Honkai Star Rail: Saving the World with a Mobile Game — Chapter 27

Chapter 27: A New Path, Can You Still Deny This?!

Cyrene fell asleep again.

She looked utterly tranquil and peaceful, her small form rising and falling with the rhythm of her gentle breathing. Just like that, in her fairy-like guise as Mem, she lay prone on the wooden desk right in front of Ash.

A soft, ambient breeze drifted through the open window, lightly stirring the fine fuzz near her delicate ears. Beyond the glass, the distant mountain cast a long shadow over stretches of golden wheat, scattered daisies, and blooming orchids, all bathed in the warm, honeyed glow of the late afternoon sun. She was sleeping as soundly as she had back then, resting under the great tree in the Aedes Elysiae.

Always watching over him. Always together.

For a long, quiet minute, it felt as though time itself had come to a standstill, the heavy burdens of the world melting away in the face of her peaceful slumber. Ash simply sat there, resting his chin on his hand, his gaze softening as he watched her.

Eventually, the quiet moment passed. His attention slowly shifted toward the glowing system screen hovering just beside his shoulder.

“Yeah,” Ash murmured softly to himself. “It should be soon.”

Meanwhile, across the cosmos, the gaming community was erupting.

“Quick, quick, quick! What is this?!” Asta practically leaped out of her chair on the space station. “An Aeon? It’s really an Aeon!”

Her eyes were glued to the screen, reflecting the dazzling in-game cinematic. “Stelle even unlocked a brand new Path… does this mean we can pull for her?!”

After the protagonist’s fateful encounter with Mem, the narrative had smoothly transitioned to Stelle’s own perspective, revealing that she had seemingly awakened to an entirely new source of power. As a dedicated meta-chaser and notorious whale, Asta naturally could not let such a shocking piece of good news slip by without a thorough analysis.

At the exact same time, the Astral Express Crew and Guinaifen’s massive audience were completely losing their minds.

“Ahhhhh! Baby, you’re a little pink cupcake, such a cute baby!” one viewer spammed in the bullet chat.

“An Aeon! Did I just see Fuli, the Aeon of Remembrance? Holy crap!”

“And this rabbit thing, they actually made a full 3D model this time? The Author didn’t just fool us with a static 2D image!”

“Looks like emergency food to me…”

“It’s called Mem? Why does it seem like it doesn’t remember anything at all? Is the next questline going to be helping it find its lost memories?”

“What’s its actual relationship with Fuli?”

A massive tidal wave of discussion flooded Guinaifen’s live stream, the text scrolling so fast it was a blur of colors. Noticing the sudden spike in engagement, Guinaifen leaned closer to her monitor, her eyes narrowing as she let out a confident humph.

“I see.” She slammed a hand on her desk and immediately put her hands on her hips, striking a dramatic pose for the camera. “I’ve got it, fam!”

“For real?” the chat fired back.

“Guinaifen, you actually figured something out?!”

Seeing the skepticism, Guinaifen pointed a finger directly at the lens and declared with absolute certainty, “This situation… is definitely not simple!”

The chat immediately mercilessly roasted her.

“Pfft—!”

“Stop, stop, Lil’ Gui, please stop with the terrible bits!”

“I actually thought our Guinaifen had gotten smarter for a second. Turns out she’s just talking nonsense as usual.”

“LMAO, as if we didn’t already know it wasn’t simple?!”

“Hehe,” Guinaifen giggled, scratching the back of her head as she tried to lighten the mood.

Just then, the on-screen cinematic shifted. The imposing figures of the four Stellaron Hunters suddenly materialized from the shadows, flanking a horde of monstrous Void Rangers. Stelle and Mem exchanged a brief look before stepping forward to help. This time, there was no pretense, no hiding behind fake identities.

Silver Wolf was the first to turn her head, blowing a bubblegum bubble before speaking. “You’re finally here, partner.”

That single word—partner—instantly grabbed everyone’s attention by the throat.

Even the massive commotion caused by the Aeon’s appearance moments earlier was completely eclipsed. The bullet chat began to scroll frantically once again, practically breaking the stream’s interface.

Then, the towering mechanical armor of Sam stepped forward, the robotic voice connecting with heavy finality. “I knew you wouldn’t miss it, partner.”

Blade slowly drew his cracked sword, his tone dark and measured. “The Script says leave no one alive… partner.”

Kafka offered a mysterious, elegant smile, adjusting her coat. “I’m glad to have you here, partner.”

The players sat in stunned silence. They even heard the Stellaron Hunters explicitly say words like ‘will never betray’ directly to Stelle.

“Let’s dance, partner!” the four of them declared almost in unison.

The sheer sense of conviction and loyalty bleeding through the screen was completely off the charts. Then, with a sharp, glass-shattering visual effect, the game smoothly transitioned into the combat interface.

“Guys, you can’t deny it, there’s no way to deny it now! They’re even calling her ‘partner’?!”

“Stelle: Don’t you guys go framing me for your crimes!”

“What did I just hear? Is this still that terrifying terrorist organization, the Stellaron Hunters? To think they’d say things like ‘will never betray’ to the Trailblazer.”

“This is completely overturning everything I knew about the lore!”

“Wait, Sam appeared? Where’s Miss Firefly? Is she some sort of unofficial member? Why is she here one moment and gone the next?”

“Strange, it’s entering combat way too quickly, I…”

Guinaifen’s live stream had been in the middle of a heated, chaotic debate. But the very moment the battle officially began, the players were all struck dumb, their hands freezing over their keyboards, unable to even type a single letter in the bullet chat.

