New Feature: Advance Playback

"Wow—!"

"So this is the New Federation's modern metropolis? It really is different from outside!"

In the port exit passageway of Deep Blue Metropolis, Tiandao had practically plastered himself against the transparent barrier. His sunglasses had slipped to the tip of his nose, and his azure eyes eagerly took in the magnificent sight outside.

Skyscrapers built from coral refracted rainbow halos beneath the sunlight.

On the kelp-shaped multi-level transportation network, floating cars drifted like jellyfish.

Even the surrounding sidewalks were paved with special shells, sturdy without losing their beauty.

All of it made Tiandao feel as though he was not in some modern metropolis at all.

But in a strange "underwater world" built upon the sea.

Just as Tiandao was engrossed in the view, he suddenly felt someone tugging at the hem of his clothes.

"What is it, Caroline? Why are you suddenly pulling me?"

Tiandao turned toward Caroline beside him with a puzzled expression.

Caroline had lowered her head, her cat ears twitching awkwardly, as if she had something difficult to say.

Yet before Caroline could explain, Tiandao, thinking he had guessed what she meant, immediately wore an enlightened expression.

"Oh, so you want to look too? You should've said so. Come on, come on—this angle is amazing!"

The moment those words came out, Caroline froze.

As if she could not believe Tiandao's train of thought could be this bizarre.

Just as she was about to tell him directly to mind his image and stop making a spectacle of himself, however—

Soft laughter suddenly rose and fell around them.

Several local girls dressed in fluorescent jellyfish skirts were covering their mouths as they pointed at Tiandao and Caroline standing by the transparent barrier.

Some other Deep Blue Metropolis locals who had disembarked alongside them wore pitying expressions that said, Another country bumpkin.

Seeing this, Tiandao immediately understood why Caroline had been tugging him.

But to Caroline's great surprise—

Tiandao did not care in the slightest about their "comments" and "scorn."

He rubbed Caroline's somewhat tense head and said nonchalantly, "No, Caroline. So after all that, this is what you wanted me to pay attention to?"

"They're just the thoughts of a bunch of mediocre fools. What's there to care about?"

"Come on, come look at that giant jellyfish with me."

"Which little genius designed that? They actually thought of making a tower look like a jellyfish. That's ridiculously creative!"

Hearing Tiandao's words, Caroline was instantly stunned.

Before she could consider what his words meant, Tiandao had already pressed a hand to her shoulder and brought her over to the enormous transparent barrier.

Following the direction he pointed, Caroline quickly spotted a uniquely shaped pale-blue tower that looked much like a giant jellyfish.

Although Caroline had never been to Deep Blue Metropolis, according to the Deep Blue Travel Guide she had read on the ship—

This jellyfish-like tower was the landmark building of Deep Blue Metropolis's Coastal District: the Deep Blue Pearl.

It could change the color of its spire according to the weather.

Gazing at the oddly shaped Deep Blue Pearl, pale blue from top to bottom beneath the clear sky—

Caroline's heart, which had been tense from traveling far from home for the first time, finally began to settle.

She glanced at the excited Tiandao beside her from the corner of her eye, and the corners of her lips could not help but rise. Then, without another care in the world, she admired the scenery beyond the barrier with him.

After all, just as Tiandao had said, they were only a crowd of ignorant mediocrities. Why should she care what they thought?

Just as Tiandao was about to see what other strange sights Deep Blue Metropolis had to offer—

His system suddenly issued a notification.

Advance Playback function has finished loading. Real-time comment function is now available.

Hm? Advance Playback?

Looking at the suddenly updated system, Tiandao immediately began carefully reading the feature's description.

After examining it closely, he quickly understood what this so-called "Advance Playback" was all about.

For Station 13 fans in the real world, Advance Playback was an exclusive perk available after purchasing the site's premium membership.

It allowed them to unlock two additional episodes of Stellaris Prequel: Embers ahead of time.

For Tiandao in reality, however, this so-called Advance Playback was a different kind of "livestream."

The difference was that in other people's "livestreams," the camera was always on them.

