"No, no, I misspoke — I meant husband. Wishing you and President Qing a lifetime of happiness and many children to come!"
Thinking Caelus had taken offense, the receptionist girl panicked slightly and immediately corrected herself, dipping into a bow.
Even if everyone at the entire Celestial Jade Group knew that Lord Caelus was President Qing's kept pretty boy, that wasn't the sort of thing you said out loud, now was it~?
"By the way — you left the inner quarters without permission. Does President Qing know about this?"
Her tone carried the exact energy of someone fretting over a favored imperial consort who'd snuck out of the palace behind the Emperor's back.
"Pfft!"
March 7th couldn't hold it in.
"Hahaha, look at you, Caelus-cub~"
Stelle burst out laughing, switching on her signature little scheming side-eye, bumping him with her shoulder with a grin.
"Classic me!"
"This Qingque! She — she actually — how dare she pull such an outrageous stunt! This is absolutely, utterly unconscionable!"
Her chest heaving with barely-contained fury, Fu Xuan's face had gone crimson. Her small fists were clenched so tight her knuckles had gone white. Burning with equal parts shame and rage, she stamped her foot.
She truly had not seen this coming.
In Qingque's dream — she had become that girl's little secretary!
Bad enough to be demoted to secretary. But Qingque had also gone and pulled the whole 'keeping a beauty in a gilded chamber' routine — she was being kept.
"Holding the post of an official within the Divination Commission, yet rather than serving with integrity, she indulges in the keeping of a paramour! A transgression against all propriety, a disgrace to a position of such prestige — when This Seat breaks this illusion, Qingque will be sitting a comprehensive conduct examination from scratch, until she understands decorum and knows the meaning of shame!"
"Alright, alright, settle down, Master Diviner."
Caelus gave a light cough and took up Qingque's defense: "Didn't you hear what the young lady said? It's 'husband' — a committed, one-on-one arrangement. How exactly does that violate anyone's sense of propriety?"
"Besides, this is just an illusory realm conjured by a Heliobus from Qingque's own consciousness. Even if you are the Master Diviner, surely you can allow your subordinates a little freedom in their dreams?"
Listening to Caelus's reasoning, Fu Xuan calmed herself down, exhaled a long breath, and gave a nod.
"...You're not wrong."
This was a dream-illusion, after all. Qingque hadn't done anything in violation of the rules in the real world.
"Come to think of it, this dreamscape has pretty solid internal logic. The NPC intelligence is no joke."
Caelus looked over at the receptionist in her cheongsam, her expression deferential, and asked:
"Can I go up and find Qingque now?"
"But of course."
The cheongsam receptionist immediately curtsied, fingertips gesturing in a graceful 'please proceed' motion, her tone soft and respectful: "Right this way! President Qing's office is on the 999th floor."
"Whoa, floor 999? That's high."
Gazing around with curious eyes, Stelle followed the receptionist's lead into the elevator, pressing both palms flat against the transparent elevator walls and squinting into the distance with a furrowed brow.
"Why can't I make out anything far away? What about you two?"
"Same here. Can't see a thing clearly."
The fluffy little pink-haired head and the gray-haired one pressed together, and March 7th shook her head.
"Not actually that strange."
Caelus rapped his knuckles lightly against the transparent wall. "Illusory realms only render the necessary scenes. Distant areas are non-critical assets — same as how mountains in the background of a video game only get a low-poly silhouette."
"Oh, right!"
That gaming analogy clicked instantly for Stelle, and understanding washed over her face.
Then her brow furrowed. Index finger and thumb spread apart in a pinch, the gray-haired girl propped up her delicate chin in a pose of deep, labored contemplation.
Ten seconds later, deliberation complete. Stelle — who had been squatting on the floor — turned her head, reached out, and made a grab for March 7th's skirt.
"Lemme see!"
"Eek!"
Startled by the sudden move, March 7th yanked her skirt away before the delirious Stelle could get a proper grip — then thwacked her twice on the head with one hand.
"What is wrong with you this time?!"
"I want to see how realistic this illusion is!"
Stelle's eyes were sparkling with entrepreneurial fire.
