Playing Stat-Sticks in Honkai: Star Rail

Liuge, still a bit dazed, noticed that Kafka had dropped more than ten purple Stat-Stick Light Orbs of various sizes around her, including one red and gold orb.

This truly surprised him.

Since arriving on the Xianzhou, Liuge had picked up many Stat-Stick Light Orbs daily, but most were attribute-based and had already been synthesized to improve their quality.

He hadn't expected such a dense cluster of dropped stats before him.

Could it be that the number of dropped stats was higher around key characters?

"Child, I'm happy you call me 'Mom'! But I'm not..."

"You're not?"

Hearing this, Stelle looked like an abandoned little animal, her eyes filled with helplessness.

Seeing Stelle like this, Kafka felt a bit helpless, but also a little happy inside.

"Fine! Whatever you think is fine!"

Kafka conceded.

Or rather, admitted it?

Yes, that's what Liuge thought.

"Then, before all this, you didn't happen to come here to arrest me, did you!"

Kafka asked knowingly.

In Elio's script, she would indeed be captured after meeting the Astral Express crew, but she still had to put on a show, didn't she?

"If you think so, you can understand it that way!"

Welt nodded.

Hearing Welt's affirmation, March 7th immediately summoned her bow and arrows, while Bronya silently took out a firearm identical to Kafka's.

As for Stelle, after a moment of hesitation, she pulled out her great club... well, a baseball bat!

"Um, can I watch?"

Liuge weakly raised his hand.

"..."

In an instant, March 7th, Stelle, and Bronya all turned their gazes towards Liuge.

In that moment, Liuge felt immense pressure.

"Alright, alright!"

Liuge sighed and activated his Aether Edit.

His fingers flew across the interface.

Soon, he had assembled some combat-related stats.

Although he could transform, with Kafka playing along like this, it was better not to take it too seriously.

Thinking this, Liuge equipped the stats [Combat], [Martial Arts], and [Super Recovery].

Instantly, Kafka felt that the man before her, who was already considerably stronger than an ordinary person, now possessed an aura comparable to that of a Path trailblazer.

Of course, it was like someone who had just begun their journey on a Path.

"An interesting ability!"

Kafka's lips curved into a slight smile.

When she noticed Liuge manipulating the Aether Edit earlier, she was reminded of the little girl who looked very similar to Silver Wolf that she encountered on the Herta Space Station.

Now, that little girl was on the opposite side, and here was another person who could manipulate Aether Edit. Would Silver Wolf be happy if she knew?

Moreover, this person's Aether Edit seemed different from Silver Wolf's. This person directly altered himself, while Silver Wolf manipulated and modified reality.

"Is that so?"

Before Kafka could think further, Liuge dashed forward and appeared right in front of her.

The moment Liuge launched his attack, March 7th's arrow followed, accompanied by Stelle leaping high and swinging the Batter down!

"What a clever coordination!"

Kafka saw this and didn't panic.

She fiercely clenched her left hand, and Liuge felt his entire body lose control. He instinctively threw a punch towards March 7th's arrow.

With a crack.

Liuge felt his fist go numb, but in that instant, his full control returned.

At the same time, Kafka raised the firearm in her right hand, easily blocking the Batter Stelle swung down.

"A heavy blow!"

Kafka looked at Stelle and smiled faintly.

But the next moment, she felt her entire body captured by a force of Attraction, drifting several meters uncontrollably.

It was precisely as Welt manipulated gravity to pull Kafka closer that a powerful repulsion force also erupted.

Under the combined effects of attraction and repulsion, Kafka couldn't withstand it for a moment, letting out a muffled groan.

She seemed to have sustained a slight injury.

However, her expression hadn't changed in the slightest, or rather, her gaze hadn't shifted at all; it remained as calm as ever.

But in that very instant, Liuge's figure suddenly appeared before her.

She looked down at the young man, and as Liuge looked up to meet her gaze, he powerfully swung his right fist.

A solid punch.

Although it was a surprise attack, Kafka's extensive combat experience allowed her to instinctively block the punch with the firearm in her hand.

However, the next moment, Kafka felt as if she had been locked onto by something, and she looked up.

Dozens of small bombs were heading towards her from mid-air.

This was Bronya's targeted strike!

It was at this precise moment that Liuge also withdrew from the bombing range.

The faint smile on Kafka's face never disappeared; instead, it deepened.

