Chapter 288: Vespera On Stream [II]
Vespera raised a subtle eyebrow beneath her hood. "Who are we talking about?"
"First up is Etilga from the Bloom Clan," Sky explained smoothly. "She’s an influential matriarchal figure in high-tier council politics and the mother of the famous Seraphina Bloom... you know the prodigy Lord who went on that big Secret Realm expedition as of late?"
The moment Sky uttered those words, Vespera flinched a bit beneath her traveler’s hood.
Seraphina’s mother?!
Inside Vespera’s mind, Silas’s thoughts instantly began to race. He vividly remembered Seraphina from their past encounter... a loud superheated fire caster with an attitude that could melt concrete and a fuse shorter than a firecracker.
’Seraphina’s mother...?’ Silas imagined in his head with a massive sweatdrop forming behind his forehead. ’If Seraphina is already that intensely loud, obnoxious, and short-tempered, I can only imagine how her mother sounds... And do they have something against me too? Was Valerius able to calm her down?’
All of his hopes were on Valerius!
"And who’s the second person?" Vespera asked, keeping her external tone completely smooth and collected.
"The second person entering the Q and A is from the Sterling Family," Sky continued, clicking his tongue. "It’s the head of the house himself... a man who happens to be the father of the well-known Valerius Sterling. The guy is the owner and founder of one of the biggest corporate conglomerates in all of Lord Society... Lohan Sterling."
Valerius’s father?!
Vespera’s golden-ringed eyes flickered with genuine intrigue beneath her dark hood.
Speak of the devil, she had just been thinking about Valerius just now... Vespera couldn’t help but wonder what happened to him though, was he at home? At his territory?
They were friends after all, at least she thought they were... Since Valerius was like that, Vespera couldn’t help but wonder what his pops was like.
’Considering how chill Valerius turned out to be,’ Silas mused inwardly, ’I’m actually pretty damn intrigued about meeting his dad.’
Vespera turned her head toward Sky with her expression narrowing slightly.
"Is there anybody else I should know about that’s in this Q and A too? Having the heads of two major family clans feels a bit too heavy for a mere five-minute stream."
Sky chuckled, shaking his head casually behind his mask.
"Nope! Those are the only two people who bought out the private interview slot. I kept the panel small so we didn’t end up with a fifty-person political circus."
Vespera took a deep centering breath, letting her chest rise and fall beneath her suit jacket.
She was doing this strictly for the Obsidian-Slate Stone.
Nothing more, nothing less. Two thousand units of high-density granite was a massive structural upgrade for the Keep, and enduring a five-minute interview was a dirt-cheap price to pay...
Vespera turned her head back to Sky.
"I’m ready!"
"Alright, chat! Let’s make some history!" Sky declared with a grin.
Sky reached up and tapped the side of his head near his temple, triggering the stream interface.
HUMMM!
In an instant, three sleek silver streaming drones hovering above The Unmovable Wall dropped down in a smooth arc.
Their optical sensors enabled instantly, snapping into formation directly in front of the two chairs with glowing blue LED rings locking onto Vespera and Sky.
Vespera stiffened slightly as the high-definition camera lenses snapped right into her face, but she quickly forced her posture to remain completely relaxed, crossing her legs in her suit like an unshakeable ruler.
In front of them, a massive semi-transparent holographic screen projected into the air, displaying the live network broadcast interface.
The moment the stream started, the viewer counter in the top-right corner didn’t just tick up... it exploded instantly.
1,500,000... 4,200,000... 7,800,000... 10,000,000 CONCURRENT VIEWERS!
In the exact instant that the broadcast signal went live, it already had ten million viewers watching simultaneously?
Sky leaned toward her, whispering under his breath so the audio pick-up wouldn’t register.
"I scheduled the stream notification an hour ago. They’ve been waiting in the lobby the whole time."
Vespera let out a quiet internal sigh.
It was almost as if Sky had known all along that she was going to meet him for something today and had pre-marketed the entire visit to maximize his viewers.
’Can’t blame the player though... He is hustling.’
