Damn it, something's wrong with the gacha I got.

"So Ryusuke's daughter, Himeko, died long ago, just as [pioneering] always intersects with [destruction], and then, turns into magnificent dust."

Upon hearing this, Himeko crossed her arms and calmly retorted, "So you're saying I'm an imposter too?"

Gui Ji spread his hands: "Isn't the answer obvious?"

"Then what evidence do you have?"

Himeko continued to question him.

"Evidence? Of course, it's from the 'Phantom Moon Game' fifteen years ago. Himeko was cursed with the Curse of Erosion and couldn't possibly have survived that bloody game unless she became the victorious messenger and made a wish to Aha, giving you her real life, her name, her memories... and that dream of opening up the galaxy."

Guiji narrowed his eyes slightly, quietly waiting for Himeko's response.

However, Himeko remained calm and spoke gently:

"I thought you were going to say something else? Turns out you don't know everything either. But I can only tell you that the truth is somewhat different from what you think."

"Some discrepancies? Could it be that I've overlooked something?"

Gui Ji was taken aback upon hearing this.

But looking at Himeko's calm demeanor, it didn't seem like she was trying to fool him.

After all, he was the Great King of Extinction, with keen insight into people's hearts. He could tell whether someone was lying just by looking at their micro-expressions.

"Aren't you the Great Lord of Annihilation? Don't you pride yourself on being the most knowledgeable about the Two-Phase Paradise or the Crimson Wood? Guess what I'm thinking?"

Himeko did not directly respond to his answer.

"Hehe, if you don't want to talk about it, then so be it. But let me satisfy my fatherly curiosity. Please, open the door."

Then, Guiji gestured for Himeko to open the door in front of them.

When Himeko opened the door, it revealed a spacious studio filled with blueprints, books, tools, and the like.

Guiji was the first to run inside and look at everything around him.

"Could this be the secret base you built while Ryusuke was away? You didn't tell Dad about this!"

Himeko suppressed her disgust and began to explain:

“After my mother passed away, her studio remained empty, so I started using it.”

"It really does look quite professional."

Guiji looked like a very gratified old father.

Then he started wandering around inside, and when he saw a bar, he couldn't help but make a comment:

"A bar area by the sea? What are minors drinking here? Is it alcohol?"

Himeko: "She's already in college."

Soon, they wandered over to a table.

On the table was a diagram resembling a mecha, and on the wall hung a similar poster.

"These blueprints tell me she's not just researching the train, the legacy of Pegana, which I thought had disappeared along with Akivili. It seems some shady character has done something superfluous."

Guiji looked at the mecha blueprint and murmured to himself.

"So, you're wary of the Star Pioneers?"

Seeing this, Himeko asked tentatively.

"Star Pioneer, that's the name Himeko gave it. Her sense of humor is even worse than Doric's."

Upon hearing this, Gui Ji paused for a moment, then continued:

"Did you know? In ancient times, these humanoid weapons helped Peigana conquer everywhere. They invaded, destroyed, and plundered, and then called it 'expansion'."

His tone carried a mixture of nostalgia and sarcasm.

But Himeko didn't seem to care and slowly opened her mouth:

"【Pioneering】~ No, almost all destinies in the universe are two sides of the same coin, contradictory. 【Destruction】 is infamous, but the destruction of those rampant worlds created by 【Abundance】 by the Antimatter Legion is, to some extent, a good thing. 【Joy】 is also a kind of harmony, but 【Joy】 will also have irreversible consequences. 【Pioneering】 is the same, but I believe that the current Star Train is not the same as this. It is just a different choice and a different path."

Chapter 495 Demon-Sealing Talisman – [The Eerie Thousand-Faced Tree]

"Excellent insight. Is this something you only realized after boarding the Star Train?"

Guiji slowly turned the head of the purple die, his tone calm and relaxed, and quietly looked at Himeko in front of him.

Himeko nodded slightly, her gaze calm and resolute, and answered with composure:

"That's true, but it wasn't just my epiphany. It was the inspiration I received bit by bit from every nameless traveler who traversed the sea of ​​stars, crossed the universe, and experienced separations and reunions."

"hehe."

Gui Ji chuckled softly, shrugged slightly, and casually recounted a long-forgotten story from the Star Sea.

"I used to be just like you, believing in the meaning of chasing stars and that the journey would eventually lead to a destination. But after Akivilli fell, everything changed."

"The ominous signs spread the whispers of the last king everywhere, and the destiny of destruction swept across the heavens. Even the erudite one who holds the power of wisdom could not stop the birth and spread of destruction... In the end, they were all losers."

This somewhat biased argument did not move Himeko.

She looked up and stared directly into Gui Ji's eyes, her tone cool and forceful, directly asking a question that pierced through his inner conflict:

"So you're disappointed because of this? Witnessing the inaction of the gods, you've concluded that only destruction is the only way out for the universe? But aren't you also a loser trapped in your own obsession?"

One sentence instantly plunged Guiji into a brief silence.

After a moment, Guiji slowly lifted his foot and avoided this sharp topic.

He strolled over to the retro poster of the Starry Sky Train that was suspended to the side, his gaze falling on the silhouette of the mecha giant moving towards the stars, and he murmured to himself.

"The Starchaser, the ancient myth of Pegana... I never imagined that someone would actually be able to successfully recreate it. That old fellow Archivist kept the secret of how he created the train a closely guarded secret. In that case, my daughter is truly a rare genius."

He pondered in a low voice, his eyes flickering with uncertainty, as if he were reminiscing about the past.

