The Stellaron exhibit inside the museum was surprisingly comprehensive.
From the earliest known discoveries, to recorded catastrophe cases across different worlds, to the Xianzhou Alliance's long campaign against Stellaron disasters—everything was laid out with text, images, and even archived footage. There was even a section on "potential energy applications," plus a curated selection of non-classified material about Luofu's cooperation project with Herta and Ruan Mei.
"They really aren't afraid something will happen?" Firefly still looked uneasy. She understood Stellaron danger in a far more visceral way than most of the tourists around them.
"They're afraid," Wei Qing said lightly. "That's why you're seeing guards up front, and… not a small number of experts hiding in the crowd."
He tilted his chin toward a few directions.
Firefly followed his gaze, and only then noticed several "ordinary" visitors and staff members whose aura was too calm, too controlled—people who didn't blend so much as anchor the space around them.
"Even the Divination Commission has a Dragon Elder watching the security checks these days," Wei Qing continued. "So for a place displaying a Stellaron? There's definitely more than meets the eye. Teng Xiao might even show up at any moment."
He didn't finish the thought.
Because one of Luofu's old acquaintances—someone he'd once stamped with a lingering Abundance imprint—was already inside this museum, hiding somewhere in the building.
Firefly swallowed. "So… what do we do now?"
Wei Qing smiled. "We're just here because we're curious. We're tourists, remember?"
Right then, a woman in a violet robe approached them at an unhurried pace.
"Such interesting hair," she said, her tone mild and inquisitive. "Where are you two from?"
Wei Qing turned—and immediately noticed something off.
Her face wasn't fully visible. A thin veil of technique blurred her features, softening her outline into something indistinct and hard to pin down.
"I'm a Knight of Beauty traveling the galaxy," Wei Qing introduced smoothly, "called Dian Dao. This is my younger sister, Xing."
He dipped his head politely. "And you are?"
The veil technique covering her face was… inconvenient.
Not in the sense that he couldn't break it—he could. But the fact that it resisted casual perception without any obvious flaws meant she wasn't some random passerby. At minimum, she was a "small expert," as far as Luofu's public spaces went.
The woman paused, then replied with complete sincerity:
"Me? I'm just a passing magical girl."
Firefly: "…"
Wei Qing: "…"
Then the woman clicked her tongue.
"Dian Dao?" she said with open disdain. "That name is tragic. You're wasting that hair color and those eyes."
Her voice, her rhythm, that sharp, casual contempt that came naturally like breathing—
Case closed.
Wei Qing's eyes narrowed slightly, a hint of amusement surfacing.
Herta.
Their interactions weren't extensive, but that tone was… statistically unique.
The veiled "Herta" ignored the surrounding tourists completely. Everyone else was staring at the Stellaron like it was a holy relic. She, however, stared at Wei Qing like he was the exhibit.
"Well?" she continued, twisting the knife. "Don't tell me you Knights of Beauty are that thin-skinned."
"And honestly—who names their kid 'Dian Dao'? What kind of parents do that? Your sister's name is normal, at least."
Wei Qing didn't even blink.
"Names are merely symbols," he replied with perfect composure. "If you find 'Dian Dao' insufficiently elegant, you may address me as 'Radiant Prism-Lapis Eternal-Glory Knight of Beauty.' It's a bit long, but it better reflects my pursuit."
A brief silence followed.
Even through the veil, Wei Qing could feel the momentary stall—as if Herta's brain needed a half-second to buffer.
"…Tasteful," she finally judged.
Then she leaned slightly closer, tone sharpening.
"Alright. Give me your 'high-level take' on the Stellaron's beauty. And don't try that 'power is beautiful' nonsense you used to bluff the old man."
"High-level? I wouldn't dare," Wei Qing said, completely sincere. "And that 'power is beautiful' view wasn't bluffing. It was genuinely what I believe."
He turned his glassy, jewel-like eyes toward her with pure curiosity.
