[Inorin's Note:
Hey everyone, so sorry for the lack of updates these past few days! Four days ago, I randomly got the idea to build my own novel website, and I immediately hyperfocused on it. I got so caught up in the process that I completely forgot to queue up the scheduled chapters on Webnovel and only just realized it now. The good news is, my 78-hour coding binge wasn't for nothing—the website is already 50-75% done!]
Chapter 53: Rekka: The Despicable Cane... The Despicable and Evil Herrscher of Reason!
[By the way, switching Paths for the first time doesn't necessarily mean you've fully set foot on that Path. You might have just barely started, or you might skip all stages and enter the final stage directly. Equilibrium is the kind of concept that requires slow growth and careful correction, rather than fitting perfectly all at once.]
Himeko's elegant voice played softly from the communication device resting on the console.
Nearby, Dan Heng's slender fingers danced rapidly across the virtual keyboard of the main terminal. Streams of dizzying, highly complex data cascaded down the glowing holographic screen, yet under his careful control, every line of code remained perfectly orderly.
"It's certainly useful," Dan Heng murmured, his cool eyes scanning the scrolling text. "But are some of the records in here actually true?"
"The data source is entirely reliable," Rekka replied, leaning back in his chair with a relaxed grin.
March 7th leaned over and sharply elbowed Rekka in the ribs. "Can you change the voice pack on that thing?"
"Sure," Rekka chuckled, rubbing his side. "I'll just have Ai-chan import two new voice packs over."
A few feet away, Stelle stood completely mesmerized, staring up at the tall, imposing holographic projection of a white-haired man hovering in the center of the room.
"Who is this guy?" Stelle asked, tilting her head.
"An old acquaintance of Uncle Yang's," Rekka answered, a mischievous glint in his eye. "The kind of acquaintance that makes Uncle Yang hiss like an angry cat whenever he sees him."
Stelle blinked, her golden eyes wide with disbelief. "You think Uncle Yang is some ancient fossil who gets scared easily? No way."
"Of course not," Rekka said, gesturing toward the towering hologram. "But this man's strength far surpasses Uncle Yang's. He's the exact type of monster who could pin Uncle Yang down and beat him into the dirt without breaking a sweat."
"Really?" Stelle gasped, leaning closer to the projection. "Such a thing actually exists?"
"Hey, let the old senior keep some of his dignity," Rekka chided playfully. "After all, the fact that Uncle Yang was even able to stand up to an enemy like this is already incredibly brave. He was the final boss of Uncle Yang's hometown, you know."
"Final boss?" Stelle's eyes lit up with gamer-like enthusiasm.
She leaned right into the projection, carefully examining the holographic image. The white-haired man possessed a devastatingly cold, stern face. He wore a sleek, dark combat suit, and even through the artificial light of the hologram, he seemed faintly surrounded by a suffocating, icy blue glow.
"This guy really does look powerful," Stelle muttered. She waved her hand straight through the projection's chest, watching the blue light ripple around her fingers. "What's his name?"
"Kevin," Rekka said, crossing his arms over his chest. "Kevin Kaslana."
"Not a good guy?"
"Not exactly a bad guy either." Rekka tapped his chin, thinking for a moment. "It's just... their stances were fundamentally different, and there simply wasn't enough time to find another way."
"And then?" Stelle pressed, practically vibrating with curiosity. "Who won?"
Rekka fell silent for two seconds, his expression turning unusually serious.
"This question is a bit complicated. In terms of the final outcome, Uncle Yang's side won. But in terms of raw, unadulterated strength, the difference between Uncle Yang and him was—"
Rekka held his hands out, moving one palm high above his head and dropping the other down to his knees to indicate a massive, impossible gap.
"So Uncle Yang was carried?" Stelle concluded bluntly.
"You can't say that," Rekka quickly corrected. "Uncle Yang was a hard carry in his own right."
March 7th stared at the icy projection, her pink eyes narrowing thoughtfully. "So... you're planning to use this specific voice pack to scare Uncle Yang?"
