The player world preview was in full swing, while at this very moment, in Penacony—
A man in a sharp suit stood in front of the lost and found counter, occasionally glancing at the makeup mirror in his hand while filling out claim information.
Suddenly, a deep voice that unconsciously drew one in sounded.
The man slightly raised his head and found the other party handing over a tarot card.
"What a striking lost item. Are you looking for its owner?"
"Yes…"
"Let me divine for you." Black Swan smiled mysteriously and said softly: "Using your memory as the medium…"
She employed the methods of a Memokeeper, entering the other party's recent memory through the tarot card.
The location was the Golden Hour.
In this memory, Black Swan carefully observed many people of all kinds, whether visitors or arrivals.
The IPC, the Family's Iris Family, the Fools, the Oak Family, the Galaxy Rangers…
Hm?
Wait—
Black Swan's gaze suddenly froze in a certain direction.
There was a group of people. As she walked toward that group, the originally stable memory world rapidly collapsed.
On the way back to consciousness, she locked onto the general target and captured special memory fragments that could not be pieced together completely.
"…"
Black Swan calmly withdrew the tarot card she had handed out and showed an amiable smile.
"The predetermined trajectories have already intersected. She has come."
With that, she signaled the suited man to look at the dazzling figure walking over from the side.
"…Robin? It's actually Miss Robin?!"
"Go on, sir."
After watching the man leave, Black Swan spread out several tarot cards in her hand, her expression grave.
"Excuse me, has anyone picked up a makeup mirror?"
"Miss Robin, is this the one you're looking for?"
"…Thank you, that's it. I've been looking for it for a long time…"
The conversation sounds coming from not far away were as if unheard by Black Swan. Her attention was extremely focused as she prepared to draw out a certain card in her hand.
However, the moment her finger touched that card, it turned into a cluster of flames and vanished, leaving nothing behind.
"…"
This was a special tarot card she had formed by extracting memetic essence from memory, related to representatives of various factions in Penacony.
A card vanishing meant the other party had already…
"Memory does not lie. That ominous cluster of infernal flames was actually swallowed by the deep sea."
Black Swan's pupils trembled lightly as she took a silent deep breath.
"And that deep sea is actually—in the Star of the Banquet, Penacony."
Long before, the Garden of Recollection had already learned of the Family's invitation and confirmed all the factions replying to attend.
The most abnormal among them was none other than the Eternal Flame Mansion from the Destruction faction's Annihilation Gang, its master: Duke Inferno Ifrit.
Logically speaking, to ensure the smooth holding of the Harmonious Music Grand Ceremony, the Family would not issue invitation letters to such factions.
It was precisely because of this reason that Black Swan paid special attention to the Annihilation Gang's movements.
She never expected that during today's routine memory observation, she would obtain such a shocking result.
Who did it?
Based on the intensity of the memory's feedback, it could be determined to be related to other factions.
Preservation, Remembrance, Elation, Trailblaze, The Hunt, and in addition, some factions that refused the invitation.
Such as Abundance, Equilibrium, Nihility.
As for Enigmata… no one could contact anyone in its faction with sufficient authority.
Using the process of elimination, supplemented by the Garden of Recollection's special methods, Black Swan set her sights on the Galaxy Rangers.
The company following Preservation had no motive, at least not for now.
Before the banquet arrived, the Fools would not act to obstruct participants; that did not align with their philosophy.
The Nameless had not yet arrived, so it was even more impossible.
If someone from the Garden of Recollection had acted, she would have known immediately, unless it was the Emanator of Remembrance personally taking action.
But that made even less sense and did not fit the Remembrance faction's style.
In that case, if it wasn't the Family orchestrating it themselves, then the only remaining possibility was—
The Hunt.
The Xianzhou Alliance did not attend, so it could only be the Galaxy Rangers.
Walking the same Path of The Hunt, the Rangers uphold justice, hunt down evil, and then embark on new journeys.
They revere Lan's decisive killing and fighting evil with evil, believing that the universe's kindness and justice must be upheld through individual actions.
Destruction naturally stands in opposition to all factions, and the Annihilation Gang is notorious, infamous across the galaxy for doing all kinds of evil.
If Galaxy Rangers attending the banquet encountered people from the Annihilation Gang en route, the likelihood of a big fight was extremely high.
Thinking of this, Black Swan turned her head to look at the guest check-in counter, the corners of her mouth slightly lifting.
In Penacony, aside from herself, the other Memokeepers' styles did not care about the memories of the dead.
Then, she would take action.
As long as the Galaxy Ranger had registered their personal information at the front desk, obtaining that information would be as easy as flipping a hand for a Memokeeper.
Before long, Black Swan not only successfully obtained that Ranger's information but also had an unexpected gain.
—The target was currently inside a ball.
Such smoothness caused an involuntary warm smile to appear on Black Swan's face.
Fate was telling her it was time to strike while the iron was hot.
She would issue the first invitation tonight…
…
In the world of beautiful dreams, the moment of tomorrow would never arrive.
Inside the exquisite and elegant grand ballroom, figures bustled about.
Everyone who came here, no matter their purpose, shared the same reason—
Hunting.
Black Swan easily found her 'prey': the Galaxy Ranger, Acheron.
She did not rashly approach but instead secretly observed the other party for a long time in a way that would not attract attention.
Observing the other party's every move and style of conduct, and formulating a contact plan accordingly.
It was a pity that her plan fell through.
Acheron had been sitting alone in the corner the whole time, neither drinking nor talking to anyone.
Moreover, no one dared to easily approach and converse with her.
Black Swan understood the reason: it was the intangible aura Acheron emanated.
Mysterious, yet carrying a chill that kept others at a distance.
No matter, Memokeepers were unaffected.
After observing for a sufficient amount of time, Black Swan's eyes flowed with charm as she took elegant steps to arrive before Acheron.
"Are you waiting for someone?"
She asked politely.
Acheron seemed surprised that someone was talking to her, slightly tilting her head to glance at Black Swan, and shook her head lightly in a somewhat wooden manner.
"Then… would you like to dance a song with me?"
Black Swan extended her hand, issuing the invitation.
Acheron's snake-like purple eyes showed no ripples as they gazed at the slender hand wrapped in black gloves before her.
After a few seconds, she unconsciously reached out to take the other's palm and silently stood up along with the motion.
The two slowly walked to the dance area and began dancing gracefully.
Black Swan led the dance steps, smiling, elegant and composed.
A Galaxy Ranger, as mysterious as the rumors said.
Somewhat noble, yet somewhat wooden.
But in the night's hunt, The Hunt was not the only hunter…
Black Swan held Acheron's slender waist, forming a tango posture, and spoke gently.
"Beautiful Ranger… welcome to the stage of memory. At this distance… you are even more captivating than you appear."
Acheron remained silent, simply following Black Swan's lead.
The latter did not mind.
Acheron had also come for the Watchmaker's legacy. Undoubtedly, in this game, everyone would lie and there would be silence.
But—memory would not.