While Bai Ming didn't exactly have a grand ambition she wanted to pursue for the rest of her life, she could empathize with Acheron if she put herself in her shoes.
To be told suddenly that the thing you've always done—the thing you've always wanted to do—was no longer necessary.
That someone else could handle it for you, and likely do a better job at it. No matter how close or friendly the two of them were, it was bound to leave one feeling a bit adrift.
She'd abruptly told Acheron that her lifelong burden was over.
Even that monumental vow to sever the Nihility—Bai Ming could help her achieve that, too.
And... well, Bai Ming had been the one to initiate all of it.
It was only natural that Acheron would end up "clinging" to her.
But how should she handle it? Bai Ming began to sink into serious thought.
Seeing the expression on Bai Ming's face turn solemn, it was actually Acheron who started to panic.
After all, she had only meant it as a joke. She hadn't expected Bai Ming to actually start weighing how to "take responsibility" for her.
In any case, Bai Ming had essentially saved her entire future.
It would be far too unreasonable to actually demand she take responsibility; that would be crossing a line. Besides, Acheron knew she needed a lot of time to let go of everything herself.
She couldn't even say for sure if her future self would ever truly be able to move on.
"Ahem, don't actually take that to heart. I was only joking," Acheron said, letting out a small cough to grab Bai Ming's attention as she tried to explain.
But Bai Ming shook her head with a serious look. "No, I think you made a very good point. Once you've lost your purpose, I really can't just leave you to fend for yourself."
On the path of resisting the Nihility, finding one's own meaning is vital.
If Acheron's mental state faltered because of this sudden shift, and she failed to withstand the encroachment of the Nihility, that would be a true disaster.
With Bai Ming's current understanding of the Nihility, she wasn't yet able to directly solve the issues facing a Self-Annihilator.
So, until she could fully master the Path of Nihility and resolve the hidden danger within Acheron, she really did need to take responsibility.
"I will—no, I must take responsibility for your future."
"Eh... Are you... are you really serious?"
Now, the roles had flipped, and it was Acheron's turn to feel shy. She looked at Bai Ming, who didn't seem to be joking at all, and her heart felt like a tangled mess.
She certainly had feelings for Bai Ming, but as for taking responsibility... how exactly did one go about that? Acheron didn't dare let her thoughts wander any further down that road.
"Yes, I have to. But it mostly depends on what you want. At the very least, I'm staying with you until the problem of the Nihility is completely solved," Bai Ming said.
Pulling her attention away from the small world before them, she asked, "Oh, by the way—after this, is there anywhere you want to go?"
"Hmm... that really is a difficult question." Acheron couldn't help but give a faint, wry smile.
Having stayed in this desolate place for so long, her social circle was so thin that, aside from Bai Ming, she didn't have a single acquaintance left.
If you asked her where she wanted to go on the fly... she truly had no idea. She didn't even know what she was supposed to do next, let alone where to do it.
"I don't know where to go. To be honest, I've long grown used to the emptiness here."
"How about trying Amphoreus? It leans toward being a digital world, but the scenery is lovely. The Blue is also a good choice; it's a wonderful place to retire or go on vacation." The worlds Bai Ming suggested were naturally the ones she knew best.
"Or the Land of Light—though there are quite a lot of giants there, so the public facilities are built on a massive scale."
Acheron listened to the worlds Bai Ming mentioned, thought for a moment, and asked curiously, "I thought you would recommend the Xianzhou Alliance or Penacony. I recall you liked those two quite a bit."
"I do like them, but the Xianzhou Alliance is currently facing a gathering storm, and Penacony is a place where people just lose themselves in dreams. I wouldn't feel safe letting you go there."
Bai Ming was terrified that if Acheron let her guard down for even a second, she might just snap and succumb to the Nihility.
There was no way she was taking her to a world of drunken dreams like Penacony.
As for the Xianzhou Alliance... Phantylia was still locked up in the Luofu's Shackling Prison, so things were bound to be restless there.
Hearing these explanations, Acheron gave a slight nod. "Let me think about it first."
"Fair enough. We need to observe this small world for a while longer anyway."
With Aha's arrival, an administrator had been added to the small world. The automated program for the salvation of Sin Thirsters had undergone further optimization.
Surprisingly, Aha had actually done something useful this time without making a mess. Or perhaps the entity had done something sneaky in the shadows that Bai Ming simply hadn't discovered yet.
Regardless, on the surface at least, the entire process and the operation of the rules were running smoothly, with no game-breaking bugs in sight.
The only thing worth a groan was that the Simulated Aha, following the template of the Simulated Universe, had hand-crafted the archetypes of all the other Aeons within this small world.
