Ah Xian opened the live stream recording, found the relevant segment, slowed it down, and observed it carefully.
Just as she thought, in Leon's route, when Cirrus left Stelle's body, her condition wasn't completely unaffected.
Rather, the moment the effect appeared, it all disappeared in the very next instant.
If it wasn't some kind of healing technique, then it must have been an unknown protective method, right?
She closed the recording and continued the story. Unexpectedly, the very next second, the screen cut to Leon's memory.
It was the scene where he received the message from Stelle and then asked Jing Yuan.
The memory scene only lasted a few seconds, but the amount of information it provided was enough for the players to understand.
Leon must have used some kind of remote protection method.
Perhaps it was also similar to a healing technique — directly transferring the negative effects for him to bear instead.
Even though she had been stabbed hard by Leon in the past, Ah Xian was still moved.
"…Sigh, he's always like this!"
Protecting his companions without a sound, yet never wanting to say a single word about it even once.
Before version 1.3, countless players had been guessing what Leon must have experienced to develop this kind of personality.
Now in version 1.5, they already understood.
Because Leon had lost too much — family, clan members, companions, comrades-in-arms… even everything.
Until there was nothing left that could make him linger, and in the end he could no longer wake up.
That was why Leon cherished his current companions very, very much and worried about everyone's safety.
He no longer easily burned himself or walked the path of the past and took on the responsibilities of the past. However, the Astral Express companions he cared about in his heart were different.
From March 7th's recounting, the Belobog plot, the Xianzhou plot...
And the plot where they entered his past memories and tried to wake him up — all of them proved this point.
The reason he doted so much on boys — this was the main reason.
However——
Why was he unconditionally good to children?
Ah Xian couldn't guess for the time being.
Even if she used her butt instead of her brain to think, she knew that the amount of knives (angst) contained was probably not low.
She shook her head and decided not to think about it too much for now.
A person shouldn't become the kind of ghost that actively seeks out blades and feels uncomfortable all over if they don't eat blades.
She continued to look for Huohuo to talk.
...
The moment Stelle heard Leon's evasive question in return, she already had an idea in her heart, and felt a mix of complicated emotions.
…Doctor Leon was playing Tai Chi, which meant it wasn't appropriate to keep asking.
She never felt that entering Leon's past and successfully waking him up was something that required Leon to unconditionally give something back.
Redemption was mutual. Leon had helped and saved her far more times.
But… this was just the kind of person Leon was.
Behind his gentle and easygoing attitude toward his companions, there were things he was stubborn about that no one could argue against or change.
Not long ago, Leon had said that every Path possessed extremity. He himself was no exception to that extremity, was he?
While her thoughts were surging, the sound of Huohuo's low sobbing reached her ears.
Stelle temporarily set aside her thoughts and let out a silent sigh.
Huohuo kept crying and murmuring about Tail.
Clearly, Tail was no longer the bad heliobus who had wanted to swallow her at the very beginning.
From the moment the seal was lifted, Tail regained his freedom, yet chose to fight Cirrus to the death — from that instant onward, the bond between the two of them no longer needed any words.
"Huohuo..." Stelle called out softly. "Are you okay?"
"Tail interfered with Cirrus and helped us… but… but he's gone now. I can't sense him anywhere. He's gone..."
"Although because of Tail, I've always been doing difficult work and living bitter days..."
"There were countless times I thought that if it weren't for this guy, how comfortable my life would be right now."
"But… but when the moment of separation really came, my heart… my heart felt empty."
"I really am a useless person. The thing I had been looking forward to for so long finally happened, yet I can't smile at all."
Stelle recalled what Xueyi had said, as well as Cirrus's current state, and comforted her:
"Heliobi aren't that easy to kill. Maybe… Tail is still around?"
Huohuo bit her lip and nodded silently. "Lord Xueyi said that heliobi are undying flames. Tail grandpa… he must be somewhere."
But he… just doesn't want to come back...
"Miss Stelle, you don't have to worry about me. Huohuo is fine. I still have to pull myself together and continue carrying out the mission."
"Oh right, the Ten Lords Commission contacted Miss Guinaifen's friend, Sushang."
"I can't leave right now, so I'll have to trouble you to go explain things to Miss Sushang so she can feel at ease."
Stelle: "...As long as you're okay. This is my contact code. If anything happens, contact me."
As long as Huohuo hadn't broken down, it was fine. She just needed some time to ease the sadness of losing an important companion.
Stelle deeply understood this kind of sadness, because she had experienced it firsthand — and more than once.
After explaining the events to Sushang, several days passed in the blink of an eye.
Stelle had just finished breakfast when she received a message from Guinaifen.
[Guinaifen: Family, do you have time? Can you come to Fyxestroll Garden?]
[Stelle: Guinaifen should still be in the medical hall right now, right? A tiny little heliobus, don't even think about tricking me again!]
[Guinaifen: Can't there be even a little basic trust between people?!]
[Guinaifen: The doctors from the Alchemy Commission already checked me. Other than being a bit frightened and having some scrapes, I'm completely fine!]
[Guinaifen: This time it's an invitation from Miss Hanya, gathering us few involved people for a meeting.]
[Guinaifen: So family, please come to Fyxestroll Garden quickly. Typing is too troublesome. We'll talk in detail when we meet.]
Stelle put down her phone.
"Leon, what do you think?"
"You mean the Ten Lords Commission's motive for looking for you few involved parties?"
"Pretty much. Logically speaking, it shouldn't have anything to do with me anymore."
"Probably because the Ten Lords Commission is short on manpower due to certain matters and can't spare anyone to handle the follow-up troubles." Leon gave his guess.
Stelle made a troubled face. "Got it. Sigh, who told us Nameless Guests to be the warm-hearted ones of the galaxy."
Leon chuckled lightly. "Being warm-hearted doesn't mean you have to be a living Lei Feng. You can refuse if you don't want to go."
Stelle: "Wouldn't that be bad…?"
Leon: "There's no such rule. Your will is free. No one on the Xianzhou can force you to do something you don't want to do."
Stelle: "Let me think..."
"…Hubby's sense of security is really full… Then I'm not going!"
Ah Xian's eyes were full of hearts as she chose the option in the bottom right to find an excuse and politely refuse.
Then, the very next second, the screen directly stunned her.
It displayed that she had obtained a large amount of Stellar Jade, and explained that the player had chosen to skip all activity plot.
"Ah?"
[Well I'll be… I didn't expect you would actually choose not to go. This option is the same as Kafka's companion mission. If you refuse, there's no follow-up.]
"At least give a hint!"
Ah Xian felt a bit helpless.
As a streamer, she definitely had to go through the story.
"Skipping activity plot is beneficial for players who are busy in real life and don't want to watch at all. Actually, it's pretty good. Everyone, who has already pushed the plot to this point? Can I borrow an account?"
...
...