Boothill watched Dan Heng in silence for a while before speaking again. "Anyway, Brother Dan Heng, don't overthink it.
"If you ask me, there's definitely some metaphysical will at work. Don't call me pessimistic, buddy. If human free will could be trusted, what would anyone need the Galaxy Rangers for?
"Put everything down to Aeons and Paths, and things become a lot less complicated. Just like Lan always walks the path of the Hunt, and just like the Express keeps traveling the path of the Trailblaze without ever derailing, even though Akivili is nowhere to be found."
"But I think Akivili's fall was also a precious legacy they left to the Nameless," Dan Heng said after some thought.
Boothill's way of thinking offered mortals a simple explanation for why things happened, but Dan Heng felt that even mortals shouldn't look at problems from that angle alone.
Much like Dr. Ratio, who had lately been deep in conversation with Little Fish and never tired of hoping that ordinary people might achieve enlightenment, no matter what.
"Oh, I'm guessing that's because, once they lost a leader who was always right, the Nameless had to take responsibility for their own choices?" Boothill clearly thought more deeply than his words suggested. Perhaps he simply preferred to leave the answers to his choices to simpler questions.
Dan Heng nodded. "Yes. I believe the meaning of a journey isn't to follow an absolutely correct road... but to do our best to choose a road that suits us from countless possibilities, relying on our own limited knowledge and judgment."
Boothill raised an eyebrow. "Don't know what you've been through, but I agree that people have to take responsibility for themselves. Nobody else can do it for them.
"And that's exactly why the Galaxy Rangers have to find