"Since you're clearly a researcher who understands this subject… how do you see it? Surely your insights are more refined."
Herta listened without interrupting.
Then she sighed—half amused, half dismissive.
"Your debating talent is decent," she concluded. "But beauty can't feed you. And beauty won't stop a Stellaron from destroying a world. You Knights of Beauty are always addicted to airy concepts."
"Beauty can't feed you," Wei Qing agreed readily. "But it can let you face destruction with more composure."
He smiled faintly.
"Even within Destruction, there may exist something worth appreciating—if only as a final, ruthless kind of beauty."
Herta's aura lightened—subtly, but unmistakably. She seemed entertained.
"You're interesting," she said. "Much better than those wooden idiots who only chant 'Idrila is peerlessly beautiful.'"
She angled her body toward the Stellaron behind the defensive arrays.
"As for that thing? In my eyes, it's just a special astronomical sample with an energy grade that's a bit over the limit."
"A refined sample…" Wei Qing murmured, as if genuinely considering it. "Then you must be confident in its safety?"
Herta gave a soft laugh—the kind only geniuses could afford.
"Confidence?" she said proudly. "With my technical augmentation, it's safer than the most obedient Diting in Aurum Alley."
She paused, then added with suspicious seriousness:
"Alright. Enough chatter. I have one important question for you."
Wei Qing blinked once.
A question for me?
He was confident his disguise hadn't been pierced—at least not by conventional means. So why was she grilling a "Knight of Beauty" like this?
"Please," Wei Qing said, politely.
Herta didn't ask immediately.
Instead, she lifted a finger. The veil technique over her face flowed away like water, dissolving into nothing.
A familiar face appeared—unchanged by decades. Refined features. That faintly smug, "I'm superior and we both know it" expression.
She stared at Wei Qing directly, lips curving into a playful smile.
"Well?" she asked.
"Do I look purely beautiful enough?"
The question landed like a trap.
The noise of the museum seemed to vanish for a beat—as though a transparent wall had sealed them off from the rest of the world. Around them, tourists still moved and talked… but the sound didn't reach this small pocket of space.
Wei Qing's smile didn't change.
But his eyes sharpened, the way they did when he smelled a knife hidden inside a joke.
"So," he said calmly, "Herta… you're not planning to keep acting anymore?"
Herta's brows lifted—genuinely surprised.
"Oh?" she replied. "You knew it was me?"
She didn't sound angry. If anything, she sounded curious—like she'd discovered an unexpected variable and was delighted by it.
Join here to read ahead.
In Star Rail, Ultra-Beast Armored — Have I Caught "Equilibrium"? l (Chapter 80)
Uma Musume, But I Only Have Five Years Left to Live (Chapter 178)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 132)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League ( 126 )
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter110)
Yu-Gi-Oh! — Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl (Chapter140)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter95)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter165)
Can Playing Games Save the World? 65
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 77
From Junkman to Wasteland 66
Weekly Refresh of Overpowered 31
I'm Grinding Proficiency Like 46
From Kiana, Lord Ravager, Onwa 145
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 65
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 135
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass 95
The Way the Umamusume Look at 68
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 155
Naruto: Weaving the Future, Be 65
Zenless Zone Zero, but Kamen R 76
Multiverse Crossover: The Perf 66
My Cyberpsycho Girlfriend 65
Uma Musume: The Dark Trainer 125
Uma Musume: A Calamity Born fr 105
I, a Reincarnation-Loop Player 62
The Violent Girl Group Is Beat 80
Uma Musume: The Horse Girl Who 66
Uma Musume: From Beginner 80
Becoming a Horse Girl, I Will 62
Uma Musume: I Want All 65
I Can Copy Unique Skills 53
Summoning an Evil God, but the 41
Supernatural Multiverse 45
My Harem Is Indescribable 35
Jujutsu Kaisen: Heroic Spirit 46
"I'm just a Valkyrie passing through." 26
Uma Musume: Today Is Another Romantic Battlefield 36
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