"Very good, Salome. The second film will be released at Christmas."
Yaqing sat in his office while Shigure Kira lounged on the guest sofa, eating cookies and drinking milk. She looked even more relaxed than he did as chairman. Speechless, he asked, "Kira, why are you so free?"
Shigure Kira took a drink of milk to wash down her cookie. "I'm not like them, in charge of an entire department. I just need to finish my own work. I heard you went back to headquarters?"
"Yeah. I went back to witness a ridiculous farce." Yaqing flipped through the documents delivered over the past few days.
"Then did you see Director Cecilia?" Shigure Kira immediately perked up, her eyes sparkling as she looked at Yaqing.
"No. My sister is still traveling in Shenzhou. I only called Ziegfried back." Yaqing did not even raise his head.
"Ah..." Shigure Kira collapsed onto the sofa, but then seemed to remember something and suddenly got excited again. "Shenzhou isn't far, Yaqing. I want to take leave!"
"Huh?" Yaqing looked at her strangely.
"Have you thought about what you're saying?" Yaqing gave a humorless smile and said irritably, "You haven't even been here for a week, and you're already thinking about taking leave. What will the people below think? Stay put. Once the second film finishes its release, I'll give you time off."
"Mm..."
Meanwhile, Mobius slowly woke up in the Golden Courtyard. The instant she opened her eyes, she saw something enormous and wicked. Realizing that she was lying on Elysia's lap, her beautiful eyes widened.
Elysia lowered her head. Through the cleavage, she could barely see half of Mobius's pretty face.
"Dr. Mobius, you're finally awake. Was sleeping on Miss Fairy's lap comfortable?" Elysia asked playfully.
Mobius did not answer. She merely struggled upright, then froze when she noticed the blanket draped over her.
"Miss Fairy wasn't the one who covered you with that, you know~" Elysia said, blinking as she rubbed her numb thigh.
"Mm..." Mobius still did not respond.
The Video Where Dreams Began
Two months after the release of "Honkai: The Second Honkai Eruption," its popularity had never faded. Whether online or offline, it remained a topic people loved to discuss.
Then today, the entertainment company of the Far East Branch of Schicksal suddenly released a promotional video for its second film, completely setting the internet ablaze.
"This camerawork is insane!"
"You've got to hand it to Welt—he understands men. Those character models really know how to bounce!"
"Does the story jump straight to after the Third Honkai Eruption? I remember the previous movie was only about the Second Honkai Eruption. Can someone tell me, did I miss a movie?"
"That familiar braid... isn't that Cecilia's daughter, Kiana?"
The promotional trailer had only just been released, yet its views had already surpassed a million and were still climbing at an astonishing rate.
In a certain chuuni queen's livestream, a stream that had previously been neither popular nor unpopular had suddenly exploded in popularity after the release of the first movie.
Sirin had originally planned to stream a horror game as usual today, but many people suddenly flooded into her stream, all talking about the newly released promotional trailer. Driven by curiosity, Sirin paused her game.
The video began playing, and Sirin picked up a bag of chips.
"Hey, stop asking me. I really don't know anything. I don't know how the story develops afterward either, crunch crunch. I don't even know who the protagonist of the next movie is." Sirin ate her favorite chips.
The video began in complete darkness. Only the logos of Schicksal Branch Entertainment and Anti-Entropy Entertainment were visible. Himeko's voice acting and Patrick's forced voice suddenly rang out as a conversation began.
"Helios, this is Hyperion. Report mission status."
"Reporting, Major. Optical target not visible. Mission risk has risen to Class A. Requesting confirmation."
Fast-paced background music began to play.
A line of white text appeared on the dark screen: 2 years, 5 months, 16 days, 2 hours, 34 minutes, and 26 seconds after the outbreak of the Third Honkai Eruption.
"Continue the mission."
"Yes, Major! Disabling hatch safety lock. Opening hatch manually." As the woman's voice fell, the mechanical sound of the hatch opening followed. "Helios has entered its fixed-speed cruise trajectory."
New white text appeared on the dark screen: 17:13 PM, 34 kilometers southeast of Canghai City.
"Pressure chamber decompression complete. Hydraulics normal. Observation confirmed. Awaiting Valkyrie boarding."
The dark image gradually brightened. What came into view first was a pert rear wrapped in a skintight combat suit. She slowly approached the opened hatch. Beyond it was a star-filled night sky, and as she gradually stepped outside, the pair of braids swept up by the fierce wind looked familiar to the viewers.
"Valkyrie boarding countdown. Ten, nine..."
The camera drew closer, revealing an impeccably beautiful profile. Without waiting for the other side to finish, she manually shut off the Bluetooth communication. Blue, high-tech goggles appeared, and then she leaped from the floating warship near the edge of space.
The girl was still falling.
The screen abruptly cut, and even the background music stopped.
When the picture lit up again, the music became stirring as well. It was an incomparably beautiful sight: the setting sun echoed the clouds, while even the dusk light could not conceal that dazzling streak like a meteor.
Through the clouds, a massive floating battleship could be seen below.
The camera closed in again. The girl's expression was resolute, while a red dot flashed continuously on her blue goggles.
The footage ended there. Light flashed through the darkness, and amid golden lightning effects, the film's title appeared at just the right moment: "Collapse I: Ballad of the Wind Colors."
The scene shifted.
Four words in silver mechanical lettering suddenly appeared on the screen.
Honkai Returns.
Below them was another line in large print: Script unwritten, cast unavailable, funds desperately short. Everything above is promotional fraud!
"Hey, isn't this way too outrageous?!" Shigure Kira's voice sounded at the end of the video.
"Just kidding." That was Yaqing's voice.
The promotional video ended there.
Sirin stared blankly, her little mouth slightly open.
