Chapter 299

Kiana finally understood. "You mean to change what happened in the past without affecting reality as much as possible? It's like a house; as long as the key load-bearing parts aren't touched, the rest can be modified?"

It's like a "Dragon Quest versus dragon" story. As long as the key framework of "hero fighting dragon" remains unchanged, no matter how the internal plot, background, or character relationships change, the theme of the story itself will not change. But if you remove the hero, the dragon, or the battle, then the story will not match the title.

What they need to do now is rewrite the story without changing the theme.

Kiana felt like she was starting to follow Ai Yue's train of thought.

"That's roughly the idea, but the load-bearing parts can also be moved, just not all of them."

Ai Yue praised, "For example, if there are six load-bearing columns, changing the state of a few of them will not affect the overall structure."

At most, it will affect stability slightly and make it more susceptible to external factors, but as long as it can be patched up later and special protection is added, there will be no problems.

Of course, there's no need to tell Kiana and the others this part either.

"Moreover, the Cocoon of Finality is now controlled by Elysia and does not operate entirely according to the original rules."

Hua also realized something after Pardofelis's reminder, "In other words, what 'Chi You' will become is actually under our control."

"So you mean, as long as the name is Chi You, that's fine?"

Pardofelis blinked, then said, "Then could we just create the weakest Honkai Beast, name it Chi You, and have Jilin kill it?"

Kiana was taken aback; she realized she was still a little behind.

"Theoretically, it's possible to do that, but it's not necessary."

Ai Yue said, "Chi You's existence has other values, so we can make him appear strong on the outside but weak on the inside, but we can't make him completely useless, understand?"

"Understood."

Hua nodded, then looked puzzled. "But how exactly is the Project Fire Seed to be implemented?"

The girl was a little unsure. After all, the Project Fire Seed was meant to impart advanced science and technology to people today, but there were some things she herself might not know, so how could she teach others?

"I will give you the specific plan later, but the Project Fire Seed does not need to be implemented now."

Ai Yue said, "After all, Shenzhou is not yet unified. Under such circumstances, it would be inefficient and inappropriate to impart knowledge to a specific tribe."

Ai Yue did not intend to interfere in the internal affairs of human civilization. Although he knew that as the impact of the Honkai on civilization became more and more serious, he would inevitably affect some things in the end, but for now, he would leave it to them to solve.

After all, I still have a lot of things to deal with on my own.

"So now we have nothing to do?"

Upon hearing Ai Yue's words, Pardofelis immediately relaxed and couldn't help but yawn. "Then can I go find a place to sleep?"

"You idiot, if you were just going to sleep, why did you have to come along?"

Ai Yue said somewhat helplessly, "Isn't the Star of Light big enough for you to play with?"

"That's different,"

Pardofelis shook her head. "Of course the Star of Light is big, but without Brother Yue, it feels empty."

Pardofelis just wanted to stay by Ai Yue's side; she didn't really care where Ai Yue went or what he did.

Anyway, she can survive even in a vacuum, and if all else fails, she can put on armor, so it doesn't matter where she goes.

"In short, once we determine Earth's current point in time, we can begin observation and simulations,"

Ai Yue naturally knew what Pardofelis was thinking, and didn't dwell on it too much. "We don't need to keep following the timeline; that's too inefficient."

Most importantly, he himself doesn't care if they really have to endure this, but if Kiana and the others really do endure this until the real world returns to normal, they'll probably all turn into listless old women, which won't do.

Since timelines have a certain ability to self-repair and adjust under normal circumstances, they only need to ensure that key time points do not have problems, and the rest can be left to the timelines themselves.

"So, are we now going to return to the Cocoon of Finality?"

Upon hearing the words "observation" and "deduction," Kiana knew they couldn't remain in the real world. "But how do we observe? The Cocoon of Finality shouldn't have the ability to observe timelines, right?"

Kiana, having Herrscher of the End, naturally knew the extent to which the Time Power of the Cocoon of Finality could be achieved. Although the Herrscher of the End could accelerate the flow of time to allow Earth to quickly traverse 50,000 years, it did not mean that she could directly observe the future timeline and choose a node to jump into it.

Uh, maybe Ai Yue could?

"It's possible, but it's quite complicated, so we have a second option,"

Ai Yue let out a smug laugh, "Speaking of which, you haven't really looked at the Imaginary Tree yet, have you?"

Chapter Four: Please show your security guard badge.

The Cocoon of Finality is actually quite useful, but it still falls short compared to the Imaginary Tree.

