Xu Qiong even double-checked it carefully twice.
Confirming there were no mistakes, was it really the Interastral account he used to release the game PV?
To be honest, he couldn't say he was too shocked; it was normal to be investigated after doing such things. He just didn't expect Firefly's inquiry to lead straight to him.
Should he call it a telepathic connection, or a twist of fate?
In short, Xu Qiong and Firefly were very close; after their experience in Penacony, they could be said to have shared life and death.
He felt a small wave of apology for using Firefly to drum up hype for the game.
But Firefly wasn't exactly honest either; among the Stellaron Hunters, she acted cool and snarky, even daring to joke with Kafka, yet she acted all sweet and gentle in front of him.
When others wore mecha, their true identities were wanted, but she didn't show her face. Once her illness was cured, she could just vanish on the spot.
The IPC is hunting Sam, what does that have to do with me, Firefly?
Of course, Xu Qiong was just joking.
After all, considering Firefly's goals, having more people know her probably wouldn't make her sad; she might even be a little secretly pleased.
Moreover, as Xu Qiong opened his hand, a void-white, slightly hollow energy was circulating in his palm.
"Should I tell Firefly where I am?"
Xu Qiong thought about it; if it were just Firefly, it would be fine.
However, the Stellaron Hunters were definitely together right now. Bringing them all over at this stage might interfere with the plan.
Outside, Elio's script was still proceeding as scheduled.
He didn't want a conflict between the two sides.
So, Xu Qiong first used his social account to pretend to learn about the situation from Firefly, comforted her, and harshly denounced the "vile behavior" of "Tonight Eat Roast Chicken"!
How dare he provoke our precious Fire-baby?!
Unforgivable!
But when asked where he was, Xu Qiong found himself in a difficult spot.
To prevent Firefly from coming straight to him, he lied and said he was stuck on Aha Star.
Because in Elio's script, the Astral Express Crew was indeed in Amphoreus at this time.
As for "Sam" on the other side in the game's private messages, that was even easier to handle.
[Tonight Eat Roast Chicken: Sorry, there are currently no such plans. If there are, please wait for an in-game announcement.]
"That's that!"
He just played dead.
He didn't reveal any useful information and successfully brushed Firefly off.
He would explain everything properly once it was all over.
The priority now was to study his newly mastered Path and abilities.
After so many days, Xu Qiong rarely left his small room, wandering around Okhema while researching.
The surroundings were bustling with people, like a marketplace.
There was no doubt.
Among the three event options from before, he had chosen the third one.
Besides wanting stronger power, Xu Qiong's urgent task was to save the soon-to-fall Amphoreus.
Because everything he saw now was somewhat similar to the end of the Eternal Page, existing in a similarly illusory state.
For a seed to sprout, it needs time.
Xu Qiong couldn't wait that long. A Genius Society Member's brain was certainly powerful, but he didn't have hundreds of time to emulate Herta and the others in their research to ascend as an Emanator.
The authority of Abundance was also very powerful, but everyone knew it had a terrifying side as well.
It gives but doesn't care; it's called immortality, but it's more like being half-dead. Blade would have something to say about that.
Thus, only the last and most uncertain option remained.
And the Path Xu Qiong ultimately obtained was—
"Time"!
A brand new Path that had never existed in the universe before.
For others, they might not even be clear about what Path their heart truly desired, and humans couldn't even imagine a Path they had never seen before.
So, theoretically, this option should have been the worst.
But it happened to be Xu Qiong.
He deceived himself.
The power of Mystery can forge anything; though it is fake, it only needs a moment of truth.
So it became like a custom selection; Xu Qiong deceived himself into believing the Path he wanted most was actually "Time."
In this way, he mastered the ability he needed most, one that had never existed before.
Unlike the divine power of time in Amphoreus or the Path of Remembrance, Xu Qiong's Path was of a higher order.
If one had to describe it, it was similar to how Permanence split into The Propagation, and Time split into Remembrance.
Xu Qiong stopped by a flower bed in a city district, knelt down, and tried to reach out to cup an antiling flowers.
As a void-white light suddenly flared, the enveloped antiling flowers withered at a visible speed, sizzling like a raw steak being seared on a griddle.
Seeing this, Xu Qiong's face lit up with irrepressible excitement.
But if it were only this, it wouldn't be called a higher-order Path!
So, as he exerted his power once more, a scene that would make all Genius Society Members and miracles marvel—like entropy reversal—was born before his eyes.
A well-done steak began to lose its color, and the withered antiling flowers was restored just like that.
As if nothing had happened just now.
Xu Qiong stood up, an inadvertent smile playing on his lips.
"Exactly as I imagined. The power of Mystery is at work!"
The Path of "Time" allows one to freely control any organic or inorganic matter's state at any point in time.
Unlike Remembrance, there's no need to collect or record.
Xu Qiong's state was like a viewer in front of a video, casually fiddling with the progress bar, able to navigate to any second of content he wanted to see.
Not only that.
If he wished at the moment of ascension, he could bring the universe to its end in a single instant, or decide that the universe would no longer have an end.
Defining or comparing the universe to a scale of 1 to 100, Xu Qiong could control it at any number, or even freeze it for eternity.
And this was currently the most suitable ability for Amphoreus!
Herta once said that Amphoreus is like a seed; spreading their stories and waiting for them to sprout might take a thousand amber eras, or maybe a year or two.
But a thousand time is too long; he can't wait.
So, how about one second?
"..."
Of course, he was just joking. Xu Qiong had only just mastered the Path and wasn't even an Emanator yet; his range of control couldn't make the entire Amphoreus ascend in a single second.
However, in other words, given his current level of control, adjusting the rate was still achievable.
And once he reached the level of an Emanator, or came infinitely close to it, then making Aha Star ascend in a single second would no longer be a problem.
Xu Qiong thought for a moment and extended his palm: "Unveil the curtain of time, stir the ripples of eternity!"
He learned this move from Tribbie.
With a few tweaks, it became Xu Qiong's own.
As his voice fell, Amphoreus seemed unchanged.
But only Xu Qiong understood that on the timeline called reality, that "seed" had already changed.
If spreading the stories of Aha Star originally required a thousand amber eras to bear fruit, then at this moment, the time had been shortened to five hundred amber eras by Xu Qiong.
He changed the time rate, as simple as turning on 2x speed in honkai: star rail!
"Things are moving in a good direction."
Not only did he have the ability to protect himself, but he also had a primary way to resolve one of the dilemmas.
Xu Qiong took a deep breath and stretched his limbs.
"Even so, the honkai: star rail journey must continue."
He picked up his phone again and returned to the game stream.
After all, the subsequent Path upgrades depended on Cosmic Shards!
...
But what Xu Qiong didn't know was...
Reality was not as simple as he thought.
At the Space Station, after a brief communication with Xu Qiong, Sam turned around.
"How is it, Silver Wolf?"
On the sofa, Silver Wolf was fiddling with the device that looked like a game console, her expression solemn: "No clues!"
"Or you could say that no clues are a clue in themselves."
"I searched for the IP address of Xu Qiong's account but couldn't find it. In other words, he might not be in this timeline or space-time."
The gazes of the Stellaron Hunters met.
Obviously.
Something went wrong.