"After watching David and Lucy's first meeting, I'm not surprised David fell for Lucy—who wouldn't be smitten after seeing that? But what was the cost, David?"
"Love is the highest-grade inhibitor..."
"Night City truly has no living legends."
"Rebecca-chan! Rebecca-chan really became Rebecca-chan [sobbing] [sobbing]."
"Adam Smasher, you beat the main cast down like this, and if I, V, don't wipe you out today, then I'm this."
"This time, courage and bonds didn't work; they didn't win..."
"The Songblight who released this song probably anticipated this outcome long ago, that hateful genius... Write more positive, optimistic, and cheerful stories for me!"
Bai Luan scrolled through his phone screen, browsing these comments with keen interest.
Although watching the contrast in people's reactions before and after watching the series was amusing, he didn't plan to linger on it for too long.
Sure enough, it was still too early to judge—most viewers hadn't finished the story yet.
Aside from people like Silver Wolf, who had waited a long time and couldn't wait to binge the entire series, there weren't many who had truly finished all the storylines.
The comments above were ones Bai Luan had specifically searched for and filtered through for a while.
Although they seemed numerous, their proportion was pitifully small compared to the total comment pool.
He still needed to give it some time, allowing this "after-effect" to slowly ferment and the fun to fully escalate.
In any case, Bai Luan wasn't in a hurry at all.
After finishing this, Bai Luan set off to find Stelle, who was helping Sioban run the tavern, intending to talk to her about directing the movie adaptation of Clockie.
This time, because Bai Luan intervened in Studio's business ahead of schedule and collaborated with them to release tom and jerry, the studio's deficit crisis was resolved earlier than in the original timeline.
Coupled with the plethora of creative ideas Bai Luan contributed, the Studio was now operating at full capacity and enjoying unprecedented popularity.
Precisely because of this, Clock Studio, having escaped the deficit crisis, did not connect with Stelle as they originally had. They were only struggling with insufficient manpower and couldn't allocate capacity to produce the Clockie movie.
Now that Bai Luan had stepped in and completed the production of edgerunners ahead of time, he released some capacity for the studio and alleviated some pressure.
With the capacity issue resolved, they still needed to find a highly skilled director.
He planned to bring Stelle over and have her serve as the director.
Bai Luan wasn't seeking out Stelle this time just to force the plot back onto the "original track"—after all, the universe wouldn't perish just because Stelle was missing from the event storyline.
Elio couldn't even be bothered to intervene in matters like this.
He purely felt that entrusting this matter to her was exceptionally reassuring.
While Stelle usually seemed a bit silly, in reality, her professional competence was extremely high.
No matter what task was handed to her, she always found a way to handle it well.
In a sense, Stelle in the event storyline could be considered an omnipotent conceptual deity.
Bai Luan arrived at Sioban's tavern just in time to see Sioban and Stelle interacting.
Sioban was showing Stelle a recipe that her friend in Dreamflux Reef had salvaged from a pile of junk—it was a 'Special Mixing Recipe' from the period of Hanu's rebellion.
She explained that these recipes could blend E-Meters, confuse the will, and create a wonderful synergy with the Empathy Dreamscape, thereby producing unexpected effects on the drinker.
Since Sioban couldn't spare the time herself, she handed the trial mixing task to Stelle, who was also very interested and readily accepted it.
Bai Luan arrived just as this scene unfolded, looking thoughtful.
Based on the information the system provided earlier, this should be a relatively late plot point.
It seemed that while he was busy producing edgerunners, Stelle hadn't been idle here either.
I see Stelle is also a hidden Grinding Emperor.
He sighed inwardly.
Although on the timeline, this event happened at a relatively early node—which is now.
But in the game, this storyline seemed to be an event launched only during the Amphoreus period.
"It's so convenient to have the final right of interpretation."
Bai Luan thought to himself.
"The official creators only need to worry about how to release events, but the Honkai Scholars who study the timeline have much more to consider."
Stelle noticed Bai Luan in the distance and immediately waved happily, shouting:
"Uncle! Did you come here to hang out with me?"
Hearing this, Sioban also looked over, following Stelle's gaze.
When she saw Bai Luan, a flash of curiosity crossed her eyes—she had indeed never met this person, and Stelle's form of address for him sounded especially affectionate, which piqued her interest.
His hair isn't gray... is he family?
She asked Stelle beside her in a teasing tone:
"Who is this?"
Bai Luan stepped forward and said with a smile:
"Hello, Miss Sioban My name is Bai Luan. It's a pleasure to meet you."
He nodded in greeting to Sioban, and she responded with a slight smile and a nod.
"I haven't introduced myself yet, but you already know my name. It seems Stelle has told you quite a bit about me."
She glanced at Stelle, her tone relaxed.
"But Stelle has never mentioned you to me."
Stelle was momentarily stuck—she hadn't mentioned anything about Sioban to Bai Luan, yet Bai Luan knew of Sioban existence.
This was a bit troublesome to explain... She pondered for a moment, then introduced Bai Luan to her like this:
"Uncle... he is an Extraordinary Man."
"..."
What kind of introduction is that!
Sioban, however, burst out laughing:
"That introduction certainly has Stelle's style."
After speaking, she turned to Bai Luan:
"In any case, welcome to the establishment. Would you like something to drink?"
Bai Luan politely declined her offer—his interest in drinking was far less than his interest in bartending.
Stelle, upon hearing this, became excited and enthusiastically invited Bai Luan to try being a bartender with her.
Sioban, adopting a responsible attitude, stated that she needed to check Bai Luan's fundamentals first.
Well, Bai Luan truly knew nothing about bartending.
But he calmly stood in front of the bar counter.
No problem, he could learn.
Everyone guessed what Bai Luan was about to do.
Looking at the rather unfamiliar bartending tools before him, he calmly entered the Little Black Room and practiced briefly inside.
When he emerged again, he was already proficiently manipulating the various tools on the bar counter and began mixing a cocktail.
The entire process was like a dazzling display of skill, with various vessels flying up and down in his hands. It was less like mixing a drink and more like a spectacular performance.
Soon, a finished cocktail was elegantly placed on the bar counter.
Stelle wasn't surprised by this at all; it merely fit her stereotype of a genius, or rather, of Bai Luan—someone who knows everything.
Sioban also had no doubts about Bai Luan's professional capability, nodding her head and agreeing to his participation.
She then confidently left the bar in their hands temporarily to attend to her own affairs.
"Uncle, after mixing every drink, we have to include a bad joke. Do you have enough bad jokes stored up? Do you need me to share a few with you?"
"Is telling a bad joke mandatory?"
"You don't have to."
But Stelle immediately changed the subject and said quite seriously:
"But it's not authentic if you don't say it."
...