"You... say what?"
In the awkward silence, Huai Shi looked utterly bewildered at the huge steel cover in front of him.
The light point started moving again, and soon, a new line of text erged.
"[You don't get Big Bro's loneliness.]"
"..."
In the silence, Huai Shi took a deep breath, stepped back once, then again, and folded his hands in salute. "Sorry for the disturbance, I'll take my leave!"
As he turned to leave, he was grabbed by an invisible force.
"[Luv , don't go!]"
"I don't love you, scram!" Huai Shi yelled. He struggled to pull his arm back, and then he saw a new line of text appear on the cover.
"[I've seen things... you humans... wouldn't believe... Spaceships... at Orion's edge... struck... burning with great fire...]"
"..."
Silence.
An awkward silence.
Huai Shi took another deep breath, let it out long, and then earnestly told it, "Bro, if you keep this up, I'm really gonna leave, okay?"
"..."
After a brief silence, new text appeared once more.
This ti, it wasn't the incomprehensible gibberish from before.
"[You son of a b—, you are my MAST...]"
As Huai Shi looked displeased, the text, still unfinished, seed to be backspaced away and eaten up, with just three words left in the end.
"[WHIMPER, WHIMPER, WHIMPER.]"
What should I do? I so don't want to deal with this!
What the hell is this? Not only is Osiris, a Fifth Stage Sublimator from the Heavenly Kingdom Genealogy, a Martian, but he's also a whiner.
Who can cope with this!
"[Don't leave, bro, I'm suffering... It's too much for .]"
As Huai Shi's expression changed, the cover pitifully displayed a new line: "[I've been imprisoned for ten thousand years! Please have so sympathy. Ever since Auden died, no one has spoken to .]"
"Auden?"
Huai Shi asked, "Who is Auden?"
"[Auden was my previous Contractor, Osiris's pilot.]"
The cover showed a ssage that left Huai Shi incredulous: "[I'm in misery! It was bad enough that the bastard died, but he had to leave his Source Substance to . I was just a book doing fine, and then he made sentient. I've been locked up ever since, even having to manage his affairs after death! Life is so hard!]"
"...What?"
Huai Shi's eyes widened. "Wait a second, if Auden is dead, then who are you... are you a fragnt of the Heavenly Kingdom?"
"[Ah, yes, that's right. But all that's left of the Heavenly Kingdom now are fragnts, right? No sooner had I opened my eyes than the great Heavenly Kingdom was gone, just vanished! What lousy luck is this?]"
"What exactly happened back then?"
"[How would I know? I had just co into being when the Heavenly Kingdom collapsed. I only know soone was up to sothing, but I have no clue what it was. It was beyond tragic. I've been waiting for so many years I had lost all hope. Then I never expected soone to co here with the Book of Fate. Buddy, do a favor, would you take with you? I'm super low maintenance. Just chat with for five minutes a day. No, three... even one minute is fine!]"
The Steel Book shook violently, as if it were crying in a storm.
In the blink of an eye, at least three thousand 'whimpering' characters flew across the cover, making Huai Shi's scalp tingle. What would life be like taking this thing back ho!
"[Bro, please, I'm easy to keep, really!]"
As if fearing Huai Shi's reluctance, its cover suddenly shook. "[Guaranteed to eat little, work hard, no need for five insurances and one housing fund or overti pay, and I'm down with leadership's unwritten rules!]"
"..."
Huai Shi was deeply skeptical.
Buddy, with your quirky looks, which leader would dare 'unwritten rule' you?
Seeing Huai Shi's disbelief, the Iron Book shook violently, and imdiately, a square hole appeared on its cover.
"..."
Huai Shi's eye twitched violently. You've really thought this through, haven't you!
He had originally prepared himself for a tough journey to obtain a fragnt of the Heavenly Kingdom, only to find such a self-aware and utterly shaless fellow. He wouldn't abandon it here just because he disliked the book's chatter, though. After all, reclaiming a fragnt of the Heavenly Kingdom would benefit him. Besides, seeing this place looking like a prison, if he left it here unattended, it might genuinely go insane.
Huai Shi could empathize with its pain. Anyone who found themselves suddenly self-aware and then imdiately shoved into an isolated prison would find it difficult to cope. If it were Huai Shi himself, perhaps he would have torn himself into pages, split his personality, and they'd all be playing gas together by now.
This was not like on Witch Night, where you could hit the acceleration gear and turn a hundred thousand years of ti into just one or two months of perceived ti, while the real ti was only a re eight hours. Having endured so much loneliness over the years, and only becoming a bit eccentric, talkative, and out of sync with the tis, its willpower could truly be called iron.
But the problem was—
At this very mont, Huai Shi was rely in the thin Dreamland of the Group Star, entering the Phantom outlined by the last remaining Source Substance of Osiris. Only his consciousness had co to this chat room via the internet cable; he truly couldn't summon the Book of Fate, let alone take anything away from here.
