The wind grew thin and sharp at this high altitude.
Shu floated directly above Sapphire City, looking down at the city that had just completed a silent "surgery."
His figure was fixed in this space, as if he himself were an anchor point stabilizing the world.
He had watched the whole process.
From the moment Himeko and the others were swept into that abnormal fluctuation, to when he "touched" that fragile "branch" attached to the real world through means beyond conventional perception, there was a delay of less than ten seconds.
But in the end, Shu chose to remain a silent spectator.
"Fragile."
This was his most direct evaluation of the world branch constructed by Yun Mengxi, the "Herrscher of the Past," with all her might.
In the vision and perception he now accessed through the Authority of the Past, the "structure" of the world presented a more fundamental picture.
The so-called "Imaginary Tree," under the perspective of the Authority of the Past, was not a metaphor, but a grand form of existence that could be observed and even understood.
The trunk was the solid, heavy "main trunk reality" carrying established causality and infinite possibilities.
The branches were the "possibilities" blooming from every choice node, every strong will, every tiny miracle.
And to create a completely new branch, even one with only a hair's breadth of difference from the current world, required an unimaginably vast amount of energy and leverage over the "rules."
Otto in the original work could do it because he practically stole authority from a certain level of the "Imaginary Tree," briefly possessing the status of a pseudo-god.
But a single, newly born "Herrscher of the Past"?
All she managed to do, using all of a young girl's unwillingness, obsession, and love, was blow an extremely beautiful, yet extremely fragile "soap bubble" beside the trunk.
Shu "saw" it clearly. That branch was attached to a certain spacetime node of Sapphire City in the main world. Its internal time flow was chaotic and cyclical, its structure tottering.
It was so fragile that it couldn't even stably support the "total information mass" of two Herrscher-level existences.
As the creator, Yun Mengxi had to actively dissolve most of her memories within the loop, "diluting" herself into the background, just to barely make room for the "accidentally intruding" "Herrscher of Evolution" and keep the soap bubble from bursting on the spot.
This was also the source of his confidence—after probing for the first few seconds—that he had over a ninety percent chance of retrieving Himeko and the others unharmed.
That film was too thin.
But he didn't act.
Ninety percent certainty?
For Shu, who had experienced enough "accidents" and "what-ifs," this still meant unacceptable risk.
More importantly, in that brief moment of perceptual intrusion, he "read" the core intent of the creator, Yun Mengxi, flowing within that branch.
That near-prayer-like, obsessive attempt to retain "beauty," and... a faint distress signal sent to the outside world.
He had promised Kiana, and tacitly allowed Otto and the others' attempt at "delegating power."
So, having confirmed that Himeko and the others were in no immediate life-threatening danger, and that the nature of the event was not purely hostile, he chose... to watch.
Like a silent spectator sitting in the front row of a theater, yet holding the authority to stop the show or even dismantle the theater at any time.
He watched Fu Hua's clumsy yet sincere "walkthrough," watched the scars revealed in the cold confrontation between Himeko and her father, watched Kallen's loneliness while playing the villain, watched Joachim's madness in betting amidst the erosion, and watched the twisted bond between Natasha and her "brother."
He also watched Yun Mengxi's confusion, fear, resolve, and finally, that city-shaking "fall" and "grafting."
The closest he came to intervening was the moment the Herrscher of Evolution erupted and Natasha was on the verge of death.
Had Otto, who shared his "vision" through expectation in the command center of the real world, not shouted for a pause, Shu would have already shattered that branch to ensure Natasha's safety.
Shu held back the power that was about to crush down. Then he saw the Herrscher of Evolution break down because of Natasha, and saw Yun Mengxi actively initiate the next loop.
So, he continued to watch.
Until the grafting was complete and the light dust scattered.
Almost at the exact moment "tomorrow" arrived in the branched world, a subtle yet definite change occurred in Sapphire City of the real world.
Inside the Pearl of Sapphire, in a slightly worn backstage corridor.
Yae Rin rubbed her eyes, recovering from a momentary blackout, and found herself leaning in her sister Yae Sakura's embrace.
Yae Sakura held her tightly, scanning the surroundings with sharp eyes.
The environment seemed somewhat different. The smell of dust in the air, the peeling paint on the walls, and the low hum of machinery from afar... everything here exuded a strange sense of "reality."
In a lounge.
Yun Feng sat on a chair, his head in his hands.
He didn't immediately stand up to observe his surroundings like the others. He just sat quietly, his shoulders slumped slightly.
A vast emptiness and exhaustion enveloped him.
He remembered everything—his sister's dream, his own surrender, that crazy livestream, and finally... the clear farewell and blessing transmitted to his heart when his sister dissolved into light dust.
