"Kevin... are you doing well?" They say that when best friends reunite, there should be endless words to say, but for Su, that wasn't the case. Meeting Kevin again after fifteen hundred years this sage who was one of the rarest in human history Su found he had nothing to say to his best friend beyond this one sentence.
"I'm fine, Su. And you?" Kevin replied calmly. Like Su, after seeing Su, Kevin didn't know what to say either. After fifteen hundred years, compounded by differences in ideals, these two best friends who once shared everything now felt like strangers.
"I'm... I'm fine, but the VALUKA Project still shows no hope. I've observed worlds numbering as vast as the Ganges sands matching the name of the project Mei once had but not a single one of those worlds survived in the Honkai's grasp. Only a handful, like us, are lingering on, evading Finality's judgment and awaiting the revival of a new civilization." Su spoke expressionlessly about the latest results of the VALUKA Project.
Kevin nodded lightly. He had never held any expectations for the VALUKA Project anyway otherwise, he wouldn't have wanted to launch the Stigmata Project over a thousand years ago.
"I understand, Su. The failure of the VALUKA Project was inevitable from the start. Hua's Fire Moth Project has long since failed as well. Only the Stigmata Project remains as humanity's final Noah's Ark to cross over the Honkai."
The moment the Stigmata Project was mentioned, the atmosphere between these best friends immediately turned confrontational. Su said coldly, "Kevin, as long as I'm alive for even one day, I will never allow you to carry out the Stigmata Project. A newborn civilization should decide its own future. We can only be the pioneers guiding them not gods who dictate their fate."
"If you do this, how are you any different from the Honkai that took everything from us?" Su was a scholar and couldn't utter crude words, but for these former-era Flame-Chasers, comparing someone to the Honkai was perhaps the harshest insult possible.
Kevin showed no reaction to Su's words. A similar conversation had already taken place over a thousand years ago in the Seed of Sumeru. He nodded and said, "I know. That's why I came to find you today not for the Stigmata Project."
"Not for the Stigmata Project?" Su was somewhat surprised. Not for the Stigmata Project? Then why had Kevin come to him? After Mei's death, Kevin had practically become a walking corpse living solely for the Stigmata Project. For him to now seek Su out over something unrelated to it... Well, if Kevin truly just wanted to catch up, Su wouldn't mind chatting with him for days and nights anyway. After all, Su had more or less given up on the VALUKA Project himself.
"This time I came to find you because I want you to meet someone." Kevin unusually played coy for once only at moments like this did he feel like teasing Su a bit, wanting to see Su's eyes widen in shock.
"Let's head down first."
Su followed behind Kevin. Though he didn't know what Kevin's purpose was, in the native world these years, the only ones who had fallen into the Sea of Quanta were Seele Vollerei and Anti-Entropy's Dr. Schrödinger. There was no way he'd be shocked over something like that.
Even if Kevin wanted him to see this era's Seele, Kevin wouldn't fail to understand the principle of similar cherry blossoms. In the end, through the VALUKA Project over the years, Su had seen not just countless Seele's, but countless versions of Kevin himself as well. What could possibly shock him now...?
"!!!!!" Five consecutive exclamation marks were the upper limit in MyGO!!!!! but still fell far short of expressing the degree of shock in Su's heart.
This astonishing discovery made Su involuntarily widen his eyes. Those dark red pupils were filled with utter disbelief, even his pupils contracting slightly on their own. As if the entire world had fallen eerily silent in that moment, only his stunned expression and wide-open eyes spoke of the inner shock and confusion.
"Is it really him?" Staring with wide eyes, Su asked Kevin with a serious face.
Kevin pressed down the slightly upturned corners of his mouth, returning to his expressionless state, and said to Su, "Are you saying that among the worlds you've observed from 10^52 to 10^56 there was another him?"
Hearing Kevin's rhetorical question, Su silently nodded. He already believed what Kevin said. In this world, no one was truly special. Everyone had their corresponding similar cherry blossoms in different parallel worlds some vastly different, some nearly identical but similar cherry blossoms existed universally.
The only exceptions were two people. One was the unique Herrscher of Origin, Elysia she was a miracle of the stars and moon. Her birth was an impossibility in itself; her appearing on this world's Earth was truly an accumulation of countless generations' fortune from the Previous Era. Even after observing so many worlds controlled by the Cocoon, Su had never found a second Elysia.
And the other person was none other than his and Kevin's mutual best friend Shun.
So when Su saw Shun here again, he confirmed Shun's identity with almost no doubt. It was impossible to fake. The Imaginary authority emanating from him proved his identity.
"It's really him..." Su turned to Kevin and said, "Kevin, what do you want me to do?"
Seeing that they had gotten to the point, Kevin stopped hiding it and said frankly to Su, "He doesn't recognize us right now. I promised him I'd send him and Seele back to the native world. I'll leave this matter to you." After saying that, Kevin walked toward the interior of the hall. His sentence wasn't finished yet he still had to stay and continue serving his time.
"Kevin, wait!" Su called out to stop him.
"Is there something else?" Kevin turned back to look at Su.
"Here." Su's spiritual body produced a light orb from somewhere and tossed it toward Kevin. It was space compressed by the Cosmic Juggernaut.
"This is..." Kevin caught the orb. He didn't open it immediately not because he was worried Su might harm him. Back in the day, even when Su wielded three Divine Keys, he couldn't break Kevin's defense, let alone now.
With a complicated expression, Su explained, "Human civilization has now developed into the information age, so I brought you some of your favorite instant noodles..."
Seeing Su's explanation, Kevin silently turned back, a faint smile on his lips. He casually waved backward as a farewell. After fifty thousand years without instant noodles, he really needed to enjoy a proper meal. As for why Su only gave him the noodles without water or a kettle?
Joke Brahma's hundred beasts, all upon this body. Could he not find a way to generate water and heat? Don't underestimate the power of Chimera!
Watching Kevin leave carrying [Instant Noodles from the Previous Era: Supreme Flavor], Su didn't linger in place either. He headed straight toward where he had seen Shun and Seele earlier.