Hi Archivist here,
First, thank you very much for all your kind words and sympathy.
second, if there's any mistakes, please kindly point it out.
and lastly, here's my promised chapters!
ps. you know what's hard? posting this bunch of chapters on the other sites, just posting this alone might eat me 2 hours lol 30hsr + 30mihoyo, anyways, Happy reading!
Chapter 246: Reputation Flips Again! It's Sunday's Turn to Break a Sweat!
Sunday's expression looked extremely cold and serious! He was constantly putting pressure on Aventurine. However, inside, the corners of his mouth curled into a subtle arc.
Thanks to Honkai: Star Rail! Thanks to Feathered Spirit! Whether it's the envoys of the IPC or the Emanator of Nihility, there is no doubt they are all thorns in the side of The Family in Penacony!
The former has already openly declared their hand to fight The Family for control of Penacony. The latter is an existence that poses a serious threat to the Dream of Ena!
Through the trailer released in advance, both of these have been perfectly targeted! If this wave could be leveraged to make these two factions leave Penacony, it would simply be the ideal outcome!
Thinking of this, Sunday even wondered if this might be Feathered Spirit showing favoritism toward him? Because Feathered Spirit also approved of the Dream of Ena plan, were they intentionally eliminating these obstacles?
Sunday decided not to let down Feathered Spirit's expectations. He continued to press the advantage: "Everyone present here is a hero from all corners of the universe; I believe your judgment is the same as mine."
"It is clearly visible to all—Mr. Aventurine intends to subvert the sweet dream of Penacony."
"He even intends to bring the grandest death to all of you residing in Penacony!"
Watching Sunday dancing with excitement, Aventurine's brows furrowed deeper and deeper. He was constantly pinning high-level accusations on him! A classic case of settling personal scores under the guise of public duty!
With more and more hostile gazes, Aventurine realized he had fallen into the same predicament as Acheron before him. He was about to be solidified as the final boss of Penacony! This was not good at all!
At this critical, high-stakes moment, whoever was branded with this title would mean being targeted by all factions. Becoming an enemy of everyone!
Aventurine immediately let out a light chuckle. Regardless of his inner thoughts, he couldn't show weakness on the surface!
He said in a mocking tone: "You guys aren't actually believing this trailer, are you?"
"Don't forget, this is just a trailer."
"Although Feathered Spirit's trailers showcase the main parts of the upcoming plot, they cannot be equated to the main storyline itself. This is very likely a stylistic technique."
"As far as I know, there is a technique called montage…"
While explaining, Aventurine secretly signaled Topaz and Jade.
[ The plan has changed! ]
[ We might need to avoid the brunt of this and retreat for now. ]
As Aventurine spoke, he kept an eye on the gazes of those around him. Even if he wanted to flip the table now, he couldn't. Too many people had come this time! The focus of public criticism had shifted from Acheron to himself.
Aventurine had wanted to see his own performance in the plot, but he didn't want it to be this!
Aventurine used almost all the rhetorical skills of his life. He continued: "Previously, Acheron's PV also showed scenes of destroying Penacony, and before we saw the subsequent plot previews, we mistakenly believed Acheron was the final boss."
"Are you all going to repeat this mistake again?"
"Furthermore, I believe you all should express your apologies to Miss Acheron, shouldn't you?"
"The taste of being wrongly accused is not a pleasant one."
In the air, Acheron had already lowered her long blade. The previously explosive atmosphere had calmed down quite a bit. To be honest, she hadn't expected the situation to develop like this either.
It seemed to have turned into a large-scale trial. The physically tense feeling of swords drawn and bows bent was gone. A subtle stalemate had formed between the various factions. The suspicion on her had been cleared up quite a bit; now, she could even be on the side of making accusations.
After Aventurine finished speaking, quite a few people on the scene actually started apologizing to Acheron.
"Miss Acheron, please calm your anger!"
"It's a good thing Miss Sparkle arrived in time; if we had really attacked Miss Acheron, then…"
"Miss Acheron, before, I was purely led astray by people from The Family! Please don't mind it!"
"Yes, we were all invited by Sunday!"
"Sunday said he wanted us to join forces to deal with the culprit who wanted to subvert Penacony, so we came."
"If Miss Acheron feels unhappy, you can slap me or kick me twice?"
They were all fearful and trembling, afraid of being liquidated by Acheron next!
Acheron remained silent. She didn't quite know how to handle this situation.
Sunday, on the other hand, had a twitching mouth. You can say what you want, but why drag me into it?
When it was first said that they wanted to crusade against Acheron, didn't everyone scramble to express their desire to contribute to Penacony? Didn't everyone claim to be righteous and bold?
These mobs in the universe are truly unreliable!
Just then, Sparkle, sitting on a goldfish, suddenly said: "Oh, right, I have another Easter egg here that I forgot to play."
"The content is quite important, see for yourselves."
As soon as these words were spoken, the whole place was in an uproar! The people who were just apologizing to Acheron, fearful and trembling, were stunned. They were instantly on the verge of tears!
"Director Sparkle, just play the whole thing next time!"
"Do you know how much your video made my heart jump?"
"There won't be another twist, right?"
"Is it really the same as what Aventurine said?"
"Who is going to be tricked out this time?"
"I'm already numb."
The screen displayed images once again. A luster slowly lit up in the darkness. It was as if a curtain was being drawn. And the person standing on the stage was none other than the representative of the main force for maintaining Penacony, Mr. Sunday!
At this moment, Sunday had shed his usual elegant and gentle image. Bathed in red light, with his hands spread open, he appeared so high and mighty! Those who didn't know would think he was preparing to ascend to godhood! And Sunday's next words were pretty much just that!
"…your resolve, I have already known."
"Now, I grant you all the right to gaze directly at the sun."
"Upon these one hundred and seven thousand three hundred and thirty-six stones,"
"The strings of Harmony of the Almighty, be used by me—"
"—The Harmonizer of the Choir,"
"The Choir of Harmony, Dominicus!"
Amidst the brilliant radiance, a giant golden puppet rose from the ground! Below it were March 7th, Stelle, and Himeko, facing a formidable enemy!
The screen froze here. This little Easter egg ended here. But the implication of this scene was already self-evident!
In the future plot, the Astral Express crew will embark on a hostile path with Sunday!
Seeing this scene, Aventurine was the first to recover from the shock! A look of wild joy appeared in his eyes! Quickly suppressing it, he said with a cold face: "Mr. Sunday, I and everyone present here need an explanation!"
"If I'm not mistaken, the giant puppet named Dominicus that appeared in this clip is one of the manifestations of [ Harmony ] Xipe."
"But it seems to have shown a different appearance than usual due to the interference of some power?"
"This isn't purely the power of [ Harmony ], is it?"
"Combined with Mr. Sunday's words—[ The strings of Harmony of the Almighty, be used by me— ]"
"Can I understand it as: besides the Path of Harmony, Mr. Sunday also possesses the power of other unknown Paths?"
"Also, Mr. Sunday mentioned granting us the right to gaze directly at the sun? What does this mean?"
"This high-and-mighty tone is really quite uncomfortable…"
Sunday: "…"
Now, it was Sunday's turn to smile bitterly.
"I think there is some misunderstanding here."
Calming himself slightly, Sunday suddenly said righteously: "Mr. Aventurine, I now highly appreciate your point of view."
"This is just a trailer; there are many possibilities for it to be confusing…"
"We cannot define someone based on just this one clip."
"As for the specific situation, we must wait until we have seen the official plot before drawing conclusions!"
Sunday's voice was resonant. It was as if he had been standing on the most rational side from the very beginning!