The Gamer who traveled to Honkai: Star Rail

Meanwhile, back at Tingyun's performance, the first Cloud Knight to start recording had already uploaded a video using a secured internal network, even within the signal-blocked Alchemy Commission. The title?

"Shocking! A Lord Ravager Forced to Sell her Body!"

In the video, Tingyun's image had been edited to resemble a past version of the Lord Ravager. Out of respect—or perhaps caution—the uploader applied a heavy mosaic blur over everyone except Tingyun's altered figure. Without advanced techniques, no one could discern the location or identify the surrounding participants.

The video immediately went viral.

Herta: "Goodness! That's the Lord Ravager? A publicity stunt? No way… This account seems credible. Could it be true?"

A certain tavern eating spectator: "Of course, it's legit! Who but a pseudo-historian would post fake news?"

Dozing General: "So this is the face of the Lord Ravager? Noted."

A certain corporation executive: "Confirmed: the intelligence is authentic. She is indeed an unidentified Lord Ravager."

At this moment, generals from other Xianzhou ships saw the information and wanted to contact Jing Yuan to confirm if the Lord Ravager in Luofu was indeed this individual. Unfortunately, Luofu's network was now mostly sealed off, and Jing Yuan had already begun his operation, completely unaware of the storm brewing online. After all, he was busy watching events unfold in person.

One Netizen Stirring the Pot: "So, this is the Lord Ravager? Pathetic! That dance isn't seductive enough, the movements lack power, and the expression looks like someone constipated! This is the Lord Ravager? I can take on seven of them at once! Destroy the world? She should head back to training! My advice? Scrap her and start over. I could pull a random person who'd dance better than her."

A Concerned Netizen: "Even though this network is backed up by powerful people, you might want to tone it down, bro. If you provoke these kinds of entities, it could spell disaster for you."

One Netizen Stirring the Pot: "Would they dare? What Lord Ravager? If they dare come at me, I'll slap them twice, follow up with two more slaps, record it, and slap them two more times! Afterward, I'll drag them in front of the entire Antimatter Legion and slap them again. Then I'll poke them with a spoon—right in the butt! I learned this move from my boss's boss. No Emanator can withstand the humiliation of a spoon up their backside!"

Unknown Account: "I've locked onto your coordinates. You've got three hours. I'm curious how you plan to slap me or poke me with a spoon."

One Netizen Stirring the Pot: "Lol, here are my coordinates. Bring it on. If you don't show up, you're disrespecting me. And if you disrespect me, I'll disrespect you right back. Everyone, you saw it, right? They asked for it. Never in my life have I seen someone request this sort of thing."

After this exchange, both the instigating account and the unknown account disappeared simultaneously.

Herta: "They actually baited the Lord Ravager? This Lord Ravager has truly messed with the wrong person this time."

Meanwhile, Herta received a private message.

Silver Wolf: "Lmao, but I think we're about to actually face the Lord Ravager ourselves."

Herta: "Oh? Any intel to share?"

Silver Wolf: "Rewards~ Rewards~"

Herta: "You'll get your cut."

After meeting Pei Guang, Herta felt a new level of satisfaction. Understanding the mindset of a player, even Silver Wolf had gained unprecedented fame. If Pei Guang saw this exchange, he'd likely mock it with a line from the iconic game Cyberpunk 2077.

However, jokes aside, Herta respected that iconic sentiment. Players often do what only an idiot would, but that's what makes them unique!

When the Lord Ravager took the bait, Herta began tracking the origin of the statement. Her surveillance revealed that the last message came from a star system emanating strong imaginary energy. She couldn't help but laugh as she read the online exchanges.

After the final response, the video in question immediately locked its comments and live chat. Simultaneously, most comments from ordinary users were deleted. The company had taken this measure to protect the safety of general users and their home planets—these worlds were property of the Amber Lord, after all. Allowing reckless comments that could lead to planetary destruction was simply unacceptable.

As for accounts of a certain caliber, such as Herta's, there were no restrictions. For beings like Herta, not even an Emanator would proactively seek trouble.