A moment later, he suddenly realized, and his tone abruptly turned cold:

"Or rather, is this a phantom species? Like you, it's incomplete, an imposter, and besides..."

Before he finished speaking, Guiji lightly snapped his fingers.

Countless crimson virtual projections suddenly filled the entire space in the picture.

Each projection was marked with a large, glaring red X.

"Stop wasting your energy."

Gui Ji spoke calmly, yet with an air of arrogance that seemed to know everything.

"Don't waste your energy. I've seen everything you've done along the way."

Himeko's heart sank slightly, and her expression instantly became serious.

While playing the game of recalling memories in his paintings with Guiji, she secretly sent out gravitational wave signals, transmitting Guiji's abilities, trump cards, and plans to his fellow passengers on the train outside.

Unexpectedly, they were still discovered by the Great Lord of Annihilation before them.

"Young man, I, an old man, can still see through this little bit of cleverness. Even as a [Flawed Phantom Creation], you can't break through this world."

Gui Ji's tone carried a hint of inexplicable melancholy.

No one knows whether the "world" he speaks of refers to Akivilli's Starry Chess Game, Himeko's destiny, or his own prison of destruction.

"Not always."

A clear, resolute voice suddenly pierced the still air, breaking the silence of the world depicted in the painting.

Guiji and Jizi turned their heads at the same time in response to the sound.

Familiar figures appeared one after another outside the room.

Chen Bai, March 7, Ying, Paimon, Xing, Dan Heng, Sunday, and Walter Yang were all present and gathered here.

"Ah Bai! Everyone!"

The moment Himeko saw her companion, her eyes lit up, and her heart, which had been hanging in suspense, finally settled.

Gui Ji, however, was completely stunned, the patterns on the dice head flashing intensely.

The world within the painting that he sealed away with his own hands, with its layers upon layers of destructive barriers, was enough to isolate all spatial travel.

Anyone who forcibly breaks in will inevitably trigger his power perception.

But he didn't even notice these nameless guests barging in.

Moreover, these people had already been transferred and separated to different areas by him, so why did they all gather so quickly and accurately find this secret place in the painting?

"How...did you find this place?"

Gui Ji asked in a deep voice, his tone finally revealing a hint of emotion.

Chen Bai looked at him, a mysterious and composed smile playing on his lips: "Hehe, guess?"

Okay, let's rewind Paimon's time wheel to a previous point...

------Separating line------

After Chen Bai transforms into the Emperor Knight, he uses the [Meditation Seal].

The gentle yet domineering power of time stop spread out instantly, causing everything to freeze.

The flying vines and splinters were all frozen in place, and the Thousand-Faced Monster Tree that had been wreaking havoc on the entire scene was completely controlled by the time-stop effect.

Holding the Aurora Sword, Chen Bai walked slowly, his gaze coldly fixed on the monstrous, thousand-faced tree that had wreaked havoc on the entire amusement park, his tone indifferent:

"Alright, it's your turn now. Let you experience the same treatment as the mutant beasts."

【Meditation Seal】is a time-stopping skill in the world of Armored Warriors, but the duration of the stop is limited. He needs to seal the strange tree in front of him.

Since we can't destroy it under the current circumstances, let's just seal it away.

"Five gates must be killed!"

With his mind made up, Chen Bai gripped the Aurora Sword tightly with his right hand and quickly flicked the Emperor's Belt at his waist with his left hand, drawing upon the energy of the five elements.

The five-colored energy light flowed and converged, pouring into the sword.

The dazzling five-colored energy poured down the sword and crashed into the ground.

The next second, a five-colored beam of light shot up from the ground and precisely pierced through the massive trunk of the Thousand-Faced Strange Tree, penetrating all the layers of human faces and twisted vines.

Thanks to the time-locking effect of the meditation seal, the super-fast regeneration that the strange tree was so proud of also failed.

Chen Bai gave his opponent no chance to breathe and turned the energy wheel on the side of his belt again.

A golden energy barrier, engraved with the ancient Chinese character "斬" (zhàn), suddenly took shape and floated in front of him.

He raised his hand and touched the Aurora Sword with it, and the golden barrier instantly turned into tiny particles, all of which flowed into the inside of the sword, making the golden light of the entire Aurora Sword even more intense and domineering.

"Demon-Sealing Slash!"

A low shout echoed through the ruins, and Chen Bai swung his sword, slashing down!

A dazzling golden blade of light, stretching across the heavens and earth, burst forth, carrying an aura of divine majesty, and precisely cleaved into the core trunk of the Thousand-Faced Strange Tree.

Om-!

A tremendous energy trembled and resounded throughout the heavens and earth, followed immediately by the moment when the meditation seal's duration ended.

The moment the time freeze was lifted, the imprisoned strange tree erupted with a violent roar and exploded.

Its massive trunk twisted and disintegrated violently.

"Hahaha... Joy..."

Before the remaining mad words of the strange tree could even finish, its enormous body was completely reduced in size under the baptism of the demon-sealing golden light.

Countless vines, faces, and distorted flesh melted away, ultimately condensing and solidifying.

Ultimately, it transformed into a simple and elegant demon-sealing card, quietly floating in mid-air.

The card clearly depicts the twisted and bizarre appearance of the Thousand-Faced Tree, with a line of neat characters engraved below—

【The Eccentric Tree with a Thousand Faces】.

Chen Bai raised his hand, took the card into his palm, raised an eyebrow slightly, and murmured:

"The Eerie Thousand-Faced Tree... so that's its real name."