Colonia Storm Tour

Color Leaf's rhetorical question was surprising.

Why ask me if I don't know?

Lin Haiyuan knew exactly what was going on in response to her question.

"Intuition, revelation."

The two words she used represent different perceptions of this feeling under different worldviews.

Do you believe your intuition or revelation is correct?

Lin Haiyuan raised an eyebrow.

“I believe you are right. I can see the unfathomable light of your wisdom, which can only be seen in powerful psionic beings at the prophetic level.”

Seye said frankly, her confident expression showing she had no doubt about her intuition.

In fact, her intuition was correct; Lin Haiyuan did know those things, but he didn't know the specific details.

“We don’t like that religious stuff. So-called prophets are just a kind of charlatan, and I don’t think I have any wisdom to radiate… Now is not the time to talk about these things. I’ve heard of and seen those disasters, and in the end, it’s us materialists who clean up the messes they created. Just talk about the general and the details.”

Lin Haiyuan also disliked being labeled as a charlatan.

"As expected, my intuition was right... But what a foolish idealist... Hahaha..."

Iroha smiled quite frankly, as if she accepted the assessment.

He showed no displeasure at Lin Haiyuan's straightforwardness, and even clearly admired him.

She didn't say much about that, but she also spoke frankly about the general and detailed things that she thought Lin Haiyuan needed.

And so, the self-destructive and repentant journey of an idealistic fool began in that somewhat awkward exchange of minds.

To outsiders, Se Ye simply smiled gently and shook hands with Lin Haiyuan, whose expression remained calm. Se Ye looked like a living person, while Lin Haiyuan looked like a statue, completely still.

Chapter Thirty-Nine: Colored Leaves (II)

"At first, only the law enforcement officers of the Council of Light and Shadow and the psionicists who participated in the ceremony knew about it. At that time, I was just an ordinary imperial subject in the Wall Garden, and I had no right to know those things."

I kept the fact that I absorbed souls from another world a secret, and I explained the changes in my appearance as an enhancement of my spiritual power. I could shape my appearance according to my own will. Anyone with a certain amount of spiritual power could permanently change their appearance through their spiritual power. At that time, everyone's spiritual power benefited from the contract signed with the end of reincarnation.

Therefore, my changes in appearance and personality become insignificant compared to the widespread psychic enhancements around me, since everyone else is experiencing the same changes.

The surge in spiritual power quickly caused anomalies across the country, which is why only then did everyone begin to grasp a tiny fraction of the truth.

This amplification of spiritual power is considered a divine blessing, and also a result of a mutual resonance between our hearts transcending material things and achieving a state of sainthood. In this sense, we are indeed protected by a divine being…

My appearance and inner self gradually took shape under the increasingly powerful spiritual energy, and my chaotic memories and personality finally became orderly after a long period of confusion.

Just then, a major event occurred in the Empire: the Enforcer of the Council of Light and Shadow, "Apuche," and his followers disappeared. The mysterious disappearance of Enforcer Apuche and his followers became a mystery to the entire Empire. Until five years before the price was paid, I was in the Meditation Forest on the planet Wall Garden, trying to control my increasingly uncontrollable psychic power. In the Meditation Forest, I met an old man with an unremarkable appearance, which surprised me greatly. At that time, it was common practice in the Empire to use psychic energy to change reality and modify one's appearance. Such an unremarkable old man was very rare. Most importantly, I could feel his hidden psychic energy fluctuations. At the same time, he saw through my troubles and took the initiative to help and teach me how to control my power.

The moment I remember most vividly was the pitying look in his eyes when he looked at me, as if he were seeing a pitiful fellow who was about to die.

After several days of stabilizing my almost rampaging psionic energy, I encountered the old man again in the meditation forest. This time, he looked at me with the same eyes that he had seen a person walking in the night seeing a campfire.

Just as I was about to express my gratitude, the old man removed his almost superb psychic disguise, revealing his true appearance: he was the Apche Enforcer, who had been declared missing by the Empire.

