Wende, having just made it up, saw Stelle looking nauseous. He was about to administer his needle to alleviate her dizziness, but he was immediately stopped by a look of sheer terror on her face.
It was better not to. She felt she could recover just by resting for a bit. After all, Wende's lightning needle... had started to evolve from magical damage into true damage... Even she, with her lightning resistance already maxed out, was starting to find that tiny needle unbearable...
Perhaps she, too, had developed Wende Lightning Needle PTSD?
"?"
Seeing the "I don't need it, thank you for your concern" written all over Stelle's face, Wende could only put away his needle with a sigh of resignation. Fine, the child was all grown up and had her own ideas. If she didn't want the needle, then so be it...
"Is this the middle floor? It looks like something exploded... Don't tell me that explosion we heard came from here?"
Himeko took out the other map Veyl had given her. She frowned slightly as she looked at the layout of the Legendary Tower's levels.
"It's more than likely. Those monsters from before were probably the Stellaron's self-preservation mechanism. The traces of the dimensional rift's corrosion are becoming more and more severe here. We should be very close to the Stellaron now."
Gazing at the dimensional rift creations to the side, Dan Heng shook his head before addressing the group.
"Once we're through here, we should be able to head straight for the top floor of the tower, right?"
Peering through the wooden door frame that Stelle had destroyed, Wende carefully stepped over two steel plates that were inexplicably lying there. He looked at the scorched hall and felt a pang of confusion.
Shouldn't there be some defenses here? Could it be that someone had already cleared out all the monsters for them?
Recalling the explosion from earlier, Wende couldn't help but feel a growing admiration for the mysterious person who had risked their life. He wondered if they might have a chance to meet them within this tower...
"Let's go... The faster we move, the sooner we can end this crisis on Punklorde."
Patting Stelle's shoulder, Wende took the lead this time, walking at the very front.
---o---
Reality
"Ah! We're finally getting to the final boss! What's it gonna be! I'm so excited!"
Sister Guoguo rubbed her hands together in excitement. From the very beginning, the final boss of Punklorde hadn't shown its face even once!
What could it possibly be? The preview livestream was so secretive, hiding something, and it was making her itch with curiosity!
Besides, if this weekly boss wasn't unlocked, where was she supposed to get the ascension materials for the Shota Nolan she'd pulled!
A Shota! Hehehe!
Recalling the small, adorable Nolan, Sister Guoguo could feel herself getting all hard... uh, her wallet, that is. While he wasn't on the level of her Yìfù Wende, he was more than enough to satisfy an urgent need!
She couldn't wait to get her hands on Nolan!
[Mom, there's a pervert in the stream!]
[So you mean you've been grinding through the story this whole time, just for a shota? (Heartbroken)]
[The people of Punklorde will never forget that a pervert, in order to abduct their shota, committed a genuinely Punklorde-style act...]
[This is outrageous! An affront to the heavens! Such a disgrace!]
[Then, would you like to...]
[Yes!]
[I haven't even said what it is...]
[(They exchange a knowing glance) Those who get it, get it.]
"That's slander! You're slandering me! My feelings for Punklorde are one hundred percent genuine!"
Sister Guoguo's lips trembled in a pout as she instantly launched into a flowery speech, attempting to rebuild her long-since-crumbled majestic image.
[Really? Then let me ask you, what Path does the planet Punklorde follow?]
"Ah, well..."
Seeing this Super Chat, Sister Guoguo was instantly struck dumb. She scratched her head in embarrassment...
From the story so far, none of Punklorde's factions had clearly stated which Path the planet walked... The only character she had seen so far who could represent a Path... was that Agent of Elation at the Survivor Base. She couldn't just say that everyone on Punklorde was an Agent of Chaos, could she?
"Okay, you've got me there."
Sister Guoguo scratched her head. She really hadn't paid much attention to that detail. It seemed the writers for Punklorde had deliberately omitted that piece of information, which made the planet feel completely out of sync with the previous two major maps...
So, what Path did Punklorde best align with? Nihility? Or Erudition? It couldn't really be Elation, could it...
---o---
"They are almost here. It will be over soon. Are your Emissaries ready?"
A giant, vacant pupil gazed into a void of light and darkness.
"Of course. They are ever-prepared to maintain the Equilibrium. For this, they have waited for so long..."
That was the meaning conveyed by the light and darkness.
"If my chorus were still here, I would have them offer a song for your Arbiters, should they be able to withstand such an honor."
"Heh, letting them experience a brush with Finality is not out of the question, but it is not worth the effort."
"Mmm~ Do you two always have to chat here behind my back?"
"You say that as if you wouldn't show up even if we didn't. How does it feel to trash-talk with the other Aeons in that little girl's chat group?"
"Tch~ They're all such boring existences. How could they be as fun as you two? When I hang out with Them, Aha feels like I'm losing face!"
"The Hunt just chases Abundance around in the public channel all day, but Yaoshi doesn't even give Him the time of day... And that big oaf from Destruction... right, and that big rock, always smashing walls with his mic open. If Aha stayed in there any longer, I'd have a nervous breakdown!"
"Do you possess nerves?"
"Don't be as rigid as they are, okay? Aha is truly very lonely..."
At this moment, Herta and her little companions were still unaware that the Simulated Universe they were so proud of had become the Aeons' private chat group for who knows how long. As geniuses under the banner of Erudition, they were naturally unable to detect this anomaly, being fooled by Nous Itself. Any irregularities they encountered were simply dismissed as common bugs.
Of course, maintaining the Mystery was part of it all.
On a side note, because a certain Aeon had taken a fancy to a particular capability within the Simulated Universe, some of its "processes" could no longer be considered "simulations." Compared to simulating, it was more like "recounting."
And the Aeon who would make such a change... there could really only be one, right?