Chapter 1 : I Want to Exist Wherever You Are
"Mmm-hmm~"
Ye Lan sat beside Kong Yubai, feeling a bit uneasy.
She would have to explain various things next.
Ye Lan seemed to see her happy slacking days gradually fading away.
At this moment, Xiao Jin spoke.
"Let's get to the point. Ye Lan, you used your Star again without telling us. This is not acceptable."
"Um, I'm sorry."
"Also, we need to address the matter of you deceiving the higher-ups. As a newcomer, you claimed to be an experienced Night Watcher carrying an important mission. Don't you think that was inappropriate?"
"Um, because if I didn't say that, I wouldn't have been able to take action."
"Don't talk back."
"Eep!"
The boss's authority was fully displayed!
.....
Ye Lan maintained an obedient posture, accepting the reprimand, which in the end made it difficult for people to criticize her further.
Mainly because she hadn't done anything harmful to the Night Watchers, and had even rescued Kong Yubai, a potential Night Watcher, adding an existence similar to a trump card. This in itself was a great achievement.
Compared to this, the small deceptions Ye Lan had made during this period were nothing.
Xiao Jin and the others weren't angry either.
"Alright, that's enough. Try to use your Star less in the future. If you must use it next time, you have to report to us. Understand?"
"Mm-hmm, mm-hmm~"
Ye Lan nodded like a pecking chick, looking extremely obedient.
Next, Xiao Jin should have more to say.
However, Ye Lan waited for a few seconds, and Xiao Jin remained silent.
"Um... is that all?"
"What else do you want me to say?" Xiao Jin asked in return.
"Eh?"
Ye Lan was a bit stunned.
Didn't Xiao Jin want to know about her relationship with the "Tragedy Shadow Troupe"?
Considering the information she had revealed in that world line, plus the information already available now, it was possible to analyze that she had an extremely close relationship with the "Tragedy Shadow Troupe", and even uncover the identity information of the "Spectator" within.
But now...
Xiao Jin didn't inquire about it at all?
At this moment, Ye Lan felt her shoulder being pressed. She turned her head to find Kong Yubai smiling.
Her eyes held a mysterious light, as if Xiao Jin's lack of questioning about that information was all her doing.
Oh my!
Could it be... that Kong Yubai had concealed all the information that Ye Lan didn't want to reveal?
But why would she do that?
This question could only be asked later.
Then Wang Chao said happily, "Now that our Star has returned, what's there to fear about the Tragedy Shadow Troupe? They have two Supernova Star Eclipses, but we have two Exceptional Star Night Watchers on our side, plus a large number of Night Watchers coming from other cities. It's not certain who would utterly defeat whom!"
Hearing this, Ye Lan couldn't help but look at Kong Yubai beside her.
She was the Singer of the Rising Sun Troupe, so why did Wang Chao still say there were two Supernova Star Eclipses in the Tragedy Shadow Troupe?
Ye Lan thought for a moment, suddenly realizing something, and couldn't help but widen her eyes slightly.
No way?
Beside her, Kong Yubai playfully winked at Ye Lan, as if saying "Shh~".
Seeing Kong Yubai's gesture, Ye Lan confirmed her guess.
She hadn't expected that besides herself, there was another high-level double agent in the Night Watchers organization. It was close to being a spy movie.
Ye Lan wanted to ask something, but this was the reception room, with all the top Night Watchers of Yunzhang City present. It would be better to ask after leaving here.
At this time, Mo Tu smiled slightly.
"Let's put aside the Tragedy Shadow Troupe for now. Our Ye Lan has done such a big thing. Shouldn't we have a celebration? It would be too disheartening to just let it pass like this."
Hearing this, Xiao Jin looked at Ye Lan, who seemed indifferent, and nodded.
"Indeed. Let's have a small celebration for Ye Lan tonight. Of course, don't reveal the protagonist of the celebration. Kong Yubai can lower her own presence, making others overlook that there's an Exceptional Star Night Watcher in Yunzhang City, but Ye Lan might not be able to. If her secret leaks, it might attract quite a few wolves, perhaps even more serious than Kong Yubai's situation."
At this, everyone nodded in agreement.
Not to mention the rarity of an Exceptional Star, just the Star name [Wish Machine] was very attractive.
If the specifications of this [Wish Machine] were lowered by two levels, saying it was Radiant Sun level or Bright Moon level would still make countless people covet it.
This was the gold content of the words "wish-granting".
At this time, Kong Yubai said, "Why not use my concert to attract attention? Although on the surface it's my concert, it's actually Ye Lan's celebration. How about that?"
Xiao Jin agreed.
"Mm, that's good too."
"Then I'll go prepare first. It will start tonight."
