The Wishing Stone Tablet and Synapse's Friend

One day later.

On the main island of Synapse, inside the Grand Council Hall.

The vast hall was laid out like the Roman Senate, designed for high-ranking members of Synapse to discuss important matters.

However, despite its capacity to hold tens of thousands, there were only a dozen or so people present.

There were both men and women, all wearing Synapse's iconic white robes, with long hair and wings on their backs.

Except for the Master of Synapse, Synapse's entire leadership had gathered.

"Then, according to Minos' prior decree, we announce the restoration of Daedalus' position and status."

A white-haired female angel spoke slowly.

"From now on, Daedalus will serve as the second leader, jointly managing Synapse..."

"Understood."

Daedalus gave a slight nod and accepted the emblem symbolizing her status from the speaker.

From this point forward, her operations within Synapse would be much smoother.

"Strange... Considering how deep the conflict between you two was, why did he suddenly decide to pardon you?"

Some of the angels looked puzzled.

They had decent relationships with Daedalus, but were also well aware of her longstanding conflict with the Master of Synapse.

That twisted man hardly seemed the type to show mercy.

He had intended to imprison Daedalus until her death.

"Hmm..."

"A few friends and I helped the Master of Synapse enter a dream."

Daedalus thought for a moment and chose a more tactful explanation.

According to Setsuna's instructions, there was no need to reveal the existence of another world—he only acknowledged Daedalus.

"Oh?"

The angels in the chamber showed expressions of surprise.

"No wonder..."

"It's good that he can stay in a dream for a while. After sitting in that temple for so long, he really needed a change of pace."

An older angel spoke up.

"Otherwise, Minos was becoming more and more extreme in his actions. We were barely able to restrain him, heh..."

"Wait, how did you manage it?"

Another angel frowned.

"As far as I know, wasn't he unable to dream due to certain reasons? Not just because of his duties, but also his own condition?"

If it were only about fulfilling the duties of the Master of Synapse, Minos could occasionally dream to ease his mind—after all, there wasn't much going on in Synapse.

But due to certain personal issues, everyone knew the Master of Synapse couldn't dream—not even the Wishing Stone Tablet could help him.

"We used another... rather retro technology."

"Retro?..."

...

Dozens of minutes later, the concerned Synapse council followed Daedalus to her research station.

Out of a faint sense of responsibility, they wanted to confirm Minos' condition.

The Master of Synapse was lying intact inside the hibernation pod.

His breathing was steady, and his physical condition was stable.

Beside the pod, a computer-like device was connected.

Observer was operating something on it.

"Only three CGs unlocked in a whole day? Can't you try something new? Don't tell me you haven't even made it out of the beginner village yet?!..."

"Hey hey hey, how did you fall into the goblin trap again?!..."

Observer was squatting on the chair, mumbling to herself.

The moment she noticed the visitors, she quickly changed the screen to a stream of scrolling data.

Pretending to be working seriously.

"Consciousness upload? So this is how you got Minos to dream?"

The council members immediately recognized the technology—it was somewhat ancient to them.

"Yes, we uploaded the Master of Synapse's consciousness into a virtual world. That should help him relax a bit..."

Daedalus was a little nervous and wiped her forehead.

She felt that Setsuna and the Siren girls' operation was practically supernatural.

This was a form of punishment she'd never even imagined.

"Oh?!..."

The angel who had asked earlier leaned closer to the hibernation pod and carefully examined the data.

Vital signs were completely normal, indicating no harm had come to him.

His brainwave activity was intense—likely due to stimulation in the virtual world?

"Hmm? Why is he in a constant state of pleasure?"

The angel suddenly noticed an abnormal reading. It looked like the Master of Synapse was having way too much fun in the virtual world.

"Well, of course. He's constantly being filled with—mmph!!!"

Observer didn't finish her sentence—Purifier quickly covered her mouth.

"Filled with joy! Filled with joy every day, so he's very happy in there!"

Purifier explained earnestly.

"Hmm?—"

The angels were still confused.

From the data alone, there didn't seem to be any issues.

As for the identities of the Siren girls, Tohru, and the others—they didn't really care.

If Daedalus called them friends, then so be it. The people of Synapse had long lost curiosity about the outside world.

Besides, no outsiders could cause trouble on a floating island anyway.

The priority was to get back to their dreams.

"Alright... Seeing that Minos is fine, we're relieved."

The golden-haired angel at the front gave a slight nod.

"How long does one of his dreams last?"

"A few hundred years, maybe. If he loses himself in it, possibly a few thousand years before he comes out?"

Observer made something up on the spot.

In truth, whether Minos came out or not was entirely up to them.

"That's fine, a few hundred years isn't too long."

The other angels thought it over. Synapse residents were long-lived—their concept of time was completely different from ordinary people.

"During this time, make sure this place is protected. No one should disturb the Master of Synapse's dream."

The lead angel gave her instructions.

"Don't worry. I'll set up a barrier here—any unauthorized intruders will drop dead."

Tohru patted her chest with confidence.

