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Chapter 223: Wavelengths
🕑 Added 2025-03-08 14:59:27 +0000 UTCThings became better after the eighth eruption. Humanity no longer faces disasters that cause tens of millions of casualties. Although the damage was there, recovery was already underway.
It was at this moment of peace did humanity develop at a fast pace. Honkai beasts being manageable enough made it possible for more MANTISes to be more proficient in fighting. All sorts of scientific research were made possible.
Part of it was due to the lessened threats, but it was mostly due to the internal purge that occurred last year.
Traitors within Fire MOTH’s highest levels were found to be colliding with Herrschers. They were immediately seized by the team led by Hagen, followed by their execution.
Since then, the restrictions and obstacles indirectly posed by these people who wanted to maximize personal gains were removed.
It was such an effective move that left most feeling regretful—that they should have done this way back then.
One of the biggest beneficiaries here was Mobius. Gone were the days of her cuts in funding.
The fifth institute had been rebuilt a few weeks after its destruction. Since then, Mobius did not leave.
‘How strange…’
Looking at the ‘strange’ sight projected by her glasses, she could not help but marvel.
It was a normal microscopic view of blood at first. However, it changes when someone ‘looks’ at it directly.
Looking at the blood places ‘foreign thoughts’ on its onlooker’s mind. It was abstract and scattered. The more she magnifies it, the more these ‘thoughts’ become clear.
It did not take long for Mobius’ eyes to bleed. She did not seem to mind it and carried on examining it.
‘It is similar to how wave-particle duality works. The amount of energy burned… it needs a body that could sustain itself.’
Mobius recalled her initial findings of Aleph’s samples. It came from him when he finished the process of becoming a ‘Spirit’, and in turn, an ‘Aeon’. The opportunity to explore an Aeon’s true body was something only a few received in the vast universe.
Within a year, her findings were endless. It was the result of Mobius’ tireless work.
‘...he should be well off.’
There were several rules she discovered while studying Aleph’s samples:
One, the activeness of ‘foreign thoughts’ indicates his well-being.
Two, the ‘foreign thoughts’ directly point out to the ‘concept’ he rules over.
Three, the said ‘concept’ was strange enough she could not find its limits.
The more she thought of it, the more active the changes on her body became.
Mobius felt her body changing at every second. It moved towards the ‘perfect life’ she envisioned—to be able to sustain the millions of changes in a fraction of second.
Such was the path to becoming a ‘god’ that Aleph pointed out for her.
Just when her immersion reached its peak…
Drip.
“..!”
It was the sound of a water drop.
Mobius’ serpent-like eyes narrowed as she confirmed it occurred on the ‘metaphysical’ scale—that is, conceptual phenomena.
She closed her eyes. A moment later, she found herself in a dark place. Only the translucent light beneath her feet and the distant light illuminated her ‘path’.
It was a place that denoted her status as a ‘Pathstrider’.
‘Have you anticipated this day..?’
A burning sensation appeared on her chest, causing her right hand to move towards it. A hint of blush appeared on her cheeks.
Mobius’ appearance had already returned to normal after half a year of recuperation. It was one of the changes made when she used the Evolution Cube. Needless to say, it was a tempting sight.
The thought of Aleph’s return was enough to send her spiraling down into chaotic thoughts.
Sensing the growing fluctuations of the distant light, she affirmed this thought even more.
Mobius heaved a sigh before calming down.
‘Tsk, tsk. I was not like this before…’
*****
There were a total of three Pathstrider slots given to Aleph. One of them was given to Mobius. The second one was given to Mei; the third one to Hua.
These three, along with Kurumi who was directly connected to Aleph’s [Spirit King] authority, were the first ones who felt it.
Kurumi stared blankly at the starry sky while her phone continuously rang.
Complex emotions emerged from her heart.
‘All along, I was the one who could not wait the most.’
She laughed at this irony.
Everyone was worried about Aleph’s disappearance. Only they themselves knew how much they went through to deal with it.
Combatants like Kevin, Hua, and Sakura increased the frequency when they went out for land reclamation missions.
Researchers like Vill-V and Mobius worked tirelessly to find traces of him through all sorts of ways.
As the person with the closest connection to him, Kurumi decided to mess with the Imaginary Tree.
All twelve of her abilities were unlocked the moment Aleph became an Aeon. It was just that they ‘adapted’ to this world.
Her twelfth bullet, which should have been capable of rewriting history itself, could only allow her to travel to a ‘parallel world past’ that does not have anything to do with their present.
Nevertheless, it was enough to gain all sorts of scattered clues that helped everyone else to advance, be it in the search for Aleph or gaining new abilities.
‘Universe.’
‘Outside.’
‘Barrier. Do not—’
A series of foreign thoughts appeared in her mind.
‘Wait for me.’
Kurumi knew it was the last few words Aleph could speak.
“We made the right choice not to mess with it…”
From his words, they knew of the ‘Imaginary Barrier’ encapsulating the entire solar system. It was a barrier that isolated them from the rest of the universe. It was for such a reason that only the Cocoon of Finality operated on Earth.
If it wasn’t for that, there would’ve been more influence of Aeons. It is unknown whether it will be a good thing or not.
Beep-!
Click.
Kurumi finally answered the call. Mei’s voice came from the other side.
“Have you heard it too?”
“Yes. Let’s do as he said.”
“...Alright.”
******
In a dark warehouse, a five-meter “amber crystal” remained cluttered with other things. These things were foreign to the people of Earth. Some of them looked like wooden ships, while there were other things such as human-sized ball-jointed puppets.
The amber crystal was surrounded with other types of crystals, mainly jade.
Unbeknownst to anyone…
Crack-!
…the amber crystal let out a dim glow.
*****
A/N: HSR arc begins next. It’ll be starting before Trailblazer’s thing, but it’s close enough for the Sparkle x Vita storyline (maybe around thirty or so years?). Then again, I’ll start to mess with the time dilution between different worlds. That means we’ll be getting Current Era action after the entire HSR debacle.
