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Seeing his 2D waifu in real life got Meteor so hyped, he stayed excited for a long while. But eventually, he just flopped down like a salted fish in the middle of the starlight.
Right now, he was just a soul—couldn't even touch Liuying. Not that he planned on doing anything weird while she was asleep. He just wanted to reach out and touch his ideal goddess, his perfect fantasy waifu.
But sadly, he couldn't even do that.
Watching the flashes of different scenes outside the starlight, Meteor was sure now—this definitely wasn't his original world. I mean, come on, did his world have a Liuying in it?
"Starlight, oh starlight, where the hell are you taking us?"
He leaned his chin on one hand, mumbling to himself. He still had no clue what this starlight thing was. He couldn't control it, and he wasn't even sure if it was some kind of cheat ability (like a golden finger or system).
He'd even tried talking to it, but got zero response. It just kept zooming forward like crazy without even pausing for a break.
The only time it did something unexpected was when it pulled Liuying in along with him—that's when he realized this wasn't some cheat made just for him.
Just as Meteor was deep in thought, two loud words—"BUILD WALL"—boomed in his mind, jolting him back to reality. Looking out through the starlight, he saw a massive, endless wall stretching across the cosmos: the Heavenly Wisdom Star Wall.
And there it was—a headless colossus made entirely of stone and amber, wielding a massive hammer, pounding away at the wall. Meteor was completely dumbfounded. This thing was bigger than a star, maybe even as big as an entire galaxy. It was like a living cosmic titan.
"Amber King!"
Meteor locked eyes (figuratively) with the godlike being building the wall, scared it might decide to take a swing at the starlight with that giant hammer. Honestly, he didn't care that much about himself—he was already dead once, now just a soul, not even sure how long he'd last. But if Liuying got caught in the crossfire, that'd be tragic.
Originally, Liuying was supposed to get picked up by Star Core Hunter Karma and taken home. Sure, she'd be tormented by entropy loss syndrome, but at least she'd still be alive. If she died now just because he and this crazy starlight messed up the timeline, that'd be so frustrating.
Thankfully, the Amber King was focused entirely on wall-building and didn't even glance at them.
And the starlight? It straight-up ignored the Amber King too. Right in front of him, it smashed through the endless subspace crystal wall and shot off into another universe.
"Damn, badass."
Meteor gave the starlight a big thumbs up. Smashing through a wall the Amber King just spent all that effort building, right in front of his face? That's some peak Trailblazer behavior—and honestly, kind of fits the vibe of the God of Elation too.
When the subspace crystal wall shattered, the headless colossus instinctively slammed its hammer down.
BOOM!
The deafening sound echoed through the universe, marking the beginning of a new Amber Era.
All across the galaxy, countless powerful factions stared blankly at the stars.Wait—what? A new Amber Era already!?
That thunderous boom didn't just confuse the universe—it also caught the attention of someone very special.
A great being made up entirely of countless clown masks suddenly appeared in the cosmos. First, it looked at the Amber King. Then, its gaze followed the starlight that had pierced the subspace wall and was vanishing into an unknown universe.
The being shouted while chasing after it, "Hold up, Aha's coming too! Wait for Aha!"
But before he could cross the Heavenly Wisdom Star Wall, the starlight seemed to sense something. The space and time around it twisted violently—and then poof, it vanished from the universe in an instant.
Aha froze mid-flight and then burst into wild laughter."Hahaha! Aha got totally ignored!"
Meteor wiped the non-existent cold sweat from his ghostly forehead. That was close—almost got targeted by the God of Elation. Sure, he liked a good joke now and then, but he definitely didn't wanna become the joke.
To escape the God of Elation, the starlight seemed to have dove into some crazy unknown dimension. Everything outside was pitch-black, and Meteor started feeling dizzy, like they were endlessly spinning.
Keep in mind—he didn't even have a physical body anymore. So if he could still feel that twisting pull as a soul, then something was seriously wrong.
And yep, his gut feeling was spot on. Even though Liuying, who still had her physical body, was totally fine and still peacefully asleep, Meteor's spirit form was being shredded. Like something was literally trying to tear him apart.
Driven by pure survival instinct, he searched for anything to grab onto. But as a soul with no body, there was only one lifeline inside the starlight: the sleeping Liuying.
With no other choice, Meteor dove headfirst into her body. As his soul merged with hers, a flood of unfamiliar memories rushed into his mind.
Inside a transparent incubation pod, she was floating in icy artificial amniotic fluid, curled up inside a pristine white egg. The container swayed gently as she drifted. Driven by instinct, she reached for the soft, cold edge of the pod, pressed herself against the wall, and curled into a corner, trying to absorb as much warmth as she could.
She heard something massive fall—loud metal crashing—followed by hurried footsteps. The pod shook.
A pair of mechanical hands lifted her out. A blinding light tore through her world.
She forgot how to cry. She opened her eyes but couldn't see the person speaking. She got up, walked through thick curtains, and headed toward the heart of a palace. Her footsteps echoed through the empty halls.
She passed a vast, desolate garden… then the huge corpse of a bug… then more incubation pods, one after another. At the end of it all, she entered a grand council chamber.
A blurry-faced woman sat slumped on the throne, her hand hanging wearily."Come here… my child…" a distant voice echoed from the depths of her mind.
An unexplainable zeal overwhelmed her. She walked up, knelt down, and kissed the woman's fingertips.
Her hand was cold—ice cold—and that sudden chill snapped her out of the fervor for a second.
Before she knew it, she'd grown used to the battlefield, used to wearing a mech suit, used to endless fighting. Her whole life had been war—battle after battle. Her memories were repetitive: mostly floating in the incubation pod, then going out to fight waves of terrifying bugs.
Her final memory: standing alone on scorched earth, smoke rising all around. The ground was littered with corpses—soldiers and bugs alike. One barely-alive comrade stumbled toward her and muttered:"Born to fight… it's the honor of the Glamour Iron Cavalry… for Her Majesty the Queen…"—and then dropped dead.
She started questioning everything—the Glamour Cavalry, her entire existence. That's when a tiny bud sprouted from the scorched ground. It was the beginning of her rebirth.
The energy in her armor changed. Donning her newly evolved suit, she flew into the sunrise, wiped out the bug swarm that had chained her whole life, and destroyed the Glamour homeworld.
That was her life.Simple.Tragic.
Meteor opened his eyes, staring with mixed feelings at the silver-haired girl curled up in front of him, hugging her knees.
Driven by survival, he had hidden inside Liuying's body… and ended up inside her mind.
Now, he had seen her whole life.
"....."