The device had issued three alerts about abnormal heart rate, and the last one was an alarm indicating the disappearance of vital signs.
But at that time, out of courtesy, Marty had set his jade communicator to silent mode.
His eyes were unfocused as he stared blankly at the notification on the screen.
'The device must be broken, right? Or maybe…'
A sudden guess appeared in Marty's mind.
Very quickly, he dismissed the thought.
'No, impossible.'
He instantly reached a conclusion.
Someone had snuck into the Marshal's room and taken the neutron gun.
Marty forced himself to ignore all the unreasonable details and came to this conclusion with absolute certainty.
But… was that really the case?
The excuse he came up with would probably sound clumsy and ridiculous even to a small child, right?
Marty took a deep breath and walked toward the emergency stairwell.
To ensure the annual meeting proceeded smoothly, every floor and every room had been carefully inspected. Even the emergency stairwells had been locked to prevent anyone from sneaking in.
Fortunately, he had sufficient clearance.
He picked up his jade communicator, placed it on the sensor panel, and opened the door.
Marty entered the stairwell, sat on the steps, and began thinking.
His emotional side tried desperately to stop him from continuing to think, but his rational mind had already moved ahead, quickly finding logical loopholes.
He and the Zhuming Artisanship Commission had successively modified the Astral Express.
That was the train of the "Trailblaze" Aeon, so everything they had done was merely adding embellishments.
After two rounds of modifications, they had absolutely no need to worry about the train's safety.
But… what kind of existence could break through layer after layer of obstacles, enter the Marshal's room, just to take that one neutron gun?
'Could it be… the Aeon of "Elation"?'
Marty could only think of that Aeon.
The more he thought about it, the more reasonable it seemed.
Guanliang had asked about the Marshal's location twice. Once at the Xuling, and once at the Astral Express.
This made Marty somewhat confused.
Considering that as the Marshal's chief strategist, Guanliang had greater authority, Marty couldn't access his movements. He could only guess that Guanliang had avoided everyone and gone to the Xuling.
For some reason, he later started asking about the neutron gun's location.
Then the answer was obvious.
The jade communicator was no longer useful. It was very likely the Marshal had left it behind at the Xuling.
So Guanliang had no choice but to ask where the neutron gun was.
But if they wanted to find the Marshal, they could have just contacted the Astral Express, right? The only possibility was that the Marshal wasn't on the train.
Of course, Akivili wasn't on the train either. Otherwise, how could the Aeon of "Elation" have slipped in?
Marty roughly deduced the truth.
Not long ago, the Marshal and Akivili had gone to the Xuling. When they left, the Marshal forgot his jade communicator. They didn't return to the train and instead went traveling to other planets.
During that time, it would be perfectly normal for the Aeon of "Elation" to find an opportunity to sneak onto the train.
As for why he would take the neutron gun… how could a mortal like him understand the thoughts of an Aeon?
With trembling hands, Marty avoided the three videos recorded by the device and instead checked the neutron gun's location.
It showed that just over ten minutes ago, the neutron gun had appeared on the Xianzhou Luofu, inside the venue.
Marty felt relieved.
'How could it possibly be the Marshal?'
If it were the Marshal, he would definitely attend the annual meeting, meet with the generals, and celebrate Hua's twentieth birthday.
Marty continued checking the coordinates.
Going further back in time, the location was at the edge of the universe.
That was a remote and uninhabited star system. There was probably nothing there except the "subspace crystal wall" of the "Sky-Mending Arbiter."
And the only beings who could travel from the edge of the universe to the Luofu in such a short time… were Aeons.
Marty arrived at an almost reasonable deduction.
He knew that if he just opened those three videos, he could confirm his thoughts.
But for no clear reason, he instinctively resisted the truth.
At the same time, Marty very quickly pulled out the details he had deliberately ignored from his memory.
Yes, if it were the Marshal, he would never miss Hua's coming-of-age ceremony.
But the annual meeting only happened once every ten years, and Hua's coming-of-age ceremony would only happen once in her life… so why didn't the Marshal come?
How could someone like the Marshal be careless enough to forget his jade communicator?
Besides the Marshal, Guanliang's reaction was also strange. Why would he ask Marty about the Marshal's exact location the moment he was reinstated?
