"I'm sorry, but forced wake-up has strict usage guidelines and cannot be performed arbitrarily."
Boothill's patience was wearing thin. "Nothing works, nothing works, what do you want? You want us to sleep on the floor at the front desk?"
"Please be patient. We need to contact your companions to confirm your identities..."
"But it seems we need to confirm our identities before we can contact our companions."
Dan Heng felt that the current situation had fallen into a delicate... cycle?
Aili scratched her head awkwardly. "That's true."
"Damn it, stop creating this bureaucratic dead end! Young lady, I'm not targeting you personally, but if you can handle this, then help us. If you can't, then find someone who can, okay?"
Boothill looked around the hotel. Returning to the train the way he came was definitely not an option; there were a bunch of corporate dogs watching in the lobby, so he had to act naturally.
So, it's time to activate the backup plan!
"Alright, we've been standing here for so long, we're a bit tired... Let's go sit in the VIP room for a while, and we'll get back to you when we have news!"
After a hasty conversation with the front desk staff, Boothill and Dan Heng entered the VIP room without any trouble and even found two bar counters.
"Wow! No wonder it's the Planet of Festivities; even the bars in real life are this impressive."
"There's no need to waste time with them. I've left a backup plan for that Memokeeper; if we really can't enter the dream world, she'll leave me two bottles of wine in the VIP room of the hotel in reality."
Boothill explained to Dan Heng that this was the so-called secret code.
Looking at the empty VIP lounge, Dan Heng and Boothill fell into deep thought.
No bartender? That's strange.
Boothill didn't think much of it; it seemed Penacony's dream was quite something, even the bartender skipped work.
"The Memokeeper should have left two bottles of [ Asdana White Oak ], did you see them?"
"No."
"That's strange... Could it be that the Memokeeper can't afford it?"
That's true. One bottle of this wine costs hundreds of thousands of Credits, so two bottles would be close to a million. It's a bit of an overestimation of that Memokeeper's assets.
What do we do now?
"No rush, let's have a few drinks first. Maybe I came too fast, she hasn't caught up yet."
After speaking, Boothill made himself a glass of [ SoulGlad 40-Year ] malt juice.
"Hoo-ha!" Boothill took a big gulp of malt juice and commented, "This rich, gunpowder-roasted meat with hydrogen peroxide flavor is... amazing! It truly deserves to be called the best sherry-barrel-aged malt juice in the entire galaxy."
"[Gunpowder-roasted meat dipped in hydrogen peroxide]... is that really a taste that humans would like?" Dan Heng simply couldn't imagine it.
"Let's not talk about that anymore. Let's wait until that Memokeeper has half a system. If she still hasn't appeared, then we'll think of other ways. This time is enough for us to properly analyze the current situation. In your opinion, where is the problem?"
"The situation is indeed unclear. Something must have happened at the Planet of Festivities, but the public is completely unaware of it. Presumably, a high-ranking member of the Family is covering it up."
"It's unusual for [ Harmony ] to extend invitations to other factions, especially with the involvement of corporations and fools. If the [ Nihility ] Emanator you mentioned is indeed real, Penacony's current situation... is a bit too complicated."
At that time, there were only three factions gathered together in Jarilo-VI, but now Penacony's power is approaching double digits, and this time even a [ Nihility ] Emanator has intervened.
"Actually, there's something else about [ Acheron ] that bothers me. As you know, the faction that believes in [ The Hunt ] is the most formidable group in the galaxy."
"No sane person would dare impersonate the Xianzhou Alliance or the Galaxy Ranger; that's suicidal..."
Although the Galaxy Ranger weren't particularly strong, their sheer numbers made up for it. Otherwise, how would the Lord Ravager [ Zulo ] have died? He was simply worn down.
With Swarm in front and Galaxy Ranger behind, and even more unexpectedly, two [ Eternity ] Emanator hidden among the patrollers—why would the [ Church of Eternity ] resort to such underhanded tactics?
"Don't the Xianzhou native have a saying? ' The Reignbow Arbiter merely uses a beam of light to signal his arrival from his wheelchair—'"
Dan Heng corrected, "The imperial decree should be proclaimed."
"It doesn't matter, you get what I mean. Anyway, don't be fooled by the fact that the Galaxy Ranger have been gone for so many years; we've been keeping an eye on this universe... Many fools would rather offend the Annihilation Gang than dare to offend the Rangers."
"But that Acheron... at least judging from what she's done, she doesn't seem like a madwoman. On the contrary, she's very logical and methodical; she knows when to hold back and when to be ruthless."
"Do you believe that this person is using the title of 'Galaxy Ranger' for ulterior motives?"
Boothill took another sip of malt juice. "I'm not so sure, but it seems strange. Maybe she really does know the Galaxy Ranger, or maybe she's trying to lure us out for some reason... I don't know."
Dan Heng's focus wasn't on this [ Nihility ] Emanator. With a Aeon avatar on the train who loved milk tea, what else was unimaginable?
"I'm more concerned about the unusual behavior within the Family. Because of this grand event, more than a dozen travelers on their Path have been summoned to Penacony. No matter how tolerant the Family is, they wouldn't do something so abnormal."
Dan Heng deduced the problem. "Unless the invitation wasn't sent by them, then the Family's insistence on holding the Charmony Festival under these circumstances... is even more intriguing."
"Maybe all of this was instructed by [ Harmony ] Xipe. You think it's unreasonable, but that's because no human could do it."
"People can do foolish things due to Reason impulses, abandon their principles when their own interests are at stake, and believe things they know they shouldn't believe. Good heavens, people can even break the rules they just set for themselves!"
"But the Aeon won't. The Aeon will only go down one path to the bitter end, never turning back until he hits a wall—and even then, he won't turn back!"
"Brother Dan Heng, have you ever seen them not doing their job properly? Obviously not."
Boothill was certain that the possibility of a high-dimensional being like Aeon appearing was extremely slim. Of course, he couldn't completely deny it; perhaps a few Aeon were secretly plotting something behind their colleagues' backs.
"Do you believe that Xipe's will was driving this incident?"
"It might not be Him, but there's definitely some metaphysical consciousness at work. Don't call me pessimistic, but if human free will is believable, then what's the point of having Galaxy Ranger?"
"If you attribute everything to the Aeon and Path, things become less complicated."
Boothill gave an example. "Just as the storm is forever on the [ The Hunt ] road, just as Akivili, though nowhere to be found, still keeps the train running on the Trailblaze road, never derailing."
No sooner had the words left their mouths than a voice suddenly entered their ears:
"May I ask: Mr. Boothill, could I categorize what you just said as... [ Eternity ]?"