"Hiss... Seriously, bro? Lumina's got this much nerve?"
In the live stream, Little Bear watched Lumina's actions unfold, his jaw dropping in astonishment.
"Flirting with Castorice right in front of Herta?"
"Hiss... I can already feel the doujinshi plots brewing: Herta snaps, locks Lumina in a dark room, and subjects her to unspeakable acts day and night."
Even for Little Bear, who called every pretty girl "wife" and every handsome guy "husband" in games, Lumina's behavior was truly next-level.
Herta was right there watching. Stelle, the Player, Mem, and Trianne were all there watching. And a Flame Reaver was lurking somewhere, ready to strike.
Yet Lumina completely ignored all of that and flirted with Castorice in front of everyone... This... This left Little Bear utterly speechless.
Badass.
A thousand words boiled down to that single term.
Naturally, after Lumina's outrageous move, the comment section of the live stream exploded into a frenzy.
[Holy crap, can I slap a "Useless Husband" tag on Herta? Lumina cuddling with Castorice right in front of her—is this a doujinshi plot? Is Herta about to smirk, reveal it was all part of her plan, and then use her intellect to dominate both Lumina and Castorice?]
[Just wait. You really think Madam Herta is a pushover? Don't be fooled by Lumina's bright smile now; she'll be crying later. (Herta_smirk.jpg)]
[Madam Herta's final fantasy? Interesting. (chuckles) Let's hope she doesn't lose her "Harem Master" status in the process. (covers mouth, laughing)]
[Don't make Sister Lumina laugh. Harem Master? There's no such thing. They're all just beautiful girls firmly in Lumina's grasp—that's the nice way of putting it. To be blunt, they're all Lumina's play... cough, you know what I mean. (blushes)]
[In the story, you, Lumina, are the powerful one, the one who calls the shots. But sorry, in fan creations, Little Lumina, you have no say. In fan creations, you'd better repent to Madam Herta!]
[Offering a high reward for a master artist to draw Herta ruthlessly disciplining... Little Lumina in a doujinshi, video, or novel!]
Some condemned Lumina's blatant "cheating," while others admired her composure, remaining unfazed even as Mount Tai crumbled before her. Still others began to anticipate Herta descending into darkness, her eyes turning crimson as she dragged Lumina into a dark room and imprisoned her...
"Lumina might be a scumbag, but she definitely has the capital to be one." Little Bear sighed, his gaze fixed on the screen, on Lumina's face—a visage captivating enough to enthrall anyone from any angle.
If Little Bear had Lumina's beauty, he would be just as much of a scumbag... well, Little Bear meant, if he had handsomeness comparable to Lumina's beauty.
Not to mention, besides her beauty, Lumina also possessed top-tier status and power in the entire cosmos.
With all these advantages, wasn't just starting a simple harem a minor issue? A trivial matter, really.
What? The one starting the harem wasn't him?
Then Little Bear must issue a strong condemnation!
"Lumina, you're bad!"
"Someone, please come and deal with Lumina already!"
Little Bear screamed inwardly.
Honestly, Little Bear really wanted to see Lumina get knocked down a peg.
But given her power, making Lumina suffer a setback was something that could almost only happen in fan works on various video platforms...
Although it was incredibly satisfying to watch, it was ultimately just fan work, not the in-game story.
Little Bear found this extremely regrettable.
"Can we see Lumina suffer a setback just once in the entire Version 3.0?" Little Bear asked, lacking confidence.
At the same time, to prevent any tragic plot twists, Little Bear quickly added, "I mean, I want to see Lumina suffer at the hands of a beautiful girl..."
[Don't worry, there's probably no chance of that in all of Version 3.0]
[Seriously, I feel like if you gave Lumina a good enough reason, she could solo Amphoreus (facepalm). I mean, including the masters of the Triple Path entwined around Amphoreus (lol)]
[If the masters of this Triple Path are all Aeons, wouldn't Lumina just explode? (facepalm)]
[Uh... then let's limit it to below the Aeon level. Below Aeons, my Moon is invincible!]
