After Stelle placed the unconscious Takatsuki on the sofa, March 7th dragged her away to find Dan Heng, leaving only Seele in the Observation Car to look after the unconscious Takatsuki.
"This is troublesome. Takatsuki is unconscious now, and this kind of thing happened on the Luofu."
Yang said to Himeko, holding his arms and looking at Takatsuki, who showed no signs of waking up despite Seele's care.
"Then let's leave him on the train. Can I entrust this Stellaron incident to you?"
"Yes, leave it to me. However, I don't think the Xianzhou Alliance has no way to deal with a Stellaron."
Yang was somewhat worried: "Perhaps there's a greater crisis on the Luofu."
Soon, the big three on the train came over from the car, and Himeko and Yang began the vote on the route resolution.
"Seele, you come too. It's fine if Takatsuki doesn't wake up for now."
Himeko said to Seele.
"Huh, Sister Himeko, can I really?"
"Of course. You are now a member of our train, and you also have voting rights."
After everyone stood in a circle, Himeko said, "The route resolution begins now. Those who agree to go to the Xianzhou Luofu to resolve the Stellaron, please raise your hand. Those who do not agree, do not raise your hand. Begin."
As her words fell, five hands simultaneously extended.
Excluding the Conductor who did not participate in the vote, only Dan Heng did not raise his hand.
"It seems the result is clear. In the next chapter, we change our destination to the Xianzhou Luofu."
Stelle put her hands on her hips and glanced at the giggling March 7th: "You unprincipled woman."
"Hehehe, after all, we can't just watch the people of Luofu die, can we? That would make us great sinners."
"Alright, that's just how little March is. Let's decide who will go to the Luofu this time."
As Yang's words fell, Dan Heng spoke, "I'm out. I'm forbidden from stepping onto the Xianzhou Luofu's territory again, or I'll be wanted."
"Um… I'll stay here and take care of Takatsuki."
Seele also raised her hand and said.
Yang nodded without saying anything: "Himeko, what about you?"
"I'll pass. This trailblazing journey will be led by you, Welt. Is that okay?"
"Alright, then it'll be me, little March, and Stelle this time. Any problems?"
"No problem." * 2
After the Nameless made their decision, Pom-Pom changed the train's course and set off for the Xianzhou Luofu.
Although Kafka said that the Xianzhou was very close to the train's current location, in reality, two warps would still take two or three days.
And the people on the train spent this time waiting. During this period, the people watching over Takatsuki in the car rotated day and night, but Takatsuki showed no signs of waking up.
Stelle also looked at Takatsuki with some worry. She was more worried than the others, not just because Takatsuki hadn't woken up, but also because she had called a newly met friend for help, but her friend had also disappeared after entering Takatsuki's body.
And she didn't know that at this moment, within Takatsuki's mental sea, there were four people… perhaps not even people, four figures existing there.
"Not enough! It's still not enough. To become a king, this much effort is far from sufficient. While there's an almost insurmountable gap between people in terms of aptitude, that's only almost!"
With a wild roar, a red-haired figure swung his sword, continuously attacking the two other figures in front of him. These two figures were Takatsuki and his Stand, Heaven's Stairway.
The man and his Stand were being suppressed by the red-haired figure wielding a sword.
"Always relying on these strange powers, that's why you don't have the aptitude to be a king! Takatsuki, although everyone's aptitude and beliefs are different, the only thing that's the same is self-confidence!"
Black Haki enveloped the sword, followed by a surge of red-black Haki that spread upwards. The red-haired figure swung his sword at the man and his Stand, who were jointly defending.
"Divine Departure!"
With just a simple swing of the sword, a massive shockwave erupted from it. If this were reality, this single strike would have swept away everything within hundreds of square meters.
And even though Takatsuki used Armament Haki to defend and merged with his Stand for defense, he was still killed by this powerful blow.
But the moment Takatsuki was killed, he reappeared in this space.
