During the brief moment Lin Yi was thinking—
Several beams of destructive light shot toward them.
Within those beams, the Equilibrium energy that had previously maintained balance suddenly disappeared.
The remaining Path energies inside the beams violently conflicted with the power of Destruction.
A massive explosion followed.
An enormous repulsive force swept across the area, flattening every nearby structure.
The shockwave continued spreading toward them.
Fortunately—
This exact scene had already been predicted by the Laplace Demon and simulated beforehand through the Omniscient Lens.
"Careful!"
"Crouch down and move back quickly!"
"Ah! O-Okay!"
Dongfang Qiqing instantly hugged her head and crouched.
In her panic she tripped, rolling backward clumsily.
Lin Yi calmly erected a spatial reflection barrier, redirecting the shockwave that was about to reach her.
After stabilizing herself, Qiqing looked behind her.
The barrier stood immovable like a mountain.
Inside it, the reflected shockwaves collided and canceled each other out.
Then she looked at Lin Yi.
He was clearly holding back laughter.
Only then did she realize—
She had been tricked again.
Her cheeks puffed out like a hamster.
Of all times to joke around!
She silently cursed him a thousand times in her mind.
But she didn't dare say it aloud.
Lin Yi, having successfully teased her, turned his attention back to Dekara in the distance.
The man now radiated extreme boss-fight energy.
Lin Yi frowned.
"Headache… headache… headache…"
"Let's retreat first."
"I'll construct recursive space layers to trap him for a while."
But as he began constructing the recursive space prison, he looked again at Dekara's overwhelming brute strength.
His frown deepened.
"Don't expect too much."
"He may not have a brain right now…"
"But he definitely has fists."
"I need to think carefully about how to restore his sanity while enduring attacks at that level."
"Memory Keeper, do you have any ideas?"
Just as expected—
Dekara punched straight through the first spatial layer.
Lin Yi rebuilt another.
Each time Dekara shattered a layer, Lin Yi reconstructed a new one.
Although Dekara was temporarily trapped—
Most of Lin Yi's concentration was now fully occupied.
Zhili remained silent for a moment.
Then she proposed a very risky plan.
"I could attempt to enter his memories."
"And search for the abnormal point."
"But his current condition is extremely strange."
"It might not work."
"And the risk is very high."
Without hesitation, Zhili turned into a streak of light.
She dodged several chaotic attacks from Dekara and flew directly into his body.
The next moment—
She was violently ejected.
Zhili reappeared immediately.
Her face was pale.
Cold sweat covered her forehead.
Her body trembled uncontrollably.
Lin Yi had even heard her scream echo within the mental plane.
"It's twisted," Zhili said with difficulty.
"Extremely twisted."
"He has two sets of memories."
"Completely contradictory memories."
"The same person."
"The same time."
"Yet two entirely different behaviors occurred simultaneously."
"It's an impossible phenomenon."
Her expression was grim, but she still forced herself to deliver the crucial information.
"I can't do much about his condition."
"But…"
"Internal distortion like this…"
"Harmony tuning would probably be extremely effective."
Lin Yi continued constructing recursive space layers.
Whenever one broke, he rebuilt two.
Eventually he managed to fully trap Dekara within a complex looping spatial prison.
But doing so consumed nearly all his mental focus.
"Harmony tuning?"
"Where am I supposed to find a Harmony Pathstrider right now?"
He sighed.
"You expect one to appear in this godforsaken place?"
"Even if we found one…"
"With his condition, an ordinary Harmony Pathstrider probably wouldn't be enough."
After a long struggle—
Lin Yi finally had a moment to respond.
He had constructed hundreds of recursive layers, each self-iterating.
Dekara was temporarily contained.
Zhili fell silent.
She knew Lin Yi was right.
This planet—Kasbelinyat VIII—was a chaotic warzone filled with warring factions.
A Harmony Pathstrider being born here was unlikely.
One choosing to come here willingly was even less likely.
She sighed.
If Lin Yi had no solution—
She would have no choice but to give up.
"Don't forget," Lin Yi added,
"We don't have much time."
"In this state, his existential essence is rapidly dissolving."
"And I still have to hold him here to prevent further destruction."
Lin Yi suddenly proposed another idea.
"How about this?"
"You hold him off."
"If you can stall him for one minute, I can bring a qualified tuner here."
Zhili went even quieter.
She carefully evaluated her own combat ability.
Then answered decisively.
"I can't."
"I can barely protect my own life."
"At most I could escape with one other person."
How frustrating.
The truth—and those precious memories—were right in front of her.
Yet she couldn't reach them.
At that moment, Dongfang Qiqing suddenly brightened.
She had thought of something.
"Um…"
"I heard that Miss Robin is currently holding a tour of慰问 performances in the Kasbelinyat star sector."
"She's performing to comfort civilians suffering from the war."
"Maybe she's on Kasbelinyat VIII right now."
"Miss Robin comes from Penacony, the land of Harmony."
"Her brother is the head of the Oak Family there."
"She has extremely pure Harmony lineage."
"Maybe she could perform the tuning."
Lin Yi looked at her with surprise.
Zhili also snapped out of her thoughts.
"W-What?"
"Is there something on my face?"
Qiqing nervously touched her cheek.
Lin Yi raised a thumb.
"Well done."
"Quick thinking."
"I thought you were just some clueless rich girl."
"If I were really that kind of rich girl," Qiqing said self-deprecatingly,
"I probably wouldn't have survived this long."
Lin Yi chuckled.
"By the way…"
"How did you know Robin might be here?"
"Just chatting."
"It helps me relax while focusing."
Even while speaking, Lin Yi continued reinforcing the recursive space prison.
At the same time—
He rummaged through items stored in a sub-phase pocket dimension opened by the Phase Walker.
One rare item after another appeared and was tossed aside.
Some were familiar.
Some were completely unknown.
Zhili watched in stunned silence.
Her throat moved.
She swallowed.
Many of those artifacts carried ancient memory fragments.
For a Memory Keeper—
They were irresistibly attractive.
Dongfang Qiqing, however, ignored the treasure pile completely.
When Lin Yi asked her question, she immediately answered.
"Miss Robin is a galaxy-famous singer."
"I'm also one of her fans."
"When I first heard she was planning慰问 performances in the Kasbelinyat star sector, I started following the news."
"But after I heard you were heading to the IPC…"
"I set that aside."
"And then we ran into so many unexpected events that I completely forgot about it."
"It was only after arriving on Kasbelinyat VIII…"
"…that I suddenly remembered."
"Miss Robin was also scheduled to come to the Kasbelinyat star sector."
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