I was really surprised to meet Enforcer Apuch, because I never thought I would meet such a missing big shot. Before I could say anything more, I was stunned by Enforcer Apuch's words.

I can see that you absorbed the soul of a unique individual, and everything about you is merging with that individual's soul, and your appearance, inner self, and psychic amplification are all happening in sync.

Enforcer Apche immediately saw the truth hidden within me and couldn't help but feel very nervous.

But Enforcer Apche didn't pay much attention to me. Before reporting my situation to the local elders, he wondered if he wanted to know why he and his followers had disappeared.

After hesitating for a moment, I asked the question. At that moment, the answer from the law enforcement officer, Apche, surprised me. He said that they were not missing at all, but were exiled for holding different political views.

Exile is a severe punishment, meaning that not only is one not allowed to return to their homeland or go to the Holy Land, but even their presence will result in being tracked down and killed by the Empire's legal authorities in order to cleanse the grave sins of disobedience and carry out a one-time reckoning.

Starting with my question, Enforcer Apche told me more. The Empire's current prosperity is not due to some illusory divine blessing, but rather to a contract signed with the tangible entity of the Void Realm, "The End of Reincarnation." The entire Empire is enjoying the infinite power of the End of Reincarnation and benefiting from it, as is our soaring psionic amplification. But all of this will eventually come to an end, and we will have to pay the corresponding price.

At first, Enforcer Apuch, like everyone else, thought the price was something they could bear, or that they could find a way to avoid it. But that was impossible, especially when Enforcer Apuch discovered the despairing psionic markers, the same shallow but profoundly deep ethereal psionic energy appearing from planets to souls.

During another psychic encounter, he learned of something terrifying: something terrible was about to happen. Coupled with the phrases "the price will eventually be paid" and "the reckoning will come," these all seemed like signs of the end times. Through investigation, he discovered that from the "Star Throne" to the "Sky Palace," the blessed "Holy Land," the "Fortified Garden," the "Emerald Tomb," the "Essence Gem," and the Prophet's Refuge, there were ubiquitous psionic energy markers within them.

Although he didn't know what negative effects this psionic mark would ultimately have, he understood that when the time came to pay the price for the benefits, no one could hide or escape. This mark of despair had even appeared on them. They warned the Empire to find a way to get rid of this psionic mark, but were treated as heretics by others who were obsessed with that power.

In their futile journey, they came to realize that the end of the cycle, which treats all equally, did not give them the opportunity to erase the psionic marks of the illusory realm. Then, while Apche was meditating alone in the Garden of Walls, he met me. After I helped teach me to stabilize my psionic power, they were surprised to discover something.

Although I am a subject of the Empire of Light and Shadow, I do not have the mark of the Void Realm, yet I still enjoy the benefits of Void Realm spiritual energy, which gives them a glimmer of hope.

They always wanted to leave knowledge for future generations to avoid repeating the same mistakes, but their writings and instruments were marked with psionic energy, making it almost impossible to leave knowledge behind. Now that they have discovered that I am not marked by psionic energy, it is only natural that they are overjoyed.

At first, I found it hard to believe that the empire and its own destruction were about to end, but the more evidence they presented—the ancient texts and internal documents and conversations of the empire—made me realize that there were only five years left before the empire was completely destroyed. Therefore, I began to believe that once 50 years had passed, the entire empire would come to an end, and then something even worse would happen.

After I learned the truth, I didn't do it to warn others and fight the disaster together. I simply didn't want to die and wanted to survive. So I agreed to work with Enforcer Apche. When I was about to leave Wall Garden, people from the Imperial Ministry of Justice came, and even the Imperial fleet arrived.

They ruthlessly carried out their orders to attack Apche and his followers, and I, who was by his side, was also treated as an enemy, considered an accomplice.

Only after the desperate resistance of Apuch's followers were I able to board the ship and jump away with the Apuch Enforcer and the remaining followers to the land planet K-III in Corona Australis. There, under the careful guidance of the Apuch Enforcer and the rest of the followers, I began to learn more about the illusory realm and the end of reincarnation. The most important knowledge I gained was how to deal with the fog of the illusory realm.