With that, Kong Yubai left the reception room. It wasn't clear if she was really going to prepare or going somewhere else.
At this, Ye Lan also wanted to follow, but Bai Tu blocked her way.
Seeing this, Ye Lan's expression froze, and she suddenly started acting cute.
"Ehehe... Good morning, Senior Bai Tu~"
Bai Tu squatted down expressionlessly, her hands pinching Ye Lan's soft, snow-white cheeks.
"This is punishment for not respecting your senior."
"Wuu~ I was wrong..."
Ye Lan had long been prepared to face retribution.
After all, before leaving, she had cuddled with loli Bai Tu several times, including but not limited to pinching cheeks, patting heads, hugging, nuzzling, etc. She had really satisfied herself thoroughly before leaving, and was so happy.
She had thought about being punished by Bai Tu after returning to the future, but from her understanding of Bai Tu, she knew Bai Tu wouldn't go too far.
A cold on the outside, warm on the inside big sister was easier to deal with than anyone else.
Especially since Ye Lan was still a cute loli.
And Ye Lan's guess wasn't wrong. Bai Tu only pinched her cheeks a few times gently before letting go, not hurting at all.
"Forget it, that's enough. If you go back to the past and see the young me again, don't do such embarrassing and disrespectful things."
To be honest, being patted on the head and cuddled in various ways by Ye Lan, a loli like her sister Bai Yu, felt really embarrassing when thinking back on it.
Mainly because Bai Tu felt she was already independent, and being treated like a little loli by Ye Lan was a bit embarrassing no matter how you thought about it.
At this, Ye Lan smiled and nodded.
"Mm-hmm~ It's because Senior Bai Tu was so cute then, I really couldn't help it."
"Then what about the current me? Do you still dare to treat me like that?"
"Eh... well..."
Ye Lan couldn't help but look away, her words becoming hesitant, already giving an answer.
At this, Bai Tu let out a soft sigh.
"So you should consider your senior's feelings."
"Mm-hmm! I won't do it again in the future!"
That's what she said, but who knows?
If Ye Lan goes back to a timeline in the future and sees cute Senior Bai Tu again, she would definitely be unable to resist cuddling. Who told lolis with this kind of personality to be so cute?
As a seasoned lolicon, Ye Lan absolutely couldn't resist.
Then Bai Tu stopped blocking Ye Lan's way, stepping aside.
"Remember not to mess around again."
"Mm-hmm, goodbye, Senior Bai Tu~"
With that, Ye Lan left the reception room.
Only five people remained here.
Xiao Jin pondered for a moment and said, "Come to think of it, I still sensed a bit of an anomaly. I don't know if it's just my imagination."
Wang Chao raised an eyebrow.
"You felt it too? Then it shouldn't be my imagination. There's a sense of dissonance. Although Ye Lan's use of her Star this time wasn't much different from the previous two times, it feels like the memories infused into our minds are missing something. The only major change is just Kong Yubai's return."
Bai Yuan said thoughtfully, "Speaking of which, what was the name of the Singer's Supernova Star Eclipse in the Tragedy Shadow Troupe?"
With these words, the whole place fell silent.
Wang Chao frowned slightly.
"Yeah, what was it?"
"I remember the [Star-Knower] should have identified the name before," Xiao Jin pointed out calmly.
But the problem was:
Why couldn't they remember such an important thing at all?
At this point, Mo Tu smiled and interjected, "This is the power of a Supernova Star Eclipse. Otherwise, how do you think a Star Eclipse of this caliber becomes a terrifying disaster?"
"What do you know?"
"That Singer can conceal our Stars, can conceal herself, let alone small operations like concealing information. We are destined to lack detailed information. The Tragedy Shadow Troupe can remain in the shadows with just one Singer. It's a bit difficult to wage an information war."
Hearing this, everyone fell into deep thought.
Wang Chao couldn't help but doubt, "Can we really subjugate such a Star Eclipse?"
Mo Tu shook his head.
"It's tough. We can only take it step by step. Fantasizing about calling Night Watchers from other cities to subjugate together... it's a bit unrealistic."
"That Singer is too overpowered."
"Indeed."
At this, Mo Tu continued, "By the way, my Star can now have an effect on the Singer, although it's just a little, it's still somewhat useful."
"What did you divine?"
"The Singer has now lost one-third of her power. The power of the Star Eclipse has been greatly reduced. At least she can't casually conceal our Stars anymore."
Wang Chao was overjoyed.
"Then it's easy! Since that's the case, I'll just charge in and slash away!"
"You can do that if you don't want your corpse retrieved."
"Oh, I was just joking."
Wang Chao wasn't that stupid. It would be too reckless for one person to confront the entire troupe.
