Chapter 840: Not the Origin, but the Future

"Got another Talent Cube, but... memories?"

Ye Qiyan activated the Talent Cube.

What was hidden inside was revealed.

Aside from the talent itself, usable ten times, there was that stone that looked completely ordinary, even stained with a bit of black soil.

"Utopia City is also a Homeward-bound Souls city, which means... this stone is a real memory object condensed from memories by the owner of this talent. Sure enough, Sublimation isn't the only way to elevate oneself. Other talents might also be upgraded through certain means."

He weighed the stone in his hand.

In a sense, within this Cube that WALL-E had judged to be the most precious item, this stone might also hold considerable weight.

Though to him, this stone had no value, but for those Homeward-bound Souls...

"Interesting. Seems like I need to find the right time to visit Utopia City. Utopia... Utopian, huh? Tsk tsk, that name~"

Ye Qiyan let out a soft chuckle. He was about to store both the Talent Cube and the stone into his Storage Unit when something suddenly occurred to him.

He thoughtfully rubbed his chin, and after a long moment, murmured to himself:

"Come to think of it, if a talent called Memory can construct phantoms of past worlds, then... my exclusive authority... could the Beacon of Memories do something similar?"

His mind flooded with images of home from a past world.

At his chest, the tiny Dream Eater seemed to sense something and slowly crawled out.

"What's wrong, little one?"

The Dream Eater waved its tentacles, gently draping them over his ear, rubbing lightly with its slightly moist touch.

The very next instant, the [Talent Cube · Memory] in Ye Qiyan's hand began to shine.

The space around him began to shift.

From the Subspace world filled with Turbulence, it transformed in an instant into a place that was both familiar yet utterly strange.

His home.

More precisely, his former home.

And this place wasn't just something he had seen when he became a Train Conductor. After arriving in the Wasteland, he had also seen it once before.

That was... a long time ago, when he first encountered the Dream Eater tribe.

Weren't the dreams those little creatures constructed exactly the image of home from his memories?

[Uses remaining: 9/10]

[Dream × Memory]

Ye Qiyan sat on that ordinary bed, walked over to the window, and opened it. The breeze outside brushed against his face. Towering skyscrapers stretched out, right before his eyes.

Down below, the streets bustled with traffic.

But...

The people on those streets were all Faceless People without any features.

"After all, it's just a memory... Miatira, if I asked you whether our original world truly exists, would you refuse to answer?"

He posed this question to the system intelligence that belonged solely to him.

The response he received was hardly surprising.

["Please keep moving forward. As long as you continue walking, you will eventually come to know everything you wish to know."]

"Keep moving forward, until I walk back to my own origin?"

["Not the origin, but the future."]

Ye Qiyan liked this answer.

"You're right. Even those who want to go home must keep moving forward, never looking back. Then let me give it a try first."

He grinned and pressed an option on the Light Screen.

[Authority Activated]

[Use exclusive authority: Beacon of Memories?]

[Beacon, constructing...]

[Construction successful?]

[Error]

[Unable to Construct]

In Ye Qiyan's palm, a teardrop of dark gold silently appeared, only to vanish into nothingness in the blink of an eye.

And that sensation of the golden teardrop disappearing... he had felt it before.

That was... the End...

Some kind of End he didn't know about, had never witnessed.

But... his attempt was indeed feasible, wasn't it?

————

City of a Thousand Stars, Nation on Ships, Utopia City...

The moment that teardrop condensed by Ye Qiyan disappeared.

All the Homeward-bound Souls felt an overwhelmingly intense sorrow in their hearts.

But after that sorrow came ecstatic joy, led by Lu Jiayun.

"I felt it! I felt it! That, that was Memory! Memory! It can construct a Beacon! It definitely can!"

Lu Jiayun, who was in the middle of a meeting, shot to his feet and headed to the meeting room of the twelve Homeward-bound Souls.

Today, aside from those who had died, everyone else was here.

Lu Jiayun, Grace, Heinz...

Even Joel, who had left the Nation on Ships and ventured into the Station Worlds, had come as well.

Eight people in total.

Without any prior coordination, they all unanimously cast their Projections across countless worlds to see one another.

"You all felt it too, right! Memory! Memory works! My path is correct! As long as we find the owner of the Memory talent! And with the power of the God of Space, we'll definitely find a way back home!

Everyone! Everyone!! You came here because you know this too! Our long-cherished wish, our dream! It truly has a chance of coming true!"

Lu Jiayun's excitement stood in stark contrast to the calm and complex emotions of the others.

Grace twirled her hair, which had already turned back to silky black, and said nothing.

Heinz, who was always smiling, had now put away his grin, his eyes grave.

"You all?"

"Lu Jiayun."

At that moment, Joel, who was fighting alongside his crew in some 12th-level Station World, glanced at the time and spoke first in this strange atmosphere.

"You should have sensed it too. That wasn't success, it was failure. I've long since lost the desire to return home. If I can go back, that's wonderful, but if I can't, I won't become as frenzied as you.

Alliances with False Gods never end well.

I won't assist you, but... I will wish you success.

As for the others... I know you're starting to act, but I suggest you don't ally yourselves with the False Gods. That would be a betrayal of humanity."

With that, Joel, without a trace of reluctance, closed his Projection and disappeared.

Several others did the same.

These rulers of every city had come to confirm whether the others had felt the same sensation.

Among them, some had long since given up like Joel.

Some had chosen different paths from Lu Jiayun.

But in any case...

[Memory] might really succeed after all?

In the blink of an eye, only three remained in the vast meeting room.

Lu Jiayun, Grace, Heinz.

"Grace..."

"No need to say anything. I'll help you."

A faint smile spread across Grace's young and beautiful face.

"I still have matters to attend to. Once I return to the Wasteland, I'll contact you again."

At this moment, she was also clearing a Station World somewhere.

Then...

Only the last one remained.

"...Heh... Lu Jiayun, if Memory really can accomplish it, I'll make one final attempt. Just this once. Not for myself, because I no longer long to go back. This time, let it be for you, my friend."

Heinz also rose and left.

For some reason.

On what should have been a joyous occasion, Lu Jiayun felt an unprecedented...

loneliness.

"Memory... Memory... Right, as long as I find Memory and prove that I'm the most correct, everyone will come here too... Bartos! Right! Bartos! Bartos will definitely find that person at RUN Company! Bring Memory before me!"

At the same time.

Inside the secret office of the hidden passage on the four hundred and forty-fourth floor.

Bartos led a group of soldiers from the City of a Thousand Stars, guided by several figures, to this place.

"Hey, you still haven't told us the whole way here—who exactly holds that secret Cube? Why all the mystery? Just tell me, and I'll snatch it back from them, won't I?"