"Mmm~ Wende's cooking is still the best. When we were on standby at the Express a while ago, we definitely didn't have food this good."
Himeko chewed the meal on her plate with great elegance, offering Wende praise without reservation.
"Then please eat more, Sister Himeko. By the way, where's Pom-Pom?"
Wende scanned the dining table, then glanced underneath it. Why was the cute conductor nowhere to be seen?
"The Conductor said they were going to get something to drink and told us to eat first," March 7th said after swallowing a mouthful of food.
"By the way, Mr. Yang, how is your big golden automaton coming along?"
March asked Welt, who had just returned, with great curiosity. At the mention of the automaton, both Wende and Dan Heng couldn't help but turn their gazes toward Welt.
"Mmm…"
Gently placing his chopsticks flat on the table, Welt took a small sip of water from his cup. His expression grew serious and earnest.
"Master Gongshu and I have been studying it for many days. The design philosophy for the new model is already on paper, and the initial test unit is complete. However, there are still many problems."
As soon as he brought up the automaton he had modified to perfectly suit his personal tastes, Welt sighed with emotion.
If there were enough time, he would have loved to make the thing even bigger!
"Hehe, it seems our Mr. Yang has found a hobby of his own," Himeko chuckled, looking at Welt's wistful expression.
"Gulp… Right, where did we put those Xianzhou specialties that Stelle bought before?"
March took a sip of juice. Seemingly remembering something, she looked at the drink in her cup and then turned to Wende beside her.
"Hiss…"
Wende instantly sucked in a sharp breath. He had completely forgotten about that!
"Are you talking about that box of Xianzhou specialties Wende mailed back before?"
The spoon in Himeko's hand stirred the coffee in her cup (made by Pom-Pom) as she spoke with an awkward expression.
"Yeah, that's the one. Where did you put it, Sister Himeko?"
Seeing Himeko's expression, Wende had a bad feeling. That box of fermented mung bean soda… it couldn't still be on the train, could it?
"Err… I threw it out," Himeko said, looking at Stelle apologetically.
After those "specialties" had arrived from her online shopping, she had finally understood the true meaning of Wende's prior warning…
"Phew… it's good that you threw it out."
Wende sighed in relief. That stuff… if it hadn't been thrown out, it would probably be expired by now, right?
Expired fermented mung bean soda… that would probably qualify as a weapon of mass destruction.
He casually picked up a piece of fried chicken. Before he could even put it in his mouth, the system interface very opportunely appeared before him.
"Version 1.1 has been updated."
The system interface was very concise this time, only notifying Wende of the version update.
Wende wasn't surprised by this. It was just a regular version update. What could possibly affect him?
"Here, have some fried chicken."
Wende smiled and placed the piece of fried chicken in Stelle's bowl.
"Thanks, Wende!"
Stelle picked up the chicken and ate it with relish.
"Stare…"
"Alright, alright, you get some too. There's plenty more!"
"Stare…"
"Dan Heng, you're going too far!"
"Ahem… ah, well…"
"Ah! Sister Himeko! That's mine!"
"Little March, eating high-calorie things like this all the time will make you gain weight, you know!"
"Really…?"
"When have I ever lied to you?"
---o---
Reality
As soon as ten o'clock in the morning passed, a massive swarm of players flooded into Honkai: Star Rail. Half of them excitedly started pulling for their waifus, while the other half prepared to tackle the latest main story quest.
But then they discovered…
The damn 1.1 update had no new main story quest!
There were a lot of Companion Missions… but where was the main story? Where was their main story?!
[miHuyou! You bastards! You love leaving us hanging, don't you!]
[miHoYo: Ten Star Rail Passes.]
[Sorry, it's my fault. I think it's not a bad thing to let players rest and enjoy simply exploring the game for a bit…]
[Hello? I've practically turned the map upside down. I'm about to know what color underwear every NPC is wearing!]
[What a degenerate…]
---o---
"By the way, Wende, Asta just mentioned you to me. She said that thanks to your takeout deliveries these past few days, the work enthusiasm of the entire space station has gone up quite a bit," Himeko said with a smile, crossing her fair legs and setting her phone aside.
"Hm? Has it?" Wende replied without looking up, currently busy playing a game with Stelle online.
"March, you should have used your flash just now."
"Hey, Dan Heng, you have to protect me! I'm the AD!"
The four gaming addicts sat in a row, their heads down, completely focused on the game in their hands.
Hmm… when did Dan Heng get infected by them?
Himeko pondered this for a long time but couldn't figure it out, so she continued speaking to Wende.
"Asta hopes you can go to the space station tomorrow to prepare a grand banquet. The station will be welcoming a distinguished guest, and she hopes you can help the logistics department save face."
"Mhm, okay, I'll go," Wende nodded perfunctorily.
"#"
"Asta also said… 'money' is no object~"
"Swish!"
Stelle stared blankly at the phone that was suddenly shoved into her arms.
"Isn't it just about contributing to the logistics department! I'm an expert at that! I'll go think about the menu for our esteemed guest tomorrow right now!" Wende declared with a dead-serious expression. After being screwed over by Stelle these past few times, he had come to understand how hard-earned money was. He absolutely had to seize this opportunity to accept a commission from a wealthy patron!
"Huh? Where's Wende! Support, quick, give me a heal!"
March looked up at the second phone in Stelle's hands, then at the imminent, intense team fight about to break out in the game. In her desperation, and to Stelle's bewildered and shy expression, March took off her boots and placed Wende's phone under Stelle's foot.
"The key to this victory is in your hands!" March said to Stelle with great solemnity, then jumped back into the battle, leaving Stelle staring blankly.
"Huh? Hah!"
"I trust that someone who possesses multiple Paths like you can control two phones at once with ease!"
---o---
Inside the Herta Space Station, a petite figure hid within a cargo transport ship. As the cargo was moved, this small figure slipped quietly into the station's support section.
"Hmph… old woman, calling for outside help, are we? Fine, then let me see if two 'geniuses' from the Genius Society can stop me!"