The Marshal was someone who liked to reason backward from results to motives.
So what were the results caused by the actions of the Marshal and Guanliang?
Guanliang obtained the Marshal's jade communicator, while the neutron gun remained on the train.
This made it impossible for them to trace the Marshal's exact location.
Marty arrived at a guess that he himself found unbelievable...the Marshal was hiding from Guanliang.
'But why?'
Marty knew that if he could get the answer to this question, many other questions would be resolved.
Suddenly, he remembered the video he and Guanliang had watched before Guanliang was suspended.
In the video, the Marshal had punished... or more accurately, rewarded... Shuhu.
Not long after, the Ten-Lords Commission took Guanliang away. Before leaving, he asked Marty to pass a message to someone.
At the time, Marty didn't think much of it. He went to the designated place as instructed and later learned that the person was a former Alchemy Commission chief who had already resigned.
Now that he thought about it, it was very strange.
'Why would the chief strategist keep in contact with someone who had already resigned? And what he said back then was also strange.'
'What did he mean by "afraid he wouldn't make it through"? What kind of situation could make someone who had steadily climbed the ranks to become a commission chief unable to endure it?'
It seemed Guanliang and the former chief knew a secret related to the Marshal. Once exposed, even the former chief might fall into mara-struck madness.
From the results, the Marshal had already learned about it. That was why he discarded the jade communicator and the neutron gun, doing everything he could to hide his whereabouts, even refusing to come to the Luofu.
Marty's palms were damp. He still held the jade communicator tightly.
He began pulling at his hair with his other hand.
Clearly, he could just watch the videos and learn the truth. So why was he continuing to think about it?
Marty took a deep breath. He placed the jade communicator on the step beside him and repeatedly rubbed his palm against his suit pants until all the cold sweat was gone. Only then did he carefully pick it up and open the first video.
In the video, the neutron gun's bearer was walking very quickly. As he walked, he broke into a run, and the camera shook along with his movements.
Marty recognized the location. It was the corridor of the Astral Express.
The person passed through the corridor, arrived at the observation car, and in just a few steps reached the conductor, Pom-Pom. He asked, "When did Eric leave?"
It was the Aeon of "Trailblaze," Akivili.
Marty first felt relieved. But after hearing the Aeon's words, he immediately became tense again.
The Aeon quickly got an answer. He lifted his leg and walked toward the main door. Halfway there, he seemed to notice something and suddenly stopped.
Soon, the camera captured a ticket-shaped badge worn by a Nameless.
Marty immediately recognized it. That was the birthday gift the Aeon had previously given to the Marshal.
Akivili laughed in anger and shoved the badge into Pom-Pom's hands.
"That guy… he's really gone too far!"
"I'm going to bring him back and punch him hard right in the face!"
Pom-Pom put away the badge, his face full of confusion. "Where did Eric go?"
Akivili was silent for a moment, then said, "He went to… a place humans cannot reach."
"I can roughly guess where he is. Honestly, even as the Aeon of 'Trailblaze,' I've never been to that place."
Pom-Pom opened his mouth wide. "That sounds… very dangerous."
Akivili let out a light laugh.
Then, the camera angle suddenly lowered.
Akivili crouched down, bringing himself closer to Pom-Pom.
"So what? The Nameless can tolerate the unknown. After all, the star sea is so vast, there will always be planets we cannot reach…"
The Aeon's tone became firm, "But we must never yield to the unknowable..."
Akivili stood up and clenched his fists in anger.
"After I finish this 'Trailblazing journey,' I'm going to bring him back and beat him up. No, not just one punch. I'm going to beat him up properly!"
The first video ended.
Marty curled up on the steps. His eyes were blank, and he couldn't recover from what he had just seen.
'What does it mean… a place humans cannot reach?'
'Why did the Marshal go there? For what reason? To change the nature of the universe? To turn falsehood into reality?'
Marty closed his eyes and, with trembling hands, opened the next video.
It showed the edge of the universe, the "subspace crystal wall" that had somehow been broken open.
Akivili clasped his hands together as if begging and said to the "Preservation" Aeon, who was raising a giant hammer about to strike, "Sorry, Qlipoth, can you wait a little?"
"Otherwise, if something comes out later, you'll have to make another trip."
