Just moments ago, along with his memories of Amphoreus,
came many memories of his Trailblazing adventures aboard the Astral Express.
Those memories were vivid beyond belief.
He remembered every last detail with perfect clarity.
And that was precisely why he had finally remembered something.
"Why did I come to the Douluo World?"
The last thing he remembered had happened aboard the train.
He had been sitting by the window in the observation car, holding that copy of As I Wrote and staring blankly at the enormous Pink Nebula outside.
Although Amphoreus had welcomed a brand-new future, the Flame-Chasers had not been reborn in reality as he had hoped.
Cyrene had followed her own river of cause and effect into the past.
But what could he do?
Wait? Wait for Amphoreus to become a truly real world, then let them descend into it in the flesh?
Forget how many Amber Eras that might take. He couldn't wait that long.
Even if he could, Cyrene would never come back.
That was a pain that would remain in his heart forever.
He was not willing to accept it. Not one bit.
He couldn't accept her being left behind in the past like that, or their story ending that way.
They deserved a more perfect ending...
"Do you want to change all of this?"
Suddenly, a voice rang out in his mind.
Ye Qiong jerked his head up, instantly wary. "Who are you?"
"I can give you a chance."
Ye Qiong frowned.
"What do you mean?"
"You can go to a whole new world. It exists on a nascent branch of the Imaginary Tree. There, you can start over and, in the end, bring them all back."
Ye Qiong fell silent for a moment. Then his gaze sharpened.
"What's the price?"
At that, the voice gave a soft laugh.
"The price? We'll talk about that once you succeed. When the time comes, I'll come collect it myself."
This time, Ye Qiong furrowed his brow and pondered for quite a while. When he finally came to himself, he spoke slowly.
"How do I get to that world?"
"I'll give you a system. It'll guide you at crucial moments and assist you in completing your reincarnation.
"But remember, the system is just a tool. Don't expect it to walk the road for you."
Ye Qiong pressed on.
"What about Cyrene? Can she come back too?"
"She can. As long as you find a way, you can free her from that thread of cause and effect."
Ye Qiong nodded. "All right. I accept."
The instant he agreed, a beam of light slipped into the space between his brows.
"That is your system. It may take some time to activate after you arrive in that world. When it does, you'll be able to make your wish come true."
With those words, the voice finally disappeared.
Once he was certain its owner was gone, Ye Qiong wrote a letter to everyone in the Astral Express Crew.
He left the letter on the table, then resolutely stepped into the light.
After that, when he opened his eyes, he was a child brought home by the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.
And that was where his memories stopped.
Ye Qiong lifted his head and gazed at the sky.
"System."
There was no response.
He called again. "System."
This time, a cold notification rang out in his mind.
[Host, I'm here.]
Ye Qiong tugged at the corner of his mouth, then stood and brushed off his clothes.
"I have a question. Cyrene... where is she now?"
After he spoke, the system was silent for a full two seconds.
Then the cold electronic voice was replaced by a clear one.
It was exactly the same voice as the mysterious person who had struck a deal with him back then.
"The fact that you're asking this means you've touched the core and recovered all your memories. I left a message here in advance, and I can answer every question you're going to ask."
Ye Qiong's heart jolted.
So this was just a recording he had stored in the system ahead of time.
But who was this person?
How could they predict every crucial moment so precisely?
Were they an old acquaintance from the train, or a higher-dimensional being?
Or even...
But the voice clearly wasn't giving him much time to think. It continued playing.
[Cyrene is currently in this secret realm. At this very moment, she's trapped in a loop along the Iron Curtain's thread of cause and effect. You can take her away right now, but you need to consider the consequences.]
The consequences?
Ye Qiong hesitated.
The only consequence would be the Iron Curtain's return, bringing a tragic end to this world.
But...
Her smile surfaced in Ye Qiong's mind once more.
Forgive me, Cyrene. I'm just that selfish.
"What do I have to do to free her from this thread of cause and effect?"
Ye Qiong's gaze grew firm.
The mysterious person fell silent for a moment, then continued.
[There is only one way: use supreme power to personally sever her from the thread of cause and effect.]
Ye Qiong asked, "How, exactly?"
[Once you reach the Imaginary Tree, I can grant you the ability to rewrite cause and effect for a short time. Then, on the level of cause and effect, you can cut her free from the Iron Tomb's entanglement.]
Ye Qiong fell silent for a moment, as though recalling something.
After a long while, he finally asked, "The Imaginary Tree? Can the world of the Douluo Continent really reach something like that?"
[This world was born on a nascent branch of the Imaginary Tree because of you. And as its cause, as long as you become powerful enough, you can find a path to the tree.]
Ye Qiong was stunned.
This world had actually been born because of him, a transmigrator?
"Then how do I bring her away?"
[She has become a seed of Remembrance, hidden within this secret realm. If you find her, she will become your Second Martial Soul: Mimi.]
"A Martial Soul... Make her become Mimi again?"
Ye Qiong was startled.
If that was really the case—
Ye Qiong drew a deep breath.
"Then what's the price?"
Though he knew what the price was, he still wanted to hear it clearly.
The mysterious person paused, then spoke in a deeper voice.
[As I wrote before, if you do this, the Iron Tomb will emerge from As I Wrote and track you and Cyrene to the world where you are. But it cannot enter the Douluo Continent for now. It will be kept outside this world, in the Tidal Rift.]
Ye Qiong frowned. "The Tidal Rift?"
Hearing that term reminded Ye Qiong of the Tidal Belt mentioned by the two Dragon Kings.
Could they be one and the same?
Could the sealed rift really lead to the Honkai Star Rail world?
As he wondered, the mysterious person quickly gave him the answer.
[It is the interstitial region between the Douluo World and the Honkai Star Rail world. There is no Path of Destruction there, so the Iron Tomb's program cannot function normally. But it will still keep searching by instinct for a way to invade this world.]
Ye Qiong sucked in a breath of cold air, forcing himself to stay calm.
"So how will the Iron Curtain invade?"
[It will try to corrupt this world's key nodes, transforming parts of it into Black Tide Constructs to serve as its vanguard on the Douluo Continent.]
Ye Qiong's brow furrowed even deeper.
"Black Tide Constructs?!"
Fuck, he'd run all the way to the Douluo Continent, and the Black Tide was still chasing him?
[Yes. This world has its own "protagonist" and "fate line." The Iron Tomb will try to alter them. At the same time, the Black Tide will seep into this continent and corrupt every living being.]
At those words, countless faces immediately flashed through Ye Qiong's mind.
If the Iron Tomb succeeded, the world on this nascent branch would likely be swallowed whole by the Black Tide and plunged into ruin.
Ye Qiong gritted his teeth.
"Now that I've made my choice, I have to get ahead of it and stop every tragic future from coming to pass."
[Exactly. You must gather enough power before the Iron Tomb does, including assembling all the Chrysos Heirs and helping them grow alongside you. In the end, you must climb the Imaginary Tree and rewrite everything.]
Ye Qiong clenched his fists. "I understand."
He lifted his head and gazed into the distance, toward the fields of wheat gilded by the sunlight.
"Cyrene, I'm coming..."
"This time, no one is taking her away from me again."