"Huff… huff… If I could use my Stand ability…"
If it weren't for his Time Erase being unusable, how could he be so disheveled? Even the abilities of his Stand, such a close existence, were unusable. The character cards and Stigmata from the system were also ineffective. The only things that could be used were the physique gained through the boon and some skills brought by the Shanks Stigmata.
You ask why the latter works? Because this place is Takatsuki's consciousness space, and the figure opposite him is Red-Haired Shanks.
"Hahaha, let's take a break! Little Remembrancer girl, it's your turn."
Shanks laughed twice, then sat on the ground and pulled out a large bowl of wine from somewhere, drinking it.
"Coming, coming."
Another figure standing in the distance skipped over. She was completely covered in what looked like futuristic clothing, not revealing a single inch of skin, and her face was covered by an opaque mask, as if it were part of her body.
"Phew… This Shanks, he doesn't know how to hold back."
Takatsuki sat on the ground, panting. Although his stamina was fully restored after reviving, the pain of death still lingered.
"Well, Mr. Shanks is doing this for your own good. Takatsuki, your aptitude is indeed too poor, and aren't I here? This allows him to go all out, and under the terror of death, it's easier to break through the constraints of aptitude."
Listening to the Remembrancer's words, Takatsuki recalled what happened half a year ago—that's right, according to his perception of time, half a year had passed.
After he used Shanks' Stigmata that night, he tried to use Supreme King Haki but failed and fell unconscious. The reason for his unconsciousness was none other than Supreme King Haki.
And the one who activated Supreme King Haki and knocked him out was actually the Stigmata Shanks.
Shanks' first words upon meeting him were:
"Kid, your aptitude is too poor. How are you going to inherit my Haki like this?"
It was only through Shanks' explanation that Takatsuki learned that Supreme King Haki was different from other Haki. Everyone's Supreme King Haki was unique, with their own Conqueror's Haki.
So Shanks decided to train Takatsuki in this memory space until he fully mastered Supreme King Haki or defeated him.
Takatsuki originally thought defeating Shanks would be a simple matter. After all, he possessed a system, the incomplete power of the Twelve Zodiacs, and Demon Flame. He also controlled a Stand that ordinary people couldn't see, and multiple Stand abilities.
Then he was proven wrong.
This man named Shanks was completely unreasonable, and… his abilities were actually sealed. His Stand, when released, was just an extra clone.
Shanks simply used his swordsmanship to utterly dominate him, and Takatsuki couldn't withstand Shanks' Supreme King Haki, being defeated like a mere grunt in one blow.
However, at that time, Shanks had held back, merely beating Takatsuki without killing him.
Then, this woman, who claimed to be a messenger from the Fabled Garden of Forgetfulness, arrived.
She claimed to have been entrusted by Stelle to investigate the cause of Takatsuki's coma, and then she witnessed the battle between Takatsuki and Shanks. Subsequently, she developed a great interest in Takatsuki's and Shanks' memories.
Through his conversation with her, Takatsuki learned that the Fabled Garden of Flowing Light was an organization under the Aeon Fuli, and Remembrancers were beings who abandoned their physical bodies to transform into memetic mental entities, traveling the universe to find memories that could please Fuli.
The messenger noticed that Takatsuki possessed a vast amount of Void Energy belonging to the Path of Remembrance, so she proposed two trades to Takatsuki and Shanks.
She wanted to copy a portion of Shanks' pirate memories. In exchange, she would help Shanks train Takatsuki, including accelerating the speed of consciousness—meaning that one day in the outside world would be equivalent to a thousand days of training in the consciousness space—and also help Takatsuki repair mental trauma, allowing Shanks to fight to kill, creating pressure for Takatsuki to improve faster.
As for Takatsuki, she wanted his memories of other worlds. In exchange, she would guide Takatsuki in utilizing that power belonging to the Path of Remembrance, allowing Takatsuki to create Light Cones himself and preserve Takatsuki's memories, so that even if he trained in this consciousness space for hundreds of years, he would not forget what happened when he first entered here.
It could be said that the two deals were intertwined, making it impossible for Shanks and Takatsuki to refuse.
