Chapter 4: Tragic Shadow Theater
“Puppet Master, you’re in the room, right?”
At these words, Night Lan’s eyes sharpened with a hint of caution. It seemed she was wary of Mo Tu, the Night Watcher, worried she might drag Lianhua back to some mad scientist for experiments.
“Lianhua is a good girl.”
“Don’t worry, I know. I helped you in the past; now I can give you some advice. Since I’ve always been on your side, do you really think I’m like a regular Night Watcher?”
“Uh… I guess you have a point… You are quite the strange guy.”
After considering it, Night Lan realized that Mo Tu was the only Night Watcher she could trust right now.
With that, she threw the door wide open.
“Come in! I actually have something troubling me.”
“Well, I won’t be polite then.”
With that, Mo Tu smiled and slipped off his shoes before stepping into Night Lan’s cozy little room.
Once inside, Mo Tu did a quick scan of the room, taking in all the details and processing the information as he did so.
In the small living room were two girls—a silver-haired loli and a star eclipse loli, Night Star and Lianhua. Mo Tu recognized them both.
Lianhua was curiously staring at Mo Tu, feeling that he looked somewhat familiar.
Wasn’t this the big brother who said hello to her back in the day?
Plus, he seemed to have a mysterious identity, at least in the Puppet Master’s memories, he held a special place.
“Hi, big brother.”
“Hello there! It’s good to see you doing well; that puts my mind at ease.”
“Yeah, thanks for your concern.”
Lianhua thought the black-haired big brother was impressive, especially now that he was a star eclipse; the feeling was even more pronounced.
Night Lan sat back down next to Lianhua and introduced, “Lianhua, this is Mo Tu. His true identity is what I mentioned—the Night Watcher.”
“Eh? Really?” Lianhua was surprised to unexpectedly meet the star eclipse’s nemesis—the Night Watcher.
Then, Night Star leaned closer to Lianhua’s ear to whisper.
“But he’s a bad guy! He secretly approached me back then, hiding his identity, treating poor helpless little me as a source of entertainment. Isn’t that just terrible?”
“Uh… seems like it a bit,” Lianhua said, eyes wide.
So this seemingly gentle-faced big brother had such a bizarre personality?
“Uh, but he’s still trustworthy. He’s quite the oddball among Night Watchers and won’t have any bad ideas about you. During the time he was saving you, he helped me too. I have to admit, he’s reliable.”
“Oh, I see. So does that mean he’s my benefactor? I should really thank him properly. But how do I return this favor?”
“Uh, you don’t have to worry about that; I’ll take care of it, so no need to be that polite.”
What she meant was the wish quota Night Star promised to Mo Tu.
To be honest, Night Star felt a bit shortchanged.
After all, with her current understanding of her star powers, fulfilling a wish would probably mean getting dragged into some weird timeline to work—super troublesome.
It would be better to save that time to just goof off.
“Is that so?” Lianhua tilted her head.
Since Night Star said so, she would take it as the truth.
But basic courtesy still had to be maintained—that’s the mark of a cultured lady.
“Um, Mr. Mo, thank you for helping Night Star.”
“No need to thank me! Calling me Mr. Mo sounds so formal. Just use my name, Mo Tu.”
“Okay, Mo Tu-sensei.”
Mo Tu couldn’t help but chuckle, glancing at the three lolis before him and thinking about how amusing the situation was.
After all, each of these lolis carried stellar powers beyond the ordinary.
One was a supernova star eclipse, and the other an extraordinary star; if they lost control, they could wipe out the entire city.
How delightful!
Then Mo Tu’s gaze landed on the puppet prominently displayed in the room.
Others might not notice, but he could sense the terrifying power hidden within it.
That power came from Lianhua, and it must represent the bulk of the supernova star eclipse’s energy.
Without that puppet, Lianhua could only be considered a small fraction of a supernova star eclipse. She wouldn’t trigger another phenomenon like the one from a year ago.
Now it seemed Lianhua had wisely kept her power at Night Star and Night Lan’s place.
What was she trying to express with that?
Was it a declaration of ownership or…
Hmm~ best not to think too hard.
Anyway, Mo Tu was having a good time.
It now appeared that Night Star and Night Lan collectively possessed two forms of star eclipse power, and both were quite substantial.
People who didn’t know would think she was the supreme being of the star eclipses.
Absolutely hilarious.jpg
Noticing that Mo Tu seemed lost in some amusing thoughts, Night Star interrupted him.
“Um… Mo Tu, do you know about the Rising Sun Theater Group?”
“The Rising Sun Theater Group? That rings a bell.”
Upon hearing this, Night Star eagerly continued, “So, I sorta accidentally joined this strange theater group recently, and met Lianhua there. At first, I didn’t realize the oddities of the members; only after I figured out Lianhua was a star eclipse did I see that the other members are also star eclipses! What should I do now?”
“A theater group full of star eclipses, huh? You might want to check out the Night Watcher network and look up ‘Tragic Shadow Theater.’ That could answer some of your questions.”
“Tragic… Shadow?”
“Group?”
Night Star and Night Lan frowned slightly.
Then Night Lan pulled out her Night Watcher device, logged onto the official site, and searched for the term “Tragic Shadow Theater.” The information popped up quickly.
The top information detailed the theater group’s origin and member profiles.
Curiously, Lianhua leaned closer to look along with the two lolis.
“Ah… it’s the group leaders!” Lianhua let out a tiny gasp first.
As Night Star and Night Lan examined the members’ profiles, they both went pale.
No way!
The group leader, Gentleman, and Fraudster were all infamous within the Night Watcher ranks. They’re top targets, with many Night Watchers discussing how to deal with them!
Night Star and Night Lan stared wide-eyed at the data on the three star eclipses, momentarily rendered speechless.
Mo Tu smiled calmly. “We Night Watchers refer to this group as the Tragic Shadow Theater, while Rising Sun Theater Group is likely their actual name. So, do you understand a bit more now?”
“Uh… yes.”
The more Night Star and Night Lan examined the information, the more chilled they felt.
Because the “achievements” of the group leader and the others were extraordinarily impressive—for example, facing a city’s entire Night Watcher team and escaping unscathed!
They’ve hit up over ten cities so far!
Every time they visited a city, star eclipses would erupt, grandly dubbed as a “performance,” creating a hefty workload for the Night Watchers.
The most crucial part? The degree of trouble these star eclipses caused was on par with a supernova star eclipse; resolving it quickly was nearly impossible. Before the Night Watchers could set up their plans, the Tragic Shadow Theater promptly made their getaway.
This troublesome and dangerous star eclipse organization attracted a ton of hatred, and the theater members were on the radar of the strategy teams—essentially public enemy number one among the Night Watchers.
“Ah? So if I expose my identity, wouldn’t I just end up getting tackled and rubbed into the ground by a bunch of Night Watchers?”
Night Star suddenly realized this problem, her expression adorably perplexed.
