Chapter 63: Signing Up the Fluffies for a Performance

Chapter 63: Chapter 63: Signing Up the Fluffies for a Performance

For some reason, Liang He saw tension and anticipation in Huo An’s eyes.

"It’s hard for me to say. Even if it isn’t a Divine Beast, I think it looks very beautiful."

Records regarding Divine Beasts had never been confirmed on Blue Star. Everything originated from legends. Perhaps Blue Star truly did once have a world as depicted in the books, but no one could say for sure.

"Do you really think it’s beautiful?"

Huo An wasn’t upset by Liang He’s uncertain answer; he cared much more about what she thought of the picture itself.

"Of course! Don’t you think it’s incredibly cool?"

A fish soaring through the boundless blue sky like a giant bird felt as if it were swimming in another blue ocean—dreamlike, ethereal, and utterly free.

"Even if someone else doesn’t find it beautiful, aesthetics are a deeply personal matter. The very definitions of beauty and ugliness are decided by people, making it impossible to pass a truly objective judgment. Therefore, one’s essence and soul are what matter most."

Liang He’s matter-of-fact nod gradually settled the anxiety in Huo An’s heart. Her subsequent words allowed him to face himself with much greater ease.

He realized that not everyone viewed him as a monster. This feeling was truly wonderful.

"Thank you."

He thought, "Thank you for letting me know what my beast form is. And thank you for helping me understand that no matter who I am or what I look like, I am always me, and that has never changed."

"Huh?"

Liang He didn’t understand why Huo An suddenly thanked her. Xu Yi, however, was terrified that Liang He would overthink things and hurriedly changed the subject.

"By the way, Liang He, the Snow Festival is coming up soon. You probably haven’t experienced the festive atmosphere yet, have you?"

"Snow Festival?"

Having lived on Blue Star all her life, Liang He genuinely knew nothing about interstellar holiday culture.

"That’s right. The Snow Festival is held every winter in hopes of peace and prosperity for the coming year. After the ceremony, there’s a bonfire party, and everyone has snowball fights together."

It sounded quite interesting. Liang He even thought she could add a touch of Blue Star’s festive spirit to the mix.

"Can I help organize it?"

Liang He looked at Huo An with sparkling eyes. The sight softened his heart, and with a smile in his eyes, he agreed to her request.

"Of course. We’d love for you to join us."

Huo An and the others unanimously agreed that Liang He’s participation would surely make this Snow Festival even more enjoyable. And Liang He certainly didn’t disappoint them.

The venue for the Snow Festival was the main service station, and preparations usually began three days in advance. Aside from a few positions that couldn’t be left unmanned, almost everyone pitched in to help.

"Uncle Liao!"

When Liang He made her entrance with a pack of fierce beasts, the startled staff nearly screamed and dropped everything in their hands.

"Liang He, you... you all came?"

The general stationmaster, whom Liang He called Uncle Liao, looked at the fluffy beasts behind her with a kind and smiling expression.

"Yes. They’ve been stuck indoors recovering from their injuries lately and haven’t gotten enough exercise. They can help out and stretch their legs a bit."

"Haha, good, they’re all good children."

Uncle Liao didn’t ask how the fluffy beasts could possibly help. In his eyes, celebrating a festival was all about everyone gathering for some lively fun. Even if Cedriel and the others were just here to cause trouble, it would still add a bit of joy to the holiday.

"By the way, Uncle Liao, I heard the Snow Festival lasts an entire day and features performances. Could I sign them up for one?"

Them? Who? Did Liang He mean the Marshal and the Commander were going to perform? A staff member secretly eavesdropping nearby went wide-eyed. They desperately wanted to ask but didn’t dare: how could Liang He come up with such an outrageous idea?!

"Oh? Lanton and the others are going to perform?" This piqued Uncle Liao’s curiosity, especially since animal performances didn’t exist in the interstellar era.

"Cough... It’s a long story." Liang He coughed with a guilty conscience, terrified the general stationmaster would think she had raised the fluffy beasts improperly. "But I swear, I absolutely did not force them to perform!"

Truthfully, Liang He was against animal performances too, but she couldn’t refuse when the animals insisted on performing. She wasn’t sure if Xuan Jiao balancing a ball last time had inspired the Mengji Snow Leopard and the others.

Two days ago, Liang He had been heading out to run an errand when she suddenly realized she had forgotten something. She returned to the animal dormitories, only to push open the door and find four fluffy beasts using whatever props they could find to practice acrobatics!

"What are you... doing?"

Because their competition had been far too intense, the Beast Beasts hadn’t even noticed Liang He opening the door. By the time they reacted, they immediately pretended nothing had happened. Some feigned napping, others licked their fur, and some bit their tails. Whatever they did, they simply refused to look at her.

It would have been much more convincing if the Canglan Hunting Eagle didn’t keep cracking an eye open to peek, if the Mojin King Tiger wasn’t licking Xuan Jiao’s fur, and if the Mengji Snow Leopard wasn’t biting the Mojin King Tiger’s tail.

"I must have opened the door wrong. Let’s try that again!"

Stunned into silence for two whole minutes, Liang He aggressively slapped her forehead and swiftly shut the door. When she opened it a second time, she found the fluffy beasts had switched to an entirely new acrobatic pose.

At her sudden reappearance, their wide eyes filled with shock and the betrayed hurt of being deceived. They thought, "A surprise attack once is enough. How could you do it a second time?!"

"So, taking all of that into account, I think we should fulfill their desire to perform."

After hearing Liang He’s recount, even Uncle Liao—let alone anyone else—wanted to sprint to the control room and pull up the security footage to see exactly what these furry children had been up to.

"Ahem, you make a fair point. In that case, we’ll sign them up for a performance too."

"Thank you, Uncle Liao!"

Not only did Liang He thank him herself, but she also made Xuan Jiao and the others express their gratitude.

"MRROW~"

"ROAR!"

"SCREECH~"

"MEOW!"

Looking at the Evolutionary Beastmen lined up in a row—no longer rejecting humans like before, but instead obediently ’thanking’ him—Uncle Liao didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

"Alright, alright. Liang He, you go ahead and play with them for now. I need to take care of some work."

"Okay, Uncle Liao."

After watching Uncle Liao leave, Liang He ran off to whisper with the cafeteria chef. As fellow Blue Star people, their ideas on how to celebrate a holiday aligned on many levels.

Once they had hashed everything out, Liang He began directing the fluffy beasts to help. They mainly did manual labor, which perfectly burned off some of their boundless energy.

"Be good and help out here. I’m going to gather some firewood."

After instructing the fluffy beasts to behave, Liang He ventured into the nearby forest to collect fallen dry branches. It was said that the bonfire party would last until dawn, meaning the demand for firewood was huge.

Focused entirely on picking up branches, Liang He didn’t notice the slender, completely black little snake coiled on a large tree right next to her.

HISS~

He thought, "I’ve finally found you, my exclusive Breeder."

"SCREECH!"

Just as Elias was preparing to feign an injury for her sympathy, the Canglan Hunting Eagle dive-bombed him out of nowhere and clamped its beak right down on his presumed weak spot.

Although Elias’s actual fatal weak point wasn’t located there, being clamped in an eagle’s beak and treated as a potential meal was still a rather terrible experience.

"HISS!"

Finally realizing that Elias was about to perish in the eagle’s beak, Liang He quickly abandoned her grand task of gathering firewood and called for an emergency halt.

"Lanton! Stay your beak!"