### Chapter 46: Becoming Friends
Another day passed without incident.
Night Lan took Star Sheng to the aquarium, then the zoo, and even pet shops and such.
Almost every place with small animals, Night Lan made sure Star Sheng didn’t miss out on any of them.
And it turned out that Star Sheng was very content with this.
To others, she was just a kid whose wishes were granted.
The next few days continued in the same vein.
The two would go back and forth between the aquarium, zoo, and pet shops.
It was like routine shopping trips.
The Night Watchers of Ping Hai City watched this mundane daily routine for several days and saw nothing out of the ordinary.
It just seemed like a normal schedule.
Inside the Night Watcher base.
The Leader was deep in thought.
“Brainwashing?”
When he said those words, the other two Sunlight Night Watchers chimed in with their own opinions.
“This is her idea? It doesn’t seem so.”
“Even if it solves the star eclipse problem, it’s just too inefficient.”
Efficiency had always been a major concern across all industries.
High efficiency could save a lot of time to be used for more important ventures.
Low efficiency might increase the cost of doing things, including intangible resources like time.
It was quite troublesome.
For many Night Watchers, star eclipses causing massive disasters were better dealt with by simply eliminating them outright.
Because it was straightforward and saved time.
They might turn a blind eye to certain minor star eclipses that cause no social turmoil or disruption of order.
These could be simply noted and left to their fate.
But the events caused by “Ecological Distortion” couldn’t be forgiven.
At most, they might find redemption through action.
But what are the odds of star eclipses actually working this way?
Not likely.
In fact, not causing further trouble would almost be considered a blessing.
The Night Watchers already knew that star eclipses were tough to communicate with from the beginning.
Their mental state was… complicated.
Telling them about peaceful coexistence would just fall on deaf ears.
And interacting with them was already a luxury, let alone communicating.
Still…
The Leader stared at the screen and suddenly had a hunch.
Night Lan seemed capable of normal communication with star eclipses without any frequency mismatch issues.
Being immune to star eclipse pollution was also crucial.
Was that the meaning behind Night Lan’s “I want it all” statement from a few days ago?
How terrifying.
“I believe she’ll bring about the best results; waiting isn’t necessarily bad.”
Since Night Lan was the only one doing this, it wouldn’t waste the Night Watchers of Ping Hai City’s resources and would even save much of it.
If she can solve this event, maybe Ping Hai City will enter a long period of stability.
It all depends on her ability.
She can’t just keep thinking of befriending the star eclipse embodiment?
That’s probably not going to happen.
…
Weekend was looming closer.
Rising Sun Theater was planning Ping Hai City’s first outdoor performance.
Outdoors, Night Lan was showing Star Sheng around.
Inside the theater, Night Star was watching the Group Leader and others rehearse their performances.
Multitasking had become second nature.
Everything was smooth sailing on the theater side.
Night Star just needed to watch things like usual.
On Night Lan’s end, things were going well but only to a certain extent.
Satisfying her obsession wasn’t something achievable in just a few days.
Or perhaps, crossing the threshold to that crucial step was still blocked.
Night Lan’s perspective.
She had just taken Star Sheng to the aquarium.
Star Sheng treated Night Lan much friendlier than before.
Mayhap because Night Lan had shown her all these little critters during her visits.
So somewhere in Star Sheng’s heart, Night Lan’s position had changed.
Maybe even above off-the-charts Li Yan.
In Star Sheng’s subconscious, as long as she listened to Night Lan, Night Lan would take her to see all these cute animals.
This was sheer bliss!
If possible, Star Sheng would love this arrangement to continue indefinitely.
Staying happily forever seems like the best outcome.
Yesterday did it like this.
Today did it like this.
Hopefully, tomorrow as well!
Night Lan thought deeply and did not immediately lead Star Sheng elsewhere.
“Hmm… Star Sheng, what do you think our relationship is?”
“I don’t know.”
“Are we friends?”
Star Sheng also pondered this carefully, eyes filled with confusion.
“Are we really friends?”
In her mind, only little animals were her friends.
And she only acknowledged little animals as friends.
No one else fit this category.
Not even Li Yan could be considered one.
Night Lan took her around to see the animals.
All these days, she had stuck with her and given her security and happiness.
Is this friendship?
It matched her concept of “friendship”.
At least, it felt similar.
But…
“I don’t know…”
This was Star Sheng’s reply to Night Lan.
“I see.”
Night Lan didn’t lose hope and instead held her hand, heading in another direction.
Once they were out of sight, Night Lan told her to wait here for a moment, then vanished instantly.
Star Sheng didn’t have to wait long; less than ten seconds, Night Lan returned.
Back beside Star Sheng, Night Lan held a tiny fish tank in her hands.
Inside was the reward from her goldfish-catching game from a few days prior.
Beautiful little guppies.
The little guppies remained lively and full of energy.
To others, this might be insignificant.
But for Star Sheng, it was a treasure beyond price.
“What’s this?” Star Sheng’s eyes lit up.
“This is a gift for you.”
Night Lan handed over the small fish tank.
“By accepting this, we’ll officially be friends.”
Since Star Sheng couldn’t determine their relationship, using this method could help clarify things.
And Star Sheng was noticeably conflicted, as if hesitating.
She hadn’t made friends with anyone outside of animals.
Even though she loved the guppies in Night Lan’s hands, she hesitated a bit.
“Is this really okay?”
“Um, yeah, of course.”
“And becoming friends with me… I’ll probably get really ugly, are you okay with that?”
Looks like she still held onto that belief.
Any animal she interacted with would change its appearance.
But just to this degree.
She worried that Night Lan would change and stop taking her around.
Night Lan nodded gently.
“It’s okay, but I won’t change. I’m the best, so don’t worry.”
“If that’s the case, I want to be your friend…”
Hearing this, Night Lan breathed a sigh of relief.
Finally, the pivotal step was taken.
“Let’s keep exploring. I’ll see if I can find a cat café, and we can check it out together.”
Night Lan used Flash to place the fish tank in the basement she previously occupied and returned.
Otherwise, carrying this thing around would be quite a hassle.
“If we’re friends now, we should go check out other places as well. Buying some new clothes might be nice.”
“I don’t need to see animals anymore?”
“No, we’ll visit later. There’s plenty of time, isn’t there?”
“Is that so…?”
Inside, Star Sheng was elated yet bewildered.
This was her first human friend.
Night Lan felt different from animals, perhaps even better.
Safe and normal, yet…
Why did she feel a pang of unease in her heart?
