In the center of the stage, as Robin sang with all her heart, the audience was overcome with emotion—some wept without realizing it, some closed their eyes, lost in the sound, while others clenched their fists in excitement.
Among the crowd, a renowned music critic from a distant star system, who had been watching Robin's performance with a discerning eye, was now left with nothing but shock and fascination—his pen slipped from his hand to the floor, yet he did not notice it at all.
As the final note drifted down like a feather, silence filled the theater—absolute silence that lasted for a full three seconds, until—
"Bravo!"
"Marvelous! What a heavenly voice!"
"Encore!"
"Unbelievable!"
Thunderous applause and cheers suddenly erupted, like waves crashing against the grand theater's ornate dome, nearly shaking it apart as the audience rose to their feet, waving their arms and expressing their awe and emotion with unrestrained passion.
Robin stood at the center of the stage, breathing lightly, the wings behind her ears trembling with excitement.
As her cheeks flushed with exhilaration, her gaze swept past the flying flowers and the roaring crowd, before locking precisely onto Lucian, who was sitting in the VIP seat.
In that instant, she smiled—more radiant than any spotlight—and her beautiful eyes seemed to say: "Father, did you see? I did it!"
Lucian, understanding her gaze, smiled and silently gave her a thumbs-up.
Truth be told, this scene had long been within his expectations.
A galactic superstar?
He had pulled out a song worthy of legend, so how could it possibly not blow up?
However, when he thought about 'If I Can Stop One Heart From Breaking,' he couldn't help but feel a little guilty toward his little bird.
He had copied her own song from the original story and given it to her to sing—yet she believed they were simply connected in spirit because of that, sharing the same passion and the same principle.
A while later, just as Lucian stood before the dressing room door, his thoughts beginning to wander while he waited for Robin, a voice called him.
"Father!"
Before the staff could even fully open the dressing room door, Robin, wrapped in a starry-blue dress, shot out like an arrow straight toward him.
Lucian stood just a few steps away, lost in thought, when something soft, warm, and fragrant collided into his arms.
"Did you see it? Did you hear it?"
Robin looked up, her flushed face glowing with excitement, her eyes dazzlingly bright as she asked eagerly. Ignoring everyone around them, she hugged Lucian's waist tightly, as if she wanted to melt into his embrace.
"Of course. I was watching you the whole time. You saw me, right?"
Lucian smiled as he naturally wrapped his arms around Robin, then lowered his head until his nose nearly brushed against her damp bangs and trembling wings, shielding her from the curious yet cautious gazes of the nearby staff.
"Father, can you praise me like always...?" Robin asked in a whisper.
Hearing this, Lucian raised his eyebrows, then chuckled.
"My little bird flew so high and sang so beautifully. I'm so proud of you."
At this praise, Robin's eyes turned into crescents while her lips formed a beautiful smile.
For her, her father's simple praise made her even happier than all the applause and cheers given by millions of people combined.
Feeling her heart burst with happiness, she buried her burning face into Lucian's chest, inhaling deeply, as if trying to carve his scent into her very lungs.
"If it weren't for you, I could've never done it..." Robin whispered, sounding like a spoiled kitten, unusually gentle.
Lucian couldn't help but wonder if his little bird had unconsciously awakened a rather special fondness, considering she was hugging him in front of so many people and not caring one bit.
"Alright, let's go home." Lucian shook his head and chuckled. "Call your mother and your brother, too. We'll celebrate—you've just taken another step closer to your dream, after all."
In the next moment, with Robin in his arms, he used Absolute Hit to teleport back to Penacony.
At the same time, all the people who witnessed the scene—from staff to talent scouts—hurriedly rushed toward the now-empty spot where Lucian and Robin had previously been standing.
Unfortunately, they were unable to find any trace of them at all.
"Where did Miss Robin go?"
"Not good—the audience is shouting for another song!"
"Seriously, this is such a golden opportunity to go viral—why isn't she seizing it?"
"Hurry! Find Miss Robin! I have a feeling she's gonna be huge! We need to work with her before she blows up!"
"I heard she's from Penacony? Change of plans—let's head to Penacony!"
Robin had never imagined she would become a legend with just one song, as overnight, her name had not only spread across every planet in the Epsilon system but had also reached several other star systems.
