Listening to March 7th, Dan Heng fell briefly into thought.
After a moment, the composed young man slowly spoke. "Perhaps Elation isn't simply laughing heartily or watching other people make fools of themselves, as we usually imagine.
"Just like how Aha helped the Mournful Actors... limiting it to happiness and laughter would be far too narrow-minded. Elation brings pleasure, and the most fundamental source of human pleasure is having our sense of meaning affirmed and finding satisfaction, whether from the outside world or within ourselves."
As he spoke, Dan Heng raised his head and glanced at the boy arguing with Herta, his face flushed red, before continuing:
"And someone with Jiang Yu's personality is clearly enjoying life all the time. He doesn't look like the sort to agonize over every decision, does he?"
Then Dan Heng spread his hands. "March, there's no need to discuss questions like this. A Path isn't an Aeon; it's a very abstract concept. All we need to know is that Aha is interested in Jiang Yu and that Jiang Yu isn't in danger right now."
March 7th nodded, then looked at Dan Heng with a slight frown. "Professor Dan Heng! You're usually so quiet! Why are you willing to say so much today?"
Dan Heng looked at March 7th, then turned his head, shifted his gaze elsewhere, and fell silent again.
"Hey!" March 7th stamped her foot in frustration. "So you'll talk more when it's someone from your hometown? Could you make your favoritism any more obvious?"
While March 7th complained about Dan Heng, Jiang Yu's disgruntled voice came from beside them.
"How could you do this? This isn't fair! Isn't information about an Aeon worth more than a tiny bit of your space station? Why do I still have to pay you Credits?"
The young Sword Immortal from the Xianzhou sounded rather aggrieved.
Herta's reply followed immediately, as unapologetic as ever.
"I said I would waive your compensation, not all of your compensation. You should be grateful. I'm very interested in information about Aeons. Originally, I was planning to make you stay here for the rest of your life. Now you only need to pay three hundred million Credits.
"And that's only because you're dealing with me. If it were someone else from the Genius Society, you'd be thanking them even after they sold you off. I look forward to Aha making contact with you again. Remember to send me the news promptly.
"Don't contact me unless you have information about an Aeon. Once you've saved up enough Credits, just go to Asta."
Herta left, though her puppet remained.
Jiang Yu's little face was bright red, as though he were furious, but he wasn't actually all that angry.
Herta had handed the decision over to Asta, so he was already certain he wouldn't have to sell himself into servitude at the space station to pay off his debt.
After all, Asta was rich, her personality wasn't nearly as bad as Herta's, and he had saved both Arlan and the space station. Later, he could just bring the Stellaron Gremlin with her protagonist's plot armor along and ask Asta for mercy.
With all the research data on the space station and all those people's lives, wasn't every one of them more important than the station itself?
Seeing Jiang Yu's indignant expression, March 7th immediately ran over. "What happened? What happened? I heard Herta say three hundred million Credits."
Jiang Yu pouted. "That's how much I have to pay her. Compared to the parts I destroyed, it's already a lot less. It's my fault for letting my guard down and getting fooled by that woman. The stories were right: the prettier a woman is, the better she is at lying."
"Three hundred million?!" March 7th exclaimed. "I can't come up with that much, but I can at least help cover some of it..."
Standing behind March 7th, Dan Heng nodded too.
"No need. I've already figured out a solution." Jiang Yu waved a hand. "Do you have Stelle's contact details?"
At that moment, Stelle had just finished testing the Simulated Universe and was heading toward the Platform.
After waking up, she had met with Himeko and Herta. She could choose whether to stay on the space station or board the Astral Express and set out on a journey.
This was something Stelle should have seriously considered as soon as possible, since it concerned her future and her life. Right now, however, she couldn't focus on that choice.
The Simulated Universe felt immersive, hovering between reality and illusion. What was more, she had even seen Aeons during the test just now.
Although it still fell short of the awe-inspiring sight of seeing an Aeon in reality, it remained deeply overwhelming for a human.
Stelle had seen Qlipoth, the Aeon of Preservation, inside, as well as Fuli, the Aeon of Remembrance. Fuli had uttered a stream of dreamlike whispers that she couldn't understand at all, but beneath Fuli's flickering light, she had seen Kafka melt away and... herself being stretched into the shape of Nanook, the Aeon of Destruction.
The experience still left Stelle feeling a little dizzy.
Just then, her phone suddenly vibrated. Stelle had received a message.
The tall, gray-haired beauty, who wasn't even a year old yet, took out her phone and opened it. The message came from an unfamiliar account.
"Stelle, it's Jiang Yu."
The real world.
During yesterday's livestream, Siberian Duck had played through Star Rail's missions up to defeating the Doomsday Beast, then helped fans with two runs of Genshin Impact's Spiral Abyss before ending the stream.
She had stayed up all night editing and uploading a video titled "Sunshine Kid: The Young Sword Immortal from the Xianzhou."
She opened the video with their first meeting, filled the middle with plenty of Jiang Yu's adorable little gestures from the story cutscenes, and ended with him risking his life to suppress the Stellaron, creating an AMV-style video.
Star Rail had only just launched, and its popularity was still soaring. Siberian Duck's video quickly racked up plenty of views, likes, coins, and favorites.
Players didn't dislike this slightly airheaded new character. In fact, they were rather fond of him.
They shared their opinions in the comments.
[Liushahe: Sunshine Kid? How did the uploader come up with that nickname? It fits him so well!]
[Extreme Cold: Exactly! When I played yesterday, Little Fish gave me such a sunny, positive vibe!]
[YIDnsiok: Little Fish is so cute. I want to pick him up and bury my face in him.]
[My Pee Is Yellow: I've already done that for you. Little Fish is tiny and soft, and sniffing him feels dry, fresh, and fragrant, like sunshine falling on me while I laze around! My pants have turned yellow, so I'll stop here.]
[Let’s Chat for a Buck: Bro Yellow Pee is as consistent as ever.]
[Ate Two Sea Cucumbers Today: I want to know what Bro Yellow Pee eats to replenish himself.]
[Yue Yan: Bro Yellow Pee's pants are yellow today, but tomorrow they'll be red. Little Fish may be cute, but his strength is the real deal. He really is a little Sword Immortal. So anyone who wants to bury their face in Little Fish should first consider whether they can take a leaping slash. If you can't, let me do it. I've practiced Golden Bell Shield and Iron Shirt since childhood.]
[Wind Boy Solo Fan: Little Fish is so tiny. If he dares leap at me with a slash, I'll grab him, pin him to the bed, and kiss him like crazy. A kid as cute as him was born to be kissed by me! Ahahahaha!]
The comments gradually shifted from praise to unhinged rambling.
But there was no denying that Siberian Duck's video would bring Jiang Yu more fans and popularity, allowing his strength to grow once again.
The next day, Siberian Duck started another livestream and continued playing through Honkai: Star Rail's missions.
She first completed the initial Simulated Universe test. The roguelike tower-climbing gameplay was immensely satisfying.
In the process, players also gained their first relatively detailed understanding of the concept of Aeons.
Just after she finished testing the Simulated Universe, a message arrived on the game screen.
When she opened the phone's chat interface, the game didn't show an unfamiliar avatar. Instead, it used a picture of Jiang Yu smiling brightly.
"Guys! Little Fish sent me a message!"
This was new story content too, and Siberian Duck was thrilled.
Before you continue