Within the underground drainage system of the Ember Base.
At this moment, Tendo and Benjamin had both completely abandoned any semblance of defense.
They were exchanging blows, heedless of their own lives.
The brutality of this fight surpassed the imaginations of the dimensional viewers.
As both Benjamin and Tendo's bodies reached their breaking points, their bodies quickly began to experience significant issues.
Bang!
After Tendo and Benjamin landed another punch on each other, they both retreated a short distance, and, as if by prior agreement, opted for a brief respite.
Click... Crack...
Accompanied by the sound of metal cracking, the nano-metal on Benjamin's right cheek first developed numerous spiderweb-like fissures.
Then, large sections of it peeled off, revealing the dark, glowing mechanical bones beneath.
At this moment, he no longer possessed the cool, high-tech appearance he had at the start.
He looked clearly like a 'metal monster' with half its human skin peeled off, a truly unsettling sight.
Besides the facial injuries, Benjamin's power core in his chest also had significant problems.
The continuous 'overdrive state' had caused his power core to clearly overload.
This not only melted part of his metallic torso around his chest, exposing about one-third of the power core to the damp air, but also caused some broken pipes near the core to detach, spilling large amounts of blue energy fluid.
When this energy fluid landed in the puddles on the ground, it quickly spread out in layers of eerie luminescence.
All these signs pointed to one thing: if Benjamin couldn't end the battle quickly, he wouldn't last much longer.
However, compared to Benjamin, Tendo's situation was not much better.
He sat leaning against a broken concrete pillar, his face pale from excessive blood loss, occasionally letting out light coughs.
At the same time, Tendo's left arm hung limply beside him, clearly shattered.
But these were minor issues.
The real problem was the 'starlight' in Tendo's vision, which was continuously dimming.
His once deep, brilliant azure eyes, like the starry sky, now had only a faint, almost imperceptible light blue glimmer remaining in the pupils.
The rest of his eyes... had been completely replaced by abyssal darkness.
Like a flickering candle in the wind, they threatened to extinguish at any moment.
However, Tendo didn't seem to mind this too much. Instead, he light-heartedly made fun of himself.
"Cough, cough, I really am... quite a mess right now."
"It's a good thing Caroline didn't see me like this, otherwise she'd definitely get angry and scold me for acting tough again..."
"After all... whenever I'm in front of her... I always say I'm the strongest..."
"Cough, cough, but..."
Tendo coughed a few more times.
Then he looked up at Benjamin not far away, his voice filled with emotion.
"...You're all nano-metal, with a high-grade power core."
"I don't know how many resources the Iron Dome family poured into you, but I know if those resources were used elsewhere, they'd be enough to fully equip several Level 3 Mechanoid Star Envoys, wouldn't they?"
"For the Miracle Stone in the Doctor's hand, your Iron Dome family... is truly willing to pay a heavy price."
Hearing Tendo's words, Benjamin calmly mobilized the last of his Star Energy.
He replied, "Yes, after all, high-level Star Envoys above Level 3 have every action closely watched by other families."
"So if it were just Lord Byron, that would be fine, but if others found out that besides Lord Byron, we also dispatched other high-level Star Envoys..."
"The secret of the Miracle Stone wouldn't be so easy to hide."
"After all, in the world of Star Envoys, there are very few true fools."
After answering Tendo's question, Benjamin posed his own.
"Vector Control and Star Eclipse Heavenly Eye. Though I don't know how Dragone managed it, to put them both on you, I imagine he must have invested a lot of effort into you as well."
"But looking at you now, your eyes... should be losing their sight very soon, right?"
Hearing this, Tendo smiled noncommittally, then stood up from the pillar he was leaning against and looked at Benjamin, saying, "They're almost gone, but before that, killing you... will definitely be enough."
"Is that so..."
Benjamin and Tendo shared a moment of silent understanding.
The next second, as if they hadn't been injured at all, the two instantly turned into two afterimages and clashed once more.
Bang!
Almost simultaneously, both their fists tore through the water curtain of the underground drainage space, striking towards each other.
Benjamin's iron fist, covered in dark red patterns, heavily smashed into Tendo's face.
Limited by his current Star Energy, Tendo couldn't completely 'repel' this attack, only partially neutralizing it.
As a result, under the heavy punch, his head was forced to turn at an angle, and a trickle of fresh blood seeped from the corner of his mouth again.
However, Tendo wasn't one to simply take a beating.
The moment Benjamin punched him, his own fist also landed on Benjamin's face.
Vector Control · Tenfold Compression!
