"Yo? Guess who I am?"
Firefly appeared on the video call, but it was Silver Wolf's voice.
Perhaps finding it dull, she dropped the act. "Ugh, boring. It's me, Silver Wolf."
Silver Wolf paused. "What? Not satisfied?"
The next moment, a slight smirk curved her lips. "I know you're looking for Miss Sam."
Silver Wolf shifted the camera slightly, revealing Firefly standing in the kitchen.
"She's busy battling a little cake right now and can't take the call. Some people, ugh, even take forever picking out clothes. I say just wear the armor—tall, imposing, and super cool!"
Suddenly, the phone dropped to the ground, plunging the screen into darkness.
All that could be heard was a chaotic clatter from the room and Silver Wolf's pleading voice.
"Okay, okay, here's the phone! I'm done joking, put your fist down!"
Soon after, Firefly picked up the phone, her eyes a bit flustered, cheeks flushed with a faint blush.
"It's me, Firefly. Don't listen to Silver Wolf—forget everything, forget it! I just heard the temperature swings are big over there, so I wasn't sure how to pack my clothes."
"Oh, right!" Firefly changed the subject. "I'm bringing some oak cake rolls. I've been craving them so much these past few days, so I thought I'd try making them myself. But… it's not going so well. Sam's too intense—I've already burned three."
"It worked fine on the battlefield, but cakes need low heat and slow baking. Thermal weapons aren't exactly ideal. Good thing Silver Wolf conjured up an oven."
"Oh, I forgot to ask—do you prefer them sweet or savory?"
"…"
Firefly listened intently, noting down every detail. "Got it, I've written it all down. Let me try again—I'm sure I'll get it right this time."
"Time flies, doesn't it? The day's almost here. So, anything you want to say to me before we meet?"
"…"
"I will."
Just then, Silver Wolf's voice came from the kitchen. "It's burnt! Burnt again! Stop chatting and come here!"
"Ah!" Firefly hurried toward the kitchen in a panic. "I messed up again. I've got to handle this. See you soon! Bye!"
— —
The screen went dark for a moment before the video call rang again.
This time, it was Silver Wolf using Blade's phone. "It's me again. Ugh, that girl—what's a nice way to put it? Naive. Anyway, I can tell she's taking all of this very seriously.
So don't mess with her, got it? Hanging up!"
— —
"Wow, this game is just too good♪" Elysia took off her VR headset. "Miss Firefly is just too beautiful♪"
"Indeed," Eden said, swiping through her phone screen. "Su Chen really invested a lot in Firefly. Her popularity has skyrocketed." At this moment, Firefly's buzz was dominating nearly half of the online drama's attention.
The fourth season's reception had already hit a historic peak, and with Firefly's three-day call and other arrangements, nine out of ten cosplayers were doing Firefly, and the tenth was placing an order.
"Exactly, that's Miss Firefly's charm♪" Elysia stood up and slowly walked out the door. "I'm going out to play for a bit♪"
"Where are you going?"
"Qingque told me Mei, Kiana, Sirin, and Durandal are playing mahjong. I'm gonna go check it out♪" Elysia opened the door excitedly, her enthusiastic shout faintly audible. "Mei, I'm here♪"
Eden shook her head and pulled out her phone.
The Fourth Season Finale was set to air at midnight tonight. After all, there was one crucial piece of information: news about Honkai Impact 3rd and its specific release schedule.
It was bound to cause quite a stir online.
— —
Midnight.
The story of Penacony was about to begin anew.
[Check-in!]
[First!]
[I'm the real first!]
[Penacony's kicking off! So excited—what kind of surprises will this season bring?]
[Bro, according to a well-known leaker, there's finally news about Honkai Impact 3rd.]
[What's Honkai Impact 3rd?]
[It's the story of Old Yang before he came to the Star Rail world. Haven't you seen the short drama with Elysia and the Thirteen Flame-Chasers?]
[Oh, I remember now. So, what's up?]
[Word is, it's a wholesome, uplifting, and positive story!]
[What kind of vibe do you think it'll have? A space comedy like Star Rail?]
[Come on, space comedy? Star Rail has plenty of gut-punches; they just don't always put them in the main story.]
[Exactly. So maybe Honkai Impact 3rd won't have any gut-punches. Did you see how happy Elysia was when she performed?]
[That… kinda makes sense.]
Meanwhile, the fourth season finale began.
"Wake up… wake up… Hey! Stop sleeping, the sun's already up!"
March 7th's voice roused Stelle, who was grumpy from waking up.
[Huh? Why's it the Stelle version?]
[Yeah, where's my boy Caelus? Wasn't it always Caelus first, then Stelle? Why's Stelle the default now?]
[Heard that up until 2.5, Stelle was the default.]
[Stelle as default only means one thing—they're about to get abstract.]
[Abstract? How abstract can it get? She's the protagonist, you know. Too abstract, and how are we supposed to feel connected? Are we really just watching monkey antics?]
— —
"You okay? Can you hear me? I didn't hear a peep from your room and got scared half to death."
Stelle rubbed her head. "This conversation feels so familiar…"
"What are you talking about? You didn't sleep your brain silly, did you? The dream of 'Order' is over. Even though it's been a day, thinking back still makes me sweat. The Astral Express's 'Trailblaze' journey almost ended here in Penacony…
And yet you're so carefree, sleeping like a log. I'm the one with psychological scars—I didn't dare close my eyes last night, terrified I'd fall asleep and never wake up."
Stelle pouted. "You'll get dark circles."
March 7th put her hands on her hips. "This lady is naturally flawless—no dark circles here!"
Then, March 7th briefly explained the situation after sealing the Stellaron.
The other families were working hard to manage the aftermath of the incident.
As heroes of Penacony, the Astral Express crew had been invited to the Radiant Feldspar to sit in as witnesses.
— —
Meanwhile, at the Moment of Sol.
Firefly was talking with Silver Wolf's projection.
Silver Wolf's words revealed the bond among the Stellaron Hunters.
Not only did Silver Wolf care about Firefly, but Kafka and even Blade had urged Firefly to stay safe.
[Feels like the Stellaron Hunters are a lot like the Astral Express crew—a real family!]
[I kinda love this vibe.]
Firefly gazed at Penacony's sky. "I'm not going to do anything special—just walk around, feel this world a bit more with my own two feet. I want to buy an oak cake roll. During my time in Penacony, I ate one every day, from the first day to the last.
But today, I can buy two and share half with you. If you don't like it, I'll just enjoy double the happiness. Or maybe I'll bring some to Kafka—she never says no. Or… to Blade. He'd like it.
The 'script' doesn't include any of this, right? But look…
I've already added a new footnote to 'Destiny.'"