Chapter 23: Looking Forward to a New City
Rising Sun Theater.
Night Star pulled out her phone, glancing at a message from before she returned to the theater.
After reading the message, she stole a look at Mo Rabbit, who was hunched in a corner, looking utterly drained. “Mo Rabbit, Mo Qianmeng wants to know if I can tell her your entire dark past before I leave. Should I spill the beans?”
Mo Rabbit rolled her eyes.
“Don’t feed her imagination. Let her figure it out herself.”
“Uh-huh.”
Night Star quickly found a reason to decline. Mainly because seeing Mo Rabbit so worn out made her feel bad about teasing her.
After all, during the Grand Performance, Mo Rabbit had been working her little tail off for that spectacular stage effect.
Night Star wasn’t as fun-loving as Mo Rabbit; she had a conscience, so she decided to hold back on the teasing for now.
She then squatted down in front of Mo Rabbit, poking her soft cheeks with her fingers, looking confused. “Uhm… Are you really that tired? You look like you’ve got kidney deficiency or something—so dramatic!”
Mo Rabbit shot her a deadpan stare, letting her poke her face like it was some sort of stress ball.
“Stop with the snark; just try it yourself and you’ll see.”
Mo Rabbit seemed like she was ready to give up on life.
This time, the stage effects were way more complicated than last time in Yun Chang City.
This time required even more energy for setup and control, and Qi Yuan City was way bigger, not even on the same scale as Yun Chang City.
Being an Announcer was truly grueling.
Not only did she have to read the script, but she also had to set up the stage and create stage effects.
And this time, it was an improvised performance completely off the script—a whole new level of chaos.
It was practically more exhausting than being a Night Watcher.
If it weren’t for the fun stuff left in the theater group to witness, Mo Rabbit might have already quit and run away.
Seeing all this, Night Star plucked up her courage to pat Mo Rabbit’s head.
“You’ve worked so hard.”
“You…”
Mo Rabbit’s mind went blank for a moment as her eyes dulled rapidly.
She actually got patted on the head?
By this little brat?
Why was she, a person of considerable wisdom, being patted on the head by someone like her?
“Hehehe… that’s kinda funny.”
Feeling a bit fragile mentally, Mo Rabbit broke into a deadpan smile, sinking back into her corner for an impromptu self-imposed time-out.
Seeing Mo Rabbit like that, Night Star playfully stuck her tongue out and turned to leave.
Let her have a bit of peace; it was clear she was genuinely worn out.
Even though it wasn’t the true Star Eclipse, the Fraudster was using concepts to mess with power modes.
The【River Map and Luo Book】 originally had this ability called “Cavern of the Heavens,” which could create a space for imagination, transforming it into the desired environment within one’s heart, layering it over the existing environment and forcing people within to enter the imaginative space.
Of course, the Star version of the Cavern could never create an area as big as a city; with Mo Tu’s A-grade mental prowess, he could only manage a tenth of that at full throttle.
But the Star Eclipse version was a different beast altogether.
The level of power distortion was utterly terrifying, capable of inexplicably amplifying existing power far beyond the Star version.
As the saying goes: “Darkened tenfold.”
That’s why a super large-scale Star Eclipse likely required multiple Sunlight Night Watchers to face it.
Even a Supernova’s strength might not even be enough for a couple of cities.
The difference was glaringly obvious.
And a city like Qi Yuan was pretty much the limit for the Star Eclipse version of the【River Map and Luo Book】.
Keep in mind, that was at full capacity.
If it were Supernova-level, the range would likely be even larger.
However, Star Eclipse transformation distorts the mind.
Standing against such immense forces while resisting that strange corruption was essential to prevent permanent Star Eclipse transformation.
Once permanent Star Eclipse transformation happens, it might as well be a d*ath warrant, with humanity getting wiped out and severing ties with the original society.
Now that’s a real danger.
But if they could unravel the chaos surrounding the Origin of the Stars, perhaps it might also solve the anomaly of Stars transforming into Star Eclipses.
