Incomparably Delicious, Not to Be Missed

When Himeko followed the guidance to the mission location, the viewers immediately spotted Qingque sitting around a table, playing Imperial Jade!

[Hurry up, Qingque. By the time you make your move, the rest of us will have ascended into immortality.]

[I heard the Divination Department's realm was hit by disaster too? Qingque, how can you still be in the mood to play tiles?]

The gray-haired girl had beautiful green eyes, with a hairpin clipped into the bangs above her forehead. She rested her chin on one hand, deep in thought.

Hearing her tile partners, Qingque answered with complete calm.

[Come on, even if the sky falls over the Divination Department, Diviner Lord will hold it up. Though she may be lacking in height, her capabilities are sky-high.]

[Besides, I'm not just fooling around here. I'm following her orders and waiting for some distinguished guests. Time is precious, you know.]

Seeing the exact same lines from the story, Qingque could not help swallowing, an ominous feeling beginning to rise in her heart!

Then, as if confirming her suspicions, her phone vibrated with a new message!

[Qingque, you really are good at managing your time!]

Still, Qingque was indeed a seasoned slacker who had been loafing around the Divination Department for years. She did not panic in the slightest upon seeing Fu Xuan's message!

This was the time to use that move!

Play dumb and send nonsense after reading it!

[Thank you for the praise, Diviner Lord! I too wish to contribute more to the Divination Department and relieve your burdens as soon as possible!]

Looking at the reply she received, Fu Xuan sighed helplessly.

As a diviner of the Divination Department, Qingque naturally had the ability. She simply insisted on putting her mind toward other things, always doing just enough at work!

Give her eight parts of a task, and she would never complete only seven—but she would never do nine, either!

Since she could generally complete every assignment perfectly and was far less troublesome than the other idle, negligent members of the Divination Department, Fu Xuan usually turned a blind eye.

But Qingque had actually said she was lacking in height!

What Fu Xuan cared about most was having to look up whenever she spoke to someone. Especially when facing Jing Yuan, she practically had to crane her head toward the sky!

And now it had been turned into a game and spread throughout the universe. How was she supposed to maintain her image once she became General in the future!

At that thought, Fu Xuan glanced at Jing Yuan and Yanqing beside her. Jing Yuan looked perfectly normal, with no sign of anything unusual!

But Yanqing's expression was clearly strange, as though he had thought through every sad event of his life before barely managing to suppress his laughter!

If he laughed in front of Diviner Fu, his career as a Cloud Knight would be over!

[Qingque, then after this, you will be transferred back from the archives. I will personally instruct you!]

Seeing Fu Xuan's message, Qingque instantly pulled a bitter face. Her superior had noticed her—her easygoing career in the Divination Department was finished!

In the following story, Qingque led the group toward the Divination Department. Along the way, they saw Luofu's Abundance miracle, Jianmu.

Tingyun: [That is the ancient tree known as Jianmu, a treasure the Luofu Xianzhou once took great pride in.]

From this point onward, a subtle change began to appear in Tingyun's tone. Even when introducing Jianmu, she called it something Luofu had taken pride in. Jing Yuan caught that shift as well!

Recalling all the suspicious details along the way, Jing Yuan arrived at a bold conclusion.

"Perhaps Miss Tingyun has not met with disaster yet. She may even have made some sort of deal with Phantylia herself."

After Fu Xuan met the Train Crew, she stated that she needed their help restarting the array foundation and eliminating the Evil Spirits.

Himeko: [Say that magical word!]

Fu Xuan froze, looking as though she either genuinely did not understand or was pretending not to.

[...W-what? What magical word?]

March 7th: [Oh, just a simple word that works everywhere: please.]

Hearing that, Fu Xuan's tone became awkward and bashful.

[P-please!]

Her soft, coy voice flowed into every viewer's ears like a direct hit to the heart!

"Ahhh, I'm dead!"

"Call an ambulance!"

"Fu Bao is so adorable too! She's so tiny—I want to pick her up and squish her!"

"Damn it, tsundere is outdated now. I... I won't be conquered that easily!"

"That's right, surprise childhood friends are what's popular now!"

After considerable effort restarting the array foundation, Fu Xuan activated the Matrix of Prescience, and the captured Plain Face Kafka was brought in!

At this moment, Kafka had removed her coat and wiped off all her makeup. Even her colored contacts were gone!

Her entire aura had changed, transforming from dangerous and mysterious into incomparably gentle!

"Mommy looks so good without makeup!"

"There's even light in her eyes now! She feels so gentle!"

"I can't take it anymore, I've really fallen for her!"

"Waaah, what did you do to my mommy?!"

"Is this how the Xianzhou treats prisoners? Makeup remover first!"

At the Stellaron Hunters' base.

It was Silver Wolf's first time observing Kafka so closely after she had removed her makeup. She practically looked like she had changed heads!

"Is makeup really this terrifying?"

Seeing Silver Wolf's uncertain expression, Kafka could not help covering her mouth and chuckling. Then she took out a lipstick from her bag, leaned closer, and asked.

"What do you think, Silver Wolf? Want me to give you a light makeover? I just bought this one. Let me give you a dramatic transformation!"

Watching Kafka approach with lipstick in hand, Silver Wolf looked troubled. She shook her head like a rattle drum and hurriedly refused.

"No, no, I... I don't like wearing that stuff. Save it for Sam to try when he comes back!"

In the following story, Fu Xuan activated the Matrix of Prescience to divine the truth from Kafka. But after receiving the answer, Fu Xuan could not help voicing her shock.

[You... did all this just for that? For something like this?]

Having learned a certain truth, Fu Xuan said she needed to report to the General immediately. Leaving Kafka behind for the protagonist to question, she then delivered that classic line.

