Star Rail, Single Draw Acheron at Start

Misha shook his head and said that he had mentioned growing up here before. Mikhail would not grow up, so he was not Mikhail.

Chapter 113: Still Gotta Be Me

"At the end of my life's journey, I leave this precious flame in the deepest dream, hoping to pass it on to the Nameless of future generations."

"As for the Clock Keeper's legacy, all I can give you are two items: my pocket watch, and Sans... my hat. The one who guided me placed it on my head, and from then on, an impractical thought took root: the Trailblaze journey would never end."

Misha's words ended there. A person's life has an end, but the will to trailblaze is passed down from generation to generation. He had already seen the thing he most wanted to see: descendants of the trailblazers had arrived here and accepted his legacy.

"I will wait for your arrival at the end of this corridor of time."

Misha said to the crowd before him, his body slowly disappearing from their sight along with the Clock Boy.

"Penacony is truly bizarre."

March 7th said after Misha had vanished. She couldn't fathom such a thing existing in the world, no matter how hard she thought. Every time she arrived at a new place, she felt like a complete novice. If the locals couldn't figure things out, how could she, an outsider? If her IQ wasn't high enough, she couldn't trailblaze!

"Trailblazer, why haven't you said anything?"

March 7th suddenly felt something was off. The Trailblazer was eerily quiet today, not even making a single complaint about Misha.

"Because I have nothing to say. Who could have imagined things would turn out this way?"

The Trailblazer said with a calm expression. Firstly, he truly had nothing to say. Secondly, he respected the Nameless senior. Even at such a critical moment, they hadn't given up on passing on their will to their successors.

"Then why aren't you asking?" March 7th asked, confused.

"Because if I don't ask, you won't know that I don't know. I'm the expert."

"You're just pretending to be an expert by staying silent, aren't you? You're making me so mad!"

March 7th was so angry her head felt like it was about to smoke. She thought only she was the idiot, but now she realized the Trailblazer was also an idiot. Yet, he was a smart idiot, and his reasoning was so sound, it was infuriating.

"Heh, stop fooling around. Let's go meet our predecessor."

Himeko chuckled as she watched March 7th acting spoiled towards the Trailblazer. March 7th glared at the Trailblazer before following Himeko away from the dream bubble. After witnessing Mikhail's life memories within the dream bubble, they returned to the graveyard on Dreamflow Reef.

At the observation pavilion, Mikhail was still sitting in his chair, holding his dream bubble. Unlike before, the hat on his head had fallen to the ground, and the pocket watch was held by the Clock Boy.

"Clock Boy, what do you want to do?"

Himeko asked the Clock Boy. It had no concept of lifespan. Misha was gone, and it seemed lonely watching over things alone.

"Misha told me to find my next destination, but I don't know where that should be. I've always followed Misha."

The Clock Boy's two cartoon eyes had turned tearful. It knew Misha would never return, and Himeko and the others fell silent.

"Misha is gone now. We'll take care of you. Why don't you choose someone to follow?"

Himeko suggested. As the final witness to Mikhail's life, the Clock Boy knew they were trustworthy. So, after a moment of thought, it raised its hand and pointed at the Trailblazer.

"Then him."

"Me?"

The Trailblazer pointed at himself, surprised that the Clock Boy had chosen him. But he figured it must have seen his kingly aura and wanted to submit to...

"Yes. Only you are a man."

The Clock Boy interrupted the Trailblazer's fantasies. His expression was a bit stiff. The Clock Boy seemed to prefer interacting with men, and all his previous inner thoughts were wasted.

"You really know how to choose."

The Trailblazer accepted the fact that he had a little follower. In fact, he had also received help from the Clock Boy before; the Clockwork Trick ability it gave him was a testament to that.

"Heh, some things are destined. Since the Clock Boy has spoken, you should take Mikhail's hat. May your Trailblaze journey never end."

Himeko was satisfied with this outcome. Although the Trailblazer was not always serious, he was indeed the one with the greatest potential for trailblazing, as everyone acknowledged. Compared to March, who was too naive, and Dan Heng, who was too steady, only the Trailblazer's whimsical thinking was most suitable for inheriting Mikhail's will. Without enough imagination, how could one become a dream tycoon?

The Trailblazer nodded, knelt on one knee, picked up Mikhail's hat, and placed it on his chest, bowing to the elder before him. Although they had never met, his will was truly admirable.

The Trailblazer placed the hat on his head and then looked at Firefly beside him. It was the first time he had worn such an item, and he couldn't quite say if it was good or bad; he would have to see what others thought.

"How is it? Am I handsome?"

