Chapter 166
[March 7th]: "Poor Mr. Yang, all his efforts to retire were still in vain."
[Stelle]: "Theresa: I have morning classes. Theresa has it even worse—Welt can still exploit Theresa."
[Jing Yuan]: "......"
[This scene also frightened Jing Yuan. Even after retiring, you still have to prevent being rehired like General Huaiyan. This further solidified his resolve to slip away quickly after retirement.
Under Welt's despairing gaze, Sparkle and the others issued their own passes. The group activated the portal and arrived at the final world.]
[Stelle]: 'I bet the trash can I just rummaged through—this world must be Penacony!'
[Silver Wolf]: "LMAO, after going through three instances, can't you tell this game is following your itinerary?"
[March 7th]: "It might not be, though?"
[Qingque]: "Isn't the possibility of it not being Penacony actually lower?"
[The sensation of floating in the void hadn't yet faded when a more intense feeling of weightlessness suddenly struck, leaving no time to react... They could only watch helplessly as the ground rushed up to meet them.
Just like when Stelle arrived in Penacony, they made intimate contact with the ground, successfully creating a large crater. "My body is already broken beyond repair... I leave the rest to you..."
Sparkle immediately looked heartbroken upon hearing this: "Boo-hoo... I never thought our time traveling together would end here. I won't forget you, little assistant."]
[Stelle]: "Hey, no way, she's copying me!"
[March 7th]: "You did a free fall into Penacony and you still have the nerve to say that?"
[Robin]: "But... the surroundings don't look like Penacony."
[Misha]: "I don't remember Penacony having this kind of environment either."
[Arriving in the new world, Ai-chan looked around suspiciously at the surroundings. Ai brought little Ai-chan aside to explain, but it was as good as not saying anything.
Meanwhile, Sparkle called out as a creature approached them. "Tick-tock! Honored guests, welcome to the City of Sweet Dreams!"
"Who are you?"
The mysterious creature replied: "I'm Clockie, the big star of this castle! My friends and I protect the peace here!"
"Stop lying—"
Ai-chan turned red: "You... no matter how you look at it, you're the Void Archives: Nihility Lord—"
Just as she was about to reveal his identity, Ai urgently stopped her. But Sparkle was also suspicious—she knew about Clockie too, okay! "Hmm? Are you two guests doubting my identity? "Just look at the overwhelming clock elements on me—tick-tock, just tell me, is this clock-like or not?"
Vita, who had never seen Clockie before, accepted it quite quickly: "Haha, at this point, it's not surprising for characters that differ from the real world to appear in dreams, right?"
Sparkle also accepted this explanation.]
[Clockie]: "Tick-tock! Clockie doesn't look like this!"
[Stelle]: "Clockie? More like Clock-daddy!"
[Silver Wolf]: "That description—so accurate!"
[Honkai: Star Rail - Welt]: "This is the Void Archives: Nihility Lord. Did it become a model for Clockie because it's covered in clocks?"
[Herta]: "This is... a pure imaginary construct!? How interesting."
[Clockie was ordered to take them to meet the Fool, the game's host. But before that, they needed to get three dream bubbles from the dream store to learn the truth.
Arriving at the Sweet Dream Store, to test whether Sparkle and the others were worthy of meeting the Fool, Clockie engaged them in battle.
After defeating Clockie, they obtained those three dream bubbles, which contained familiar figures—our old friend Sampo. After watching these dream bubbles, Sparkle's expression also seemed somewhat off. Afterward, Clockie led Sparkle and the others to the castle to meet the Masked Fool Sampo for the final challenge!]
[Honkai: Star Rail - Seele]: "Tch, so you really were the mastermind behind this game, Sampo."
[Kiana]: "Heh heh, so you're the bad guy who targeted Firefly, right?"
[Sampo]: "Ah, you have to believe me! I'm really not the mastermind behind this game—isn't Sparkle more suspicious than me?"
[March 7th]: "This... well, that's true. Sparkle's expression was clearly off when she saw that dream bubble. Looking at it this way, she seems more problematic."
[Qingque]: "Are you saying Sparkle is like a director who orchestrated all these events herself?"
[Sparkle]: "Don't forget, my dear sister can read minds. How could I hide anything?"
[Stelle]: "Who knows what weird tricks you Masked Fools have up your sleeves?"
[By this time, Sampo had already been waiting here for a while. In Sampo's understanding, this entire stage was set up by Sparkle herself. Though Sparkle vehemently denied it, Sampo still played along and fought them.
Under the combined assault of Sparkle and Vita, Sampo was quickly defeated and obediently knelt before Sparkle. Following everyone's suggestions,
Sparkle walked behind Sampo and gave his butt a hard kick. "Ouch, let's talk this out—no need to be so rough!"
"Sampo, your little tricks can't fool us."
"Better surrender quietly, Mr. Fool~"]
[Sampo]: "Ouch, even now remembering it, my butt still hurts so much."
[Stelle]: "So jealous—kick me too!"
[Guinaifen]: "Stelle ah Stelle, rain doesn't fall forever, but heads do."
[After defeating Sampo, Vita pointed out the true mastermind—Sparkle! By erasing her memories of being the mastermind beforehand, she managed to deceive Vita's eyes.
She only learned the truth and recovered her memories at the dream bubble. Since she'd been exposed, Sparkle stopped hiding and happily changed into a new outfit! "For the finale of this Fool's game, let us complete it with flourish, dear sister Vita."
Then, Sparkle lost to Vita. Finally, Firefly was saved, Sparkle fled, and they would meet again in the future.]
[Sparkle]: "So, how do you like my new outfit~"
[Stelle]: "So haokan! Truly so haokan! These twin tails, these black stockings, this asymmetrical design—simply perfect! The only shame is missing my beloved jade feet."
[Guinaifen]: "Head still falling!"
[Sampo]: "See~ I told you. The real mastermind couldn't be a pure-hearted Masked Fool like me."
[Sparkle]: "Oh~ by the Aeon of Elation, there's actually a Masked Fool claiming to be pure-hearted?"
[March 7th]: "A pure-hearted Masked Fool? Even Peppy would shake his head at that."