"There's definitely something wrong," Lin Yi said calmly.
"If you translate Prince Ers's words into another form, it basically means…"
"Collect your pay at the training grounds tomorrow—
and don't wear armor."
"Oh!" Dongfang Qiqing suddenly understood.
Even without knowing the exact reference, the meaning was clear enough.
Back when Star Rail was just a game, those memes were easy to recognize.
But now that this world had become reality, who knew where those jokes had originated?
The universe was vast.
Some distant planet might very well have produced a similar story.
"Forget the banquet," Blackbeard said.
"My men do dirty work."
"Eating and drinking comfortably on someone else's turf?"
"I might feel fine—but my men wouldn't."
"Better to collect the payment early, leave quickly, and go enjoy ourselves somewhere else."
Well…
Apparently he was just impatient.
"Very well," Prince Ers replied smoothly.
"If Captain Blackbeard has already decided, I won't insist."
"This attendant will guide you."
"Follow him to the training grounds."
"I must return to report to King Dekara."
"I won't escort you personally."
"Perhaps we'll cooperate again in the future."
"Oh, we will."
Blackbeard grinned.
"Men!"
"Leave some on the ship."
"The rest follow me."
"Let's pick out some real firepower."
At least he wasn't stupid.
He made sure not everyone disembarked.
Though eager, he still paused before leaving.
"Prince Ers."
"Farewell."
Surprisingly polite.
Maybe the previous trades had built some trust.
The credit payment had already arrived.
The precious metals were still being counted.
Yet the pirates had already pushed the slaves off the ship.
Prince Ers ordered his guards to take the slaves away.
Then he led the remaining personnel toward the massive tower—just as he claimed, apparently returning to report.
Meanwhile Blackbeard led his men toward the training grounds, guided by a perfectly composed attendant.
He had also left strict instructions behind.
As long as he didn't return—
no one on the ship was allowed to disembark.
Lin Yi watched quietly.
"I'm guessing the Autran faction will soon try to lure the remaining pirates off the ship."
"Miss Dongfang—"
"Please call me Qiqing."
"Alright."
"Qiqing."
"Which show should we watch?"
"Stay here or follow them to the training grounds?"
"Either way, something entertaining should happen."
Qiqing suddenly pointed.
"Sir… we don't have to choose."
"They're coming out."
Lin Yi raised his eyebrows.
"Oh?"
"So I guessed wrong."
"That's impressive."
"I'm getting more interested in this warlord faction."
Several pirates suddenly dragged people out of the ship.
Each man hauled two captives before tossing them to the ground.
Soon afterward, a squad from the Autran faction boarded the vessel and took control.
The pirates who came down casually wrapped arms around the Autran soldiers and walked away together.
Qiqing stared in disbelief.
"…There were that many spies?"
Then she suddenly thought of something.
"Sir…"
"Could there also be spies waiting at the training grounds?"
"Possibly," Lin Yi replied.
"Those few people earlier felt strange."
Lin Yi had already recorded the entire scene using Moment Eternal.
The result was a Shattered Mirror of the Past.
This was a degraded Light Cone technology developed after studying relics.
A Light Cone was essentially a sealed fragment of the absolute past—a symbol of fixed destiny.
Its creation was deeply tied to memory.
But not every memory qualified.
Only memories considered sufficiently precious could become Light Cones.
That raised an interesting question.
What about the countless ordinary moments?
How could those be preserved?
When Lin Yi raised this question to Herta, the two began experimenting.
For geniuses, a question itself was often the most valuable treasure.
From those discussions—
Shattered Mirrors of the Past were born.
Before this discovery, no method could perfectly record the past.
Images, text, data, memory bubbles, afterimages—
all of them contained flaws.
None were truly complete.
But a Shattered Mirror could record everything in a specific time and place perfectly.
It possessed properties extremely similar to a Light Cone.
However—
it lacked the strengthening effects Light Cones granted to Pathstriders.
And it could only exist in environments rich with memory substance.
Outside such areas, it would slowly dissipate.
Meaning it had no universal practical use.
Lin Yi opened his phone.
He sent a message to Screwllum.
He intended to send the mirror to him.
Because Screwllum possessed one of the most important byproducts of the Panacea Project—
Source Code of the Soul.
This discovery represented the most fundamental analysis of the soul itself.
It had appeared accidentally during attempts to convert souls into data.
It also served as a crucial link in the Equation of Life.
Ownership of the discovery belonged to Screwllum.
Of course, knowledge couldn't really be owned.
Other geniuses knew about it too.
But Screwllum had studied it the most deeply.
Lin Yi: Screwllum, send me your coordinates.
Screwllum: Hmm?
(Relative spatial coordinates shared.)
Lin Yi: I'm sending you a Shattered Mirror.
Lin Yi: Check the people inside the recording.
Lin Yi: Something's wrong with them.
Lin Yi: Actually… something's wrong with everyone here.
Lin Yi and Dongfang Qiqing trailed the pirates from afar.
The longer Lin Yi stayed here—
the more he sensed something disturbing.
The lifeforms here felt…
disharmonious.
Originally he planned to study the mirror later at Space City as a travel souvenir.
But now he immediately sent it to Screwllum.
Meanwhile—
events at the training grounds unfolded almost exactly as predicted.
Prince Ers had already surrounded the area with soldiers.
But they didn't even need to act.
Nearly 70% of Blackbeard's own men suddenly turned against him.
The betrayal was instantaneous.
The remaining pirates were captured almost immediately.
Blackbeard stared in disbelief.
Within seconds—
the remaining 30% were completely subdued.
Those captured pirates cursed furiously as they were dragged away.
Their destination—
the same direction the slaves had been taken earlier.
Lin Yi watched silently.
"…This is getting strange."
Dongfang Qiqing frowned.
"Sir, this makes no sense."
"There were far too many infiltrators."
"And judging from their expressions, they weren't coerced."
"They clearly planned this from the beginning."
"How did the Autran survivors manage something like this?"
She looked toward the massive surrounding army.
"And if things were already this controlled…"
"…why deploy such an overwhelming force?"
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