Ahri dealt with the Borisin tailing Jueming with ease and brought news of Shuhu back with her.
"I understand. I'll synchronize this information with the other Xianzhou shortly."
Xi—who currently oversaw the entirety of the Cangyan Xianzhou—naturally chose to forward the report to the Marshal.
Even if the Cangyan Xianzhou functioned as a special economic zone, it was still part of the Xianzhou Alliance.
Now that the Denizens of the Abundance were stirring, of course the information had to be shared across the Alliance.
"I'll leave it to you."
With Xi handling matters, Ahri felt completely at ease.
With that done, she prepared to leave.
But just as she was about to go, Xi suddenly called after her.
"Ahri—how have you been lately?"
There was clear concern in Xi's voice, directed at Ahri's physical condition.
A normal Foxian lived for around three hundred years, yet Ahri had survived from several centuries ago all the way to the present.
Anyone could tell she carried a secret—one she could not speak of.
And that secret was, naturally, one of the Xianzhou's taboos.
She had once drawn upon the power of the Plague's Author, YAOSHI, and that was why she was still alive.
Back then, Bolue had used their own body to devour two Abundance Blessings and ultimately achieved resonance.
That Path's power turned both Foxians and Borisin into beasts that lost their human forms and their consciousness.
Ahri, like Bolue, was a special case—someone who could remain rational even within that resonance.
After the incident was resolved, she also found a way to restore those Foxians who had lost their minds.
She absorbed the ABUNDANCE within them, allowing them to regain human form and recover their sanity.
It was an extremely dangerous act, but Ahri did it anyway.
The result was obvious: afterward, her power surpassed even Bolue's.
But the side effects also became a hidden crisis within her.
Such an immense concentration of ABUNDANCE could infect her, turning her into a living source of contagion—something that constantly spread ABUNDANCE.
To prevent her mind from being thrown into chaos, Ahri chose to shape the excess power in her body into long tails, dispersing its influence.
That ABUNDANCE could still be put to use—allowing her to heal herself when injured, and even heal allied soldiers.
Because of this, within the Xianzhou, Ahri became known among Foxians as the "Heavenly Fox."
Likewise, the auspicious many-tailed fox was a saying passed around on many Xianzhou.
"On battlefields where the Heavenly Fox appears, casualties will be reduced to a minimum."
But fame always came with a price, and the "auspicious many-tailed fox" had its cost—exactly what Xi was worried about now.
"Are you… about to grow another tail again?"
Perhaps because she had devoured ABUNDANCE in the past, whenever Ahri killed Abundance spawn, she would unconsciously absorb the power within them.
In other words, every time she set foot on a battlefield against the Denizens of the Abundance, she grew stronger without meaning to.
And to contain that strength, she had to keep splitting off tail after tail, lessening the corruption that power inflicted on her.
But… tails had limits. Ahri could not devour ABUNDANCE endlessly.
"It's fine. I only have six right now. I can hold out for at least another hundred years."
From Ahri's own sense of things, once she reached nine tails, she likely would no longer be able to suppress the power inside her.
After losing control, she would become an unconscious source of infection that spread ABUNDANCE everywhere—so before that happened, she would leave this world.
"Honestly, none of that matters to me anymore."
Ahri smiled faintly. "My wish has already been fulfilled, hasn't it?"
In a few centuries, when she could no longer control the power within her, she would quietly find a star and throw herself into it.
And when she left, she would surely be smiling—because everything she had longed for had already been answered perfectly.
What had carried Ahri through those hundreds of years was nothing more than the hope of seeing Big Brother Sora once again.
Now that her wish had come true, nothing else mattered.
Xi understood Ahri's wish—and her longing.
So all she could do was let out a long, heavy sigh, choosing not to say more.
"Since you're back, why don't you go take a look at the film set…"
The heavy topic was over. Xi deliberately shifted to something lighter to ease the mood.
And the thing most likely to catch Ahri's interest was the film Sora was acting in.
"I heard production's moving pretty fast. It looks like they're already…"
Xi checked the shooting schedule and realized that in less than a few months, filming had already passed the halfway point.
The speed made her frown unconsciously.
Normally, didn't making a movie take half a year to a full year? Why was this one moving so fast?
"Did I… pick the wrong director…?"
Xi wasn't sure—and she also seemed to have forgotten how she had found the director in the first place.
