### Chapter 9: Bouncing on the Edge of Punishment and Non-Punishment
A flashy electronic screen rapidly appeared in the reception room, displaying information about Pinghaishi City.
But this wasn’t just any public information; it was special intel known only to the Night Watchers.
The most unique aspect? Pinghaishi City had a chronic case of star eclipses.
Now, the star eclipses here were different from those in other cities.
In other places, star eclipses rolled in one after the other, like a procession of mischievous little gremlins, making it super easy for the Night Watchers to take them down.
However, recently in Pinghaishi, it felt like something was off.
The actual star eclipse didn’t show up, but the aura of the eclipse was everywhere, as if it had bolted before the Night Watchers showed up.
After extensive digging, the Night Watchers of Pinghaishi concluded that this city might have a group of star eclipses banded together, and they were pretty savvy, understanding a thing or two about human society’s law and order.
Now, they might not possess the terrifyingly overwhelming strength of the Rising Sun Theater Group, but they sure had a knack for hiding, which made life extra annoying for the Night Watchers.
At this rate, the issue was still manageable, or else they’d have already called for reinforcements from other cities to handle the mess.
Wang Chao clicked his tongue in amazement.
“So there’s a group of star eclipses over there, huh? That’s rare! But they can’t be as dramatic as the Rising Sun Theater Group, or else they wouldn’t be playing hide-and-seek.”
Bai Yuan and Xiao Jin nodded in agreement.
If there was a second star eclipse group like the Rising Sun Theater Group, the Night Watchers would really have their hands full.
At least the Rising Sun Theater had a trustworthy human overseeing them, keeping them in check and minimizing the risk of them going wild.
But with a second group? Who would manage those troublemakers?
From the shared intel of Pinghaishi, it seemed the suspected group of star eclipses wouldn’t be as stable as the Rising Sun Theater Group, popping up and causing chaos from time to time.
Not that it was a huge deal, but it still added a hefty workload and pressure on the local Night Watchers that needed to be resolved quickly.
But this was Pinghaishi’s issue—Xiao Jin and the others worrying wouldn’t help.
If a city’s criminals were relying on another city’s law enforcement to sort things out, that was a clear sign of incompetence on the latter’s part.
Any self-respecting Night Watcher leader would want to handle things with their own team.
Of course, if a supernova star eclipse or an utterly uncontrollable situation arose, dignity would be the least of their concerns.
Not every city is a capital, and not every Night Watcher base is the headquarters.
“Ugh~”
Upon finding out about this unstable factor in Pinghaishi, Wang Chao started to fret again.
“What if Xiao Yelan and the others run into trouble? Should I go with them?”
“Are you underestimating the Extraordinary Star or the Sunlight Night Watchers of Pinghaishi?” Xiao Jin shot a glance at Wang Chao.
“Stop worrying about every little thing; just keep up your slacker vibes. Even without the Night Watchers from Pinghaishi, they have the skills to take care of themselves, and…”
Xiao Jin quickly cut himself off.
This wasn’t something to be shared just yet.
The Rising Sun Theater was right there in Pinghaishi and would be sticking around for at least a month.
If someone foolishly tried to mess with Yelan, they wouldn’t even need the Night Watchers to intervene; some terrifying friends of hers would probably take it upon themselves to teach those troublemakers a lesson.
“Let’s wrap up this convo; message time is over. Back to work!”
With that, the chat session ended.
Meanwhile, Wang Chao was in a splendid state of slacker despair.
Switching perspectives to Zero Meow’s break room.
Bai Tu had already left.
The chat atmosphere in the break room was upbeat.
After all, they were heading to the beach tomorrow; how could they not be excited?
Yelan, in particular, was brimming with anticipation.
She hadn’t asked Night Star to scout around Pinghaishi early just to hold onto her excitement.
That way, when she hung out with Bai Yu and the others, she could enjoy it all the more.
Exploring with friends was where the real fun was!
Empathy was key, after all.
“By the way, should we go buy swimsuits?”
Yelan asked eagerly, seeming very keen on going shopping for swimsuits with Bai Yu and the others.
This was a classic anime trope!
You can’t hit the beach without swimsuits!
Too bad everyone there was a loli, which was super awkward.
Luckily, Yelan was a loli too, dancing back and forth on the edge of awkwardness.
Going swimsuit shopping was a perfectly normal topic to discuss.
Zero Meow was fully on board, even more excited than Yelan.
“Let’s go buy some! Do you want me to help you choose? I have loads of experience!”
Sure, she had experience, but whether it was suitable for Bai Yu and the others was a different story.
It was evident that Zero Meow had some rather risqué ideas, possibly hoping to pick out some super daring swimsuits to coax Bai Yu and company into wearing, all for her creative material.
Yelan saw right through Zero Meow’s intentions; talk about an open book.
But she was totally supportive!
Trying on was one thing, but actually buying was another. In the end, everyone would definitely end up with cute and conservative swimsuits.
As Yelan was dwelling on this, Zero Meow suddenly pounced on her like a hungry tiger.
“Yelan, meow~ I think there are plenty of amazing swimsuits that would suit you! How about you try some on later?”
Yelan’s expression morphed into a panic, and despite her struggling, her body felt soft and powerless, like a small, defenseless loli caught in a net, meaning escape was futile.
“Not, not a chance! I don’t want to wear any of those scandalous swimsuits! Not even to try them on!”
“Just try them on in the fitting room for me, meow~ Only I’ll see, so what’s the harm?”
“Absolutely not!”
“Such a disappointment, meow~”
And so, the day ended in a comedy of errors.
The group decided to wait until they reached Pinghaishi to buy swimsuits and just prepare freely for the remaining time.
Fast forward to nighttime.
Switching perspectives to Pinghaishi.
A black-haired loli was standing by the sea, gazing at the island city across the water, its flickering neon lights quite eye-catching, even if they looked minuscule from afar.
That was the seaside city.
Mo Rabbit smiled, her eyes filled with curiosity.
“There’s probably something way more interesting over there, but it’s not exploration time yet.”
Mo Rabbit was just taking a leisurely stroll in this part of Pinghaishi today, not paying too much attention to details and not leveraging the powers of the River Map and Book for foresight.
After all, she still had a ton of information swirling around in her head to sort through. There’d be time for fun later.
However, Mo Rabbit had heard through the grapevine about some anomalies in this area.
“Could a group of star eclipses really exist here? I wonder how much they’d clash with the Rising Sun Theater Group. What kind of marvelous reactions might ensue? So exciting~”
Mo Rabbit plopped down to listen to the ebb and flow of the waves, imagining future scenes peacefully while organizing her brain full of information.
She was in this wonderful state of feeling both hyped and not hyped at all.
