"This should be the place, right?"
Inside the Skysplitter, Lumina, March 7th, and the others stood before a contestant lounge.
"Those Cloud Knights actually claimed they were just ordinary soldiers..."
"To think such formidable enemies were merely the most common warriors on the Luofu..."
Whether it was the Skysplitter's poor soundproofing or the occupants' failure to close the door, the voices from inside the lounge carried clearly to the group's ears.
Lumina glanced at March 7th, who nodded in confirmation. She then stepped forward and knocked on the door.
Knock~ Knock~ Knock~
The next moment, before Lumina could say a word, the door swung open on its own.
Hmm... Clearly, the door hadn't been properly latched—or rather, it hadn't been closed at all.
It had been left ajar, and the force of Lumina's slightly firm knock was enough to push it fully open.
Seeing this, Lumina didn't bother waiting for the people inside to recover and simply pushed the door open the rest of the way, stepping inside.
"!"
"Who are you?!"
Luka, who had been speaking with his arms crossed, froze at the sight of the group entering. His expression shifted to alarm as he demanded, "Who are you?!"
"Lu-Lu-Lu-Lu-Lu... Lady Lumina!!!"
There were three people in the contestant lounge: Stelle, Luka, and an Intellitron with a camera for a head.
Lumina recognized her: Carmella, an employee of the Interastral Peace Corporation.
When Carmella saw Lumina enter, her entire being—no, her entire Intellitron brain—short-circuited for a moment.
Then, realizing this wasn't Penacony and that what was happening before her was real, Carmella's camera lens instantly filled with expressions of worship, admiration, and pure fangirl adoration.
She cupped her "head" with both hands, her body twisting shyly as she cried out like she'd just met her idol.
Well... it wasn't like she'd met her idol. She had.
Lumina was Carmella's ultimate idol!
"Sister Lumina, what are you all doing here?" Since Stelle had her back to the door, she hadn't noticed Lumina's group arrive at first.
Noticing the slightly odd expressions on Luka and Carmella's faces, Stelle turned around.
She found that everyone except Dan Heng had shown up...
"Oh... so you know each other." Seeing that Carmella and Stelle seemed to know the newcomers, Luka breathed a sigh of relief.
He'd thought they were robbers or something...
Uh... okay, no way they're robbers.
After breathing a sigh of relief and getting a proper look at the newcomers, Luka instantly shattered his initial assessment of them.
Four exceptionally beautiful girls—how could they possibly be robbers?
Besides, the leader of the group exuded an aura so powerful... Luka had never felt anything like it from anyone before.
"That's Lady Lumina! The Cosmos's #1 Idol, #1 Beauty, and #1 Wife and Husband, ahhh!!!"
The more Carmella spoke, the redder her camera lens glowed with worship, admiration, and pure fangirl adoration, as if she were blushing.
"Uh..." Lumina was momentarily speechless at Carmella's words.
The first two titles were perfectly fine—Lumina was quite pleased with them. But what was this "#1 Wife and Husband" supposed to mean?
It made it sound like she had the most wives and the most husbands in the entire cosmos... Could you please stop slandering me?
I'm a pure, innocent maiden! Do I not care about my reputation anymore?
Lumina's mind raced with complaints, but she showed no hint of displeasure or dissatisfaction on her face.
In response to Carmella's behavior, Lumina smiled faintly and nodded at her. "Hello, Miss Intellitron."
"Aah~"
The moment Lumina uttered "Miss Intellitron," Carmella's camera lens erupted in a massive explosion. Her entire body seemed to malfunction as she fell backward, stiff as a board.
Thud...
"Miss Carmella!" Luka's eyes widened in alarm. He started to rush forward to help, but Stelle stopped him.
"She's not broken, just a little... overexcited. She should be fine in a bit." Stelle glanced at Carmella, who was lying on the ground giggling foolishly, a flicker of disdain in her eyes.
Hmph. An Intellitron is just an Intellitron. I can be held by Sister Lumina, even lie in her arms, without any issues.
