Chapter 40: The Fateful Star of Cause and Effect
Who knew how long it had been.
Finally, Night Lan received a message from Ji Yun.
The Leader had wanted to see her all along. He must have just recovered from his headache.
She pondered, then replied to Ji Yun’s message. The next second, Ji Yun appeared quickly in the lounge.
“Night Lan, Leader wants to see you.”
“Mmm, I’ll head over right away.”
Night Lan nodded. Ji Yun came beside her and teleported her straight to the door of the office.
This time, Night Lan walked in alone and found the Leader sitting at his desk with a pensive look.
Seeing this, Night Lan cautiously asked, “Uhm, Leader, are you okay?”
“I’m fine… It’s just that this sudden headache exhausted me a bit.”
The Leader sighed softly.
He remembered nothing and thought it must be the contamination from Star Eclipses, the Dream Narrator. Several Solarians had even caused chaos during such pain, with some even self-sealing their stars.
Everyone was worried about the risk of star eclipse mutation.
But after discovering it was merely a common headache, the Leader let out another breath.
Looking at Night Lan, the Leader seriously asked, “Night Lan, what exactly happened in our dream? Please explain in detail.”
“Sure, sure.”
Night Lan recounted everything that happened in the dream to the Leader without holding back.
After listening, the Leader fell into deep contemplation.
“Hmm…”
Night Lan sat quietly on the adjacent sofa, not adding much else.
“Leader, what do we do now? This Dream Narrator seems to be quite a hassle. Should we really wait until he’s satisfied to end it?” Night Lan anxiously asked.
After all, her return to Yun Chang City was at stake.
God knows when that Dream Narrator will be satisfied.
If it happened soon, great, but if it took ages, Night Lan would be stuck in Capital forever. And she couldn’t stand sleeping during both day and night anymore.
She really wanted to return to Yun Chang and snuggle with a bunch of cute and soft little Lolis!
She needed to solve this soon or run away!
Seeing Night Lan’s impatience, the Leader tried to soothe her.
“Don’t worry. There’s a way with the Night Watchers. We have a Sunlight Night Watcher at headquarters who can handle this, though it will take some time.”
“Huh? Can you tell me?”
Curiosity piqued.
To think something so troublesome could be solved by a single Sunlight Night Watcher; they must be incredibly powerful.
In dreams, where things seemed beyond solution, dealing with a Dream Narrator was practically a nightmare for a Night Watcher.
The Leader didn’t hide anything from Night Lan.
“It’s the Star of Cause and Effect.”
“Cause and Effect!?”
At the mention, Night Lan’s eyes widened, clearly understanding its absurdity.
As everyone knows, cause and effect refers to the most critical and direct relationships between all things.
Meaning any phenomenon has a root cause—like “every action has its consequences”; you plant a gourd, get a gourd, and so forth.
If humans could wield weapons of cause and effect, something unimaginable would happen.
Night Lan hadn’t expected something like the Star of Cause and Effect to exist in the capital, which was filled with talents! No wonder it was at headquarters!
“Well?”
“What does it do?”
Night Lan was already hooked.
If it truly was a Star of Cause and Effect, maybe it could match her Wish Machine.
The Leader laughed helplessly.
“Just don’t expect too much. Although it’s somewhat of a Cause and Effect Star, it’s nowhere near as strong as the legends say.”
“Geez, don’t play hard-to-get, Leader!”
“Fine, I’ll tell you. The Sunlight Night Watcher’s star can provide a solution to events within a certain timeframe.”
“Huh? What do you mean?”
“In other words, since the appearance of the Dream Narrator, the Cause and Effect Star has started working. Once activated, it locks onto the problem and figures out the most suitable solution under its host—a Sunlight Night Watcher’s mind. Regardless of the process, we Watchers can use this method to solve problems with a one-hundred-percent success rate.”
“Wow!”
Stars twinkled in Night Lan’s eyes.
So, that meant they wouldn’t worry about catastrophic events that couldn’t be resolved?
“How long would it take to find a solution?”
“Hmm… It depends on the complexity of the issue. At least half a month to a month, maybe longer.”
“Aaah… That’s quite a while.”
“So it’s the final safeguard. The solution might not be perfect and could come at a high cost. Hence, its level is limited to that of a Sunlight; it doesn’t reach the level of an Extraordinary Star.”
“Hmmph.”
Night Lan pondered.
Then this star was only marginally related to Cause and Effect and wasn’t as cool as her Wish Machine.
Suddenly, she had an idea. “If a solution will come sooner or later, do I need to help? Can I go back to Yun Chang now?”
The Leader shook his head.
“It’s not that simple. Factors in the capital trigger the Cause and Effect Star’s activation. Your presence might expedite the process. If you leave now, we might have to wait much longer. So, stay here for now.”
“Okay.”
Night Lan felt slightly disappointed yet not entirely crushed.
After all, it was a casual ask, and she hadn’t expected much anyway.
With no more to say, Night Lan left.
Ji Yun brought Night Lan back to the lounge, as if nothing had happened.
Cut to the theater.
They were set to perform in a district of Qi Yuan City tomorrow.
Rising Sun Theater’s members were all geared up.
Star Night sat idly in the middle of the first row, seemingly lost in thought.
Someone spoke, startling her.
“Why the long face?”
The Announcer’s silhouette appeared seemingly out of thin air beside Star Night.
Star Night’s body slumped, then slid off her chair to the floor.
“Lack of enthusiasm…”
“Heh. Looks like the capital troubles are getting to you. Is the Leader still not letting you go home?”
“Uh… because it hasn’t been settled. Why aren’t you helping, Ink Rabbit? You were so helpful before but now you’re useless. You know kids who don’t pull their weight may suffer the curse of degeneration.”
“Ha, you can curse me all you want. It’s up to you,” Ink Rabbit said cheerfully.
Night Lan glared at her, doubtful.
“You don’t want to help at all? You came only to mock?!”
Ink Rabbit raised her hands innocently.
“No, you misunderstood me. I’m truly incapable this time.”
“Uh… You might as well turn into a loli that just mops around cutely.”
Star Night lay flat on the clean theater floor, expressionless.
