Just now, Robin felt as though the scene before her eyes was being violently torn apart and forcibly reorganized by an invisible giant hand.
Just a second ago, the picturesque mountains and rivers of Jarilo-VI had been right in front of her, along with an unfamiliar man's face, looking half helpless and half confident, positioned so close before her, and the warmth from his hand still seemed to linger faintly at her waist.
And in the very next second, dazzling stage lights exploded like a billion stars bursting all at once, piercing straight through her dilated pupils without any reservation.
Strangely, in this grand venue filled with hundreds of thousands of people, the place was eerily silent.
Below the stage, the audience was a still black sea, as if they had all been petrified by a collective curse.
On stage, it was empty, with only Robin standing there alone, like a passerby who had wandered onto the wrong set.
Just like that, the air remained completely still for a full three seconds, until...
*ZZZT—*
Seeming to be struck by a powerful lash from the returning Robin, the huge screen hanging mid-air above the stage flickered a few times before her stunning face was projected onto every screen across the galaxy that was broadcasting her concert!
[_Unshaken: Holy shit!]
[StarryBoba: Robin!]
[cloudbunni90: Is this some kind of magic?]
[404angel: Miss Robin's back!]
[Robin_Husband111: Ahhhhhhh, my goddess!!!]
[zero2hero: Who said Robin was kidnapped just now?]
[h4rmonyyy: Where's the kidnapper?]
In an instant, the venue was turned upside down by the waves of sound, while the terrifying barrage of both panic-stricken and ecstatic livestream chats collided like opposing stars, and drowned the live stream once again!
[Robin's stunning return!]
[Teleportation confirmed?]
[Who was the kidnapper?]
[Were the mourning actors stepping in, rescuing Robin?]
[Sunday's sister has been rescued!]
[Losing the chance to claim trillions of credits, large numbers of people who had tried to rescue Robin for the bounty suddenly fainted together!]
In no time, the new trending topics exploded like a secondary blast after a supernova, sweeping through the network again!
===
Penacony, Dewlight Pavilion.
Sunday stood before a giant star chart on the table, his handsome face dark, as though it could drip water.
He had just ordered all the Family's forces to mobilize, to trace Robin's whereabouts no matter the cost. He had also tried to call his sister, but unfortunately, the service was out of range.
Where could she have been taken, that she was beyond the reach of the Interastral Peace Network?
What he didn't know was that it wasn't a loss of signal at all, but rather that Aha was intentionally jamming the connection.
Being unable to contact his sister made him anxious and restless as he paced back and forth in the room, repeatedly urging his people to search for his sister's whereabouts.
"Miss Robin's back!"
As Sunday was still anxiously waiting for news, a shout suddenly rang out from the live stream on the high-definition holographic projection nearby.
He immediately turned to look at it, his heart sinking.
In that instant, he saw it.
He saw his precious sister—missing for several minutes and now the center of a galaxy-wide manhunt—standing perfectly unharmed on the stage under the spotlight, its glow making her look like a lost angel.
"...What?"
Sunday's expression froze instantly, his face blank—he even subconsciously raised his hand to rub his eyes several times, trying to make sure he wasn't hallucinating.
Could this be another trick of those Masked Fools?
It was hard to tell from the live stream, so he quickly picked up his phone and made a call.
===
Epsilon, Golden Theater.
Robin, having been suddenly sent back to the center of the stage, struggled to maintain her usual elegant smile, so she used a special segment as an excuse to momentarily calm the audience, which was on the verge of boiling over.
Of course, she knew full well that this clumsy excuse wouldn't fool the real insiders, especially...
*Bzzz-Bzzz—Bzzz-Bzzz—*
Just as Robin thought of her brother, her phone suddenly vibrated, and when she peeked at the screen—just as she feared—it was really her brother!
Feeling her heart tighten, she quickly bid the audience farewell and almost fled backstage at a brisk pace.
As soon as she entered the relatively quiet resting corridor, she immediately answered the call, causing a holographic projection to pop up from the phone, showing Sunday's handsome face.