After a silent scoff, Stelle turned her gaze to March 7th, her eyes filled with confusion. She seemed to be silently asking for the answer to her earlier question.
"We were in the audience and saw you suddenly appear in the ring, so we got curious and came to check on you," March 7th explained concisely, answering Stelle's unspoken question.
Stelle nodded in understanding, then turned to Luka to make introductions. "This is March 7th. You already know her."
"This is Little Swarm, a new member of the Astral Express," Stelle introduced, "and also my little bro."
"Little... bro?" Hearing Stelle's words, Ruan Mei's expression remained unchanged, but a flicker of confusion was evident in her eyes.
"I volunteered," Little Swarm explained, gently taking Ruan Mei's hand. "Stelle... has many qualities I can learn from."
"Hmm..."
Ruan Mei glanced at Lumina's expression. Seeing no reaction, she gave a slight nod, deciding not to dwell on the matter.
"And this is Ruan Mei, a member of the Genius Society."
"The... Genius Society?!" Jarilo-VI had been connected to the Interastral Network for several months now, so Luka was well aware of the Genius Society—an organization whose every member was a legendary figure renowned throughout the Cosmos.
Upon hearing that Ruan Mei was a member, Luka's pupils constricted, and his face filled with awe.
"You don't need to look so intimidated," Stelle said, stepping forward and patting Luka's shoulder. "Ruan Mei is... well, she's actually very easy to talk to. Just treat her normally."
As for Ruan Mei being easy to talk to, that part was actually true.
After all, she only has a tiny sliver of humanity left, so of course she's incredibly easy to talk to.
"Th-this... Miss... Miss Ruan Mei!" Hearing Stelle's words, Luka gradually calmed himself, but his voice still trembled.
The Genius Society had only produced 84 members over thousands of Amber Eras—how could Luka possibly treat one of them with a "normal attitude"?
This was a member of the Genius Society, someone who could doom Jarilo-VI with a single word. How could Luka dare to be casual and treat her normally?
"I am Ruan Mei. When you say my name, please remember the pause in the middle." Ruan Mei paid no mind to Luka's respectful, trembling demeanor. She introduced herself expressionlessly, correcting his pronunciation at the same time.
"Y-yes! Lady Ruan Mei!" Seeing Ruan Mei's blank expression and hearing her emotionless correction, Luka thought he had offended her. A cold sweat instantly broke out on his back.
"Mr. Luka, don't mind Ruan Mei's expression." Seeing Luka's misunderstanding, Lumina smiled faintly and explained, "Ruan Mei is just not good at expressing emotions. Don't worry about it."
This is someone who can talk about starting a harem without batting an eye. How could you expect to read anything from her expression?
Lumina was still bothered by Ruan Mei's explosive statement from earlier.
Just as she'd thought then, she still couldn't tell if Ruan Mei had truly understood or was just pretending...
Whatever. Whether she truly understands or not, I'll just use a little trick later to make her understand directly...
Lumina mused to herself. Ruan Mei's personality wasn't particularly difficult to handle.
"I... I understand." Seeing that Lumina, their leader, had spoken, Luka forced a smile and nodded.
But the tremor in his voice proved he didn't understand at all.
Seeing this, no one said anything.
It was understandable that Luka couldn't calm down. He had just left Jarilo-VI, arrived on the Xianzhou, and after a single sparring match, he was already meeting a member of the Genius Society—someone whose status was nearly equivalent to a Xianzhou General.
After all, it was almost like meeting the Xianzhou General right after arriving on the Xianzhou.
No, there was still a slight difference.
Compared to a Genius, the Xianzhou General was much more approachable...
"Hello, Mr. Luka. It's a pleasure to meet you. My name is Lumina." Seeing his state, Lumina offered a smile that could soothe any heart as she introduced herself.
"Lady Lumina..."
Lumina's healing smile had some effect. When Luka saw it, his expression froze for a moment. Realizing his rudeness, he quickly bowed his head and addressed her respectfully.
