Meaning

"July 1... Is there anything special about it?" Xio asked, somewhat puzzled. She hadn't thought that this referred to the present, only assuming it was something that had happened in a certain year in history.

Abner shook his head without explaining. He didn't know how to explain it either, so he turned around and said to Mr. Gaston, who was still guarding the passage behind them, "I know the source of the infighting here. Come with me!"

"You know again? So quickly? I haven't got a clue! Compared to you, I always feel like I'm an idiot!" While Mr. Gaston wailed over his intelligence inwardly, his expression shifted repeatedly before turning numb. He nodded, having gradually grown accustomed to the other's style of "suddenly knowing everything."

Finally, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath before asking in feigned calm, "Where do we need to go?"

"To the cabins on the lowest level. The person we're looking for is there." Abner answered with certainty. Through the clues from earlier, he had already confirmed that this scene was the "sea-based battle royale" incident in the original story, the one instigated by Tris!

Seeing Abner and Mr. Gaston heading toward the stairwell one after the other, Xio hesitated for a moment before turning back to remind the woman who had lost her beloved, "Hide somewhere on your own first. We'll restore order to the ship soon." After saying that, she jogged a few steps to catch up with Abner.

The woman gratefully glanced at Xio's back, then suddenly asked, "My name is Chellie! Miss, may I know your name?"

Xio didn't turn around this time. She merely replied concisely, "Xio!"

"Xio..." The woman silently committed the name to memory before picking up the dagger from the floor again and turning to hide inside a nearby cabin. No matter how much she hated the murderers, she knew she lacked the ability to deal with them. She could only preserve herself for now, rather than waste the life her benefactor and lover had given her.

Walking to the left front, Mr. Gaston smiled at Xio and said, "What you did was meaningless. Once this scene ends, she won't exist anymore."

Xio shook her head stubbornly. "She lived on bravely because of my words. Even if it's only for a few minutes or a few hours, that's meaningful to me!"

"Suit yourself! What a little girl." Gaston shook his head and smiled. He had no ill intentions; he merely felt that such naivety had no place in the world of Beyonders.

Xio pursed her lips and looked toward Abner ahead. After struggling for a moment, she still asked, "Abner, what do you think?"

Abner thought for a while before answering seriously, "Everyone has their own convictions. If you think something should be done, then do it! Don't worry about what others think." Such conviction was the radiance of humanity.

Hearing this, the corners of Xio's lips finally curled up slightly. She was clearly happy to have been understood.

Most of the thugs on this ship were attacking the cabins on the lowest level. Thus, the farther down the three went, the more enemies they encountered.

Fortunately, Mr. Gaston seemed to have anticipated a situation like this and had prepared plenty of explosives capable of area damage. Combined with Abner and Xio's master-level combat skills—and the fact that their opponents were only ordinary people—they fought their way to the cabins on the lowest level without any real danger.

These cabins had originally been used to store the ship's food and fresh water. Relying on these supplies, the people holding the cabins had managed to hold out until now.

When they saw Abner and the other two force their way in from outside, the few men who had been guarding the entrance to the bottom-level cabins were both delighted and alarmed. They were delighted that reinforcements had finally arrived, but alarmed because the three's combat strength had far exceeded their expectations. If they had come with ill intentions, the men would certainly have been unable to deal with them.

"Stop... Who... who are you?" As the three drew closer, a blond young man in a black formal suit raised the short sword in his hand and asked from the cabin entrance.

Abner stopped but didn't answer his question. Instead, he asked directly, "Who is in charge here?"

The people across from him exchanged glances but remained silent.

Xio frowned. She released the Majesty of an Arbiter and repeated Abner's question in a low voice: "Who is in charge here?"

This time, the men didn't hesitate. Trembling, they pointed toward a middle-aged man dressed like a captain and a boy with a round, kindly face standing behind him.

"We all listen to the captain and Tris!"

"Tris?" Abner looked toward the shy boy in the corner, who looked almost like a little girl.

"That's me, sir. Is there something you need?" Tris seemed somewhat frightened and looked extremely uneasy, but his eyes darted around. Clearly, the sudden turn of events had made him want to retreat.

"You incited the crew and passengers to turn against each other and slaughter one another! Am I right, Mr. Tris, the Instigator of the Gnosis Society?" Abner bluntly pointed out the source of the infighting. Before anyone could react, he drew his revolver and fired six shots at Tris in rapid succession.

Since the scene was about to end, Abner feared he wouldn't have a second chance to act. Thus, before firing, he had already activated his Pure White Eye. With the assistance of the Weapon Master ability of the Keeper of Knowledge that he experienced in advance in this state, the six bullets almost completely sealed off every direction in which Tris could dodge.

Although this attack was meaningless and couldn't affect the Tris in reality at all, as Abner had said before, there were some convictions that one simply acted on if one wanted to. After witnessing the misfortune of everyone aboard this ship, he couldn't feel at ease without killing the culprit here.

But before becoming an Instigator, Tris had been an Assassin, a sequence exceptionally skilled at dodging and concealment. Before the shots were fired, he had already thought of a countermeasure. He retreated, intending to merge with the shadows inside the cabin.

Just then, the revolver in Xio's hand roared as well. The spot it struck was precisely the shadow behind Tris!

As soon as Abner had identified Tris as the Gnosis Society's Instigator, Xio had already guessed what her friend would do next, because it was what she wanted to do as well: avenge the innocent victims aboard the ship within the limits of her ability!

Even if this was only a fictional scene, the injustice in her heart demanded action.

Xio had previously encountered another Instigator and had long known the abilities of this sequence. Thus, Tris's final path of escape in this scene was sealed. A bullet instantly pierced his head, scattering fragments everywhere...

At the same time, the surrounding scene shattered. Everything vanished, leaving only the three figures wrapped in the Mist of the Nightmare as they entered the Reward Room.

In the Real World, at a corner between the deck and the cabins of the Clover, Chellie was crying in despair as two thugs who had already torn most of her clothes off confronted her.

But just then, the thugs' movements suddenly halted, and their expressions seemed somewhat dazed. At that moment, Chellie didn't know where her courage had come from. She grabbed the dagger that had fallen to the ground and swiftly slashed it across both their throats!

The two corpses fell one after another. Covered in blood, she stood dazed for a long while before staggering to the side of her lover, who had been nailed to the wall. She cried as she caressed his cheek, then murmured to herself, "Darling, I thought I wouldn't be able to live without you... But in that instant just now, courage and strength suddenly appeared in my heart... Perhaps this is your blessing to me from the kingdom of the Gods!"

At this, she wiped away her tears and said firmly,

"I'll live on! No matter what, I'll live on! I'll carry on with your share as well!"

On the lowest level of the cabins, Tris suddenly awoke in the corner where he had been hiding. He first looked around warily, then wiped away his cold sweat and thought in confusion, "I seem to have had a Nightmare, but I can't remember what it was about. I only know that I was killed... In mysticism, could this be a warning from my Spirituality?"

As he thought this, Tris was suddenly startled. Fearing that something unexpected might happen, he told himself, "The infighting is almost over anyway. I should end it early, to avoid any real complications... Although the number of deaths is still below expectations..."

At that moment, the captain beside him noticed his unnatural expression and asked with concern, "Mr. Tris, what's wrong?"

Hearing this, Tris immediately put on a shy smile...

What Abner and Xio had done was not meaningless at all!