"Attention, spectators, attention please—"
"The Interastral Showdown Gala Tournament is about to begin. Would all spectators please enter in an orderly fashion!"
The standard broadcast voice, brimming with enough enthusiasm to set a whole planet ablaze, echoed through every corner of Belobog Plaza and its surrounding districts via the amplification devices scattered everywhere.
"Wow… so many people! This is way too lively!"
March 7th rose up on her tiptoes, her pink-blue eyes reflecting the sight of the broad main avenue of Belobog stretching before her, her little face full of astonishment.
"You said it."
Caelus lifted his head toward the sky.
Countless starships, Starskiffs, and space-warp devices were parked in neat rows across the designated airspace like a forest of steel, nearly blotting out the daylight.
"This scene's even more absurd than the Spring Festival travel rush."
"It really does feel like a dream."
Today was the opening ceremony of the Showdown Gala. As Belobog's Grand Guardian, the Rand-Duck of course had to personally attend the first major event since Jarilo-VI's return to the wider cosmos.
Bronya felt that the sight before her was suffused with a strange sense of temporal dislocation.
In just a few short days, this Jarilo-VI—which had fallen into a technological rupture due to the long Eternal Freeze and had been cut off from the vast starry sky for over seven hundred years—had astonishingly ushered in a spectacle grander than any golden age recorded in its history!
Visitors from all across the universe converged here, their numbers far surpassing the peak of galactic-civilization exchange seven hundred years ago.
The densely packed figures were like a migrating swarm of interstellar ants, flowing slowly but in orderly fashion toward the main venue of the Interastral Showdown Gala Tournament, guided by the coordinated efforts of uniformed IPC staff and the Silvermane Guards keeping order.
"Everyone."
A crisp, capable voice rang out. Topaz was now wearing her signature uniform, a professional and composed smile on her face, with no trace whatsoever of her earlier awkwardness.
Having participated in several Showdown Galas, Topaz was clearly right at home with the scene:
"The contestant passage is over this way."
"Brother Caelus, why hasn't Sister Stelle shown up yet?"
White Seele held in her arms an Aether Spirit that was snow-white all over and elegant in form. A soft halo shimmered around it, and its long, ribbon-like tendrils drifted gently—its appearance somewhat reminiscent of a Sylveon.
A hint of worry filled her pure eyes as she looked up at Caelus.
Black Seele, split off by the yin-yang division of the Tiger Talisman, stood with her arms folded, radiating a chilly keep-your-distance aura.
At her feet crouched quietly a peculiar-looking Aether Spirit, shaped like an enormous mantis, yet constructed entirely of red-and-black intertwined flowers so vivid they bordered on the demonic.
This red-and-black demon-flower mantis was beautiful and deadly. On the planet where it was born, it used precisely this dazzling gorgeousness to lure prey close, then, catching them off guard, instantly took their lives with the concealed petal-scythes.
Black Seele shot a glance toward the crowded registration hall in the distance, then, feigning nonchalance, tapped the ground with the toe of her shoe and reminded them in a tsundere tone:
"Hey, the registration deadline is almost up."
"Relax, whenever that girl might drop the ball, she'd never do it during playtime. There's no way she'll be late."
Besides, would the IPC dare to disqualify Stelle from the competition on the grounds of tardiness?
Caelus naturally spread out both arms, his left hand wrapping around White Seele's soft, smooth shoulder, while his right rested on Black Seele's equally slender but slightly tensed shoulder:
"After all, the protagonist always makes her entrance last."
"Mm…"
White Seele's angelically exquisite and adorable little face instantly flushed with two alluring streaks of crimson.
Being held so intimately around the shoulders by Brother Caelus—especially in such a public setting amid surging crowds—made her lower her head shyly. The Aether Spirit in her arms seemed to sense its master's mood, too, nuzzling her softly.
Black Seele let out a clear "Tch!", stubbornly turning her head away, as if utterly disdainful of Caelus's affectionate gesture.
Yet her tensed body did not break free, allowing Caelus's hand to remain on her shoulder.
"Ah, you're all here."
Stepping into the lounge exclusive to the contestants' inner area, the first thing that met the eye was a gracefully elegant beauty.
She wore a Silver Wing navy-blue dress, her silver-gray curls cascading down her shoulders. At this moment she lounged lazily against a comfortable sofa, elegantly savoring small bites of an exquisite ice cream.
Her body's inner core was still the Little Duck, and she practically had "So much fun here, who'd think of Honkai" written all over her face.
Here there was Seele's company, and there were the interstellar games sweeping the entire universe—life was so comfortable that she'd almost forgotten the smoke and flames of Earth and Honkai.
Occasionally she'd go back for a bit to check on the state of that idiot Kiana and Sister Mei, and the rest of the time… the Little Duck had utterly dumped her own body back on Earth onto Silver Wing, while she herself contentedly enjoyed this mature, delicate figure.
In the past, she'd still had to worry about having to play the role of Silver Wing at night and do that sort of thing with Caelus. At first it had perhaps felt a little awkward, but after fully accepting the situation… well, she had to admit, the experience was unexpectedly not bad.
It's Silver Wing's body anyway!
Since Silver Wing herself didn't mind her own body being used and taken in that way, what was there for the Little Duck to fret over?
Just lie back and enjoy it!
"Sister Bronya~"
White Seele called out sweetly.
A tender smile surfaced on the silver-haired beauty's face. She set down the ice cream and reached out to gently pull the pure-white girl onto the soft sofa beside her.
She picked up a silver spoon, scooped up a spoonful of cold, sweet cream, and with a doting smile brought it to White Seele's lips:
"Here, try this flavor, it's really quite good."
"Eh? How come I don't see Bronie anywhere?"
