### Chapter 1: Plans for a Trip to the Beach
It was a lovely sunny day.
Night Lan was lounging around in the break room of the base, doing absolutely nothing.
Having just returned from the wild tales spun by Hughes and Ulysses, Night Lan had no intention of getting back to the grind anytime soon.
After such a long drought of laziness, she felt it was high time to kick back and relax.
A loli who lounges around isn’t about to become a study fanatic anytime soon.
As for the goal of becoming popular? Well, that can wait until after her lazy time.
Night Lan wasn’t alone in the break room; other little lolis had gathered as well.
She was lying on White Fish’s silky white legs, enjoying the blissful pillow time.
White Fish and the others were busy chatting about a certain incident from yesterday where they interacted with the Rising Sun Theater Group in front of a crowd.
Neko Shinna mustered her courage and handed out a bag of snacks.
“I wonder if they even ate the treats I made; I’m dying to know their thoughts. Do they even match their taste buds?” Neko Shinna fretted a bit.
The uncertainty about her culinary evaluation was pure torture for a chef like her.
At that moment, Night Lan’s lazy voice drifted over.
“Don’t worry~ The audience performer said your snacks were delicious! The other members ate them too—Puppet Master, Singer, Playwright, Announcer, and all gave rave reviews. You can relax now.”
As for how Night Lan knew all this? Well, she let Night Star and the other theater members split the snacks yesterday.
You’ve got to enjoy good snacks while they’re fresh.
If left overnight, who knows if they’d still be tasty!
Night Lan was well aware of Neko Shinna’s culinary skills.
Hearing Night Lan say this, Neko Shinna released a breath she didn’t realize she was holding and broke into a joyful smile.
“That’s fantastic! As long as they liked them, I’ll just make an extra portion next time and have you deliver it to them, okay?”
“Um, are you sure that’s okay? Wouldn’t that be too much trouble?”
Even though Night Star could enjoy the flavor when Night Lan had some too,
It was the double deliciousness of enjoying together that really mattered.
Plus, Night Star wanted to play feeding games with Lianhua in the theater.
The more delicious snacks, the better!
But would asking Neko Shinna to make an extra portion be too much of a hassle for her?
Night Lan instinctively didn’t want to burden her friend.
Neko Shinna, however, seemed unbothered by the extra workload.
“It’s no problem! I love cooking and I love when people eat what I make. Since the theater members really liked them, I wouldn’t want to disappoint them. Seeing people happily eat what I cook—that’s my reason for being, you know!”
What a dedicated cook!
Night Lan couldn’t help but admire her.
Having a loli friend who makes delicious snacks is just the best!
The topic shifted.
Zero Meow, who had been painting, piped up.
“Enough of this talk! We’ve been at the beach for ages, yet we haven’t actually gone to the beach to have fun. Don’t you think we’re missing something?”
“Yeah, that does sound right.”
Now that she mentioned it,
Ever since that incident involving the cruise, none of the little lolis had dared to venture to the beach.
After sorting out Star Sheng’s situation, Night Lan had been busy dealing with Shiyu Qianyi’s affairs.
Then it was on to sorting matters with the Gentleman and the Fraudster in the theater. They hadn’t gone to the beach at all!
They had all bought such cute swimsuits, but hadn’t gotten to wear them and run around at the beach joyfully.
What a pity!
As a d*e-hard loli enthusiast, Night Lan could not let this pass unnoticed.
Popularity could wait.
Fostering harmony between the Rising Sun Theater Group and the Night Watchers could wait, too.
Having fun at the beach with her loli friends was the priority!
“Let’s pick a time to go together, then!”
“Why not today?!” Zero Meow questioned, a hint of disbelief in her voice.
“Because I want to be lazy and stretch out for a bit.”
Night Lan snuggled against White Fish’s silky white legs; this was bliss!
It had been ages since she’d had some snugging time with White Fish and the others in the tale with Hughes and Ulysses. She missed it terribly!
Of course, snuggling with just White Fish wasn’t nearly enough.
Zero Meow wanted a snuggle, Neko Shinna and Star Yoon wanted in too, and even the recently acquainted Shiyu Qianyi and Star Sheng—every loli needed a snuggle!
Now that was the true plan!
As a loli enthusiast, Night Lan’s credibility was pretty high.
……
Meanwhile, in the Rising Sun Theater.
Mo Rabbit was staring at the mysterious glowing orb above the theater, deep in thought.
What on earth was that thing?
She had discovered it upon returning to the theater.
Mo Rabbit distinctly remembered that the theater she built didn’t come with this kind of lighting fixture.
With this orb, the brightness of the theater had definitely improved; it wasn’t as gloomy as before.
But it was still incredibly weird.
“Did the audience performer do this? Just bored and decided to decorate the place?”
Mo Rabbit figured it was time to do a little divination.
She wouldn’t let any bizarre phenomenon slip by unnoticed.
But before she could begin, Night Star’s voice echoed from nearby.
“Mo Rabbit, what are you doing just standing there?”
Mo Rabbit shot Night Star a glance before turning her gaze back to the glowing orb.
“What is that?”
“Our light,” Night Lan said with all seriousness.
Mo Rabbit fell silent.
“Our light? Isn’t that you?
She let out a soft sigh.
“Be normal. My instincts tell me something’s off about that thing. If you don’t say anything, I’ll just do the divination myself.”
“Uh… that’s just a half-embodiment of the Origin of the Stars; for now, it’s harmless.”
Mo Rabbit’s pupils seemingly trembled.
“cr*p! So that’s the origin of the Stars and Star Eclipses? Why is it a ball?!”
Even the usually calm Mo Rabbit was taken aback by this information.
She had just stepped out for a little and came back to find the Origin of the Stars hanging out in the Rising Sun Theater.
It made absolutely no sense!
Night Star looked away in exasperation.
“Don’t overreact! Why can’t the Origin of the Stars just be a ball? Maybe that’s how it originally was.”
Of course, Night Star was joking.
The Dream Narrator had mentioned some basic info about the Origin of the Stars.
It has two forms, both humanoid.
As for why it was a ball now? Night Lan didn’t know.
Mo Rabbit gradually regained her composure.
Good thing she hadn’t done the divination just now.
The Origin of the Stars was a being above all stars and star eclipses—trying to divine about it could lead to catastrophic backfire.
At that point, only Night Star could save her.
“What now? Where did you get this thing?”
“Um, I sorta snagged it from the Ballad Conductor. Because of this orb, that j*rk has been quite a handful.”
Night Star then recounted the details about the Ballad Conductor, giving Mo Rabbit a rough idea.
“So that’s how it is? Just leaving this thing in the theater is really okay? After all, it’s an unknown entity—could easily be an enemy. What if it wakes up one day? We’d all be in trouble.”
“But it can’t be left out in the open either! If some star eclipse like the Ballad Conductor picks it up, then it’ll trigger some really terrifying scenarios.”
That scenario was definitely possible.
Star Eclipses could gain massive power from this orb.
If a particularly nasty star eclipse got stronger, the Night Watchers would have something to worry about.
Innocent people could easily get hurt, too.
And let’s be real: the Origin of the Stars was something the Night Watchers wouldn’t stand a chance against.
It was better to keep it in the theater, under Night Star’s watch.
