"Cough, cough!"
Welt coughed violently. He felt as if he had returned to his childhood, when a sudden, severe cold had left him bedridden. Everyone had been busy back then and had no time to take care of him. Just as he lay in bed, dazed and confused, a red-haired figure walked in.
"Seriously, why did I have to put down my project to take care of this brat?"
"Dr. Tesla..."
"Sigh! If you're sick, don't get up. Just lie down properly. Let me check your temperature. I remember putting the thermometer here... Found it... It's a little lower than before."
That person was truly clumsy when taking care of others, as if she had never done such a thing before. Whenever he thought of this, Welt could not help but sigh. Even a genius like her had many things she did not know how to do.
"Welt, when are you coming back?"
Welt heard a voice from behind. He was shocked to discover that he was standing in a pure white space, and he saw his wife.
"I waited for you for so long, so long that I almost thought you were dead... You bastard, if you're still alive, why haven't you come home?! Why haven't you sent any word at all?!"
Tesla grabbed Welt by the collar, crying, questioning him, and shouting at him, while Welt remained silent.
Even though he knew that the figure before him was a phantom generated from his own memories, was this not also the very question Welt had buried deep in his heart and used to question himself?
But no matter what, if he wanted to return, he had to continue Trailblazing, keep Trailblazing, and absolutely could not stop here.
Welt opened his eyes, then struggled to free his lower body from the piles of ice. Looking around, he found that Dan Heng's body was already covered in ice, with only his head exposed and a painful expression on his face.
March 7th was curled up, looking exactly as she did when she had first been salvaged onto the Astral Express, her entire body sealed in ice.
Although Himeko remained conscious, she no longer had the ability to participate in the battle, as countless vine-like tentacles covered in eyes were tightly binding her.
Stelle, on the other hand, had woken up at some point and was sitting on the ground, covered in wounds and gasping for breath.
"You are the third, Mr. Welt."
Welt looked in the direction of the voice and saw Caelus sitting on a throne constructed of black crystal beneath the black sun in the sky, looking down at everyone in the arena.
"I will stop you."
Welt's gaze began to harden, and the power within his body began to surge.
"But I never intended to stop your Trailblaze. It is you who insist on preventing me from forging a world of dreams. I am merely providing a final glimmer of hope to all those who suffer."
"But life should never be given up so easily."
"Anyone can preach lofty principles. Tell me, then. Under the oppression of the Interastral Peace Corporation, those who live in hardship every day, earning wages that can barely buy a few nutritional products to fill their stomachs, products that are either bland or taste terrible, how are those people supposed to live on with hope in such circumstances?"
"Hope? Can you eat that? Can you use it? Always talking about hope, always talking about the preciousness of life. Tell me, where were you when the Interastral Peace Corporation used life as currency? In some places, under the colonization and rule of the Interastral Peace Corporation, are the lives of those killed by the Corporation not lives? Why don't you go talk to the Interastral Peace Corporation about the preciousness of those lives?"
"Those who died suddenly at their workstations, those slaves killed at will, those weak people who were bullied and dared not speak out, those ordinary people bullied by high-ranking officials and the wealthy, are their lives not precious? Is their dignity not precious? Why didn't you stop it? Is it because you couldn't see it, so you chose to ignore it?"
Caelus stood up from the black throne, and a pitch-black vortex of Nihility rose from his right side, then swallowed a bright red slash.
"Welt Yang, recall your past. Those who were infected by the Honkai and were nearing death, yet suffered so much torment, should their lives have simply ended on an operating table, without the choice to die peacefully?"
"Don't lecture me with principles. Don't lecture me with philosophy. Give me something practical. If you Trailblazers can do better, if you can allow those sentient beings in this vast galaxy who are treated as consumables and livestock to have better possibilities, then I am willing to abandon the plan I am currently executing, willing to admit defeat, and even willing to surrender. So answer me, what better plan do you have?"
"Oh, right, don't tell me that you'll negotiate with the Corporation, or that everyone will work together to welcome a better tomorrow. Those are empty platitudes. If you say such things, do you intend to deceive children? No, even children might not believe such words."
