[Dear viewers, welcome to tonight's Interastral Peace Broadcast. Here are tonight's top stories.]
Female voice: "Recently, following an anonymous tip from a Masked Fool, the Aether Field activation incident on Jarilo-VI has been confirmed to have been caused by the Aeon of Elation, Aha."
Male voice: "A new cultural trend emerges! The Ultraman image, derived from the Giant of Light, has recently sparked a phenomenon-level wave of adoration across the pan-Galaxy. The IPC has already reached a strategic partnership with the Astral Express Trailblazer to jointly develop and operate the 'Ultra Series' cosmic-tier cultural IP."
Female voice: "Jarilo-VI economic flash report: this quarter's economic indicators show explosive growth, up 11,451,400% year-on-year. Analysts note that the local market recovery is gaining strong momentum, with future growth expectations remaining bright."
Male voice: Multiple factions are known to have received invitations from Penacony, star of the grand gala. Word has it this is the first time Penacony's 'Family' has publicly extended formal invitations to the various factions of the Galaxy.
Female voice: The IPC is among those invited. Diamond, Director of the Strategic Investment Department, stated that they would carefully evaluate the significance of the Family's move and would respond in an active and friendly manner.
Male voice: "As of today, the countdown to the Charmony Festival officially begins."
Female voice: "A Genius shines across the Galaxy—the universe has once again birthed a Genius, one who has earned the glance of Nous. The IPC has held cordial and friendly preliminary contact with the newborn Erudition Emanator, Ms. Bronita, laying the foundation for a future alliance of amicable cooperation."
Male voice: "..."
The broadcast droned on, the occasional advertisement slipping in between.
In the spacious living room of the villa, the ceiling had been designed into a deep-space star chart, its scattered lights twinkling just like real stars.
Through the windows one could see the magnificent nighttime spectacle of Belobog—brilliant with lights, buzzing with voices, the entire city rejoicing for this interastral celebration.
Pop! Pop! Pop!
Several bottles of champagne were shaken open with force, colorful ribbons and confetti bursting out in an instant, scattering everywhere across the room.
Dead center, a striking banner hung high:
"Warmest Congratulations to Stelle & Caelus for Winning the Interastral Showdown Gala Championship!"
Below the banner sat the crowd, already immersed in fine food and merriment.
The long table was piled high with lavish delicacies, the air thick with the mingled aromas of grilled meat, desserts, and alcohol.
With zero regard for her image, Stelle clutched an enormous, glistening chicken drumstick in one hand while the other flailed forcefully through the air, as if she were still commanding her Tiga:
"If the organizers hadn't chickened out and refused to keep the overtime going, that final championship would've been MINE alone!"
She bit down hard on the drumstick, hollering through a full mouth:
"My Tiga was THIS close to blasting apart Caelus-cub's Six Paths Ambrosial Arbor Rinnegan—just a teeny tiny bit more!"
"Heh, in your dreams."
Seated across from her, Caelus elegantly took a sip of champagne, casually clinking glasses with Topaz beside him:
"Obviously it would've been Master Ai, owner of the Cosmic Meat Processing Plant, dissecting the Delusive-Desire DemonMon first!"
"Alright, alright, I actually think a shared first place is quite nice!"
Topaz held her wine glass, a smile on her face, expertly smoothing things over:
"This is a groundbreaking first since the Aether Front began—dual First Champions!"
She paused, then added, "And besides, the 'championship showdown' between the two contestants 'Battle-Through-the-Heavens Caelus' and 'Stelle·I-Didn't-Cheat·Core Sprite' completely blew up the entire Galaxy in terms of hype!"
The championship duel between Battle-Through-the-Heavens Caelus and Stelle·I-Didn't-Cheat·Core Sprite had set the Galaxy ablaze, even breaking out beyond its usual circles, with the number of livestream viewers reaching an unprecedented peak.
The IPC had even been forced to activate its backup servers to barely hold up under the traffic.
The final had shattered the single-match duration record that Silver Wolf and Haxxor Bunny had only just set.
It couldn't be helped—techniques taught by the same master simply couldn't be countered!
Caelus had a limited-edition chip, and so did Stelle.
By sacrificing other Ultramen to have Tiga enter Glitter Form, then constructing an Xyz Network with Mother of Deception·Cocolia and Ultimate-level·DanteMon to perform an Xyz Summon, she fused out a horrifyingly powerful Delusive-Desire DemonMon.
Originally, in terms of individual Aether Spirit power, Caelus actually held a slight edge—after all, one-third of Bronita was him, so he'd cranked his own stats up a bit more.
However, Stelle actually brought in fourth-party aid: she borrowed March 7th's Super Storm Bringer and Torijinmaru to combine with her own Mashin Mecha, evening out the power gap.
And so, this ultimate clash of gods—assembling the Giant of Light, the Mashin Mecha, and a fused monstrosity—dragged on through a grueling two days of overtime.