After clarifying this situation, Huai Shi and the Fragnt could only stare at each other, at a loss for words.
After a long silence, an unbelievable line of text appeared on the Fragnt's cover:
"[How can you be so weak?]"
"..."
At a loss for words, Huai Shi clasped his hands together. "Indeed, I have overestimated myself. A rare treasure like you, Brother Fragnt, is surely for the virtuous. I shall take my leave."
"[Wait, hang on, little bro, that's not what I ant. The Book of Fate is in your hands. Who else could get through Auden's security clearance, right?]"
The Fragnt incredulously asked, "[I thought there was sothing wrong with my perception module. Are you really not even at the Fifth Stage? How did the Book of Fate recognize you?]"
Huai Shi replied expressionlessly, "Truth be told, one day I was just walking in my backyard when this thing fell from the sky. It nearly gave a concussion and put in the hospital."
"[...]"
A string of ellipses followed by a string of exclamation marks, and then a jumble of emoticons.
After quivering a bit, the Fragnt seed to take a closer look at Huai Shi, marveling that in this vast and wondrous world, there existed such an oddity who could stumble upon the Book of Fate in their own backyard.
If Huai Shi were to reach the Fifth Stage, he could be crowned by the Book of Fate as a Guardian of the Heavenly Kingdom. Wherever his will reached, he could open a gateway to the Heavenly Kingdom at any mont, ascending on the spot...
The Fragnt had never even considered the possibility that Huai Shi was still a newbie. To be acknowledged by the Book of Fate, one must be at least at the Fifth Stage. Otherwise, one's own fate wouldn't be strong enough, and they would have been overwheld by the great creation that embodies the destiny of Utopia.
If this manifested externally, it would an a Book of Fate fell from the sky, landing on Huai Shi, and this poor child, with a fate as fragile as paper, would have been killed by the Divine Artifact. Then a passing First Stage Sublimator sees the book, determines it's no ordinary item, picks it up, and exclaims in joy. And then dies of a heart attack. Soone at the Second Stage sees it, gets startled, suffers a stroke, and dies. Not to ntion the Third Stage and Fourth Stage; if the Owner of the Heavenly Kingdom Genealogy did not grant permission, even a Natural Enemy who got their hands on this thing might accidentally slip and sink to the deepest depths of the Abyss. Not everyone could have the kind of dumb luck that bastard Chu Hai had, who managed to crawl back up after jumping down.
But to the Fragnt's disbelief, the Book of Fate had actually appeared in Huai Shi's hands. And it had even recognized him without any permissions, ceding control to him.
This is unscientific!
The Book of Fate is not so unregistered credit card that anyone can swipe. Its security asures are terrifyingly ticulous. It could be said that unless the chairman of the Astronomical Society personally entrusted this thing to soone, then... Wait, the chairman?
All of a sudden, it seed to understand sothing. Even its script beca obsequious.
"[Brother, you've misunderstood! I was just captivated by your shocking talent and admirable genius, and I hadn't realized you're still so young. As the saying goes, 'Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river; never bully a young man for being poor,' right? A young person's future is truly imasurable... Maybe you're Second Stage this year, Fifth Stage next year, and a Natural Enemy the year after!]"
Huai Shi was shocked. He felt as if he had seen this obsequious attitude sowhere before and was sowhat incredulous. "Why have you suddenly beco so affectionate?"
"[To tell you the truth, the mont I saw you, I knew I had to make you my brother!]"
The cover of the Fragnt flickered, then it changed its tune: "[No, bro, you're my own elder brother! Don't you recognize your long-lost younger brother?]"
Sorry, I'm an only child, and I certainly don't have such a bizarre-looking brother, thank you very much.
Huai Shi suppressed the urge to turn and leave. He took a deep breath, raised his hand, and stopped the Fragnt's continuous nonsense.
"Let's get down to business first."
Huai Shi asked, "How do we get you out of this godforsaken place first?"
"[...]"
After hesitating for a long ti, the Fragnt could only tell him straightforwardly, "[It's difficult. Recently, even the last of Osiris's Source Substance has started to erode. Your abilities are insufficient; there's no possibility of transferring through the Dreamland. Physical contact and containnt are the only options.]"
Once it stopped the idle talk, its efficiency soared.
A map quickly appeared on the cover, accurately showing a detailed cross-section of the Group Star. At the very bottom, a red dot was marked.
Huai Shi leaned in, taking a close look. "What's this place?"
"[The Group Star Vault...]"
"Farewell! Goodbye!"
Huai Shi clasped his hands in salute again and turned to leave without looking back.
Bro, are you kidding ?
How many valuable items are there on the Group Star now? How much capital is flowing through it? How many precious materials? How many Sublimators? How many Fourth Stagers?
Forget Fourth Stage, there are even Fifth Stagers!
Stealth gas aren't played like this! A Second Stage newbie like , not even fully fledged, how could I go head-on against them?
That's just suicide!
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