The compressed vector energy transformed into a fleeting black light, causing Benjamin's already severely damaged facial components to instantly twist and deform from Tendo's punch, sparking with a shower of electricity.
[Warning, warning, core component severely damaged detected, core component severely damaged detected]
Even though he heard the continuous warning sounds in his brain, Benjamin paid them no mind.
At this very moment, he had but one thought.
That was to kill this terrifying little monster in front of him, who was merely Level 1 but incredibly strong.
One must know, let alone Level 1, even a legendary Level 2 Perfect could still engage in a prolonged fierce battle with him in his overdrive state.
Yet, he, in such a state, found himself unable to take down the mere Level 1 Tendo.
This surprised him greatly.
It also gave rise to a strong sense of crisis.
If he couldn't kill this guy now, and allowed him to grow, then the entire Star Envoy world would undergo drastic changes because of his arrival.
And this, for the Iron Dome family, was undoubtedly very bad news.
Because as the vested interest group in the current Star Envoy world, what they least wanted to see was change.
Bang, bang, bang!
In the dimly lit underground drainage space, Tendo and Benjamin, already nearing their limits, were like two teetering but unyielding marionettes.
They continuously launched attack after attack at each other.
After exchanging blows for more than ten rounds, Benjamin seized Tendo's sudden stagger and unleashed a punch to his abdomen.
This time, Benjamin did not feel the characteristic 'resilience' of 'Myriad Reversal'.
The feedback he received was that he had truly struck Tendo's physical body.
This was the first time he had experienced this sensation in his fight with Tendo.
After a flash of black light, Tendo's body flew backward like a broken kite.
His body skidded a long watery trail in the puddles, then, after breaking through three concrete pillars, embedded itself heavily into the wall beneath a large drainage outlet.
His entire being was completely covered by falling debris and dust.
As the camera zoomed in, the dimensional viewers quickly saw Tendo's current condition.
Tendo was sitting leaning against the shattered wall.
His silver-grey hair was covered in earthy grey concrete dust.
Blood from his abdomen stained most of his clothes.
He looked undeniably on the verge of death.
But strangely, Tendo showed no sadness of a loser. Instead, he was smiling, and he was smiling very happily.
It seemed he was proud of something.
At the same time, some dimensional viewers suddenly noticed an easily overlooked detail.
Every time Tendo smiled, fresh red blood seeped from the corner of his mouth.
It seemed a large amount of blood was accumulating in his mouth.
Just then, Benjamin's voice suddenly came from off-screen.
"Wha... when..."
As the scene changed, Benjamin re-entered the dimensional viewers' field of vision.
But they were suddenly shocked to find that Benjamin's chest now had a large hole in it, from who knows when.
To this, Tendo slowly raised his head and smiled, offering an explanation.
"From the moment you put all your effort into trying to kill me."
"Is that so..."
When Tendo finished speaking, the anime scene switched to Tendo and Benjamin's final confrontation.
In the scene, although Tendo was seized by Benjamin, who landed a punch to his abdomen, Tendo had suddenly opened his mouth during the process.
And a small Black Azure, emitting a deep black light, appeared on Tendo's tongue.
Then, at the moment Tendo flew backward, that Black Azure transformed into a black stream of light, piercing through Benjamin's chest, who had no time to dodge.
This scene surprised not only Benjamin but also the dimensional viewers watching.
Because from the moment Tendo mastered Black Azure, he had always used his fingertips to unleash this special Star Energy technique.
But consistently using it that way didn't mean Tendo could only use it that way.
Theoretically, Tendo's Vector Control could be used within a 9mm range of any part of his body.
Benjamin was actually aware of this fact, and it was also in his mechanoid information database.
However, because Tendo deliberately exposed a flaw at the last moment, all of Benjamin's attention was focused on that flaw.
That's why he failed to notice the 'Black Azure' hidden in Tendo's mouth, overlooking this low-probability event.
But it was this low-probability event that became the final straw... that crushed him.
After explaining the reasons for all this, the anime scene switched back to Benjamin.
He looked down at the gaping hole in his chest, his expression as calm as if this dying body were not his own.
A moment later, Benjamin slowly spoke in a cold, emotionless electronic voice: "Mission... failed."
Thud!
After speaking his last words, Benjamin's body fell backward, heavily hitting the cold puddle.
In the splashing water, what Benjamin saw last was Tendo, leaning against the wall in the distance, slowly raising his face.
The young man's usually brilliant Star Eclipse Heavenly Eyes had been completely replaced by darkness.
But the smile on his face was brighter than ever.
Seeing this scene, Benjamin's mind inexplicably recalled what Tendo had said not long ago.
