“Here your head.”
“Aha really did bring a head!”
“Hehehe.”
“It’s only been twenty-something years.”
“You’re still just as affectionate as ever.”
Aha had quite literally turned into a head.
A very beautiful woman’s head.
And it was now resting on Lingzhou’s shoulder.
The scene was horrifying enough that anyone with weak nerves might faint on the spot.
“Enough nonsense.”
“Give me the power.”
“Then get out of my sight.”
Lingzhou’s voice was filled with disgust.
Beginning from his second life after the fall of Propagation, Aha had latched onto him permanently.
And stayed attached ever since.
A super-glue cosmic nuisance.
Impossible to shake off.
Every time they met, Aha forcibly gave him power from the Path of Elation.
Sometimes a lot.
Sometimes a little.
It depended on his identity in that lifetime.
At minimum—
Enough to reach the level of an ordinary Masked Fool or Mourning Actor.
At maximum—
Emanator-level.
Hundreds of Amber Eras ago, Lingzhou had not been someone who enjoyed searching for entertainment.
Unfortunately—
Stay near cinnabar and you turn red.
Stay near ink and you turn black.
After being contaminated by Elation for so many years, anyone would change.
He wondered how much Aha planned to give him this time.
Receiving the power itself wasn’t a major problem.
The major problem was—
Aha would look for entertainment involving him.
There was absolutely no pattern to the frequency.
Sometimes every few days.
Sometimes once every year or two.
And he couldn’t really prevent Aha from seeking fun.
Accepting produced rewards.
Refusing also produced rewards.
But those rewards were far from equal.
You never knew whether Aha’s “gift” would be a pleasant surprise—
Or a heart attack.
“Yay!”
“You finally asked Aha for Elation power on your own!”
Aha sounded extremely excited.
Then adopted an artificially sweet voice.
“Oh, what can Aha do with you?”
“Aha’s face is shining!”
“Aha has soooo much power!”
“Here~”
Lingzhou briefly sensed what entered him.
Then reached a conclusion.
“Darling, did you know that Aha once dreamed of Trailblazing too—”
“Conclusion.”
Lingzhou cut Him off.
“Aha has no face.”
“The current Astral Express is too weak.”
“Way, way too weak.”
“Without an Emanator, how are you supposed to keep the place under control?”
“So you made me Emanator-level because you want me to continue your legendary achievement of blowing the Express in half?”
“Don’t understand Aha so well!”
“You’ll make me shy…”
“Dear customer.”
“This side recommends that you die.”
“So cruel!”
“WAAAAAH—AHA DIED!”
The woman’s head on his shoulder vanished instantly.
As though it had never existed.
Lingzhou didn’t even stop walking.
His expression remained calm.
Minor event.
He’d long since gotten used to it.
The line Aha had spoken was probably true.
The Astral Express’s current overall combat strength really was weak.
It couldn’t even eat the exhaust fumes of its prime.
Back when Akivili still existed—
The Path of Trailblaze had been glorious.
Nameless traveled throughout the cosmos doing good deeds and earning widespread respect.
The duties and ideals Lingzhou had followed in his very first life were highly compatible with the philosophy of Trailblaze.
As a result—
His relationship with Trailblaze, and even with Akivili personally, had been extremely good.
Becoming a Nameless in this life wasn’t a bad arrangement.
Until his old powers recovered, Elation would be useful.
The universe was vast.
Not every civilization and world could be reasoned with peacefully.
If you wanted others to treat you with respect and courtesy—
Doing good deeds alone was never enough.
When necessary—
Your fists were the eternal truth.
Elsewhere—
Stelle was currently staring at another Herta puppet with an indescribable expression while Himeko stood nearby.
“You’re genuinely the most selfish person I’ve ever met.”
“Hmph.”
“There are plenty of people on this station more selfish than me.”
Herta folded her arms.
“Anyway.”
“Even if you leave, remember to come back occasionally.”
“Make an appointment in advance.”
“Talk to Asta or Arlan.”
“That way I can clear time in my schedule to study you.”
“You’re so straightforward I genuinely don’t know how to respond.”
Stelle rubbed her chin.
Her gaze shifted slightly, thoughtful.
Himeko laughed softly.
“There’s no rush.”
“Once you’ve decided, come find me at Platform J-34.”
“Before then, you probably still have things you want to do.”
“And people you want to see.”
“Then it’s settled.”
Herta watched Himeko and Stelle leave.
Just as she was about to place the puppet into standby mode, information arrived from the puppet in her office.
Hmph.
One after another, everyone was worrying about that Stellaron brat.
They made it sound as if staying at the Space Station meant Herta would torture the kid.
In the real world, Stelle could choose.
Naturally, the players could choose too.
A-Xian listened to the “ending” narration with a blank expression.
Bro.
You’re doing this in the launch version?
[LMAO. MiHoYo really knows how to mess around.]
[Game launches and you can immediately reach the ending. Who could’ve predicted that?]
“Harmless little Easter egg.”
A-Xian rapidly recovered.
A familiar location.
A familiar—
No.
An unfamiliar but somehow familiar person.
Because beside the front of the Express stood a non-wild Lingzhou, casually leaning nearby.
He hadn’t been there when she gave Himeko her answer earlier.
So he only appeared here if the player rejected the invitation to board the Express once and triggered the joke ending?
A-Xian immediately rushed over.
Lingzhou:
“Morning.”
“Another day full of hope.”
“It’s currently 12:45 system time…”
“Strange. Did I travel through time?”
A nonsense greeting paired with smartass protagonist dialogue options immediately made plenty of players laugh.
A-Xian selected option two.
Lingzhou laughed openly.
“Strictly speaking, you didn’t travel through time.”
“Perhaps…”
“You merely experienced a different life from another perspective.”
The moment he said that, A-Xian confirmed her suspicion.
Exactly.
You had to reject boarding once to trigger this Lingzhou conversation.
“Can I ask why you boarded the Express?”
Lingzhou:
“The reason isn’t particularly special.”
“The universe is enormous.”
“I wanted to see it.”
“Oh, right.”
“There’s one more reason.”
“Want to hear it?”
“I’m listening.”
Lingzhou:
“I’ve forgotten a great deal of my past.”
“I thought perhaps I could recover some of it during the journey.”
“What a coincidence. I have amnesia too.”
“Your Astral Express seems to have a lot of amnesiac members…”
“Honk honk honk—”
“I can’t, family.”
“My laugh threshold is low.”
“Please forgive me.”
A-Xian immediately broke.
Her absurdly luxurious pair of 8K displays began shaking again, firmly attracting the attention of everyone in chat.
Thank you, Lingzhou’s dialogue.
The brothers had been blessed.
Lingzhou:
“Please allow me to sincerely address you as a kindred spirit and dear friend!”
“Three mediocre cobblers can still surpass one Village Idiot Zhuge.”
“If three amnesiacs gather together…”
“Wouldn’t we become invincible beneath the heavens?”
“Village Idiot Zhuge? I don’t really understand.”
“If three amnesiacs gather together, do we unlock a special synergy?”
A-Xian hurriedly selected option two.
Lingzhou:
“No.”
“But considering the current style of events…”
“Don’t you think that setting would be extremely reasonable?”
“You make a compelling argument…”
[I’M DYING. Lingzhou even knows the ‘Village Idiot Zhuge’ meme?]
[What’s so strange about that? Maybe Welt taught him.]
[Every conversation with Lingzhou suddenly changes genre and becomes comedy.]
[He says he isn’t a Masked Fool. I believe none of it.]