With that finished, 'Finality Kiana' finally pulled her attention back for the moment.
She turned her gaze toward the original four hundred and fifty wishes.
Compared to the wishes "borrowed" by Aha, these genuine requests were much more pleasant to look at.
Some of the entries from the more... abstract contestants were so out there that even 'Finality Kiana' had to admit they were the work of experts.
One could only say that on this grand cosmic stage, there's a shortage of many things, but a shortage of people with "vibes" certainly isn't one of them.
This was also the first time Fu Xuan had seen such a massive collection of wishes. It was far more comprehensive and specific than any version circulating on the web.
While Fu Xuan was busy enjoying the entertainment, 'Finality Kiana' thought for a moment and spoke up.
"Fu Xuan, you've been working unpaid overtime for years doing content moderation for so long. It's been hard on you. How about I give you a wish as a gift?"
"Oh... wait, what?"
Fu Xuan's head had been so full of those wishes that she didn't react immediately. But once her little gears finished grinding through the data, she froze for a second before letting out a sound of confused surprise.
What did she mean, a wish as a gift? Besides, Fu Xuan didn't feel like she had done anything particularly monumental.
She had started doing it on a whim, and it didn't really involve anyone else.
To suddenly receive an opportunity to make a wish to an Aeon felt like picking up a treasure off the street for free. To be honest, she didn't have anything she desperately wanted to manifest right away.
"That's kind of you, but I don't really have anything I'm longing for. I can't exactly wish to become the General of the Xianzhou, can I?" Fu Xuan looked at 'Finality Kiana' and cracked a small joke.
But 'Finality Kiana' just blinked and smiled back.
"Actually, that's not impossible. Didn't you mention that the Alliance lost a few Flagships in the past? I could help you find a crashed one, fix it up, and give it to you. I don't think the Alliance would mind letting you try your hand at being its General."
"Huh?"
Ignoring Fu Xuan's bewildered expression, 'Finality Kiana' continued, "As for the Trials of the Reignbow to become General, I could also help you pass those with a perfect score. That way, the position is yours."
"...That's just cheating," Fu Xuan said, looking helplessly at the deity who clearly just wanted to see the world burn for fun. You can't just go around messing with things like that.
"Forget it. I did that work because I felt like it; I wasn't looking for a reward."
"That won't do. You're my Emanator. If I don't look out for you, who will?"
Fu Xuan felt it was unnecessary, but 'Finality Kiana' insisted.
Fu Xuan was her first Emanator.
Although she wasn't the only one anymore, the title of the "First" carried a special weight. Plus, she hadn't managed to look after her properly over the last few years. She had to give her some kind of token.
Seeing 'Finality Kiana' so persistent, Fu Xuan scratched her head and eventually nodded in agreement.
However, even if she agreed, she couldn't think of anything she wanted on such short notice.
"Could I save this favor for later? I'll redeem it when I actually need it."
"Hmm... all right." 'Finality Kiana' rubbed her chin and nodded hesitantly.
She had actually already thought of a way to buff Fu Xuan. Through her Matrix of Prescience, Fu Xuan could calculate many things. But at its core, it relied on information analysis.
Typically, the range of her calculations was limited to the scale of the Luofu, and even then, it wasn't always a hundred percent accurate.
For instance, in a place like the Shackling Prison, the secrecy of the Ten-Lords Commission and the presence of high-profile criminals made it hard for her to divine what was happening inside.
Conveniently, Originium Trees were blooming all across the universe.
'Finality Kiana's' original plan was to use the expansion of the trees to allow Fu Xuan's Matrix to gather more comprehensive data through them.
This would directly boost her divination abilities. Any world where an Originium Tree was planted would fall under the observation of Fu Xuan's Third Eye.
While it wouldn't directly increase her combat power, that kind of wide-scale information gathering was the perfect professional upgrade for a Master Diviner.
Seeing the slightly disappointed look on 'Finality Kiana's' face, Fu Xuan asked curiously, "Why do you look so let down? Did you already have something in mind for me?"
'Finality Kiana' nodded with a smile and explained her proposed reward.
And then... Fu Xuan was absolutely terrified by the sheer audacity of the idea. Did this woman even realize what she was saying?
The Originium Trees weren't just widely distributed; the massive amount of user data within the Originium platforms was all interconnected.
'Finality Kiana's' "reward" was clearly an intent to grant her full access to read that data.
What did that mean? It meant that every single player logged into the platform would have their data laid bare under her gaze.
If that actually happened, even if she didn't reach the level of Nous the Erudition, she would essentially be able to master every major and minor event in the universe in an instant. It was frankly terrifying.