Tiandao's "livestream," on the other hand, was often not focused on him.

Still, Tiandao was not entirely without a way to control the camera.

By spending Popularity Points, he could obtain an "Exclusive Camera."

Exclusive Camera: Spend a certain amount of Popularity Points to obtain limited Exclusive Camera time.

Price: 10,000 Popularity Points/minute (maximum of three minutes per episode)

Although 10,000 Popularity Points per minute for an Exclusive Camera was rather expensive—

If used properly, those Popularity Points invested in camera time could very well bring him several times the return.

And for Tiandao Siming, a master operator who loved going all in, enjoyed going all in, and knew how to go all in—

This was undoubtedly a very nice new feature with enormous potential. A gambler's dog had every reason to rejoice.

At the same time, as Advance Playback officially activated—

Tiandao soon saw the "real-time comments" floating beside his field of vision.

Without a doubt, that meant the anime's camera was currently focused on him and Caroline.

"Wow! We unlocked a new map this quickly?"

"The new map is gorgeous! The production team's budget must be exploding!"

"Taking your wife to the aquarium, huh? Hax Tian, you really are a romantic man."

"So sweet!"

As Tiandao watched the comments scrolling before him, his eyes shifted around. Clearly, he had once again thought up some wicked little scheme to rake in Popularity Points.

"Come on, Caroline, let's take a picture!"

Before Caroline could react, Tiandao suddenly wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer.

Then Tiandao took out the phone she had put in his pocket and deftly unlocked the screen.

He raised the phone and aimed its camera at the two of them.

Click!

As the selfie shutter sounded—

Caroline, finally coming back to her senses, snatched back her phone and seriously inspected the selfie of herself and Tiandao.

And the instant she did, Caroline's expression turned ugly.

In the picture, she looked utterly bewildered, with vacant eyes and the air of someone who was not particularly bright—a world apart from her usual self.

Being photographed badly would have been one thing. At worst, she and Tiandao could embarrass themselves together.

But that black-hearted fellow Tiandao had deliberately put some thought into it.

Not only had he struck a handsome pose on purpose, even the angle of the photo had been carefully chosen.

As a result, Tiandao's looks in the selfie had been artificially boosted by a notch, while Caroline's had been artificially lowered by one.

At that thought, Caroline's cat ears stood upright as she gritted her teeth. "Tiandao, if you wanted to take a picture, then take one—but why didn't you wait until I was ready? You did that on purpose, didn't you?!"

Tiandao adjusted his sunglasses and said with a smile, "What would be the fun in waiting until you were ready? We wanted this sense of authenticity!"

Looking at Tiandao's smug, punchable expression, how could Caroline not know that he was messing with her?

So Caroline, abandoning her usual composure and quietness, immediately smacked his arm hard.

"Authenticity, my ass! You were obviously pulling a prank on me."

"Whoa, Caroline, I can't agree with that. I clearly made myself look very handsome."

"What about me?!"

"You? Whatever. As long as you were in the shot, that was enough. Why so many demands?"

"Tiandao Siming!"

He ran, she chased. The two bickered and played as they ran toward the exit of the passageway.

Because Tiandao had deliberately slowed down to admire the scenery, the two of them had fallen quite a distance behind Yun Meng and the other two. They had to hurry and catch up.

And as they watched the amusing little interaction between Tiandao and Caroline—

Advance Playback's real-time comments immediately became lively.

"Wow! If these two don't get married someday, this is going to be really hard to wrap up!"

"The Tian-Ka Pairing scores again!"

"Something's off. I have a really bad feeling about this. Isn't Stellaris a hot-blooded battle anime? Why is it so sweet? Something feels wrong!"

"A selfie? Do you think Tian-Ka might temporarily separate later for some special reason, and then Caroline can only stare at this selfie of the two of them, grieving alone?"

"Holy crap, are you a devil? Delete that right now—don't let the production team see it!"

"No angst! If they dare bring out the knife, I'm dropping the show!"

"If the production team dares stab the Tian-Ka Pairing, then I'll dare stab the production team. After all, my blade has never failed me!"