Bai Luan had originally thought that someone who spoke such words would be in their thirties or forties.
Too young and without capital, too old and having forgotten one's original intention.
Bai Luan had thought so, but when that rich man appeared before Bai Luan, his white hair still surprised Bai Luan.
Years had left their marks on him; his silver hair covered his head like snow, yet only his eyes remained bright.
He was no longer young, nor was his body robust.
"Hello, honored guest from afar."
Though advanced in age, his movements were still agile, and he quickly bowed to Bai Luan.
"Just call me Bai Luan. What's your name?"
"My name is Edward."
"I heard from Bronya that you want to exchange all your assets for a spaceship?"
"Yes… I'm not sure if the old junk I have is worth a spaceship, but if it is, that would be a great honor."
Bai Luan chuckled at his words. Before Edward arrived, he had already seen Edward's asset list.
Converted into Credit Points, it was definitely more than enough to buy a spaceship.
It was just that Jarilo currently had no such channels.
"You're no longer young. Are you sure you can still endure interstellar travel?"
Edward smiled at Bai Luan's words.
"Mr. Bai Luan, do you have time to listen to a story? Don't worry, it's not long."
"Of course, I'm interested."
"Thank you."
Edward bowed slightly, expressing his gratitude to Bai Luan.
"When I was young, the fracture hadn't yet expanded to Belobog. My beloved and I lived some distance from Belobog.
When she was still healthy, we both loved to run around and see the sights.
Later, my beloved fell ill, and for most of the time, she could only lie in bed, looking at the world through the window.
She watched the snow outside the window for most of her life like that, and with her last breath before she passed away, she told me she wanted to see scenery beyond the snow.
Before she passed, I held her hand and told her I would protect her for life.
No one falls in love with a mound of dirt until I buried her with my own hands."
At this, Edward gave a self-deprecating laugh.
"But later, the fracture expanded, and where we used to live was no longer safe. I originally intended to die beside her, but my friend knocked me out and carried me into this city.
Now… the only thing I have left related to my beloved is this."
Edward pulled out a necklace.
The necklace wasn't ornate; it even showed signs of wear everywhere.
But in the eyes of this rich man, this necklace was far more important than all his assets.
Edward put away his necklace and looked at Bai Luan, his eyes filled with an indescribable determination.
"Mr. Bai Luan, I had thought my life would just pass by like this, but then you appeared.
When I learned this news, I knew… it was time to set off. Now is the moment I've been waiting for most of my life.
My beloved's last wish is now my dream. I want to leave here and see the scenery beyond the snow.
Even if I die in the starry sky, I think I will have no regrets."
Bai Luan looked into Edward's eyes. When their gazes met, he saw the young Edward in those eyes.
An aging body could not confine his youthful self.
"I can give you a spaceship, but you'll need to wait for a while."
"How long?"
Bai Luan thought for a moment and said:
"About three days."
"Compared to the first half of my life, these three days are truly too short."
Edward smiled at his words, then bowed to Bai Luan.
"Thank you, Mr. Bai Luan. I finally have the chance to take her necklace and see the scenery beyond the snow."
Three days later… Edward arrived as promised.
He had dressed himself meticulously, put on proper clothes, packed a suitcase, and wore the necklace left by his deceased wife.
This was all he intended to take with him; all his other assets he had already transferred to Bai Luan for handling.
But Bai Luan was not in a hurry to take him to the prepared spaceship.
Facing Edward's puzzled look, Bai Luan smiled and said:
"I want you to see your deceased wife before you leave."
Just as Edward was pondering what Bai Luan meant by this, he suddenly felt a violent tremor.
He looked up and saw the most astonishing scene of his life.
the engine of creation… slowly walked over.
Along with the engine of creation, countless Silvermane Guards also appeared.
Bronya walked up to Edward and saluted him.
"Thank you for your contributions to Belobog. Please allow us to escort you for this last leg of your journey."
The giant engine of creation raised its heavy fist, sweeping aside the fracture creations in its path and clearing a road.
The Silvermane Guards escorted Edward, step by step, towards his beloved.
Edward recognized his beloved's burial place almost instantly.
He hadn't expected… to have a chance to see her again.
He had so many, many things he wanted to tell her.
It had been… such a long, long time since they last met.
Edward walked step by step towards that mound of dirt. Bronya had intended to follow but was stopped by Bai Luan's outstretched hand.
"Just guard here. Give him some private space."
Bai Luan looked at Edward's back and smiled:
"He must have a lot to say.
Besides, you're not just here for him, are you? The Guards still need to reclaim this place, don't they? Go busy yourselves."
Bronya nodded at his words and went with Seele to deal with this place that had long been occupied by fracture creatures.
After an unknown amount of time, Edward, having told his beloved everything, walked back.
"Well, after seeing your deceased wife, do you have any thoughts of staying?"
"No… if she were truly still here…"
Edward took out the necklace he was wearing and said with a smile:
"Then she should be here right now, ready to go with me. After all, I won her heart by taking her everywhere back then."
Bai Luan looked at the necklace and nodded with a smile.
He had prepared a company spaceship for Edward, fully equipped with an intelligent onboard AI, so even if he couldn't operate a spaceship, he could still use it to travel the cosmos.
Additionally, Bai Luan had filled the spaceship with all sorts of supplies to ensure Edward's quality of life.
Bai Luan also found many famous scenic coordinates across the universe and uploaded them all to the spaceship's star chart.
In short, Bai Luan had prepared everything needed for this special traveler's journey.