This way, even if it did turn into a Star Eclipse, they wouldn’t have to worry about d*ath or losing their humanity and could have the option to revert back to normal. It’d be the perfect resolution.
Unfortunately, Night Star currently had no clue where the Origin of the Stars was located.
And really, she didn’t want to stir up any troublesome beings.
Like that suspicious final boss kind of presence—better to just avoid it.
Night Star certainly wasn’t going to go looking for it in her free time.
“Forget it.”
Night Star shook off her thoughts and headed over to gather with the other theater members.
They were in the midst of discussing the recent play, especially that bit where the Fraudster led the charge in backstabbing the Group Leader.
The Gentleman, who had been nudged into doing the backstabbing by the Fraudster, was especially vocal about his grievances.
He just wanted to be a loyal henchman to the Evil King, at the very least getting a dramatic d*ath scene.
But then the Fraudster suddenly went and backstabbed the Group Leader—totally out of the blue!
The Gentleman didn’t even see it coming.
It wasn’t until the Fraudster dramatically tossed him the sword that he snapped back to reality.
And to match the plot, the Gentleman had no choice but to backstab the Group Leader again—for the sake of story consistency.
A rather rude way to do things, but thankfully it was just acting, or else he might have had a hard time living with it.
The Fraudster chuckled lightly, seeming quite carefree.
“I think it’s a blast! Since we’re doing improv now, let’s just roll with our own ideas. Plus, it makes total sense, right? The charm of the Announcer’s character is enough to sway me, your loyal Evil King’s henchman, to turn on our villain. Or, unless the Gentleman is against the Announcer?”
The Gentleman fell silent.
“By the script, we’re supposed to be enemies with the Announcer.”
“Exactly! But we’ve already strayed from the script—what’s wrong with going in a plausible direction? And when I tossed you the sword as a hint to backstab the Evil King, you didn’t seem that opposed, so it looks like you’re leaning toward the Announcer, right?”
Hearing this, the Gentleman surprisingly fell silent, then broke into a polite smile aimed at the Fraudster.
“Fraudster, don’t you think you’re talking a bit too much? It’s polite to let others save face.”
“If the Announcer were here, she’d definitely d*e laughing.”
After the Gentleman’s little warning, the Fraudster shut up.
Speaking of which, the Group Leader was quite the tragic figure.
After the play became an improvised performance, even his trusted aides were poised to stab him in the back and join the Announcer’s side.
Is that what the Announcer’s allure does to the theater members? Terrifying indeed!
Meanwhile, the Group Leader maintained a gentle smile, seemingly unfazed by all the drama.
For him, as long as the Grand Performance wraps up perfectly, that’s what mattered.
On the other hand, the playwright, Book Yao, wore a somewhat miffed look.
After all, her hard work on the play’s script ended up getting derailed into an improvised performance.
That script was top-notch!
If they had just followed the script to the end, it would have been an entirely different level of amazing.
Alas, plans got tossed out the window.
Can’t blame it on the dozens of non-Star Eclipses that jumped onto the stage, either.
Guess the drawing power of Star Eclipses wasn’t just talk.
Once these unpredictable factors mixed in, the original script was completely sunk.
As for the makeup artist participating in her first performance, she was just thrilled.
Even if she only shared one scene with Guqiu, she was already super satisfied.
At that moment, Night Star waltzed over, her curiosity bubbling over.
“Group Leader, now that the Grand Performance in this city is done, are we moving on to a new location?”
Night Star was a bit excited about the new place.
Exploring a fresh city always came with its share of fun.
This city had five entertaining districts—what kind of uniqueness would the next city hold?
Night Star had dreams of wandering across the country with the power of the Rising Sun Theater, enriching her life experiences and getting to know more adorable little girls!
That’s why she was looking forward to the theater’s fresh new performance venue.
Every move usually lasted almost a month, which was ample time for her to explore and exhaust her fun in a new city.
She was just so looking forward to the new city!~
