As the time reached the moment when the performance officially began, the lights inside Star Ring instantly dimmed, and the entire venue fell into a brief silence.
Then a spotlight struck vertically down from the dome, and above the stage, full-sky starlight special effects slowly unfolded, pouring down like the Milky Way.
Six steel wires guided a red velvet curtain, gracefully unfurling above the stage. In the center of the curtain, a swing surrounded by fresh flowers slowly descended.
"New Eridu, good evening!"
Astra Yao sat on the swing, wearing a black and white formal dress whose hem gently draped like flower petals.
She held the rope with her left hand and gently waved her right hand toward the fans in the audience seating, her long black hair hanging softly over her shoulders while a pearl-white hairpin was tucked between her strands, flashing with a faint and tender light under the spotlight.
At this moment, she showed everyone—what it meant to be TOPS's Number One Songstress.
"Astra! Astra—!"
The cheers of the fans erupted like a tide, and the sea of stars formed by glow sticks gently swayed below the stage like a breathing, glowing ocean.
"It's starting, it's starting! Belle, Griseo, the show is starting!"
Inside the private box, Wise enthusiastically cheered, his gaze fixed tightly on the stage, terrified of missing a single second of the visuals.
"Mm—Astra really is amazing! So many fans!"
Belle also followed the rhythm of the fans, waving the cheering stick in her hand, but compared to Wise's fanaticism, her movements appeared much calmer.
Wise turned back to look at his younger sister's appearance and 'criticized', "Belle, you're so perfunctory! As a qualified fan, you have to respond to Astra's passion with your own emotions!"
"Bro, what you're doing is called being a