"..."
Welt gazed at Wende, who stood in the center of the group. This shouldn't be an illusion... How did he do it?
"Waaah! This is... this is space! Why am I here directly? No! Oxygen! I'm going to suffocate!"
Kiana exaggeratedly clutched her own neck, looking as if she were about to run out of oxygen. But a moment later, she realized she seemed to be breathing normally...
"Don't worry, this is just a background board, not actual cosmic space."
Wende smiled and explained to everyone.
"So this is an illusion?"
Mei looked around at the cosmic space that appeared almost completely real, her eyes full of speculation as she spoke to Wende.
"Mn... not quite. To be precise, this is one of my planets."
Wende shook his head. Then, he waved his hand. The surrounding cosmic space instantly dissipated like a dream bubble. Then!
The surrounding scenery began to shatter and reorganize continuously, like flowers in a mirror and the moon in the water, or like being trapped in the very center of a kaleidoscope, with flowing light turning and shifting...
Just as everyone was immersing themselves in this beautiful transformation, the surrounding scenery gradually began to harmonize, finally becoming normal.
A gentle breeze lightly brushed everyone's hair, and a fresh fragrance drifted through the air—the scent of peach blossoms from nearby trees.
"This is... your planet?"
Tesla looked around. Seeing the very familiar scenery nearby, she looked at Wende with a face full of skepticism.
"Why does your planet have so much vegetation from Earth?"
"I molded it."
Wende shrugged helplessly.
"Wen... Wende, so you were hiding even deeper than Dan Heng!?"
March 7th looked at the smiling Wende in shock. She thought that after everyone else's secrets were revealed, it would be her turn! Turns out, on top of "Ascension," there's still "Evolution"!?
Welt merely pushed up his glasses calmly in response. Rather than letting his imagination run wild and guessing randomly, it was better to wait for Wende's explanation directly.
Although the power Wende displayed now was definitely not something an ordinary person, a Pathstrider, or even a Lord Ravager could achieve. Perhaps inadvertently, he had already grown to a level where he could stand shoulder to shoulder with the gods... Or perhaps, he had been deceiving them all along, and he always possessed god-like might, simply keeping it hidden...
But Welt believed in the former and was unwilling to believe the second possibility.
Because Wende treated every member of the Astral Express the same—with the same patience and sincerity.
"Wende..."
Wendy looked at Wende with some worry. She wasn't afraid of anything else, only... was it really okay for Wende to expose his abilities in front of so many people? Even now, she hadn't revealed her powers as the Herrscher of Wind. She was afraid... afraid that once her power was known, she would immediately become a monster in other people's mouths...
The cowardice in Wendy's heart had never dissipated; it was merely buried deep inside due to Wende's appearance. But... if Wende weren't here, her "inner demons" would continuously magnify over time.
In her heart, Wende seemed just like he was now—like a deity...
"Don't worry, March. I will tell you everything I know, but not right now. You'll need to wait patiently for a moment."
Wende nodded slightly to March, comforting her.
"Uh... why do I feel like my thoughts are even more chaotic now? Did I drink too much tonight? I'm dreaming, right?"
The Himeko of the Honkai world stroked her cheek with a dazed expression. She really couldn't distinguish between reality and dreams anymore. After all, she had experienced so much just now: first being suddenly called to Wendy and Wende's dorm, then seeing what looked like ghosts as people from Anti-Entropy and the game gathered together... then asking this Wende for an explanation, only for him to take everyone across time and space to "his" planet...
She couldn't tell anymore. Was this really reality? Was reality... this magical? She must have drunk too much, right?
Thwack!
"Ah~"
Himeko instantly felt a sharp pain in her buttocks and couldn't help but let out a cry. Her beautiful eyes filled with tears as she looked back shyly at Theresa, who was looking rather embarrassed behind her.
"Ah... wasn't I just trying to remind you that you're not in a dream? Right..."
Theresa guiltily retracted the hand she had just used with full force to smack Himeko, speaking to her with an innocent look.
#
"Alright, alright, let's find a place to sit first. There are indeed some things that can't be explained in just a few words. Besides..."
Wende looked around. It seemed there were still a few people not here; he still needed to go pick them up.
It wasn't until Wende reminded them that the group realized there was a towering building behind them. Judging by the size of the structure, it was on par with the mega-structures at the IPC headquarters, Pier Point. On the massive building body, several large characters were engraved.
miHoYo Interstellar Inc.
"miHoYo?"
Tesla couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. She took out her phone from her pocket and opened Honkai: Star Rail. Looking at the company logo flashing past on the startup animation, it was indeed the logo for miHoYo Interstellar Inc.
"So, when you said you were an actor for miHoYo... it was actually true?"
Theresa looked at Wende in surprise. After all, Wende had indeed said that back then. At the time, she thought it was a lie used to coax the kind and innocent Wendy. As it turned out... he was for real?
"Uh... actually, that's not quite true either. Strictly speaking, I should be the Boss of miHoYo Interstellar Inc."
Rubbing his chin, Wende finally gave a relatively rigorous answer.
Actually, this couldn't be helped. After all, he hadn't expected that after telling Wendy he was a "famous actor for the mi family," the System would directly gift him a company...
"Anyway, everyone go in and sit down first. It's still quite empty inside, but there are plenty of seats on the first floor."
Wende walked to the front of the miHoYo building first, opened the door for everyone, and guided them inside.
"Wende..."
Wendy silently walked to Wende's side, looking at him with eyes full of concern.
"Don't worry, nothing will happen."
Wende reached out and patted Wendy's little head, smiling at her.
"Really?"
"Really."
"Then... okay."
"Mn, go sit next to Kiana and March for a bit. I need to go back and pick up three people."
Wende pointed to the "Three Little Ones" who had already found seats and were looking over, speaking to Wendy.
"Mn..."
Wendy nodded, then walked toward the direction of the trio.
"Uncle Yang, I'm going to pick up Sister Himeko, as well as Jingliu and Tingyun. I'll leave things here to you for now."
Wende nodded to Welt beside him.
"Wende, actually, you didn't have to do this."
Welt's gaze was as calm as ever.
---o---