Her memories of that time felt strangely jumbled, leaving her unable to sort them out.
"Ahri, since you're back, why don't you help me keep an eye on things over there and see what's going on?"
She had no choice. She still needed to handle matters here, so all she could do was send Ahri to investigate.
"Sure. Then I'll go see what kind of role Feng Liqi ended up giving him."
In high spirits, Ahri headed for the film set.
Perfect timing to see how Big Brother Sora was doing these days…
…
Filming was clearly far more complicated than Sora had imagined.
At first, he really couldn't get used to it.
After all, playing himself left him feeling strangely out of sync.
He was playing "him," but also not him—and as for some of the bizarre lines, Sora had no idea how they'd even made it into the script.
For example...
"After those consecutive battles on the battlefield, my body has long since been battered beyond repair!"
That was the root of everything: because his body was supposedly beyond repair, the aging General Futian continued searching for a successor.
"The one who mends the heavens died in a duel with Hoshigaki Sora? How could I dream of something like that?"
In the story's early climax—right before the coming festival—General Futian dreamed of that scene.
"This is the end of the Cangyan Xianzhou."
At the height of the climax, a proud-faced "Bolue" declared that Cangyan had reached its final moment.
Below, the crowd could only watch helplessly as the sky overhead was swallowed by pitch-black darkness.
"That's hard to say…"
A figure stepped into frame, something clutched in his hand—
"Cut! Perfect take!"
Just as the story reached its most critical moment, Sparkle's excited shout rang out from the side.
"Next we're shooting the transformation shot—and before the transformation, we need to highlight the mystique of what's in his hand!"
Sora watched as Sparkle explained.
"So we need the audience to see an automatic transformation!"
Automatic transformation, huh?
That did sound like it would sell the magic.
Sora nodded. In his memory, anything that transformed on its own was usually pretty awesome.
Especially that "account-hijacking Primitive Dragon"—even at the end, it was still carrying.
This should be easy to pull off…
"After all, in an interstellar civilization, having something automatic is pretty normal."
However, what happened next left Sora completely dumbfounded.
Because Sparkle—the director—actually put on a full-body green suit and stood right in front of him.
"What are you doing?"
"Didn't I just say we want it to transform automatically? So I'll be the greenscreen crew. Later you can just key me out."
Sparkle looked utterly smug, while Sora's face twisted into a knot.
What kind of "automatic transformation" is this?!
Are you also wearing green so it's easier to chromakey yourself out later?
You do realize we're in a spacefaring civilization, right?!
Is it really okay to use such an old way for special-effects?!
In an instant, an endless flood of things to complain about surged through Sora's mind.
He genuinely couldn't understand. Couldn't you just spend some money and have a prop custom-made?
Why did you have to jump in personally?
"Because it feels satisfying!"
Sparkle's grin didn't fade. She didn't find anything weird about it at all.
#&%*#@!
"Then why don't you ask the crew, Mr. Sora?"
Sparkle made an inviting gesture.
As for the crew's take…
"I think using this kind of retro effect is pretty nice, actually."
"Yeah, yeah. We're adapting an ancient myth anyway, so a more old-school effects approach feels fitting."
Hearing them, a strange doubt rose in Sora's mind.
Wait… am I the one with the problem?
"All right, all right—rolling!"
Just as Sora was questioning reality, Sparkle practically dragged him back into the shoot.
At the call, the camera slowly pushed in, capturing Sora's resolute expression.
"The world won't be destroyed because of this..."
"I won't allow the darkness to swallow us!"
The moment he finished, the object in his hand began to tremble.
At his side, Sparkle—in her green suit—gripped the Driver and shook it nonstop.
On camera, it looked as if it had a will of its own, suddenly slipping from Sora's grasp and spiraling through the air.
But in reality, Sparkle was holding it and swooping it up and down like a kid playing with a toy plane.
And while she "flew" it around, she even added sound effects: "Whoosh—whoosh—whoosh~"
She looked like she was having the time of her life.
But she was still a director with professional standards. She wasn't about to forget the actual job.
So after the Driver "flew" a few circles, it finally stopped at Sora's waist.
Sparkle slapped it hard against his abdomen with a sharp smack.
The sound was so crisp that everyone nearby turned to look.
Crisp enough to hurt just listening to it.
"Ooooh! That's the effect!"
The assistant director, seeing the shot on the monitor, couldn't help shouting in awe.
It was perfect.