Then Mo Tu continued, "The Singer losing one-third of her power also means that her Star Eclipse specification is now below a true Supernova, making it less likely to lose control. So at least we don't have to worry about her causing a large-scale disaster that harms citizens."
"In that case, we just need to restrict their activities," Bai Yuan said thoughtfully.
"Yes, before we have absolute certainty, we don't need to eliminate the troupe in the shortest time possible. We can only repel them."
"Mm."
Xiao Jin considered Mo Tu's words and planned to reformulate the plan against the Tragedy Shadow Troupe.
As for the Night Watchers who came to support Yunzhang City, they could stay here for now, in case the Tragedy Shadow Troupe mobilized all their members again.
To avoid the embarrassing situation of being unable to repel them, Xiao Jin felt that cities where the Tragedy Shadow Troupe appeared should have several more Radiant Suns to hold the fort.
Looking at the few people deep in thought, Mo Tu smiled slightly.
Due to his Star's characteristics, he remembered everything. The feeling of fooling people using information asymmetry was really nice~
However...
Was it a bit inappropriate for him, as a Night Watcher, to favor the Rising Sun Troupe like this?
It made him seem like a high-level double agent too.
But thinking carefully, the Star Eclipses of the Rising Sun Troupe could be transformed into harmless Star Eclipses, and could even become someone's power, so it seemed normal to favor them a bit.
Mm, it definitely wasn't because he was once the Announcer.
......
After leaving the reception room, Ye Lan went to look for Kong Yubai.
But she didn't seem to be in the Night Watchers' base now. Where had she gone?
On Ye Xing's side.
After Ye Lan went out, the other body wasn't idle either. After breakfast, she prepared to go to the Rising Sun Troupe.
When she set out, Kong Yubai on Ye Lan's side had just left the reception room.
Ye Xing pondered for a moment.
"Um... so what's Kong Yubai's situation now? It feels like she still has a connection with the Rising Sun Troupe, but she's in the Night Watchers' base. Could something I don't know about have happened?"
As she was thinking, Ye Xing arrived at the Rising Sun Theater.
She walked in without hesitation, entering the dark theater.
Just as she entered, she heard a familiar singing voice. It was the Singer, or rather, Kong Yubai!
Ye Xing quickly turned her gaze towards the stage, finding a slender figure with milky-white hair standing there. Amber eyes stared at the silver-haired loli who had just entered, then smiled slightly, the singing stopping.
"Spectator, good morning."
"Eh? Kong Yubai?"
Kong Yubai came to the dazed Ye Xing's front, saying a bit dissatisfied, "No good. In the troupe, you should call me Singer."
"Oh... Singer, what's going on?"
"Mm... thanks to the power of my Star."
"Star?"
Ye Xing remembered the name of Kong Yubai's Star—[Existence Interference].
"Yes, have you noticed any changes in me compared to just now?"
Kong Yubai smiled and spread her arms, allowing Ye Xing to observe various details.
And Ye Xing did notice the anomaly.
"It's the Star Eclipse aura! It wasn't there in the reception room just now."
"Yes, so now I am the Star Eclipse Singer."
"Shocking!"
Then Ye Xing and the Singer sat down to the side, slowly communicating.
"Actually, this change is just one use of the Star. Do you want to see?"
"Mm, I'm very curious."
Kong Yubai was human just before, but in the blink of an eye, she had transformed into a Star Eclipse. This was a bit strange.
The Singer nodded gently, and as her throat made a sound, her entire aura changed rapidly.
Now Kong Yubai had turned back into a human, the Star Eclipse aura on her body completely gone.
"It's like this. I can switch existence identities, using them as two people. If I'm in the Singer identity, I'm in a Star Eclipse state, and the presence of other identities will be infinitely lowered, not attracting people's attention. And if I'm in the Night Watcher identity, the Singer's existence information will also be very vague, not letting people notice that these two identities are actually one person. Even Mr. Xiao Jin and the others will be affected by this power, not noticing my anomaly."
"Oh~ How amazing."
Ye Xing understood.
Isn't this just like having two accounts in a game?
One logged in, one offline. Play whichever you want. As long as the person doesn't reveal this secret, others will think different people are controlling these two accounts.
This use of [Existence Interference] is really wonderful!
"So, Singer, are you still staying in the Rising Sun Troupe?"
The Singer smiled slightly.
"Why not? The Troupe Leader showed me kindness by taking me in. I respect him very much and want to help him get more audience members. Plus, with you, this little cutie, in the troupe, I'm even less likely to leave. Wherever you are, I want to exist."
This was a promise to Ye Xing, just as Ye Xing had once told her she wouldn't forget her.