In a remote corner of the boundless universe, a gigantic mechanical sphere floated in the vast starry sky.
"According to my calculations, this course of action will not accelerate your resurrection. Instead, it will forge a new Aeon."
The gigantic mechanical sphere spoke in a cold, emotionless voice.
"It's fine. You know the consequences of a shattered Path. Even the [Path of Propagation], which came closest to [the Immortal] back then, failed to accomplish it. Naturally, I'm the same. Still, I'm luckier than they were. This remnant soul was split in two. Half is in that scythe, while I don't even know what the other half was thinking at the time—it placed itself on you, you cold, giant lump of metal."
A woman's voice came from somewhere inside the mechanical sphere.
"I can let him join the Genius Society. Its resources will be enough to help you construct a body."
The device at the center of the sphere radiated a blinding red light. If not for its voice, it would have looked like a single eye.
The woman's voice clearly carried a hint of anger:
"Are you trying to make sure he lives too long? Have him join the Society, then let your knife quietly dispose of him?"
"According to my calculations, this offers the greatest possibility of your resurrection. That male Eternal is a variable."
After this, the other voice did not argue either. Clearly, it agreed with the assessment.
But soon, it spoke again:
"Let's wait and see. The memories of my two remnant souls are connected. That child shouldn't die because of me."
"But he caused an Aeon to revive because of it, didn't he?"
"Heh heh, you don't sound like yourself when you put it that way. Your cold programming shouldn't be saying things like that."
The sphere fell silent, and so did the voice. After a long while, the enormous mechanical sphere began moving again and left the area...
"Bai Sheng, Bai Sheng?"
Jing Yuan shook Bai Sheng by the shoulder. The boy had been asleep the entire journey. If he didn't wake up soon, Jing Yuan would probably have to resort to more physical means of rousing him.
Bai Sheng slowly opened his eyes. His head felt groggy, as if someone had clubbed him over the head.
Seeing him wake up, Jing Yuan said nothing more. He knew the boy needed some peace and quiet, so he left the room and went to the cockpit.
You're wondering how it was flying with no one in the cockpit?
Xianzhou Technology, kid!
Suddenly, he thought of Beleria and hurriedly groped around beside him. Fortunately, he caught hold of Pandora, which put him at ease.
"Sister Pandora, how is Beleria?"
Pandora replied:
"She's fine now. One of the Seven Sins, [Gluttony], chose her. That girl is really lucky. Her combat power can now be said to surpass that of most Pathwalkers below the level of an Emanator."
"Beleria, Beleria?"
Bai Sheng called out toward the Scythe Blade, but he couldn't hear Beleria's voice.
"Stop calling. It's useless. That little girl is still asleep. She needs sleep to receive the power of [Gluttony]. It shouldn't take long, but you'll have to behave yourself for a while first."
Bai Sheng was puzzled, but in the next second, he felt most of the Path Energy within his body being drained away. The sudden attack nearly sent him tumbling back onto the bed.
"That harsh?"
If Bai Sheng had previously been able to take on three hundred Stingbugs by himself, he was now so weakened that he could only manage fifty alone.
"So you need to use my Path Energy to help Beleria wake up faster?"
Bai Sheng asked as he looked at the seven gray crystals on Pandora's hilt. One of them, pale green, had already lit up.
"Sister Pandora, what do these seven crystals represent?"
Bai Sheng tapped the pale green one. It didn't seem particularly special, but he could sense his own Path Energy within it.
"They're the physical manifestations of the Seven Sins. You're from Kasantiya, so you can construct puppets possessing the power of the Seven Sins—up to seven of them. But right now, you only have two souls. Aatrox is still slowly recovering his energy and probably won't be coming out anytime soon. You can use [Gluttony]'s power to construct a puppet for now. Of course, once Beleria wakes up, you can control her directly. In that case, she'll essentially be [Gluttony] itself."
(PS: It's specifically like Nagato controlling the Six Paths of Pain, except that the Six Paths possess their own consciousness and are no longer mere puppets.)
After explaining everything to Bai Sheng, Pandora continued:
"Bai Sheng, for the next while, I'm afraid you'll have to spend some time on your own."
"Sister Pandora, what's wrong?"
All these years, Pandora had never said anything like that to him.
"Constructing the Seven Sins consumes quite a bit of energy. You now need to provide Beleria with energy once a week. The time until I awaken should be about the same as hers. Make good use of [Gluttony]'s power. I'm going to sleep for a while..."
Bai Sheng waited for a long time, but he never heard Pandora's voice again.
A trace of sorrow suddenly welled up inside him. Now, he was all alone.
No! That wasn't right!
He still had his master!
Pushing open the door, Bai Sheng saw Jing Yuan dozing in the cockpit. The emotions he had just worked up vanished in an instant, because he saw that Jing Yuan, eyes narrowed, was already slumped over the steering wheel...
"Master! What are you doing!"
Bai Sheng hurried over and shook Jing Yuan awake, then quickly turned the steering wheel back after a sharp turn.
"Oh, you've recovered?"
Opening his hazy golden eyes, Jing Yuan saw Bai Sheng frantically fiddling with the steering wheel.
Bai Sheng turned his head and said:
"How do you control this thing? I'm worried the ship will be destroyed and everyone will die!"
Seeing Bai Sheng's utterly serious expression, Jing Yuan secretly chuckled.
"What are you laughing at?"
Bai Sheng was speechless. How could he still find the time to laugh? What if he fell out in a moment? His Sam Alpha Armor still hadn't been fully repaired, though it could at least fly.
"Hey, I wasn't laughing. Look at this. There's no need to rush. If you're too impatient, you'll never get to drink hot Soda Bean Juice."
Jing Yuan pointed at the large words "Automatic Navigation" on the virtual screen beside him. It would have been fine if he hadn't pointed it out, but the gesture made Bai Sheng, who still had both hands on the wheel, feel utterly embarrassed.
His face immediately flushed bright red, and his whole body froze.
"All right, we'll be there soon. Let's head back. Or would you like to play a game of chess with me?"
As if performing a magic trick, Jing Yuan somehow produced a chess piece engraved with the character "General."
Only then did Bai Sheng's outdated processor catch up. He stiffly withdrew his hands, then nodded.
When he looked up, he saw Jing Yuan snickering.
"Master, you're still laughing at me!"
Jing Yuan waved his hands, putting on an utterly innocent expression.
"I'm not. I never laugh at my disciples. Come on, come on—let's play chess."
Bai Sheng's competitive spirit was roused as well. He had never once beaten Jing Yuan at electronic chess when they played online. This time, he was determined to even the score.
"Oh, right, Bai Sheng. Welcome to the Xianzhou Luofu."
Before you continue