He knew Mengxi had "succeeded," in a way he couldn't fully understand.
But success also meant... eternal separation.
In this Sapphire City of the real world, there would never again be that girl tugging at his sleeve, saying with sparkling eyes, "Brother, I want to become a big star."
In a medical observation room.
Joachim sat up abruptly from the bed, coughing violently.
But soon, he froze.
He looked down at his hands, then touched his cheeks and neck—the hideous Honkai erosion markings that were eating away his life... were gone.
Then, he looked up at the surveillance screen. It showed the external world, the normal night view of Sapphire City.
No lockdown, no alarms, no Honkai Beasts filling the sky. Aside from the scent of decay from the passage of time, everything else was much better than the last residual fragments in his memory.
He was silent for a long time, then suddenly laughed lowly. The laughter squeezed out of his throat, carrying the raspiness of a survivor and a trace of incredulous bewilderment.
"...Really... stole it, huh," he whispered.
In thousands of homes across the city.
Over ten million ordinary citizens woke up from a brief trance.
Some were still on the streets, some were already home, some had just woken up from sleep.
Their memories were cleverly and gently "updated."
They remembered a special concert tonight, some chaos and evacuation later, and an official announcement of some "safety drill" or "technical test"... The details were fuzzy, but the overall picture was reasonable.
More importantly, they knew of the existence of the "Honkai." They knew the world wasn't absolutely safe, but at the same time, a firm belief had been instilled in them.
Humanity was fighting, hope had never vanished, and they themselves were individuals worth protecting and capable of facing the storm.
Surprisingly, these ordinary people didn't panic much. Instead, there was a settled clarity.
Life continued, survival still required struggle.
Filtered by Yun Mengxi, they calmly returned to their daily routines, the pulse of the city restarting after a brief anomaly.
On the top platform of the Pearl of Sapphire.
Himeko and the others woke up one after another, looking at each other in silence, carrying their respective confusion, exhaustion, and enlightenment.
Traces of battle and fatigue still lingered on them, but the environment was different.
No rocket launch pad, only an empty maintenance platform.
The night wind brought the scent of the real world.
They knew the mission was "completed" in a way that exceeded expectations.
Shu's gaze slowly lifted from the steadily breathing city below.
At this moment, he should have descended from the sky, bringing a scarce sense of security to these "newborn" people as the leader of the Fire Moth.
But right now, he didn't look at his awakening companions, didn't pay attention to what Otto thought about Yae Sakura's appearance, nor did he ponder the fact that "Welt Yang" had once again lived up to his nickname of "Yang Sit-ups" by successfully resurrecting.
All his attention, the invisible, solemn aura around him that almost distorted space, was firmly locked straight ahead.
The air solidified.
This wasn't a metaphor. Centered on the two parties, the spatial parameters within a radius of several kilometers showed slight turbulence. Light became viscous, sound transmission became sluggish, and even the city lights below seemed separated by a thick layer of frosted glass.
Otto's voice came through the encrypted channel, carrying a rare, humorless gravity.
"Shu..."
"Mn."
"I'm here."
Two voices rang out almost simultaneously, appearing in Shu's ears through the communicator.
Shu's expression grew even graver.
Yun Mengxi's intentions were undoubtedly absolutely good.
She sent people, she sent hope, she repaired the scars of the main world.
But she, who had a heart of pure gold from beginning to end, probably never thought about, and couldn't understand... that sometimes, people cannot even empathize with themselves.
Yes, opposite Shu—
Was another Shu.
It was like forcefully inserting a segment of code with nearly identical permissions into a massive, precisely running program.
For the Fire Moth, which was striving to maintain the continuity of civilization and fight against the Honkai, and for top decision-makers like Shu and Otto—
The sudden appearance of an uncontrolled entity with unknown power and intent, yet bearing the name "Shu"...
There was no "surprise" worse than this.
The gazes of the two Shus collided in the solidified air.
No sparks, no energy bursts. Neither of them even attempted to call Otto, because Otto's gravity had already expressed one thing.
Right now, even he couldn't tell who the real "Shu" was.
Between the two, only a suffocating pressure was climbing madly.
It was as if two silent icebergs were engaging in a clash of titanic force beneath the surface of the sea.
In this instant, they were both assessing countless possibilities and simultaneously simulating countless response plans.
Finally, the two Shus moved their lips slightly at the same time. Their voices did not travel through the air but echoed directly in the consciousness of the "self" opposite them.
Cold, calm, yet carrying an unquestionable inquiry.
"Who are you?" / "Who are you?"
(End of Volume X: The memory of the past)