Since this specific story battle provided a trial run for all the members of the Stellaron Hunters, the lineup was absolutely stacked. Besides the already playable Blade and the protagonist, Kafka and Firefly were prominently included in the party, and even Silver Wolf would use her hacking skills to assist from the sidelines as a special mechanic.

However, there was absolutely no time to get excited about testing out these highly anticipated new playable characters. Everyone, including Guinaifen, immediately noticed something extremely strange about the user interface.

Clearly, it was the massive, imposing mechanical frame of Sam standing right there on the battlefield. But why did the character portrait in the bottom-left corner of the screen show Firefly’s face?!

“Wait, something’s not right here,” Guinaifen muttered, leaning so close her nose almost touched the monitor. “What’s going on, fam? Did the game bug out and put the wrong icon?”

But that was not the only anomaly.

The very first thing revealed to the players in the turn order was Stelle, who was now accompanied by the floating, fairy-like Mem. Or, to be much more precise, it was an entirely new gameplay mechanic.

It was the brand new Path. The Remembrance Path Stelle!

“What’s happening?! There are way too many things to complain about all at once, I don’t even know where to start!”

“Holy moly, can someone just shoot me so I can see if I’m dreaming right now?”

“Stelle was glanced at by Fuli for two seconds and actually unlocked a new Path! Is this the Author’s original idea or what?”

“The entire Stellaron Hunter crew is playable in one fight! This game’s Author is going absolutely crazy!”

“Wait, is Sam actually bugged? Why does it show Firefly under the ultimate icon?”

“Something’s wrong! Something’s really wrong! Haven’t you guys noticed? It seems like Firefly and Sam have never actually appeared on screen at the exact same time!”

“No way…!”

“Impossible, impossible, that’s absolutely impossible!”

Across the galaxy, countless streamers, brilliant Space Station researchers, and ordinary Xianzhou residents held their breath. Even the enigmatic factions like the Garden of Recollection, hiding deep in the shadows of the cosmos, stared intently at this world-shaking scene, terrified of missing whatever galaxy-shattering revelation might happen next.

“We can do anything!” Stelle’s voice rang out through the speakers.

Following the system’s glowing tutorial prompts, Guinaifen decided to put the theories into practice and quickly tried using Stelle’s new skill.

In an instant, Mem flew out across the battlefield in the form of a Memosprite, twirling gracefully before applying a ‘Mem’s Cheer’ buff directly to Sam.

“Oh? This Remembrance Path Stelle seems to be a dedicated support-type character?” Guinaifen observed aloud.

The words had barely left her mouth. The very next second, Mem acted entirely on its own, delivering a rapid, brutal series of punches to the towering Void Ranger standing in the front row.

Guinaifen instantly understood the mechanic. The so-called Memosprite, much like Aglaea’s Dressmaker summon, had its own separate turn in the action order. It could quickly accumulate energy on its own, and before long, the Ultimate gauge was fully charged and glowing brightly.

As Stelle raised her weapon, Mem suddenly grew massively larger, casting a huge shadow over the enemies.

“We are all-powerful!”

Mem smashed straight down with terrifying force, cracking the very ground beneath the Void Rangers and dealing a massive, screen-shaking amount of Ice damage.

Guinaifen’s eyes lit up like fireworks at the sight. She slapped her desk in surprise. “No way, fam! Stelle’s new Path seems to have incredible cooperation with Aglaea!”

“You don’t think she’s going to be a free unit too, do you?!” the chat screamed.

There was simply too much to experience all at once; Guinaifen was rapidly becoming overwhelmed by the sheer sensory overload of the battle. With all the trial runs for the Stellaron Hunters available right at her fingertips, she desperately wanted to pull for every single one of them the moment their banners dropped.

But so far, the one character the viewers and Guinaifen herself were looking forward to the absolute most was undoubtedly Sam. A quick glance at her second monitor showed the bullet chat was already in an absolute uproar over the mysterious mecha.

Coincidentally, because Stelle had just buffed Sam with the Memosprite, the Ultimate icon next to Firefly’s portrait finally lit up with a brilliant, blazing glow.

Guinaifen stared at that Ultimate icon on the screen, her throat bobbing as she gulped nervously. The tension in her room was thick enough to cut with a sword. She had a sinking, thrilling feeling that all the mysteries they had been debating for weeks were about to be violently revealed.

“Okay… okay fam, now’s the time!”

Without waiting for Mem’s next turn, Guinaifen slammed her finger down and clicked the Ultimate.

In an instant, the screen darkened.

[Complete Combustion] activated.

The scene that followed was truly revolutionary, a masterpiece of visual direction. At normal speed, Firefly’s Ultimate animation flashed across the screen. The delicate girl stood in the center of the frame, while the massive, imposing projection of Sam’s mechanical armor reflected ominously behind her.

At the exact same time, roaring, violent flames began to ignite and rise around Sam’s metallic body on the battlefield.

“Like fireflies to a flame, living for death…”

When the Ultimate sequence peaked, the darkness shattered. Firefly’s face, now marked with glowing, ethereal green patterns, appeared on the screen, smoothly merging with the mechanical titan of Sam amidst the roaring flames.

Fires of blinding, glowing green blossomed outward, burning fiercely from within Sam’s core. The emerald flames framed the mecha perfectly as it bent its knees and soared straight into the sky, ascending like a devastating fiery tornado.

“I fight for myself.”

The mechanical voice echoed with absolute, terrifying resolve.

“Until everything…”

The green flames reached their absolute zenith, illuminating the entire screen.

“Burns to ashes—!”