Observing the timeline requires a rather complex and profound understanding for the Cocoon of Finality, but it is not a difficult task for the Imaginary Tree.

At least under Ai Yue's management, things were resolved in a rather strange way.

"Could we possibly return to the Imaginary Tree?"

Kiana naturally understood the meaning behind Ai Yue's words, and couldn't help but show a hesitant expression, "But, without the help of the Imaginary Gate and Dr. Mobius, can we do it?"

"We needed that kind of thing before because we needed to transfer information from the Post-Civilization. Now, if we're just bringing a few people in and out, there shouldn't be any problem."

Ai Yue explained, "After all, we have already achieved a breakthrough from zero to one, so there will be no obstacles in the future."

As the saying goes, practice makes perfect. For Ai Yue, once he has done something, it is not difficult to repeat it. If he tries it a few more times, he may even be able to figure out a way to lower the barrier to entry.

Even something as simple as entering the Imaginary Tree is the same. After all, strictly speaking, the Imaginary Tree he touched was only a corner of this truly vast system, and its coverage area was only the size of the Solar System.

In other words, Ai Yue cannot be said to have truly touched the Imaginary Tree. He has only touched a tiny part of the Imaginary Tree's tentacles within the Solar System with the help of the Cocoon of Finality. So, in essence, that area is still within the sealed range of the Cocoon of Finality.

What appears to Kiana as a lush and magnificent Imaginary Tree is, in Ai Yue's eyes, merely a solitary branch.

This means that, from Ai Yue's perspective, the entire Solar System actually has only one future, and all the possibilities that may have had countless branches will converge to the same timeline after his appearance.

Of course, there have been some changes now—that lonely branch now has a companion.

It was precisely because of this change that Ai Yue was able to confirm that his plan had truly succeeded.

He did not simply create a parallel Solar System similar to a parallel universe, but rather used the vast energy and powerful laws of the Imaginary Tree, combined with his own unique characteristics, to ultimately create such a special world.

Although it is only the size of the Solar System and does not appear to be a complete world, it possesses some properties of a real world and can be said to have considerable potential.

Unfortunately, this Solar System cannot yet be integrated into the real world. It can only temporarily attach itself to the real world by relying on the power of the Cocoon of Finality. Otherwise, it would be easier for Ai Yue to act than it is now.

After their doubts were dispelled, Kiana and the others naturally had no reason to refuse. They then returned to the moon and entered the space where the Cocoon of Finality was located.

"Oh, you're back?"

As soon as they returned to this purple sea of stars, Elysia's voice rang in everyone's ears. "How is things on Earth?"

"Why ask this? You can see it yourself."

Ai Yue replied, "How well are you familiar with the powers of the Cocoon of Finality? You need to grasp the setting of the Honkai Beast, so don't forget what I told you before."

"Don't worry, there won't be any problems!"

Elysia responded confidently, returning to the previous topic, "So tell me, the perspective of the Cocoon of Finality is completely different from that of an ordinary human!"

Ai Yue understood this deeply, because the Cocoon of Finality needed to assess the level of civilization development. Therefore, in its observational field of vision, Earth was not a thriving blue planet, but a gray-white sphere. Only where traces of civilization existed would it be tinged with different colors according to the different levels of development.

In other words, in Elysia's eyes at this moment, Earth is not much different from the Moon.

Since there was no rush, he stayed a little longer, letting Kiana and the other two chat with Elysia, while he began to think about something else.

He currently only has three people at his disposal, which is enough to handle the problems in Shenzhou, but it would be too difficult to take care of the entire planet.

Although Ai Yue could follow the example of the World Serpent and select capable Post-Civilization to carry out missions, given the current level of civilization, this idea is quite difficult to realize.

Moreover, without his own presence, neither Kiana nor Hua could maintain such a massive, behind-the-scenes organization.

As for Pardofelis, she was never in his considerations to begin with.

Therefore, all things considered, it is still more reliable to find people from the Pre-Civilization.

This return to the Imaginary Tree serves two purposes: firstly, to ascertain Seele and the others' situation and make the first adjustment to the timeline; and secondly, to see if the connection between the two Solar System can be restored, truly enabling mutual exchange between them.

Once Elysia was finally satisfied, she controlled the Cocoon of Finality to release powerful energy, opening Teleportation Gate to the Imaginary Tree.

Although she could only maintain it for a few seconds by herself, it was enough for Kiana and the others.