Furthermore, if such a power were ever exposed, it would be a death sentence. No other major power in the cosmos would tolerate a mortal holding that kind of authority.
It would also indirectly cripple the spread and promotion of the Originium platform.
Since this was the massive project 'Finality Kiana' had built with her own hands, Fu Xuan didn't want to be the reason it fell apart.
"...Please put those dangerous thoughts away. Even if you dared to give me that, I wouldn't dare take it."
This person was truly bold—giving out that kind of authority like it was candy.
The two of them killed some time within the Originium Tree. When they returned, they found Kiana and Silver Wolf had arrived at some point.
They were sitting nearby, clutching Originium shards and squinting as they gamed. Noticing the others return, they put down their shards and looked over.
Perhaps Silver Wolf had already introduced Fu Xuan earlier, because when Kiana saw Fu Xuan open her eyes, she stood up with a smile and extended a hand in greeting.
"Hello! I'm Kiana. It's nice to meet you."
"Greetings. Fu Xuan of the Divination Commission, and also Bai Ming's Emanator."
"She really is an Emanator~" Kiana breathed out in awe.
She had heard of the concept of "Emanators" before, but she didn't really understand what level of power that entailed.
Kiana wasn't much of a fighter by nature, though—or rather, she wasn't obsessed with ranking people's strength. So, while she was curious, she just kept it to herself.
It would be nice to see that power in action sometime, but she wasn't about to start a fight the moment she opened her mouth.
On the other hand, Silver Wolf, hearing this exchange, pouted and let out a small huff. "Hmph."
The fact that her sister's first Emanator wasn't her made her very unhappy. Of course, the other woman had known her sister longer, so she could accept that much.
What Silver Wolf found truly unacceptable was that she hadn't maxed out her own level yet.
Even if she was close, "not maxed" was still "not maxed." And that meant she didn't count as her sister's Emanator yet. It was incredibly frustrating.
But Silver Wolf had her pride. She knew that if she just asked, her sister would surely pat her head and make her an Emanator on the spot. But Silver Wolf couldn't get over that mental hurdle.
It would make her feel useless.
If others were doing it, she had to do it too—and she had to earn it through her own strength.
Wandering around with 'Finality Kiana' these past few days had finally made up for the years they spent apart. She had passed that stage of needing high-intensity "energy refills."
While she still followed 'Finality Kiana', Silver Wolf was already plotting where she should go to grind some mobs and level up.
She definitely wasn't going to join the Stellaron Hunters; she just wanted to level up, not run off with someone else.
--+--
Meanwhile, on the Moon in the Solar System.
When Bronya heard that Kiana was actually playing on such an interesting gaming platform, she couldn't sit still anymore. Why didn't she get to play?
"That other Kiana over there... didn't you say she's also an Aeon of that universe? If I wanted to go over there, would it work?"
"Pfft... Bronya?! You're getting hooked this easily just by a gaming platform?!"
Kiana couldn't keep it together; she looked at Bronya in disbelief.
She had only been trying to tease the gamer girl by using every bit of her vocabulary to describe the wonders of Celestial Sparrow Entertainment and the Originium platform.
And yet, this weak-willed Bronya was ready to "defect" the moment she opened her mouth!
"Kiana, you don't know the struggle of running a household. It's because I'm a game developer that I know the Celestial Sparrow Entertainment created by Madam Bai Ming is the dream company every developer prays for."
Bronya was practically drooling.
Funding so vast you could afford to waste it, equipment so advanced it was the best in the universe, and a platform backed by an Aeon so no one dared to interfere.
Inside the company, there were no annoying daily, weekly, or monthly reports; no performance reviews; and no meddling bosses or investors!
You could make whatever game you wanted, develop any genre.
You could even play whatever you wanted—heck, even if you didn't make games, as long as you had a track record, you could just live off your past glory and retire at the company and no one would say a word!
The company even covered all living expenses, and the holidays were unbelievably frequent.
Dammit, why did such a perfect place exist in this world? And even in the worst-case scenario, if she couldn't join Celestial Sparrow Entertainment, just being able to get her hands on an Originium shard and play games from all over the universe—different civilizations, different styles—would be a dream come true.
"..."
Kiana stared at Bronya's drooling face with dead eyes. This girl was a lost cause.
Ultimately, the reason the other "her" had decided not to interact freely was because of Finality's existence.
People from Earth could certainly go over, and it was actually safer for ordinary people.
For special people like them, if they went over and accidentally got stained by the power of a Path, coming back would be a massive gamble.
Unless Kiana decided to just replace Finality today—but that wasn't realistic.
--+--
T/N: If you want advance chapters, you can find it at [email protected]/AspenTL