Welt remained silent.
Caelus turned his head to look at Acheron, who was walking toward him step by step, her hair turned completely white, red patterns appearing on her body, her blade drawn as she calmly watched him.
"Hello, Miss Acheron. Are you also here to interrupt my plan for the sake of the so-called preciousness of life?"
Acheron remained silent, then slowly sheathed her blade and asked, "Is that dream of yours truly chosen by the people themselves?"
"Yes. To prevent impulsive individuals, and to prevent those who are only temporarily down on their luck, I specifically designed two layers of dreams. Only those who pass the trials of both layers will truly enter the eternal dream. The people filtered out through this method are those who, in the truest sense, are willing to discard their own lives and have lost all hope in real life."
After a long silence, Acheron turned and left. Although she said nothing, her attitude was clear. She would not fight Caelus.
It was not just that she could not answer Caelus's question. It was also that if two Emanators of Nihility were to break out into war here, the survivors on Penacony and even the entire Asdana system would suffer.
"Brother!"
Robin had arrived at the auditorium. Although the freeze of Remembrance had engulfed the entire Penacony, some people could not be frozen so easily. With the help of Black Swan and Dahlia, she had successfully broken free and came to find the only hope that might turn the tide on Penacony.
Sunday had already straightened his somewhat messy clothes and was sitting in the auditorium, smiling peacefully as he watched Robin approach. Before she could state her purpose, he spoke.
"I do not have the ability to stop him, nor would I want to, so just sit here with me, Robin, and watch until the end."
Robin shook her head, then stepped forward and headed toward the arena. Seeing her actions, Sunday sighed helplessly, quickly stood up, and followed her.
"Mr. Caelus! Please, don't be so pessimistic about the universe. Although I know there is much unpleasantness and tragedy in this universe, there is more than one way to make it better! Doing this is like inducing others to commit suicide!"
Caelus glanced briefly at the approaching Robin and the helplessly following Sunday. He waved his hand, placing both of them onto the spectator stand. Robin, in particular, was enclosed as if she had been trapped in a birdcage, surrounded by upright black steel.
Caelus looked up at the pitch-black sun that had devoured so much Remembrance. Feeling that the time was right, he began to drive that black sun.
Meanwhile, outside the Asdana system, the Interastral Peace Corporation's fleet had established contact with the Board of Directors, and an emergency meeting was underway.
However, before the meeting could reach a conclusion, a voice spread across the entire galaxy.
"I, Caelus, from this day forth, shall forge a Dream of Eternal Sinking on Penacony. All who pass the trials of the two-fold dream may sink forever into an eternal, beautiful dream. As the price, everything they possess shall become nourishment for the dream."
"And when the Dream of Eternal Sinking grows sufficiently, it will in turn affect reality. Listen well, you of the Interastral Peace Corporation, and all others who likewise enjoy oppressing the masses."
"This so-called 'affecting reality' means karmic retribution. You know how many evil deeds you have committed, and those evils will one day consume everything you have. This Dream of Eternal Sinking is not merely a beautiful dream. You who have long stood high above others, extracting profit by oppressing the masses and living lives that others dare not even dream of, I hope you enjoy the nightmare of eternal sinking."
"Of course, you may choose to improve the treatment of the lower classes, raise the general happiness index of the people, and thereby make them refuse to enter this false dream, thus avoiding my dream's effect on reality."
"However, you may also choose to blockade, target, or come directly to destroy me. Come and defeat me now. As a courtesy from the one being challenged, I will tell you some information."
"I was born from Nihility and grew from Nihility. Remembrance brought me emotion, Finality gave me possibility, Abundance gifted me spirituality, Destruction strengthened my power, and Equilibrium maintained my existence..."
"Any heroes who feel they can defeat me, or gods who do not wish to see my plan completed."
"I am here, awaiting your challenge."
(To be continued.)
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◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 200 Power Stones.
◇ You can read the ahead chapter on Pat if you're interested: p-atreon.c-om/Blownleaves (Just remove the hyphen to access normally.)