"Scare him?" Rekka raised an eyebrow, feigning deep offense. "I'm giving him a precious opportunity to face his past! Look, he usually can't see this guy even if he wanted to, but now he can hear him talk every single day. Isn't that just great?"
"You just want to see him bristle," March 7th deadpanned.
"How could I?" Rekka placed a hand over his heart, looking the picture of absolute righteousness. "Am I that kind of person?"
March 7th and Stelle exchanged a long, flat look. They turned back to Rekka and nodded in perfect unison.
"Yes."
Rekka grinned shamelessly. "You dare say you don't want to see it?"
"I do," March 7th admitted immediately.
"Me too," Stelle nodded cutely, her ahoge bouncing.
Dan Heng didn't hear a word of their plotting; his entire focus remained completely absorbed by the Data Bank's glowing screens.
— — —
At noon, Welt Yang strolled into the Astral Express's Data Bank, adjusting his glasses as he prepared to look up a few historical archives.
The moment the automatic doors slid open, a tall, white-haired, blue-eyed man blocked his path.
"You've come."
The deep, chilling voice echoed through the room.
Welt's pupils shrank to pinpricks. His heart stopped. Pure, unadulterated PTSD flooded his veins, triggering an immediate and violent stress response.
"Ah! Scared me to death!"
Instinct took over. The Star of Eden flared to life in his grasp. A pitch-black Quasi-Black Hole instantly ripped open at the Data Bank's entrance, its violent, crushing gravity howling as it pulled at the very fabric of the room.
The white-haired man's imposing figure distorted violently under the black hole's immense gravitational pull. The image stretched, flickered a few times, dissolved into a burst of digital static, and vanished completely.
"..."
Welt stood frozen, his chest heaving as the Quasi-Black Hole slowly dissipated into harmless sparks of red light. He stared at the empty space where the hologram had been.
Without a shadow of a doubt, this had to be the work of that innately evil gremlin, Rekka!
Welt's grip tightened. He nearly snapped the Star of Eden in half.
He had to let that brat know the true, painful meaning of 'education'! The Star of Eden in his hand was already vibrating, practically itching to spank a certain someone's backside into the next dimension.
"Gua! Uncle Yang, I was wrong! Stop chasing me!"
"Stop right there! Rekka! Don't you dare run!"
Footsteps thundered down the pristine corridors of the Astral Express. Rekka sprinted for his life, while Welt chased furiously from behind. In his absolute rage, Welt had somehow manifested a second cane out of pure Herrscher energy, dual-wielding his fury.
However, Welt wasn't wearing Speed Boots. Rekka was.
But the most mature, reliable man of the Astral Express was naturally very capable of closing the distance.
Welt raised his cane. Gravity Suppression!
A crushing weight slammed down on the corridor, threatening to flatten everything to the floorboards.
Unfortunately for Welt, Rekka had randomly rolled onto the Path of Erudition today.
Rekka's hands moved in a blur. Anti-Gravity Device!
A small, hastily assembled gadget on his belt whirred to life, projecting a localized field that completely negated Welt's crushing pressure. Rekka bounded forward, light as a feather.
"Uncle Yang! Please, let me explain!"
"Explain what?!" Welt roared, his usual calm demeanor entirely shattered. "You even used Kevin's voice pack! What is actually wrong with you?!"
"Uncle Yang, if you don't like it, I can change it! I'll change it to Bishop Otto's—"
"Go Uncle Yang!" Stelle suddenly shouted at the top of her lungs, popping out from a side doorway and pumping her fist in the air. "Catch him!"
Rekka didn't even need to consciously think. The Erudition Path guided his hands, his fingers constantly twisting and locking pieces of metal together, subconsciously crafting a golden, ring-shaped device to help him temporarily escape his impending doom.
"Go Uncle Yang! Go Rekka!" Stelle cheered, thoroughly enjoying the chaos.