On the floating holographic screen, an avalanche of live stream comments greeted them, cascading down the window at blinding speed.
Sky flashed a brilliant, camera-ready smile, raising his gloved hand toward the central drone lens.
"Welcome back, everyone, to another emergency live broadcast!" Sky announced with infectious, practiced energy. "Today, we have an extraordinary co-host joining us live from the neutral border... the ruler of the Blessed Land, Lord Vespera!"
Vespera raised her single gauntleted right hand toward the camera, offering a calm composed wave to the audience.
"Good morning, everyone," Vespera greeted smoothly, her rich voice resonating clearly through the stream’s audio channels.
[User_X99]: HOLY SHIT IT’S HER! THE SINGLE-ARMED WARLORD IS ON LIVE STREAM!
[Run_Fanatic]: SHE IS WEARING A SUIT?! A DOUBLE-BREASTED SUIT WITH A GOLD GAUNTLET IS ABSOLUTE DRIP!
[Gamer_Tag_44]: GOOD MORNING WARLORD VESPERA!
[Night_Owl_90]: Good morning? Ma’am, it is literally 3:00 AM in my sector right now! But I’d wake up at any time for this!
[Simp_For_Vespera]: It’s nighttime for me Mommy Vespera! I would really like it if Mommy Vespera gave me a goodnight kiss before I go to sleep! 😭❤️
Vespera’s sharp eyes caught that specific comment pointing out it was nighttime for him and asking for a goodnight kiss.
Her lips immediately thinned into a flat rigid line beneath her dark traveler’s hood.
Inside her head, Silas’s soul was screaming in aconfusion.
’This... this isn’t gay, is it?!’ Silas panicked internally, his mind doing rapid mental cartwheels. ’Technically I’m operating under the female Vespera persona right now, but I’m still a guy inside... Is blowing a kiss to a random male viewer on a live stream crossing a line?!’
Silas quickly forced himself to calm down.
Vespera was a public brand, and maintaining her fierce and beloved reputation was essential for long-term territory diplomacy.
Vespera let out a soft amused breath, lifting her single gauntleted hand to her lips and blowing a subtle elegant kiss toward the main camera drone.
"Sleep well then," Vespera added with a smooth playful smirk.
BOOM!
The chat box went feral.
[Simp_For_Vespera]: AHHHHHHHHHH SHE ACTUALLY DID IT! SHE BLEW ME A KISS! I AM ASCENDING TO HEAVEN!
[Runii_Tanc]: MOMMY ME TOO~!
[Vanguard_Watcher]: MOMMY ME TOO~ PLEASE BLOW ONE TO ME TOO!
[Shadow_Lover]: MOMMY ME TOO~ I NEED A GOODNIGHT KISS TOO!
[Glaze_Master_3000]: LORD VESPERA IS THE GREATEST LORD TO EVER EXIST! STEP ON ME MOMMY!
[No_Life_Lord]: BEST DAY OF MY ENTIRE LIFE HANDS DOWN!
[Sovereign_Watcher]: THE DRIP! THE VOICE! THE GAUNTLET! WE ARE NOT WORTHY!
Watching the endless waterfall of comments saying "Mommy me too~" and glazing her to an absurd degree, Silas sighed deeply in his own head.
’Damn...’ Silas grumbled internally, staring at the chaotic chat log. ’When the hell are these VIPs actually going to get here?’
Silas would really like it very much if he didn’t have to work so hard just to get a hold of the materials he needed.
Here he was, sitting in a suit in the middle of a forest, blowing kisses to random internet weirdos on a live stream, all for two thousand units of construction stone.
However, it seemed like just when he had started to get comfortable in this realm, the world had decided to show him its massive middle finger once again.
PING! PING!
Suddenly, the chat interface on the holographic screen was split to the side!
A pair of high-priority gold-bordered notification banners flashed across the top of the display with a loud audio chime.
[User ’SterlingLo’ has requested to join the stream stage!]
[User ’BLOOM’ has requested to join the stream stage!]
