"Aha wants to become the new Aeon of [Erudition]. Don't you think that's interesting?"
"It's precisely because nothing you do surprises me that I think it's boring."
Bickering with Aha had become part of Ye Yan's daily routine. Slacking off felt wonderful.
"Why not learn from me? You know how boring being an Aeon is. For the likes of us, every day is just wandering aimlessly around the universe."
"Hmm, I think you have a point, but Aha's resolve to become the Aeon of [Erudition] will never waver!"
The mask spoke with righteous conviction and impassioned fervor.
"Ah~ This reminds me of our old friend, Akivili."
Back in the day... the three Aeons, Ye Yan, Aha, and Akivili, had had an absolute blast together.
Ye Yan and Aha had disguised themselves as Nameless and spent a year undercover aboard Akivili's train, finally succeeding in blowing up a carriage.
Aha and Akivili, the two Aeons whose names began with A, had infiltrated Ye Yan's [Church of Eternity] and successfully incited a civil war within less than six months.
As for how Ye Yan and Akivili had pranked Aha...
Ye Yan had tied Aha up, then Akivili had driven the Astral Express straight into him.
Unfortunately, all three of them had been playing beneath the crystalline wall Qlipoth had built.
As a result, the train had punched a hole through the wall, and Qlipoth had given each of the three Aeons a blow from his hammer.
"I need to go look after those kids of Akivili's." Ye Yan straightened his clothes and picked up his suitcase.
"Oh~" The mask couldn't help humming softly. "How I miss those days when we disguised ourselves as Nameless and blew up the train."
"What a shame. Without Akivili, even blowing up the train isn't fun anymore~"
"Boohoo~ Akivili... you died such a horrible death~"
The mask conjured a packet of tissues from somewhere and began sobbing in an extraordinarily bizarre fashion.
"[Elation] shouldn't cry."
"Aha is actually laughing. Didn't see that coming, did you? Haha!"
Ye Yan shook his head, took a bottle of Immortal's Joy Tea from the freezer, set it upside down on the table, and stuck a straw into it.
"With this, a toast to our departed Aeon friend, Akivili of the [Trailblaze]!"
"To Akivili!"
The laughing mask flew onto the table. The instant it touched the milk tea, both the mask and the tea vanished before Ye Yan's eyes.
"So you came to scam me out of milk tea!"
The corner of Ye Yan's mouth twitched. Aha had a new milk-tea scam every day. He was rather looking forward to whatever new tricks this god of amusement could pull.
Tricks... hmm...
Sparkle.
That Masked Fool was an ultimate amusement-seeker. With a little more effort, she could catch up to him.
Ye Yan felt he was quite full of Elation himself. Otherwise, he wouldn't have gotten along so well with Aha.
Across the entire universe, who besides Akivili and himself was on good terms with [Elation]?
Aha really had no standing!
Still, when it came to the Aeons he had the worst relationships with, those would be Nanook of [Destruction] and Tayzzyronth of [Propagation].
Just thinking about Nanook made Ye Yan angry.
He had finally found a planet where civilization had just emerged and talked himself hoarse getting its new life to comprehend [Eternity], only for Nanook to bring the Antimatter Legion over the next day and blow it up.
"Nanook, oh, Nanook..." Ye Yan murmured to himself. Once he reached Herta Space Station, the moment Nanook cast a glance at the Stellaron spirit would be his chance for revenge.
My friend-Nanook, I'll find you sooner or later.
When that time comes:
My revenge will be more extreme than [The Hunt].
My methods will be more than [Destruction]...
He was getting off track. Inflicting [Destruction] on [Destruction] would instead be exactly what Nanook wanted to see.
After that planet had been blown up, Aha had rushed over at once to mock Ye Yan. The bastard had even blown up another planet right in front of him.
He'd said it was to let him experience it a second time and deepen the memory.
"Feeble civilizations need only be destroyed." Aha had imitated Nanook's tone, repeating those words endlessly in Ye Yan's ear.
Did this count as a kind of [Retribution]?
He had blown up Akivili's train, and now Nanook had come to blow up a planet he had looked after.
No, wait. What business was it of [Destruction]'s if he, Ye Yan, blew up the [Trailblaze]'s train?
Were those two related or something?
All things considered, Ye Yan still decided to teach Nanook a little lesson. He would broaden the Stellaron spirit's horizons while he was at it and let her see what a real Aeon was.
A mere Nanook. Laughable.
A mere Aha. Even more laughable.
A mere Akivili. Truly...
Passing judgment on a deceased colleague was sacrilege. Ye Yan feared dreaming of getting hit by a truck.
As for the [Propagation] mentioned earlier...
That one was a genuine bug, utterly devoid of intelligence.
The fellow was timid and dull-witted. Despite being an Aeon, he knew nothing. His mind was empty of everything except reproduction, and even his offspring were the same.
