This was the first time many people had experienced this kind of party, and they were amazed.
And it was really a rollercoaster of emotions, too. Sometimes, they were touched, sometimes they were outright crying, and sometimes they were laughing.
Even the comedy skits had evolved, a lot of which now had inside jokes and gags that locals could really relate to.
"You know what goblins have an advantage of?" the random comedian sent out the rhetorical question. "...They can reach the treasures faster."
The goblins laughed, clapped, and nodded. "It’s true! It’s true!"
"We are low on the ground!"
"Our height is called efficiency!" the green ones added as a supplement, causing a few more chuckles.
"This is extremely amusing," Prague, one of the aborigine visitors, said as he ate the snack called popcorn. The popcorn was such an interesting thing.
Objectively speaking, while the texture was interesting, it wasn’t anything ground breaking compared to the other cuisines here.
That was... until they finished a few buckets without noticing.
"This doesn’t have white powder in it, right?" he couldn’t help but ask, all while putting several more pieces into his mouth. This was too addictive!
"Ow!"
"How rude!"
"Sorry, sorry."
Ceeman, another one of their recently-arrived friends, shook his head. His preferred snack was ice cream. If you see him, he’d likely have an iced sweet in his hand. Whether it was a cone, a popsicle stick, or an ice cream sandwich, he’d be holding it.
Personally, he was quite fond of the lady they called an opera singer. It touches the heart so much! Would there be more performances!?
He turned to look at Tronie. "Hey, is there a way to get Miss Mariah to perform for me? I can pay," he said.
Entertainers generally didn’t cost too much, even if they were excellent. Xeno was a world that valued strength more than others, after all, so even if Ceeman wasn’t extremely rich, he thought he could afford it.
"You can’t afford it," Tronie said, almost as soon as Ceeman said it.
Ceeman’s eyebrows rose. "So expensive?"
"No," Tronie said, eyes twitching. "Be careful what you ask here."
Tronie did not fault his friend too much for his ignorance. The worldview in this place was just very different from what they were used to.
That said, they did have that kind of grey-area industry here, located on the new night street.
However, it was the high-end ’escort’ or companion kind and the ladies could choose not to bed their clients. Only a single building or organization was allowed to do so. Others were blocked from spreading it further.
Nearly all of the clients here were visiting aborigines. The Terrans who dared to go there were actually very few. For the most part, it was only those rich and capable playboys or the Terrans who brought in some business partners for some discussions, who would actually be seen here.
The thing was, Ceeman assumed the singer lady was in that industry because she was a performing singer.
Tronie patted his friend’s shoulder and solemnly said, "Open your eyes first before your mouth, okay?"
Estra felt especially awkward when she met their eyes. Not long ago, she was among the people who mocked Sahara and even almost hurt her. Rather, she even hurt her servants until their bones were broken.
At the same time, feeling awkward like this wasn’t like her. Moreover, she disliked the feeling of remorse in her stomach!
Sure, she could just ignore it, but hiding and running away felt like it was making her constipated!
She approached them with quite the bravado that the two went on the defensive, lest she suddenly attack. Sahara even covered the child with her body.
Estra’s eyes twitched. Did she look like she’ll attack a baby?!
Estra realized that moment that her reputation was even lower than she thought...
"I..." she cleared her throat, face flushed red, and expression looking like she just ate fresh bittermelon. "I apologize. I was a bitch—I still am—but I still apologize."
If Baron were here, he’d sneer, whispering: "Self-aware, at least!"
Sahara and her mother looked at her and realized she was sincere. They were startled, but their tense shoulders loosened immediately.
Although she really did something bad, they knew that this was already a massive step for a lady of this upbringing. It could be said to be pain that reached the bones for this lady.
While the mother and daughter pair thought there were still a few things she had to apologize for, specifically for her servants, they decided not to push it.
One step at a time...
Sahara stood up and extended her hand, a gesture she learned in Alterra. "A new year, a new start, right?"

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