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"No one comes to visit you for no reason. Tell me. What do you want this time? Let me make this clear upfront—if it's too troublesome, I won't bother."
"Ohhh, Causality is so cold~ Aha is so sad~" Aha's jester mask morphed into a weeping expression, a few wine-like tears squeezing out with great difficulty.
Watching this scene, Yun Fan simply closed his eyes, refusing to engage with the Emanator of Elation any further. Yet even so, after nearly half a system hour, Aha's sobbing still showed no signs of stopping.
"You…!" Yun Fan glared at the jester mask through gritted teeth. "Why don't you go to the Xianzhou and find my true form? Why bother with this avatar of mine?"
Yun Fan wasn't wrong. As an energy avatar of his true self, his power at most barely reached the peak of an Emanator—nowhere near the level of an Aeon.
"Ahahaha… Aha has a plan. It doesn't require our true forms to descend. Let's go to that idiot Xipe's territory, and then… whisper whisper…"
On this lonely, drifting asteroid, Yun Fan and Aha talked for a long time. But as for the content of their conversation… well, that remained unknown.
"Then it's settled! Farewell, dear Causality… Ahahahaha…"
The jester mask departed with raucous laughter, and the surroundings fell silent once more. "Tch, how the hell does Aha even transmit sound? We're in a vacuum, yet his voice carries as clearly as if we were in an atmosphere."
Leaning back against the rock, Yun Fan was once again overcome with boredom. "Sigh, I should've kept him around a little longer. That guy may be unreliable and obsessed with his own amusement, but he's not a bad conversationalist."
Shaking his head, he pulled out his phone and casually opened a game to pass the time. Of course, this wasn't the one bestowed upon him by Primordial Law —just a random device he'd swiped from the space station.
The one from Primordial Law was still with his true form. Otherwise, he'd definitely be grinding Genshin Impact right now.
"Hm? Sparkle's back." Sensing her presence, Yun Fan sprang up from the ground, stuffed the phone into his pocket, and resumed his act of being under mind control.
Not far away, Sparkle—who had just returned—peeked out from behind a rock, observing him for several minutes. After confirming that he was still under her illusion, she sighed in relief and swaggered over.
"Seems like Lady Sparkle is still as amazing as ever~ Even without the Stellaron's help, my powers are more than enough to keep him under control." She reached out, gently stroking Yun Fan's face, seemingly pleased with her handiwork.
Gazing at his striking features and feeling the warmth of his skin beneath her fingers, an inexplicable thought arose in Sparkle's mind.
'If one day, I grow tired of being a Masked Fool… settling down on some backwater planet with this guy might not be so bad.'
'Wait—!' She snapped back to reality. "Why would I suddenly think something like that?!"
Unconvinced, she immediately suspected Yun Fan's influence. But after verifying that he was indeed still under her control, her certainty wavered.
'Why would I think that? Could it… really be how I feel?'
Shaking her head violently, she forcibly expelled the messy thoughts from her mind. Then, she reached into her modest chest and pulled out a wine glass.
The faint, flickering cup—woven entirely from Elation's power—rested in her palm as she silently calculated.
"Not much of the Emanator's power left… but it should be enough to open a spatial tunnel for the jump. We're still too far from Penacony."
Extracting every last trace of Elation's energy, the golden glass disintegrated into dust. As the sigil of Elation activated, a deep spatial rift unfolded before them.
Grabbing Yun Fan's hand, she stepped inside—and in the blink of an eye, they arrived at the outskirts of Penacony.
Though the Harmony Festival was still some time away, as one of the universe's most famous tourist destinations, Penacony was already teeming with visitors.
Among them were no small number of tycoons, politicians, merchants, and celebrities—all drawn to witness the splendors of this dreamlike nation.
After waiting in line for a full system hour, it was finally Sparkle and Yun Fan's turn to check in.
"Ohhh, this is a bit troublesome~" Sparkle retrieved a music box from her pocket—the invitation issued by The Family. However, the initial registration had only recorded her name.
Fortunately, with the festival still some time away, a little monetary persuasion could easily resolve the issue. But…
While our Lady Sparkle usually lived carefreely, indifferent to most things… in reality…
Hehe~ Fooled you! Sparkle is loaded—a bona fide rich girl, no less.
"No big deal." After paying for Yun Fan's accommodation, she led him toward their hotel room. Meanwhile, the crowd behind them burned with envy, jealousy, and resentment.
Without an invitation, the credits required to stay at Penacony's Dreamscape Resort were no small sum—enough to bankrupt a wealthy merchant.
Yet this adorable girl had casually splurged on the guy without batting an eye. And with his ethereal looks, he had to be a gold-digging pretty boy.
Damn it! Why not me?! Jealousy was causing them to physically decompose!
"La la la~"
Humming softly, Sparkle entered the room with Yun Fan. Unlike in the games, Dreamscape Resort did offer double occupancy—specifically, rooms with two Dreamscape Pools.
After closing the door, she plopped onto the sofa. Truth be told, she was exhausted.
First, splitting the Stellaron had drained her stamina. Then came the warp jump through the spatial tunnel, followed by an hour of queueing. Right now, she was truly spent.
"Here, drink some warm water."
"Mhm."
A large hand offered a steaming cup. Absentmindedly accepting it, she brought it to her lips—only to freeze mid-motion.
Looking up, she met Yun Fan's smiling gaze.
Sparkle's face fell.
"You…"