The company spaceship, originally on standby in Jarilo's orbit, received Bai Luan's signal and quickly arrived.
Edward watched the spaceship slowly approach, becoming clearer and clearer, until it finally landed before him.
The airflow from the spaceship's landing stirred his clothes, the hatch opened, and a series of suspended steps extended out.
Ahead… was his beloved's last wish, and his own dream that had been out of reach for most of his life.
The white-haired Edward smiled, a smile like a child running freely in a wilderness, feeling liberated.
He stepped forward, ascending the steps of the company spaceship one by one.
Before entering the cabin, Edward turned back, looking at Bai Luan and the Silvermane Guards who had come to see him off behind Bai Luan.
"If there's another chance… then let's… meet in the galaxy."
Bai Luan was stunned for a moment, then smiled and waved goodbye to him:
"See you in the galaxy."
The hatch slowly closed.
The spaceship transformed into a streak of light and disappeared above the clouds, like a reverse meteor, finally breaking free from the gravity of ice and snow, rushing towards the galaxy it had awaited for most of its life.
Edward sat in the cockpit, quietly watching everything rapidly recede until the spaceship broke through the atmosphere and entered the starry sky.
Looking at the magnificent starry sky outside the cabin, he took a deep breath, one hand gripping the necklace on his chest.
"Ina, do you see it? The scenery beyond the snow… Let's go see more together…"
Author/Note: Yesterday, a reader found a bug and discussed it with me. I found it quite interesting, so I'll share it with everyone.
Just think of it as discussing background settings with good friends who play miHoYo games.
I originally wanted to use the author's notes, but I found that 300 words wouldn't convey anything.
This chapter, even without these notes, has 2387 words, which is definitely enough for a chapter. This discussion is not padding.
Also, Tomato Novel doesn't pay authors based on word count. Authors primarily earn income from readers and for love (I can tell from my update volume not changing much, but my income sharply decreasing recently).
Alright, now let's enter the Honkai: Star Rail lore discussion.
Yesterday, a reader told me that the Amber Lord glancing at the Stelle ≠ the Amber Lord striking the anvil, meaning being glanced at does not equate to the transition from Cycle 2157 to Cycle 2158.
At first, I was very annoyed. The Amber Lord in the glance CG is holding a hammer, raised high. Isn't that for striking the anvil? Surely it's not just for a cool pose?
Later, I carefully examined the reader's discovery and found that he also had valid reasons.
As everyone knows, the train crew originally intended to go to Penacony. They only went to Xianzhou Luofu because Kafka boarded the train.
So the train must have received the invitation to the Penacony Grand Celebration at that time and was preparing to attend.
This celebration is set to occur once per Amber Cycle, and the invitations are generally assumed to be sent out when a new Amber Cycle begins.
So, the question is, is this celebration for Cycle 2157 or Cycle 2158?
If it's for Cycle 2157, then it would be held too late, as the Trailblazer arrived when it was already Cycle 2158.
If it's for Cycle 2158, that makes even less sense, because the train crew received the invitation when it was still Cycle 2157.
How did the Penacony family know that Cycle 2158 was approaching? Could they foresee the Amber Lord's actions?
No matter how you look at it, there are inconsistencies. And the reader, based on this point, believes that the Amber Lord did not strike the anvil when glancing at the Stelle.
Then I, in turn, went through the Honkai: Star Rail background texts and finally found a breakthrough in the Interastral Peace Broadcast on the train.
This Interastral Peace Broadcast can only be heard after the Trailblazer pulled out the Flamewrought Lance, and the content of the broadcast is precisely the announcement of the universe transitioning from Cycle 2157 to Cycle 2158. (And this voice message was updated four times: after the Xianzhou main story, before and after the Penacony main story, and during the Omphalos main story).
This alone proves that when the Trailblazer was on Jarilo-VI, the Amber Lord struck the anvil.
However, in the first segment of the voice message, there was a review of the deeds of Cycle 2157, and the voice message included the Stellaron Hunters' appearance on Luofu as an event that occurred within Cycle 2157.
This confused me for a moment, making me think that the main story was still in Cycle 2157 up until the Xianzhou Luofu.
Later, I re-read it carefully and found that the voice broadcast said the Stellaron Hunters' last appearance was on Xianzhou Luofu.
This refers to the Stellaron Hunters delivering the Stellaron to Luofu, which should be before the Trailblazer went to Xianzhou Luofu, because when this voice message was broadcast, the Trailblazer was still on Jarilo.
So now it can be confirmed that when the Trailblazer was on Jarilo-VI, the Amber Cycle transitioned from Cycle 2157 to Cycle 2158. This point is not problematic.
But the problem is still unresolved, because the invitation issue has not been explained, and it seems inexplicable.
Surely Penacony's Cycle 2157 celebration wasn't held so late that it merged with the Cycle 2158 celebration, was it?
To explain it that way would be too forced, and it also conflicts with the general assumption that Penacony invitations are sent out when a new Amber Cycle begins.
So I think this should be a bug left by miHoYo when writing the text, not the reader's fault, nor mine.
Therefore, in this book, this point will not be modified. The Amber Lord struck the anvil when glancing at the Stelle, transitioning the Amber Cycle to Cycle 2158.
Subsequently, Penacony's invitations were sent out. After the Amber Cycle updated, the families sent them out in batches. There will be no further explanation for why the train crew received the invitation before Xianzhou.
That's it for the Honkai: Star Rail lore discussion. Thank you for reading this far.