The Astral Express's party car was filled with the lingering joyous atmosphere of last night's revelry. Stelle lay sprawled on the sofa, still covered by a blanket adorned with a picture of a Bucket of the King, an 'artwork' she had custom-made.
Last night's celebration with everyone from Jarilo-VI, after the Starward Strife ceremony on the Xianzhou Luofu, had lasted until deep into the night. At this moment, she only wanted to immerse herself in her beautiful dreams.
Suddenly, an abrupt blue halo of light appeared before her eyes.
"Ugh… who turned on the light?" Stelle mumbled in her dream, trying to roll over and avoid the annoying light source.
But the light not only didn't disappear; it instead formed a translucent blue light screen.
Ding! Congratulations, you have been selected to join the Cross-Dimensional Chat Group and become an administrator.
Hearing this unusual sound, Stelle instinctively opened her eyes, wanting to see what it was, but under the strong urge to sleep, she still muttered, "Don't bother me, I want to sleep."
Then she rolled over and continued to sleep soundly, not noticing that the status of [Administrator · Galaxy Baseball Man] in the chat group member list had been changed to Offline / Do Not Disturb (Deep Sleep).
On Sixth Street in New Eridu, Belle sat cross-legged on the carpet, intently watching the new videotape she had just bought with Wise.
The video playback on the screen was slowly covered by a blue hue, gradually forming a light screen.
With a ding, Belle was startled, her body suddenly leaning backward.
Congratulations, you have been selected to join the Cross-Dimensional Chat Group and become an administrator.
"Wh-what is this?!" she exclaimed, instinctively rubbing her eyes.
The sensation was normal; there was no foreign object, but the stubborn blue light screen in the center of her vision still remained.
"Could it be the Intelligent Construct… malfunctioning?!"
Belle's heart rate instantly accelerated. This was an important item her teacher had left for her and her brother; it couldn't be lost. If something went wrong, she wouldn't be able to investigate the truth of the Old Capital's fall and search for clues about her teacher with her brother.
Thinking of this, Belle hurriedly ran downstairs, "Brother! Brother!", her voice clearly anxious.
"Brother! My eyes! My…" Suddenly remembering that there were still customers browsing the video store downstairs, Belle held back what she was about to say.
Wise, who was registering new videotapes, immediately put down his recording work and politely declined the customers' enthusiastic offers of help.
He led Belle to the rest room inside. "Belle, calm down, don't panic, what's wrong?" At the same time, he carefully examined her eyes, "How are your eyes?"
"Brother! My eye construct seems to be having problems! A blue light screen suddenly appeared in front of me, and it talks!" Belle spoke rapidly.
"At first, I thought it was part of the videotape's plot, but it seems to be fixed right in front of me. Even when I look elsewhere, it's still in front of my eyes, like it's inside my eyes?!"
This thought made her even more frightened, her voice trembling slightly.
Wise frowned, his expression solemn. He tried to find something unusual in Belle's eyes but found nothing.
So he turned his head and asked, "Fairy, check the internet to see if there are any records of situations similar to Belle's."
And he comforted her, "Belle, calm down. Is there anywhere else on your body that feels uncomfortable?"
Belle, forcing herself to calm down: "Uh, besides the extra light screen in front of my eyes, there's nothing uncomfortable."
Fairy: "Master, a search of the real-world network shows no records of similar Aether erosion symptoms."
After hearing Fairy's words, Wise temporarily relaxed. "That's good. Don't be so nervous. Since it's not a physiological problem, nor an known malfunction, why not try to understand the information it provides and see if you can operate it."
"What if your Intelligent Construct has a new function? After all, we haven't fully understood all of its functions yet. Now, try to describe that 'light screen' to me. What shape is it? Does it display any information?"
Belle said, "It's… it's rectangular, translucent… like there's always a screen in front of my eyes. It says [Cross-Dimensional Chat Group]? [Administrator · Belle]? And [Group Announcement], [Group Members]… Brother, what exactly is this?!"
"Why does it feel like Qiaoqiao (a mobile app for contacting others in the game, similar to QQ and WeChat)?" Seeing the somewhat familiar page, Belle gradually relaxed.
Wise's expression also changed from solemn to thoughtful.
"Chat group? Administrator? Doesn't sound like a malfunction…" He mused, his sharp gaze seemingly trying to penetrate the unusual light screen that only Belle could see.
"It shouldn't be a problem with your eyes, Belle. This is more like… an information interface projected directly onto your consciousness, similar to highly integrated AR technology, but clearly beyond New Eridu's current technological level. It's more like something out of a sci-fi movie."
"Try to 'tap' those words with your mind or… like operating a virtual interface, just like you usually use Qiaoqiao?"
Under her brother's steady guidance, Belle nodded, trying to focus her mind and imagine her finger touching the [Group Members] option on the light screen.
The content of the light screen instantly switched, displaying three names:
[Administrator · Galaxy Baseball Man] - Status: Offline / Do Not Disturb (Deep Sleep)
[Administrator · Lumine] - Status: Online
[Administrator · Belle] - Status: Online
Lumine and Paimon had just entered the Natlan region of Teyvat.
Paimon: "Wow, is this Natlan? There are so many strange mountains and unfamiliar animals!"
Lumine also looked around this land, which was completely different from the other five nations and filled with a sense of raw power. Just then, an abrupt blue light slowly unfolded in her vision!
Paimon: "But it doesn't seem like there's a city-like place anywhere. Where should we go first?"
The light screen in front of Lumine clearly displayed: [Cross-Dimensional Chat Group] Activated, [Administrator Permissions] Bound, New Member Detected: [Administrator · Lumine]. Lumine couldn't help but feel a bit confused for a moment.
Paimon, beside her: "Lumine! Are you even listening to me? Which way should we go?"
"Never mind which way to go for now, Paimon, come look at this." Lumine pointed to the blue light screen that only she could clearly see.
"Hmm? Look at what? A new ore?" Paimon curiously leaned closer, looking in the direction Lumine pointed.
Her big eyes were full of confusion. "There's nothing there, Lumine? You're not just teasing Paimon, are you?"
Paimon thought Lumine was playing with her again. After all, long journeys were very boring, and the two always joked and played around to relieve the fatigue of their travels.
"No, I'm not joking." Lumine said affirmatively. She tried to move her gaze, but the light screen remained firmly fixed in the center of her vision. "A blue… light screen? It says [Cross-Dimensional Chat Group]… and my name? I've become an administrator?"
"Hmm? What? Chat group? Cross-dimensional?" Paimon's little head spun rapidly.
She clapped her hands suddenly. "Ah! I know! This must be Natlan's 'Akasha' system! Just like the one in Sumeru! But is Natlan's technology so advanced? It automatically bound upon entry? It doesn't even need a medium! As expected of the Nation of Fire!"
"But… we just arrived and encountered this. We won't get caught up in another big event like we did in Sumeru, will we?" Paimon couldn't help but say.