Zenless Zone Zero: The Almighty Incubus of Sixth Street

”So, you guys didn’t make it through the qualifiers either?”

Nicole asked, already having a pretty good idea of the answer from Lucy’s reaction.

”Ha! It’s just a Bangboo beauty contest. I was only here to see if the competition was worth anything... I’m not counting on a silly contest like this for my expansion plans.”

Lucy was clearly trying to save a bit of her pride, and Nicole, hearing this, couldn’t help but appreciate her response.

”Oh? Sharp of you. Why don’t we...”

Nicole and Lucy seemed to have already returned to their enthusiastic business discussions.

Burnice didn’t understand these things, so she came over to Wise’s side with a chuckle.

Meanwhile, Lighter stood behind them, seemingly pondering how he could slip away without being noticed.

However, just as he was looking for an opportunity, a soft ”Found you!” sounded beside his ear, followed by a hand pulling Wise aside.

”There were too many people in the hall just now, and Eve wouldn’t let me come over...”

Astra explained the reason, but her eyes, hidden behind her sunglasses, shifted toward Burnice, who had followed closely behind, and then toward Lucy and Nicole, who were chatting nearby.

As for Lighter, who had already seized the opportunity to escape the business talks, he wasn’t within her scope of danger.

’Never mind, they should all just be normal friends...’

Astra thought this before directing her attention back to Wise.

”I saw Eous’s performance in the lounge. It was really good! I told you Eous didn’t need to be so shy~”

Her voice was quite cheerful as she said this.

”Your guidance was really helpful, Astra,” Wise answered subconsciously.

The moment he mentioned her name, Lighter, who was standing beside him, seemed to think of something.

”Astra? Such a familiar name... And those sunglasses are rockin’. I feel like I’ve met some interesting characters coming to Starloop Tower today...”

As he spoke, his gaze shifted toward Wise beside him with a hint of admiration before he continued.

”Speaking of which, wasn’t there a concert here a few days ago? I heard the entire tower almost got blown up?”

”Huh? Oh... I wouldn’t know much about that~” Astra replied, a little awkwardly.

”Cough...”

Astra skillfully avoided answering, while Wise’s cough was meant to ease the awkwardness and signal Lighter not to ask any further questions.

Lighter immediately understood everything.

”...You’re really something, Wise. I don’t mean anything by it. I’m just sayin’.”

As he spoke, the admiration in his gaze only grew stronger.

Yes, after all, this was the man who had won over a group of powerful women, including his own boss. How could he possibly be underestimated?

”Don’t get the wrong idea. I didn’t blow anything up.”

”I can back him up. He didn’t do it.”

Astra had inadvertently confirmed that an explosion had indeed happened.

”Oh right, Wise, aren’t you going to introduce me? Is this your friend?”

”Yes, a friend,” Wise confirmed with a nod.

”Oh~ This young lady, and those two girls over there too? I seem to have seen you talking with them just now...”

Although it was difficult to see her expression through the sunglasses, Astra’s gaze seemed to suddenly sharpen.

”Yes, they’re friends too...”

”I see, you have so many friends~ And they’re all so cute~ You all get along so well~”

This was a very bad situation. Wise knew he couldn’t let Astra continue down this path, so he quickly tried to come up with a solution.

Also, Burnice still hadn’t figured out what was going on, so it was only a matter of time before she said something outrageous.

”Thanks! I do think I’m pretty cute too,” Lighter answered with a narcissistic smile.

’Lighter...’

Wise immediately felt grateful.

Because the moment those words left Lighter’s mouth, they instantly defused the somewhat tense atmosphere around them, and Astra no longer seemed to have any doubts.

”Haha, Wise, your friend is so interesting! It’s a pleasure to meet you all~”

Hearing this, Wise let out a breath of relief and silently promised to buy Lighter a Nitro-Fuel drink later.

”Oh right, I heard that after passing the preliminary round, there seems to be a special event? Which staff member should I ask about it?” Astra asked Wise.

”They’ve arranged guides for that. Let me go talk with her,” Wise offered.

”Then go over and ask. Who knows, maybe we’ll get some useful information for the competition!”

Astra’s words seemed to be urging Wise to leave quickly.

Seeing this, Wise glanced at Burnice with a bad feeling.

There was nothing he could do. He could only place his hopes on his good friend, Lighter.

So, after Wise left...

”How did you two meet?” Astra inquired.

”Our boss asked Wise for a favor,” Lighter answered.

”Exactly, exactly! Thanks to Wise, we were able to win! If it weren’t for him, even the ex-Overlord would have died...” Burnice added.

”...Huh?”

Astra didn’t quite understand, but it sounded like it was simply a matter of cooperation, so it seemed fine.

”Also, to repay Wise, I specially gave him...”

”Hmm?!”

Astra’s gaze sharpened at this, but Lighter quickly interrupted her.

”Many special Nitro-Fuels, right, Burnice?”

He winked at her, though she couldn’t see it through his sunglasses.

Still, his words successfully distracted her.

”Eh? That’s right, I made many flavors with different effects. For example...”

Burnice went on talking about Nitro-Fuel.

Astra listened in confusion while Lighter breathed a sigh of relief.

As long as Nitro-Fuel was mentioned, Burnice’s attention would immediately shift toward it, and there would be no more problems for a while.

Meanwhile, on the other side, Paige also explained the next activity of the Grand Marcel Adventure to Wise, subconsciously repeating the rules of the competition.

”Ah, am I being too talkative? After all, contestants who passed the preliminary round should already be very familiar with the competition system and don’t need me to ramble on so much...”

”It’s okay, Paige. You’re very responsible like this,” Wise said with a smile.

”Eh? Th-thank you! I’ll keep working hard!”

A blush appeared on Paige’s cheeks, but she soon returned to her usual state as a fanatical Bangboo fan, showing concern for Eous while explaining the precautions for the next round.

Soon after, they met Astra again in the hall’s waiting area.

Evelyn stood nearby, quietly observing their surroundings.

”I’m just thinking out loud here, but... Given Eous’s performance in the Grand Marcel Adventure, he might have what it takes to become a celebrity streamer. Don’t you think?”

Astra directed the question toward Wise.

”It’s just New Year’s entertainment. Becoming a professional is a completely different challenge.”

Wise calmly rejected Astra’s idea of turning Eous into a star.

Firstly, his child didn’t like it. Secondly, he wasn’t short on money anymore.

Ever since more girls had appeared around him, the system, which hadn’t shown up for a long time, had thoughtfully adjusted the exchange rate of emotional value to Dennies to 1:100,000.

It seemed to be trying to alleviate his financial pressure, although he didn’t have any financial pressure to begin with.

”I get it! But if you switched to the entertainment biz, you wouldn’t have to do... that risky work anymore, right?”

”Then would you want to switch careers?”

”...”

Upon hearing Wise’s question, Astra remained silent for a moment before suddenly bursting into laughter.

”Hahahaha! You’re right. That was a silly question... I can’t believe I said that to Phaethon... If I’d never leave the stage, you definitely wouldn’t change your path either. Perhaps that’s exactly why it’s so hard for people to look away from you...”

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Zenless Zone Zero: The Almighty Incubus of Sixth Street

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