Firefly ended the communication, preparing to follow Kafka's instructions.
Or rather, this was closer to her own pursuit of self-aning.
Previously, obeying Elio's script had been driven by the hope that one day she could cure Entropy Loss Syndro and gain the right to pursue the aning of life.
But now that the Penacony script was in chaos, she would skip this segnt for the ti being and try, at least temporarily, to live as herself.
After all, within Penacony's dreamscape—in this world ford of moria—she could exist without SAM's armor and without the effects of Entropy Loss Syndro, experiencing a beautiful life she had never been able to before.
So, what should she do next—go find Silver Wolf and Mr. Sol to play together again?
Better to wait a little. They had just parted not long ago, and it wouldn't be appropriate to disturb those two while they were enjoying themselves.
Firefly sat quietly on the rooftop, gazing up at the dreamlike night sky amid the city's neon glow.
Quietly—this was already quite nice.
…
At the sa ti.
Inside the Stellaron Hunters' base.
Kafka wore a white blouse beneath a wine-red won's suit, leaning lazily against the armrest of a sofa. Her well-proportioned figure pressed tightly against the buttons of her shirt.
She looked at a black cat and spoke in a magnetic, unhurried voice. "Elio, did you hear that?"
"Silver Wolf is not in danger for now, but we still underestimated this Emanator of Erudition who suddenly intruded into the script."
The black cat paced back and forth. Its fur reflected the lights as it muttered irritably in a low voice. "He is a drop of pitch-black ink, spreading across a blank sheet of paper. He hasn't appeared for long, but he occupies critical nodes."
"We still don't know his stance. Is he trying to stop the revival of Ena, or lend it a helping hand?"
"If Order revives, will Harmony—having once subsud Order—enter into a Path conflict with it?"
"If an Aeon war begins ahead of schedule, your hopes, mine, and those of all Stellaron Hunters will co to nothing."
Penacony's future was difficult for him to see clearly at the mont, but stripping away all unnecessary branches, there were only two possible outcos that truly mattered: the Aeon of Order revives—or it does not.
And the worst outco would drag the universe toward a path of gradual destruction, a future they did not wish to face.
"Should we correct him?" Kafka asked calmly, her brows slightly furrowed. "Gather all our strength."
The Stellaron Hunters were not without ans to deal with an Emanator.
It was just that in the past, they were accustod to holding a script and finding the most precise point of entry, using minimal force to stir a massive storm.
But one should not forget that in their early days; while searching for Stellarons across the stars, they had annihilated countless factions.
"Confirm his purpose. Then correct it."
The black cat lifted its head, golden eyes gleaming with firm resolve.
"Let go."
Blade leaned against the doorway with his arms crossed and spoke abruptly.
He had been listening for a long ti—this was precisely his mont to step in.
To probe an unknown powerhouse, who could be more suitable than a monster shackled by mara-struck madness?
And that place also held Dan Feng's reincarnation—ah, how truly splendid.
Five people exist, three must pay the price…
If he could kill Dan Feng and then die himself, that would be the script he desired most.
Blade felt the pain coursing through his body beco fuel for his emotions, his eyes glowing red.
A crisp snap.
"Blade, your Mara-stricken state is acting up again."
Kafka sighed helplessly. With a flick of her fingers, several threads interwove and pinned Blade in place.
As is well known, Xianzhou natives are granted longevity by Abundance, their lifespans stretching endlessly. Yet their ntal fragility causes them to gradually lose reason around a thousand years of age, eventually leaving behind only a body transford into an Abundance aberration, wandering the world.
This is Mara.
Blade's condition was even more severe. As a short-lived species, he had been contaminated by an Emanator of Abundance, and coupled with the severe psychological trauma he suffered at the ti, he imdiately descended into madness.
When he sought death, a woman who was also mad—Jingliu—cut him down tens of thousands of tis without killing him. The pain left in his body only drove him further insane, making his Mara-stricken condition far worse than that of the Xianzhou natives.
From ti to ti, it would flare up—extrely troubleso.
In this state, rational conversation was entirely impossible.
Kafka guided the threads, and after several rounds of hypnosis, finally stabilized Blade's emotions.
