Stellar Train: I Open a Small Shop on the Train-Chapter 113

Aha tossed Otto to the ground without a second thought. With just a flicker of Sparkle's intent, Otto vanished from sight.

Seeing this, Aha clapped his hands in delight.

"Oooh! The little blond guy disappeared! That's fun! So fun!"

Sparkle grabbed Aha and instantly teleported into a cell.

The cell was well-furnished, decorated in the grand theater style.

Otto looked up at Sparkle.

"How about we make a deal?"

Sparkle gave him a dismissive glance.

"Little blondie, cut the cunning act. What makes you think you have the right to bargain with me? Or that you have anything that might interest me?

You don't. Little blondie, I don't think you've realized your situation yet.

You are now just a prisoner—or, more accurately, an actor.

Stay put. When Aha finishes writing the script, we'll give you a copy. Memorize your lines well. I'd rather not have to force you.

You know what'll happen if I take over your body. It won't be pretty~ Little blondie~"

With that, Sparkle skipped away, going off to inspect her domain.

Inside the cell, Otto was extremely anxious.

But he wasn't anxious about escaping—he was worried about finding Ye Yun to buy a resurrection item and bring Kallen back.

However...

He was now trapped in this Grand Theater, unable to escape.

The next day—on the Xianzhou Luofu

The martial arts tournament was in full swing.

Unlike before, the preliminary rounds had concluded. The current stage was the knockout rounds.

Ye Yun and his group were seated in a private viewing box.

Cloud Retainer sat on the edge of her seat, energetically giving advice to Shenhe and pointing out things to watch out for.

That's right—Shenhe had been selected for the first match.

Her opponent was a martial artist from a combat-focused world.

"Dear disciple, don't be nervous—whatever I've taught you, just do that, understand?

Also—"

Cloud Retainer kept talking and talking, to the point where Ningguang started to wonder whether it was Cloud Retainer or Shenhe who was going into the fight—Cloud Retainer looked even more anxious than her student.

Shenhe calmly replied,"Yes, Master."

Ganyu, standing nearby, added with concern,"Don't overdo it. Just do your best."

Soon, the announcement came over the speakers, calling Shenhe to the arena.

She stood up and headed through the contestant tunnel.

A few minutes later, she emerged onto the stage.

Immediately, Stelle, March 7th, and Hu Tao stood up to cheer.

"You got this, Shenhe! You're the best!"

"Shenhe! Show them what us Liyue folk are made of!"

"Go, Shenhe!"

She stepped onto the stage and unsheathed Calamity Queller.

Her opponent was a large man—essentially a mountain of flesh.

"Hahaha! Didn't expect to fight a dainty girl! Guess I'm moving on to the next round!"

He swung his giant hammer and charged at Shenhe.

Her expression remained ice-cold as she pulled out a talisman.

"Divine Ice Transformation!"

A burst of freezing energy exploded outward, instantly freezing the man solid.

Shenhe then pierced his forehead with a single thrust of her spear.

The audience was stunned.

"Who is this powerhouse? I don't remember seeing her in the prelims!"

"Tell me about it. That mountain of meat did great in the earlier rounds—his hammer skills were impressive. But he just got one-shot!"

"Don't you know? Some participants skipped the preliminaries and went straight to the knockout round.

She came from that special viewing box over there.

I bet she's one of those elite invitees."

"Well, now it's getting interesting. Looks like those folks are on a whole different level."

After the match, Shenhe calmly stepped down from the stage.

Cloud Retainer was thrilled, holding Shenhe's hand as she sat her down.

"Well done! Now take a break and rest."

Over in Stelle, Lumine, and March 7th's section—

Stelle looked at Shenhe with growing envy.

March 7th teased her.

"Ha! See what happens when you love being in the spotlight? Now you're just a spectator, hehe~"

Stelle didn't argue. After all, when they had signed in, Jing Yuan and Fu Xuan had come in person to welcome them—

And told Stelle and Firefly: they were not allowed to participate.

