After visiting the World Astronomy History Overview Hall, the Meteorite Exhibition Area, and the Space Simulation Area with Luorou and taking a simple commemorative photo...
"This is it!" Luorou blinked, and her milk tea was almost finished. "The All-Sky Projection Area~?"
Alister and her arrived at the liveliest and most advanced facility of the A City Observatory.
Before them was a vast circular seating area, already filled with two-thirds of the audience, most of whom were young couples chatting together.
In the center was an elegant grand piano, and the music was melodious. Many people were recording the musician's performance.
Above this space was the all-encompassing semi-circular sky projection screen, currently in a dormant state, allowing the night sky outside to be directly visible.
Finding an empty seat, Alister sat down, and Luorou followed suit, taking out her phone and tilting her head towards Alister.
"When I count to one, you must smile," Luorou said as she adjusted her posture.
Alister felt quite helpless but casually agreed. He leaned back in his seat, facing the direction where Luorou was going to take the selfie.
"Hehe~" Luorou swung her soft legs. "Are you ready to take the picture?"
At that moment, the musician in the center flipped the music sheet to the next page, starting a new piece. His fingers gracefully danced, producing beautiful and melodious music.
"Three~"
Luorou leaned towards Alister.
"Two~"
Luorou focused her attention on the phone screen.
"One."
As she softly said "One," the picture was taken and stored in her phone. Luorou was smiling shyly with her lips pursed, while Alister maintained his usual calm and composed expression.
So, Luorou naturally acted coquettish and turned to Alister, asking in a sweet voice, "Why do you always look like this? You have a handsome smile, you know..."
"...I can't smile," Alister sighed, thinking about his strategy for dealing with the meteor shower.
"Why?" Luorou put her phone away and reached out hesitantly, her voice filled with concern. "Why can't you smile?"
The fragrance of the girl wafted over and cleared the air, refreshing.
Before Alister could answer, Luorou preemptively reflected on her behavior and said with a weak and hesitant voice, "I'm sorry..."
Her raised hand slowly came down and was finally hidden inside her sleeve.
Luorou bit her lip, looking like a child who had done something wrong, and her eyebrows drooped slightly.
"Why apologize all of a sudden?" Alister asked with a caring expression, gently inquiring.
"Because my grandmother said that if a good friend suddenly feels unhappy, you should first consider where you've crossed the line..." Luorou whispered, pulling her skirt corner, her voice low.
After a moment, Alister spoke to reassure her, "You haven't done anything wrong."
"...Really?" She raised her eyes, and some of the disappointment in her heart seemed to fade away. "Then why can't you smile?"
Because the disputes between players are about to erupt—Alister obviously wouldn't tell Luorou the truth.
So, after sighing again, Alister casually came up with a reason to explain, "Because my ideal is to be a cold person from A City, so I can't smile."
"...Although I'm easily fooled, it doesn't mean I can be easily deceived, you know?" Luorou blinked. "Is that really your ideal?"
"Not entirely," Alister pondered for a second and said solemnly, "There's also making millions every month."
"That's my ideal, hmph~?" Luorou's mood improved a bit, and she said in a coquettish tone, "Your ideal is the same as mine."
But Luorou straightened her waist, crossed her arms around her chest, and declared, "No, I, as the head of the Psychological Rehabilitation Department, unilaterally declare that this ideal is exclusive to me!"
"You really act like a child protecting her food," Alister continued drinking his pearl milk tea.
"I'm not a child," Luorou turned her head away.
"Really?" Alister looked skeptical.
Luorou glanced at the pearl milk tea and said in a cute but grumbling tone, "More real than pearls!"
"Before you stand tall and proud, Director Luo, please fasten the button on your collar."
Alister calmly shifted his gaze away, "It's showing."
"Button button button your collar... Turn your head, don't look!" Luorou said flustered.
Alister listened to the girl's hurried fumbling but didn't actually see anything.
At the same time, the celestial projection area suddenly dimmed, leaving only the center stage with the grand piano and the light of the musician.
Amidst the beautiful piano music, the surrounding area fell silent, and no one was chatting anymore.
However, in the next moment...
"What are you doing?"
Feeling Luorou's right arm embracing him, Alister looked at her with confusion.
"I'm afraid of the dark..." The girl in the darkness couldn't bring herself to meet Alister's gaze and explained softly with hesitation.
At the same time, the semi-circular sky projection screen started running, displaying the official countdown numbers.
The night was deep, and it was sixty seconds before the meteor shower entered the observable atmosphere, as indicated by the A City Observatory.
...
...
After finishing her work for the day, Ji Yi walked through the streets of A City's North District, still holding work-related materials in her hand.
"Research Report on the New Generation Healing Medicine"
A small and obscure pharmaceutical research company suddenly overtook the Ji Corporation in recent times, achieving a production and cost advantage over Ji Corporation's healing special-effect medicine.
However, this was only in terms of medical treatment for ordinary people.
In the field of medical treatment for players, Ji Corporation still held the lead, especially in terms of repairing player attributes.
Even so, Ji Yi couldn't help but feel something odd about the situation.
The Medical Department of the Corporation claimed to be unbeatable within five years, but this small company managed to surpass them.
The most critical point was the company's claimed trade secret—the highly active healing cells...
Which was similar to the ability of "Death's Leader," who had disappeared years ago.
However, after personally visiting the company, she hadn't discovered anything abnormal...
It seemed that they had genuinely developed highly active healing cells, allowing the company to overtake others.
"I hope so, for Z Country's medical field to break through again... In the end, it would be a good thing."
Ji Yi sighed and then gazed at the night sky.
That direction was probably where the meteor shower would pass over A City, the direction where tonight's dispute would break out.
The heiress had already gone to the South District, preparing to uncover the eleventh seat of Perpetual Night's Lament...
So, the highest combat power in this North District might be herself.
A B-rank player was already considered top-tier in the sequence game, but she still might not be enough for tonight.
"Do we still have sixty seconds?"
Ji Yi murmured to herself, sincerely hoping that nothing untoward would happen in the North District.
Even if something did happen, with the A-rank strength of the heiress and Qingxian, they would probably be able to rush over quickly...
Unless they encountered insurmountable obstacles...
And speaking of "insurmountable," one couldn't help but mention the rules of the sequence game, a fact that was already established.
"Ah..."
With a worried sigh, the black-haired, red-eyed woman sat on a bench on the street, quietly waiting for the arrival of the meteor shower.