He'd heard that a certain young lady in the Genius Society was very interested in him. Ye Yan, for his part, felt nothing.
The Swarm Disaster...
At the time, Ye Yan had only wanted to join the fun and watch the show. It had nothing to do with practicing [Eternity].
Instead, it was [Propagation] and his offspring's ceaseless breeding on planets that had caught Ye Yan's interest.
His great battle with Oroboros of [Voracity] had affected two-thirds of the universe's inhabited regions, destroying countless galaxies, including planets where Ye Yan had just finished spreading the concept of [Eternity].
Wreaking destruction on planets that had only just comprehended Eternity might have been very amusing to Aha. But to Ye Yan, it was a grave affront to Eternity.
No, what [Voracity] had caused was more than mere destruction. The History Fictionologists had described it thus: when they opened their enormous maw to devour the tide of insects, those vast galaxies were swallowed into their belly like specks of dust.
Fictional history was something to read, not something to believe in its entirety.
The ones Ye Yan hated most were the History Fictionologists and the Riddlers.
Later, Ena of [Order] had intervened, seeking out Qlipoth of [Preservation], another of the oldest Aeons.
As expected, Aha had come to join the fun as well, dragging Akivili and Ye Yan along.
"Everything I do is to help Ena!" Aha had laughed and clapped. "You know Aha has always loved helping others. Helping other gods is my pleasure!"
"Same here!"
Ye Yan had cupped his hands in agreement with Aha's words.
"Come on, Akivili, join us!" Aha had let out a hair-raising laugh.
"Honored Aeon of Trailblaze, you wouldn't want Tayzzyronth breeding all over your Astral Express, would you?" Ye Yan had said with a wicked grin.
"Aha! I've thought of a great idea. Once [Preservation] smashes Tayzzyronth with a hammer, we'll rush over and grab his fragments, then see if we can piece him back together."
While Qlipoth and Tayzzyronth faced off, Aha had been whispering with the other two Aeons.
Akivili's eyes had rolled in thought, and they had immediately summoned a miniature train. "Great idea. I'll handle loading the Aeon fragments."
"That's my Akivili! I'll come with you. So who's going to distract them?"
Both Aeons had turned toward Ye Yan, who was watching the drama.
"Me?" Ye Yan had pointed at himself.
He was supposed to fight [Preservation]? Seriously?
Akivili and Aha had nodded furiously.
"I only just picked up a child on a planet occupied by the Swarm yesterday. You really aren't worried about me getting smashed to pieces too!" Ye Yan had protested helplessly.
"It's all right, my friend. [Eternity] cannot die." Aha had leaned close to Ye Yan's ear and blatantly tried to dupe him.
"If you die, we'll collect your corpse."
Akivili had already started up their souped-up ride.
"Wait a second..."
Ye Yan had wanted to say more, but Aha had already sounded the charge!
Boom!
As Qlipoth's hammer fell, Tayzzyronth's physical body was shattered, his concept stripped away, and his Path diluted.
Qlipoth had hammered Tayzzyronth to death, and Aha's plan had begun.
"Our goal... is the sea of stars!" Aha's laughter had echoed throughout the universe.
"May this journey lead us starward!" Akivili had added.
"Don't say such rousing things at a time like this!" Ye Yan had no strength left to protest.
He had turned into a cloud of black mist and charged straight at Qlipoth. Akivili had started the Astral Express and driven with Aha toward the place where [Propagation] had fallen...
"Those days are still vivid in my mind."
Ye Yan took out an amber crystal and shook the black-and-red solid inside. It was a... figurine shaped very much like a locust?
Was [Propagation] dead?
As good as dead.
Why did [Propagation] have to die?
Because of the expansion of his concept, Tayzzyronth's offspring had consumed too much food, bringing disaster upon the entire universe.
He had wrecked the universe's [Order], threatened the world's [Equilibrium], and blocked the path of the [Trailblaze]...
Counting up Tayzzyronth's crimes, who else should die if not him?
Ye Yan had specifically gone to Qlipoth to ask for this amber crystal. He loved collecting these things.
"It's getting late. Time to slack off somewhere else."
He pushed open the shop door and looked down, meeting Qingque's eyes just as she was about to knock.
"Good evening, Mr. Ye Yan." Qingque hadn't expected such a coincidence and smiled awkwardly.
"Off work?"
Qingque nodded. "I was just heading off to play Imperial Jade and thought I'd come buy a milk tea."
"Speaking of which... here, the shop is yours."
A key appeared in Qingque's hand.
"Huh?" Before Qingque could react, Ye Yan vanished from her sight.
"Wow... you really come and go like the wind, Mr. Ye Yan."
If Qingque could learn that move, escaping that venerable Master Diviner's clutches would be a piece of cake.
It's decided! I'll take good care of Ye Yan's shop for him, then ask him to teach me that move when he gets back.
But before that...
Tiles first~