Chapter 215: Aha's Video is Here
"Thank you..."
Yukong's voice was uncharacteristically soft, carrying a gentle weight that contrasted with her usual strict demeanor. "I really liked that last song."
Whether he had orchestrated this with pure intentions or some underlying motive, the obvious truth remained: that video had bridged the chasm between her and her daughter. A deep, quiet gratitude settled deep within her chest.
"Is this a confession?" Qingni and Stelle leaned their heads together, whispering in perfect, conspiratorial unison as they watched the two exchange glances.
The two girls exchanged a knowing look, their eyes sparkling with shared mischief. It was a classic case of great minds thinking alike. Though they had kept their voices hushed, the surrounding silence of the room betrayed them. The whisper echoed clearly.
Hearing Qingni's words, Yukong froze. The poignant atmosphere shattered in an instant. "Qingni," she scolded, her voice pitching up slightly, "what nonsense are you spouting?"
"Exactly, what nonsense?" Leon echoed with a dry chuckle, casually reaching over to flick Stelle on the forehead.
"I'm sorry, please excuse my rudeness." Yukong managed to squeeze out a polite smile, though her initial serene composure had completely evaporated, replaced by a flustered stiffness.
"Ahem... I still have many important matters to handle today..." She cleared her throat delicately, her fingers unconsciously reaching up to tuck a stray lock of hair behind her foxian ear. She straightened her spine, desperately attempting to slip back into her authoritative Helm Master persona. However, the faint, stubborn blush painting the tips of her ears completely betrayed her.
"...Please excuse me."
She turned on her heel, her movements noticeably hastier than usual. The elegant hem of her skirt whipped through the air in a hurried arc.
"Qingni, come inside!" she commanded, not looking back.
"Oh, Mom!" Qingni, realizing she had pushed her luck, dropped her cheeky grin and hurriedly trotted after her mother.
Leon simply smiled. Rather than staring at the embarrassed foxian beauty, he shifted his gaze toward the sweeping, majestic architecture of the Xianzhou Luofu in the distance. His tone was light, yet smooth. "Gratitude received. Honestly, seeing the esteemed Helm Master of the Sky-Faring Commission make an expression like that is far rarer—and much more valuable—than any standard reward."
Yukong's footsteps hitched.
She didn't turn around, but when she finally spoke, she had forced her voice back into its usual, steady cadence. "...Next time you visit the Palace of Astrum, I will ensure there is plenty of premium tea waiting for you."
She didn't linger for another second. Her slender figure quickly vanished at the far end of the corridor bridge, fleeing as if that fleeting moment of vulnerability had been nothing more than a trick of the light.
Trailing behind, Qingni covered her mouth, stifling a chain of giggles. She had only meant to tease them a little; she never expected to actually witness her strict, unflappable mother lose her cool so thoroughly.
Suddenly, Leon's phone buzzed violently in his pocket.
[Aha: @Leon, Leon, Leon! Aha's very first video is officially out~~ Quick, quick, give Aha a like, a coin, and a favorite! Hit me with that triple threat!]
'That was fast?' Leon blinked in mild surprise.
He tapped into the short-video platform app. Without his permission, a brand-new account had quietly forced its way into his 'Following' list. It sat boldly at the very top. The username was simply "Aha," and the profile picture was a crude, cheerful emoji of the Aeon of Elation sprinting wildly.
Well, that was very Aha.
He clicked on the profile. The title of the single uploaded video was obnoxiously provocative:
"Preservation? When has Preservation ever looked humanity in the eye?"
(Subtitle: "Believing in Preservation Makes Me Ashamed")
Leon glanced at the engagement metrics. Millions of likes. Tens of thousands of comments. The popularity wasn't exactly shattering the universe yet, but it was climbing at an alarming, unnatural rate.
He casually tapped play, and a dense wave of bullet comments instantly flooded the top of the screen.
[Good grief, when did I even follow this guy? I have zero memory of this! Did some random blogger I used to follow sell their account?]
[This avatar... you've got some serious guts using an emoji of Aha, the Aeon of Elation. I'm calling you the strongest troll online!]
[Could this be the work of the Masked Fools from the Tavern? Only those lunatics would pull a stunt like this.]
[That title is pure explosive bait. I thought the Elation was genuinely about to declare war on the Preservation.]
[Wait, these lines sound super familiar. Isn't this exactly what Cocolia said in that new game?]
[Hahaha, is this video just going to be a lazy compilation of edited game cutscenes? What a bait-and-switch.]
[I'm coming back from the end of the video, and all I can say is HOLY CRAP. Guys... this blogger couldn't actually be Aha, the Aeon of Elation themselves, right?!]