Both commentators had long ago screamed their voices raw and hoarse, and the technical team repairing the arena was so exhausted they were practically smoking from all seven orifices.
Seeing that the two contestants still showed no sign of a decisive winner, the utterly drained organizers finally declared in despair:
The final—a draw!
The first dual championship in the history of the Aether Front—born!
"Oh right, Caelus,"
Topaz set down her glass, her slightly arched willow-leaf brows carrying a hint of a smile:
"I passed along your earlier suggestion about the attribute system to the Aether Front R&D department. After evaluating it, they thought it was extremely forward-thinking, and next season they'll be implementing a major overhaul!"
From the simple three-attribute cyclical counter system, it would be switched to the 18 Path-based attributes Caelus had proposed, making the entire Aether Spirit attribute system more refined and strategically deeper.
"That's great. Just tell the legal department to keep a close eye on it," Caelus said with a smile.
Topaz blinked in confusion. What did this have to do with the legal department?
"Also."
Topaz shifted the topic, letting out a dry laugh. "The organizers have also kept up with the times and customized a few new rules."
"What new rules?"
The silver-haired beauty—small on the outside yet vast within—circled by Seele's three Duck-Ducks, Silver Wolf, and Haxxor Bunny, paused her covert skirmishing.
Topaz cleared her throat:
"Mainly it's… a ban on contestants swapping decks with each other, a permanent ban on players burning their own data into an Aether Spirit and personally entering the field, and…"
She paused, her gaze sweeping over Stelle and Caelus.
"…adding Ultraman and other Aether Spirits with stats a hundred-million-points too high to the permanent ban list. They'll exist only as commemorative Aether Spirits within the database, or as Guardian-class Aether Spirits for event ** arenas."
"Huh?!"
Hearing these rules, Stelle and Caelus were instantly displeased.
"Heh, if you're bad then practice more! If you can't take a loss, don't play! Can't beat 'em, so you ban their cards? The organizers have no shame at all!"
Caelus crossed his arms and shook his head.
"Why can't we use our God Cards?! We earned—cough—we captured them fair and square with our own skill!"
Stelle waved the half-gnawed drumstick bone still in her hand.
"Forget it, this Aether Front…"
Caelus wore a face of 'seen-it-all' disappointment, as though declaring the end of an era:
"…has rotted through in the end! No fun at all."
"Tsk tsk tsk."
Stelle played along, shaking her head with a look of utter disdain:
"Got nothing left but forcing it! There's just nothing left!"
The two exchanged a glance and simultaneously let out an affected, long-drawn sigh.
"Sigh—can't be helped. Looks like all we can do is go find a few new Aether Spirits to mess around with."
"So you two are still going to play?"
March 7th couldn't help but retort—they'd literally just said there was nothing left, that it had rotted through!
"Hey! Caelus-cub! I've got an idea! ??"
Stelle's eyes suddenly lit up as she raised an oil-slicked index finger.
Caelus shot the ash-haired girl a glance, and the instant their golden eyes met, an inexplicable meeting of the minds sent Caelus into thought.
"Oh right, Herta's been pushing us again to test the Simulated Universe."
Caelus rubbed his chin:
"We can have Bronita try later—see if she can whip up the number-one big shot and the God of Games from the Simulated Universe as Aether Spirits. Even if she can only replicate a tiny fraction of their stats, it should be more than enough."
"Never mind the other Aeons—Aha would definitely be thrilled to appear as an Aether Spirit."
This time it had filled in for Giovanni; next time it could enter the field as an Aether Spirit and compete.
"...Have some human decency, you two!"
March 7th, listening from the side, was dumbstruck and couldn't help rolling her eyes hard.
"Where's the fairness in e-sports?"
"Where's the sportsmanship?"
"And where's the moral bottom line?"
Haxxor Bunny put on the Duck-Duck signature (???) expression, her tone flat and unwavering.
Caelus, dismissive, elegantly crossed his legs and glanced sidelong at Haxxor Bunny and Silver Wolf:
"I'd say at least certain people present have no right to talk about e-sports fairness."
"Don't lump me in with certain cheaters! This was the very first time I've ever cheated in my gaming career! And besides…"
Haxxor Bunny puffed out her not-exactly-generous chest, righteous and stern:
"I did it purely to bring justice upon a certain someone who has zero gaming integrity and can't play without cheating! This was an act of justice!"
"Oho?"
Never one to let a good show go quiet, Stelle stoked the fire:
"Big-brave one, are you reciting my auntie's ID number there?"
"What did you just say?!"
Silver Wolf was instantly set off, her face flushing crimson:
"Who can't play without cheating?! I… I call that making reasonable use of game mechanics!"
Loud as her voice was, she clearly lacked conviction.
Looking at Haxxor Bunny's 'I'll just quietly watch you weasel your way out' (???) expression, and Stelle's gloating grin, Silver Wolf's inner cosmos blazed.
Decided!
The moment she got back, she'd go into seclusion and grind her gaming skills!
At the very least, she had to reach the point where she could go fifty-fifty with that damn bunny without cheating!