"Queen, why are you spacing out?!"
"Am I lagging?"
"Queen!!!"
Sirin said nothing. Her face darkened as she turned off her camera and microphone.
Looking at the black livestream screen, the viewers all typed in unison: ???
Sirin leaped onto her bed, hugging her blanket with both arms and tightly clamping a plush toy between her legs as she let out a piercing, ghostly howl.
"That damn uncle is so unfair! Aaaaaah! Why?!"
Even now, Sirin could not believe that her idiotic second sister had actually become the movie's protagonist, while she was a villain—a major villain with an utterly tragic past. It left her deeply dissatisfied!
The more she thought about it, the angrier she became.
Sirin picked up the phone by her bed and prepared to call Yaqing.
"Sorry, the number you have dialed is currently busy..."
Sirin wanted nothing more than to smash the phone in her hand, but she could not bear to do it. All she could do was let out the howl of a defeated loser.
"Aaaaaah!!!"
Meanwhile, far away in the Golden Courtyard of the Far East, Yaqing was on the phone with Kiana.
"So, my dear little Kiana, what do you think of the promotional trailer made entirely for you?" Yaqing tilted his head, holding the phone between his shoulder and ear as he evenly spread jam over a slice of bread he had just taken from the refrigerator.
"Hurry up and thank your uncle."
On the other end, Kiana was extremely satisfied with the promotional video and had even watched it several times over. But upon hearing Yaqing's teasing tone, she immediately pretended not to care. "It was just okay. It didn't show even one ten-thousandth of my beauty. Also, damn uncle, why is the character model dressed so revealingly?!"
Yaqing laughed. "Revealing? It's not even half as revealing as Mei's Valkyrie armor."
"What?!" Kiana shouted. "I don't agree! Mei belongs to me alone, and only I get to look at her."
"Kiana, why are you shouting again?" Himeko, still hungover, looked at Kiana with sleepy eyes, her messy red hair sticking out everywhere.
"I..."
Kiana was just about to speak when she saw that the call had already been hung up.
"Aaaaaah!!!" Kiana stomped her foot.
In the Golden Courtyard, Yaqing could already picture both Sirin and Kiana utterly losing it, and he could not help laughing. Savoring the sweetness of the blueberry jam, he suddenly felt his mood brighten for the entire day.
"With that expression, whose fun are you planning to make of again?" Mobius asked disdainfully as she ate bread spread with blueberry jam.
"Ahem, Senior. You know me. I don't like making fun of people. I'm not interested in that kind of fun." Yaqing said with utmost seriousness.
"Heh."
Premiere Opening
On Christmas Day, the premiere ceremony for "Collapse I: Ballad of the Wind Colors" was held. Since he had promised Elysia, no matter how unwilling he was, Yaqing had to bring Elysia along to attend the premiere.
In one dressing room, Elysia had changed into a pink formal gown and sat there as Eden bent slightly beside her, smiling as she applied Elysia's makeup. It was worth noting that Eden was also wearing an elegant black gown.
"Eden, my dear Eden, at today's premiere, you'll be my date~?"
"Mm." Eden responded with a smile.
Eden naturally understood Yaqing's intentions. He wanted to use her identity as a world-class singer to build momentum for the new movie, but she did not dislike the feeling. If Yaqing truly said it aloud, she would instead feel uncomfortable.
Like this, even in the end, both sides understood perfectly well, yet tacitly accepted it.
In another dressing room, Mobius wore a pale green evening gown, her long green hair pinned up and a golden earring hanging from her left ear. She would be Yaqing's date as they walked the red carpet together.
"What a hassle." Mobius shook the earring on her left ear uncomfortably.
"Senior, if it's really uncomfortable, you don't have to wear it." Dressed in an expensive suit, Yaqing stood before a full-length mirror and tied his tie.
Mobius frowned.
After getting ready, Yaqing looked helplessly at Snakey, who was so bored that she had started playing with her own hair. "Senior, stop curling it around your fingers. It was a pain to pin it up."
Mobius lowered her hand.
Mobius looked beautiful without makeup, with fair and tender skin. Yet because she had stayed up late doing experiments for so long, the bags and dark circles under her eyes were rather severe. Yaqing sighed and pulled Mobius over.
Mobius looked utterly confused as Yaqing instinctively pressed her into a chair.
"What are you doing?"
"Don't talk."
Yaqing picked up the expensive cosmetics on the vanity, skillfully opened the eye cream, and gently applied it beneath Mobius's eyes. The cool sensation made Mobius close her eyes.
"When did you learn how to do makeup?" There was an inexplicable hint of jealousy in Mobius's voice.
"I learned it in the Golden Courtyard." Yaqing instinctively gave the answer he used most often, and the simplest one as well. But the moment the words left his mouth, he realized what he had said.
"Mm?" Mobius's beautiful eyes turned dangerous.
"Eden taught me." Yaqing did not panic in the slightest. He smoothly made it up while patting foundation onto Mobius's pretty face.
Mobius remained suspicious and looked unconvinced, but because Yaqing was applying foundation, she could not readily open her mouth to question him.
"Done."
In only ten minutes, Yaqing put down the cosmetics. Mobius opened her eyes and looked at herself in the mirror, her small mouth falling open. With the help of the makeup, the fine lines caused by sleepless nights had been concealed, while her rosy cheeks looked like apples, making one want to take a bite.
"You..."
At the start of the premiere ceremony, Yaqing had rented out an entire screening hall and given many tickets to everyone in the Golden Courtyard and Theresa. Yaqing and Mobius sat relatively far back, as neither of them liked crowds.
"Brother Yaqing."
Hearing someone suddenly call his name, Yaqing turned toward the voice. Behind Aponia stood two little ones, and the pink-haired girl ran over to Yaqing.
Before you continue