As the theatrical version's screen lit up again, the first thing viewers saw was Jing Liuli sitting cross-legged on the roof of the carriage.
Her eyes were closed, her hands grasped her ankles, and her head swayed gently with the motion of the train.
Her light-purple hair was plastered to her cheek by the sea wind. She looked sound asleep, her eyelashes faintly trembling, as if she might topple over and roll off at any second.
Yet, in sharp contrast to her leisurely appearance were the Star Beasts in front of her.
The light-purple dream butterflies fluttering around her were continuously showering the Star Beasts in the sea with phosphor dust.
The instant the dust touched the Star Beasts, the ferocious monsters suddenly began to tremble violently.
Some octopus Star Beasts covered their eyes with their tentacles and spun in place.
Some shark Star Beasts frantically crashed into the reef, knocking themselves unconscious.
Others, the sea snake Star Beasts, bit each other in a chaotic scene resembling a brawl in a marketplace.
Even more bizarrely, various fantastic dream creations floated around Jing Liuli.
Giant winged scissors snapped to cut off tentacles.
Black tears shed by a weeping puppet doll corroded scales.
Innumerable eyes peering from the shadows stared fixedly at the Star Beasts, paralyzing them with terror on the spot.
Therefore, despite Jing Liuli being alone in the frame, she was single-handedly blocking a large swarm of Star Beasts.
She prevented the Star Beasts from even getting close to the carriage.
Since this was the first time seeing the adult Jing Liuli in action, many dimensional viewers' memories were stuck on her harmless and innocent girl image from Season One.
But as the theatrical version showcased Jing Liuli's true strength, the dimensional viewers realized that the "purple slacker" they remembered, who only slept and slacked off, had unknowingly grown into the formidable "Slacker Queen"!
'Tendo-Liuli : Slacking at work, activating cheats off-hours. That's a true winner!'
'To slack off to this extent is an achievement! I suggest it be added to the Star Envoy Cultivation Manual.'
'This is the real-life version of "I Kill Beasts While Dreaming!"'
As the last Star Beast died at Jing Liuli's hand, the theatrical version's screen switched to Chen Xing.
Unlike Jing Liuli's leisure, Chen Xing's battle was like a magnificent art form, a symphony of death and firework.
Under the theatrical version's ultra-high image quality, Chen Xing's body was wreathed in crimson blood flame. Her Demon Blade, boosted by Star Energy, swelled to twenty meters long. Every swing brought forth a rain of fire across the sky. The sea surface sizzled and popped, leaving behind burning trails of fire.
Meanwhile, the Star Beasts around her seemed possessed, charging toward her with reckless abandon.
The second after a companion was scorched into charcoal, another one would foolishly rush in, a true live scene of moths to a flame.
Chen Xing stood in mid-air, her brown hair flushed red by the firelight, a hint of a slight smile gracing her lips. The moment her blade flashed, swaths of Star Beasts turned to ash.
She was truly cool, and truly mad.
Just as Chen Xing was about to go too far, Tendo suddenly appeared and easily grasped the Demon Blade's hilt, stopping her from continuing her frenzy.
Before Tendo could even finish speaking, Chen Xing suddenly reversed her grip, taking his wrist. Her fingers deftly wove through his, lacing their hands together.
She looked up at Tendo, her crimson pupils glowing with an inexplicable light in the firelight.
Seeing this moment, the Tendo-Xing shippers on Site 13 were absolutely ecstatic.
'Aahhh! Tendo-Xing shippers are celebrating the New Year right now! This is Sister Xing's active offense!'
'Tendo looks so cute when he's stunned! Where did all the usual composure go~'
'Caroline is still researching, but Sister Xing has already charged into battle!'
'This is the right way to open the door to a powerful alliance! Lock them down! They must be locked down!'
But before the Tendo-Xing shippers could enjoy their moment for long, a purple "missile" suddenly flew from the front of the carriage.
I will never tolerate an attempt to steal my home base!
In the scene, Jing Liuli, riding her Dream Pillow, flew straight into the two of them. The pillow, trailing a string of pink phosphor dust, precisely wedged itself between them, forcibly separating their clasped hands.
Watching the theatrical version's Jing Liuli deliberately sticking out her tongue and pretending to be cute, claiming her Dream Pillow lost control, the Tendo-Xing shippers were completely 'furious'!
'Reward! Who's going to drag this purple slacker out and beat her up!'
'Lost control? She's trying to fool children! (Angry, angry, angry)'
'If Liuli didn't constantly disrupt things, I feel like Tendo and Xing would have been married already!'
Amidst the anger of the Tendo-Xing shippers, the month-old scene finally froze on the moment after the three returned to the carriage: Chen Xing glaring at Jing Liuli, Jing Liuli pretending not to notice, and Tendo's look of helplessness.
The warm yellow light of the carriage spilled over them, making for a comforting picture, like a therapeutic oil painting.
With the month-old scene concluded, the theatrical version's plot immediately cut back to the present, inside the train control room where Chen Kong and the others were.
Liu Ma, reflecting on the preceding events, couldn't help but say, "So, Liuli was always that powerful? I remember her just sleeping with her pillow all the time."
"Sister Liuli has always been very strong," Chen Kong instinctively replied, his tone carrying a hint of reminiscence.
"If it weren't for..."
Chen Kong paused mid-sentence. His peripheral vision caught Vivian beside him, and he suddenly changed what he was going to say.
"...If it weren't for her not liking to cultivate, her strength might already be on par with my sister's."
Although Chen Kong's tone hadn't changed, and what he said sounded natural, Vivian keenly noticed his suddenly rigid shoulders and the flash of complex emotion in his eyes.
It was an expression mixed with guilt and hesitation, which shouldn't typically appear in Chen Kong's gaze.
Vivian frowned, lightly tapping her fingers on her Mechanoid Bracelet.
Having been enhanced by the 'Myriad Machine Spark' technology, she could detect the most subtle physiological fluctuations in living beings.
When Chen Kong mentioned "back then," his heart rate clearly accelerated, and his pupils contracted for about 0.3 seconds. He was clearly concealing something.
Is it something related to me?
Vivian quietly posed a question in her mind as she watched Chen Kong's profile, which was turned toward the projection screen.
A portion of the dimensional viewers, seeing this moment, immediately recalled something and hurriedly paused the theatrical version to look back at the end of Season One.
Through careful investigation, they quickly found a clue.
'Something's off. I feel like there's a history between Chen Kong and Vivian, because Liuli and Chen Kong appeared together in the base's ventilation ducts at the end of Season One.'
'Could William's death be related to Chen Kong? Otherwise, why would he be so desperate to save Vivian in Season Two?'
'Chilling thought!'
Under the speculation of the dimensional viewers, they soon uncovered the small secret hidden between Chen Kong and Vivian.
However, only a minority noticed, or cared about, these details.
As the steam train emerged from the Scarlet Mist Sea, the city built upon the sea and the thin mist appeared right in the center of the theatrical version's screen.
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