Miracles truly do not descend upon cold mechanoids...
With this thought, Benjamin seemed to have gained some kind of understanding.
But unfortunately, his enlightenment came a little too late.
Drip, drip...
As drops of water from the ceiling fell onto Benjamin's silent corpse, this Star Envoy from the Iron Dome family, whose entire body was imbued with a vast amount of the New Federation's latest mechanoid technology, a super-spec mechanoid Star Envoy whose strength in overdrive state was infinitely close to Level 2 Perfect, now lay quietly in the underground drainage space of the Ember Base, like an unheeded industrial waste product.
Not long after Benjamin fell, Tendo seemed to let out a complete sigh of relief, leaning back against the wall behind him.
What made the dimensional viewers feel a pang in their hearts was that Tendo's iconic azure eyes... had completely vanished.
In their place were a pair of pitch-black eyes, without a single flicker of light.
Clearly, although Tendo had defeated Benjamin, he had also paid a heavy price.
His Star Eclipse Heavenly Eye had likely become completely useless.
For many dimensional viewers who had followed the story all along, this was undoubtedly unacceptable.
Because although Tendo wasn't the 'protagonist' of Stars, he had the second most screen time after Chen Kong in the anime so far.
Coupled with his powerful yet unexpectedly gentle personality, this made many dimensional viewers feel that he was the true 'protagonist,' despite not being designated as such.
This could be seen from Tendo's currently unmatchable popularity among the characters.
Yet, such a popular, highly exposed, and high-budget character was now exuding a sense of impending departure.
And in such a desolate manner.
How could the dimensional viewers accept this?
Soon, an even more heart-wrenchwrenching scene unfolded.
"I'm kind of hungry, you know."
Tendo suddenly mumbled softly, his only remaining right hand trembling as he fumbled in his pocket.
As his fingertips brushed against something familiar, a childish joy immediately appeared on Tendo's pale face.
"Found it! This last one..."
But before Tendo could unwrap it, the previously calm underground drainage space suddenly vibrated violently once more.
It seemed a battle elsewhere was affecting this place.
Under the violent tremors, the only piece of candy in Tendo's hand slipped from his fingers, falling with a plop into the murky water beneath him.
"Wait..."
Blinded, Tendo frantically bent down, fumbling in the water.
But without his sight, no matter how hard he tried, he still couldn't find the 'candy' that had disappeared into the accumulating water.
At the same time, the anime scene specifically gave a close-up of this 'candy'.
The candy in the water, after several close calls with Tendo's fingertips, was carried away by the current to an unknown place.
"...Never mind. If I can't find it, then I won't look for it."
After confirming that his only 'candy' was completely lost, Tendo sighed with regret, then staggered to his feet.
Then, he forcefully bit the black eye patch wrapped around his right hand, preparing to loosen it and remove it.
During this process, some observant dimensional viewers noticed that Tendo's forehead was covered in a lot of sweat.
His right hand was also trembling slightly, uncontrollably.
It seemed he was enduring something difficult.
It was then that they suddenly remembered what Tendo had said in his childhood flashback, during his first encounter with Yunmeng.
'Does it hurt much?'
'Not really, it hurt a lot before, but after I ate the candy, it didn't hurt anymore.'
And upon recalling this scene, some dimensional viewers realized.
Perhaps Tendo wasn't suddenly hungry at this moment.
He was just... a little in pain.
Under the heartbroken gazes of the dimensional viewers, Tendo finally, with great difficulty, removed the eye patch from his right hand and put it back on, covering his now endlessly dark, black eyes.
After doing all this, Tendo said with satisfaction, "Hmm, this way, when Caroline wakes up, she won't notice anything unusual about me."
"As for this hand... well, something similar happened last time, so I'll just lie and tell her it got accidentally injured during training."
"Because with Caroline's silly head, she definitely won't doubt what I say."
After all of this, the small dolphin pendant given by Caroline, hanging around Tendo's neck, suddenly emitted a faint but noticeable light.
The next second, Tendo heard the special echo from the 'Quantum Center' in his ear, an echo only he could hear.
The unique echo belonging solely to him and Caroline.
With this sound as a guide, even though Tendo was now blind, he still accurately found his way home.
However, a path that normally took only a minute to walk, Tendo walked for a full ten minutes this time.
Because during this process, he tripped over rocks on the ground several times.
After all, during his recent battle with Benjamin, the entire layout of the underground drainage space had become unrecognizable.
Many places that were previously passable were now impassable.
But even so, Tendo still stumbled his way out of this damp, broken ruin and returned to the technologically advanced Quantum Center.