She looked at the tragic man and said calmly, "This ti, I'll go. Our goal is to confirm his purpose, not to carry out scorched-earth tactics."
There was no helping it—Silver Wolf was ineffective, having disgraced herself and ceded authority.
Firefly was too pure, lacking the scheming mind needed to be effective.
It seed she would have to step out personally.
"…"
Blade cald down and silently watched Kafka leave the base.
Since returning from the Xianzhou, his mara-struck condition had been worsening.
But Penacony had Dan—
Don't think. Don't think.
He hoped Kafka's trip would go smoothly.
Though he very much wanted to die, he had no desire to see the universe collapse into ruin.
…
Golden Hour.
Sol rcer and Silver Wolf were at Aideen Amusent Park, playing all kinds of arcade gas.
In the dreamscape, copyright issues were rare, so reskinned gas were everywhere.
After yet another round of a two-player competitive ga ended—
"You're really bad," Sol said, looking at Silver Wolf with open disdain.
He couldn't find an opponent worthy of him in terms of combat power, so he sought stimulation through gas. Yet this so-called number-one gar in the galaxy was utterly useless.
Not so much as "bad it hurts to watch," more like "discounted bottled water."
"I'm the best gar in the galaxy! I'm a regular on the cross-genre peak leaderboards! I broke countless records back when I was in Punklorde as a kid—"
"Try a few other gas! I'll win!"
Silver Wolf's face flushed as she rattled off excuses about small losses not counting, opponents being too sly, being in a bad state—things no one could quite understand.
Though she had lost dozens of competitive gas, it was just bad luck. They happened to pick gas Sol was good at and she wasn't.
If they picked other gas, she would definitely win. That was the dignity of the King of Gas!
"I think you're just cheating," Sol said flatly, even more contemptuous. "Is it fun changing the stats? A gunner with one million attack and one hundred thousand HP hitting my fighter with one thousand HP and three hundred attack—do you feel superior?"
"You even changed the temporary super armor of the roll into invincibility fras and gave yourself infinite bullets. Impressive."
"Y-You noticed all that?!"
Silver Wolf panicked instantly.
Sol hadn't said a word while playing, just operated furiously. She thought he didn't know.
"Nonsense. Fighting you felt off. If it weren't at least sowhat challenging, I would've wrecked you already," Sol said with folded arms, utterly unimpressed.
With his caliber, he was a hardcore fighting ga veteran.
At this point, for any ga survey, he could confidently select "Very Easy."
Earlier, one thousand HP versus one hundred thousand HP, three hundred attack versus a million—he treated it like a no-hit boss fight. Easy stuff.
Fortunately, Silver Wolf hadn't pulled full invincibility or HP lock shenanigans, or else she couldn't bla him for unsheathing the holy sword and disciplining her at night.
"…"
Silver Wolf's confidence and dignity completely shattered.
So even with stat hacks, she still wasn't a match for a real expert.
Did that an next ti she'd have to use chanic hacks—full invincibility, HP lock, map-wide clearing?
Running into a chanical god, execution maxed, monstrously strong—giving it everything and still unable to win.
Couldn't even win with cheats. So miserable… Waaah…
"Well well well, isn't this the famous Stellaron Hunter?"
"Losing dozens of gas in a row, so mad you're internally collapsing, crying and throwing a tantrum!"
"Waaah~ So pitiful!"
A petite girl in red clothes hopped about in wooden clogs, leaned close to Silver Wolf's ear, and mocked her cheerfully, brimming with energy.
"I am not crying and throwing a tantrum!"
Silver Wolf retorted imdiately, then froze as she looked at the girl. Gritting her teeth, she said, "It's you! The one on that Light Cone!"
As everyone knows, Rembrance devotees are everywhere and love taking candid shots, so it's perfectly normal for anyone or anything to appear on a Light Cone.
But obtaining a Light Cone and then encountering the person depicted on it at the sa ti was clearly extraordinary.
Case solved—her defeat was entirely this person's doing!
And she knew this person. She had even commissioned her to act in Penacony's script. Given her identity as a Masked Fool, pulling sothing like this was entirely possible!
"It's , it's , it's really !" The girl in red spun in a circle, then bowed deeply. "The brightest little Sparkle!"
===BREAK===
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