"Forget about 'invincible.' From my understanding, if a real fight breaks out later, Lumina will definitely get banned." Little Bear had played many games and understood many storylines very well.
With Lumina's power to punch a Lord Ravager and kick Sunday, how could the story progress if she wasn't banned?
For various reasons, Lumina would surely be temporarily unable to act.
Although this plot device was extremely cliché, it was still within reason.
After all, the Honkai: Star Rail developers wouldn't want the Amphoreus boss they'd meticulously built up over seven versions to be soloed by Lumina, right?
In that case, some accidents were bound to happen later.
Little Bear was prepared for this.
Without overthinking it, he continued with the story.
Although Herta's situation was a bit tragic, to be honest... Little Bear liked it.
He liked this kind of scene...
"..."
On a platform in the Grove of Epiphany, Lumina looked at Castorice, who was a full five meters away. After some internal deliberation, she decided against hugging her.
It wasn't because of the people around her.
The people around her—Herta, Stelle, Trianne, Mem—weren't a concern for Lumina.
Lumina's main concern was Castorice's feelings.
Given her current state, if Lumina hugged her, wouldn't she faint on the spot? Collapse into unconsciousness right then and there?
Although that wasn't necessarily a bad thing, they were currently in the Grove, which had just suffered a disaster. Moreover, their current goal was to retrieve the [Reason] Coreflame and investigate Anaxa's situation.
And they still had to face the Black-Robed Swordsman later; Castorice needed to be well-prepared.
With all these factors in mind, Lumina temporarily gave up on teasing... oh, no.
Lumina temporarily gave up on the idea of becoming friends with Castorice.
She abandoned the thought of cuddling with another beautiful girl right in front of Herta, just to provoke her, to make her endure, to make her anxious.
With this in mind, Lumina didn't step forward or do anything drastic. She simply smiled faintly at Castorice and said, "Don't worry, little sister Castorice. Although Herta and I are just a humble little physician and a humble little researcher, we still have the strength to protect ourselves."
"'A humble little physician? A humble little researcher?' Hearing this, even Stelle muttered to herself."
"'Partner, what's wrong? Is there something wrong with what Lumina and Herta said?' Mem, who had been watching the show from Stelle's side, heard her partner's muttering and asked her with some confusion."
Could Lumina's self-introduction actually be fake?
"Uh..." Faced with this question, Stelle didn't know what to say.
After thinking for a moment, Stelle decided to just give up.
She glanced at Sister Lumina's expression, saw her smiling face, and didn't say anything more.
Shaking her head, she answered Mem's earlier question: "No, nothing. What Sister Lumina said is perfectly fine."
Just tell me, are Lumina and Herta physicians? Are they researchers?
Since they are physicians and researchers, what's wrong with being a little humble and adding the word "little" in front?
Is there a problem? No problem at all!
Although Stelle didn't understand Sister Lumina's actions at all, she would show her utmost respect.
If Stelle had Sister Lumina's power, she would absolutely give herself a very grand and impressive self-introduction!
For example: "Rejoice! Cheer! Standing before you is the symbol of ultimate beauty and strength in the entire cosmos, the Galaxy—Healing Hero!"
Stelle thought this to herself, but she didn't hide it at all on the outside. With her hands on her hips, eyes closed, and head tilted up toward the sky, her face was filled with a smile of pride and arrogance.
"Uh..."
Regarding her partner's occasional bouts of madness, although Mem didn't want to get used to it and refused to get used to it, she had indeed gotten used to it...
Behavior that would be abnormal for anyone else seemed perfectly natural on Stelle.
Her appearance probably played a big part in it.
Looking at Stelle's profile, Mem finally understood why such behavior didn't seem out of place on her at all.