Standing beside her, holding a cup of tea, was the Cold Dragon Young himself. Dan Heng sighed, his expression perfectly flat.
"Whose side are you on anyway?" Dan Heng asked.
"I'm cheering for both sides," Stelle stated righteously, her eyes tracking the high-speed pursuit. "The running is excellent, and the chasing is equally superb."
March 7th, watching from the lounge, simply facepalmed.
Down the corridor, the golden ring in Rekka's hands began to spin faster and faster. The complex geometric patterns etched into its surface gradually ignited, glowing with a blinding, piercing light.
"Directional Space Displacement Ring, activate!" Rekka yelled.
A brilliant flash of golden light streaked through the hallway.
Welt's vision blurred for a fraction of a second. The wildly sprinting Rekka, who had been just inches from the tip of his cane, vanished into thin air.
In his place stood a completely bewildered Stelle.
Welt slammed on the brakes, his boots skidding against the floorboards as he barely managed to stop himself from whacking the Trailblazer.
"Uncle Yang..." Stelle blinked blankly, looking at the dual-wielded canes. "You're running pretty fast."
Welt took a deep, shuddering breath, trying desperately to calm his surging blood pressure from the sudden stop. He looked at Stelle, his shoulders dropping as he shook his head helplessly.
"That kid..."
"Uncle Yang! I'm so sorry! I was wrong!"
Rekka's voice echoed from the far end of the corridor. He stood there, his hands pressed together in a deep, highly exaggerated bow of sincere apology.
"I just wanted to make a harmless joke to liven up the atmosphere! Please don't be angry; I'll change the voice pack right now! I'll change it to one you actually like, I guarantee you'll be satisfied!"
Welt turned around. He looked at Rekka standing safely in the distance, and let out a heavy, exhausted sigh. He lowered his canes, his posture relaxing into one of weary forgiveness.
"Fine," Welt said softly. "Since you've recognized your mistake, I'll let you off this once. Come here."
Rekka let out a massive sigh of relief. He dropped his guard entirely and walked over, a sheepish grin on his face.
The moment he was within range, Welt's cane moved faster than the eye could track.
Whack!
Rekka yelped, stumbling forward as he was ruthlessly 'cared for' by the Star of Eden.
"The e... evil cane..." Rekka groaned, aggressively rubbing his stinging backside as he scrambled away. "The evil and despicable Herrscher of Reason is indeed cunning..."
He actually used a ruse! He pretended to forgive him just to land a free hit!
So despicable. So incredibly cunning.
A visibly refreshed Welt adjusted his glasses, a small, satisfied smirk playing on his lips as he turned and walked out of the Parlor Car, his mood completely restored.
Stelle wandered over to Rekka, her eyes locked onto the golden device still clutched in his hand.
"What's the principle behind that thing that went 'whoosh' and swapped Uncle Yang over?" Stelle asked, reaching out to poke the cold, carefully carved metal surface of the ring. "Can I play with it?"
"It's called a Directional Space Displacement Ring," Rekka explained, still rubbing his hip. "It achieves instantaneous teleportation by forcibly warping local spatial coordinates."
"Oh~" Stelle nodded slowly, absorbing the information. She stared at the ring for a few seconds before looking back up at him. "How many of these rings do you have?"
"Two," Rekka replied casually. "One is right here, and the other is in my room."
Stelle's golden eyes gleamed with dangerous curiosity. "Have you tried putting two of them together?"
Rekka froze.
His hand stopped rubbing his back. He stared at Stelle, then slowly lowered his gaze to the golden ring in his hand.
"Two... together...?"
A brilliant, terrifying spark of Erudition-fueled wisdom erupted in Rekka's mind. The sheer chaotic potential of creating an infinite spatial loop violently crashed into his brain.
"That's right..." Rekka whispered, a manic grin slowly spreading across his face. "Two of them together!"
His eyes lit up like supernovas.
"I really haven't tried that yet. I'm going to go try it right now."
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