The hat on the Trailblazer's head was of good quality, black with blue trim and a blue feather ornament on the left side, adding a touch of steadiness to his otherwise unserious demeanor.

"Yes, very handsome. It suits you very well."

Firefly nodded affirmatively. The Trailblazer was already good-looking before, but with the hat, he had a wonderful sense of coordination. Firefly felt that no matter who wore it, it wouldn't look as good as it did on him.

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Chapter 114: Might as Well Be a Stellaron Hunter

"The next thing we need to do is to disrupt the Grand Gala. Although Welt is also important, the Dream Master, in order to ensure the smooth progress of the Grand Gala, will definitely place him somewhere else to distract us. We cannot be misled."

Himeko looked with satisfaction at the Trailblazer, who had inherited the will of trailblazing, and then began to explain the next course of action.

"That's what you say, but the Grand Theater must be heavily guarded by now. Should we fight our way in?"

Firefly spoke. By now, everyone could guess the Dream Master's plan, and the Grand Theater would naturally be surrounded inside and out.

"Can we do it?"

The Trailblazer felt his girlfriend was becoming a bit violent. Perhaps it was because she was no longer hiding her identity and was getting into her stride. Sam was not a good person on the wanted posters, but he liked bad women too.

"Yes."

Firefly spoke frankly, and March 7th stared at her with a look that could only be described as "what the heck." March 7th couldn't even imagine a solution to such a situation, yet Firefly exuded nothing but confidence. She was truly beautiful, capable, and a bargain for Caelus.

"We can't do this. We represent the Star Rail Express. If we attack the Grand Theater without cause, and the public opinion spreads, our reputation will be ruined. No faction in the galaxy will trust us in the future."

Himeko shook her head. Violence was a last resort. While their actions could be explained later, the effort required to spread rumors and then debunk them was incomparable, especially when those rumors spanned the entire galaxy.

"How about we wear masks? Then we can have Sam charge in with us and say we're Stellaron Hunters. Anyway, Mom's reputation has already hit rock bottom, so any direction is an improvement."

Caelus pondered for a moment. Since the Star Rail Express needed a good reputation, their moral compass would have to be a bit flexible.

"Genius!"

March 7th gave Caelus a thumbs-up. How could she not have thought of such a devious plan?

"I don't think I'm suited for this kind of thing," Himeko said, covering her forehead helplessly. While Caelus's plan wasn't bad, the excessive unpredictability made Himeko reject it.

"Since none of you can come up with a good plan, leave it to your little March."

March 7th suddenly patted her chest. Caelus really needed to listen to this, as the usually passive March 7th had come up with an idea.

"What's your great idea?"

"It's like this, I heard that before the Grand Gala begins, there's a preliminary audition venue for the festival warm-up. It's called the Sodapop Festival Auditions, and it's held during the Hour of the Great Hot Sands."

"If we win first place, we'll earn the title of Festival Superstar and get to meet Miss Robin personally. But that's not the important part. The important thing is that we can enter the Grand Theater earlier than regular audiences."

"Can we participate?" Firefly asked curiously. She knew about the event, but ordinary people couldn't get in. After all, there were too many people, and it involved meeting Robin, so it was bound to be an incredibly competitive event.

"I have a special invitation. To be honest, I've been preparing to participate in this audition. But now it seems that even if I stand out, I probably won't have the chance to shake hands with Miss Robin."

March 7th declared proudly, hands on her hips. She wasn't kidding when she said she was Robin's fan before; it was just that too many things had happened afterward, and she had forgotten.

"It's okay, little March. Once Robin becomes my wife, I'll let you all sleep in the same bed."

Caelus patted March 7th on the shoulder to comfort her. Shaking hands? What a trivial matter. This time, they would either rescue Robin and have her pledge herself to him, or die in the dream. There were no other options, so Caelus's heart was at ease.

"Pah! Scum, no, nuclear scum."

March 7th's expression gradually twisted. The thought of her idol falling into the clutches of Caelus made her furious.

"We're friends, but I'll sue you for defamation if you say that."

"Aren't you? Look at what your friends are doing. Some are destroying worlds, others are killing and setting fires. And you, useless as you are, are always thinking about women. How dare you show your face at the year-end party?"

"I think you're asking for a spanking. Stop right there, I'm going to lift my skirt and beat you this time."

Caelus, enraged by March 7th's words, raised his hand to grab her, but little March darted around, giving him no chance to catch her.

After they bickered for a while, Himeko decided to follow March 7th's plan. They left Dreamflow Reef and entered the dreamscape, arriving at the dream of the Hour of the Great Hot Sands, which was completely different from the Moment of Gold.

