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"The development project of the Blancpain Star System has always been personally supervised by me. From now on, I'll hand it over to you."
Diamond said it lightly, almost casually.
But the Ten Stonehearts present understood all too well just how much weight that statement carried.
The Corporation's executives didn't just earn a fixed salary—profit shares drawn from various projects were the true bulk of their income!
That was a cut taken straight from the returns of investing in an entire star system—almost equivalent to taxing that system outright!
Due to special circumstances dating back to the Big Bang, the Blancpain Star System produced a unique metal with virtually no substitute across the universe.
Relying on this natural advantage, the Blancpain Star System project had become the Corporation's most effortless and lucrative business in the past thirty Amber Eras!
And for that very reason, Diamond had never entrusted it to anyone else.
Yet now, to win Aventurine over, he was handing away such enormous benefit without even a second thought!
Those who witnessed this firsthand—including Jade and Topaz—could not help but feel a twinge of envy deep in their hearts.
"Thank you for your cultivation, Director! I'll devote myself fully to the Strategic Investment Department," Aventurine said, his flattered surprise plainly visible.
Diamond laughed heartily, making no attempt to deflect the praise—because this was exactly what he wanted.
The current Aventurine was worth this level of investment.
"However, I must also offer an apology. With my authority, I can only promote you to P46 for now. Of course, if I succeed in being elected to the board, I will naturally nominate you for P47."
Another line spoken lightly—yet it left everyone listening utterly stunned.
P47—that was equivalent to Diamond's own rank!
This was practically a promise that Aventurine would become his successor!
Aventurine's brows shot upward. Even he was shocked by this pledge.
He bowed deeply and hurriedly said, "I'll follow all of the Director's instructions."
That brief sentence was both gratitude and a vow.
"Good, good, good." Diamond smiled in satisfaction, then straightened up. "I've got plenty to attend to. You all go ahead and celebrate—I won't intrude on the young people's enjoyment."
After accepting the farewells of the others, Diamond shut off the communication device.
Everyone immediately rushed over to Aventurine, surrounding him and showering him with praise one after another.
In the end, to properly repay his colleagues, Aventurine agreed to treat everyone to a lavish feast at the highest-end hotel on the Xianzhou Luofu, and only then did he finally regain some peace.
He walked back to his room brimming with ambition, his steps feeling almost buoyant.
The others thought he was secretly reveling in his promotion and raise, quietly marveling that even a director couldn't always remain unshakable.
But in truth, while Aventurine was indeed struggling to contain his joy, it wasn't because of Diamond's rewards—it was because he had finally deceived everyone.
He needed to return and rest, to prepare for what truly mattered.
Reaching into the anti-theft pocket of his coat, the wooden grip within brought both reassurance and overwhelming excitement.
[Zafkiel's Twelfth Bullet - Yud Bet]
Mother, Sister—we'll meet again in the past.
…
Exalting Sanctum.
Late into the night, the Curio Trash Can Shop had long since closed. Aside from the small building beside it that still glowed with lamplight—where the occasional crackling sounds and a young girl's delighted cheers or anguished cries slipped through the curtains—everything was utterly quiet.
Sylvester lay wrapped in his blanket, unable to fall asleep for a long time.
He could clearly sense that something about tonight felt off, yet he couldn't pinpoint the source.
The feeling of being watched made it impossible for him to rest easy. Even the newly acquired ability [Equality] seemed to be itching to activate.
"How strange indeed," he muttered, sitting up and preparing to step outside for a walk.
Watching clusters of tree shadows under the moonlight, his thoughts drifted unconsciously as he murmured, "Huai Min is also not asleep."
At the far end of the sea of stars, a black-and-white mingled vortex of energy slowly rotated.
Its presence was deeply unsettling—visible to the naked eye, yet impossible to describe in size. It was both boundlessly vast and smaller than a single atom; utterly solid in existence, yet as ethereal as drifting smoke; so powerful that one dared not raise their eyes to look at it, yet indistinguishable from empty space devoid of all force.
THEY were HooH—more commonly known among humanity as the Aeon of Equilibrium.
Clear yet indistinct intent rippled outward from THEM. If another Aeon were present, THEY would hear the repeated phrase: "Huai Min is also not asleep."