They were banned.

Stelle was dumbfounded.

She had been planning to show off in the tournament, but no—Jing Yuan shut her down completely.

Now, all she could do was sit and watch, occasionally cheering for her friends.

Lumine poked fun too.

Stelle, remember to cheer really loud when it's my turn, okay?"

Stelle finally snapped.

"You two get away from me! I'm not talking to anyone who can actually compete!"

Then Firefly chimed in:

"Stelle, don't worry about them. They're only in the tournament because they're... average. We're banned because we're too strong, right?"

That flipped a switch in Stelle's mind.

"Exactly! Lumine, March—you're just too weak. This kiddie-level tournament isn't for me—it's for you guys. Hehe."

She gave them a smug look, making the two itch to beat her up.

The knockout round proceeded quickly.

Before long, the first round was over.

March 7th and the others advanced easily.

Their strength left the other contestants under immense pressure. No one questioned now why they'd skipped the prelims.

At first, there were complaints about fairness—why did they get to jump straight into knockouts?

Now, there were no objections. Their strength spoke for itself.

Even Yanqing was feeling the heat—even after learning the Sword Control technique from Ye Yun's shop.

Forget Lumine—he couldn't even handle her.

This content is taken from fгee𝑤ebɳoveɭ.cøm.

Lumine was stronger than him in raw power and wasn't lacking in swordsmanship either.

The only problem?

She liked to brawl head-on—and halfway through the fight, she'd forget her own abilities existed.

***

The first round of the competition quickly came to an end.

Lumine and March 7th were beaming with joy — they had just pulled off a spectacular win.

Just the two of them standing there, with their shiny, sparkling titles above their heads, was eye-catching enough.

Especially March 7th's "Sharpshooter" title — now that sounded impressive.

March 7th sipped from a nearby cold Coke, her foot tapping nonstop, clearly full of swagger.

At that moment—

Kiana looked on enviously. She hadn't signed up and couldn't participate, which annoyed her.

"Sigh, why can't I go on stage too~? My Athena Valkyrie title is so cool, come on~"

Mei tried to comfort her.

"Kiana, we're just here to watch. Besides, we need to head back soon — there's still so much to do."

Ever since Otto's capture, the world of Honkai Impact 3rd had fallen into chaos. Theresa had been taking Kiana and the others around to quell uprisings.

Kiana pouted unhappily.

"Ah~ I want to join the competition. Even just being allowed to watch would be nice~"

Stelle, hearing that, suddenly felt a lot better inside.

See? Even Kiana can't even watch and has to go back to do missions.

Now that she thought about it, just sitting here, drinking cold Coke, munching on snacks, and watching matches wasn't so bad after all.

Yae Miko, Ayaka, and Itto were sitting next to Ye Yun.

Itto, ever carefree, didn't feel the least bit anxious about being in another world. On the contrary, he was thrilled.

Just now on the field, he'd faced an equally wild opponent — both wielded spiked clubs and had a blast bashing each other. It was a satisfying match.

Ayaka kept glancing around — the place was so modern and bustling, nothing like anything she had ever seen in Inazuma.

Miko had been shocked at first too, but by now, she was well in control of her emotions.

Miko turned to Ayaka.

"Little Ayaka, do your best in the next round. Let's try to go further in the competition."

Ayaka snapped out of her thoughts and nodded gently.

"Yes, Lady Guuji."

Miko waved her fan.

"No need to be so formal, little Ayaka. Relax — we're here to have fun."

Then, she picked up an empty plate beside her.

"Could you go ask Stelle for some sunflower seeds?"

Ayaka looked a little shy. She and Stelle had only just met.

"Um... Guuji-sama, maybe you could go instead? I—"

Miko pretended not to hear and turned away to chat with Ye Yun.

Seeing this, Ayaka could only gather her courage and walk over to Star.

She approached, and just as Stelle spat out a seed shell, she turned and saw Ayaka.

"Oh, it's you, Ayaka! Come, have a seat."

