Aha wants to join

Seeing his two-dimensional waifu in the flesh made Liu Xing overjoyed for a while, but soon after, he slumped back into a lifeless, "couch potato" state in the starlight.

At the moment, he was just a soul—a formless entity that couldn't even touch Firefly. Not that he was planning to do anything inappropriate while she was asleep. He only wanted to reach out and touch the white moonlight of his dreams, the two-dimensional waifu he had fantasized about for so long.

Unfortunately, he could do nothing but watch.

As the starlight carried them forward, fleeting images flashed by outside. Liu Xing was certain that he was no longer in his original world. How could his world possibly have Firefly in it?

"Starlight, oh starlight, where are you taking us?"

Liu Xing propped his chin on his hand, mumbling. He didn't know what this starlight was—whether it was under his control or even if it was some kind of cheat system unique to him.

He had tried communicating with the starlight before, but it never responded. It simply carried him forward at breakneck speed without stopping.

The only exception was pulling Firefly into its embrace, proving that this was not some "golden finger" meant solely for him.

As Liu Xing brooded, a sudden echo of the words "Building Walls" resounded in his mind, snapping him back to attention. He looked outside the starlight and saw a colossal, endless wall stretching across the starry void.

Before it stood a massive, headless giant composed of rock and amber. The titan held an enormous hammer, tirelessly building the wall. Liu Xing gawked at the god-like being, whose size dwarfed even stars, as if it were an entire galaxy condensed into one.

"Amber Lord!"

Liu Xing locked eyes on the deity constructing the wall, terrified that this great being might smash the starlight with its hammer. While he wasn't particularly concerned about himself—he'd already died once, and as a soul, his existence felt tenuous—he couldn't bear the thought of Firefly getting caught in the crossfire.

Originally, Firefly would have been rescued by Stellaron Hunter Kafka and brought to safety. Though afflicted with the entropy sickness, she would still have survived. If she were to perish because of his butterfly effect, Liu Xing would be filled with regret.

Fortunately, the Amber Lord seemed focused solely on its task of building the wall, paying them no attention whatsoever.

The starlight, too, ignored the Amber Lord's presence, audaciously smashing through the endless subspace crystalline wall in front of them, racing toward the next universe.

"Incredible!"

Liu Xing gave the starlight a big thumbs-up. Smashing through the Amber Lord's painstakingly built wall in front of the deity itself—this was the behavior of a true Pathstrider! It also felt like something the Aeon of Joy, Elation, would find hilarious.

As the subspace crystalline wall shattered, the headless giant reflexively swung its enormous hammer. "Boom!" The deafening sound reverberated across the universe, announcing the dawn of a new Amber Era.

The echo of this moment left countless powerful factions across the universe dumbfounded. Was the new Amber Era beginning just like that?

Not only did the crash confuse these major forces, but it also attracted the attention of a peculiar being.

A figure composed entirely of countless clown masks appeared in the cosmos. After glancing at the Amber Lord, this being's gaze landed on the starlight streaking into an unknown universe.

The figure pursued the starlight, calling out as it chased, "Wait for Aha! Aha wants to join the fun!"

But before it could breach the Amber Wall, the starlight seemed to sense the danger. Twisting time and space around itself, it instantly disappeared from the universe.

Aha stopped in its tracks, bursting into laughter. "Ha ha ha! Aha truly has no face left!"

---

Liu Xing wiped the non-existent sweat from his forehead. That was close—he had almost been caught by the Aeon of Joy. While Liu Xing himself was a bit of a troublemaker, he didn't want to end up as someone else's source of amusement.

To escape the Aeon of Joy, the starlight seemed to have entered a mysterious dimension. Beyond the starlight was an endless void of darkness. For the first time, Liu Xing felt a sense of dizziness. It was as if they were spinning continuously.

This was alarming. Even without a physical body, Liu Xing, as a soul, could feel the pull of this dimension. A deep sense of unease rose within him.

It turned out his instincts were right. While Firefly, with her physical body, remained unscathed in her usual quiet slumber, Liu Xing's soul began to experience an intense tearing sensation, as if some force was trying to rip him apart.

Driven by a primal survival instinct, he sought refuge. But with no physical body to hold on to, the only lifeline in the starlight was the sleeping Firefly.

Left with no other choice, Liu Xing dove into Firefly's body. As his soul merged into hers, a flood of unfamiliar memories surged into Liu Xing's mind.

In a transparent incubation chamber, she was submerged in cold, artificial amniotic fluid, encased within a white egg. As the container rocked, she instinctively reached out, pressing her tiny hands against the cold, soft walls. Curling up in a corner, she sought warmth wherever she could find it.

She heard the crash of something enormous falling, the clash of metal, and hurried footsteps echoing around her. The incubation chamber swayed violently.

A pair of mechanical arms lifted her from the chamber. Blinding light shattered her world.

She didn't cry. She opened her eyes but could not see the person speaking to her.

She stood up, parting heavy curtains, and walked into the depths of a grand palace.

Her footsteps echoed in the vast, empty halls.

She passed through a desolate garden, past the colossal corpses of insect-like creatures, and walked by row upon row of incubation devices. Eventually, she entered a resplendent council chamber. A tired-looking woman with indistinct features sat on the throne, her hands resting limply at her sides.

"Come here... my child," a distant voice whispered from the depths of her mind. A wave of inexplicable fervor consumed her heart. She walked to the woman, knelt, and kissed her icy fingertips.

The woman's hand was as cold as frost, jolting her out of her fervor with a fleeting moment of clarity.

Unknowingly, she grew accustomed to the battlefield—wearing her mech suit, fighting endless battles. Her entire life was a cycle of combat. Her memories were sparse, mostly of her incubation chamber and the never-ending wars against horrifying swarms of insects.

Her final memory was of standing alone on a scorched wasteland, surrounded by the corpses of warriors and insectoid creatures. A dying comrade crawled to her side, managing to gasp, "To be born for battle... is the glory of the Iron Cavalry... For... Her Majesty the Queen..." before succumbing to death.

She began questioning everything—herself, the Iron Cavalry, and their purpose.

As a new sprout broke through the ashen soil, she finally found rebirth. Her armor transformed in both form and energy. Wearing this evolved armor, she soared into the sunrise, bringing an end to the swarm and the world of the Republic of Glamoth that had bound her.

Such was the girl's life—a monotonous and tragic existence.

Liu Xing opened his eyes, his gaze complex as he looked at the silver-haired girl before him. Her arms hugged her knees as her long silver hair floated in the void. Out of an instinct for survival, he had taken refuge in Firefly's body, inadvertently entering her mental space and gaining insight into her life's memories.