On one side he loudly declared that Order was dead, yet on the other he turned toward Order, stealing the Chorus Dominicus, transforming into the Philosophical Child — the Lord of Sunday.
Lin Yi glanced at Robin with a strange expression.
Before she noticed, he quietly looked away.
Silly girl…
Has it ever occurred to you that the one who turned to Order might be your own brother?
And not just any follower—
But the final boss himself.
Robin: Impossible! Absolutely impossible!
But Lin Yi suddenly remembered the golden chains he had just seen.
No matter how he thought about it…
They really did resemble Order.
Then another uneasy thought crossed his mind.
What if both possibilities Robin mentioned had actually happened at the same time?
He himself, present at the scene, had touched the Net woven by Order (the First Echo), and the ripple it created became the Third Echo.
Meanwhile, Sunday in Penacony symbolized the Order within Harmony itself—representing the Second Echo.
Sunday's assistance had stirred another ripple, forming another Third Echo.
Two different sources of the Third Echo had appeared simultaneously.
And just so happened—
At that exact moment, a Harmony tuning was taking place.
The two echoes were then integrated.
Together they triggered the Second Echo and the First Echo, creating even greater ripples.
The resonance of Order intensified.
And the process repeated itself again and again—
Like a chain reaction.
When Robin had cried out,
"O soul of the Threefold Face—"
Whether Xipe, the Aeon of Harmony, responded was unknown.
But the Order formed by the intertwining Three Echoes definitely responded.
What kind of cosmic-level dark joke was this?
The more Lin Yi thought about it, the more plausible it seemed.
But now wasn't the time to say any of this.
The tuning had already been interrupted.
Even if he explained it now, it would be too late.
Now it was time to respond to Robin's expectations.
"Miss Robin."
Lin Yi sheathed his sword and called her name in a serious tone.
"Hm?"
"Mr. Lin Yi, is something wrong?"
Robin looked up, her worried thoughts interrupted by his voice.
"Although the tuning was interrupted by an unknown accident," Lin Yi said calmly,
"I still want to thank you for being willing to risk yourself for this tuning."
Robin did not accept the thanks as something natural.
Instead, she shook her head.
"This is something I should do."
"Helping the weak with the strong is exactly what members of the Family should do when practicing the principles of Harmony."
"If I hadn't come…"
"The people on this planet would likely be in great danger."
"Unfortunately, I still failed."
"And in the short term, I don't have the strength to perform another tuning."
Robin blamed herself.
If only she were stronger…
Or if her brother had been there…
Perhaps things would have turned out differently.
Lin Yi immediately objected.
"That's not the right way to look at it."
"No act of kindness is something that must be done."
"And no act of brave sacrifice is something that should ever be taken for granted."
"In my homeland, there are two ancient stories."
"One is called 'Zigong Redeems a Slave.'"
"The other is called 'Zilu Accepts the Ox.'"
Robin tilted her head slightly, listening with curiosity.
"The story goes like this," Lin Yi said.
"One day, Zigong encountered a fellow countryman enslaved in another state."
"He spent his own money to redeem the man and restore his freedom."
"According to that state's law, Zigong could go to the local authorities and be reimbursed for his expenses."
"He could even receive a generous reward."
Robin guessed softly.
"So… he didn't go to collect it?"
"Correct."
"He believed that doing good deeds should not involve personal gain."
"But his teacher harshly criticized him."
Lin Yi continued.
"The teacher told him this:
You may not care about money. But you should still accept the reward."
"Otherwise, if someone less wealthy than you encounters the same situation in the future…"
"Should they rescue their countryman?"
"If they do, should they accept the reward?"
"If they accept it, people will criticize them because of your example."
"If they refuse it, they must bear the entire cost themselves."
"And not everyone is as wealthy as you."
"If this continues, people will hesitate."
"And eventually, no one will be willing to do good deeds anymore."
"After hearing this, Zigong was deeply ashamed."
Robin sighed softly.
"That teacher must have been a truly wise sage."
Lin Yi nodded.
"Yes."
"In my homeland, for a very long time, he was regarded as the very symbol of wisdom."
"A sage of great insight."
Robin smiled teasingly.
"So now the symbol of wisdom has become you, hasn't it?"
"The learned and wise genius?"
Lin Yi shook his head.
"Not me."
"I only became a genius after leaving my homeland."
"In my hometown, I was just an ordinary person."
Robin laughed softly.
"That's hard to imagine."
"A genius living like an ordinary person."
"What's so hard to imagine?"
Lin Yi replied.
"Have you ever met Stephen?"
"He still helps out at his adoptive father's shop every day."
"No one there knows he's a genius."
Robin blinked in surprise.
"Really?"
"These secrets… even I don't know much about them."
"Outside the Genius Society, very few people probably do."
"But still," she added thoughtfully,
"Even if that teacher was wise, surely he couldn't compare to a genius."
Lin Yi shook his head again.
"That sage enlightened people and spread education during a time when civilization was still ignorant."
"The circumstances were different."
"They can't be compared directly."
Robin nodded slowly.
"So the other story must be the opposite?"
"The person helped someone and accepted the reward they deserved?"
"Yes."
Lin Yi smiled.
"Since you understand my point, there's no need to explain further."
He gently touched the sword at his side.
"It seems our conversation drifted away from the original topic."
"I was supposed to be thanking you."
"Miss Robin."
"Thank you for risking yourself to help."
"And thank you for sharing those secrets about Order and Harmony."
"So—"
"I represent only myself when I say this."
"I owe you a favor."
"You may use this favor to request something from me in the future."
"This favor is quite valuable."
"The Divine Firmament Space City uses a special incentive currency—Points."
"The highest reward that points can buy is one question to me."
"It costs 1000 points."
"Unfortunately, no one has saved enough yet."
"Since I never prohibited trading them…"
"The Corporation has apparently speculated the price up to 1.675 billion credits per point."
"Though anyone capable of earning points probably doesn't lack money anyway."
Robin gasped softly, covering her mouth.
"A favor from you…"
"That really is precious."
Lin Yi held the scabbard and extended it toward her.
"Take this sword as proof."
"If you ever need something, you can send me a message."
"Or bring this sword to the Space City."
"And if you're ever in danger…"
"Just swing the sword."
"I'll know."
Lin Yi added with a light joke:
"Of course, it's not as impressive as the Alliance's Jade Abacus of Oath, which summons fleets the moment a signal is sent."
"But the efficiency of delivering the message isn't bad either."