March 7th: [You need to be careful too. Don't get tricked by another mature big sister.]

"Come on, I'm super rational, okay!"

"Don't underestimate us!"

"She's an infamous Stellaron Hunter. How could we possibly go soft!"

"Exactly! She dragged us around in circles earlier. We have to interrogate Kafka mercilessly later!"

The viewers were still brimming with confidence, but when they arrived to speak with Kafka, the camera zoomed in until only Kafka remained, staring directly into it.

[Hi, Himeko... You haven't changed at all.]

[I'm really sorry you had to see me looking so disheveled.]

Her voice was gentler and lower than usual. With that mysterious veil removed, it felt as though she were simply chatting with an old friend. The faint exhaustion on her face was enough to melt anyone's heart!

At that moment, it seemed as though there was only one possible choice among the three options beside her!

[Are you okay? Are you hurt?]

"I'm going in! I got instantly killed at full health! What else is there to say?!"

"She's our mom. Would she ever hurt us?"

"Hiss—I suddenly feel like my nose is itchy. Any ideas why?"

Chapter 59: Incomparably Delicious, Not to Be Missed

As the conversation with Kafka continued, the fog shrouding all the players began to slowly lift.

The ones who had brought the Stellaron into the Xianzhou were not the Stellaron Hunters, but traitors from within Luofu working together with enemies from outside!

The Stellaron Hunters had come to lure the Star Rail Express to Luofu. They also intended to help Luofu with a major problem, making the Xianzhou Alliance owe them a favor and assist them at a crucial moment in the future!

Kafka then mentioned that, in the future, the Star Rail Express would confront Nanook, the Destruction Star God. In the vast majority of futures, destiny ended at that very moment!

But if they followed Elio's script, there would ultimately be a sliver of hope!

In a war of gods at the level of Star Gods, the power of The Hunt was indispensable. Every ounce of strength could become the key to turning the tide of battle. That was the Stellaron Hunters' ultimate goal!

"Confronting that one... The Annihilator of Calamity?"

As Jing Yuan watched Kafka reveal the Stellaron Hunters' ultimate purpose, he was not surprised that the Star Rail Express would one day confront the Destruction Star God.

After all, every Star God was the most faithful practitioner of their own Path. The Destruction Star God wished to destroy the entire universe!

Sending out the Anti-Matter Legion was meant to continuously practice that Path and increase his power. One day, Nanook would personally act to destroy everything. Everyone was his target!

Kafka then spoke of three methods by which a Star God could fall.

First, Paths with overlapping concepts would collide, and the broader Path would consume the narrower one.

Second, in a God War between Star Gods, the stronger side would destroy the weaker one.

The dense flood of information battered the viewers' minds. Just as Himeko wanted to ask about the third method, Kafka turned her gaze into the distance.

[Oh, it's beginning!]

The previously lifeless Jianmu suddenly regained its vitality and began growing at a speed visible to the naked eye!

Seeing this, Kafka broke free from her restraints. Himeko was just about to stop her when Blade suddenly appeared and blocked the way!

[Let's go, A Ren. We still have two places to visit.]

Standing at the edge of the platform, Kafka elegantly turned and fell backward. Blade followed right after, performing a Torpedo Dive as he leapt down.

After speaking with General Jing Yuan, the Train Crew decided to head to the Alchemy Commission, where Jianmu stood, and help deal with the Stellaron.

Yet after fighting a BOSS battle against the Abundance Xuanlu on their way to the Alchemy Commission, the Main Story was gone!

Lao Mu stared blankly at the Main Story that had abruptly cut off.

"Wait, that's it? Where's the rest of the story?!"

The audience was also left incredibly frustrated by the sudden cutoff and began complaining one after another.

"What the hell? I'm already undressed, and you're telling me it's over?"

"The official team really knows how to cut off a story. You pull this right when it reaches the climax?!"

"What an expert at stopping just short!"

"Hurry up and release the rest of the Main Story!"

"Where's my next-episode button?!"

Lin Guang had previously considered whether to release the entire Main Story at once to improve the gameplay experience.

After thinking it over carefully, Lin Guang decided to follow the original version.

After all, the later Xianzhou Main Story was supposed to be the spotlight of Dan Heng Imbibitor Lunae, the Vidyadhara High Elder. He was still working on Jing Yuan's Gacha Pool, so having Dan Heng Imbibitor Lunae appear now was clearly unsuitable!

Besides, Penacony's cliffhanger was still waiting for everyone later!

Lin Guang recalled the terror of being dominated by Penacony's cliffhanger in his past life!

This Mi-style Cliffhanger was incomparably delicious and simply had to be tasted. He had to serve it to the players!

Thus, the Main Story of Version 1.0 ended there. Though the players were unhappy, they could only turn to the game's other content.

"Minister Fu, after seeing all this, do you think our Luofu Xianzhou should accept their Promotion Proposal?"

Seeing the Main Story come to a temporary close, Jing Yuan picked up a document from the table and handed it to Fu Xuan.

It was the Promotion Proposal that Lin Guang had commissioned the Interastral Peace Entertainment Corporation to send to Luofu Xianzhou in the game's name. Its main content was to place Honkai: Star Rail advertisements across Luofu Xianzhou during Version 1.0!

Jing Yuan and Fu Xuan had been following the story closely to see whether the other party had inserted any self-serving content.

After watching the entire story, Fu Xuan truly had not noticed anything unusual. Although she was somewhat bothered by the game recording some unflattering portrayals of her, this concerned Luofu's development, so she could only set aside her personal feelings for now.

After all, the offer they had made was 10 billion Credits!