Honkai Star Rail: My Chat Group is Full of Broken Timelines — Chapter 104

Chapter 104: The Incompetent Chaperone

Night fell like ink-soaked velvet, slowly draping itself over the skies of the Xianzhou capital.

Though the acrid smoke of the day’s battle had yet to fully dissipate, the streets of the Capital Star were already aglow with the warm, yellow light of streetlamps. A few scattered shops had dared to reopen, their doorways spilling out the rich aroma of cooking food and the faint murmur of conversation—a fragile return to normalcy for a city that had just clawed its way back from the brink of annihilation.

March 7th and Qingque had already departed to attend to some urgent matters, but that didn’t stop the remaining group from planning a celebratory feast to mark the end of their second “team-building” event.

After all, this was only the second time the first-generation members of the Chat Group had gathered in person—excluding Castorice, who was still effectively “imprisoned.”

More than three years had passed since their last meeting; a proper get-together was long overdue.

“It’s a shame Butterfly Baby is stuck in Amphoreus and can’t join us…” Kazuki lamented with a soft sigh.

Castorice’s envy had been practically radiating through the group chat, but what could be done? The situation in Amphoreus was far too precarious.

Danger alone would have been manageable. The real problem was Lygus. A prepared Genius and an unprepared one were two entirely different beasts. When Castorice had vanished the first time, Lygus might have dismissed it as a mere programming error, a bug in the system that he wouldn’t investigate too deeply once she returned.

But if she started disappearing repeatedly, or if unfamiliar objects began appearing out of thin air, Lygus would undoubtedly start tracing things back to their source. Even if the spaghetti code of Amphoreus had already run 33,550,336 times, he wouldn’t let such anomalies slide.

“Don’t worry,” Robin said, her voice a soothing balm. “As long as the path continues, we will all meet in Amphoreus one day.”

The moment Robin said ‘the path continues,’an odd reflex kicked in. Kazuki’s eyes instinctively darted toward the nearest intersection, scanning for any sign of an approaching black luxury sedan. Seeing none, he let out a quiet sigh of relief. That was a close one—he’d nearly been promoted to’Leader.’

“What’s wrong?” Firefly asked, tilting her head as she noticed Kazuki’s sudden, strange behavior.

“Nothing,” he said, shaking his head. “My DNA just had a little twitch.”

“So, have you thought about what to eat tonight?” Robin gracefully steered the conversation back on track. Although the Xianzhou had nearly seen its final defenses breached by the Antimatter Legion, the damage to the Capital Star itself wasn’t catastrophic. Many establishments were still open for business.

“Let’s get barbecue tonight,” Kazuki suggested without a second thought.

No one raised any objections. If they’d had any better ideas, they wouldn’t have been asking him in the first place.

They found a barbecue restaurant with tables facing the bustling street, the scent of sizzling meat and hot charcoal wafting invitingly toward them.

They had only just settled in when a boisterous group took the table next to them. They were rangers, clearly in no hurry to leave the Xianzhou. With their shirts unbuttoned and their voices loud, they slammed their hands on the table, roaring for the owner to bring out his strongest liquor.

“Hey, Brother Fei Peng!” one of them called out, recognizing Kazuki. He raised his bottle in a cheerful salute. “Here to satisfy a craving, too?”

Kazuki smiled and raised his own glass in return. Most of these rangers were just trying to catch their breath after the intense battle. Many had been on the run from enemies before finding their way here; the temporary refuge offered by the Xianzhou was a rare moment of peace in their chaotic lives. The people of the Xianzhou, deeply grateful for their aid, certainly weren’t going to drive them away. Instead, they showered them with food and drink, turning the city into a makeshift safe harbor.

As the night deepened, the trio made their way back to the hotel.

Under the watchful, and frankly judgmental, ‘supervision’ of the Fifth Mirror, Firefly’s hopes of sharing a room with Kazuki were thoroughly dashed. Instead, Kazuki and Robin each secured a room with a king-sized bed, while Firefly was relegated to a standard room with twin beds.

“Goodnight,” Robin said, waving to them from her doorway. A trace of weariness was visible in her eyes.

Firefly shot a glance at Kazuki, then let her gaze sweep over the Fifth Mirror hovering silently behind him. A meaningful, almost mischievous smile curled her lips. “Goodnight.”

‘Staying in a hotel… and booking a twin room by yourself,’Firefly mused.’Doesn’t that just mean you have a fresh bed to sleep in after you’re done with the first one?’

But clearly, Herta hadn’t quite grasped Firefly’s line of thinking.

In the dead of night, Kazuki lay awake in his bed. He rose quietly, glancing at the Fifth Mirror, which he had placed face-down on the table. It remained inert, seemingly in sleep mode.

Tiptoeing across the plush carpet, he silently opened his door. The hallway was empty, the thick rug swallowing any sound of his footsteps.

He reached Firefly’s door and was just about to knock when it was pulled open from the inside. Firefly stood there, clad in a silk nightgown with a daringly loose collar, a playful light dancing in her eyes. She had clearly been waiting for him.

Just as the two of them slipped into the room, and before the door could click shut, a faint light flashed at the far end of the hallway.

The Fifth Mirror floated silently in mid-air. Its polished surface turned toward Firefly’s door and paused for several long seconds.

“I remember it was this room, right?” the mirror seemed to mutter to itself as it slowly drifted closer… right up until it was about to phase through the door.

“Oh ho ho ho ho…” The mirror froze in place.

Inside the mirror’s reflection, Herta’s cheeks instantly flushed a brilliant, steamy red.

As brilliant as she was, she could guess what was happening in there with her toes.

The Fifth Mirror hovered there, hesitating. To go in, or not to go in? That was the question. Entering felt entirely inappropriate. But not entering? The grievance was simply too much to swallow.

Caught between righteous fury and a pathetic sense of helplessness, it ultimately chose to be pathetically furious.

The light on the mirror’s surface flickered erratically, betraying an intense internal struggle. Finally, with a sharp ‘hmpf,’ it spun around, zipped back to Kazuki’s room, and slapped itself face-down onto the table with a resounding thud, as if determined to pretend it hadn’t seen a thing.

“‘We’ll… we’ll just say he went to practice his technique!'” a huffy mumble emanated from the mirror. With that, it went completely dark.

Meanwhile, inside the room, Kazuki found himself pinned to the bed by Firefly, the sweet fragrance of her hair filling his senses as it brushed against his nose.

Outside the window, moonlight spilled through the gossamer curtains, painting shifting patterns on the floor that danced in time with their quickening breaths. They were lost in their own world, entirely unaware that somewhere else in the galaxy…

…a certain genius, renowned for her intellect and beauty, was so incandescently furious that she had already picked up a comically large hammer and was preparing to smash something.