The way everyone's gaze converged on Sora, and the startled expression he wore as if he were "bearing power"—
Perfect. Absolutely perfect.
Director Sparkle is amazing, she did something we couldn't pull off so effortlessly. It's so blood-pumping! This is so cool!"
The assistant director's shout drew more people over to check the framing.
After watching, they nodded along, growing more and more excited for what the finished film would look like.
Only Sora wasn't paying attention—because that slap had genuinely hurt.
Sparkle absolutely did that on purpose.
"Quick, strike while the iron's hot! Next scene, next scene!"
Sparkle didn't give Sora any time to retaliate, immediately urging them on to the next setup.
And now that the Driver was "in place," the next step was naturally the transformation.
So Sparkle, still in her greenscreen outfit, shoved the round object into it.
She continued doing her best to fulfill her role in this greenscreen "effect."
"CHOU KAIGAN! MUGEN! KEEP GOING!"
So she wasn't just doing effects—she was even calling out the name?!
"GO, GO, GO! GO, GO, GO! GO, GO, GO!"
Sparkle sang at full volume. There was a rhythm to it that made people sink into it without realizing.
"GOTTA GHOST!"
After finishing the call, she gestured for Sora's line.
Sora shot her a glare and delivered it with heavy emotion.
"HENSHIN!"
Once this is over, you're dead—!
Behind him, Feng Liqi—already prepared—slammed into Sora's body.
In the next instant, blazing white-gold flames erupted around him.
"Good—cut!!! Everyone take a break!"
As soon as that take ended, Sparkle whooped and immediately turned to sprint away.
Since it was break time, someone was clearly going to settle accounts with her—so she had to run. Obviously.
But no matter how fast she was, she wasn't faster than Sora's hands.
Before she got far, the twintails swaying behind her were suddenly yanked tight in Sora's grip.
"My dear director," Sora said with a half-smile, "where are you going?"
Taking petty revenge on me, huh? Fine—today I'm making you pay…
"That was Effects Sparkle just now. I'm Director Sparkle. You should go settle accounts with her..."
Caught, Sparkle could only obediently shuffle back in front of Sora.
She tapped her index fingers together, her face full of shameless blame-shifting.
Unfortunately for her, that kind of sophistry didn't work on Sora at all.
"It's fine. Even if there are two Sparkles, I'll settle accounts with both."
With that, Sora dragged Sparkle off to "settle accounts properly."
Watching this, Ahri—lingering at the edge of the set—smiled as well.
If things could stay peaceful like this forever, that would be nice.
...
My name is Hoshigaki Sora, and I'm an actor at a film wrap party.
The movie I filmed has finally ended.
Freedom is within reach!
After endless shooting, the film that—at least in Sora's eyes—reeked of a box-office bomb finally wrapped its last scenes in recent days.
And at this very moment, Sora was attending the wrap party.
Since it was a joint production between the Federation and the Cangyan Xianzhou, the venue was naturally anything but ordinary.
Just from the décor alone, Sora could tell: this was a place for the rich and powerful.
Up front, Sparkle was speaking with tearful eyes about her feelings on wrapping.
"I want to thank the Federation, thank the Xianzhou, thank the Hoshigaki Sora…"
The way she said it made it sound like she'd won some kind of award, and Sora could only stare in repeated speechlessness.
Whatever. It had nothing to do with him. Why should he care?
Better to focus on wiping out the food in front of him.
So Sora quietly started demolishing the spread.
But the atmosphere at his table… wasn't exactly harmonious.
On his left sat Feng Liqi, hesitating over whether she should pick food for Sora.
Should I get him this?
No, no—this looks really heavily seasoned. What if it's too salty?
Then… vegetables? But it looks like he's only eating meat. What if he doesn't like vegetables?
Feng Liqi fell into endless indecision again.
And while she was still wavering, the dishes in front of her suddenly began to rotate.
Looking closer, it was Robin—sitting on Sora's other side—turning the lazy Susan.
"I heard this dish is really good. Sora, try it."
Robin's wings shifted to a pleased orange-yellow as she casually set a crystal-clear shrimp dumpling in front of Sora.
That composure, that effortless ease—Feng Liqi couldn't help feeling a little envious as she watched.
When would she be able to do that, too?
As for Sora, he didn't consider any of that. He popped the dumpling straight into his mouth—then widened his eyes in surprise.
