Volume Six: What She Lost and What I Gained-Chapter 526: The Cross-Dresser, the Tomboy, the Nutcracker, and the Old Man

Just then--

"Oh, right, to all you naughty children seeking pleasure on this forbidden night, we have some good news to announce—"

The loudspeakers suddenly turned on, and the lead singer's voice came through.

The audience immediately fell silent and listened intently.

"We, Nighteluveitie, will be attending one of the world's biggest music festivals next week— the Gray Starling Song Festival. Anyone who's fearless, come join us!"

A series of rustling sounds followed by the loudspeaker being switched off.

Then, the overjoyed audience erupted in their loudest cheers yet.

The Gray Starling Song Festival, an annual event directly organized by the Gray Starling Group headquarters, is one of the world's largest concerts, with a history of over 180 years. In addition to its world-class scale, it possesses a unique characteristic not found in other large-scale concerts—it consistently invites primarily young stars and groups, performing mostly popular musical styles of recent years. This creates a welcoming and accessible atmosphere, meaning even newly debuted bands, as long as they have sufficient influence and generate buzz, can potentially be invited.

This is why the Gray Starling Song Festival a stage for young people, a competition for the new generation of music talents, and its popularity among the public remains consistently high.

"Wow~~ Gray Starling Song Festival? How interesting~"

The charming and beautiful "little sister" Su Mengli sat on the soft sofa bed, painting her cute little fingernails with glittery nail polish. Her tender face was rosy, making one want to hug her and take a bite.

"Yes, their alternative band actually got invited! For newcomers, that's a fantastic start."

Wanhua Xing, an ordinary-looking, ordinary-height, ordinary-physique, and ordinary-voiced "older brother"—a typical loser in a harem protagonist's life—stood beside her and handed her a newspaper with the eye-catching headline, "Controversy Escalates Again! Nighteluveitie Invited to the Gray Starling Song Festival!?"

"Wow... that's fast. Back in the day, it took them quite a while to reach this level of stage after their debut, and they did it in just two weeks."

Su Mengli pouted her pink lips with a "humph," clearly jealous, but her expression was incredibly endearing.

"Don't be upset, my dearest Modo! How could they possibly be better than you? They just don't follow the usual path, creating buzz and grabbing attention! And they've climbed so fast, they must have used all sorts of underhanded tactics and been doing dirty deals every day! Our first battle is on the stage of the Gray Starling Song Festival, and we'll make sure they don't even know how they died!"

"Tsk tsk tsk~ Onii-chan is just trying to sweet-talk me, I won't fall for it!"

"Then, what should we do?"

"Show me with your actions, you idiot!"

"Ahhh, my little sister is so cute!!!! prprprprprprprprpr!!!!!!!!"

"Eek! Onii-chan! You actually... you actually licked me there~~~ It's so dirty there!"

"Meng Li- chan is clean and smells wonderful, that's why she's not dirty!"

Gasping for breath and splashing water, Valentina silently covered her ears, forcing herself to ignore them.

She truly is the most bizarre of all; even Valentina, who enjoys crushing men's testicles, couldn't stand her level of disgust.

Wanhua Xing appears to be a typical useless harem male character with no personality or distinguishing features. Although her facial features are relatively soft, she has no beard, and her body is rather slender, anyone who sees her for the first time would definitely think she is a man. However, she is indeed a woman, a fact that Valentina had secretly confirmed while taking a bath.

Su Mengli to be an incredibly cute and adorable young woman who makes you want to pounce on her and cherish her. Although her chest is flat as a chopping board and she is slightly tall, anyone who sees her for the first time would definitely think she is a woman, but she is indeed a man.

What's amazing is that he's not only a man, but also the top idol in the current idol world. After a superstar named Siyana Greenti suddenly disappeared, he solidified his position. Since his debut, he has always been active as a woman, and has countless admirers. Regardless of the income from attending various events and endorsing various products, the sales of his albums alone are consistently high. Even if you just put a "remix" label on his previous albums, they can easily reach the top three on the sales charts.

Valentina doesn't quite understand the world of moe otaku and idol otaku.

But... Gray Starling Song Festival?

Valentina couldn't help but recall her childhood, when she seemed to have dreamed of becoming an idol, but as she grew older, she quickly forgot about it.

"What's bothering you, Tina-chan?"

Su Mengli suddenly moved closer to her, looking at her with a strange smile on her face.

"... Don't call me 'Tina,' I'd prefer to be called by my full name."

"Understood, Commander Tina!"

"It's 'Valentina'! That author took the name from The Count of the Count of Monte Cristo, changed the pronunciation of Danglars' daughter 'Valentina' and it became 'Valentina'... Wait, what am I saying?"

