Alright, let's be real here.
When Mobius first saw what was happening out on the balcony, her mind went completely blank for a second.
Heck, she could even see her neighbors not too far away, setting up the exact same stuff on their own balconies.
She genuinely had no idea what to even say about it.
Elysia waved her little hand cutely in front of Mobius's face, giggled, pointed toward a lounge chair, and said, "Snek-snek, you just lie down right there."
"E–ly–si–a! Call me 'snek-snek' one more time, I dare you?!" Mobius was furious.
If it was just the great Miss Finality calling her that, fine whatever, she'd get mad, be mad for a bit, and then get over it. But you? Why in the world are you calling me that too, huh? Do I look like I have no dignity?
"Okay, snek-snek. Got it, snek-snek."
Elysia just kept on giggling, the very picture of someone who knows she's wrong, admits she's wrong, but will absolutely not change a thing.
Noticing that Kiana had already settled into a chair, she scurried over to join her.
"Doctor?" Kiana's mom was the last to come over. Seeing Mobius all puffed up with anger, she was a bit surprised and couldn't help calling out to her.
"It's nothing." Mobius wasn't as shameless as Elysia; that word 'Mom' was something she just couldn't bring herself to say. But her attitude toward Kiana's mom was noticeably much better, even carrying a hint of respect, not as aloof and cold as usual.
Kiana's mom didn't press the issue.
She watched Mobius lie down and then settled into her own spot.
Even though Kiana had said there would be a sky-screen broadcast tonight, she hadn't specified an exact time.
So, from everyone's perspective, the timing was uncertain.
It made sense to wait patiently.
After a brief moment of silence, though, Elysia suddenly spoke up.
"So, does this count as moonbathing?"
After all, the moon was pretty bright tonight.
The moon was brilliant, the stars sparse, with very few clouds.
It wasn't a full moon, but it was still plenty nice.
Truth be told, right at this moment, Kiana had a few last-minute changes she wanted to make, which was why the video's start time got pushed back a bit.
Even though nobody else knew that, she, of course, knew it full well.
It was mainly about the "Next Time on..." preview at the end of the video, the one meant to keep the whole world on the hook.
She wanted to tweak it.
Originally, she'd figured after Mobius, it'd be big sister Eden's turn.
But these past couple days, she'd unexpectedly caught wind of some news about Sakura, so she decided the next feature would highlight the sisters, Sakura and Rin.
Yep.
Both the big sister and the little sister.
She planned to cover them both.
Honestly, Kiana would've loved to include Miss Mei too.
But after thinking it over, she decided to let her off the hook.
At this point in time, whether Mei and Kevin had defined their relationship or not, the flirting was probably already in full swing.
Old Ancestor Kevin already had it tough enough.
Might as well give him a break.
[Host, the video modifications are complete.]
"Mmm... then release it."
Even though Kiana was doing things in a more and more unhurried manner these days, she wasn't the type to drag her feet on something she could just get done.
In fact, if there was something that had to be done, she'd knock it out efficiently first, then go back to slacking off. As she liked to say, having tasks sitting in her to-do list just felt irritating.
If there was a task, she'd definitely clear it first before going back to lying flat. Just like when she was a kid studying—always finishing her homework before going out to play.
She'd developed good habits like that.
And at that very moment.
You could clearly see it!
Boom—
A clap of thunder roared.
Then the sky began to change.
It was as if a murky world had been completely clarified, turning into a blank sheet of paper, which was then smoothed out flat.
"Is that... the sky-screen coming?"
"Hell yeah! Good thing I didn't work overtime today and got back early!"
"..."
Some were thrilled, because there was new entertainment to watch.
Others were apprehensive, because they were gradually realizing that this world seemed to have hidden depths.
Some even thought of the leaked footage of Kiana's attack that had been circulating online.
They couldn't help but feel an extra ounce of anticipation for the sky-screen's content.
"So today's the feature on Dr. Mobius, right?"
"Yabai, I really wanna see this!"
"..."
The top brass of various nations immediately convened meetings.
Those who could make it, came in person; those who couldn't, joined via video.
Regardless of what the meetings could actually decide, at the very least, being together, discussing, chatting, and exchanging views was plenty useful.
The think tanks were the most nervous.
They had to record all sorts of information again.
It was like being back in school, right before an exam, needing to memorize a bunch of key points.
And it wasn't just about simple memorization either.
They had to become familiar with it, understand it, analyze it, know it inside and out.
Because the bigwigs upstairs could just watch, have a good time, discuss it, and move on. But they were the ones who needed to produce analyzed results.
The task was daunting!
At this moment.
All over the world, whether in deserts, rainforests, wilderness, highlands... or towns, villages, forests, hills...
Regardless of the terrain, regardless of the region.
In every nation.
Whether developed or embroiled in war.
Everyone, for a time, set down their work, looked up, and gazed at the sky.
It was as if the world had fallen into a rare, united silence.
Daytime, morning, night, afternoon... any time, any moment. It was all the same.
This was already the third time.
Having gone through the previous broadcasts, people weren't as frantic and noisy anymore, gradually becoming somewhat accustomed to it.
They'd still be happy about it.
But they wouldn't be scrambling around in a panic.
"Get up!"
"Huh? Is it morning?"
"..."
"Morning my foot, the sky-screen's out."
"The sky-screen... oh? Okay, okay, coming right now!"
"..."
Especially those who had just fallen asleep or were still sleeping—light sleepers were jolted awake, while heavy sleepers were shaken awake, their faces genuine masks of agony.
They really wanted to ask, 'Could you not update at such an ungodly hour?'
But the moment they complained, people from other time zones online would get upset.
Better for the Taoist to die than for the poor monk to die. (Idiom: better you than me)
If it's not an ungodly hour for you anymore, then it might be for me!
No way!
"At least rotate the regions! Stop always picking on our time zone!"
"Then go tell that to the sky-screen."
"..."
"Like it'd listen to me?"
"Wait, you actually considered trying? Genius."
"..."
That would be like trying to reason with the heavens themselves.
It's all about you saying your piece, and it doing its own thing. If it listened to a single word you said, it would count as its loss.
If there was a way to communicate with the sky-screen, every country, every organization would have already done it. Did you really think they'd wait for you?
Soon after, the sky-screen finished preparing.
Before long, the familiar, milky-soft voice of the uploader girl echoed in every corner of the world.
Hearing it again after so long, it was kinda missed.
Many people smiled knowingly, finding it very familiar.
[Ciallo~]
[Good morning, good afternoon, good evening... and a wonderful night to all you esteemed viewers!]
[...]
[This is Yuzu, your favorite gossip-area history streaming host!]
[...]
The familiar intro.
The visuals appeared.
Also familiar was the super-cute, chibi two-heads-tall figure.
--+--
T/N: While I am an inexperienced Translator, I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 3 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.