the daze and confusion from the electric shock.
“Hey—” she called out tentatively, “Is anyone there?” No one answered.
She called again: “Stelle?
March 7th?
Dan Heng?
Himeko?
“Fuli?” she called out again, “Fuli, are you there?” No response.
She didn’t know where that monkey had gone either.
Sparkle took a deep breath and exhaled slowly.
Forget it.
Accept what comes.
She sat cross-legged, rested her chin on her hands, and began to contemplate life.
At least…
she was still alive.
At least…
that performance earlier should make the Astral Express Crew remember her, right?
At least…
after waking up, she should be able to latch onto them, right?
As she thought about it, the corners of her mouth slowly curled up.
Although the process was a bit twisted, the result should…
probably…
maybe…
be good, right?
Then she remembered the shocked afro, the image of herself flying away in such a pathetic posture, and the fact that the live stream viewers must have already taken countless screenshots for memes—her smile froze.
She covered her face and let out a long sigh.
It was too hard.
Really too hard.
Why was it so difficult to live in this world?
She didn’t know how much time had passed.
Sparkle entered a strange state of emptiness.
A moment of enlightenment.
Although she didn’t know where Longchang was or what kind of Dao she was realizing, at this moment, in this situation, she felt she should have a moment of enlightenment.
This was the Path’s Interstice, supposedly—she had seen this setting in a game, though she couldn’t remember it clearly, but it was generally that kind of place between existence and non-existence where it was said one could meet an Aeon.
In other words, theoretically, she should be able to squat here and wait for some passing Aeon.
In other words, she needed to attract attention.
In other words—
Sparkle’s eyes widened, a frantic light instantly igniting in her red pupils.
She sprang up from the ground, her afro shaking with the movement, like a trembling white cotton candy.
She was going to go crazy!
Anyway, there was no one here!
She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and when she opened them again, she had entered a mysterious state of performance.
Then—an instant split.
No, not a real split, but a split in terms of performance.
She was one person, but she was going to perform a grand play.
“Ahem!” Sparkle cleared her throat, took a step to the left, and changed her expression to one of looking down on the world.
You stop right there!”
Then she jumped to the right, covered her chest with both hands, and switched her face to an expression of fear mixed with three parts shyness, and shyness mixed with seven parts playfulness.
Her voice went up an octave: “Nanook?!
You, why are you here?!
Shouldn’t you be busy destroying things?!”
Jumping back to the left, the Nanook-version Sparkle strode forward, her footsteps thundering.
Her afro shook wildly with the movement, but her expression maintained the coldness of a domineering CEO: “Destroy?
Heh, when can’t those ants be destroyed?
But today, I must have you!”
Jumping to the right, the Aha-version Sparkle covered her face and retreated, her movements exaggerated like a pantomime, and a shrill scream came from her mouth: “No!
Don’t come over here!
I, I’m not that kind of Elation, I don’t do that stuff!”
The Nanook on the left had already closed in, reaching out to “grab” Aha’s wrist, the movement so domineering it felt like it would crush the other’s wrist: “Whether you do it or not is not up to you.”
The Aha on the right struggled desperately, but after struggling twice, it suddenly paused, a weird smile appearing on its face, and then—a backhand knife!
That’s right, a knife.
“You—” The Nanook on the left widened its eyes, looking in disbelief at the knife “stuck” in its abdomen, “You dare—”
The Aha on the right sneered, its voice carrying three parts coldness, three parts mockery, and ninety-four parts carelessness: “Nanook, you are too naive.
You think I would like a lunatic like you who destroys everything?
No, in my heart, there is only Akivili!”
As she said this, a look of intoxication appeared on her face.
She held her face with both hands, twisting and turning like a lovesick fan: “Akivili~ My Akivili~ Do you know how good it is?
Its Trailblaze spirit, its desire for exploration, its great body that spans the star sea—”
The Nanook on the left clutched its “wound,” its expression changing from disbelief to anger, and from anger to a trace of imperceptible…
grievance.
“Akivili?” Its voice was terrifyingly low, “It’s just a train!”
“What’s wrong with a train?!” The Aha on the right jumped up, hands on hips, its afro shaking wildly with the movement, “A train is the best!
Do you know how powerful that train is?
How great?
How charming?”
She started counting on her fingers, changing her posture with each count: “First, it’s very long—very, very long!
It can extend from this galaxy to that galaxy!
Second, it’s very hard—it can smash through all obstacles!
Third, it’s very fast—so fast that you can’t even catch up!
Finally—”
She leaned close to the Nanook on the left, lowered her voice, and said in a tone full of seduction: “Do you know what it feels like inside the train?
The rocking, the warmth, the damp heat, that rhythm, that impact, that—ah~”
Maybe it’s not a big deal now… maybe it will be later.
“And If you’re enjoying it, drop a Power Stone for me!”