[Mihoyo, listen up, I [censored]!]
[Dammit, give me back my wife!!!]
[What the hell is this Xianzhou place? Where's my Twilight? I'm asking you, where's my Twilight?! She was in the room before I went out on the mission, how did such a big Twilight just disappear?!]
[I'm such an idiot, really... I only knew being a white-haired protagonist in Honkai Impact meant your wife tends to die, didn't expect it would still happen after moving to Star Rail...]
[Haha, you people are too fragile. Isn't it just losing a wife? There were so many death flags before, I felt nothing seeing those messages 😎]
[Person above, take off your sunglasses first.]
[Damn Mihoyo really isn't human. Killing her off is one thing, but actually making Twilight send messages? They really found a use for that damn system...]
[Friendly reminder, you didn't just lose your wife, but also the scattered Stellar Jades you get when opening new maps.]
[Master, stop chanting, please stop...]
[Brothers, I'm Herta. Press 1 and I'll help you resurrect Twilight.]
[111, for real?]
[Fake. Can't make memes now, but I can make you a meme.]
[I get it now, I completely understand! This damn Hunt Path is garbage! Can't even protect their own territory, needed our Twilight's help, and ended up working her to death... From today onwards, I am a follower of Yaoshi! Irreconcilable with The Hunt— So, great merciful Yaoshi, can you revive my wife, please! Pretty please!]
[Everyone calm down, this is just a technical adjustment! Mihoyo must be building suspense, deliberately letting Twilight die once first, then reviving her next patch to sell a new character. Twilight can't possibly die!]
...
Endure... Endure harder.
But seeing the players on the forums, some heartbroken and crazed, others stubbornly denying reality, how could Twilight possibly hold back her laughter at such an amusing scene?
Heeheehee... Hahahahaha!
In her eyes, these players weren't mourning a loss right now; they were the vast amounts of gold coins she could harvest in the future~
At this moment, Twilight felt a kind of fear—not fear of the players or anyone else in the world, but fear of her own talent as a bad woman shearing wool!
As everyone knew, her targets for wool-shearing this time, besides the few on the Express crew, were primarily the countless players behind Caelus.
Making the Express crew burst with emotional energy was easy; after all, they were companions living day in and day out, their feelings genuine. But extracting gold coins from players was an art.
While players naturally felt more immersed than readers or viewers, facing various situations ultimately through a screen meant they couldn't experience the same intensity as those living through it.
For example, back when Unit Three meticulously planned and successfully saved the hero under the moonlight, maxing out Kevin's favorability. If players back then were playing a game with Kevin as the protagonist, their feelings would never be as deep as Kevin's own—because what they saw was ultimately different.
But this time, Twilight had aligned what the players saw with what Caelus and the others saw.
After all, she remembered Honkai: Star Rail had a message system. Since it existed, how could she not use it?
Even cinematics as brilliant as movies couldn't match the devastating impact of those messages delivered directly into the players' hands—because this was real damage, hitting the players directly, and came with armor-piercing!
Genius! Twilight could only use this word to describe herself!
Unfortunately, she was a greedy woman. Although dying now would absolutely bring her extremely rich energy rewards, she definitely wouldn't stop there.
Thanks to the upgraded Delayed Retreat bought with a huge sum, she could now exist in this world for a considerable time after her physical body perished. Therefore, as long as Dan Heng and the others were capable enough, Twilight felt surviving until her resurrection wouldn't be a problem.
Dying then living, living then dying again, that's what makes it well-rounded!
And now that she was dead, she naturally couldn't perform any more actions. Before resurrecting, she could only gleefully follow Caelus and the others around, watching how things unfolded.
...
Hands trembling, heart aching. Even wanting to scream, no sound came out.
Caelus felt his limbs turn ice-cold. The characters in those messages seemed to writhe like symbols before his eyes, distorting along with the world around him.
Back then, the moment he saw Firefly killed, he thought that was the peak of life's sorrow. Only now did he realize how little he understood.
Turns out, when someone is truly grief-stricken, forget about lashing out at others... they can't even speak.
Looking at Twilight's seemingly sleeping corpse, Caelus vaguely seemed to hear Acheron's words from that time.
We never know when parting will arrive.
Yes, she was right about everything... It was just too late for him.
...
Too late?
No... No, no, no!
There must still be a chance! How could it end so easily?! Can't give up yet... The universe is so vast, with so many great beings! Who decreed there's no way to bring back the dead?!
Caelus felt a strange fire begin to burn in his heart.
Yes! He remembered reading back in Penacony that Shuhu, the former Emanator of Abundance, could even revive a dead planet! If so, bringing an ordinary person back to life should be even easier, right?!
And the Ambrosial Arbor was still there... If Shuhu could do it, there was no reason the miracle of Abundance itself couldn't!
His previously unsteady steps planted firmly on the ground. Determination surfaced in Caelus's eyes. He looked up, pushed aside everyone blocking his path, and walked resolutely towards Twilight's side.
Seeing this situation, alarm bells rang wildly in Jing Yuan's mind.
Similar, too similar—the crazed look in Caelus's eyes now nearly triggered his PTSD!
Jing Yuan originally thought things couldn't possibly get worse. After experiencing the Ambrosial Arbor's rebirth, the Borisin rebellion, the Shackling Prison raid, and the sudden death of an ally, he had already caused one of the biggest messes in Luofu history during his term.
He was already prepared for the future of being dragged before the Marshal for judgment. Best case scenario, he'd be stripped of his rank; worst case, locked up until Mara-struck, or even directly executed—but now it seemed he might have been too optimistic. Perhaps the words "one of" could be removed.
"Caelus, calm down! The Xianzhou will definitely give you all an explanation for this matter—"
"There's no need," Caelus's voice was firm as he gently lifted Twilight's body.
An explanation?
What kind of explanation could the Xianzhou give? Would they, who were unwilling even to grant longevity, be willing to find a way to revive Twilight for him?
That was impossible... But besides that, Caelus needed no other explanation.
He just needed Twilight back.
Since the Xianzhou couldn't give him that, he could only do it himself!
"General Jing Yuan... do you know why birds fly?"
Without waiting for Jing Yuan's reply, Caelus's serious gaze met Welt's.
In that instant, Welt understood everything.
"Are you going to do it, Caelus... Now? Here?!"
"If it's not used when it should be, then it has no meaning!"