"So what? This is a genuine Yi Zhi World, not Fog City on Azure Star. What's the—"
Wait.
Qi Zhimu suddenly thought of something and changed from carrying her by the scruff to hugging her.
"Could it be the same situation as when we entered the final stage of Life-taking Mirror Shadow?"
"...Yes."
Black Tower unhappily admitted it, then leaned her cheek close to Qi Zhimu's ear and whispered:
"There are too many people around here. Let's find a quiet place first. We can go to my house."
The port is so complete, and they mentioned abroad, which means the current memory substance world is very large.
Perhaps... it encompasses half of Azure Star.
Qi Zhimu was a little surprised but didn't ask further. He followed Black Tower's directions, attracting no one's attention, and arrived at what she called her home.
"You come from a good family."
Qi Zhimu looked up at the detached villa in front of them and set her down.
Black Tower remained silent, walked to the door, and entered a series of passwords. The courtyard gate slowly opened, as did the villa's front door. After it opened, she led him inside.
The door automatically closed behind them.
After walking through the entryway, Qi Zhimu's gaze swept past Black Tower and fell upon the living room.
Dark walnut wainscoting extended from the baseboard halfway up the wall, covered above by wallpaper with intricate dark patterns.
The ceiling had plaster carvings around its perimeter, and a crystal chandelier hung from the center, its branches covered in a thin layer of dust, casting a hazy, indistinct light.
There wasn't much furniture, but each piece was exquisite.
A set of chestnut-colored leather sofas formed a semicircle, with a noticeable layer of dust on their armrests.
An antique grandfather clock stood on the corner cabinet, its pendulum silent, its hands stopped at a time long past.
The air held the peculiar staleness of an enclosed space, mixed with the scent of old books, aged wood, and a faint hint of mothballs.
Sunlight streamed through the window screens, casting dappled shadows on the floor, with countless fine dust motes floating in the light beams.
Everything was perfectly arranged and refined, but it lacked a human touch.
Clearly, no one had lived here for a long time.
Qi Zhimu, showing off, snapped his fingers behind Black Tower.
A quick Dust Removal Wind magic swept the dust away, and then Water magic formed a thin curtain of water, taking away the dirt the wind couldn't remove.
In less than ten seconds, the entire living room was brand new.
"How convenient, Mr. Mage."
"Want to learn?"
"Yes."
"It's useless even if you learn; I won't teach you."
"Oh." Black Tower wasn't surprised.
Her calm reaction made Qi Zhimu feel bored, and he plopped down onto the sofa.
"This is the treatment one should have when enjoying life. Tell me, little... Black Tower, is what we're facing this time a person or a ghost?"
"Not a person, and it doesn't seem to be a ghost either."
Black Tower had intended to sit opposite Qi Zhimu, but her feet wouldn't listen, and she naturally sat beside him.
"If it were a person, even those superheroes in movies would be easy pickings for you, right?"
"Which superheroes?" Qi Zhimu asked.
"Like Superman."
"Oh, those? 'Easy pickings' might be an exaggeration, but they're not difficult to deal with. Against the strongest, I'd barely need to use high-level magic."
"I see... I'm not sure if this theme has mythological attributes. There's the word 'Death God'."
"Just as I expected."
Qi Zhimu's eyes nearly rolled to the heavens.
"Let me guess, it's the kind with world rule suppression, right?"
"Yes, it's explicitly stated that the Death God cannot be killed. Unless the conditions for survival are found, one must endure endless pursuit until the world is completely destroyed."
Black Tower wasn't sure if Qi Zhimu possessed such an ability.
Normally, the stronger the Virtual Substance Lifeform, the lower the probability of its birth, but it doesn't mean there are none.
Throughout the years of records on Virtual Substance Lifeforms on Azure Star, there were indeed some beings capable of destroying the worlds that birthed them, and who had done so.
"You want me to destroy Fog City here?"
Qi Zhimu looked surprised.
"It's not difficult. It's just a forbidden spell. If that doesn't work, an ultimate spell can take it out in one go."
Virtual Substance Lifeforms, whose existence is inseparable from the concept of'settings,' are essentially competing in this.
When the world that birthed you is destroyed, the established world rules naturally cease to exist.
Beings who rely on world rules to gain invincibility in their own domain will fall from heaven to earth.
This applies not only to worlds that nurture Virtual Substance Lifeforms but also to the world where Original Humans reside.
If the entire Azure Star exploded, would the world's rules still exist?
Naturally, everything, along with the entire civilization, would vanish like smoke.
Only Virtual Substance Lifeforms whose settings dictate their transcendence of the entire world can remain unaffected.
But those are generally beings from mythological-level works, and their birth would probably have to pass the'Star God' barrier.
How could one gain power without paying a price?
This was why, back in Life-taking Mirror Shadow, he told Black Tower that if he guessed wrong, he would eat her and blast the building to smithereens with a forbidden spell.
Even if the second stage locked his flying magic, it wasn't impossible to break through; it was just a matter of the cost and whether he was willing to pay it.
When a bomb gains consciousness and the ability to self-detonate at any time, rules simply cannot restrain it.
Black Tower was also aware of these rules and their consequences.
"Destroying this world means the memory substance here will disappear, the environment will temporarily revert to a vacuum universe, I will die, and you will have broken your promise."
"Do I need you to tell me? Otherwise, with my strength, how could I possibly be harmed by a low-level creature?"
Qi Zhimu turned Black Tower's small head towards himself and vigorously rubbed her small face with his large hand.
"It's all just the influence of my 'word-is-bond' persona!"
"Hmm, I know. You condescended and suffered a lot to send me back to Azure Star."
"Huh? What do you mean 'condescending for you'? Don't flatter yourself. I thought you had no reason not to understand what I said. It's my persona, my persona! I said I'd send you back to Azure Star, so there's absolutely no way I'd break my promise. Making myself a delicious meal, how is that condescending?"
"Understood. It's not for me, but your persona doesn't allow you to break promises. I misspoke just now."
Black Tower smoothly appeased him, not talking back to Qi Zhimu at all.
A 'word-is-bond' persona... she didn't believe it anyway.
And then...
Seeing a familiar expression on Qi Zhimu's face change back to a satisfied smile, as if to say, 'At least you're sensible,' her heart remained calm.
She even wanted to smile.
Oh right, not a mocking smile, but a... sweet smile.
She had to admit, his persona was quite interesting, though not referring to the so-called 'word-is-bond, absolute.'
It wasn't that the classic tsundere archetype in anime was outdated, but that most characters only had the annoying 'tsun' and their self-perceived 'dere.'
Watching Qi Zhimu's contradictory words was one of Black Tower's few forms of entertainment during this agreed-upon journey.
As she thought of this, she suddenly froze, realizing a fact that had been overlooked until now.
Ever since all her relatives sacrificed themselves, she seemed to... never have felt this way again.
But now she could truly perceive that her heart would ripple because of Qi Zhimu, stirring different emotions.
Even though these emotions would be subconsciously suppressed by her, not showing on her face.