"My oh my, what a generous little gift..."
Meanwhile, in another live stream on the Bilibili platform, Little Bear had also completed the donation event. Upon seeing the "generous little gift" Lumina had sent in his email, he immediately let out a gasp of astonishment.
Perhaps because he was so used to Mihoyo's stinginess, Little Bear's first reaction to the reward was shock. Then he assumed that this reward must only be available for donations exceeding a certain threshold.
The amount of rewards varied based on the donation amount.
But it soon became clear that Little Bear had completely misjudged Mihoyo this time.
"I never expected Mihoyo to suddenly become so generous..."
"A Self-Select gacha where the first small pity is guaranteed to be on-banner, giving away thirty pulls almost without conditions..."
But just as this thought crossed Little Bear's mind, someone in the comment section provided an explanation.
Regardless of the donation amount—even if someone only watched an ad to donate—the reward was the same...
Upon learning this, Little Bear couldn't help but sigh in amazement.
[Is it possible that Mihoyo hasn't become generous at all, but rather my wife Lumina is the generous one?]
[To the guy above: Did you order too much takeout from PHF? Lumina is Mihoyo's. Any decisions Lumina makes are naturally Mihoyo's decisions too. (eye roll)]
["Hey, guys, what if both the Astral Express and Lumina are actually real people, just living somewhere we don't know about?!"]
["Crap, another one's gone mad from overindulging (facepalm)."]
["Just Third Dimension P/H/F takeout overload, causing delusions before they die of overeating."]
Although the generosity of Version 1.7's rewards somewhat defied players' expectations of Mihoyo, no one minded. Players loved this generous Mihoyo and hoped they'd keep it up, striving for Version 2.0's rewards or the anniversary edition's to surpass even Version 1.7...
"I'll pull for cards tonight. Let's get through the story first."
Little Bear opened the character interface to check the materials needed to level up Lumina. Noticing they could only be obtained in the new map, he opened the quest panel and started tracking the necessary missions.
It's worth noting that while Xiao Hunhun had resolved the matter with just seven or eight top-ups, Little Bear had spent nearly twenty-three $99 top ups to achieve the same result.
Although Lumina's strength, appearance, and personality made it all worthwhile, Little Bear still felt a twinge of bitterness when he saw comments like, [ "Unbelievable Xiao Hunhun! Star Rail's luckiest dog! E6S5 Lumina in 450 pulls!" ] flooding the comment section.
God, please let the gacha gods bless me too!
"Hiss... Could Apricot Grove actually be an living planet?"
As the Astral Express warped into the Sumeru Star System and arrived above Apricot Grove, Lumina gave a command. Instantly, the planet transformed, displaying a cute expression and manifesting two hands that waved in a friendly gesture. Little Bear and the live stream audience were instantly dumbfounded.
Little Bear snapped out of his daze, swallowed hard, and muttered, "A living planet..."
As someone who frequently researched such things, Little Bear knew all too well what living planets were. The Xianzhou Cangcheng had been annihilated by one such entity.
While this particular living planet might not rival the World-Devouring Rahu in scale, as a creation of the Abundance Aeon, it couldn't possibly be weak...
[Known: Living planets are products of the Abundance Aeon. Also known: This living planet obeys Lumina's commands. Conclusion: Lumina is the Abundance Aeon!]
[Lumina used to at least deny it, but now she doesn't even bother pretending anymore, huh?]
[Hehe, I've finally caught you red-handed!]
[Miss Lumina, you wouldn't want anyone to find out you're the Abundance Aeon...]
Although the revelation that Apricot Grove was a living planet shocked the Players, the shock didn't last long. After just a few minutes of discussion, the topic completely vanished from the Comment Section.
After all, not all Players delve deeply into the world-building and historical events of Honkai: Star Rail.
Moreover, given Lumina's position as the Abundance Aeon's Emanator, controlling a living planet seemed perfectly normal.
Even though living planets were creations of the Abundance Aeon, ignoring a million other facts, wasn't Lumina herself the Abundance Aeon?
This brief interlude passed quickly, and the plot continued to advance.
-
"Holy Irminsul, Sumeru City...!"
After arriving at Apricot Grove and hearing Lumina's descriptions of Sumeru City and the Irminsul, Little Bear exclaimed in astonishment once again.
"Irminsul, Sumeru City... Is there also a Sanctuary of Surasthana inside, and a little girl named Nahida there?"
Though he knew the stories would differ between the two games, Little Bear couldn't resist teasing her at the sight of these familiar yet foreign names.
[I can already guess what's going to happen next. The Trailblazer enters Sumeru City and gets caught in endless cycles of reincarnation. Then, Lumina uses the power of the Irminsul Tree to save us... only to be forgotten by the world.]
[If there's really a Nahida in Sumeru City, she must be the mysterious new 4-star character, right?]
[Fuck your mysterious new 4-star character! Even if it's Nahida, I'm still gonna complain! Seriously, it's the first time I've seen this—a character released at launch, in the gacha pool, pulled into my team... and she's still just a black silhouette, completely unusable! (Covers face) Isn't this just blatant manipulation to force us through the Main Story?]
[Thank goodness this character is only a 4-star, otherwise I'd be calling the authorities immediately. (Speechless)]
[Let the world forget me completely!]
Although the terms "Irminsul" and "Sumeru City"—which sounded vaguely familiar—appeared, the players' reactions remained relatively muted.
After all, it was just a minor coincidence, nothing to worry about. In fact, there was absolutely nothing wrong!
"Looks like Apricot Grove is a high-tech civilization," Little Bear murmured.
Even though the Special Preview Program had revealed some information about Apricot Grove, Little Bear couldn't help but marvel at the sight of the driverless hovercar materializing out of thin air.
"But speaking of which, if the House of Daena has already appeared, then the Sanctuary of Surasthana and Nahida must be coming too, right?"
Watching Lumina's in-game explanation of the hovercar and docking platforms, Little Bear's lips twitched.
It felt like returning to his homeland after years away, only to discover that his once-primitive hometown had undergone rapid development, transforming into a high-tech empire in the blink of an eye...
[If the House of Daena has already appeared in Sumeru City, it would be impolite for the Sanctuary of Surasthana not to show up as well.]
[Nahida might not appear, but the Sanctuary of Surasthana definitely will!]
[I can't believe that after just two years away, the House of Daena has transformed from a mere library into a place where elders discuss world-altering matters... Ah, things change so quickly, people change too quickly.]
[Did the person above not graduate from elementary school? Can you even use "things change, people change" in that context? (Facepalm)]
[Nahida should probably stay out of sight... Otherwise, she'll just end up using "Let the world completely forget me" and meekly back down.]
"Don't worry," Little Bear reassured, glancing at the comment section while playing through the storyline. Noticing some players' concerns, he explained, "It's the same plot. Mihoyo isn't stupid—they wouldn't use the same trick twice."
Using the same script twice? Let alone the players' reactions, even the developers themselves would probably be reluctant.
Therefore, the "Let the world completely forget me" twist is guaranteed not to happen again. It's definitely not coming back...right?
As for other plot points...
Well, that's hard to say...