Kafka and Silver Wolf returned to the base, one after the other.
The moment they pushed open the door, both of them stopped in their tracks simultaneously.
At the edge of the terrace, Elio was crouched alone, gazing up at the starry sky at a forty-five-degree angle.
Those feline eyes were brimming with a crystalline sheen, as if about to burst their banks at any second.
The night wind swept up paper scraps all over the floor.
Scattered amidst them, stray cat hairs fluttered and swirled.
Silver Wolf blinked reflexively, almost thinking her eyes were playing tricks on her.
That patch of fur on top of Elio’s head…
did it seem kind of…
thinner?
“Elio, what happened?”
Kafka’s gentle voice rose softly, like a night breeze brushing past a wind chime.
“I’m tired…”
A teardrop finally rolled down from the corner of Elio’s eye.
This script, whoever wants to write it can go ahead and write it!
“So, it really was Aha?”
Silver Wolf was dizzy.
No way, dude, this was for real?!
“No…”
“But not too far off either…”
Elio stared lifelessly at the sky.
Guys…
anyone else know this feeling?
The entire script has collapsed.
Years of painstaking effort, all ruined in a single day.
I quit.
Flipping the table for good!
“Then how should we proceed from here?”
Kafka’s tone remained gentle as ever, revealing no ripples.
The Stellaron Hunters were originally a group of individuals working together for their own respective goals.
Kafka became a Stellaron Hunter, at the very start, because of a promise from Elio.
A promise of the best possible future.
It’s just that after so many years side by side, this group had long since, without realizing it, become each other’s family.
“As for what comes next…
Silver Wolf, once this operation concludes, you should establish contact with him first.”
After a moment of silence, Elio spoke.
As everyone knows, Finality is a train traveling in reverse.
The future, to Finality, is the past.
And right now, the future is a complete blur, shifting and changing at every moment.
Elio tried to see these futures clearly and locate the single best thread.
But…
I can’t see clearly.
I really can’t see clearly!
Huh?
What about trying to recruit him?
The instant this thought was born, Elio saw a future of boundless, immeasurable vastness…
Elio’s eyes went wide.
Holy crap, why did I tear up the previous script?!
I just needed to edit the words!
Silver Wolf watched as Elio viciously raked another clump of fur from the top of his head with his claws.
Several black cat hairs drifted down, mingling into the wreckage of paper littering the floor.
She couldn’t help but nudge Kafka lightly beside her with her elbow, lowering her voice.
“Shouldn’t we stop him?”
Kafka had her arms folded, her posture still elegant and composed.
She shot a glance at that fluffy silhouette emanating an aura of low pressure at the edge of the terrace, the corner of her mouth curving into a pleasing arc.
“No need,” Kafka’s voice remained gentle as ever.
“Just wait until he comes back to his senses on his own.”
“Really?” Silver Wolf’s tone was brimming with skepticism.
“I really think he’s going to go bald…”
Silver Wolf felt the fur atop Elio’s head had thinned out even more.
“It’s fine.
Bald is cute too.”
Kafka gazed at Elio with eyes full of tenderness.
Silver Wolf: “…”
…
On the other side, Xu Zixuan waited for the Astral Express Crew to arrive.
He was about to meet March 7th and Dan Heng.
Xu Zixuan felt a tinge of excitement.
Before long, the sound of footsteps rang out.
Shortly after, Xu Zixuan saw March 7th and Dan Heng running over.
“Ah, Dan Heng, there’s someone here.”
“March, be careful.
The coordinates of these three aren’t being transmitted by the space station…”
Dan Heng hadn’t even finished his sentence before he saw March 7th already jogging over.
“At a time like this, what’s there to fuss over?”
“Three living, breathing people right before our eyes.
They can’t be fake, can they?”
“Hello there!
I’m March 7th, and this is Dan Heng.”
“This space station has come under attack from the Antimatter Legion.
We’re here on a rescue mission, entrusted by Station Lead Asta.”
After getting a look at Xu Zixuan, March 7th’s eyes lit up.
This guy, he’s quite pleasing to the eye!
“Hello, I’m Xu Zixuan.
Just an ordinary person who wandered in here by accident.”
“March 7th, I’m a fan of yours.
Could you give me your autograph?”
Xu Zixuan happily took a notebook out of his pocket and asked March 7th to sign it.
Seeing the familiar March 7th and Dan Heng, Xu Zixuan felt a surge of excitement and emotion inside.
It felt like dreaming back to the game’s launch day.
But arriving here in person was so much better than playing on a phone or computer.
“Huh?
I have fans?”
March 7th blinked, taken aback.
She was just a newbie among the Nameless.
And she actually had fans?
“Of course!
Back where I come from, tons of people like you.”
Xu Zixuan fished around in his pocket and pulled out a March 7th sticker.
“Hehehe, I’ve got fans too!
Here, let me give you…”
March 7th saw that sticker and fell silent.
That sticker was a chibi version of herself…
That part was normal.
But why was this chibi version sprawled on the ground with her tongue sticking out?!
Just like a little puppy!
Even though it looked funny and cute…
But when that person was herself, March 7th felt way too weird.
“Oh, sorry.
Pulled out the wrong one.
Here’s the right one.”
Xu Zixuan swiftly put that sticker away and pulled out another.
“Hehe, hehe, it’s okay…”
March 7th looked at the other sticker Xu Zixuan produced…
And fell silent once again.
This person, though she looked a lot like her, why were her pupils red?
And her clothes were styled totally differently too.
And she was raising her hand with a completely blank expression…
Help.
Am I hallucinating?
Why does it feel like this sticker is swaying and bouncing around?
“Sorry, pulled out the wrong one again.”
Xu Zixuan hurriedly put away the sticker of the swaying moonlit figure and took out a cute chibi sticker of March 7th.
In this sticker, the chibi Little March had a smile on her face, hands on her hips, head held high and chest puffed out, as if proudly showing off that she’d accomplished something.
So cute.
“I finally got the right one this time.”
Xu Zixuan let out a sigh of relief.
March 7th: …
March 7th: Something’s off about you!
Seriously off!
You wouldn’t happen to be an anti of mine, would you?
Despite feeling something was definitely off, March 7th still gave Xu Zixuan her autograph.
“Dan Heng, I’m a fan of yours…”
“There are still two more people beside us.
Rescuing them takes priority.”
Dan Heng’s eyelid quivered slightly as he hurriedly cut off Xu Zixuan’s ‘casting.’
The absurd spectacle just now was not something an ordinary person could pull off.
Could this guy be a Masked Fool?!
Aha: Aha always said you’d make a great Masked Fool!
“Oh, right.
Let’s move them to a safe place first.”
“Are they injured and unconscious?”
“Do they need mouth-to-mouth resuscitation?”
March 7th quickly asked Xu Zixuan.
“No need.
They should be waking up very soon.”
No sooner had Xu Zixuan’s words fallen than Stelle and Caelus, one after the other, clutched their heads and came to.