If Nanook, the Aeon of Destruction, were to intervene over something this trivial, it wouldn't matter. If the current Lord Ravager was destroyed, they'd just find a new one.

The typical online chatter was usually harmless, just people venting their emotions. However, this instigating netizen had actually baited a big fish. Once hooked, the bait would inevitably reel in the prize. 

Whether the Lord Ravager would retaliate against this instigator was a different matter altogether. Herta, however, was certain of one thing—they wouldn't dare.

Why? Because while the netizen's location was distant, it was traceable, and that location was very intriguing. It was none other than Pei Guang's Star Destroyer!

Yes, based on Herta's IP trace, the coordinates led straight to Pei Guang's ship.

As Herta continued monitoring, she observed a surge of immense imaginary energy from the star system linked to the Lord Ravager. At the same time, Pei Guang's Star Destroyer detected the emergence of a second signal matching the energy signature of an Emanator-level entity.

As for whether Pei Guang received any feedback? He did. The feedback message was as follows:

"Energy acquired~ Energy acquired~ All devices fully charged, energy available for 1..."

It was a brief and seemingly mundane notification, so mundane that it didn't even spark any emotional reaction from Pei Guang. He just treated it like another piece of junk mail.

Meanwhile, Tingyun was still dancing away. She had started to get used to it and no longer felt awkward. However, she did silently take note of this incident and resolved to hold a grudge.

While Tingyun was stewing over her grievance, Pei Guang was happily synthesizing items. In his view, with such a substantial supply run, there was no doubt a major boss or some tough elite enemy awaited them next. To prepare, he first distributed restorative items among the team and then used all leftover materials to craft high-grade consumables.

Pei Guang didn't have the typical hoarding mentality. His philosophy was to craft as many top-tier consumables and tools as possible before facing a boss. Whether they'd actually be used was a problem for later.

He evenly distributed the consumables, ensuring everyone had a few full-recovery items. Then, he double-checked the remaining teleportation uses for everyone.

Currently, both him and Stelle had used one teleportation each, while everyone else still had their full allotment. The only exception was Bailu, as she wasn't technically a team member yet and didn't benefit from the player-specific perks.

Because of this, Pei Guang turned to Bailu and said, "Bailu, we might be facing a boss soon. Are you sure you want to stick with us? If it's a boss fight, unexpected things can happen, and I can't guarantee your safety."

Bailu replied confidently, "Of course I'm coming with you! You've taken me along this whole journey, and now that you're facing trouble, how could I not help? Don't worry, I'm strong. I'm the next High Elder of the Vidyadhara, after all! Besides, that trash can of yours feels super sturdy. I'll just hide in it. If anything happens, you can toss the can, and I'll stay behind to heal you from a safe distance."

Hearing this, Pei Guang was practically moved to tears. As a player, having someone willing to stick with him, metaphorically covering his back with healings, made Bailu nothing short of a deity in his eyes.

Pei Guang exclaimed, "You are my goddess, my divine Bailu! Oh, mighty Vidyadhara healer, let me bow before your greatness!"

Bailu: "No need for formalities~~~"

Hearing this, everyone present broke into heartfelt smiles. March 7th pulled out her camera and captured this lively moment. Though the Astral Express had seen many passengers board and disembark, a day as bustling and cheerful as this was truly rare.

Bailu's words left Dan Heng deep in thought. For some reason, looking at Bailu's face evoked a sense of familiarity in him. He couldn't help but wonder if she had been a friend in his past life. After all, he was once a Vidyadhara High Elder. Although he no longer retained his past memories...

Shaking his head, Dan Heng decided to let it go. He chose to remain silent. The decision was Bailu's to make. If she chose to stay with them, he would do everything in his power to protect her.

Meanwhile, Pei Guang remained oblivious to the intricate subtleties of Xianzhou's history and politics. In his mind, these backstories could be pieced together later, once the main storyline was complete. After all, everyone had already gathered plenty of information. He could take his time unraveling it once the main quest was done.