Stelle stared at Nero as he obtained Aideen's contact information. After that, as always, the direct negotiations were handled by Himeko.
"Mm... Hello, everyone. I'm Himeko, a Nameless from the Astral Express."
Himeko stepped forward and looked around. Since she was introducing herself to the audience across the entire galaxy as a contestant, she naturally first tried to find the equipment being used for filming.
However, she couldn't find any place where such equipment existed, so she simply spoke up. After all, this was a dream. Even if the Aideen in front of them was actually a simulated humanoid camera, that would work too.
"These are my companions for this trip."
Himeko didn't introduce the others in detail, merely using one sentence to state their relationship at the moment before moving on.
"Mm..." Firefly hesitated for a moment before asking, "Don't you need to hide your identities?"
"There's no way to hide them. Our posters are plastered all over Penacony..." March said to Firefly. "But precisely because everyone knows the Astral Express, the Family doesn't dare act recklessly."
"And even if we really did hide our names..." July added, pulling Nero over to her side, "it would still be hard to do with this child around. He and those two knights are practically high beams lit up in the dark. They're already so conspicuous that they're almost blinding."
Listening to everyone's conversation, Stelle stared at the group in front of her for a while. Seeing that none of them seemed to have any intention of leaving, she knew it was time for her to make her move.
The still-young Stellaron baby adjusted her collar with a strong sense of ceremony, cleared her throat, and looked solemn with her amber eyes.
Then, like a champion about to give an acceptance speech, she spoke, "Hello, everyone. I'm Hello, everyone. Of course, you can also call me by my alias. I'm the Galactic Baseballer."
Stelle's expression was so serious, but what she said had no substance at all.
Until the very end, she still hadn't given her real name. For strangers, an introduction aimed at people who already knew her was basically the same as saying nothing.
March sighed beside her. She suddenly felt that she had no enthusiasm for this audition anymore, but she still began her introduction with plenty of energy. Perhaps this was the self-cultivation of a beautiful girl.
"Hello, everyone. I'm March 7th! Just an ordinary girl who likes going on adventures everywhere."
Firefly, who had been wondering how she should introduce herself, immediately took March's introduction for herself. "Hello, everyone. I'm Firefly. Mm... also just an ordinary girl who likes going on adventures everywhere."
The girl finished this introduction somewhat unnaturally. Clearly, even she didn't believe what she had just said.
But neither the people in front of them nor the audience seemed to think there was anything wrong with it.
After all, this was Penacony. The entertainment industry here had developed far ahead of its time. No matter how obvious the act was, the audience had definitely seen things even more fake than this.
For audiences from other planets, this thing called a persona might still be somewhat interesting, but in Penacony, it was practically an everyday occurrence. Mm... It had even become a form of entertainment to see just how outrageous celebrities' personas could get.
Such a boring kind of fun might even attract a few Fools.
After Firefly finished speaking, July nodded. "I'm also March 7th."
That was a fact, but saying it right after Firefly made it sound a little sarcastic instead.
Yes, the three of us are all March 7th.
Now, three people still hadn't introduced themselves. Argenti stepped forward without hesitation and began his introduction.
Facing everyone with a sincere gaze, he began describing things in flowery language. Then, before he had even said his name, Aideen interrupted Argenti's introduction.
The reason was that while this guy acted as though he was about to introduce the very beautiful Boss Nero, he had rattled off more than two hundred adjectives praising other people at an extraordinary speed without even stopping to breathe, and he showed no sign of ending anytime soon.
"So it's the Nameless' party and the renowned Knights of Beauty!" Just by looking at the completely different style of Argenti and listening to his outrageous way of speaking, Aideen already understood the situation.
He then ended the self-introduction segment with perfect rationality and clarity, "Then the final showdown will certainly be incredibly exciting! Time is precious, friends. Come with me."
Aideen didn't dare let Argenti continue introducing himself. He had a feeling that if he let this passionate knight continue speaking, even after the Charmony Festival ended, this man's adjectives still wouldn't be finished.
As a business tycoon, Aideen had complete faith in his instincts and their accuracy.
Amid the repeated playing of the SoulGlad advertising song, Aideen brought everyone to a platform.
Looking at the handsome men and beautiful women before him, he spoke, "Everyone, your arrival reminds me of the grand occasion when Penacony was first established. At the time, I was still a young man."
"After seeing the Clockmaker's advertisement, I left my hometown with nothing but passion and came here to earn my first pot of gold."
"One day, I accidentally fainted from the heavy labor and was saved by Mr. Sussur's drink. That sweet taste was branded into my mind from then on, driving me to create the SoulGlad we have today."
"The Dreamweaver Era was truly a magical time. I miss that era, and I miss the Clockmaker. I built this Hot Sand venue to commemorate that era full of possibilities."
Listening to Aideen suddenly begin recounting his entrepreneurial history, Nero blinked, tugged at Stelle's hand, and whispered, "I heard Brother Aventurine say that most business tycoons have a similar story, and if they want to, they can even casually tell you more than a dozen different versions. It's as if this is a golden business card for squeezing into high society."
"I think Aha's Fragmentum Factory's creation history is pretty legendary too," Stelle said.
"No way. I feel like it was pretty ordinary. I just suddenly had an idea, and then it was completed very smoothly."
"That's exactly what makes it legendary." Stelle narrowed her eyes.
In her eyes, Nero's experience of creating the factory was the real legend in the history of entrepreneurship.
'Setbacks?'
'There were no setbacks at all!'
Because he had an idea, he somehow succeeded smoothly. And the money was provided by the Xianzhou and the Company, the technology was given by Madam Herta, the manpower was gathered casually, and even the materials were obtained by doing good deeds and taking them from the Fragmentum.
And despite involving multiple factions, every single faction went out of its way to let Nero take the greatest possible share of the benefits. The entire galaxy probably didn't have a more legendary entrepreneurial history than this.
"I sincerely wish you success all the way to the end and that you become Penacony's new generation of superstars!" Aideen seemed not to have heard Stelle and Nero whispering to each other and offered everyone his blessing.
Or perhaps... he had heard them, but because there was too much involved, he didn't dare say anything.
After all, as a businessman, he inevitably had to deal with the Interastral Peace Corporation, while Nero had openly mentioned the term "Brother Aventurine."
"So, before the competition officially begins, is there anything else you want to say?" Aideen asked.
Hearing this, Stelle looked at herself, then at March and Himeko, then at Firefly, and finally at Nero and the two Knights of Beauty standing behind the child like guardian deities.
In the end, she sighed.
"Our army is doomed to lose."
Two Knights of Beauty plus one incarnation of Beauty. What was there to compete over? Even if the other side didn't say a word, they still couldn't win.
Stelle firmly remembered what the Joy journalist had said earlier. Since they couldn't win anyway, they might as well do something fun.
Aideen clearly didn't understand Stelle's thinking. He could only give two dry laughs and praise Stelle for having the good habit of being prepared for danger in times of peace as a Nameless.
Afterward, the old gentleman described the rules of the Hot Sand Audition to everyone.
"Three stages await you, and each one is related to that era. The first two stages each have paths for you to choose from, and every path has a unique challenge.
"And in the final stage, you will challenge a highly popular contestant who has held the arena until now and has very low morals!"
[🙇🏻 You Can Support through P@tr3on—AmbitiousTranslator. It also has 40+ advanced chapters of all the novels and fanfics. It gets updated daily. Thanks for reading, have a great day~]