They had been scattered throughout the world to offer guidance to the lost Sin Thirsters.
However, the fellow was likely still a bit rusty; the Simulated Aeons were somewhat mediocre.
Although each one had a different outward color, their core frameworks were all built from the power of Elation.
In essence, they were just low-quality imitations—masks Aha had split off to mimic the other Aeons.
Bai Ming watched as the entity grew intensely focused on nurturing these Aeon archetypes, acting like a dedicated gardener.
She had no idea what Aha actually wanted with these things or why they had copied the whole "Simulated Aeon" gimmick here. She could only hope the jester wouldn't suddenly pull some massive prank on her.
The reason Bai Ming hadn't stepped in to stop it, despite her suspicions, was that the other Aeons hadn't reacted.
This pure land, built within the shadow of the Nihility, was relatively well-hidden, but it wasn't as if it were invisible to an Aeon.
If it could attract Aha, it stands to reason that other Aeons could find it too.
In fact, Preservation and Equilibrium had already noticed the changes here.
They had spared a glance, but unlike Aha, they hadn't come running over with a laugh. Even after seeing what the Simulated Aha was tinkering with, they chose to ignore it.
At the end of the day, this world was built solely to dissolve the lingering obsessions of the Sin Thirsters.
Once the obsession was gone, the spirit would dissipate.
Furthermore, it was anchored within the shadow of the Nihility. While it looked like something incredible had been created, its actual influence was quite limited due to the Nihility's presence.
Equilibrium had looked a bit longer this time, but ultimately did nothing and said nothing. If Equilibrium didn't have anything to say, it was proof enough that there wasn't a problem.
Bai Ming didn't understand Aha's logic, but she at least knew of Equilibrium's persistence. Since that one hadn't moved, it meant this thing wasn't worth their attention—meaning it had no major impact.
So, Bai Ming didn't stop it.
After all, the Simulated Aha was going to be stationed here long-term; she had to leave it some breathing room to pursue its own interests. Otherwise, she wouldn't dare leave a bored-to-tears Aha here alone.
On the other hand, aside from a few Aeons, humans had naturally noticed the disturbances in the shadow of the Nihility.
The first to take note was Device IX.
Polka Kakamond had observed the movements beneath the shadow and sensed the abnormal gathering of the Sin Thirsters.
It was so out of the ordinary that she even worried if the Aeon of Nihility—who usually never budged—had suddenly acted on a whim.
But Polka Kakamond quickly dismissed that idea and decided to investigate the destination of the spirits. She soon discovered the strange space appearing at the source.
She watched as the gathered spirits entered a peculiar void. That jarring, dome-shaped world sitting in the middle of the wasteland held secrets she couldn't see from the outside.
Initially just curious, the moment she saw the space, she realized it was a world connected to Remembrance.
The power of Remembrance... here?
Kakamond's curiosity got the better of her. What was inside? Why were so many Sin Thirsters being collected?
With these questions in mind, Polka Kakamond crafted a puppet that mimicked the existence of a Sin Thirster. Following the strange pull, she blended in and stepped into that world.
In the next instant, the puppet under Kakamond's observation appeared in a school classroom.
The style of the classroom was strikingly similar to Polka's own homeland; even the people sitting around were styled after her kin.
It was enough to make even a genius like Polka Kakamond freeze for a moment, even through a puppet.
Soon, when the genius discovered that many other spirits were scattered throughout this seemingly peaceful world, living out various ordinary lives, her heart was consumed by the curiosity of exploring this new realm.
Bai Ming had, of course, noticed Polka Kakamond's little maneuver. But she didn't interfere; there was no need to care.
This place was destined to attract different people for various reasons in the future. It wouldn't even be surprising if a Lord Ravager like Celenova or Irontomb charged in to wreak havoc one day.
But that wasn't for Bai Ming to worry about. She had left the Simulated Aha inside precisely to handle such special cases.
Still, Bai Ming took Acheron's hand and pointed toward Polka Kakamond. "Look, we've lured that Kakamond woman here."
"Should we take action?"
"Let's leave her for Herta to deal with. If we launch a sneak attack here, Herta might actually be annoyed."
Bai Ming paused for a moment, then suddenly flashed a mischievous grin. "Wait, I have an idea!"
"...What idea?" Acheron looked at Bai Ming's smiling face with doubt, sensing that this "idea" was probably anything but proper.
"What do you think would happen if I told Herta that Kakamond is in here exploring the world? She'd probably be interested in coming over to play a round with her, don't you think?"
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T/N: If you want advance chapters, you can find it at [email protected]/AspenTL