What was this piece called?
Within the space Ye Chang'an occupied, the Arbiter authority asked again.
"The song is called 'Eden.' Eden composed it, and I wrote the lyrics."
"How was it? Did it sound good?"
Ye Chang'an answered with a smile, no longer as irritable as before.
When it came to music that demanded total focus and immersion, that was just how he was.
The Arbiter authority said nothing more. The pitch-black space gradually began to fill with color.
Colors that belonged to "Eden."
"The Arbiter authority has acknowledged you," the Arbiter persona said indifferently, having completely lost control of the body.
The Arbiter of Reason's authority no longer belonged to him.
This vessel that carried the Arbiter authority had taken it over and transformed it into an entirely new authority.
What he now faced was the name of Sound Reason.
Arbiter of Sound Reason: Chang'an, the Arbiter who governed the laws of music.
"Thank you." Ye Chang'an thanked it politely. This was the gratitude music deserved after receiving recognition.
But after thanking it, it was time to handle business.
"Come on, tell me. How do you want to die?"
Casually creating a chair and sitting down, Ye Chang'an crossed his legs, propped his face up with his right hand on the armrest, and began judging the Arbiter who had forcibly logged into his account and wreaked havoc.
He had never intended to spare it. After all, he had no plans to get along with this thing.
The Arbiter said nothing. It simply closed its eyes coldly as its body began to dissipate.
Having lost everything, nothing would remain of it.
But before it completely vanished, it opened its eyes and looked at Ye Chang'an.
"What should my name be?"
Ye Chang'an's bodily memories contained countless pieces of music, and every one of them had a name.
That was proof they had once existed in this world.
The Arbiter had existed too, but it had no name.
Whenever asked, it could only call itself Destruction.
Before disappearing, it wanted a name, yet did not know what name it should use.
"How about An Changye? I used to make that kind of flag."
If things went wrong, he would read his name backward. Though this time, things had gone wrong rather thoroughly.
"That was your flag, not mine."
The Arbiter shook its head. At the very end of its dissipation, it smiled as it thought of a name.
"Then call me An Changye. An Changye from Sleepless Chang'an."
It completely vanished, leaving only those words lingering by Ye Chang'an's ear.
"This guy seems to have gained a little humanity."
Ye Chang'an muttered, finding it somewhat absurd.
Arbiters of the Previous Civilization were controlled by the Cocoon of the End. It was impossible for them to develop humanity.
But An Changye truly had developed a trace of humanity, because the Line of the End controlling him had been intercepted and severed by Ye Chang'an.
The instant the Arbiter authority acknowledged Ye Chang'an, he had already broken free from his status as a puppet. Influenced by his physiological memories, he developed the slightest bit of humanity.
It was insignificant. Ye Chang'an did not care. Closing his eyes, he experienced the use of his authority while gradually regaining control of his body.
He obtained the memories of what happened after his transformation from his flesh, and was surprised by the appearance of Maris and the other Pseudo-Arbiters.
This can create several thousand Pseudo-Arbiters? What kind of joke is that?
It really was a bit of a joke. Pseudo-Arbiters were beings beneath Arbiters.
If their resistance continued to improve, it was not impossible for them to rise from Pseudo-Arbiters into Arbiters.
Maris's strength was even already nearly on par with an Arbiter. She was only restricted to being a Pseudo-Arbiter because she lacked the corresponding authority.
The endpoint of human evolution was the Arbiter.
As long as they continued adapting to Destruction, everyone could become an Arbiter.
This was humanity's correct path of evolution within Destruction.
With a human body, wield divine power.
Unfortunately, Ye Chang'an had no time to dwell on it. Opening his eyes and looking at the Pseudo-Arbiters surrounding him, he felt somewhat uneasy.
Would they rush over and beat me up?
A genuine Arbiter could command Pseudo-Arbiters and control Honkai Beasts, but he was not exactly a genuine Arbiter right now.
There was a good chance he would get jumped.
Fortunately, his worries were unnecessary. The Pseudo-Arbiters showed no inclination to attack. Instead, they all dropped to one knee in perfect unison.
"Chang'an, welcome back."
Ye Chang'an and An Changye were very different. Even with the same face, they were easy to distinguish.
The former's temperament had practically been steeped in music.
"Heh, I'm back." Ye Chang'an greeted them with a smile, then conjured a piano into his hands and asked, "Do you want to hear some music?"
"Yes!"
The music began again. Ye Chang'an played with a smile upon the ruined stage, while the Pseudo-Arbiters obediently sat on the ground like kittens, swaying their bodies to the rhythm.
Even the mindless Honkai Beasts and Death Warriors began moving in perfect synchronization.
The game had once said that Honkai Beasts could communicate through dreams. Perhaps they were not mindless creatures, but a new and ignorant species formed after being corroded and infected by Destruction energy.