As the three of them passed through the door that shimmered with a pale purple light, they soon found themselves in... well, a monitoring room?

"This... this isn't right, is it?"

Looking around at the densely packed images that resembled a security monitoring room, Kiana blinked, still a little dazed. "Is this the Imaginary Tree?"

"To be precise, it is an artificial transition point between the Imaginary Tree and the Cocoon of Finality."

Ai Yue said, "By combining the characteristics of both, the observation center can comprehensively observe the movements of every detail on Earth, thereby ensuring the smooth operation of the timeline."

"I never imagined it would be so amazing!"

Hua listened carefully and observed the surrounding scene. Soon, he saw the tribe where Jilin was in the most conspicuous place. "This is the place we just went to. In other words, we can see everything that just happened from here?"

"Yes, we can also clearly see the process of you and Jilin negotiating, including Sister Hua."

A gentle voice responded to her as Seele walked over from the side, "Mr. Ai Yue, people who have awakened the Power of Light have been observed all over the world. Although the current development is somewhat different from the original timeline, it is still within the normal fluctuation range."

As she spoke, she waved her hand, and dozens of images were magnified and displayed more clearly to everyone.

"Wow, so many! I can't possibly see them all!"

Pardofelis yawned after only a few glances and almost lay down to sleep. "You guys are amazing, monitoring so many places at the same time."

"It's not that exaggerated, because it's just a manifestation of observational capabilities. It doesn't mean that we absolutely need these images to detect the progress of the timeline,"

Seele explained with a smile, "We were a bit flustered at first, but it's much better now, right, Seele?"

"Huh? Oh."

Black Seele, who had been keeping her eyes closed in the corner, finally opened them and replied somewhat perfunctorily, "I must say, this observation ability is quite useful."

After saying that, she fell silent once again.

"Seele didn't do it on purpose; it's just that the observation timeline is quite demanding, so one of us needs to maintain the observation at all times."

Seele gave a slightly apologetic smile. "She's a little shy, so she left the talking to me."

Black Seele did not respond to Seele's slightly teasing words, and it was unclear whether she really needed to maintain the observation state or simply did not hear her.

"All in all, you're adapting very well."

Kiana nodded in relief. "I was worried that it would be too much of a burden to leave such a difficult task entirely to the two of you, but it seems like there won't be any problems now."

Then, she glanced around at her surroundings with a subtle look. "This is it, how should I put it..."

The black background space, coupled with the walls composed of countless faintly glowing images—to be honest, isn't this some kind of security monitoring room?

"I know what you're thinking,"

Ai Yue responded in her mind, "But if you think about it carefully, this job really isn't much different from watching surveillance cameras, right?"

"So you really did design this place like this on purpose?"

Kiana was no longer surprised by Ai Yue's occasional quirky humor, so at this moment she only had a "I knew it" feeling. "Oh well, as long as Seele and the others don't have any objections, that's fine."

"Miss Seele, Mr. Ai Yue said before that timeline deduction and jumps can be performed here, right?"

After observing the scene for a while, Hua slowly spoke, "We hope to travel to the point in time when Jilin unified the entire Shenzhou civilization. Could you please help us?"

"Of course, no problem. But Miss Hua, you don't need to be so polite. Just call me Seele."

Seele smiled and nodded. "Similarly, may I call you Sister Hua?"

Hua was slightly taken aback, then smiled gently, "Of course... Seele."

Seele returned a sweet smile, then became slightly serious. "Well then, please wait a moment."

She then turned around and stood in front of Black Seele, grasped his hands, and pressed their foreheads together. A faint white light then emanated from both of them.

Under this light, all the scenes began to change rapidly, as if someone had pressed a sixteen-fold or even higher speed fast forward, frantically moving towards the future.

Thus, everyone witnessed Jilin leading his tribe to gradually grow stronger, constantly emerging victorious in conflicts with other tribes, and finally unifying the land after defeating a powerful tribe led by a red-haired man.

Although the scale of civilization at this time was far from comparable to that of later generations, its birth, as the first unified civilization on the land of Shenzhou, was of considerable significance.

As Jilin ascended to the supreme position surrounded by admirers, Seele finally snapped out of her daze, and the playback speed returned to normal. "Is this alright?"

"Okay, thank you, Seele."

Hua nodded, then looked at Kiana beside her, "So, shall we get ready to go?"

"Wait a minute, this won't do."

Ai Yue suddenly spoke up to stop them, saying, "Your current attire is too different from the local civilization, which may cause some unnecessary interference."