Chapter 79 Chapter 79: So He's Also a Pathstrider?
Chapter 79: So He's Also a Pathstrider?
"Sit tight, Boss Kevin, we're about to start the warp jump."
After settling various matters in Belobog, Kevin had Pal directly take him to the Xianzhou 'Luofu'... He really wasn't at ease leaving Elysia out there alone; who knows what kind of completely unmanageable **trouble she might stir up.
Although Belobog was currently in a state of rebuilding from scratch, it had at least entered the 'Corporation's' field of vision. After signing a series of cooperation agreements with Pal, they could directly establish contact with the 'Corporation' and engage in a series of trade negotiations.
Pal's main role as a trade officer was essentially to act as a liaison; the formal transaction processes would naturally be conducted online, so it wasn't a problem for her to be away for a while.
Of course, the main reason was—in the eyes of the 'Corporation', Kevin's value was even higher than that of the entire planet. How could they let Pal, this personal assistant who had been practically sold off, abandon her boss for work?
"......"
But come to think of it, Kevin did want to find a place to sit tight, but Pal's spaceship cockpit didn't leave any extra space for him at all.
"Sorry, Boss Kevin, to save on costs, I only ordered the smallest commercial spacecraft, so the cockpit is a bit cramped..."
Perhaps sensing Kevin's death glare, Pal's voice grew softer and softer until even Kevin's senses could only catch her mouth lightly mumbling.
To be honest, this spacecraft wasn't exactly small in size, but most of its space was designated as cargo holds for loading goods. This resulted in its cockpit becoming just barely large enough to accommodate two people; any more exaggeration and the two would have to be pressed completely together.
At this moment, the most spacious place here had ironically become the small nest Pal had reserved for Can when she first ordered the spacecraft.
"Meow~"
Looking at the foolish humans beside her who didn't even have space to turn over, Can lazily rolled over and paid them no mind.
"Ahem, since you have no objections, Boss Kevin, I'll start now, okay? Three, two, one...!"
As Pal pushed the red lever forward, the entire spacecraft instantly transformed into a streak of light and disappeared from the planet's sky, leaving no trace.
It was hard to describe exactly what that feeling was like. A spacecraft entering warp jump doesn't just whoosh and arrive at its destination; instead, it enters a special state, traversing through another unknown dimension.
If one directly defines the distances between stars as observed by civilizations confined to individual planets, then the distance between two civilized planets would be at least several dozen light-years. Even traveling at light speed through the universe, this is an almost insurmountable distance.
Through countless civilizations' explorations of the universe, they discovered that the difficulties of interstellar travel lie not only in distance but more terrifyingly in stepping into a completely unknown layer of imaginary flow after leaving their respective stable star systems.
In such places, not only are direction and space unobservable, but even time seems to become a relative concept, giving a feeling akin to a chaotic realm before the world was born.
The universe's difficulty to observe led scholars to define it as a kind of 'Void Constant Blindness'. This situation persisted until the theory of the 'Imaginary Tree' was mentioned in the universe.
This theory compares different worlds across different spacetimes to a tree-like structure: each branch represents a form of world existence; each leaf and petal represents their present and past left in the dimension of time. The tree crown, by absorbing ownerless imaginary energy from spacetime vascular bundles, maintains a dynamic structure—new buds grow, withered leaves fall off, countless births and endings play out in the boundless universe... Comparing the universe's structure to a 'tree' is like an attitude of viewing the 'Imaginary Tree' as life.
After this theory was born, people could use imagination to outline its operating principle: ownerless imaginary energy continuously flows through spacetime vascular bundles, forming 'star systems'—countless worlds—at their ends. And between worlds, just as there are spatial barriers between leaves and leaves, lies the difficult-to-cross unknown imaginary void.
This concept almost perfectly coincides with Kevin's understanding of the 'Imaginary Tree'... The mere decades of research by the Previous Era corroborated countless years of development in the universe. Aside from the genius attributes of Mei and others at that time, the stimulating effect of 'Honkai' on civilization development is also self-evident.
But according to the information he obtained from the 'Cocoon', 'Honkai' is theoretically a civilization screening mechanism belonging to the 'Imaginary Tree'. Yet he has never heard any information about 'Honkai' in this universe from beginning to end.
This might be a good thing... After all, if a universe-level Herrscher truly appeared, Kevin couldn't even imagine what kind of disaster that would be.
However...
"'Trailblaze' Aeon, Akivili..."
After entering the state of space travel, Kevin had been absorbing information from the spacecraft's database—information probably quite basic for civilizations in this universe—until he saw this entry about 'Trailblaze' and paused slightly.
According to the displayed information, almost all navigation routes in the universe at this moment were pioneered by this 'Aeon'. He connected countless civilizations across the universe, pushing this universe's civilizations to new heights of flourishing diversity.
His original world hadn't yet connected with this universe; perhaps lacking the existence of 'Trailblaze' was one of the reasons.
And the Astral Express where Welt and the others currently reside was precisely the main tool Akivili used to pioneer navigation routes back then. This is also one of the main reasons they continuously engage in adventurous exploration, as this embodies the spirit belonging to the Path of 'Trailblaze'.
Devotees, warriors, seekers of knowledge, lost travelers... There are always mortals who, intentionally or unintentionally, step onto Paths governed by 'Aeons', thus becoming 'Pathstriders' who practice their ideals.
After becoming Pathstriders, these mortals can draw imaginary energy from their Paths, thereby possessing various peculiar powers... For example, Seele's abilities likely originate from this.
And Kevin, having gained the attention of the 'Preservation' Aeon and feeling able to mobilize some kind of imaginary energy at any time, strictly speaking should also have passively become a Pathstrider.
Is this a good thing?
No comments yet
Be the first to share your thoughts!