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Jingliu's farewell came sooner than expected.
Initially, 'Jingliu' wondered if there was some unspoken reason for the haste. As it turned out, Jingliu didn't hide a thing and told her everything.
"So, you're off to find companions..."
"Yes. Although it's not urgent, based on what Elio said, it's better to set out early."
Jingliu explained with a slightly apologetic tone. To this, 'Jingliu' didn't mind at all.
"Don't wear that expression. There's plenty of time in the future, isn't there? Besides, we can chat online whenever."
Hearing this, Jingliu gave a bashful smile. She still couldn't bring herself to look at the messages she had sent during her Mara-struck episodes; one glance and she'd lose her composure.
"If there's ever a place where you need me in the future, I'll come running at a moment's notice."
Leaving those words behind, Jingliu departed with Elio.
Watching Jingliu leave, 'Jingliu' fell into thought.
So Kafka joined around this time, huh? Though, looking back, it seemed like no major events happened at the specific moment Kafka joined. On the other hand, the departure of the Astral Express shouldn't be too far off.
While there was no concrete evidence, the Astral Express and the Stellaron Hunters really felt like two sides of the same coin. Logically, if the Express were still a long way from departing, Elio probably wouldn't have started gathering companions this early.
Come to think of it... when the main plot officially begins, how many years has the Astral Express actually been running? There was never a definitive answer, only that Himeko had been the Navigator for quite a few years and Mr. Yang had boarded relatively early.
She actually felt a bit tempted to find the Solar System to check out the Honkai Impact 3rd set. But that place didn't seem easy to find. It felt like its firewall was similar to Amphoreus—nobody could find it except Memokeepers. Sparkle had definitely been there, but who knows when; certainly not now.
It would be nice if Aha could just send me there, 'Jingliu' thought with a self-deprecating smile.
Aha loved to find joy, but He wasn't a charity. Why would He grant her every wish? Better to continue making her little Aeon videos.
Ultimately, this was just a stopgap measure. If she could find the real Sparkle directly, playing the "bratty girl" role with her wouldn't be out of the question. Unfortunately, just going to see Sparkle wouldn't net her any Emotional Value. She had to whet Sparkle's appetite first.
'Jingliu' continued working on the video. The hands at the beginning and the Black Swan segment at the end were blurred out, and some accessories were modified to make them unrecognizable.
Of course, those were minor details. The scenes involving the Aeons in the middle were the real priority.
'Jingliu' had an advantage no one else possessed: she had actually seen that entire crowd of Aeons with her own eyes. Thus, when she produced the visuals based on her impressions, the scenes she manifested possessed an indescribable sense of divinity far beyond the PVs she had seen in her previous life.
That was something a person who had never seen an Aeon could never replicate.
'Jingliu' herself was startled by the visuals she manifested. Previously, she had been worried that the netizens on the Interastral Network might think she was just making things up for a fan-edit. But if she really released these scenes... that might change.
"Sparkle will definitely be drawn in."
'Jingliu' felt it was viable and continued to push forward.
"Hehe~ True, but don't you think there should be a few more scenes of Aha?"
"Why would Aha need more scenes? Pure God of Joy—the vibe doesn't fit the video's tone at all, okay?"
'Jingliu' was so focused on the images in her mind that she answered the question instinctively.
"Saying that will break Aha's heart."
"His heart? What heart... Wait, who are you?!"
As she spoke, 'Jingliu' suddenly felt something was off and whipped her head around. She found her mask floating next to her head, pointing and critiquing the images on the display.
"Hehe~"
Seeing 'Jingliu' look over, the already grinning mask stretched its smile even wider.
"..."
Crap. The great Aha Himself had come to snoop on her?
"How can Nanook be this imposing? On what grounds? Just because I'm not as intimidating-looking as him? By the way, why did you draw Lan so handsome? Isn't He just a heavy-obsessive guy who chases people around all day? And this robot head—hilarious~ You release this and the whole universe will think that red thing is His eye..."
"...What's the point of that big rock that hits mortar all day, other than making the calendar a mess? Oh, and Akivili—how do you know He's coming back? Hehe~"
Ignoring 'Jingliu's' shock, Aha began nitpicking the Aeons in the frames, speaking pure nonsense. Finally, 'Jingliu' couldn't help but ask:
"...What exactly are you here for?"
How should she put it? Before, when Aha made a grand gesture to fish her out, she still felt He was quite high and mighty. But now, this guy was beside her critiquing his Aeon colleagues and making up random garbage. It was truly hard to view Him as a supreme being.
"Haha~ To add more scenes for myself, of course."
Aha was full of enthusiasm. But 'Jingliu' didn't really want to deal with Him.
"No more scenes, no more scenes. The total duration is only this long; where would the extra scenes go?"
"Hehe Aha has been rejected, but Aha isn't listening"
Aha giggled, swayed the mask, and dove headfirst into the screen.
Consequently, Aha's figure began appearing beside the blurred narrator. Not only that, but even in the main feature, Aha began showing up repeatedly in the background.
It truly left 'Jingliu' speechless. Seriously, you're an Aeon, and you're playing dirty? Is this appropriate?
While 'Jingliu' was still reeling from the absurdity, the ending segment was changed again. The footage she had originally planned to blur out was pulled back in.
But this time, Aha's mask appeared in the frame. Black Swan's silhouette remained, but a dark mask appeared on her face. As the scene shifted, the figure of Black Swan began to cycle through others: Sparkle, Zephyro, Acheron, Herta... and numerous figures 'Jingliu' didn't even recognize.
And finally, beneath the mask, the figure settled on a woman with long white hair.
"Who is this...?"
'Jingliu' looked left and right. It didn't look like Jingliu, nor Zephyro, and it certainly wasn't Kiana.
As if hearing her question, the mask in the frame suddenly stared out of the screen. Then, it laughed, as if telling 'Jingliu' to guess for herself.
In that instant, this peculiar mask exhibited an aura similar to an Aeon. This caused even 'Jingliu,' the creator, to feel that the shifting identities were no longer important. What became important was that single mask.
The originally solemn scene, with Aha's meddling, became both absurd and mysterious.
Having done all this, Aha giggled and withdrew His power. He left only the modified visuals repeating on the player.
"..."
'Jingliu' looked at the mask, which had landed on the table and gone silent. She didn't know how to evaluate it.
Ugh, despite everything... you are seriously bored, Aha!
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