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ArabicHonkai Star Rail: My Chat Group is Full of Broken Timelines — Chapter 32
Chapter 32: May This Journey Lead to the Stars
[Pure Beauty Knight: You know, speaking of which… before I ever became famous, I also had a very special supporter…]
Robin’s message finally appeared. The light of the chat screen reflected off her face, still smudged with the faint traces of gunpowder from a recent battle. The fight had not yet faded from her features, but her eyes held a thoughtful, distant warmth.
[Cliffhanger King: I guess that’s the ‘parallel world’ part of this chat group, huh? The coincidences are starting to pile up.]
Seeing Robin step in to speak, Kazuki felt a wave of relief. He hadn’t really thought about it, but her timing was perfect. He had just dropped a rather heavy topic into the chat, and the resulting silence had been deafening. Her gentle change of subject was a welcome lifeline.
[Pure Beauty Knight: Yes… though I’m not really a star anymore. Still, if I ever get the chance to meet that fan again, I’ll make sure to thank them properly.]
No one in the group found it particularly strange. This was, after all, the Parallel World Chat Group; a few overlapping experiences were perfectly normal.
Seizing the opportunity, Robin casually began to share a few anecdotes from her early days. She told them about being so nervous during her first studio recording that her voice cracked on the high notes, and she recalled the bittersweet memory of her first live concert, where she sang her heart out to a venue with only a handful of people in the audience. The atmosphere in the chat, once heavy with unspoken tension, gradually lightened. The dangerous topic Kazuki had broached was skillfully sidestepped, left to drift away like a forgotten melody.
Early the next morning, his heart thrumming with anticipation, Kazuki arrived at the Seat of Divine Foresight.
Jing Yuan was seated at his grand desk, carefully reviewing a stack of documents. Sunlight streamed through the carefully carved wooden window, filtering through the chamber and casting a golden sheen on his silver-white hair.
Hearing the soft fall of footsteps, he looked up from his work, setting his brush down with a quiet click. “You’re here.”
“Great-Uncle, I’m leaving in a few days,” Kazuki announced, walking right up to the desk. The excitement in his voice was a poorly kept secret.
“Oh? So soon?” Jing Yuan raised a curious eyebrow. A flicker of surprise crossed his eyes before melting into a knowing smile. “It seems you have your own ways of getting things done.”
He had only given the boy this trial yesterday, and a lead had already surfaced. This kid was more resourceful than he had imagined.
Kazuki didn’t bother hiding the details. In this world, Jing Yuan was the elder he trusted above all others; there was no need for secrets over something so small.
“Sister Tingyun just got back, didn’t she? Her merchant guild is heading to the Herta Space Station. I’m going to tag along with the fleet as a guard.”
“Your destination is the Herta Space Station?” Jing Yuan was momentarily stunned, his smile fading into a more contemplative expression. “What’s this about? Are you planning to find a job there, or have you suddenly taken an interest in scientific research?”
He set aside the documents entirely, his tone growing more serious. “That place is, ultimately, just a station built by Ms. Herta’s followers. If you’re truly seeking knowledge, I can arrange for you to go to the Intelligentsia Guild. The academic atmosphere there is far more suitable for study than the space station.”
“Ah… about that, Great-Uncle,” Kazuki said, scratching his head in embarrassment. “Didn’t I tell you before that the Herta Space Station was my destination?”
“If you had, I wouldn’t have bothered with the test,” Jing Yuan replied, shaking his head. When Kazuki had only said he wanted to go out and temper himself, it had made the General uneasy. But if his destination was simply the Herta Space Station… he could have just asked Yukong to arrange a starship.
“Even so… I consider the journey itself part of my training.” The Herta Space Station was merely one stop on Kazuki’s itinerary. After truly binding himself to the chat group, he no longer had any desire to spend the rest of his life confined to the Luofu.
In truth, when he first transmigrated, Kazuki had entertained the idea of boarding the Astral Express and becoming a Trailblazer once it resumed its journey. But then he thought about the eclectic crew of the Express, the endless dangers they courted, and the fact that he couldn’t become a Pathstrider—he was just an ordinary mortal. With a heavy heart, he had abandoned the idea.