[HIGH ENERGY AHEAD! HIGH ENERGY AHEAD!]
Chuckling, Leon slightly dimmed the opacity of the bullet comments so he could actually see the screen.
The video opened with a high-definition clip of Cocolia. She stood tall, her voice dripping with passionate, righteous indignation as she loudly retorted against the people of Belobog praising the Preservation.
"I want them to know—the one who saved us was not that Preservation which never cast a glance our way!" her voice echoed through the speakers. "It was our benefactor... it was the Astral Express Crew!"
Abruptly, the dramatic scene cut to a crudely edited screen imitating a social media group chat. The chat name simply read: Aeons.
[Aha: Ahahahaha! This is truly killing me! I'm dying of laughter over here!]
[Aha: @Qlipoth, you giant blockhead, what do you think about this?]
[Aha: "Preservation has never looked us in the eye—" Pfft!]
Aha proceeded to mercilessly spam-tag Qlipoth in the chat log.
Seeing this, the bullet comments exploded into a frenzy of overlapping text.
[Holy crap, it really is just the cutscene from the game!]
[Yeah, the cutscene is from the game, but what the hell is an Aeon group chat?! Aha cyberbullying Qlipoth online has me rolling on the floor!]
[Whoever made this video has a death wish. Aren't they afraid of the Preservation's hammer coming down on their skull?]
[Forget Qlipoth's hammer, this is a blatant provocation against the Interstellar Peace Corporation! How is this account not banned and deleted yet?!]
[Too OP. The uploader definitely bribed the platform's moderation team!]
Leon leaned back, highly entertained. The Cocolia speech was indeed ripped straight from the game footage he had released.
On the screen, the fake group chat continued its chaotic progression. Aha began frantically provoking the Amber Lord once more.
[Aha: @Qlipoth, hey, hey! The planet that religiously believes in you just defected!]
[Aha: Ahahaha, this Cocolia girl is way too much fun! It's a shame she didn't get to finish her sentence, though—]
[Aha: Do you want Aha to help out a little bit?]
Suddenly, a new user entered the chat.
[Fuli: Light Cone Record created: "Preservation? When has Preservation ever looked humanity in the eye?"]
[Fuli: Light Cone Record created: "Believing in Preservation Makes Me Ashamed"]
[Hahaha, as expected of Aha! If an Aeon group chat actually existed, Aha would 100% do this.]
[Wait, even Fuli is getting dragged into this? I guess since it's the Aeon of Remembrance, randomly forging embarrassing Light Cones to record history is perfectly on-brand!]
[HIGH ENERGY AHEAD! NON-COMBATANTS EVACUATE THE AREA IMMEDIATELY!]
A massive, screen-obscuring wave of red "High Energy Warning" text swept across the video.
In the very next second, the crude chat interface vanished. The screen shifted to a breathtakingly realistic, cosmic vista.
Qlipoth, the Amber Lord, materialized on the screen. The colossal entity gripped a hammer the size of a celestial body. The Aeon slowly turned its gaze from the towering, incomplete cosmic walls it was building, shifting its attention directly toward Aha's location.
Holy...
Without a second of hesitation, Qlipoth swung the apocalyptic hammer straight at Aha.
BOOM—!
The heavy, world-shattering impact of the hammer strike seemed to violently shake the screen itself. An indescribable, deafening roar tore through the foundations of the cosmos. It wasn't a cheap visual effect; it was the pure, unadulterated Will of Preservation. It was a strike of absolute power, one sufficient to define an entire era.
The majestic aftershocks of the blow instantly swept across countless light-years, violently awakening the perceptions of every powerful entity hidden within the universe.
And right in the epicenter of the destruction, Aha took the hammer blow squarely on the head.
With a comical SPLAT, the mighty Aeon of Elation was instantly flattened into a paper-thin, two-dimensional shape, hovering in the vacuum of space like a crushed cartoon character.
However, the moment Qlipoth's giant hammer retracted, that flattened, pancake-like shape rapidly expanded. With a loud, cartoonish whoosh, Aha inflated like a helium balloon, instantly popping back into their original, three-dimensional form without a single scratch.
"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA—!!!!"
Aha's manic, hearty laughter echoed throughout the entire universe. The wild, unhinged joy of Elation exploded outward like a cosmic supernova. It formed a secondary ripple of a completely different, chaotic nature, chasing right behind the heavy aftershocks of the Preservation.
On Leon's screen, the dense sea of bullet comments came to an abrupt, dead halt.
For three full seconds, not a single word was typed.
And then, the comment section completely erupted once again.
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