"If Heliobus possession can produce a hyper-realistic immersive illusion like this, then besides the barbecue joint, we could totally open a dream shop! Have a Heliobus craft fully immersive dreamscapes tailored to each customer's wishes — let them live out their perfect fantasy life, flourishing in love and career, all inside the dream!"
"And... I have an idea??"
Assuming adult content were permitted — regardless of whether the client was Xianzhou people or Outworlders, long-life species or short-lived species, organic lifeforms or inorganic ones — lewd desires and matters of the heart were needs encoded into the genes and etched into the soul itself.
The horny masses would flock to this service in droves. After prolonged exposure to all manner of deeply-specific customer fantasies and desires, the Heliobus's own SP energy would be shaped in turn — with a very high probability of transforming it into an alluring, voluptuous succubus with nothing on its mind but work and debauchery.
"This is — the Heliobus Succubus Transformation Plan!"
Stelle straightened her back, chin lifted, eyes dancing with triumph, launching into a grand, passionate address as if she were mapping out the fate of nations.
March 7th: "(°д°)"
Fu Xuan: "O_O ?"
Both of them stared, utterly dumbstruck, jaws nearly scraping the floor.
This was absolutely next-level unhinged.
The Heliobus secretly eavesdropping from the shadows had its little flame trembling and shaking in pure, existential terror. Terrifying. Absolutely terrifying.
Was this gray-haired creature even a person?
What kind of brain wiring produced a thought like that?
"Are you actually a genius?"
After a brief moment of stunned silence, Caelus's expression went through a rapid series of transformations, and he looked at the Stellaron spirit standing there with hands on hips with something approaching genuine awe, sucking in a sharp breath.
"Obviously!"
Stelle was extremely proud. "Who do you think I am? Your lord is genuinely incredible!"
"To come up with such a brilliantly twisted idea — you've earned your place as a Hachi-Stelle, no question."
Caelus's expression shifted toward excitement. This idea was actually viable.
Building our very own Xianzhou dream destination!
And an R18 version that Penacony never dared to offer!
"In that case, the spring— ahem, sweet dreams, plus barbecue, all in one package~ And maybe we throw some roasted Abundance Ebon Deer kidney into the mix — clients coming out of the dream are going to be a little... depleted, so we can mark up the price on those kidneys by double."
"Good call. I've got another idea..."
Watching the two gray-haired heads lean together in a corner, arms slung around each other's shoulders, trading lines back and forth as they schemed about exploiting a Heliobus to run a dream parlor — Fu Xuan's already slightly-open mouth drifted further and further open.
"You two — what on earth are you talking about?!"
She understood every word. That was precisely why the shock hit harder.
Fu Xuan had received word from Jing Yuan that the Star Rail crew could completely neutralize the Heliobus that had left the entire Xianzhou at a loss — and so the Ten-Lords Commission had turned over every fragment of Heliobus they had captured to these two for safe disposal.
This was their idea of safe disposal?
This is what you call neutralization?
March 7th's face had developed an involuntary twitch. Why, of all people, did she have to be surrounded by both Stelle and Caelus — these two dragons lying dormant in plain sight?!
Should she marvel at how deeply, diabolically cunning these two overgrown children were — or should she just call them both raging geniuses and be done with it?
Ding~!
The executive elevator gave a crisp chime.
"Are we there?"
Stelle glanced up at the floor display. Floor 900.
They were still 99 floors short of 999 — why had it stopped?
The question had barely formed when the elevator doors slid open, and a familiar figure appeared in the doorway.
Cherry-blossom pink hair pinned up with a golden hairpin at the crown, pale pink and soft purple dress, the signature embroidered-cloud white stockings — it was unmistakably another Fu Xuan, straight out of Qingque's mental dreamscape.
"Another Master Diviner?!"
March 7th gasped.
"..."
Fu Xuan fell silent.
The Dream-Fu Xuan didn't seem to pay any particular attention to the real Fu Xuan — perhaps some kind of cognitive barrier was at work?
"I'm no longer the Master Diviner. Please don't address me that way."
When Dream-Fu Xuan spoke, her voice was like cotton wool soaked in warm water — soft in a way no one had ever heard from the real her, stripped entirely of the sharp, incisive authority of the Divination Commission's head.
