Unlike many other Memokeepers, who often rushed headfirst into danger, Zhili had survived for so long precisely because she knew when not to interfere.
Too many Memokeepers charged recklessly into trouble, utterly failing to make proper use of the longevity granted by their existence.
Zhili lived by a single principle:
Do not be overly curious.
Magnificent and dreamlike landscapes stretched across every corner of Sanjian Heaven.
But aside from Stephen, everyone present had visited the Garden of Recollection before.
The scenery no longer impressed them.
Lin Yi spoke first.
Alright.
According to the plan, I'll head to the Corridor of Flowing Light and finish what I started last time.
Once I take what I need, I'll be responsible for drawing the Garden of Recollection's attention.
I already have personal grudges with them.
So my motives are clear.
They won't find it suspicious.
It may look like I'm under the most pressure.
But in reality, the front line will be the easiest position.
Herta—your task is the hardest.
Yes.
This was the true Corridor of Flowing Light.
As for how one had appeared inside Shenxiao Space City...
There was no need to explain.
That place was quite literally a hall of stolen trophies.
Ruan Mei spoke calmly.
I'll use this opportunity to head to the Artifact Pool and the Pool of Sublime Desire.
I'll retrieve the knowledge of countless minds and the records of collective intent.
She looked at Lin Yi with a faint smile.
I won't let your efforts go to waste, dear.
I've always been curious about those manifestations of emotion and feeling born from life itself.
Her manner remained elegant and serene.
As though she were simply strolling through a marketplace, not participating in a robbery.
The Artifact Pool had been created by:
The God of Pure Lands.
The Lord of Sanjian Heaven.
The Aeon of Remembrance, Fuli.
Fuli gathered the thoughts of all beings and condensed them into the Artifact Pool.
It served to sustain Sanjian Heaven and link memories together.
Memokeepers themselves were unique lifeforms granted existence by Fuli.
They abandoned physical bodies and existed purely as memetic entities.
That state offered many advantages:
Freedom from mortal decay.
Immunity to ordinary physical weapons.
The ability to travel through connected memories.
But it also came with flaws.
The greatest weakness was this:
As artificially created memetic beings, Memokeepers struggled to truly experience emotion.
Without bodies, they lacked the biological systems that generated feeling.
Fuli, in mercy, gathered the emotional experiences of countless lives.
After refinement, their essence was condensed into the Pool of Sublime Desire.
When a Memokeeper immersed themselves within it, the pool created a personal memory world tailored only to them.
Inside that world, they could experience the full range of mortal emotion.
At least there, they could feel normal again.
Ruan Mei turned toward Herta.
Infiltrating the central archive that stores memories from countless worlds...
Herta, your mission is the most difficult.
Be careful.
Screwllum spoke next.
As agreed, I will remain on the outer perimeter.
When the Garden of Recollection begins detecting anomalies...
I will simultaneously extract memory substance from multiple locations.
This will create widespread disturbances.
The Garden will be forced to respond everywhere at once.
His task was similar to Lin Yi's.
Both were responsible for creating chaos.
They would disrupt the Garden of Recollection's response patterns and draw attention away from Herta and Ruan Mei.
The device Screwllum prepared to extract memory substance was anything but ordinary.
Lin Yi called it:
The Flush Toilet.
At maximum output, a single unit could drain the memory substance of an entire Asdana region in three seconds.
Of course, under present conditions, full output was impossible.
Even so, each machine could still drain one Asdana every three minutes and twenty-seven seconds.
A disturbance of that scale was impossible for the Garden of Recollection to ignore.
The machine had been conceived after Lin Yi proved the existence of the Sea of Quanta.
That discovery had inspired Screwllum.
Originally, the device had been designed to drain the Sea of Quanta itself.
More precisely—
To generate infinite energy by extracting power from it.
Unfortunately, the project had failed.
No one even knew where the Sea of Quanta truly existed.
Some doubted it existed at all.
But now—
It had finally found a purpose.
Screwllum had given the machine an absurdly long and complicated formal name.
He absolutely refused to let Lin Yi rename it the Aether Engine.
Out of spite, Lin Yi continued calling it the Flush Toilet.
Lin Yi looked at Screwllum seriously.
Screwllum, your Flush Toilet is going to cause enormous disturbances.
We know very little about the Emanators of Remembrance.
Be careful.
Screwllum answered calmly.
Thank you for your concern, Mr. Lin Yi.
But it is not called the Flush Toilet.
Herta spoke next.
I'll head to the central storage zone of the Garden of Recollection.
I'll infiltrate their deepest territory.
And steal the memories of countless worlds.
Lin Yi hesitated briefly, then handed her something.
The Phase Walker.
Take it.
You know how to use it.
It'll make infiltration easier.
The faster you finish, the less pressure the rest of us will face.
Herta looked at him.
What about you?
Me?
Lin Yi shrugged.
I'll manage.
He drew out another weapon.
Tianhui.
This thing creates massive disturbances.
It's perfect for attracting attention.
For causing chaos, the Phase Walker was nowhere near as useful as Tianhui.
After all—
Tianhui was loud.
And this was Sanjian Heaven, not the material universe.
The Aeon of Preservation would probably not intervene here.
Destroying parts of the Garden of Recollection would not matter much.
Herta shook her head.
Keep it.
I don't need it.
Don't forget—
I'm an Emanator of Erudition.
She left one final sentence before striding forward decisively.
Come witness the magic of geniuses.
She waved her staff.
Mirror after mirror appeared, forming a vast labyrinth of reflections.
Herta stepped inside.
One mirror after another collapsed behind her.
Then she vanished.
Lin Yi turned to Stephen Lloyd.
Stephen, you'll act as backup.
You have no fixed assignment.
You can move freely.
But if any of us need assistance, you must provide support.
Stephen answered quietly.
...Mm.
Stephen appeared to be a middle-aged man, but beneath the calm voice lingered the nervousness of a child.
Getting even a single word from this severely socially anxious boy was already an achievement.
If the group had not known one another so well, Stephen might not have spoken at all.
Ruan Mei said gently,
Herta has already begun.
We should hurry as well.
She raised a hand and blew softly.
A single plum blossom petal drifted upward.
It formed a glowing plum-shaped seal in the sky of Sanjian Heaven.
Ruan Mei touched the mark.
Then I'll be going too.
Screwllum.
Stephen.
And dear—
See you afterward.
She disappeared.
Lin Yi also gave his farewell.
Screwllum. Stephen.
I'm moving first.
I need to act quickly.
No time to waste.
See you later.
A spatial gate opened.
Then the gate itself moved toward Lin Yi.
He stepped through it—
And vanished.
Each genius displayed their own unique methods.
To anyone who did not understand what was happening, it would have looked exactly like magic.
Mysterious.
Elegant.
Extraordinary.
Author's Notes
I searched everywhere but couldn't find detailed information about Emanators of Remembrance.
So I'm creating my own interpretation.
Maybe Amphoreus will introduce one eventually—but I don't have time to wait.