The people all know that there is a planet called "Apostate," and the psionicists on this planet have all fallen and moved closer to the Void Realm. As a result, the entire planet was shrouded in the Void Realm's mist, and there has been no contact with it since. Before falling into the Void Realm, the psionicists on this planet were the most powerful in the Empire. It was only when they became part of the Void Realm that they realized what kind of existence had given them their great power.

It was through that lesson that Enforcer Apche and his followers, who gained insight into the truth, and through 50 years of tireless experimentation, finally discovered a way to dismantle the illusion.

First, a "purification key" is forged using spiritual energy carving, primarily from Garan ore, Yulan crystal, and Zero Element ore, supplemented by Laisu gas. This key is then charged by a mysterious energy core, ultimately releasing a specific energy shockwave that sweeps across the entire planet, bringing "reality" back and shattering and dispelling all "favorite" illusory creations and mists.

So, on the terrestrial planet K-3 in Corona Australis, during my final days, I carved a "Purification Key" based on the teachings I received while learning about related knowledge, as well as an "Emerald Key" to unlock the seal that was about to be released onto me. The Emerald Key can not only be used to unlock my own seal, but also release the same shockwave to purify any psionic avatars that may come from the illusory realm.

Once I was confirmed to have the knowledge that the Apuch Enforcers and their followers needed me to know, I was taken to the unknown Cassiopeia C-IV landmass just before the end, and then sealed in a space generated by the warp generator, shutting down the psionic wormhole generator above the seal. After that, I remained dormant in the seal for an unknown period of time.

It wasn't until an unforeseen accident that I discovered, within the seal of the subspace, that the outer perimeter of the seal itself had been moved. It took me an unknown amount of time to learn the few facts through my psychic abilities: the subspace seal on the continent where I was located, along with a piece of land, had been moved as an experimental object by an unknown ancient pioneer civilization to the atmosphere of a gas giant in a planetary system.

I really don't know if they knew there was something underground but chose to ignore it, or if they simply hadn't discovered it...

My subspace seal is quite unique, existing in the ambiguous gap between dreams and reality. This is why I was able to sense and enter your strange dream world, converse with you, and glean some basic information from the fluctuations in your thoughts. I know you value your privacy highly, and I assure you, I haven't seen much more of you; I've only sensed your beliefs and some peculiar states of mind. Only through contact with you have I gained a deeper understanding of your personality and inner self.

After we started talking, I guided you to find me. What happened next, you, me, your AI companion, and other advanced technological creations all understood.

Thus ended the long conversation between Iroha and Hayashi.

"I see, I understand now."

Lin Haiyuan did not release his grip on his right hand, but simply nodded to indicate that he understood.

So, aside from what the "unknown ancient pioneer civilization" did, there's also the vanished illusory realm master and the distorted consciousness... What remains is the very normal, yet more demanding and miraculous, self-destruction process of the idealistic fools among the stars.

A portion of the population of the stars survived on a planet unknown to the world and not yet marked by the Void, led by a powerful psychic. However, it was here that Seye became the last survivor of an empire, only escaping the final punishment by sealing herself away in another dimension.

This empire, having reached this point, is like the Valtham who tried to break the fourth wall and escape this single-core universe through suicide—unable to reproduce and ultimately becoming part of history…

"Seye," as the last survivor, could not possibly rebuild that empire... With the lessons of the past before her, as a smart person, she would not repeat the same mistakes.

"That's all I know, but what puzzles me is... is the consequence of paying the price so light? The only representative of the Void Realm is the appearance of the Ring Messenger; I haven't sensed any other Void Realm power."

Color Leaf is also puzzled by this.

"Let me tell you the price after the final punishment arrives. After all the destruction and ruins of the end, once the Void Mist covers all the marked planets, a huge psionic energy entity will appear in various regions of the Empire, absorbing the consciousness of psionicists to enhance its own power. In other regions, a Void Manifestation will be born, and in the capital region, a Twisted Consciousness will be born. The Void Manifestation will roam the star system, hunting and absorbing life to enhance its own power."