Ayaka sat down next to her as invited.

Stelle glanced at the plate in Ayaka's hands and immediately understood.

Before Ayaka could even speak, Stelle grabbed a handful of sunflower seeds and put them on her plate.

"Here! Eat up! Help yourself — we're friends, no need to be polite!"

Stelle's warmth made Ayaka feel much more at ease.

Ayaka smiled gratefully.

"Thank you, Stelle."

Star waved it off.

"No biggie, like I said — no need to be shy. Look at those girls — do they act polite with me?

They've eaten half my whole bag of seeds."

Stelle had bought a 20-kilogram bag of sunflower seeds, and by noon, most of it had already been eaten.

There was still an entire afternoon to go, so Stelle figured she'd probably have to get more later.

Lumine tossed another seed into her mouth.

"Exactly, Ayaka, don't be polite. Just take what you want."

Stelle rolled her eyes at Lumine.

"Didn't you just make a big deal? Still mooching my seeds?"

Lumine chuckled.

"Hey~ it's not finalized yet! Once the deal's done, dinner's on me."

Lumine had hidden supplies in the wilds of Inazuma, just waiting for Yoimiya to come find her.

"Then it's settled — we'll go to Belobog for a feast. I want snowfield venison hotpot."

Lumine gave a big OK sign.

"No problem. Let's eat!"

Lumine walked off with some seeds, and Stelle looked back at Ayaka.

She saw Ayaka sitting up perfectly straight, a picture of well-mannered poise.

While cracking more seeds, Stelle said,

"Ayaka, isn't this exhausting? You still have a match later.

Come on, do what I do — grab a footrest, put your feet up, and lean back."

Ayaka gave an awkward smile and was about to decline.

Before she could, Stelle had already fetched a stool for her to rest her feet.

Seeing that, Ayaka didn't want to turn down Stelle's kindness.

Following her instructions, she propped up her legs and leaned back in the chair.

It really was quite comfortable.

Stelle lay back too, handing over a cold Coke.

"Here, Ayaka, try this. It's super good!"

Ayaka took it, thanked her, and took a small sip.

The fizzy bubbles burst in her mouth, making her let out a quiet, delighted hum.

After swallowing, she looked at the bottle in her hand.

"This drink..."

Stelle grinned.

"Nice, right? Drink as much as you want. If you run out, I've got more."

She patted a large box of Coke beside her.

To keep it cool, Eula was nearby dropping ice into it from time to time.

Ayaka nodded slightly and fully relaxed into the chair, cracking seeds.

This was a kind of comfort she had never experienced. The most undignified thing she'd done in the past was sneaking into the kitchen late at night to make tea over rice.

But lounging around like this in front of everyone — this was a first.

Still, it was undeniably comfortable.

The afternoon matches began quickly.

To everyone's surprise, Ayaka was the first one called.

Hearing her name from the announcer, she jumped up and ran to the stage.

Her opponent was a samurai.

Drawing her weapon, she gave a small bow and spoke with grace:

"Pardon me. Kamisato Ayaka, heir of the Kamisato Art, here to challenge."

After the samurai introduced himself, the duel officially began.

He charged at Ayaka with a strong step.

The Vision at Ayaka's waist glowed.

"Kamisato Art: Soumetsu!"

A cold gust shot toward the samurai.

He had no time to react and was struck.

Ayaka quickly closed the distance, her blade pressed to his neck.

Seeing this, the samurai ceased resistance. The match was decided.

Ayaka's elegant and poised combat style made it clear to the audience that she was a noble lady.

And with her youthful, middle-school-like appearance, she quickly won over a large crowd.

"Kamisato Ayaka is the best!"

"You're so graceful, Ayaka!"

"Ayaka, go for the championship!"

"Ayaka! I'm your dog! Woof woof!"

Hearing all the cheering, Ayaka felt truly happy.

After thanking the crowd, she returned to the stands.

Stelle gave her a big thumbs up.

"Nice job, Ayaka!"