Chapter 74: StarNet Exploded
When the men of the Seventh Legion learned that Sophie Wexler had woken up, they all rushed over to see her.
Sophie Wexler was instantly surrounded by a circle of people, all talking over each other, asking how she was feeling, if she was better, if she was uncomfortable anywhere, if her Spiritual Sea was alright, if she needed water or something to eat, and so on...
Faced with such enthusiasm, Sophie Wexler didn’t know which question to answer first. She just smiled. "I’m fine. There’s nothing wrong with me at all. I’m doing great."
As if they refused to take her word for it, they even looked over all her medical reports. They were only relieved after confirming there were truly no issues.
Felix York watched the group, then turned to glance at the expressionless Cillian Forrest, who was blocked from getting through by the crowd.
The scene was actually a little funny.
’If these young rascals ever found out they’d fought for a spot with the Imperial Marshal—and won—I wonder what they’d think.’
Seeing this, Felix York cleared his throat. "Alright, that’s enough. You’ve asked your questions. Spread out. Miss Wexler needs to rest."
The crowd came to their senses. That’s right, Miss Wexler had just woken up. Rest was the most important thing. Rest was what mattered.
After giving Sophie Wexler a slew of parting advice, the soldiers finally began to disperse. As one was leaving, he called out to her, "Miss Wexler, once you’re recovered, we’ll train with you to improve your spiritual power!"
After a Level increase, spiritual power was greatly amplified, but controlling it and applying it skillfully required further training.
They now shared a bond with Miss Wexler forged in the crucible of battle; they definitely had to help her.
Sophie Wexler smiled and nodded. "Okay."
"Oh, and another thing, Miss Wexler! When you’re rested, remember to check StarNet!" someone shouted, having nearly walked out the door before remembering and turning back.
"What about StarNet?"
Before the soldiers could answer, Felix York shot them a glare. Seeing their General’s expression, the men immediately bolted, though one of the bolder ones still managed to shout, "Just remember to look!"
Once the group had left, the previously noisy room fell quiet. Felix York finally spoke. "Miss Wexler, please don’t mind them. They were just very worried about you."
Sophie Wexler’s eyes curved into crescents. "How could I?"
’A group like that... they’re actually quite endearing.’
"Miss Wexler, about what they said regarding StarNet... we uploaded a video, and you appear in it briefly. I hope you don’t mind."
He went on to explain, "It’s standard procedure. We record most of our battles and post the footage to StarNet so the public can watch and stay informed."
Hearing his explanation, Sophie Wexler remembered. She quickly waved her hands. "Oh, right. Cillian Forrest mentioned it to me before. I don’t mind at all."
"That’s good." Felix nodded. He then gave Sophie Wexler a brief update on the aftermath of the Starbug incident, once again reminded her to get plenty of rest, and then left.
Once again, Sophie Wexler and Cillian Forrest were the only two left in the room.
Having been in a coma for several days, subsisting only on nutrient liquid, she was starving. Thankfully, the soldiers had brought her a meal when they visited.
It was lotus root and pork rib soup, made from the recipe Sophie Wexler had provided. The cafeteria chefs had mastered it over the last few days, and it was quite good.
As she was eating, Cillian Forrest spoke up. "You should open your Light Brain. You probably have a lot of messages."
Sophie Wexler "oh"-ed at his words. "Huh? Why is my Light Brain off?"
"Did you turn it off?" she asked Cillian Forrest, powering it on.
Cillian Forrest hummed in affirmation but didn’t elaborate.
At his response, Sophie Wexler just said "oh" and didn’t press the matter. She finished turning on her Light Brain, and in the next second, she knew exactly why Cillian Forrest had turned it off.
There were far too many messages and missed calls!
They were packed so densely they filled the entire screen.
Especially from Stellara. They had tried to call her countless times, and the page was flooded with their messages.
[Platform Administrator: Miss Wexler, our recording studio is ready. You can come over and record your songs.]
[Platform Administrator: Miss Wexler, several companies want to buy the rights to your songs for use in their shows and movies.]
[Platform Administrator: Miss Wexler, your viewers are flooding our official account, demanding to know when you’ll stream again.]
[Platform Administrator: Miss Wexler????]
The string of question marks was so expressive, seeming to ask where in the world she was and why she wasn’t responding.
The next message was from a day later—sent just yesterday.
[Platform Administrator: Miss Wexler, something’s happening on StarNet! People are saying you participated in the Starbug war!! How is that possible!]
[Platform Administrator: Do you need us to help you debunk this rumor?]
After all, matters involving the military were sensitive. If handled poorly, the consequences could be severe. And even though Miss Wexler seemed to have some connections to the military, one couldn’t spread rumors about the Starbug war lightly.
Then, another day later.
[Platform Administrator: ??!!
[Platform Administrator: ....Never mind.]
Sophie Wexler could practically feel the rollercoaster of emotions behind those punctuation marks.
Spurred on by this string of messages, and by the soldiers’ parting words, she was now genuinely curious. What on earth had happened on StarNet?
Sophie Wexler tried to log in to her StarNet account, but the connection immediately lagged, leaving her stuck on the loading screen.
Sophie Wexler: "?"
After a good few seconds, she finally got in. Instantly, a continuous stream of notification alerts bombarded her.
She hurriedly muted the sounds. Before she could even look at her own homepage, her eyes were drawn to a trending topic pinned to the very top of StarNet.
[The Great Starbug War!]
As soon as Sophie Wexler saw it, she clicked on it.
Immediately below was a thirty-minute-long video of the war against the Starbugs.
At first, the comments below were all about the battle scenes.
[My god, there’s an S+ Mutant Series this time!!]
[Their attacks are toxic! The casualties must be huge this time.]
As people watched on, it was just as they’d feared. They saw the Starbug’s energy attack about to hit, and their hearts leaped into their throats.
But in the next second, the attack vanished.
Everyone: "???"
What happened?
Were their eyes playing tricks on them?
The public was utterly baffled, watching with rapt attention, when the camera suddenly panned over a woman in a mask.
Everyone: ?
[Who is that? Why is she wearing a mask? We’re in the middle of a tense Starbug battle, who wants to look at her!]
[Cut back to the action! Now! Do you hear me? I don’t want to see her! I want to see what happened next.]
[Official channel, do you even know how to edit? If you don’t, let me do it! What is this random shot?!]
For a moment, the comment section was filled with angry complaints. But in the next second, a cry of astonishment was heard from the video.
"*** can neutralize the toxins in the Starbugs’ energy attacks!"
"Now we don’t have to be afraid of these goddamn Starbugs! Get ’em, boys!"
Everyone hearing this: "???"
Huh? What? Were they hearing things?!
How could this be possible!
In disbelief, they dragged the progress bar back, rewatching the scene over and over again.
They confirmed it: the words had come from the soldiers’ own mouths! And they confirmed it: this was an official video!
Everyone was collectively stunned, their minds buzzing!
After a long moment, the public finally processed the earth-shattering news.
The next second, StarNet blew up.
HOLY SHIT!