This location was actually directly below the Grand Theater. It was said that after winning the championship, one could directly ride the plaza disc and fly straight into the theater.

With March 7th's invitation, the four of them quickly completed the registration procedures. Since the competition was divided into two-person teams, Himeko naturally took March 7th with her, leaving the opportunity for Firefly and Caelus to be alone.

"They even have drama and action categories here, Firefly. Which one do you think is better?"

Caelus looked at the competition rules. The competition was quite simple: after performing in drama and action, the director would give scores. If there were no inside dealings, they should be able to win.

"Is drama okay?"

Firefly said somewhat shyly. While she was powerful in combat, she was still a girl and wanted to perform some romantic love scenes with Caelus. She had been a performer for the Family before, so she had some experience.

"Okay, let's sign up for the drama category."

Caelus agreed immediately and registered for the drama category with Firefly. They were then assigned a rehearsal room to prepare their sensational script.

"Ah Caelus, this Romeo and Juliet..."

Firefly held the classic romantic script, wanting to perform it with Caelus. However, she saw him holding a script and writing with a flourish, quickly composing a dialogue for a drama. For some reason, Firefly thought of the short film she had made with Caelus before, and her heart felt a little flustered.

"Firefly, let's perform this. It's guaranteed to be sensational!"

Caelus handed the script he had written to Firefly. When Firefly took it, her eyes gradually became vacant. Although it seemed somewhat romantic, it was completely different from the romance she had imagined.

The competition was in full swing, and without much time for Caelus and Firefly to rehearse, they were urged by the director to the performance venue. The surroundings were filled with spectators, and their performance would be recorded and spread throughout the dreamscape. The thought of this made Firefly feel incredibly embarrassed. Her thought was that she would have to transform into Sam later and retrieve the negatives.

"Begin, begin."

The director shouted urgently, and then the spotlight shone on Caelus and Firefly. Caelus took a deep breath and began his performance.

Chapter 115: Watched Another Episode

"I'm here to quit the Breakthrough team," Caelus said calmly, his voice devoid of emotion. To the audience, it felt as if he were there to break up.

"Why? Did something happen? Didn't you say we'd form a Breakthrough team for life?"

Firefly's expression was one of surprise and great confusion. She asked in a gentle tone, as if trying to persuade Caelus to return to his original state.

"I never said that."

"Is that so..."

"This is your final warning. Don't have anything to do with me from now on."

Caelus said ruthlessly, then walked towards Firefly. As he brushed past her and moved further away, the surprised Firefly finally snapped back to reality.

"Wait! Don't go!"

"This is wrong. I really value you, I really like you."

As Firefly spoke, her expression became incredibly invested, as if this wasn't a performance but Caelus was truly about to leave her. She immediately chased after Caelus's footsteps.

"No, please, without the Trailblazer, Waaah, da shi!"

Firefly grabbed Caelus's hands and wrists with both of her hands, saying with a mournful tone. When the cute girl showed such an expression, many audience members felt their hearts clench, their emotions successfully stirred.

"HA☆NA☆SE!"

Caelus shook his hands, showing no sign of softening due to Firefly's cries. A chorus of gritted teeth sounded from the audience, with some already cursing Caelus as inhuman for making a girl so sad.

"What do I need to do for you to come back? I'll do anything if I can."

Firefly cried out and her knees buckled, causing her to collapse onto the ground. Immediately, a large wave of gasps echoed from inside and outside the venue. The audience hadn't expected this girl to go this far to beg a man. Although they didn't know what Breakthrough was, it was clearly very important to her.

Because Firefly knelt, Caelus also stopped. He looked down at the crying Firefly and spoke in his usual flat tone.

"With what kind of resolve are you saying these words? You're just someone who does Breakthrough. Can you defeat mechanics that lock weaknesses? Willing to do anything... If the weaknesses are truly locked, none of us can win."

"Don't make promises you can't keep."

"But, I really..."

Firefly tried to say something more, but Caelus forcefully withdrew his hands and left with a cold remark.

"You, your mind is all about yourself."

Caelus left the performance venue. Under the spotlight at this moment, only Firefly knelt on the ground, crying with her face buried in her hands. As the director shouted "Cut!", the crowd finally realized this was a short film, not a real-life story.

Clap clap!

Loud applause erupted, and confetti rained down from above. The directors all gave perfect scores, and the audience cheered. Although they didn't know the specific story, they had grasped the feeling of despair.

Caelus returned to the stage and helped Firefly up from the ground. She had gotten a bit too deep into character and still looked wronged. Caelus quickly hugged her and began to comfort her.