Firefly ended the communication, preparing to follow Kafka's instructions.
Or rather, this was closer to her own pursuit of self-meaning.
Previously, obeying Elio's script had been driven by the hope that one day she could cure Entropy Loss Syndrome and gain the right to pursue the meaning of life.
But now that the Penacony script was in chaos, she would skip this segment for the time being and try, at least temporarily, to live as herself.
After all, within Penacony's dreamscape—in this world formed of Memoria—she could exist without SAM's armor and without the effects of Entropy Loss Syndrome, 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 same time.
Inside the Stellaron Hunters' base.
Kafka wore a white blouse beneath a wine-red women'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 subsumed 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 come to nothing."
Penacony's future was difficult for him to see clearly at the moment, but stripping away all unnecessary branches, there were only two possible outcomes that truly mattered: the Aeon of Order revives—or it does not.
And the worst outcome 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 means to deal with an Emanator.
It was just that in the past, they were accustomed 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 me go."
Blade leaned against the doorway with his arms crossed and spoke abruptly.
He had been listening for a long time—this was precisely his moment 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 become 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 mental fragility causes them to gradually lose reason around a thousand years of age, eventually leaving behind only a body transformed 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 time, he immediately descended into madness.
When he sought death, a woman who was also mad—Jingliu—cut him down tens of thousands of times 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 time to time, it would flare up—extremely troublesome.
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 time, 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 seemed she would have to step out personally.
"…"
Blade calmed 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 Mercer and Silver Wolf were at Aideen Amusement Park, playing all kinds of arcade games.
In the dreamscape, copyright issues were rare, so reskinned games were everywhere.
After yet another round of a two-player competitive game 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 games. Yet this so-called number-one gamer in the galaxy was utterly useless.
Not so much as "bad it hurts to watch," more like "discounted bottled water."
"I'm the best gamer 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 games! 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 games, it was just bad luck. They happened to pick games Sol was good at and she wasn't.
If they picked other games, she would definitely win. That was the dignity of the King of Games!
"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 frames 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 somewhat challenging, I would've wrecked you already," Sol said with folded arms, utterly unimpressed.
With his caliber, he was a hardcore fighting game veteran.
At this point, for any game 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 blame 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 mean next time she'd have to use mechanic hacks—full invincibility, HP lock, map-wide clearing?
Running into a mechanical 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 games 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 immediately, 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, Remembrance 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 same time 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 something like this was entirely possible!
"It's me, it's me, it's really me!" The girl in red spun in a circle, then bowed deeply. "The brightest little Sparkle!"
===BREAK===
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