The wrapper was faintly cool on his tongue; once bitten through, the savory juices burst across his mouth.
Fresh, sweet, and lingering—with an aftertaste that went on and on.
Chewing carefully, he felt as if he were tasting a plump, perfect shrimp.
"This is good!" Sora blurted out.
Who knew the food here was this delicious? Was it always this good?
But thinking about it again—back then, he didn't remember eating anything like this.
So had it come later?
That thought made Sora sigh in quiet satisfaction. His choice back then really had been the right one.
"Feng Liqi, you must've tried countless delicacies over these centuries, right? You've got to introduce me to them properly."
"Huh? I don't need to eat. I've never really had 'delicacies,' so I can't recommend anything."
A Heliobus was a pure-energy lifeform. Even someone like Feng Liqi—who had become nearly indistinguishable from ordinary living beings—didn't actually need food.
Thus, although Feng Liqi had lived on the Cangyan Xianzhou for hundreds of years, she hadn't really experienced the cuisine.
Hearing this, Sora's gaze unconsciously filled with pity.
Sitting on a mountain of treasure and never knowing it—that was pretty sad, wasn't it?
"If you're alive, how can you not eat? Here—try this."
Feeling sorry for her, Sora picked one up and placed it in her bowl.
Feng Liqi accepted it dazedly, then lifted the crystal-clear shrimp dumpling from her plate.
It should've been her serving him, but since he'd already served her… she'd try it.
But just as she was about to put it in her mouth, she suddenly felt a gaze on her—watching intently.
…?!
Feng Liqi snapped her head around and found it was coming from Robin's direction.
At this moment, Robin's wings glowed red.
Strange...
Their relationship wasn't exactly close, but it was friendly enough.
No grudges, no debts—there was no reason for Robin to stare at her like that.
Was she imagining things?
Feng Liqi again tried putting the dumpling into her mouth, but the feeling of being watched returned.
This time she was sure—it really was Robin looking.
I-I-I… did I do something to upset her?
Slightly frightened, Feng Liqi shoved the dumpling Sora had given her into her mouth, silently begging Sora to give her courage.
...
And so the wrap party ended in that slightly awkward atmosphere.
Next would come editing, adding effects, and rearranging the story—then it would be ready for release.
In such an advanced era, these steps were compressed into a very short time.
"In a few days, I'll deliver the rough cut to Mr. Sora," Sparkle said, bouncing away from Sora with a cheerful goodbye. "When the time comes, you have to give your feedback."
Honestly, Sora hadn't expected she'd avoid causing trouble over this.
But now that filming was done, he could finally take a proper break.
Sora stretched contentedly. He planned to enjoy himself on the Cangyan Xianzhou for a while.
But a single sentence from Robin cost him a day off.
"Didn't we agree we'd go out on our own? Since we both have time, why don't we make good on it?"
Robin suddenly popped up behind Sora, a faint smile on her lips.
"Huh?"
The moment she appeared, she stole a whole day from his vacation!
"Did you forget? You promised we'd go shopping together and I'd buy you an outfit."
"Already? I thought you'd wait a bit."
Sora hadn't expected Robin to latch on and make him cash in that promise as soon as the wrap party ended.
"Is that not okay?" Robin's mood dipped, and even her wings shifted to another color.
Seeing that, Sora thought about the movie they'd just filmed…
Well, with the movie being this cringeworthy, a flop was probably unavoidable.
In that case, paying up early didn't matter.
"Of course it's fine. Just name the time—when it comes, I'll be there on the dot."
Sora patted his chest and agreed.
Robin thought for a moment, then chose a date Sora hadn't expected at all.
"That's the day they're delivering the rough cut. You sure you want to go then?"
Yes—Robin chose the very day the rough cut would arrive.
Sora couldn't help being surprised.
"Didn't you already decide the movie wasn't going to be great? Since it's like that, let's just skip it."
Robin smiled mischievously. "Avoiding it is shameful… but useful."
If they already expected a disaster, there was no need to torment themselves watching it again.
Better to go out together that day and dispel some bad luck.
Thinking it over, Sora felt she had a point.
"Then it's settled. That day, we'll go shopping together."
Perfect timing for Sora to do some research on the Cangyan Xianzhou, too—and discover restaurants that could surprise him.
"Then it's a deal. See you in a few days."
Robin hummed happily as she walked ahead of Sora.
Clearly, she was in a very good mood.