Lin Haiyuan told her more about the results.

"Have those monsters made of psionic energy that drains the consciousness of psionicists appeared...? But if so, why haven't they appeared around us?"

Iroha was even more puzzled by this.

"These kinds of things are usually cleaned up by materialists. After all, this is a crisis that threatens the entire galaxy. It's impossible for a country that recognizes the danger to remain indifferent. My guess is more inclined to believe that the unknown ancient pioneer civilization you mentioned wiped out all the virtual realm beings and distorted consciousness, which is why we haven't seen those two things."

Lin Haiyuan's answer sounded quite feasible, because those psionic monsters wandering the star systems would definitely block the way of certain interstellar civilizations and would eventually be destroyed, rather than being able to roam and hunt in the stars with great arrogance. There would always be a civilization that would clean up the mess.

It is highly likely that the unknown ancient pioneer civilization was the one that cleaned up the mess left by the civilization of the extreme of light and shadow, and as for more details, we do not know.

"If that's the case, that would be wonderful, but the Ring Messenger has appeared... Why didn't that ancient pioneer civilization show up... Did they forget about this place or what?"

Iroha was still puzzled.

"They haven't even built a research vessel or an observation station, or even a single probe. How could they possibly know what went wrong here? ... But it's also more likely that they're already gone. The rise and fall of civilizations in interstellar space is a very normal thing."

He suspected the latter possibility was more likely, otherwise he wouldn't have been so indifferent to an experimental site.

"So, in this galaxy, in this universe, only we are able to clearly recognize the dangers of the Void Realm and resist the forces and beings at the end of the cycle of reincarnation."

The leaves sighed silently.

"At least for now, we only have Aquamarine Star to deal with. That's the first place we've discovered where the Ring Messenger has appeared. As long as we clear away the Void Realm Mist, the Ring Messenger won't be able to reappear anytime soon."

As Lin Haiyuan spoke, he turned to look behind him—that was roughly the direction where the wormhole was located.

"No, I feel that once the illusory mist of Aquamarine Star is cleared away, the Ring Messenger can be declared finished."

Iroha's answer was quite firm; she seemed to believe it from the bottom of her heart.

Garan ore, Yulan crystal, Zero ore, and Rysul gas are all strategic resources in the constellation.

Chapter Forty: Colored Leaves (III)

"The premise is that the leader of the Ring Messengers is in the virtual world of Aquamarine. If that's the case, where is the purification key used to purify the virtual mist?"

Lin Haiyuan has yet to see the purification key.

"Here lies Lin Haiyuan."

As Seye spoke, she clasped her hands together and pulled them outwards, and a blue-striped stone pillar appeared as if it had been stretched out, and then she held it in her hands like the exquisite pagoda in the hands of the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King.

"It looks similar to the Emerald Key except for the stripe color, but I'm interested in learning about how Iroha takes things out."

Lin Haiyuan's curiosity about the purification key was not as great as his curiosity about how she took things out.

Although I've already seen those giant gadgets that are bigger than me that I can slap in your face at any time in the Date A Live world, that's the spirit control in Date A Live. The psionic control similar to Stellaris is the most interesting.

"The key to purification comes from my heart and exists anywhere within it."

Iroha's words were very spiritual, coming directly from her heart.

"Take it from your heart?... That's so convenient. Teach me how sometime?"

Lin Haiyuan said this because he knew the probability of him learning it was extremely slim.

"To learn this, you need to slightly change and revise your beliefs; you can't be a materialist."

Se Ye subtly implied that your worldview makes it impossible for you to learn this kind of technology.

"Emmmmm... never mind then, I don't do that. By the way... do you know anything about those high-dimensional demons? If we hadn't done our reconnaissance beforehand, we would have been killed by those high-dimensional demons when we first entered the floating continent."