Jingliu's farewell came sooner than expected.
At first, 'Jingliu' wondered if there was some unspoken reason behind it, but as it turned out, Jingliu held nothing back—she laid everything out plainly.
"So you're going to meet up with your companions, then."
"Mhm. Though it's not particularly urgent, according to Elio's meaning, it's better to set off sooner rather than later."
Jingliu offered a slightly apologetic explanation.
But 'Jingliu' didn't mind at all.
"Don't make that sort of face. We'll have plenty of time later, won't we? Besides, we can always chat online."
Hearing that, Jingliu gave a somewhat embarrassed smile.
Those messages she'd sent during her Mara-stricken episodes… she still couldn't bear to look at them. One glance was all it took to break her composure.
"If you ever need me in the future, I'll come anytime."
With those words, Jingliu left with Elio.
'Jingliu' watched her go.
Then she fell into thought.
So Kafka only joined recently, huh.
But from what she recalled, around the time Kafka joined, nothing particularly major was going on anyway.
On the other hand, the Astral Express's launch probably wasn't too far off.
She had no solid proof, but…the Astral Express and the Stellaron Hunters really did feel like two sides of the same coin.
So, logically speaking, if the Astral Express wasn't due to launch for a long time yet, Elio probably wouldn't have started gathering companions this early.
Now that she thought about it, exactly how many years had the Astral Express been running by the time the main story began?
There was no clear answer—only that Himeko had already been the navigator for quite some years.
And old man Welt had boarded fairly early, too.
She kind of wanted to find the Solar System, to take a peek at the Honkai Impact 3rd side of things, but that place didn't seem easy to locate.
It felt like its firewall was similar to the one around Amphoreus—only Emanators could get a look.
She knew for sure that Sparkle had been there, though when exactly, she didn't know. Definitely not right now, anyway.
If only Aha could just send her over…
Jingliu laughed at herself.
Aha loved a good time, sure, but he wasn't some pushover Aeon.
Why would he grant her every wish?
Better to just keep making those short videos about the Aeons.
When it came down to it, this was just a stopgap measure. If she could just find Sparkle directly, she wouldn't even mind playing the bratty girl act together.
Too bad that just approaching Sparkle like that wouldn't net her any emotional points at all.
She had to pique Sparkle's interest first.
So Jingliu went back to working on her video.
The hands at the beginning and the part with Black Swan at the end were deliberately blurred; some accessories were also edited out.
Making them hard to recognize.
Of course, those were minor issues.
The scenes featuring the Aeons in the middle—that was the real core of it all.
'Jingliu' had one advantage nobody else did: she had actually seen that whole bunch of Aeons with her own eyes.
So when she crafted the visuals based on her memories, the scenes 'Jingliu' produced carried a kind of indescribable, sacred quality—far more vivid than any fan-made PV she'd seen in her past life.
It was something impossible to imitate for anyone who hadn't beheld the Aeons in person.
'Jingliu' even startled herself with what she'd created.
Before, she'd been a little worried that netizens across the Star Network might dismiss it as pure fan speculation.
But if she released these particular scenes…well, that might change things.
"Sparkle will definitely be drawn in."
'Jingliu' felt it could work, and pushed on with renewed effort.
"Hehe~ True, but don't you think Aha deserves a bit more screen time?"
"What does Aha need more scenes for? He's just a god of mischief—the tone doesn't even fit the video."
'Jingliu' was so focused on recalling those images in her mind that she answered without thinking.
"Say that, and Aha will be sad."
"Sad my foot— Wait, who are you?!"
Mid-sentence, 'Jingliu' suddenly realized something was off.
She whipped her head around.
There was her mask, floating right next to her head, pointing at the screen.
"Hehe~"
Seeing 'Jingliu' look over, the mask—already carved with a wide grin—stretched its smile even wider.
"…"
Damn.
Aha, an actual Aeon, came to spy on her?
"Nanook gets all that imposing presence, and why? Just 'cause I'm not as intimidating-looking? And Lan—why draw him so cool? Isn't he just some obsessed guy chasing after Yaoshi all day? And this droid head—pfft~ If you post this, the whole cosmos will think that red thing is his eye…"
"..."
"What's that big rock who's always laying bricks good for, besides messing up the calendar? Oh, and Akivili—how'd you know he's coming back? Hehe~"
Ignoring "Jingliu's" shock, Aha went on, pointing and critiquing each Aeon in the video.
Spouting pure nonsense.
Finally, 'Jingliu' couldn't hold back: "…What are you actually here for?"
Honestly, back when Aha swept in and pulled her out of trouble, she'd thought Aha was pretty majestic.
But now, with him hanging around, pointing fingers at his fellow Aeons and making up all sorts of absurd stories…it was really hard to keep seeing him as some lofty, distant being.
"Haha~ Of course I'm here to add more scenes for myself."
Aha was full of enthusiasm, but 'Jingliu' wasn't really in the mood to indulge him.
"No more scenes, no more scenes! The runtime's tight as it is—where would I fit more in?"
"Hehe~ Aha got rejected, but Aha doesn't care~"
Aha giggled, wobbling the mask, then dove straight into the footage.
And so, next to the blurred narrator, Aha's figure began to appear.
Not just there, either—he started popping up again and again in the backgrounds of earlier scenes, too.
'Jingliu' was genuinely lost for words.
Seriously? You're an Aeon, and you're cheating like this?
Is that even appropriate?
While 'Jingliu' was still reeling, the ending section got altered, too.
The part that was supposed to be edited out was restored. But this time, Aha's mask appeared in the frame.
Black Swan's figure remained, but now a dark mask covered her face.
And as the scene shifted, Black Swan's form began to change—turning into Sparkle, Celenova, Acheron, Herta, and many others 'Jingliu' didn't even recognize.
Until finally, beneath the mask, it settled on a woman with long white hair.
"Who's that?"
'Jingliu' looked left and right—it didn't look like Jingliu, or Celenova, or even Kiana.
As if hearing her question, the mask in the scene turned to stare out from the screen.
Then it smiled.
As though telling 'Jingliu' to figure it out herself.
And in that moment, that strange mask radiated an aura similar to that of an Aeon.
Because of that, even 'Jingliu', the creator, felt the shifting forms no longer mattered.
What mattered was that mask.
The once solemn atmosphere, now meddled with by Aha, became both absurd and mysterious.
After all that, Aha finally withdrew his divine intervention, chuckling.
Leaving behind only his modified version of the footage, looping in the player.
"..."
'Jingliu' stared at the mask, now lying silent on the table.
Not sure what to say.
Well, anyway, you're seriously bored, aren't you, Aha!
--+--