Otherwise, how could she possibly maintain her glorious image in front of Seele?!
Damn it!
[Herta: The Simulated Universe's large-scale DDLC debug is done, come test it. @Stelle @Caelus]
The Simulated Universe test project team had originally consisted of only three people; not long ago Ruan Mei had joined too, so now there were four.
[Caelus: Same as always—send a voice message, beg us.]
Faced with Caelus's demand, Herta showed not the slightest hesitation, firing off a voice message the very next second.
Caelus tapped it open, and little Herta's utterly emotionless voice came through.
"Pretty please, come test it. Come and we'll gift you a little Herta figurine~"
[Stelle: I'm f***ing Layla-ing!]
Stelle stripped the last of the chicken off in one bite, tossed the bone, and reached out to grab Caelus.
"Don't touch me, it's all grease!"
Caelus dodged in disgust.
"Caelus-cub, lick it~ lick it clean for big sis~"
Stelle flipped over her fingertips—dusted with chili powder, nails glistening like cardamom buds—trying to shove them into Caelus's mouth.
"Try me, I'll bite them right off."
For all his talk, Caelus still didn't use any real force.
The two chased and roughhoused, then teleported via the villa's Domain Anchor to the Herta Space Station.
The main control cabin section.
"Stelle, Caelus! You've come to play?"
A pink-haired girl with sky-blue eyes walked briskly down the corridor, brows curved with a smile, an adorable little puppy trotting along at her feet.
"Hi~ my lovely little tycoon lady!"
Upon seeing Asta, Caelus straight-up launched himself into a flying hug around Asta's shapely legs, and Stelle, copying the motion like a mirror, hugged Asta's other leg.
"You two really are just bursting with energy no matter the time, aren't you!"
Gazing at the two pendants on her thighs, Asta didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
"Peppy, hello there."
Caelus looked down at the cute doggo at Asta's feet.
"Woof woof~!"
Peppy let out two soft barks.
Stelle looked down at Peppy, who was sitting on the floor, and let out a cold little chuckle:
"Heh, Peppy, your days of living it up on the space station as Asta's dog are over!"
"I'm challenging you, to prove that only I get to be Miss Asta's dog!"
"Woof woof woof!"
Peppy barked wildly, baring its teeth.
"Peppy says: 'I may not be human, but you really are a dog!'"
Caelus provided the translation.
"Huh, Caelus, can you actually understand what Peppy's saying?"
Asta asked curiously.
"Nope, but I'm sure that's what Peppy means, right?"
Caelus extended a hand toward Peppy, and Peppy raised a paw, its soft pad lightly tapping his palm.
At this, Stelle only gave a disdainful smirk:
"Hmph, beauties are only worthy of belonging to the strong, and a tycoon's dog is only worthy of being played by the strong!"
"Stelle, quit fooling around."
Watching the Stellaron spirit and Peppy bicker away in play, Asta didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
While Stelle was busy clinging to Asta, Caelus scooped up Peppy and stepped off to the side.
"Here, Peppy, have a taste of this snack."
Caelus took out a ham sausage made with the Universal Synthesizer and fed it to Peppy.
"Woof? Woof woof!"
Though he couldn't understand animal-speak, as a Masked Fool, Caelus could roughly infer its meaning from Peppy's emotional inclinations.
That was it saying, 'Is this for me? Thank you!'
Peppy opened its mouth and bit down on the ham, but froze after just one bite.
"Woof woof! Woof woof!"
"Tasty, right~"
"Woof woof!"
"This is the power of technology and shady additives. Want some more?"
"Woof woof! Woof woof!"
Peppy nodded frantically.
This stuff was too pure!
It had never tasted a ham sausage this delicious!
"Do you know why this ham sausage is so tasty?"
"Woof?"
"Because the ingredients used to make it are special—extremely precious."
"Woof~"
Peppy hung its head, dejected.
"But, if it's you who wants to eat it, Peppy, I can make some for you later."
"Woof!"
Peppy's eyes lit up as it looked up, its gaze full of conflict.
"Woof..."
"It's fine, we're good friends, after all. This is an exchange of gifts between friends—it's the magic of friendship."
Caelus said with a beaming smile.
"Woof..."
Peppy fell into thought—what should it give back in return?
"What gift?"
As if detecting a keyword, Stelle poked her head over.
"What bicycle do you—er, ahem, what pair of Asta's panties do you want? Are you saying you want to send cute little Peppy to steal Miss Asta's underwear?! Not to criticize you, but how could you make Peppy do something like that?"
Caelus turned around and scolded Stelle.
It was just like Uncle Benshan scolding his own wife right after selling Fan Wei that crutch.
Hearing this, Peppy seemed to be reminded of something. It looked up at its own master, then over at Caelus, its expression like the famous pondering-Husky.jpg.
After a moment's thought, Peppy nodded vigorously.
It could be traded!
It could all be traded!
I'll go steal Miss's panties for you!
This is the magic of friendship!
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