The messenger originally thought that Takatsuki would not be able to use this special power of the Path of Remembrance, and could only consume it as ordinary Void Energy.
Because to create a Light Cone from a memory slice, one condition was to have no physical body constraints, because with a physical body, there was no way to enter another person's consciousness.
But she discovered Takatsuki's Stand, and Takatsuki mentioned that his Stand inherently had the ability to extract memories and form Disc.
This made it feasible: to have the Stand perform the ability of creating Light Cones.
The Stand and her form were similar, both being existences that could not be observed by ordinary people and could not be affected by the material world, yet could influence the material world.
Coupled with that ability to extract memories, Under the Messenger's guidance, Heaven's Stairway mastered the ability to create Light Cones, which was far more convenient than Memory Discs.
Because Light Cones can freely intercept fragments of memory, whether by directly cutting them away or duplicating them, and once made into a Light Cone, anyone can use it to view that memory.
Moreover, Light Cones can also intercept conceptual memories, such as how to speak, or how to fight.
But unlike Discs, it can only affect memories and cannot extract others' abilities.
It can make others forget their abilities, but it cannot take away an ability and give it to another person.
"Alright, how do you feel?"
While Takatsuki was recalling, the Messenger had already finished the treatment.
"I feel much better, thank you, Messenger."
"You're welcome. This is also part of the transaction. If you want to thank me, then master Haki as soon as possible."
Although Takatsuki couldn't see the Messenger's appearance, her voice was still very cute.
"I'm sorry, my aptitude is too poor. It will probably take a long time. I haven't even gotten a clue yet."
"Don't worry, I'll help you. The current maximum acceleration is a thousand times, which is the limit for acceleration without damage. If you don't care about the cost, it can even accelerate ten thousand times."
"Then forget it. How's the situation outside now?"
Takatsuki, in his unconscious state, knew nothing of the outside.
"Outside, someone named Kafka appeared and conveyed the news that the Luofu was facing a Stellaron crisis. Now, the Astral Express has begun its journey to the Luofu and will arrive in about two days."
"Two days, meaning 2000 days, or seven years. I wonder if I can learn it…"
Takatsuki sighed, "Thank you for staying with me here."
"It's nothing~ We Memoria are without concept of time. Whether it's seven years or seven hundred years, it's all the same."
"That's truly a free-spirited creature."
"We are no longer creatures."
After a brief rest and chat, Takatsuki once again stood opposite Shanks.
"Takatsuki, to cross the chasm called aptitude, you must have the confidence and courage to cross it. The first step is to put away your opportunistic little thoughts."
Shanks looked at Takatsuki and suddenly spoke.
"I know, but… I still want to try. Perhaps I can defeat you directly."
"I see, so that's what you're thinking? Then come on, we have all the time in the world. Let me give you some profound lessons first…"
As Shanks's voice fell, his figure instantly vanished.
Takatsuki also instantly raised his sword to parry behind him, and the sword wrapped in Armament Haki blocked Shanks's sword.
"I'm tired of your moves, Shanks!"
The Stand's figure launched an attack on Shanks from a blind spot.
But under Shanks's Observation Haki, it was instantly seen through and kicked by Shanks.
In this consciousness space, the Stand's spiritual body advantage was completely gone, directly kicked away by Shanks's big foot in straw sandals, and then forcibly pulled back because it flew to the limit of its movable distance.
"Even if the move is seen through, if you can't block it, you still can't block it."
Red and black aura flowed on the blade, constantly pressing the blade towards Takatsuki.
Even if Takatsuki used Armament Haki to wrap his blade like Shanks, he was no match for him.
"Knowing sword moves and being able to skillfully use them are two different things."
After speaking, Takatsuki felt a pain in his abdomen, and Shanks used his old trick again, kicking him flying.
"My physical quality is based on yours, and you also know all my sword techniques. But even if we have the same physical quality, aura, and understanding of combat, the gap between us can still be widened. This is the chasm called aptitude."
"However, you still have a chance. For others, it's an insurmountable chasm, but in front of you, there's an opportunity to cross it. Fill it with tens of thousands of deaths using this great power."