“Yes, going out for more training is a good thing,” Jing Yuan finally said, nodding slowly. He couldn’t help but be reminded of his own past. Once, his dream had been to become a Galaxy Ranger, to wander the cosmos freely. But just as he came of age, the Xianzhou was plunged into the Second Abundance War. After the war, he became the General of the Luofu, shouldering the weight of its hundreds of millions of citizens. His youthful dream had naturally fallen by the wayside.
Jing Yuan looked at Kazuki, and in the young man’s bright, eager eyes, he saw a ghost of his younger self. Perhaps… perhaps he could let Kazuki inherit the dream he’d been forced to abandon. However, as a General of the Alliance, he was privy to information that ordinary people were not. Being a Galaxy Ranger… was not a path for the faint of heart.
‘It’s better if he doesn’t get involved with the Rangers,’ Jing Yuan thought to himself.
Although both the Xianzhou Alliance and the Galaxy Rangers followed the light arrows of Lan the Reignbow Arbiter, the Alliance held a great deal of goodwill toward these galactic wanderers. Many even looked up to the Rangers as role models. But as an elder, Jing Yuan couldn’t bear the thought of Kazuki facing so many dangers.
“In that case… Great-Uncle, how about you give me a little more protection!” Kazuki said with a cheeky grin, pulling out the jade talisman named Stone Fire Dream Body and presenting it to Jing Yuan.
“Haha, I knew you didn’t come here just to report your plans,” Jing Yuan chuckled, taking the talisman.
The very next second, a dazzling golden light erupted, flooding the Seat of Divine Foresight. Countless arcs of golden lightning crackled and danced through the air, their raw power transforming the stately chamber into a surging, miniature sea of stars.
“Take this,” Jing Yuan said, his voice now solemn as he handed the jade talisman back to Kazuki. “It now contains the power of a single one of my attacks as an Arbiter-General. Do not use it unless it is absolutely necessary.”
“I know!” Kazuki replied, carefully taking the talisman. It felt warm in his hand, and he could almost feel the astonishing, cataclysmic power thrumming within. This was a life-saving trump card, and he sincerely hoped he would never be forced to use it.
A few days later, at the Luofu’s Jade Gate.
Kazuki handed his exit permit to the customs officer, his heart pounding in his chest as he watched the crimson stamp fall, marking the document with a decisive thud.
He took a deep breath and took a single step forward.
That one step carried him off the familiar ground of the Xianzhou Luofu and onto the docking platform of the starport.
The starship waiting beneath his feet was more magnificent than the largest ocean liners he had ever seen in his previous life. Its vast metal deck gleamed with a cold, industrial luster. In the distance, the colossal Jade Gate continuously received and dispatched other vessels, their departures and arrivals painting streaks of light across the void—the brilliant trajectories of countless journeys into the depths of the galaxy.
Finally. He had truly stepped into this galaxy of glittering stars.
Kazuki walked to the edge of the deck, gazing out at the boundless sea of stars, his fingertips trembling with an irrepressible excitement. He pulled out his terminal, snapped a photo of the stunning scene, and eagerly posted it to the group.
[Cliffhanger King: Image.jpg. And so it begins. First time off the Luofu, everyone.]
In the photo, the shimmering halo of the Jade Gate resembled a giant, ethereal rainbow arcing over the starport. In the distance, other starships were slowly setting sail against the backdrop of the deep, star-dusted universe.
[Fanfic Author: Congratulations, Lord Kazuki! You’ve finally taken the first step!]
As always, Castorice was the first to reply, her message followed by a string of celebratory firework emojis.
[Pure Beauty Knight: Mr. Kazuki, congratulations. I wish you a smooth meeting with Ms. Herta.]
Everyone in the group remembered his purpose for this journey—to save the version of Herta whose head had been claimed by a rival, the one they now called “Emperor the Third.”
[The Group Owner has unmuted group member “Emperor the Third.”]
[Cliffhanger King: @Emperor the Third, just you wait! Ms. Herta, I will do everything in my power to save you! And…@Fanfic Author, Butterfly Baby, one day, we will definitely meet under a real starry sky!]
[Emperor the Third: Kill kill kill kill kill kill kill kill kill kill kill kill kill kill kill kill kill kill kill kill…]
A line of scarlet text instantly flooded the screen, each word dripping with a suffocating, brutal madness.
[Fanfic Author: Lord Kazuki, I look forward to that day as well.]
[The Group Owner has muted group member “Emperor the Third.”]