She raised both hands, and the firearm in her grasp spewed out countless tongues of flame.

Boom, boom, boom...

The explosions erupted in mid-air.

It was at this time that Kafka also sharply looked towards the members of the Astral Express.

"Is the attack over? It's my turn now~"

The moment her words fell, the firearm in her hand vanished.

She waved both hands towards the sky.

A dozen or so metal pull tabs appeared in her hands.

Along with them came metal spheres, continuously falling towards the Astral Express side.

Those were grenades!

"What kind of modern warfare is this?!"

Liuge couldn't help but complain, but he still quickly retreated.

Meanwhile, Welt tapped his cane on the ground.

A powerful repulsive force immediately erupted, pushing away all the grenades that landed on his side.

Another violent explosion occurred.

Amidst the billowing dust, Kafka's gunfire followed.

In that instant, time seemed to stop.

As if sensing something, everyone looked up sharply.

And Kafka also frowned slightly, and without even looking, she began to sweep her shots towards the sky.

However, all the bullets in that moment seemed to be put in slow motion.

A pink figure descended towards Kafka from mid-air.

All the bullets aimed at her were easily swatted aside by her in front of him.

The newcomer was Fu Xuan, the Diviner from the Divination Commission.

The moment Fu Xuan landed, she clapped her hands together forcefully.

At that instant, Kafka felt as if she was bound by something invisible, unable to move any further.

"Diviner Fu, you've arrived at the perfect time!"

Seeing the newcomer, Liuge immediately stepped forward to greet her.

"Hm? It's you!"

Fu Xuan saw Liuge, nodded, and then looked towards Welt and the others.

"Are you all the Nameless of the Astral Express?"

Welt was somewhat surprised that the battle had ended so quickly, but upon hearing Liuge's words, he knew who the newcomer was.

He felt that the swift conclusion of the battle was also normal.

He then began to communicate with Fu Xuan, getting a grasp of the current situation.

Compared to the exchange between Fu Xuan and Welt on this side, Liuge felt very happy.

This was because he was currently having a blast picking up Stat-Sticks.

In addition to the dozen or so Stat-Stick Light Orbs that had just dropped, the Astral Express team and Fu Xuan had also dropped quite a few Stat-Sticks during the battle.

There were already four golden Stat-Sticks, and even two red Stat-Sticks.

Although there wasn't a "One Awesome Attack" type of crimson Stat-Stick, this was the first time he'd managed to pick up a red Stat-Stick.

For example, the golden Stat-Sticks were [Character Stat-Stick: Sunny Cheerful Boy], [Word Spirit], [Rebellious Child], and [Yin Yang], while the red Stat-Sticks were [Repulsion] and [Attraction].

It was obvious that the red Stat-Sticks dropped from Old Yang.

As for why they were red Stat-Sticks, Liuge pondered for a moment, thinking that if these two were combined, they might just create a quasi-black hole!

However, compared to these, Liuge was more optimistic about the character Stat-Stick he had just picked up. After all, judging by its name, he could combine it to create a male character card!

—In short, he was very happy!

[Sunny Cheerful Boy]

Quality: Gold

Description: Perhaps you can combine it with the Savior Stat-Stick (Note: It might trigger someone's PTSD, but... where is the Savior?)

Wait, this description... doesn't it feel a bit... weird?!

061 Old Yang: I mean, is there a possibility...

Watching Kafka being taken away by the Cloud Knights who arrived shortly after, the Astral Express crew returned to the Ministry of Interdimensional Affairs to report to Yukong.

As for Liuge, from beginning to end, he was contemplating how to practically combine the newly acquired Character Stat-Stick: Sunny Cheerful Boy at the current stage.

After all, he had three disguises he could currently use, but they were all for girls. Therefore, having a character Stat-Stick for a boy, Liuge really wanted to combine one.

Sitting on a bench at the entrance of the Ministry of Interdimensional Affairs, Liuge waited for the Astral Express crew.

But his attention was completely absorbed by the Stat-Stick Library.

The Stat-Stick Library, so to speak, was quite a mixed bag.

Attribute Stat-Sticks had their quality improved by combining them in groups of three, which was clear. However, Stat-Sticks obtained from Jarilo-VI all the way to Xianzhou were almost all in there.

There were things like [Mascot], [Snow], [Storybook], and [Memories] whose purpose was unclear, and he didn't know how to combine them.