"Robin! Are you alright?!"
Sunday's voice was hoarse, desperately trying to hold back his emotions, yet still on the verge of breaking.
"Tell me every detail! Is it a Masked Fool?! Where?! What happened?! Did they hurt you?!"
If one listened carefully, the last question carried a deep, trembling fear.
Seeing her brother lose control like never before, Robin felt both guilty and helpless, not sure how to explain the situation properly.
In the end, after taking a deep breath, she decided not to hide the truth.
Back when she was in foreign territory, she had to feign weakness to avoid trouble, but now that she was back, surely she had to seek the Family's help, right?
"Brother, I'm fine, really..." Robin reassured him first, then quickly and clearly explained what had happened. "It wasn't a Masked Fool who kidnapped me... It was... Aha..."
"Aha?" Sunday's brows furrowed into a tight knot, confusion flashing in his eyes. "Which Aha? Which..."
He suddenly paused as an absurd thought flashed through his mind—one he didn't even dare believe.
"You mean... the Aeon of Elation?!"
"Mm..." Robin nodded heavily, a look of helplessness on her face. "It was THEM. THEY suddenly appeared on stage and shoved me... into a sack."
"..."
Sunday was truly at a loss for words.
Aeon!
An Aeon personally took his sister, like catching a kitten or puppy!
Stuffed! Into! A! Sack!
"Where... Where did THEY take you...?"
"A very, very distant star system, to a planet called... Jarilo-VI... THEY treated me like a gift, and sent me to an unknown man..."
"A... gift, to a man, you say...?"
Hearing something so absurd, Sunday felt as though something had gripped his throat tightly.
An Aeon kidnapped his sister as a gift for an unknown man?
How powerful must that man be for an Aeon to personally send him a gift?
Did they need to kidnap his sister for that?
Do they have no shame?
Most importantly, did Aha have no shame in doing something so disgraceful like that?
"Brother, calm down!" Robin, seeing her brother's enraged expression, hurriedly explained. "Fortunately, that man didn't do anything! He was actually... actually pretty nice! Really kind! He's the one who brought me back!"
Sunday, however, automatically filtered out all mentions of the man being 'nice' or 'kind', and focused on the key phrases: "Kidnapping" + "Gift" + "Unknown Man" = "Sex Slave Trade."
A man being gifted a woman—and not just any woman, but an extraordinary woman like his sister?
Moreover, if what his sister said was true, didn't that mean that man could send someone across faraway star systems in an instant?
Teleportation?
In Sunday's eyes, this in itself was clearly the biggest red flag and threat!
"Did... that man hurt you?" Sunday asked, his voice cold enough to freeze time and space.
"He... He just gently pushed my waist when he brought me back..." Robin replied hesitantly, feeling a bit unnerved under her brother's icy gaze. "Mm... there wasn't anything else... no rude behavior..."
Sunday fell silent for a few seconds, but in those brief moments, Robin could hear her brother's fingers cracking—and the sound of some expensive object faintly breaking under his psychic pressure.
"Robin, you rest up and calm down the people first... As for the rest... just leave it to me..."
As he spoke, Sunday's eyes seemed locked on a certain man somewhere in that distant galaxy, as if scanning through the void.
"Brother—"
Robin wanted to say something more, but—
*Beep-Beep-Beep—*
Unfortunately, the call was unilaterally cut off by Sunday.
"Hahh... let's solve what's in front of me first, and then explain things to him later..."
Right after muttering this, Robin quickly returned to the stage and explained that the kidnapping had been a misunderstanding.
===
Jarilo-VI, Belobog, Underworld.
In a secluded alley, Sampo was rummaging through his collection of antiques for customers to browse when he suddenly felt a tightness in his butt.
'Huh? Where did this energy of Elation come from? It's so strong!'
Sampo thought in surprise before his lax expression quickly turned serious.
'Did they come here? Not good. I gotta tell Lucian immediately. Can't let those nutheads come and wreck Jarilo!'
===
[A bonus chapter for every 500 Power Stones.]
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