"Okay, Tina! It's definitely a very aristocratic name~"

"Fine... call me Tina if you want."

"Then Valentina-- "

"Why are you calling me by my full name again!? You're doing this on purpose!"

"Right!" "..."

Valentina clenched her fists, but quickly sighed and let go. Talking to these oddballs was exhausting; it was just making herself angry. To vent her frustration, she plopped down on several naked, muscular men who were tightly bound with belts, kicking one of them in the crotch.

Watching the man writhe wildly like a caterpillar but unable to make a sound because his mouth was gagged, Valentina's mood didn't improve much.

No, I'm still really annoyed.

Crack! Crack! Crack! She kicked him several times, each kick making a sound like shattering glass, extremely chilling. For the last man, she didn't even use her feet, but instead reached out and crushed him through his leather SM panties.

Feeling the sensation of her testicles breaking in her hand, Valentina's mood finally improved.

"... Alright, didn't you say you needed to talk to me? What is it?"

Turning around, he found Su Mengli a livid face, covering her crotch with her delicate hands.

"What's wrong with you?"

"... It's nothing, I just think it's best to stay away from Lady Valentina..."

"Why the sudden use of honorifics... Don't worry, I won't lay a hand on you. I have absolutely no interest in a cross-dresser like you with an excess of estrogen."

Valentina waved her hand impatiently, and Su Mengli a sigh of relief, but Wanhua Xing suddenly stood up.

"Take that back! What do you mean by 'a little cross-dresser with excess estrogen'? When Meng Li- chan gets excited, she's a magnificent 20cm behemoth! And those two are the size of goose eggs--"

"Onii-chan, what are you saying?! Aa..."

"Huh?"

Valentina couldn't help but shift her gaze to Su Mengli's crotch.

20cm... the size of a goose egg... How does she manage to hide it when she's singing and dancing on stage?

Oh no, I think I'm starting to get interested.

"Onii-chan, look! That egg-crushing maniac is giving a weird smile! She must have her eye on him, waaaaaah! It's all your fault for being so talkative!"

"Uh... haha, sorry..."

In a Business Capital, in an office building, Yu He's secret room--

"A music group that caused such a stir right after their debut? Haha, they really know how to have fun, Miss Ye and her group."

"It was a small miscalculation on my part," Yu He sighed, leaning against the crystal coffin as he personally checked the sealing of the Planet Will.

"Furthermore, they've received an invitation to the Grey Starling Concert. President, should I inform the people in the Arts Department to block Nighteluveitie's path?"

Fisher stood respectfully before Yu He, his expression extremely humble, his tall figure completely devoid of its usual imposing presence.

Vic Fisher's identity is rather special. He is not only a member of the Extra Weapon, but also another confidant of Yu He besides Ankri, and the only person besides Ankri who knows about this secret room.

"This is a bit unexpected. It's true that once they arrive in the Business Capital, their first thought will be to make money, but within the legal framework, what's the fastest way to make money?"

"... Sell your body, huh?"

"Although brothels are legal in Business Capital, Vic, the first way you think of to make money is through prostitution? It might sound a bit pretentious coming from me, but... isn't that a little disrespectful to women?"

I'm very sorry.

"Never mind... Actually, what I thought of first was selling crystals. Crystal Fruit from the Northern Realm are extremely luxurious collectibles worldwide, while Ye's blood crystals are an evolved version of Crystal Fruit and can also be used as a heat source. If they're willing, they can directly mass-produce high-quality Crystal Fruit handicrafts from blood, and it's a complete production, processing, and sales operation. They can easily make a fortune with this risk-free business."

Fisher was taken aback and asked, "Is that so? You suddenly tightened your control over the diamond jewelry market to prevent them from doing this?"

"Yes, but I've wasted my time. They had no intention of going into business at all. It's kind of ridiculous, but I really came up empty-handed. Then I thought... what else could they do? The key is 'quick money,' so they'll probably make full use of their physical advantages and use their silver tongue to get opportunities to be models or something..."

"So you subsequently tightened control over print media..."

"Yes, but that guess also failed. So now... although I did think they might become stars or something, making money as a star is a gradual process. Training, debut opportunities, building fame—all of these take time. I thought they wouldn't use that tactic, so I didn't pay attention. But... well, these ladies really know how to create surprises, or am I just getting old and outdated?"

Yu He calmly joked about his miscalculation, as if it didn't bother him at all.

(No, it's not that he's 'indifferent,' but rather that he 'really doesn't care much'!)

Fisher carefully observed Yu He's expression.

(Is it just my imagination? I always felt that he wasn't very concerned about annihilating Ye's group? If that's really the case...)

He couldn't help but start thinking more deeply.

(What exactly is he plotting? Could it be...?)

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Ah... I'm about to fall off the Monthly Votes rankings.