Honkai Star Rail: My Chat Group is Full of Broken Timelines — Chapter 100

Chapter 100: As Expected, Lan’s Type is White Hair!

A familiar voice called out from behind, and Kazuki, who had been leaning down to speak with March 7th, instinctively turned his head.

His gaze first fell upon the top of her head—she wasn’t particularly tall. Even clad in the standard uniform of a Xianzhou General, her signature ‘altitude’ hadn’t changed in the slightest. She was still the same Qingque from his memories, the one who loved nothing more than to slack off and play a few rounds of Celestial Jade.

But in the next instant, his gaze froze. A strange, inexplicable feeling bloomed in his chest.

‘Wait… why is her hair white?’

He leaned down slightly, letting his eyes drift lower.

Her eyes, green as emeralds dipped in a clear spring, were startlingly bright and no different from how he remembered them. But as his gaze traced her features upward, he found that the hair that should have been a familiar brown was now shimmering with a light like spun moonlight. From root to tip, it was an immaculate, snowy white, without a single stray color to be found.

“What? Surprised?” Noticing his stunned expression, the corners of Qingque’s mouth curled into a familiar, teasing smile. “Am I a bit different from the Qingque in your memory?”

“A little, yes,” Kazuki admitted honestly, his eyes still fixed on that cascade of white hair. “After all, in my memory, your hair wasn’t this color.”

It was a bit ironic, considering he was a white-haired man himself, but Qingque’s sudden transformation was genuinely unexpected.

Qingque raised a hand, gently smoothing the stray strands by her ear. Her fingertips brushed the ends of her hair with a touch as light as if she were handling something fragile.

“In the end, hair is one of the few parts of our bodies that we Xianzhou natives can actually decide the style and color of.”

Qingque shook her head, a flicker of memory crossing her face. She thought of Fu Xuan, and of the Dharma-Eye on her forehead. The constant pain and the body’s rejection of it had forced Fu Xuan into a habit of constantly drinking sweet things to cope. It was only after Fu Xuan was gone from her life that she had truly begun to understand her…

“As for why I dyed it white…” Qingque quickly snapped out of her reverie, her tone shifting back to one of lighthearted, helpless banter.

“General Feixiao said that among us Seven Arbiter-Generals, I was the only one with brown hair, which made me look out of place. She said, ‘We’re all colleagues, we should have a unified image,’ and insisted on dragging me to get it dyed white.”

She paused, then added with a wry twist of her lips, “She also said… the Reignbow Arbiter favors white hair. By dyeing it white, maybe He’ll go easier on me during the Investiture. You know, among the candidates nominated by the Xianzhou, there have been those He ‘disliked.’ Like General Jing Yuan—back then, the Luofu had already nominated a suitable candidate, but after they were rejected, it was the Reignbow Arbiter Himself who personally appointed the General.”

“That really happened with Great-Uncle?” Kazuki was stunned. He had grown up hearing stories about Jing Yuan, but he had never once heard this particular detail. It was likely a secret known only among the highest echelses of the Xianzhou Alliance.

While other things from Qingque’s mouth might be a joke, Kazuki had a feeling that the part about Lan, the Aeon of The Hunt, favoring white hair was probably true.

“There’s a lot you don’t know,” Qingque said, arching an eyebrow with a flash of mischief in her eyes.

“I’m his successor now, so I can access many of his old dossiers. There are quite a few ‘little secrets’ in there. Want me to find an opportunity to read them to you someday?”

The temptation was significant. Kazuki almost blurted out an immediate “Yes,” but after a moment’s thought, he shook his head.

“Let’s not. If it’s something I should know, Great-Uncle will tell me himself. If it’s something I shouldn’t know, it’s probably his personal business, and I have no right to go poking around.”

Seeing his serious expression, Qingque couldn’t help but let out a laugh. “You’re quite the stickler for the rules.”

A few dark lines might as well have appeared on Kazuki’s forehead. He had the distinct feeling that Qingque was teasing him like a child.

…

Just then, a coarse voice boomed from outside the tent, accompanied by the heavy rustle of fabric. “Hey, buddy! Why’s it so noisy in your tent? You throwin’ a party in there?”

Before the words had even finished, the door curtain was yanked open with a sharp tug, and Boothill’s face, complete with its signature shark-toothed grin, poked inside. His eyes landed on Kazuki first, then swept over Qingque, Robin, and the others. His eyes instantly widened. “Holy fork! Where’d all these people come from? You pullin’ some kinda magic trick?”

“Dad!” March 7th blurted out instinctively. The word left her lips before she could stop it. She immediately slapped a hand over her mouth, her cheeks flushing a brilliant shade of red.

“Huh?” Boothill was completely taken aback by the sudden address. He scratched at his black-and-white hair, looking utterly bewildered. “Little lady, who’re you callin’ Dad? I don’t recall havin’ a daughter who looks like you…”

“These are my friends,” Kazuki quickly intervened, saving March 7th from her spiraling embarrassment. “They’re all here to help fight the Antimatter Legion. To avoid drawing too much attention, I used a few small tricks to have them come over quietly.”

He kept the explanation vague. Given Boothill’s personality, he would probably fill in the blanks himself with some imagined “Xianzhou Secret Arts,” saving Kazuki the trouble of a lengthy explanation.

“Oh, oh! You Xianzhou folk sure have a lot of tricks up your sleeves!” As expected, Boothill bought it immediately, slapping his thigh in understanding.

“Alright then, more people means more help! By the way, we’re havin’ a gathering outside later. Gonna roast some beast meat, break out the strong liquor for a send-off before we head out. You stayin’ here with your friends, or comin’ over?”

Kazuki glanced at the people around him.

Robin gave a slight, elegant nod. Firefly didn’t speak, but her eyes were clearly filled with curiosity. Qingque stood with her arms crossed, an expression on her face that said she wouldn’t miss out on the fun for anything. As for March 7th, she had already forgotten her earlier embarrassment, her eyes sparkling as she stared toward the sounds outside the tent, practically vibrating with the desire to go.

“We’ll be over in a bit,” Kazuki said to Boothill. “You go on and get busy; just save a few spots for us.”

“No problem!” Boothill grinned, his shark teeth flashing. “I’ll make sure you get the best spots!”

With that, he lifted the curtain and left with a light step. From a distance, they could still hear him shouting instructions to the other Galaxy Rangers.

The tent fell quiet once more. Kazuki turned to look at March 7th, crossing his arms and intentionally putting on a stern face. “March…”

“Ahaha, it’s just a habit!” March 7th rubbed the back of her head sheepishly, her gaze darting everywhere but at him. “I’m just so used to calling him that. The moment I saw him, it just… slipped out…”

Looking at her, Kazuki felt a stir of emotion. It seemed that no matter what kind of trials March 7th went through, some fundamental parts of her would never change.

He couldn’t hold back a soft laugh. “Alright, just… try not to let it happen again. We don’t want this world’s Boothill actually thinking he’s gained a daughter out of nowhere.”

“Got it!” March 7th stuck out her tongue and secretly exchanged a glance with Robin. A shared, silent laugh passed between them.

Firefly let out a small huff but quietly released her hold on Kazuki’s arm. Qingque simply leaned against a tent pole, a faint, amused smile playing on her lips as she watched the scene unfold.

Outside the tent, the boisterous laughter of the Rangers, the sizzle of roasting meat on an open fire, and the crisp clinking of liquor bottles drifted in on the breeze. Mixed with the unique, salty air of the planet Gray Reef, it created a strange yet deeply reassuring atmosphere.