Seeing the Aeon lower his hand, he cheerfully added, "Thanks, Qlipoth."
The camera turned and faced a red-haired, black-eyed boy and a humanoid figure made of ice.
Akivili stopped walking.
"How interesting… what? Are you two joining our journey too?"
The second video ended.
Marty's entire body trembled uncontrollably.
All the answers he had reached earlier were completely overturned at this moment.
This wasn't a prank by the Aeon of "Elation" at all.
Right now, the "Trailblaze" Aeon had most likely already fallen.
Then what about the Marshal?
Marty lowered his head, his chest heaving violently.
He tried to control his emotions with deep breaths, but in the end, tears still fell.
Marty cried silently. He took out his pocket square and hurriedly wiped away his tears before opening the final video.
For some reason, the image was extremely blurry, the colors blending together like melted three-colored ice cream, making everything indistinct.
Someone stuffed something into the Aeon's hands.
Looking carefully, it seemed to be a sword? Only the blade seemed to be stained with something, making its color look especially dull.
That person pointed toward the camera and said, "He said, don't use that gun."
"Make sure you always carry this blade with you."
"And lastly… he said if there's a chance, you and he will meet again."
Akivili held the sword with both hands. It was as if he had lost his voice.
The Aeon stayed silent for a long time. So long that Marty thought the recording device had malfunctioned too.
Then Akivili staggered forward a step and said stiffly, "Alright, best friend, stop lying there…"
Marty stared blankly, his mouth slightly open, letting his tears fall again.
'Even until the very end… you still remembered the promise you made with me?'
He wrapped his arms around his knees and cried silently.
Like a child who falls to the ground and, upon finding no one around, gets up as if nothing happened.
But the moment they see their parents, who tolerate them and wipe their tears, they burst into loud sobs.
But the person who tolerated him and wiped away his tears was no longer there.
It felt as if the air around him had been sucked away, every breath becoming extremely difficult.
Marty gasped for air, trying to ease the discomfort in his lungs, until spots began to drift across his vision. Only then did he barely manage to stop crying.
Fragments of the past kept surfacing in his mind, and he realized he had been a complete fool.
The Marshal had once treated him as a potential successor and had given him subtle hints.
He had once said, "On the Xianzhou, we usually don't transfer people across departments. Everyone climbs up step by step."
At that time, Marty had just joined the Xianzhou. When the Marshal asked about the internal situation of the company, he had only complained.
He had been too foolish to notice the Marshal's real intention.
If... if he had been a little smarter… if he had helped the Marshal handle administrative affairs… would the outcome have been different?
Marty took several deep breaths and, almost like self-torture, began recalling the connections between the Marshal, Guanliang, and the former Alchemy Commission chief.
Since he had been a commission chief… he must have discovered some secret while diagnosing or treating someone? He and Guanliang reached an agreement to hide it from the Marshal.
But good times didn't last. Even after the former chief left the Alchemy Commission, the Marshal still found out.
Combined with the video recorded when the Marshal's heart rhythm became abnormal, this secret must be related to the "Abundance."
Then Guanliang was suspended for three weeks. After being reinstated, he asked Marty for the location, went to the Xuling, but didn't find the Marshal. He only found the deliberately left jade communicator.
Marty had no clue about this secret and could only stop thinking about it for now.
He thought, this is so hard to endure.
Every second without you is so hard to endure.
Did you forbid me from seeking the nature of the universe because you already knew the truth? That the entire universe is nothing more than a virtual world for higher-dimensional beings to entertain themselves?
But if everything is fake… then why is my pain so real?
In this false world, you were the only reality.
But now you're gone too… what are we supposed to do?
As if possessed, Marty removed his tie clip and stared at its sharper end.
He stared at it in a daze until tears fell again and blurred his vision. Only then did he quietly put it down.
If you were still here, you'd definitely be angry, right?
What would you say to me? Would you scold me? Would you hit me?
Just as he was thinking this, the jade communicator screen flickered.
Only then did Marty realize he had unconsciously spoken his questions out loud.
In the empty stairwell, the artificial intelligence he had created gave an answer in a mechanical electronic voice, "He wouldn't scold you, nor would he hit you. He would say to you..."
"Don't become like me."