During this process, dimensional viewers noticed that no matter how many times Tendo fell, he always held onto the necklace around his neck.
Even though he exacerbated his injuries several times because of it, he didn't care at all.
Instead, he even smiled and said he couldn't let the necklace get damaged.
Because if Caroline knew he had damaged the gift she gave him, she would definitely be angry.
With complicated emotions, the dimensional viewers watched as Tendo, who had returned to the Quantum Center with great difficulty, for some reason, neither chose to enter the control room nor the Quantum Computing Center behind it.
Instead, he chose to stop outside the control room door, sitting down leaning against it.
Under the red alert light, Tendo looked up at the alert light, which he could no longer see.
He suddenly smiled.
"Although I probably won't be able to see again in the future, it doesn't matter. Because if the future cannot be changed, then what's the point of seeing it?"
"Similarly, since I have already changed the future, it doesn't matter if I can't see later, because... someone will see for me."
"Besides, someone as clever as I am only needs to hear their descriptions to imagine what that beautiful scenery looks like."
"So, what does it matter... whether I can see or not?"
Tendo's tone was light, yet to the dimensional viewers, it carried an inexplicable sadness.
After all, the person who spoke these words was the same one who, in front of the Doctor, once said he would see the furthest scenery from the highest place.
He said not seeing didn't matter.
But the dimensional viewers understood.
Not seeing... mattered greatly to him.
It's just that for him, losing other things was perhaps more terrifying than losing his sight.
Looking at Tendo, resting silently, sitting alone outside the Quantum Hub Control Room door, the dimensional viewers couldn't connect the memory of the person who always boasted about being the strongest, whose eyes always exuded confidence and arrogance, with the pale, thin figure under the red alert light at this moment.
One must know that in all the previous plots, no matter what problems the protagonists, Chen Kong and his group, encountered, or what powerful enemies they faced, Tendo always appeared as a savior.
And with an absolutely crushing attitude, he perfectly resolved everything.
But this very person, who had always helped others, who had always been looked up to and relied upon by others, after shedding his confident and arrogant facade, revealed nothing more than a somewhat flamboyant, sweet-toothed, twelve-year-old boy.
Those outside the screen, just like Chen Kong and his group within the screen, naturally placed problems and responsibilities that even adults found difficult to solve onto the shoulders of this mere twelve-year-old boy.
And they implicitly assumed that he would definitely be able to resolve everything perfectly.
But in reality?
In reality, from the moment Tendo first came into contact with Star Energy, to gaining his Star Source, and then fully developing it, it had only been a short period of less than three years in total.
Yet, this twelve-year-old boy, who had been cultivating for less than three years, faced enemies far beyond his age group every time.
Not to mention, this time he faced a perfect weapon specifically created for this mission, carefully cultivated by a prominent family.
But even so, Tendo still utilized every advantage he could, and displayed every trait he possessed.
Despite being comprehensively disadvantaged in terms of cultivation time, resources, and basic level, he perfectly met everyone's expectations.
It was only when everything was almost settled that the dimensional viewers suddenly realized.
Such expectations, from the very beginning, were not what they truly wanted.
Because compared to the thin, frail figure under the red alert light, they still preferred the person from the beginning of the first season.
The one who always boasted about being the strongest, whose eyes always exuded confidence and arrogance.
Although various plot hints suggested that all of this today was something Tendo had planned and decided long ago, they still inexplicably developed a very selfish thought.
That is, if they could choose, they would rather it be Yunmeng sitting under the red alert light at this moment.
Not this slender figure.
After all, from the first season until now, it has always been Tendo helping others.
But when Tendo also needed help from others, why was no one there to help him?
Is this fair?
Facing this question from the dimensional viewers, perhaps it was the opportune moment in the plot, or perhaps it was a fated coincidence.
The large door outside the Quantum Center suddenly opened.
But what angered the dimensional viewers was that those who appeared were not the ones who should have been there to help Tendo.
Instead, they were a group of despicable enemies, ready to take advantage of the situation.
The Stellar Production Team!
Do you really enjoy rubbing salt in others' wounds that much?!
In the anime scene, Tendo, who had rested for a long time, heard the chaotic footsteps at the end of the corridor and couldn't help but sigh.
Because although he was blind now, he still had many ways to determine whether the newcomers were friends or foes.
For example, the weight of their footsteps.
Clearly, these heavy footsteps... didn't sound like friends.
"Sigh, I originally wanted to rest a bit longer, but I didn't expect new guests to show up so quickly."