"Hmm?" Lumina noticed Stelle's posture and let out a soft, questioning hum.
What was going through Stelle's mind now?
Lumina was quite curious.
"Castorice, are there any other questions?" Without thinking too much, Lumina looked toward Castorice in the distance, who was still looking down with a flushed face, and asked softly with a smile.
"Ques... questions!" Hearing Lumina's words, Castorice's body trembled.
To prevent Lumina from doing something to her again, Castorice quickly replied, "Uh-huh, I... I understand."
"We... we should hurry up and... and keep moving forward."
"Tea... Teacher Anaxa is... is still waiting for us."
After speaking, without giving anyone a chance to react, Castorice hurriedly walked ahead on her own.
"Hey, Cas, Cas."
Seeing Castorice just walk off by herself, Trianne was suddenly confused.
"Sister Lumina, Big Sister Herta, Little Grey, Pink Puppy, I'm going to check on Cas."
Trianne was very puzzled by Castorice's strange behavior.
Fortunately, she hadn't gone far, and her walking speed gradually slowed.
After nodding to Lumina and the others, she jogged toward where Castorice was.
Meanwhile, Mem, seeing the situation, placed both hands on Stelle's shoulders and shook her fiercely, snapping her out of her dazed state.
After shaking Stelle back to her senses, Mem didn't rush to speak. Instead, she glanced at Lumina. Seeing that Lumina had nothing to say to her or Stelle, she pointed toward Castorice and Trianne, gesturing, "Partner, let's hurry and catch up."
"Huh?" Hearing this, Stelle looked at Lumina and Herta, then at Castorice and Trianne in the direction Mem was pointing.
After a moment of thought, she nodded to Lumina and Herta, then walked with Mem toward the retreating figures of Castorice and Trianne.
Lumina didn't hurry to follow. Watching them leave, she quietly returned to Herta's side.
"..."
"..."
After waiting a moment, Herta said nothing.
"What, Little Herta, don't you have anything you want to say to me?"
Herta's silence surprised Lumina, so she prompted her.
Surely Herta must have something to say about what she'd just done, right?
"Ha? What would I have to say?" Herta retorted upon hearing the question.
"You have nothing to say?"
"What would I have to say?"
"You have something to say."
"I have nothing to say."
"Say it!"
"No!"
This scene was clearly not what Lumina had expected.
Herta saw all that and had nothing to say?
Could it be that Herta actually had... an unknown fetish?
Lumina muttered to herself. After all, Herta's reaction was truly strange.
She'd cuddled with other cute girls right in front of Herta, and Herta could tolerate it?
If so, she was truly impressive. Lumina admired her from the bottom of her heart.
"Fine. Since you have nothing to say, let's catch up with them."
It was just a small surprise, nothing Lumina dwelled on for too long.
Don't want to talk? Then don't.
Without waiting for Herta to respond, Lumina started walking to catch up.
"Wait!"
Just as Lumina took her first step, Herta's voice rang out.
Hearing it, the corners of Lumina's mouth instantly curled into a smile.
Little Herta, you dare try to escape my grasp?
She stopped, waiting for Herta's next move.
"..."
But after a moment, Herta didn't speak. Instead, Lumina's right hand was enveloped in warmth.
Herta had taken her hand.
"What are you doing?" Lumina glanced down at their intertwined hands, her eyes lowered as she asked Herta.
"Holding hands," Herta answered honestly.
"Why are we holding hands?" Lumina pressed.
"Because I want to hold hands," Herta replied, still honest.
"..." After a moment of silence, Lumina huffed lightly and said with a hint of tsundere pride, "I'm not holding your hand."
"Then let go."
Herta watched Lumina's small hand, which showed no sign of pulling away, and a flicker of amusement crossed her eyes.
"Hmph~"
Lumina hummed softly, neither answering nor moving.
She started walking again, hand in hand with Herta across The Grove, following the trail left by Castorice and the others...