Not long ago, within the process of maintaining universal balance, a string of anomalous data had suddenly appeared—continuously drawing strength from a different universe into this one.
And the cause of this phenomenon… was a human.
Fortunately, fluctuations of that magnitude were insufficient to affect [Equilibrium] on a grand scale, so THEY paid it no special mind, treating it as just another ripple in the sea of stars…
Until today.
Because THEY sensed that two powerful forces of concept had already been imposed upon that human.
The door to becoming one of THEIR kind had already opened for him.
THEY wished to see through Sylvester's essence and calculate his impact on the future.
But regrettably, THEY saw nothing at all. A peculiar force surrounded him, obstructing THEIR sight.
And so, THEY watched him unceasingly, hoping that with enough time, sufficient information could be gathered.
Yet just as THEY were closely observing him, another force caught THEIR attention.
A human—by some unknown means—had actually broken through the scale of time, attempting to insert himself into a minute tick of it!
The consequences of this… were far from trivial.
It was time to intervene.
A beam of black-and-white light, guided by HooH's will, crossed countless star systems and tightly bound a fired metal bullet, freezing it completely in place!
…
The starship was on its return voyage. Everyone else had fallen asleep, leaving only Aventurine standing by the viewport, gazing at the night outside.
To be honest, the starry sky wasn't all that interesting.
Those vibrant, multicolored images of nebulae—whether photos or videos—were all color-adjusted after the fact.
The real sea of stars looked no different from the sky seen from a planet's surface. It paled in comparison to the beauty of observing an entire planet up close.
But that wasn't what he cared about. His musings stemmed from fear—that in the past, he might inadvertently do something that would snuff himself out in the cradle, never again seeing this starry sky.
That would be ironic.
If he was killed in the cradle, he wouldn't have been able to open [Zafkiel's Twelfth Bullet - Yud Bet] today, and wouldn't be able to return to the past.
But if he hadn't opened [Zafkiel's Twelfth Bullet - Yud Bet], then his past self wouldn't have died.
What kind of catastrophic harm would such a logical paradox bring to the universe?
If this were a computer system encountering such a dead loop, it would probably crash outright, wouldn't it?
But he had no capacity to worry about the universe. Even the ability to act for his family's sake was something he had only gained recently.
Aventurine raised [Zafkiel's Twelfth Bullet - Yud Bet] and pressed it to his temple.
"Mother. Sister. I've come to see you."
Click.
The trigger pulled, the explosion of gunpowder thundered in his ears.
Recalling that desolate wasteland steeped in despair, an unexpected sense of familiarity welled up within him.
Yet after lingering in that feeling for quite some time, Aventurine realized he was still standing there—and the pain he'd expected from the shot never came.
What was going on? Could even a golden Curio f-ing jam?
That would be the biggest joke of this entire Amber Era!
Just as he was grumbling inwardly, the anticipated agony arrived belatedly, catching him completely off guard.
"Sh—! The bullet even has delayed pain?!"
Aventurine's figure vanished.
When he opened his eyes again, the magnificent yet lifeless golden wasteland beneath the setting sun reappeared before him!
Facing his long-lost homeland—and the tent not far away, patched together stitch by stitch by his mother—a tear slid down his smiling face.
…
Confusion rippled through the void.
HooH's emotions—like the [Equilibrium] THEY pursued—had not changed for so long that even Qlipoth could scarcely calculate how much time had passed.
Yet now, the entire void was steeped in THEIR doubt.
Because just moments ago, the power THEY had released… was severed.
Who would dare oppose THEM? Qlipoth? No—THEY never paid heed to mortals who claimed to follow THEM.
Then who else could it be?
As THEY pondered, an impatient voice entered THEIR perception.
"Hey, hey, hey!"
A figure appeared at some point, seated cross-legged in the empty void.
After lazily stretching, he complained with clear dissatisfaction, "You're making this very difficult for me. We small-time businesses value our reputation above all else. If a Curio I sold doesn't work, that's really troublesome, you know."
HooH silently regarded the young man before THEM—if THEY could be said to have eyes.
THEY recognized him.
Just moments ago, THEY had been observing his condition.
His designation as a human was—
Sylvester.
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