Chapter 56: Alliance
Rising Sun Theater.
Night Star realized it was time for her book-reading session to end.
“Time’s up!”
Off she went to the Library to discuss life with the Administrator.
Stepping out of the theater, Night Star found herself in the Calligraphy and Painting Entertainment District.
As usual, she made her way to the Library, only to discover it had been transformed—though “transformed” might be an understatement.
“What the—?”
The Library looked like it had been hit by a tornado. There was a massive hole in the wall, as if some big thing had crashed right through it!
Night Star hesitated for a moment, then bolted into the Library.
Once inside, she was greeted by utter chaos, as if a wild storm had made its home here.
“What on earth happened?!”
Just then, a familiar voice called out from behind her.
“Night Star! We’ve got a big problem!”
Night Star whipped around to see Eypar, her expression a mix of panic and concern.
“Eypar, what’s going on here?”
“Um, I’m not sure, but it seems your friend got taken away by some weird Star Eclipses.”
“Star Eclipses?”
Night Star’s brain momentarily short-circuited. She was caught completely off guard.
Suddenly, footsteps echoed through the Library. A tall figure entered, looking disheveled but unharmed, despite her unfortunate outfit situation.
It was Ice Lixie, sporting her trademark white hair and golden eyes.
She was now level 25.
“Ice Lixie! What happened here?” Night Star rushed towards her.
Ice Lixie let out a quiet sigh, “The Artificial Star Eclipses from the Sunset Research Institute appeared. They took the Librarian, your friend, as their prime experimental subject. In that Star Eclipse realm, my powers couldn’t shine, and I got overpowered by one of those Eclipses.”
“What’s the Sunset Research Institute?” Night Star asked, her curiosity piqued.
“A research organization that covets the immortal nature of the Librarian’s star. They’ve been studying the star within her for ages. She managed to escape long ago and has been hiding since. The Sunset Research Institute loves to tinker with stars and Eclipses. They’ve created a few artificial ones before, and this latest Eclipse is even stronger.”
Night Star’s memory clicked.
Back when she first performed here alongside the Group Leader and others, a bunch of shady folks showed up, including a few strange Eclipses. Were those the infamous people from the Sunset Research Institute?
And now they had taken the Administrator?
Night Star recalled the Administrator often mentioning how some bad people had been watching her for a long time. So it was the Sunset Research Institute after all?
“Where are they?” Night Star seethed, her anger bubbling over.
She absolutely could not forgive those who took her friend!
She was going to get the Administrator back!
Ice Lixie shook her head gently.
“Don’t act rashly. These Star Eclipses are not as easy to handle as the last ones. Brute force will not work.”
“Even so, I have to go! No one hurts my friend!”
Ice Lixie blinked, a bit taken aback before nodding slowly.
“Alright, I’ll coordinate with the Night Watchers.”
She turned and left, seemingly to round up the Night Watchers outside.
Now, only Night Star and Eypar remained in the wrecked Library.
“Night Star, are you really going to rescue your friend?”
“Yeah, it’s something I have to do.”
“Then I’ll go with you! Even if I can’t be of much help, I’ll be right behind you cheering you on!”
“Thanks, Eypar.”
Night Star made her way to the front desk, where the Administrator often hung out, picking up the book that was lying on the table.
She must have been reading this book when those bad guys barged in and took her.
Was eternal life really such a huge temptation?
To harm others for selfish gain, stripping them of their freedom and rights, turning them into little test subjects willingly nailed to the board.
Night Star vowed never to forgive such people!
Outside.
Ice Lixie stood in front of the Library, and soon many Night Watchers began to gather around her.
Among them was Mo Qianmeng, also known as Sunlight.
Mo Qianmeng looked at Ice Lixie’s tattered attire, concern etched on her face.
“Are you okay?”
Ice Lixie shook her head lightly.
“I’m fine, but the latest Artificial Star Eclipses are tougher than before—caught us a bit off guard.”
At that moment, Black Yang’s voice crackled through her earpiece.
“Ice Lixie, did you resurrect or something?”
“Yeah, but it’s not a big deal. I can still hold on just fine. Right now, the biggest issue is the trouble caused by the Sunset Research Institute. Those two Artificial Star Eclipses must be eliminated.”
Immediately, Black Yang’s cold voice responded.
“I’m thinking the same, maybe even destroy the whole institute.”
The Sunset Research Institute had seriously crossed the line with the Night Watchers.
Plus, after instigating a large-scale Star Eclipse incident, no matter how powerful the energy behind them was, the Night Watchers now had every right to take them all down.
With that, the Night Watcher Base quickly pinpointed the location of the Sunset Research Institute, and a mass of Watchers began to converge toward it.
Meanwhile, inside the Sunset Research Institute…
The Administrator was brought back to a familiar laboratory.
“……”
She looked around, finding it just as she remembered—almost unchanged.
Then she spotted the excited expressions on the researchers’ faces, some she recognized, and others she didn’t. Guess a decade had brought some changes.
Then a voice broke the silence—this was the head of the research team, the dude leading the eternal life project.
“Supreme Experimental Subject, back in your familiar lab. What do you think? It took us a whole decade to finally track you down. Countless researchers have come and gone just to find you. Today, we finally got you back!”
“Got no thoughts on that. Just wondering, don’t you ever get tired of this?”
“Tired? Impossible! The quest for eternal life is endless! You have no idea what your existence means to us. Your star represents so much to us! If we can extract your traits and replicate them in others, granting everyone eternal life, wouldn’t that be groundbreaking? That kind of achievement would go down in history, earning us the highest honors!”
The Administrator was silent for a moment, showing no sign of panic whatsoever.
“You won’t succeed.”
“How can we know unless we continue? Don’t worry, you won’t feel pain anymore. We’ve all agreed to erase your consciousness—turning you into a mindless puppet. At that point, you’ll just help us with more research without any thoughts of escaping. As long as your body can remain eternally alive, that’s all that matters, right?”
The researchers grinned, excitement practically radiating off them as if they could already see their results coming to life.
The Administrator slowly closed her eyes, choosing silence instead.
Maybe she should’ve made a wish at the “Wish Machine” sooner.
Or perhaps losing her persona wouldn’t be such a bad ending after all.
In a way, it’s just another form of d*ath.
Is that alright?
Maybe.