Stelle glanced at Lumina, then at Luka, and nudged him with her elbow. "Sister Lumina is the one who melted the ice and snow on Jarilo-VI, bringing your world back to life."
"!" Luka's heart jolted at her words.
He lifted his head, his expression growing solemn and reverent. Taking a deep breath, he bowed a full ninety degrees to Lumina.
"Lady Lumina, on behalf of all the people of Belobog, I thank you for your aid to Jarilo-VI!"
This concerned the entire population of Belobog, so Luka treated it with the utmost seriousness.
"Heh, no need for thanks."
"If you knew more about me, you'd realize that restoring life to an entire planet is just a trivial matter for me—something I can do without a second thought."
Lumina chuckled lightly, gesturing for Luka to relax.
"It may be a trivial matter to you, Lady Lumina, but for Jarilo-VI and Belobog, it was a monumental task we could never have accomplished in a lifetime!"
Luka's expression was solemn, the earlier awkwardness he'd felt facing Ruan Mei and Lumina now completely gone.
He was now representing all of Belobog, and he couldn't afford to be careless.
"Is that so... Then I'll accept your thanks." Seeing his determination, Lumina stopped refusing and accepted Luka's gratitude with a smile.
"Then..."
"Your thanks are received. Nothing more is necessary."
A flicker of joy appeared on Luka's face. He opened his mouth, about to say more.
But before he could utter more than a few words, Lumina spoke first, cutting him off.
Luka had undoubtedly intended to offer some form of material gratitude, which was utterly useless to Lumina.
Even if they offered her the entire planet, Lumina wouldn't have the slightest interest.
Well, of course, if Seele, Bronya, Lynx, Clara... and other beautiful girls were offered to her, Lumina would have been more than happy to accept.
But they would certainly never think of such a thank-you gift.
And Lumina, naturally, couldn't possibly ask them for that kind of reward.
"We..."
"Alright, we just came to say hello."
Seeing Luka still unwilling to give up and about to say more, Lumina interrupted him as usual.
Then she announced her intention to leave.
"If there's nothing else, we'll head back to the spectator stands."
With Lynx and Hook absent, Lumina had no reason to stay.
Hmm... As for Carmella...
Her voice sounds like a beautiful girl's, but her species isn't.
At the very least... she'd need to be able to shapeshift, right?
-
"Sister Lumina, Sister Lumina! Can we come over to your place and hang out tonight?"
The Wardance Ceremony was scheduled to last for several days. After finishing watching today's matches and disembarking from the Skysplitter, March 7th turned to Lumina, her eyes filled with anticipation.
"Uh..."
Normally, Lumina would have been overjoyed by March 7th's suggestion. Why would she even hesitate?
So why was she hesitating now?
It was all because of Ruan Mei...
The feeling of cuddling together as they drifted off to sleep last night had been intoxicating for Lumina.
She wanted to do it again tonight!
But... if March 7th and the others were in the room, how could she and Ruan Mei cuddle up and fall asleep together?
"If you're worried about me, I can find somewhere else to stay." Seeing Lumina's slight hesitation, Ruan Mei assumed she was concerned about her presence and spoke softly.
Lumina was indeed concerned about Ruan Mei's presence, but not in the way Ruan Mei thought...
"No, you don't have to." Lumina quickly shook her head, urging Ruan Mei to stay.
Then she turned to March 7th and said, "If you want to hang out, then come on over! I don't mind at all."
After a brief internal struggle, Lumina stopped hesitating. With a smile, she agreed to March 7th's "visit"...
March 7th is a bit ditzy, and Little Swarm is too. So, are there any other problems?
Of course not.
Who said that just because March 7th and Little Swarm are there, she can't cuddle up with Ruan Mei and fall asleep?
Oh, right. She can't.
Because tonight, she'll be cuddling up with March 7th, Little Swarm, and Ruan Mei as they all fall asleep together...
As for Stelle?
She became Luka's coach and has to help him train, so this has nothing to do with her...
Hmm... Without a doubt, tonight will definitely not be a sleepless night...
No, wait. Tonight will definitely be a night of peaceful sleep...