I Play Stat-Sticks in Honkai: Star Rail

Looking at anime characters on a screen versus real people in reality is truly a feast for the eyes.

Although anime characters are also very good-looking.

"Welcome, Trailblazers of the Astral Express, to the Main Control Cabin."

"Station Master Asta, we're back!"

March 7th said with a happy smile the moment she saw the girl.

"Mhm!"

Dan Heng also nodded.

Only Liuge and Stelle, standing nearby, didn't join the conversation.

After all, the other party didn't know about the two of them yet, while Dan Heng and March 7th had already met Asta before.

Otherwise, they wouldn't have been able to obtain the key, right?

"And who are these two?"

Asta noticed Stelle and Liuge at this moment.

As the person in charge of Herta Space Station, Asta had a very good memory. She didn't recall meeting them before, nor did she know that these two unfamiliar faces were present in her space station.

"Oh right, Station Master Asta, let me introduce them. These two are unregistered people we encountered while rescuing personnel."

"Hey, March. That's a bit too direct!"

Liuge's face darkened. He really couldn't count on that silly girl's way with words.

Dan Heng, standing beside them, covered his face with one hand in exasperation and sighed.

Stelle, however, remained indifferent, as if unaware that the term "unregistered person" referred to her and Liuge.

"Let me explain," Dan Heng said slowly, recounting the situation of Liuge and Stelle to Asta.

"Is that so?"

Asta pondered for a moment, then looked at Liuge first.

"Regarding your situation, I can guess a few things. Most likely, a certain Curio on the space station triggered an effect due to the Antimatter Legion's invasion, teleporting you here from an unknown location."

Hearing Asta's apologetic reply, Liuge waved his hand, indicating it was fine.

Liuge knew best. Just as he was ruling out Aha's involvement in bringing him here, he heard Aha's response. He knew it was definitely Aha's doing, not some Curio's effect at all.

"As for you..."

Asta looked Stelle up and down. "I'm not sure about your situation either. However, it might be related to the Stellaron!"

"Wait, Station Master Asta, are you talking about that Stellaron, the Cancer of All Worlds?"

March 7th interrupted Asta upon hearing this, looking at Stelle with astonishment.

"Wait, what's a Stellaron?"

As a key member, Stelle appropriately voiced her confusion.

"A Stellaron is a type of cosmic entity with extreme invasiveness, like cancer, causing calamities and conflicts across various planets and even star systems. Although it possesses immense energy, it's not something that can be easily controlled,"

Asta explained to Stelle and continued, "Not long ago, Ms. Herta discovered a Stellaron appearing within the Azure Planet, so she took action to restrain it and hide it within the space station. This invasion by the Antimatter Legion is also very likely due to this Stellaron."

"Regarding this, I can actually provide some clarification."

At this moment, Liuge suddenly spoke.

"Hm? What do you want to say, Liuge?"

March 7th looked at the annoying guy who kept teasing her.

"Ahem, actually, before you people from the Astral Express arrived, I encountered someone from the Stellaron Hunters on the space station."

"You mean the Stellaron Hunters?"

Asta looked surprised.

"What is it, Station Master Asta?"

"Actually, this time it wasn't just the Antimatter Legion; the Stellaron Hunters also infiltrated the space station during the invasion.

However, we were unaware of their presence until we discovered the intrusion icon left by the Stellaron Hunter Silver Wolf while reviewing the cabin surveillance feeds. That's when we realized they had also come."

"Ah, what an annoying bunch of people,"

March 7th sighed.

"What's wrong?"

Stelle was also a bit confused at this moment.

"The Stellaron Hunters are notorious wanted criminals throughout the universe. Their appearance is often accompanied by the appearance of Stellerons, and they are villains who pursue Stellerons,"

Dan Heng replied.

"By the way, Station Master Asta, you just said Stelle had the aura of a Stellaron?"

"Yes!"

Asta nodded, but still looked at Liuge.

She had a feeling that what this person was about to say might be the key point.

Liuge also nodded in response.

"When I encountered the Stellaron Hunters, I was just hiding in a corner of the warehouse. Although they noticed me, they didn't seem to intend to harm me and left after a moment."

"With a strange curiosity, I followed them and then witnessed a horrifying scene."

"What?"

March 7th and the others, including Stelle, were all intrigued.

After all, humans are naturally curious about the unknown.

"I saw one of the women, with purplish-red hair and a very stylish outfit, pick up the Stellaron, and then..."

"And then?"

March 7th's expression was like a little girl listening to a ghost story, a mix of fear and excitement.