March 7th was cradling her phone, fingertips rapidly tapping at the screen, apparently sending messages.
She glanced around while mumbling, her pink-blue eyes sweeping nimbly across the lounge:
"She clearly said she'd already arrived, didn't she?"
As she spoke, Little March tilted her head, sprang up onto her tiptoes eagerly, and made as if to go looking for someone on the other side of the lounge hall.
"Hold on."
Caelus caught March 7th's soft little hand, a faint, elusive amusement playing at the corner of his mouth:
"No need to go. I think… she'll be here any moment now."
As Bronie, she of course knew Haxxor Bunny's location.
Originally, Miss Haxxor Bunny really had intended to rush straight over to find Seele, but she'd reclaimed control of the body on the pretext of watching a bit of the competition first, half-coaxing and half-blocking to stop her.
As for why she needed to stop Haxxor Bunny?
That was of course because she had to nail the timing of the entrance!
What timing?
"Yoo-hoo~!"
Accompanied by the crisp clack-clack of ankle boots striking the floor, an energetic voice rang out—the adorable Stellaron spirit suddenly appears.jpg!
The gray-haired girl had, at some unknown moment, appeared standing in the hall, two fingers pressed together at her forehead as she dashingly swept up her bangs, imitating a certain legendary Saiyan returning from the underworld to attend the martial arts tournament:
"Everyone! Sorry to keep you waiting!"
"Hey! Why are you only showing up now?! And here I thought you—uh!?"
Little March launched her routine follow-up snark attack, but the words froze halfway out.
Her lovely blue-pink gradient eyes first widened gradually in surprise, blinked adorably, and finally locked onto the figure standing shoulder to shoulder beside Stelle.
Silver-gray long hair coiled up in a highly individual single-spiral Duck-bun style, with a pair of tech-styled neon-lens sunglasses perched on her forehead, casually pushed up there by the girl at this moment.
A midriff-baring T-shirt and fishnet pants—the name's Silver Wolf, remember it.
The Stellaron Hunter with a bounty of 5.1 billion·Silver Wolf!
March 7th had only ever seen Silver Wolf's quantum projection once before, yet she still recognized her at a single glance.
Before Bronya·Silver Wing got on board, Star Rail, Silver Wolf, Seele, plus herself often formed a five-person queue to play ranked matches together.
Though back then, Little March had absolutely no idea that this cool gaming buddy was the illustrious Stellaron Hunter.
The Silver Wolf before her radiated a solid, tangible presence—by no means an illusory projection—this was her real body!
In a sense, this counted as their true first meeting.
Little March had once thought all Stellaron Hunters were terrible villains, but after Star Rail had made contact with the Stellaron Hunters—the others aside, Silver Wolf gave her the impression of being no different from a gamer girl.
Silver Wolf's gaze, however, was not directed toward March 7th, nor even toward Caelus beside her.
She was tilting her chin up slightly, arms crossed, watching another direction of the lounge at her leisure with a scrutinizing, razor-sharp look.
Following Silver Wolf's piercing gaze, March 7th blinked again, and only then noticed the target of Silver Wolf's attention.
Twin ponytails displayed in a double-spiral Duck-bun style with blue gradient at the ends, bunny ears on the hood swaying to and fro, a cool midriff-baring techwear T-shirt paired with hot pants.
In this instant, March 7th's brain finally seemed to complete its information processing, her pink-blue eyes darting rapidly back and forth between Silver Wolf and Haxxor Bunny:
These two people… how do they look so alike!?
Even their brisk, spirited air was somewhat similar, and both were super hackers.
"Could it be… an Alternate Dimension Counterpart?"
"That's not right! Isn't Bronie Bronya's counterpart?"
Little March, muttering under her breath, ran her mind at a furious pace, her head swinging quickly left and right until she was dizzy, her little brain grinding away—CPU at 99% usage.
In the center of the venue, the auras of the two hacker ducks had already collided.
The very first instant Silver Wolf's gaze swept over, Haxxor Bunny precisely pinpointed her presence. Without the slightest retreat, she met it head-on with a straight, unflinching stare.
Silver Wolf's and Haxxor Bunny's lines of sight fiercely intersected in midair.
In that instant, it was as if invisible lightning and sparks were violently scattering through the void. Though it was a lively contestants' hall, the area where their gazes met seemed shrouded by a powerful low-pressure front, making it feel as if chilly air was surging up out of nowhere in the sweltering heat!
"Hey——!"
A girl's voice, slightly milky yet oozing full-on mob-boss-heiress swagger, rang out across the hall. Silver Wolf was the first to break the silent standoff.
She tilted her chin up slightly, strode forward, and with an air that brooked no dispute, walked straight toward Haxxor Bunny:
"So you're the one who calls herself Haxxor Bunny, huh!"
"That's me, so what!"
What answered her was another equally milky, equally unruly mob-boss-heiress voice.
Haxxor Bunny didn't show the slightest weakness. She strode forward, heading straight toward Silver Wolf.
The distance between the two shrank slowly with their firm, pressuring steps.
In the air, the invisible sparks born from the fierce collision of their gazes seemed compressed to the extreme, crackling and popping, growing more intense by the moment!
"Somehow I get the feeling things aren't quite right here."
March 7th gave a little shudder: "Aren't you two going to stop them?"
"?"
A question mark popped up over Little March's head as she looked toward Star Rail.
There she saw two Gray-hairs sitting together, a spread of melon seeds and snacks laid out before them, crunching away, both of them wearing black sunglasses.
"NICE!"
"This is exactly what I came to see!"
____
________________________________________
If you want more chapters, please consider supporting my page on (P). with 50 advanced chapters available on (P)
👻 Join the crew by searching Leanzin on (P). You know the spot! 😉