Anyway, back to what happened—thanks to that Arbitrator's little stunt.
From his perspective, hardly any time had passed at all.
But for the outside world, decades, maybe even centuries, had probably flown by.
Still, since Aha stepped in too, things shouldn't have skipped all the way past the main storyline, right?
Bai Ming glanced at his system notification:
--+--
[Detected that the target has entered a special gravitational field, resulting in a significant time-flow differential between the target and emotional value collection subjects. Intent to gather large amounts of emotional value within a short period has been noted.]
[Therefore, all emotional value obtained during the abnormal time-flow period will be allocated to lifespan extension and will not be used for character card charging.]
[Reminder: The target is advised not to attempt loophole exploitation. Please engage earnestly in role-playing.]
--+--
[Role-Playing System]
[Name: Bai Ming]
[Lifespan: 450 years]
[Transformable Characters: Big Herta (Available), Acheron (Charge: 87.1%), Celenova (Charge: 45.9%), Ruan Mei (Charge: 13.4%), Jingliu]
[Available Draws: 0 (50.1%)]
--+--
This darn system—who could tell if it was strict or lenient?
It was pretty particular when it came to the act of 'role-playing' itself.
But outside of that, it was fairly easygoing. At least none of the emotional value went to waste; it all went into extending his lifespan.
Not that he was complaining—lifespan was what he valued most anyway.
As for role-playing…well, to be honest, playing a part now and then was fine.
But who'd want to wear someone else's face their whole life?
He ought to have a face of his own, at the very least.
Bai Ming grumbled inwardly, then pulled out his phone and took a look.
What he saw nearly scared his soul right out of his body:
Holy crap?! It's already Amber Year 2158? Oh no, no, no—the main storyline's been completely derailed!! Damn you, Equilibrium, you good-for-nothing!
Seeing the updated Amber Era count after his phone reconnected to the network left Bai Ming utterly stunned.
And it wasn't even the first year of 2158—all the main plot points he knew were totally gone.
Had the Trailblazer already traveled who-knows-how-many planets and unlocked over a dozen Paths by now?
So Bai Ming immediately ran a keyword search!
If Irontomb had already been shot down, the Interastral Peace Corporation would definitely have reported it.
Heck, characters like Yaoshi might've even gotten involved.
But the search results just made question marks pop up over Bai Ming's head.
What did it mean—"The Astral Express has been silent for years, Star Rails are blocked by Stellarons, and the universe is heading toward its end"?
The Astral Express never set sail?? How could my butterfly effect be this strong?? What about Elio?
Bai Ming started scratching his head.
It can't be…
So he searched for "Stellaron Hunters" next.
The results were even more bizarre.
What was this—"Xianzhou traitor, Stellaron Hunter Jingliu, triggers civil war on Lazebi, clashes with the Giant of Light, and escapes with a Stellaron"?
Wait, seriously? Ahaha, what am I even doing here? Is this even the same universe I know??
When that news headline popped up, Bai Ming's vision genuinely went dark for a second.
No way.
Why is Jingliu a Stellaron Hunter?
Didn't she run off after becoming mara-struck, then later link up with Luocha and return to the Xianzhou?
How did Elio recruit her into the Stellaron Hunters??
And why were there only two Stellaron Hunters—Elio and Jingliu?
Where's Kafka?
Where's Firefly??
Where's Silver Wolf???
Where did all of them go??
Forget the others—even if Silver Wolf hadn't joined the Stellaron Hunters, she should've made a name for herself across the universe as a genius hacker.
How come Bai Ming couldn't find a single trace of her?
Was this even the real 2158 Amber Era?
Or was he surrounded by History Fictionologists?
Was he actually still lying in his bed in Herta Space Station, being pranked by those Fictionologists he'd created himself?
Bai Ming couldn't help but fall into self-doubt.
But mainly… just what kind of alternate history world was this?
It's gone completely off the rails.
Did some mysterious, powerful hand meddle here too?
Just then, a call came in from Herta.
