Leon flicked his hand, and several silver needles shot out from his sleeve, piercing toward the slowly floating Stelle.
Himeko and the others noticed that the raging Stellaron energy quickly subsided.
Leon spread his wings and dove toward Stelle, catching her steadily. With a wave of his fingers, he recalled the needles.
The camera zoomed in on Leon's face and the scene of him descending from midair, slowly retracting his wings.
"AAAAHHHH!"
"He's holding me! I'm in his heart!"
"So handsome I'm fainting—this face could make me dance on the surging waves of the sea!!"
The headphone-wearing audience nearly got tinnitus from Ah Xian's screams.
[Scary…]
[Such a delusional girl.]
[But to be fair, that rescue was seriously cool.]
[Princess carry right off the bat? Can't imagine what's next.]
[??]
[What's wrong with that? He does the same carry with the male protagonist. You think he's picking a pose to catch you?]
[The moment he spread his wings and rushed in, my heart was filled with nothing but safety.]
[I, password, declare: Hey, husband!]
March 7th: "Is she okay, Leon?"
Leon: "She's probably, maybe… fine. Not sure, let's keep an eye on her."
March 7th's expression froze: "Uh, you saying that makes me a bit nervous."
Himeko: "Let's move somewhere else to talk."
The game began loading a new scene. The chat's excitement surged even higher.
Among the audience watching for entertainment, many were tuned into multiple streams at once. Some were even playing the game while watching. Someone noticed a change in the story.
Compared to Ah Xian's run, there was one clear difference: If no team members died during the battle, Leon wouldn't appear. The one to suppress the Stellaron's outburst would be Welt instead.
Learning of this story divergence, Ah Xian was momentarily stunned. But soon, her attention was fully captured by the game screen lighting up again.
Stelle: "(This is… the space station?)"
Leon: "Hello, good morning, big sis! Sleep well?"
At the center of the screen, a man waved with a casual, handsome smile, exuding a hint of roguish charm, sparking another scream from Ah Xian. When she first saw Jing Yuan during a stream, she didn't even get this excited.
The next second, the live chat noticed Ah Xian standing up. Without warning, she leaned forward, her head moving out of the camera's frame. Then came the strange sounds of licking and sucking.
[My password, is Ah Xian… licking the screen?]
[Work harder, almost there.]
[?, you in the front have issues.]
[Good heavens, you don't need to go that far for stream clout, right?]
[But Leon's really hot, I almost couldn't resist licking too—oh, my maiden heart…]
[Even this old monk's getting a bit smitten, what do I do?]
[Huh?]
[Seems like no one noticed, but if you pick the male protagonist, even if you meet Leon, the person you see when you wake up is March 7th.]
[There's that too?]
As the barbershop-like chat calmed down slightly, their curious gazes scrutinized Leon. Within ten seconds, the vast majority reached a similar verdict: He's really good-looking.
His gray-white hair was styled in a half-loose, half-tied ponytail with an ancient charm. His bangs slanted toward both ears, covering the corners of his eyes and half his ears, revealing a smooth forehead. Strands of varying lengths framed his face, complementing his jade-like features, effortlessly radiating a carefree, unrestrained aura.
He wore a double-layered, cross-collared robe with faint ink-like accents on the sleeves, in a predominantly light color scheme. At first glance, he looked like a character straight out of an MMO swordsman game.
New players didn't think much of it, but those with Honkai Impact 3rd experience instinctively thought of a certain Shenzhou tablet. The last time they saw such strong Chinese aesthetic elements was, well, the last time. Only this time, it was a male character.
[No wonder Ah Xian's floodgates burst open.]
[The more I look, the better he looks. I'm a guy and even I think he's handsome—am I broken?]
[Nothing wrong with you. He's just objectively hot—face, outfit, model, hard to find flaws.]
[Right now, all I can say is, with this model quality, you're telling me he's just a four-star?]
[I'd pull for a five-star.]
[Think of it this way: such a great character being a four-star means everyone can get him. Pretty good.]
Stelle:
① "Who are you?"
② "Who am I? Where am I?"
③ "Looks like even the mighty Doomsday Beast is just another foe I've crushed."
Without hesitation, Ah Xian chose option one.
Leon gave a light chuckle. "Just a passing Nameless. Remember that. The space station's Antimatter Legion threat is gone, so you can rest easy."
Even knowing the gray-haired girl before him was the protagonist from the player's perspective, Leon didn't put on airs—his words and actions were true to himself.
Stelle: "Were you the one who helped me earlier? Thank you."
Leon: "You saved March once, so no need to thank me. Himeko's looking for you. If you're free, go see her."
Stelle: ① "Alright."
Leon: "Here's my beacon number. I know a bit about medicine, so if you feel unwell later, just contact me."
The dialogue ended, and a notification appeared that a Constellation material for the character had been obtained.
Ah Xian clicked confirm absentmindedly and noticed a character portrait pop up. "Huh?" She froze for a moment, then blurted out: "Free? Is he one of the starter trio too?"
[WTF, how come I didn't get him?!]
[Maybe you have to meet him in the Doomsday Beast boss fight to get him?]
[MiHoYo, explain!]
[Don't scroll so fast, you'll probably get him later if you meet him.]
Ah Xian ignored the chaotic chat. She quickly opened the team setup interface, added Leon to her party, then switched to his model to zoom in and admire. "Ah~~~ So handsome…" "Who says MiHoYo can't do Chinese-style characters? I'll fight anyone who says that!" "Just missing the leg ring—not quite MiHoYo's traditional style." "Hiss—he even sprouts wings to preen his feathers?"
[Stop fangirling and check his skills!]
"Don't rush, let me fangirl first."
Ah Xian opened her friend list, found a female streamer friend who specialized in guides, and requested a voice call.
"What's up, Ah Xian? I'm streaming the story."
"Katiya, I unlocked the new character's info. Can you help analyze his skills?"
"What?!"
Katiya was shocked and quickly opened the official wiki, finding that the previously silhouetted new character was now revealed. She hadn't lost any team members in her Doomsday Beast fight, so this was her first time seeing Leon.
"Holy— so handsome!" That was her first reaction.
Ah Xian instantly smirked. "He is hot. Hurry and analyze his abilities."
"No need to analyze—he could definitely leave me unable to walk for three days!"
"Hey, why're you stealing my line?"
[Please, you two streamers, calm down. I'm normal.]
[Zero-frame wheel-to-the-face, who can dodge that?]
"Alright, no more joking. Have you opened the wiki? You can see his max-level stats there; the game doesn't show them yet."
"Opened it."
"OK. And get this—he's an Abundance character. Looks like the public release is leaning toward soft sustain, giving us two healers."
"Could it be… they're not giving us Natasha anymore?"
"No idea about that…"
Katiya clicked into Leon's info page, maxed out his level, and reviewed his stats.