(Volume VI: Sea of Quanta Exploration (incomplete))
What happened in his native world after he left, how many changes had occurred—none of it concerned Lin Wei anymore.
Having already leaped out of his native world, it was, at least for the moment, irrelevant.
Let's rewind time slightly, back to the very moment the great battle concluded. Lin Wei ended his magnificent performance with an elegant curtain call.
He then spread his arms wide, leaned straight back, and let himself fall from the apex of the Divine Key, plummeting into the abyss of the Sea of Quanta.
By the time Durandal arrived, she didn't have enough time to pull both Lin Wei and the Second Divine Key out of the Sea of Quanta. She could only watch helplessly as he rapidly vanished from her sight, forced to make a choice where there was no real choice.
"A choice with no real choice" was Lin Wei's favorite trick. From Fu Hua and Bronya in the beginning to the Herrscher of Corrosion, and later even World Serpent and Anti-Entropy...
Almost everyone who had encountered and clashed with him had been "generously" presented with two diametrically opposed options.
Then, for one reason or another, they would inevitably be forced to select the very option Lin Wei desired most.
This wasn't some dark, cunning scheme, but rather an overt one. Even for masters of such stratagems like Lin Wei and Otto Apocalypse, if someone presented them with such a choice, they too would have no other option.
And that was precisely why, the moment their eyes met, they both recognized the same truth—this person was a sworn enemy they had to eliminate at all costs.
So, when even the unstoppable, strongest Valkyrie had to yield to this "choice with no real choice," watching as Lin Wei truly fell into the Sea of Quanta, the brief yet breathtaking battle concluded in a manner that could only be described as "mutually destructive."
Strictly speaking, I probably lost more, right? After all, I'm the one who got kicked out of my own world...
As he fell, Lin Wei admired Durandal's monumental feat of pulling up the train-like Divine Key, musing to himself.
"But no matter what, from this moment on, I am completely free."
Though the price of this "freedom" was indeed steep.
In his childhood, the first time Lin Wei read in a children's science book that "the Earth is a sphere suspended in the universe," he had a nightmare that very night.
In his dream, he had accidentally fallen off the Earth and into the deep, boundless cosmos, beginning an endless fall amidst his own screams...
Then, his own dream had startled him awake.
And then, he learned that the Earth had gravity. As a tiny human, one was not even qualified to escape Earth's gravitational pull without paying a tremendous cost.
And so, the young Lin Wei had breathed a long sigh of relief, knowing he was safe.
Now, having truly paid a huge risk and price to escape that "gravity," as he stood on the edge of a bottomless abyss and gazed down, Lin Wei suddenly discovered that the nightmare which had terrified him so deeply in his youth wasn't so bad when experienced for real...
And so, with a sense of eager anticipation and curiosity, he leaped. He was still keenly aware that compared to the materially stable native world, the Sea of Quanta held many unknown and unpredictable risks.
But it didn't matter. Lin Wei had long made preparations for this. The Herrscher Core contained within the Divine Key was not just a source of Herrscher authority he could use, but also a solid imaginary anchor.
Therefore, under the protection of Pandora, Lin Wei could remain safe for a short time even within the treacherous Sea of Quanta.
He believed that no matter how brief this period was, it would be enough for Kevin, who was also in the Sea of Quanta, to see him and "fish" him out.
However, while Kevin's location was his final destination and Kevin's intervention was the source of his courage to leap, Lin Wei had a more immediate purpose for this journey...
SWISH...
Lin Wei retracted the long chain he had thrown out, catching the Kevin puppet the moment its energy ran out and pulling it back to his side.
It was something he had borrowed. Although its owner probably didn't care, Lin Wei still felt obligated to return it—moreover, it had helped him immensely.
There was no way he would just watch it get recovered by Durandal along with the Second Divine Key, only to be silently destroyed by a wary Schicksal...
To think that an unpowered combat ELF puppet that fell into Durandal's hands would be considered "very dangerous"... well, that's definitely a judgment Overseer Otto would make.
The moment he had the Kevin puppet in hand, a sense of relief washed over him, just like when he had seen the Second Divine Key fly from his grasp and be successfully caught by Durandal.
A weight was lifted from his mind. Now, he could finally do what he wanted to do.
And so, as his gaze filled with admiration watching Durandal pull the Second Divine Key from the Sea of Quanta, and as the barrier to his native world slowly healed shut, Lin Wei took a deep breath—though he had no idea where the air was coming from in the Sea of Quanta.
He then stretched out his other, empty hand. A black light coalesced, projecting a small "model locomotive." As if using it for a megaphone, he shouted,
"Su! I know you've been watching the Second Divine Key! Come out and meet me!"
When he'd first torn open the way to the Sea of Quanta, he had expected to be "captured" by Su and brought into his Sumeru World, along with Durandal. But nothing had happened. Su remained silent, as if he didn't exist.
He didn't understand why Su was being so quiet, but MANTISes who had undergone spiritual fusion were known for their various eccentricities. Lin Wei was prepared for the unexpected.
Fine, if you're going to ignore me, I'll just shout for you through the Second Divine Key. You have to hear that, right?
...
World Bubble - Sumeru.
It was a tiny world, no bigger than a square inch, like a solitary island.
There was only a sky, a ground, a patch of green grass, a pile of fallen leaves, and a single Bodhi tree, half-withered and half-flourishing.
Beneath the tree, a gray-haired young man leaned against the trunk, his eyes closed in contemplation.
