But there were digits in front of that.
? Was she really this rich now?
--------------------------------
When Furina was in the small town with Aglaea, over on miHoYo's side, things were still steadily moving forward.
Aside from the explosive public release of Aetherium Wars, Pom-Pom's Favorites also added a new Penacony side story: "Checking Out."
Stories like "Checking Out" aren't too connected to the main plot, they mainly serve to deepen the audience's impression of Penacony and its characters.
Sometimes, they even provide supporting context for the main story.
The tone of these stories is also very free, they can be humorous, or sometimes heavy.
This greatly increases the entertainment value of these side stories.
That's exactly why Pom-Pom's Favorites exists: to move content that's not suitable for the main broadcast into that section.
This way, the main story isn't disrupted, and good content doesn't just get abandoned.
After "Checking Out" aired, some of Penacony's side stories began to be gradually moved into the archive.
...
It was another Saturday.
On the miHoYo forum, everyone was still eagerly sharing their experiences from the week.
...
: This week has been full of surprises every day!
: Not only do we have Aetherium Wars to play, but also a new update! 'Checking Out' was just hilarious!
: That's right, when waiting for updates, I just go catch some pets. So fun.
: Hahaha, Argenti and Boothill are just perfect partners! Listening to them talk is like watching a comedy act!
: I wonder what direction today's main story will take.
: Do you think it's possible that miHoYo might suddenly activate a time skip ability and take us straight to Amphoreus in the next episode?
: Bro, you should just go back to sleep.
...
Besides casual chatting, fans were also posting on the forum, showing off their three weeks' worth of hard-earned Aetherium Wars trophies.
Just one week after the server opened, quite a few lucky players had already caught elite monsters.
And for the vast majority of players, getting even one elite monster is something worth bragging about.
Things like Blaze Out of Space, Silvermane Lieutenant, these elites generally have high HP, deal a lot of damage, and have special mechanics.
They're the core monsters in their respective synergy sets.
Whenever someone posted a screenshot, there would always be waves of jealous comments.
Of course, since this is a game with a battle system, PvP is naturally a part no one can resist trying.
...
"The Ten-Lords Commission synergy is the dumbest synergy I've ever seen!"
"That Aurumaton Spectral Envoy trash one-punched me into a poetry recital!"
In one highly upvoted post, a player named "Everyone who plays Ten-Lords Commission is a Camper" was ranting about the unfairness of the Ten-Lords Commission synergy.
They also attached a video.
In the video, the Camper player's setup was a hybrid build.
Its core was a physical DoT anti-matter legion, led by a Voidranger: Trampler.
Aside from the monsters in the anti-matter legion synergy, they also had two small Sableclaw Wolftrooper with deathrattle turn-boost effects, and two Silvermane Gunners.
Simple as that, they had a three-synergy lineup.
...
It was a thoughtful build, two deathrattle wolves guarding the Voidranger: Trampler on each side.
The Voidranger: Trampler is an extremely slow elite monster; it needs to lock on for two turns before delivering a lethal strike on the third.
During that time, the opponent will definitely focus fire to prevent it from acting.
But with two Sableclaw Wolftrooper on either side, in AoE-heavy matchups, killing even one wolf would instantly push the Voidranger: Trampler's turn forward for an early strike.
At the same time, other pieces in the synergy would also trigger linked abilities through their mechanics, dealing respectable damage.
...
"Nice, that's some real game sense."
"Silvermane Gunners can buff the Trampler, increasing its attack and enabling follow-up strikes."
"Those two wolves are really nasty, if you're not careful, your backline just explodes."
"Learned something new, pro player!"
"The synergy is perfectly supplemented, there's not a single useless monster here."
...
Fans in the video's live chat were full of praise.
Meanwhile, the opponent, a player named "Prepare to Crash," seemed pretty clueless.
Their lineup was entirely Ten-Lords Commission monsters.
There were too many monsters, some duplicates, and no activation of higher-tier synergies.
At that point, the common understanding was to remove monsters that can't activate higher synergies and replace them with others to trigger more synergy effects.
But this player didn't care about any of that.
The Aurumaton Spectral Envoy stood in the middle, with a row of low-tier monsters like Entranced Ingenium: Illumination Dragonfish and Entranced Ingenium: Golden Cloud Toad lined up on each side.
They didn't even bring the powerful theme park monsters from the Aurumaton Spectral Envoy set.
No matter how you looked at it, they seemed doomed to lose.
Sure enough, after turn order was decided, the Camper player went first.
They executed a smooth, logical combo, buffs were applied, links were triggered.
The Trampler's bouncing DoT attack perfectly applied physical DoT to all opponents.
The two Silvermane Gunners also triggered follow-up attacks.
Finally, the Voidranger: Trampler locked onto the Aurumaton Spectral Envoy and the two Entranced Ingenium: Golden Cloud Toads beside it.
After that combo, the Crash player's regular monsters were already in critical condition.
It looked like victory was in hand!
When it was the Crash player's turn, they didn't do anything flashy, just clicked monsters to attack repeatedly.
Whether it was the Aurumaton Spectral Envoy or the Entranced Ingenium: Golden Cloud Toads, the damage was mediocre.
There was no synergy interaction at all.
...
"The Ten-Lords Commission synergy only gets strong when you have more high-tier monsters."
"Crash bro, you have too many small fry."
"F2A, the OP's moves were just buttery smooth."
"Victory is decided!"
...
The spectators already thought the match was over.
But when the third turn began, everything changed.
The Camper's Voidranger: Trampler couldn't move, but their Tramplers and Silvermane Gunners' follow-up attacks still managed to take down a few regular monsters that turn.
But just as his Tramplers had fired a bouncing shot, a buzzing sound suddenly rang out.
