Now only Stephen and Screwllum remained behind.
The two of them stood there awkwardly.
Neither spoke.
Stephen secretly glanced over, looking deeply conflicted.
After a long silence, he finally could not endure it anymore.
"You... aren't going to do anything?"
"...Screwllum?"
A miracle had occurred.
Stephen spoke.
A rare phenomenon on a cosmic scale.
Screwllum answered gently.
"Explanation: I am already taking action, Stephen."
"Logic: One natural advantage of mechanical lifeforms is that the body itself is not especially important."
"I am currently operating 327... devices simultaneously."
The usually elegant Screwllum paused slightly when mentioning the machines.
Complaints about their absurdly long official name were not limited to Lin Yi.
But Screwllum refused to compromise on naming standards.
So he simply called them devices.
Stephen Lloyd: !!!
Stephen abruptly lifted his head.
Originally, he had planned to wait until Screwllum left.
Once alone, he would feel safe enough to decide what to do.
But Screwllum had already started working.
Which meant...
From the outside, it looked like two people standing there awkwardly together.
But in reality—
It had always been Stephen standing there awkwardly by himself.
Stephen Lloyd:
AHHHHHHH!
His embarrassment instantly detonated.
He wanted to dig out an entire three-bedroom apartment with his toes and hide inside forever.
Even though he knew the others would not care if he slacked off a little—
It was still mortifying.
So Stephen pulled out a small pouch.
It was something he had developed after studying Ruan Mei's "A-Ruan Bag."
With some suggestions and inspiration from Lin Yi, Stephen had built it himself.
He called it:
Private Home.
Stephen opened the pouch—
Then quickly crawled inside.
The pouch dropped to the ground.
But once inside, Stephen suddenly remembered something.
A hand emerged from the pouch—
And pulled the pouch into itself.
Yes.
The Private Home was stored inside the Private Home.
It sounded ridiculous.
But in truth, it made sense.
Higher-dimensional constructs could not be understood through ordinary three-dimensional logic.
This was not merely a storage tool.
It was a strange object existing somewhere between four and five dimensions.
Inside it lay a completely isolated miniature world.
After Stephen hid himself away, Screwllum's body suddenly dissolved into countless tiny particles.
It turned out he had only remained there to keep Stephen company.
The particles continued dispersing until they vanished completely.
They were atomic-scale intelligent mechanical units.
"Screwllum" was no longer a single mechanical lifeform.
Any machine could be Screwllum.
Meanwhile...
Lin Yi arrived at the Corridor of Flowing Light with practiced ease.
After all—
Practice made perfect.
Last time, he had come alone.
And he had been in a hurry.
Most of his time had been spent simply mapping the area.
He had only managed to grab a few Light Cones before leaving.
Which had left him deeply dissatisfied.
But this time—
Even if he could not take everything—
He was definitely taking at least half.
The Corridor of Flowing Light was already under guard.
After Lin Yi's previous rampage, security had become much tighter.
Fortunately—
There were no familiar faces among the defenders.
Which meant he did not need to hold back.
If old acquaintances were present, things might become awkward.
But ordinary Memokeepers?
No threat at all.
Lin Yi tossed out a reverse memetic crystal.
The moment the Memokeepers saw both Lin Yi and the crystal—
They scattered like startled birds.
No hesitation whatsoever.
That was what reputation meant.
A reputation earned through firsthand experience.
Last time, Lin Yi had spent ages researching how to quietly extract the Light Cones without causing trouble.
This time—
He had learned.
Research?
Forget that.
Destructive mining was faster.
The Corridor of Flowing Light here was vastly larger than the version in Shenxiao Space City.
It stretched endlessly into the distance.
Light Cones floated like stars.
They were arranged in broad constellations rather than packed rows.
The corridor itself was formed from flowing memory-light, spiraling upward toward some unknown destination.
Purple radiance.
Crystal-like structures.
Streams of memory substance.
Together, they formed a breathtaking landscape.
The reverse memetic crystal Lin Yi had thrown began to destabilize.
It trembled violently.
Soon it could no longer maintain its crystalline form.
The released reverse memetic matter reacted with the substances of Sanjian Heaven.
Its strange nature even began dissolving the very foundation of the realm.
A massive void opened around the crystal.
Memory substance surged like a raging sea.
That section of the Corridor of Flowing Light collapsed into the widening emptiness.
Lin Yi swung the Phase Walker, storing the shattered corridor segment in a separate phase.
Then he opened a spatial gate and ran.
Sanjian Heaven was the home ground of the Garden of Recollection.
Within it, Memokeepers moved absurdly fast.
If he lingered too long, he would be surrounded.
Since his mission was to buy time, guerrilla tactics were ideal.
Strike.
Loot.
Run.
Repeat.
Not long after he left, a Memokeeper appeared.
Looking at the familiar style of the crime scene, their eye twitched.
They took a deep breath.
Then roared in fury:
"LIN YI! YOU BASTARD! THIS ISN'T OVER!"
Using the power of memory, the Memokeeper restored the destroyed portion of Sanjian Heaven.
But the damaged Corridor of Flowing Light would need time to rebuild.
And the stolen Light Cones could not be recreated.
The Memokeeper spoke solemnly.
"Boundless Pure Land."
"Home of all knowledge."
"Born to watch over the Eternal God."
Emanator of Remembrance — Shi.
A unique lifeform born directly within Sanjian Heaven.
They regarded Fuli as their father.
And the collective memories of all beings as their mother.
Shi had no peers.
No faction.
If anything, they might be considered aligned with the Formless Purpose.
Shi gained intelligence through the convergence of countless memories.
Under Fuli's gaze, they were born.
From the moment of birth, they possessed the authority of an Emanator.
"Memories of all beings..."
"Show me the way."
"Help me catch that thief."
Shi connected with the memories of everything.
In an instant, they located Lin Yi.
Through memory pathways, Shi appeared beside him.
Lin Yi had just finished blowing something up and had not even completed collecting the loot when Shi arrived.
He grabbed whatever he could—
Then ran again.
Before leaving, he tossed out another reverse memetic crystal to delay pursuit.
It was not that he could not fight.
There was simply no need.
If he became pinned down, he would not be able to continue looting.
Besides—
Shi was an old acquaintance.
They had history.
Shi caught the reverse memetic crystal.
The dangerous object capable of devastating Sanjian Heaven suddenly behaved docilely in Shi's hand.
Shi spoke to it gently.
"Please tell me..."
"How can I counteract the damage caused by this dissolution?"
Then Shi nodded to themself.
"I understand."
"Thank you."
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