Sky’s eyes glinted behind his mask.
"They’re here..."
Vespera gave him a firm decisive nod.
"Accept them."
Sky tapped his mask interface, hitting the stage confirmation key.
HUMMM!
Two new video tabs came on screen instantly, expanding on either side of the central camera feed.
The left video tab illuminated, showing a middle-aged man who looked like a very elegant noble with pristine blond hair and sharp green eyes.
He was sitting inside a very luxurious white-marble room, dressed in an impeccably tailored expensive white suit with gold cufflinks.
Vespera stared at his video feed, her lips twitching slightly beneath her hood.
’Fucking rich dudes and showing off...’ Vespera thought dryly.
It was always them trying to show the whole world that they had unlimited funds.
Honestly, Silas knew in his heart that he only hated it because he wasn’t rich as well. If he was rich, he for sure would show it off just like this guy.
Vespera almost shook her head in frustration as another annoying thought crossed her mind.
Imagine being the most popular Lord in the New Category, capable of pulling these kind of viewers on a random broadcast, and not even earning a single dime off it!
Vespera would have already started asking this guy Sky to share stream income fifty-fifty, however Silas hadn’t even come close to finalizing a proper account or identity for Vespera in the real world outside the Sovereign Realm, so there was a lot of shit to clear up first.
’I seriously need guidance in that aspect...’ Vespera thought bitterly.
Though for that, she would need to trust someone capable with her real identity but who was she to trust in a world full of snakes and corporate vultures?
Trust Sky? He could turn that real-identity reveal straight into a viral stream or a three-part video series for extra views...
Or trust any other noble clan? They’d immediately use that information to blackmail, extort, or legally corner her territory in the real world...
Vespera almost clawed out her hair beneath her hood in pure frustration... Why did life have to be so damn confusing?
Her attention was abruptly yanked away as the second video tab on the right side of the screen fully loaded.
The second tab was with a crimson-haired woman who looked like an older, far more mature image of Seraphina.
Seraphina was a literal spitting image of her for sure.
She had long, fiery red hair cascading over her shoulders and what looked like a thin cigar in her mouth, puffing grey smoke into the air.
She was sitting down in a luxurious, red-velvet room, but the camera was zoomed away from her a bit... revealing that she was sitting down on someone.
Vespera had to wipe her eyes to see properly.
Was she... was she actually sitting on a living man?!
And wasn’t that man wearing high-tier formal robes? Wasn’t that a Magistrate of the World Council crawling on all fours beneath her boots like a human footstool?!
’Damn...’ Vespera thought in stunned disbelief. ’It seems women from the Bloom Family have a kink for shaming their husbands...’
However, regardless of their bizarre personal habits, they were all here for the Q and A now!
The moment both VIP streams synchronized with the main broadcast...
BOOM!
10,000,000... 35,000,000... 72,000,000... 100,000,000 CONCURRENT VIEWERS!
In an instant, the live viewer counter spiked to over one hundred million viewers!
The massive, nine-digit number flashed bright red on the display, making Vespera’s throat go a bit dry beneath her high collar.
She couldn’t even blame the viewers at this point.
Too many insane, incomprehensible things were happening on this stream all at once... a single-armed Lord in a suit, a masked streamer in Hawaiian shorts, a billionaire noble in a white suit, and a crimson-haired matriarch sitting on a World Council Magistrate like a couch.
On the right feed, the poor World Council Magistrate beneath Etilga shifted slightly, his face red with humiliation as he tried to speak up toward her camera lens.
"Etilga, please!" the Magistrate groaned with his voice trembling. "My spine is cramping, and we are broadcasting live! Let me at least sit up—"
THWACK!
Etilga didn’t even look down.
She casually lifted her booted heel and delivered a sharp violent stomp directly into his ribs, slamming him flat back onto the floor.
"Shut your pathetic mouth, Harold!" Etilga barked coldly, taking a slow drag from her cigar and exhaling smoke toward the screen. "Did I give you permission to open your mouth during my broadcast? Keep your back flat and be a proper cushion!"