Real World, Station 13.
The dimensional viewers watching Caroline on screen, after a long absence, felt a pang in their hearts. At this moment, Caroline had long shed her youthful naivety. Her identity, too, had transformed from a universally reviled member of the Ember organization. She was now a [Genius Mechanized Star Envoy], certified by the Star Envoy Association Headquarters. Moreover, she was apprenticed to Einit, the General President, hailed as the strongest Star Envoy of the contemporary era.
By all accounts, she was far better off than six years ago. She was radiant, a true force to be reckoned with. Yet, as the dimensional viewers watched her solitary, forlorn figure drinking afternoon tea alone on screen, a peculiar pity welled up within them.
Viewers who followed the first season of Stars knew that despite Caroline always saying, "I am merely a tool of the Tendo, his shadow to follow," the Tendo never truly treated her as a tool or a subordinate. Their relationship was more akin to close friends, or a special bond far exceeding ordinary companions. It had a "more than friends, less than lovers" vibe, an exclusive "exception" to each other. Both also possessed outstanding looks, and the Tendo's unpredictable nature contrasted amusingly with Caroline's rationality. This made the "tendo-Ca Faction" the absolute leader in Stars' CP (couple) battles, dominating all other CP pairings.
No one expected the Stars production team to be so heartless as to break up this "official couple ceiling" in the hearts of dimensional viewers at the end of the first season. Currently, Caroline was alone at the Star Envoy Association Headquarters. The identity of that mysterious masked man remained a mystery, with no one certain if he was an avatar of the Tendo. This meant that "tendo-Ca," once the best partners, would unfortunately find it difficult to reunite anytime soon. After all, the Tendo's wanted posters were still plastered all over the New Federation! For the Tendo to come to the Star Rail Corridor, the First Floating City where the Star Envoy Association Headquarters was located, what would that be but a death wish?
Thinking of this, Stars' largest CP faction, the "tendo-Ca Faction," could no longer sit still.
'Stars production team! I advise you to be kind!'
'Families, I smell danger. Should we form a group and raid the production team's lair?'
'Her memories are temporarily sealed, yet she unconsciously guards the 'shadow' left by the Tendo? Caroline, you really... I'm crying!'
'Something's off, this is too suspicious! What is the production team trying to do? Are they forcing a CP split?!'
Just as the bullet comments expressed indignation for Caroline, criticizing the production team for being inhumane and manipulating things behind the scenes, the Caroline in the scene had already left her exclusive research lab and arrived at her private room within the institute.
Contrary to what most people would imagine, Caroline's room was very minimalist. Apart from a necessary high-end quantum computing capsule, the rest of it consisted of highly practical items like workbenches and ordinary furniture. If one had to point out any decoration in Caroline's room, it would probably be just an old, small dolphin plushie placed on her bedside table.
[Respected Lady Caroline, you have one unread private message. Would you like to view it now?]
As soon as Caroline returned to her room, she heard a message notification from her personal intelligent central AI, "White Dolphin."
There weren't many people Caroline marked for special attention. Besides her mentor, Einit, the only ones she still kept in contact with were her former companions, Chen Xing and Jing Liuli. Her mentor rarely contacted her through data terminals. Jing Liuli was busy with her New Federation concert tour recently. Therefore, at this time, there was only one person who would send her a message.
"Open it."
[Yes.]
Before long, Caroline received a concise message from Chen Xing.
['Caroline, I've found some clues regarding the 'organization' you hypothesized to be composed of intelligent Star Beasts. However, I've only managed to capture some defective specimens, and these individuals show clear signs of artificial modification, so I can't verify whether your theory is correct or not. I will be heading to the City of Steam soon to investigate potential intelligent Star Beasts there. I'll contact you as soon as I make new discoveries.' – Chen Xing]
After reading the brief message from Chen Xing, Caroline silently closed her data terminal.
Intelligent Star Beasts—this was an existence Caroline had unexpectedly encountered three years ago when she completed her "Star Core Awakening." Because Caroline's Star Core was "Heavenly Secret Cat-tailed Fox," she gained a rather special enhancement after completing her Star Core Awakening: "Star Core Frequency" perception.
Relying on this passive ability, Caroline discovered a "Star Beast" disguised as a human. Moreover, this individual had even infiltrated the Star Envoy Association Headquarters, reaching the rank of a senior association Star Envoy. This discovery instantly made Caroline feel as though she had a thorn in her back, and she quietly began to investigate.
After a series of discreet investigations, Caroline found that the "intelligent Star Beasts" hidden within the Star Envoy Association seemed to be far more numerous than she had imagined. For this reason, Caroline did not alert them. Instead, after a meticulous plan, she seized a valuable opportunity to contact General President Einit and informed him of the information she had uncovered.
To Caroline's surprise, the General President did not seem surprised by this revelation. In fact, it seemed he had known about it all along. But due to some special reason, he had never publicly disclosed this information. After learning that Caroline actually possessed the ability to differentiate "intelligent species," the General President immediately took her in as his disciple. He used his own identity to provide her cover and completely entrusted Caroline with the responsibility of investigating these "intelligent species."
Although Caroline was not clear why the General President did not personally deal with these matters, being intelligent, she profoundly understood one principle: the more enigmatic a problem, the more careful and restrained one must be. Only this way could she avoid getting caught in an unknown vortex. Therefore, even though Caroline had already grasped crucial evidence against several intelligent species, she chose not to expose any of them. Instead, she silently suppressed this information and handed over the specific investigation tasks to Chen Xing.
Because she knew very well that Chen Xing, who had experienced the beast tide in her childhood, abhorred Star Beasts to her very core. Furthermore, Chen Xing's own strength and her special status within the Blazing Sun family meant that even if something significant was uncovered, those individuals would not easily make a move against Chen Xing. She was an excellent choice for the investigation.
While there was a clear suspicion of utilizing Chen Xing in this, Chen Xing herself didn't have much objection to it. In fact, one could say Chen Xing was eager to do such things. After all, combat was an indispensable part of Chen Xing's "Perfect Awakening Ritual." Therefore, Chen Xing found enjoyment in it.