Bai Ming, still in a daze, heard the ringtone chime twice before Herta's chat window popped up:
Herta: ?
Herta: Pick up the phone!
Bai Ming hit accept.
A holographic projection of Herta appeared in front of him.
"Well, look who it is—Bai Ming! So you finally decided to come back, huh? What, weren't the blackhole's unique landscapes appealing enough? Why not stay a bit longer~"
The moment the call connected, Lady Herta's sarcastic, needle-laced remarks came pouring out.
Bai Ming wasn't even given a chance to speak.
It wasn't until Herta paused to take a breath that Bai Ming finally cut in:
"Actually, I ran into an Arbitrator."
Herta, who had just finished spitting out everything in one go, paused, expression shifting:
"What happened?"
"The Arbitrator said I went too far and dragged me into a blackhole for a… chat."
"You didn't run?"
Hearing Herta's tone, as if it were the most natural thing in the world, Bai Ming let out a resigned laugh:
"Sis, the Arbitrators report directly to 'Equilibrium.' You really think I can outrun an Aeon?"
"Tch, that is a bit troublesome," Herta clicked her tongue.
"But Aha pulled me out."
"Aha… Where are you now? What are you planning next?" A look of clear distaste flashed across Herta's face.
"Just outside the Luofu. As for what's next… I'm kind of stunned. Hundreds of years passed in a blink, and I haven't wrapped my head around it yet."
Herta shot Bai Ming an exasperated glance.
"So young. It's only been a few centuries. Honestly, nothing much even happened—what's there to process?"
"It's precisely because nothing happened that I can't process it!" Bai Ming couldn't hold back a fierce internal rant.
Herta, however, raised an eyebrow:
"What do you mean?"
"Never mind. By the way, how's the space station? Did it get a station director?"
"We've had a few over the years, but right now it's still under AI Herta's management. Why?"
Crap, how is everything I knew wiped out again?
"That can't be right…"
Bai Ming's expression turned particularly complicated:
"Then… have you ever thought about building a supercomputer to simulate the universe's operations, to research the Aeons that way?"
"Hm? What's that? Sounds kinda interesting."
Herta, who had only been puzzled by Bai Ming's attitude before, now had her eyes light up.
The idea actually sounded pretty intriguing.
Bai Ming was starting to sense something off.
No matter how strong the butterfly effect was, it shouldn't have wiped out the Simulated Universe entirely, right?
And judging by Herta's reaction to the idea, it wasn't like she found it uninteresting.
Plus, Ruan Mei and Screwllum had already connected with Herta centuries earlier.
If anything, the Simulated Universe should have appeared even sooner. So why did it seem to not exist?
"Herta."
"What?"
"Has a new Genius #84 been born yet?"
"Hah? What, are you upset because the Mechanical Head didn't issue you a certificate?" Herta looked at Bai Ming with amusement.
She had thought Bai Ming had no interest in that kind of thing.
"What, no! I just borrowed the brainpower—why would I want the title? I'm just asking if any new Geniuses have appeared."
"Heh. No new geniuses. Yours truly is the most recent one in the last few centuries." Herta let out a light laugh, answering with unmatched narcissism.
Something's wrong. Very wrong.
It was true that Stephen was still young, but there was no way he hadn't become a Genius by 2158.
In the original timeline, when the Amber Lord's hammer came down, that was the moment they entered 2158, and Stephen was already a Genius by then.
Wait… the Amber Lord's hammer!!
If the Astral Express never set sail, and the Trailblazer never got struck by the Amber Lord's hammer on Belobog…
Then the original timeline's Amber Era wouldn't have jumped straight into 2158.
According to Herta, only a few centuries had passed since Bai Ming's disappearance.
If the Astral Express had really been erased…
It should be Amber Year 2157, or even 2156, right now!
Then where did this extra hammer come from?
Gah.
Wait!
Now that I think about it, didn't the Amber Lord strike his hammer when Noa was born?
Dammit! So the extra hammer came from that!!
--+--