"Phew... I feel less like a Trailblazer and more like a cosmic part-timer!"
Walking behind Wende, March 7th turned to Stelle and complained with a huff.
"Don't you agree, Wen... whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!"
March had just been about to rest her arm on Wende's back, only to find herself leaning into empty air. Thankfully, her reaction was swift. She flailed her arms to keep her balance, her left leg quickly stepping forward to stabilize her teetering body with her thigh.
"Phew... huh? Weird, when did you get behind me?"
March patted her chest, her expression one of lingering shock. It was one thing to stumble during a star rail warp, but if she fell over while standing still, she, the great March 7th, would be relegated to the clumsy female lead in a shoujo manga!
Looking at Wende, who was now behind her with a thoroughly worn-out expression, March asked quizzically.
"Tired..."
Wende, sporting a pair of dark circles that had appeared from nowhere, shrugged his shoulders and spoke listlessly.
Just moments ago, after he had submitted the five-star Light Cone, the system had forced him to review all the settings of the four-star Light Cone it had previously auto-completed. This included a whole heap of trouble the system had cooked up for him...
He hadn't known before, but after seeing it all, Wende felt completely numb.
The mere thought of that woman who had trained his body sent a chill down his spine, a cold dread creeping up his back.
And then there was his Master's identity and his past actions...
Good heavens, when could he run away from the Xianzhou? He was terrified that if he were recognized, Jing Yuan would throw him into the legendary Shackled Prison on the spot and let him rot there until he died!
He knew his Master's identity was mysterious, but this was just too explosive! If the Xianzhou found out, wouldn't they hunt him to the ends of the galaxy?
Furthermore, he now understood why he felt a sense of closeness to Dan Heng and Bailu... It turns out it was all the handiwork of that damned old man!
You old codger from Cangcheng, why didn't the me in the memories add a few more spoonfuls of chili to your food!
You even took advantage of the young and ignorant me in the memories, making me cook for you every day!
Sigh... forget it. The previous settings couldn't be changed now. Survival was the top priority!
With bloodshot eyes, Wende forced a smile at the concerned March and Stelle.
He could use his power of Yin and Yang to restore his body to its natural state, but the memories he'd just reviewed contained a warning: it was best not to use the Yin-Yang power frivolously, otherwise he might get entangled in unnecessary "karma."
This "karma" was determined by Yin and Yang. Every time Wende used his power to regulate the Yin and Yang within another person's body, he would shoulder a sliver of karma related to them.
Fortunately, he wouldn't bear any karma for correcting actions that were already inversions of Yin and Yang, things that defied the natural order of the world.
Therefore, even for himself, Wende chose not to use his Yin-Yang power unless absolutely necessary.
"Hmm... after we're done interrogating Kafka, Wende should go get some good rest!"
Stelle said with great consideration. It would be even better if her consideration wasn't so focused on un-dressing people...
"Thwack!"
"Owow..."
Stelle rubbed the large bump on her head, looking pitifully at Wende.
She says it was an accident, would you believe her?
"Er... this lady..."
Qingque watched Stelle's seemingly criminal-level behavior with an awkward expression. This... the people on the Astral Express... were they this open?
"Um... ahaha, Miss Qingque, let's hurry back! I heard the food in the Divination Commission's canteen is delicious, and I'm getting hungry!"
Seeing the strange atmosphere around Wende and Qingque's peculiar gaze, March immediately laughed it off, successfully diverting Qingque's attention.
"Ah? The food in the Divination Commission's canteen..."
A look of sheer terror instantly appeared on Qingque's face.
Her own Lady Diviner's bizarre tastes were bad enough, but the fact that no one else in the Divination Commission objected was the real problem! Could you really drink milk tea with garbage in it?! The reason for the Lady Diviner's short stature had been found!
If the food in the Divination Commission's canteen was even remotely edible, would she really need to sneak off to Golden Automaton Alley and Changle to slack off all the time?!
"Where did you hear such a rumor! Let me tell you, the food in the canteen is simply..."
Qingque seemed to have completely forgotten what Stelle had just done and immediately began pouring out her grievances to March.
"OK."
March silently gave a "got 'em" gesture behind her back, which made Wende heave a sigh of relief. Now he probably wouldn't have to waste his breath explaining.
Then, Wende turned a scrutinizing gaze upon Stelle.
What on earth was going on? All he did was create a Light Cone, right? How had Stelle's episodes of frenzy gotten so much worse?
Within the "Critically Ill Section" of the fan creation community, all sorts of unhinged fan works were climbing AcFun's recommendation charts with maneuvers that no normal human could possibly imagine... For example...
"Trailblazer, but she's peeking on Kafka in the shower..."
Stelle furtively glanced around, then watched as Kafka entered the bathroom before quietly tailing her.
Three minutes later, Stelle tiptoed to the bathroom door and peered through the keyhole at Kafka, who was showering inside...
Only, Kafka was nowhere to be seen. Instead, a Wende with bulging, sinewy muscles was toweling himself off.
"..."
Stelle froze for a moment.
"NICE!!!!!!!!!!" (Emanating a red glow)
There were many more unhinged fan works just like this, each with view counts over half a million and tens of thousands of favorites, a testament to the mental state of contemporary netizens... They were either going crazy, watching others go crazy, or on the road to going crazy!
Moreover, it was rumored that several well-known meme-creating content creators were preparing a major project, which was currently in production.
"Stelle..."
"Hm."
"Could you maybe stay a little further away from me?"
March said uncomfortably, looking at the intensely staring Stelle beside her.
"Oh..."
Stelle nodded, looking utterly dejected...
"Er... um, it's not that I dislike you, it's just... it's just..."
Seeing Stelle's crestfallen expression, March hurriedly tried to explain. She just felt a bit weird... she definitely wasn't trying to shun Stelle!
"Mm... it's okay, I don't mind... sob sob sob..."
Stelle began to whimper, a dark storm cloud seemingly gathering over her head, as if she had suffered a great injustice.
"Er... forget it! You can lean on me! I'll... I'll just endure it!"
Looking at Stelle's pitiful state, March swallowed hard. After a fierce internal struggle, she finally opened her arms to Stelle.
"Yay! March is the best!"
Stelle joyfully hugged March.
"Hey, hey, hey! Keep your hands to yourself!"