"A barrier? You mean an energy shield? That works too."

The council members agreed and instructed the accompanying multi-functional angels:

"Isolate this island with a shield. No one is allowed in or out except those in charge."

"Understood!"

Several angeloids rushed to deploy the shield, just as they had done when imprisoning Daedalus before.

But this time, it was to isolate the Master of Synapse's body and ensure he could enjoy his dream undisturbed.

After a brief inspection, the Synapse council left, waving goodbye:

"Thank you! You helped us solve a huge problem with Minos."

"You're friends of Synapse—you're always welcome here!"

"You're welcome. It's the least we could do."

Setsuna, along with Observer and Purifier, responded politely and humbly.

...

...

After wrapping things up with the Synapse council, the expedition team began preparing for the return journey.

Daedalus spent a few days gathering her research materials.

She also needed to pack up a mountain of scientific equipment.

As the most brilliant scientist in Synapse, her collection was bizarre and varied—even the two Siren girls were surprised by what they saw.

Fortunately, the Eternal Snowfall was massive—everything could fit inside.

"Hmm..."

While Daedalus was packing her things, Setsuna leaned back in his chair, pulled out a small notebook, and reviewed the goals he had set before coming to this world.

"First goal: Bring back Ikaros, Nymph, and Astraea—completed 1,000 times over."

The three angels stood obediently behind him, while over 3,000 more slept in the ship's cabin.

Ikaros, with her emotion module sealed, showed no expression. Nymph and Astraea were still shy and didn't dare to speak.

"Obtain artificial angel technology—if we have Daedalus, we have everything."

Then, his eyes landed on the last goal.

"Research the Wishing Stone Tablet? Should we go take a look at that thing?"

"..."

Daedalus fell silent for a moment.

"Honestly, I wasn't too keen on bringing it up..."

"But fine. Since you're interested, Setsuna, I'll take you to see it."

...

A few minutes later.

They boarded a small shuttle and headed to the main island.

This was their first close-up look at the Wishing Stone Tablet.

A massive black stone monument stood in the center. The surroundings were empty—no guards, and even patrol robots were rare.

By normal logic, a weapon of this magnitude should be heavily protected.

Setsuna looked up.

From top to bottom, the stele was densely covered in unreadable script—Synapsean.

By writing a wish on it, the Wishing Stone Tablet could make it come true.

After some simple translation, Setsuna could more or less understand the cryptic text.

The wishes at the top were relatively simple, with neat handwriting. Most were about obtaining things, ending disasters, quelling unrest...

A bit further down, Synapseans started using the stele more wildly—to create civilizations, destroy them, even absurd things like Genesis and time reversal.

At that stage, their use of the Wishing Stone Tablet had become uncontrollable.

The writing at the bottom was messy, and the wishes became malicious—filled with words like destruction and annihilation.

At that point, with all their material desires fulfilled, the Synapseans lost purpose in life and began a path of self-destruction.

Mass suicides followed, until only two or three thousand were left living on the floating islands.

If Daedalus hadn't developed the dream technology to send everyone into collective daydreams, Setsuna suspected none would've survived.

Only the universal angels would've remained, turning Synapse into a rogue machine civilization.

"The Wishing Stone Tablet was created during Synapse's golden age. The pioneers believed it would elevate us further and warned future generations to use its power with caution..."

"But in the end, it was also the cause of Synapse's decline."

Daedalus sighed, her expression complex.

"Can we make a wish on it?"

Kurumi and Tohru asked in unison.

"I'm not sure. If you learn Synapsean script, theoretically you can. But what would you wish for?"

Daedalus looked at them.

"..."

"I don't really have any special wish right now..."

Kurumi Tokisaki pressed her hand to her lips, thinking. Setsuna had already helped her fulfill her greatest desire.

"Maybe something like gaining more spirit energy? Like making Zafkiel effective on darling?"

"So he wouldn't keep bullying me..."

She joked lightly.

"I don't know what you mean by spirit energy."

Daedalus shook her head.

"If it's power from another world, then unfortunately, the Wishing Stone Tablet can't grant it."

"The way it grants wishes is by materializing rules. You can wish for things, destroy things—even reset the world..."

"But there are limits. You already know about the Master of Synapse—it can't interfere with certain fixed realities."

"..."

Everyone looked at one another.

Though the stele's power was strong, it wasn't omnipotent.

For visitors from another world, it couldn't parse or grant powers from outside its system.

"What about you two? Any wishes you want fulfilled?"

Daedalus looked at Belfast and Mio.

"I'm just a maid. Being at the commander's side is already more than enough."

Belfast gave a graceful curtsy.

"And I think the journey's scenery might be more meaningful than the destination."

Mio also said she had no special wish—her love-struck mind was entirely focused on clinging to Setsuna.

As for creating a new world or becoming queen of all?

Honestly, they weren't interested.

"Is that so..."

Daedalus's eyes showed a hint of envy.

"Perhaps you're the ones most suited to possess the Wishing Stone Tablet."

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