His figure was gaunt, as if he were on the verge of death. Only the faint rise and fall of his chest indicated he was still alive, each breath accompanied by the fall of a withered leaf, as if his own life was wilting away just like them.
If Lin Wei were here, he would be astonished. This withered body, which looked like its time was almost up, belonged to the same person as the handsome, almost feminine elite from the Elysian Realm!
Of course, who else could it be, sitting under this Bodhi tree and observing three thousand worlds, but that self-exiled pioneer, Su?
"Almost there... just a little longer..."
Su's body was incredibly weak, but the fire in his heart burned hotter than ever before. He muttered to himself,
"Soon... the fruits of Project VALUKA must be passed on..."
In the future he foresaw, an outstanding young woman, whose brilliance would have shone even in the Previous Era, would appear before him.
She would inherit all his work and his ideals, taking up his duty and his blessing to continue the journey.
He had been waiting here, preparing for this moment—waiting for the Second Divine Key to be activated again, so he could bring her before him and turn the future he had foreseen into reality.
However, the moment the beacon he had left behind was truly triggered, Su was stunned to discover an unexpected presence he had never foreseen.
This person... who is he?
He looked quizzically at the black-haired young man.
The man was a stranger. In the countless worlds Su had observed, as numerous as the sands of the Ganges [VALUKA meaning is sand in Sanskrit], this man had never left the slightest impression, just another passerby among the teeming masses.
But the more this was the case, the more his existence surprised and intrigued Su.
Especially when Su sensed so many familiar auras on him—the auras of Elysia, Kevin, Mobius, Vill-V, and others. Among them, he even sensed his own aura!
Is it the Elysian Realm?
The only possible answer surfaced.
The Elysian Realm did not interfere with reality.
As one of the original minds behind the memory constructs, Su knew this better than anyone.
But even so, for this unexpected youth to have garnered the collective attention of his companions in the Elysian Realm was enough to warrant his full attention.
And so, he couldn't help but want to meet this young man named Lin Wei.
In his eyes, this successor, acknowledged by both the Elysian Realm version of himself and his companions, should be a worthy heir who had already passed their trials.
However, he would set one more trial for him. As long as he passed it, Su would surely teach him everything he knew.
As it happened, when Su discovered him, Lin Wei was engaged in a great battle with Durandal over the Second Divine Key. If he wanted, he could have smoothly drawn them both into Sumeru and held "detailed talks" with each separately.
But he didn't.
Because he had discovered another surprise...
Why?
The confusion on Su's face deepened.
Why is it that even when I add this new variable into my observations, I still cannot foresee a future where he comes to Sumeru?
What's more, he could clearly see that the young man's goal was to come before him as well.
It should have been a fated meeting, so why was the final result that they would miss each other completely?
Why?
Su grew more and more perplexed, more and more bewildered.
He was not a true sage, incapable of worldly detachment or desire.
On the contrary, his heart was filled with unspeakable pain. Otherwise, he wouldn't have stubbornly observed infinite worlds for millennia, trying to brute-force an answer he desired.
Only the most determined, perhaps even the most obsessive, could endure such tedium for thousands of years, exhausting his mind and spirit to the point where he was running on fumes...
Because of this, when he found that the future he foresaw diverged from what he wanted, he immediately wished to shatter it. But precisely because of this, he dared not act rashly.
He had seen it happen far too many times: "Well-intentioned efforts and interference leading to the most tragic of futures." Thus, the already highly rational man had long learned to act with caution.
He believed the battle between Lin Wei and Durandal was too intense. If he were to interfere recklessly, it could lead to unpredictable consequences, causing his intention to bring Lin Wei to him to fail completely.
So he held his breath and waited, waiting for the battle to end, waiting for the safest moment to act and smoothly guide Lin Wei to his side.
As for Durandal?
Apologies, but that would have to wait. The Second Divine Key would be activated again, and he could still bring about that foreseen future.
Faced with two futures he had observed, rejecting one while embracing another, Su didn't feel he was doing anything wrong.
After all, "foreseeing the future" was not the same as "surrendering to fate."
In his view, whether it was observing parallel worlds or foreseeing future possibilities, the entire purpose was to sift through infinite futures to find the one he desired, and then fix it into the one and only reality.
Durandal was a foreseen answer. Lin Wei's unexpected appearance represented a brand-new possibility built upon that foundation. He didn't want to let go of either.
And so, like a "gentleman spectator" at a chess game, he quietly watched the fierce battle between Lin Wei and Schicksal begin and end.
The thrilling twists and turns in between failed to cause even a ripple in his heart. He simply waited for the battle to conclude, for a moment safe enough that no accident could occur.
Naturally, he also heard Lin Wei's resonant call—
"Su! I know you've been watching the Second Divine Key! Come out and meet me!"
Hearing this call, Su's gaunt body rose to its feet. A Bodhi leaf danced on his withered palm, casting a boundless light that shot into the infinite distance, enveloping Lin Wei in the Sea of Quanta.
He knew this was likely the moment he had been waiting for.
In the distance, Lin Wei felt an endless, warm light wash over his entire body, carrying with it a familiar warmth—it was Su's unique light, one he had become very familiar with in the Elysian Realm.
Seeing that Su had indeed answered his call, Lin Wei let out a long sigh of relief and stepped into that boundless light without hesitation. He eagerly looked forward to this "first meeting" with his old friend.
"..."
Seeing Lin Wei step into his light without any resistance, Su also let out a long sigh of relief.
In just a moment, Lin Wei will appear before me. Surely, nothing can go wrong this time, right?