"And then she just stuffed it into Stelle's body."

As Liuge spoke, he extended his right palm towards Stelle's chest, but the next moment, March 7th slapped his hand away.

"Hiss!"

Liuge shook his reddened palm and glared at March 7th with displeasure. "Hey, what are you doing!"

"Who told you to act like a pervert!"

March 7th put her hands on her hips.

"No, I was just demonstrating for you, I wasn't actually going to touch her!"

Liuge looked genuinely innocent.

"Completely unnecessary!"

March 7th and Stelle both shook their heads, while Asta on the side watched with great interest.

"So you're saying... Kafka, the Stellaron Hunter, put the Stellaron... into Stelle's body?"

Dan Heng's usually calm expression became quite animated at this moment.

He looked at Stelle, who was standing with March 7th in solidarity, in disbelief. He couldn't understand why something as dangerous as a Stellaron could remain so stable within Stelle's body.

Asta also realized what was happening and looked at Stelle with disbelief.

"The truth is as I said, there should be a Stellaron inside Stelle."

Liuge nodded.

"After that, I was afraid they would silence me for seeing such classified information, so I ran and hid. Only after they left did I check on Stelle's condition, and after that... I met you guys."

Liuge looked at Dan Heng and March 7th and shrugged.

"I see!"

Asta nodded thoughtfully.

"By the way, Station Master Asta, what's the current situation on the space station? The Antimatter Legion's invasion should be ending soon, right?"

"Unfortunately, this situation is a bit more complicated. Although the Mara-Struck Soldiers and Guardian Shadows within the space station have been mostly cleared out, but..."

As she spoke, the entire Main Control Cabin let out a violent explosion, accompanied by a surge of terrifying roars.

The broadcast also began to sound.

"Alert, alert! A Doomsday Beast has been detected approaching the space station. All combat personnel, please prepare for engagement!"

Amidst the continuous alarms, everyone looked up.

They saw a massive, silvery-white Doomsday Beast flying past the transparent alloy material above the space station and landing steadily on the platform of the Support Cabin.

"Everyone..."

Before Asta could even make a request, she saw March 7th and Dan Heng quickly rush towards the area. Stelle and Liuge followed closely behind...

010 Old Yang: Damn it, Honkai is still chasing me?

Although in the story, the fact that Stelle had a Stellaron within her was only revealed after the Doomsday Beast's attack, at the moment when Stelle gained Nanook's attention.

For Liuge, however, it was merely a matter of the sequence of events being swapped, which didn't really matter.

At this moment, he was following far behind everyone else, heading towards the Support Cabin. During the journey, this time allowed Liuge to start reviewing his Stat-Stick inventory.

He realized that since he had started traveling with March 7th and Dan Heng, he hadn't seemed to pick up any Stat-Stick Light Orbs.

The last Light Orb he obtained was the Silver Cross Pendant that had appeared in his pocket.

That was probably the first physical item he had obtained from a Light Orb.

Perhaps he could only obtain such Light Orbs from extremely special character merchandise.

As for the Stat-Sticks, it seemed to be because he hadn't encountered any Mara-Struck Soldiers afterward, or perhaps he hadn't participated in any battles, which was why he hadn't seen any Light Orbs.

In any case, that was how Liuge explained it to himself.

It's Aha's fault, that's for sure!

"Speaking of which..."

Liuge took the Silver Cross Pendant from his pocket and began to examine it carefully.

As his attention shifted to the Silver Cross Pendant, related information popped up.

"Exclusive equipment for a little dwarf from some world? And this incantation, why does it feel a bit familiar?"

Liuge looked at the incantation in the description, "Summon the Dead," and felt something was strange.

After all, this incantation was in Japanese, and he didn't understand Japanese at all.

But the next moment, Liuge noticed a red button appearing after the incantation.

"?"

With a question mark clearly appearing above his head, Liuge felt an urge from the bottom of his heart to press the red button the moment he saw it.

Of course, his actions followed suit.

The moment he casually pressed the button, his mouth automatically recited the incantation for the Silver Cross Pendant, "I summon the dead, but I am also drawn to you, my love."

He couldn't control his mouth at all, as if he were a prerecorded tape recorder, reciting it word for word.

The more he recited, the more wonderful his expression became.

He recognized the incantation and became even more flustered.

Isn't this the incantation used to transform into a magical girl in that anime about the cross-dressing boy, Asian dance king, and zombie steps?

In other words...

This thing is a magical outfit?!

The moment this thought flashed through his mind, he finished reciting the incantation.