"I was originally just an ordinary little employee under the Luofu Imperial Jade Group. I was fortunate enough to earn President Qing's recognition, and became her secretary — using my humble little insight to help Lady Qingque forecast stock indices."
"It seems that all the guidance This Seat has given her over the years left no gratitude whatsoever, and instead carved rather deep psychological scars."
Fu Xuan let out a cold snort, arms folded across her chest.
"What exactly did Qingque do to you?"
Stelle, whose head had been pressed down by March 7th, stood back up to ask.
"P-President Qing... gives so very much. Far too much~!"
Dream-Fu Xuan said it with bashful embarrassment.
"Ptooey, ptooey, ptooey! You shameless wretch!"
Even knowing full well this was only an illusion, Fu Xuan was still furious. She jabbed an accusatory finger at her dream-self.
But Dream-Fu Xuan had already looked away, her gaze landing on Caelus — who had just straightened up from where he'd been half-hidden behind Stelle.
"Little Xuan greets the Master~!"
The gilded pupils snapped wide open. She pinched the hem of her pink-purple skirt between her fingertips, her voice soft as glutinous rice cake with a faint tremor of shyness woven through it: "May I ask... will the Master require Little Xuan to attend upon you... tonight? To, to attend your chambers?"
The trailing syllable dissolved on the tip of her ever-so-slightly trembling tongue — like a bridal handmaiden from ancient times addressing her mistress's lord.
That feather-light little sentence detonated in everyone's minds like a thunderbolt from a clear sky.
"What the fuck—"
Caelus, completely unprepared for this development, absolutely did not hold it together, and swore out loud.
Stelle likewise recoiled as if electrocuted, executing a sharp tactical lean-back. March 7th's little eyes had gotten very wide with a very big question inside them. She tilted her head in perfect sync with Stelle, her small face awash in confusion and shock.
Dream-Fu Xuan's ear tips burned bright as cherries. As she cast her eyes down, her lashes cast butterfly-wing shadows across her pink cheeks, and she said in the tiniest, most shy voice:
"That is... would it perhaps be possible... to move somewhere a little more... private...?"
Caelus: "..."
Stelle: "?"
March 7th: "??"
"QING—! QUE—!"
Each syllable was ground out from between her teeth, striking sparks as it came. Fu Xuan's expression had gone completely and utterly dark. Her knuckles had been wrung bone-white. Within her sickeningly sweet smile, shame and wrath twisted together into something truly fearsome.
Attend. Chambers.
Being turned into a little secretary was one thing. Being kept by a morally questionable arrangement with Caelus was another thing. But to then go and ask Caelus whether he wanted her to attend his chambers—?!
Qingque's brain had completely and utterly rotted through, hadn't it?!
Faint pink-purple formation arrays flickered into visibility around Fu Xuan's body. She was very close to just flipping the table and blowing this whole absurd illusion apart.
"Pfft — Master Diviner, don't let it get to you. This is all just an illusion! Just an illusion, okay!"
Caelus was holding back laughter as he tried to soothe her.
Fu Xuan's fists were very hard right now — but she knew that even if she was furious, getting angry accomplished nothing. This was an illusion.
Brute force was useless against a phantasm.
"We'll discuss the chamber-attending later tonight. Right now — where were you headed?"
Caelus turned and asked the bashful Dream-Fu Xuan.
"I'm delivering the stock market report to President Qing."
Dream-Fu Xuan produced a thick stack of documents from the bundle she'd been clutching to her chest.
Caelus looked them over curiously, and found them crammed with dense rows of text — besides the utterly deranged figure of 'Growth rate versus the same period last year: 19,839,008%', they were actually put together with impressive verisimilitude.
This Heliobus really does sweat the details.
"Are you here to see President Qing?"
Dream-Fu Xuan asked in her gentle voice.
"Mm."
Caelus nodded, though his curiosity about Little Sparrow's inner dreamscape had grown considerably deeper.
After a brief exchange, the elevator reached the 999th floor, and the metal doors slid open.
"Please follow me."
Beneath Fu Xuan's eye, which had been twitching nonstop, Dream-Fu Xuan gave a small, graceful bow and led the group forward into the vast office beyond.
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