Like newborn babies, they followed the Arbiter who had brought them into existence, ignorantly carrying out commands to kill and destroy.
Like a group of children instigated into committing crimes.
The Arbiter now was Ye Chang'an, the Arbiter of Sound Reason who only wanted to play music.
So they relaxed their bodies and swayed to the beat, emptying their minds and dancing to the melody.
The scene was a little hard on the eyes, yet against the backdrop of the music, it seemed extraordinarily harmonious.
"I never want to go through something like this again for the rest of my life." Old K slumped limply in his chair with a sigh. Looking at the superstar who had regained his senses, he revealed a relieved smile.
He felt that everything had come to a perfect conclusion.
This disaster was enough to make humanity recognize the dangers of Destruction, and there would no longer be any radical Destruction energy experiments in the future.
After all, the consequences of this thing losing control were far too terrifying. Germany had been wiped out overnight.
It was even more outrageous than a nuclear bomb.
But a perfect conclusion was only Old K's opinion. The leaders of other regions did not think so.
Their eyes burned as they looked at Ye Chang'an. Unable to suppress the greed in their hearts, they picked up their microphones and made an announcement.
"Criminal Chang'an, you are hereby apprehended on suspicion of carrying out a terrorist attack. Abandon your futile resistance and cooperate with our investigation. We can guarantee that your innocence will be restored."
Old K: ???
Ye Chang'an: ???
Doubting that he had heard correctly, Ye Chang'an was first shocked, then furious.
With a thought, an enormous drum set appeared above the heads of those idiots.
"Look at what's above your heads, then say that again!"
He issued a warning, showing them no courtesy whatsoever.
Shameless fools did not deserve courtesy. The best way to deal with fools was to go up and give them a hard slap across the face.
Did they really think that just because he had regained consciousness, he was no longer an Arbiter?
Chapter of Creation: Journey to a New World: What Lies Beyond the End of the World?
The idiots did not dare spout any more nonsense, because Ye Chang'an had no intention of accepting their rules of using power to bully others.
Sitting in positions of power for too long had made them forget that their heads were not as tough as their asses. The enormous drum set above them reminded them.
Thus, Ye Chang'an easily resolved the troubles he would have faced after becoming an Arbiter and boarded a plane home with Old K's assistance.
"Old leader, what date is it today?"
Looking at the night outside the window, he asked Old K.
"It'll be the twenty-ninth by the time we get off the plane."
"Oh." Ye Chang'an responded listlessly.
He had spent nearly four days recovering from his transformation. It was not that long, yet it was also very long.
After all, it was four-sevenths of the rest of his life.
"Chang'an, how do you intend to deal with those people left in Germany?"
The Honkai Beasts, Death Warriors, and Pseudo-Arbiters were all still in Germany. Without arrangements from Ye Chang'an, they would not leave, and other countries did not dare approach them rashly.
Too much was involved. It was difficult to handle.
"Leave them there for now." Ye Chang'an waved his hand, unwilling to say more. He closed his eyes and refused to continue the conversation.
Old K did not disturb him further. After sending Ye Chang'an home, he left.
After getting off the plane, Ye Chang'an saw Eden and Mobius. Smiling brilliantly, he walked over.
"Eden, I'm back."
"Chang'an..." Eden ran toward him, tears slipping down her face as relief overwhelmed her.
She had finally waited for Ye Chang'an to return safely.
Ye Chang'an smiled and comforted her, then nodded to Mobius in greeting as well.
Mobius did not disturb the couple. She nodded too, then turned and left.
There was no place for her here.
By the time he had comforted Eden, it was already the thirtieth. She followed him without leaving his side, unwilling to be apart for even a second.
"Eden, don't be like this. How am I supposed to use the bathroom?"
"You do what you need to do. I'll watch. It's not like I haven't seen it before."
Eden refused to leave. Ye Chang'an smiled bitterly and used his authority to create a wall before finally relieving himself in peace.
Arbiters were still human. He was not all that different from ordinary humans.
Eden was unhappy, only feeling better after he removed the wall and came out.
...Well, there really was still a bit of a difference. Ordinary humans would not tear down a wall to leave the bathroom.
Eden threw her arms around him and refused to let go. Ye Chang'an let her, then held her in return and carried her into the courtyard to admire the flowers and bask in the sun.
The air and sunlight carried the scent of reality, and Ye Chang'an thoroughly enjoyed it.
Eden lazily shifted in his embrace, resting her head on his thigh as she watched the side of his face beneath the sunlight. She asked softly, "Chang'an, can we stay like this forever?"
"We can." Ye Chang'an nodded.
"Then how long is forever?"
Eden asked again. Ye Chang'an fell silent for a while, then smiled and said
Before you continue