"Violation will be punished!" [Punishment Mode Activated]
In an instant, all the weaknesses on that seemingly dumb Aurumaton Spectral Envoy's head were suddenly locked, becoming unbreakable.
Two Illumination Dragonfish even appeared out of thin air on the battlefield.
After that, the Aurumaton Spectral Envoy took a self-speed-up turn, immediately acting in what should have been the opponent's turn order, and- bam!, a huge elbow strike smashed down.
"Man!" The powerful and heavy elbow strike instantly took half of the Trampler's HP!
It also inflicted an Imprisonment status.
In the video, the opponent's angry shouts could be heard!
"Damn it!"
"Holy crap!"
The carefully planned tactics, in front of that one elbow from the Aurumaton Spectral Envoy, all became a joke.
Self-speed-up, weakness lock, and sheer brutality.
The watching fans were already staring in shock.
Because it was the first week, many people still didn't know how powerful the Aurumaton Spectral Envoy was.
...
: Wait, isn't this supposed to be turn-based combat?
: Yeah, it was clearly the OP's turn, why is the other side still going?
: Damn, that damage is insane! Took half HP in one hit! And Trampler's weakness is about to break too!
: This has nothing to do with synergies, right? It's just the card's individual strength being absurdly broken!
: Oh man, the opponent's kidneys are basically gone from that hit!
.....
And after the Aurumaton Spectral Envoy launched his attack, the Ten-Lords Commission's side became even scarier.
Once their synergy was activated, every attack they made would apply a Stun mark to the enemy.
The next attack could stun the opponent and deal extra damage.
The battle was already over.
The opponent couldn't move at all.
Amid the endless stuns, the Aurumaton Spectral Envoy finished off the Trampler with two elbows.
The two free Illumination Dragonfish died from DOT damage, straight up falling over.
This shameless playstyle completely shattered the opponent's mentality.
The other side even sent a cute "?" emoji as if confused.
At the end of the video, there were loud calls to nerf the Aurumaton Spectral Envoy.
"What kind of broken lineup is this?!"
"I danced around for half the match! And it's still worse than one elbow from the Aurumaton Spectral Envoy!"
"This card's strength is way overtuned! How do we play without a nerf?!"
"In short, Ten-Lords Commission is all about shamelessness!"
....
After watching this exciting match, many sharp-eyed viewers immediately rushed to the official trading platform.
The Aurumaton Spectral Envoy was just too powerful, a strong elite monster that could be used solo or with synergy.
Sure enough, the price of a Aurumaton Spectral Envoy on the trading platform was jaw-dropping.
It was already considered Tier 1 among elite monsters.
Many who were tempted backed down due to the high price.
Aside from the Aurumaton Spectral Envoy, other Ten-Lords Commission elites like the Aurumaton Gatekeeper, Abundance Sprite: Malefic Ape, etc., were also notable.
...
MiHoYo.
Inside the screening room, Xia Wen was waiting with Feixiao and the other two for the episode to start.
"Haa… How should I put it, filming for the first time still feels a bit strange." Feixiao stroked her chin and said.
"Yeah, it all felt too smooth." Jiaoqiu narrowed his eyes and replied.
"Feels like we just came in, shot a couple of scenes, and it passed right away. Is that even for real?" Moze was also in disbelief.
This week, their work had been especially heavy, but unexpectedly smooth.
Under Xia Wen's direction, they had been filming in the studio, and every scene felt like Xia Wen had already planned it out, no need for tests or retakes.
Even though none of the three had prior experience, they had at least heard about how filming usually worked.
Normally, there's a continuous script, and everyone films according to it.
Then the director decides what to cut or keep.
But during Xia Wen's shoot, it was as if the entire script existed in his head from the start.
All week, there wasn't a single extra shot filmed.
This way of working was hard to believe.
Of course, it also reduced their stress.
"I just hope the audience will accept us…"
"Hopefully we won't drag everyone down."
They hadn't thought much during filming, but now, with the episode about to air, Feixiao's face grew a bit heavy.
From joining to appearing in the main series, it had taken only a week.
She didn't know if the audience would accept them, and whether such speed would affect the quality of the show.
"Relax. As soon as you appear, trust me, the bullet comments will go crazy." Xia Wen spoke with ease, comforting Feixiao:
"Look at the one next to you, she's totally relaxed." Feixiao froze and looked down.
A little girl was secretly stealing snacks from the bag in her hand.
Even when caught, she kept her cheeks puffed and kept chewing, showing no sign of embarrassment.
"Little Yunli…"
Feixiao couldn't help but laugh at the cute sight.
She patted Yunli's head and handed her the bag: "If you want to eat, go ahead."
"Thank you, big sister." Yunli didn't hold back at all, taking the snacks and eating nonstop.
To this little girl, filming or not filming, it didn't matter. Eating was life!
Not long after Feixiao joined the company, thanks to the trio's connections, Yunli and her grandfather also joined the company.
By then, the cast for the latter half of the series was basically complete.
"Just looking at Yunli being so cute,"
"I suddenly feel relaxed."
Feixiao pinched Yunli's chubby cheeks before leaning back on the sofa.
She relaxed, but Jiaoqiu and Moze were still a bit nervous.
Soon, amid these emotions, the new week's Honkai: Star Rail episode was about to air.
Not only the people in the screening room, but also others in the MiHoYo Company headed to the viewing screen to wait.
Right on time, the new video and cover appeared on MiHoYo's platform.
[Flying Aureus Shot to Lupine Rue; The Luminary Wardance Premiers]
The cover featured a stunning Feixiao, which immediately got the audience excited.
...
: Huh? The new episode is already out?
: The cover has a beautiful big sister I don't recognize! Whoa! Is she the new general?