"But it doesn't matter. Because sending one off is sending one off, and sending a group off is also sending a group off."
"Since you've come, then none of you... should go back."
"After all, our Ember isn't a place you can just come and go as you please..."
Hearing Tendo's words, the several Level 1 association Star Envoys who had arrived stood facing each other, none daring to reply.
At the same time, the Quantum Hub Control Room that shut down the Infinite Labyrinth was just a door away, yet none of them dared to step forward at this moment.
Because although Benjamin was dead, at the last moment, he transmitted all his memories of Tendo's battle, except for the Miracle Stone and his killing of other Star Envoys.
He sent all of it to every association Star Envoy in the underground core zone, guiding them to this location.
Otherwise, relying only on these Level 1 Star Envoys, and having scattered from Isaiah and William, how could they have found the 'Quantum Center' buried deep within the labyrinth so quickly?
But fear was fear.
If they couldn't shut down the underground base's Infinite Labyrinth, they would never be able to leave.
Thinking of this, one of the association Star Envoys looked at Tendo, who was sitting leaning against the control room door, his left hand hanging limply, his aura weak.
He gritted his teeth and said, "Don't be afraid, everyone. Although this kid is powerful, he must be at his last gasp now."
"And as long as we kill him, we can break into the control room, completely shut down this damned labyrinth, and then guide Lord Isaiah and Lord William here."
The other association Star Envoys heard this, and the apprehension on their faces gradually gave way to a firm desire for survival.
That being said, none of them dared to step forward first.
Because the corpse of Benjamin outside, and the memories Benjamin had transmitted to them, were truly too shocking.
So much so that even when facing a heavily injured and dying Tendo, they still found it difficult to overcome their fear.
They just felt that he was not a boy who would fall over with a mere gust of wind.
But a terrifying, man-eating humanoid monster...
However, while they hesitated, Tendo did not.
Because if they were truly allowed to enter and shut down the Quantum Center, then Caroline's quantum calculations would be forced to halt.
Thinking of this, Tendo, who was leaning against the door, shakily stood up.
And this simple action caused the association Star Envoys in the corridor to retreat half a step in fear.
Although Tendo couldn't see the expressions on their faces, he clearly guessed their situation from their brief but obvious panicked footsteps.
And this made Tendo's face, pale from excessive blood loss, unable to help but reveal that usual arrogant and imperious confident smile.
It was at this moment that the dimensional viewers vaguely realized that the once confident, heavens-and-earth-defying individual... had returned!
Tendo looked at the Star Envoys standing not far away, his words filled with his unique arrogance.
"Kill me? Come on, I am Tendo Simei. I never relied on anyone before, and I naturally won't rely on anyone in the future."
"And although I only have one breath left, that's not something trash like you can provoke casually."
"You want to pass through here? Of course you can, but you... must first step over my corpse, Tendo Simei's corpse."
"So... who wants to come and die first?"
Although the association Star Envoys present couldn't understand why Tendo said this, as those who had followed the story all along, and as the most numerous among all the CP fan groups, the 'tendo-Ca shippers', they were very clear about why Tendo was guarding this place.
And perhaps to answer their thoughts, the anime scene at this moment suddenly flashed back to a mundane daily scene that had briefly appeared in one of the early episodes of "Prequel of the Stars: Embers".
'Tendo, when will you stop being so childish? You're already so grown up, yet you still snatch other people's well-prepared dinners. Are you really too lazy to even walk a few steps?'
'Caroline, how can you say I'm snatching? Didn't you thoughtfully prepare it for me in advance?'
'Besides, Caroline, if you help me get food today, then tomorrow I can help you block bullets.'
'If they want to bully you? Then they... must first step over my corpse, Tendo's corpse.'
Whether it was Caroline of the past, or the dimensional viewers of the past, except for a few emotional tendo-Ca fans, the vast majority of people didn't take Tendo's words seriously.
They only thought that Tendo at that time was looking for a relatively exaggerated excuse for his laziness and mischievousness.
But now, it seems they were wrong.
Perhaps the 'dream' Tendo saw didn't begin the day he asked Liuli to interpret it.
But had already begun much earlier.
Perhaps because this 'dream' was too heavy, Tendo chose not to mention it to anyone, but silently kept it hidden in his heart.
As for the scene where he approached Liuli, perhaps he wasn't seeking 'dream interpretation' at all.
But was using that method to solidify the answer in his heart.
Bang!
As a gunshot echoed through the quiet corridor, tearing through the brief silence, the dimensional viewers suddenly understood a phrase.
Some vows are truly only spoken in jest...
But many people, unfortunately, simply don't realize it...