Thanks to this, countless people came to Penacony just to see her, bringing a massive surge of visitors to the planet.
===
Oak Family's Harmony Church.
Not long after Gopher Wood became the head of the Oak Family, he built a church dedicated to guiding, comforting, and offering aid to the common people.
Inside the church, a young man sat alone in what appeared to be a dim, narrow, and silent wooden booth, half-hidden within the warm latticework of light that filtered through the wooden window.
In the booth, the young man's upper half remained in shadow, deep and impenetrable, as though it were waiting for a confession that refused to be spoken.
He was none other than Sunday.
At this moment, he was serving as 'Bronze Melodia'—a special position in the church meant to listen to people's troubles.
He sat properly before a small desk, holding his phone, which displayed a video of Robin singing in Epsilon. Hearing his sister's graceful voice and seeing how brightly she shone as she sang, he felt genuinely happy, the corners of his lips lifting into a smile.
He, too, had studied music since childhood and could play many instruments—and at home, he often played duets with his sister while their parents watched.
He knew well that his sister possessed greater musical talent than he did, while he himself excelled more in politics, which was why he had been tasked with learning to govern Penacony.
However, every time he saw Mikhail working tirelessly, he couldn't help but feel as if his father had sent him down the same endless road of labor.
'No, Father would never harm me. He entrusted me with Penacony because he believes in me.'
Whenever such a worrisome thought emerged in his mind, this was how Sunday always consoled himself.
A few moments later, as he remained lost in thought while watching Robin's singing video, a middle-aged man sat down in front of the wooden window, looking dejected.
"Mr. Bronze Melodia, I'm troubled... the idol I admired just got canceled and then quit... I've lost my will to live... I want to end it all..."
Hearing this, Sunday smiled mysteriously.
"It's fine, just pick another one then." Sunday said gently and handed his phone over through a small hole below the window. "Look, this new star named Robin is really something. As the Bronze Melodia of the Oak Family, I guarantee she'll never be canceled."
Right after his words fell, Robin's singing began to play from the phone.
Soon enough, the man—hearing that the melody sounded divine and that the singer was breathtakingly beautiful—had his body frozen in place.
"My God… what was I even listening to before? Robin… she's the one—definitely the one! Thank you, Mr. Bronze Melodia! I've found hope again!"
"Do you admit that Robin's beauty is unmatched in the world?"
Sunday asked calmly, a smile on his face.
"Yes! Of course! Unmatched!"
Not long after saying this with high spirits, the man who had come in hopelessness left the church, skipping with joy.
Sunday felt a deep sense of satisfaction as, once again, he had helped a lost soul find hope in life.
A short while later, a middle-aged man came in and sat before the booth, looking disheveled and miserable.
"I'm truly desperate... To keep my two kids from starving, I had no choice but to sell them off, since that was better than letting them die..."
"Afterward... I smuggled myself into Penacony to earn enough money to buy them back someday, b-but the Hounds are after me..."
"Please... Please help me..."
As the middle-aged man explained his plight, he wept openly, then begged for aid.
Sunday listened quietly, feeling both sad and deeply sympathetic.
Needless to say, the man was a textbook example of the weak—the kind of person the Harmony should help.
However, instead of answering right away, Sunday calmly threw out a question.
"I can give you two options. I can provide enough money to buy your children back and start anew elsewhere, or I can lift the Hounds' pursuit and grant you legal status in Penacony. Which one will you choose?"
"I want to stay in Penacony! Please, stop the Hounds!"
Hearing the man instantly choose the second option without any hesitation, Sunday's smile immediately faded, his face turning cold.
"I see..." Sunday said emotionlessly. "In that case, you're not the kind of weakling I'm meant to help—you're just a fallen opportunist. Either you lack a sense of responsibility, or you never had any children at all. You're lying to me."
Immediately after saying this, he called in the Hounds and had the man expelled from Penacony without hesitation.
He still remembered that, back then, his father had told him the Harmony's aid for the weak had limits—charity must be precise.
Simply put, before helping others, one must first discern whether the 'weak' were truly weak, truly helpless, and truly deserving of help.
"Perfect. Today, I've taken another step closer to Father."
Sunday, thinking of his amazing father, spoke with satisfaction.
===
[A bonus chapter for every 500 Power Stones.]
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