Chapter 64 : Chapter 64: The Authority Regarding "Rules"—She Never Exists
Xu Qiong raised an eyebrow curiously. 'You have other companions?'
The leader, who appeared the most experienced and composed, spoke:
'Al-although we don't know what you're plotting here...'
'Our other companions have already entered this light band through the Memory Zone. Even if you can trap us temporarily, it's useless.'
The expressions of Tiresias and Robin grew serious.
It was clear these people came with ill intentions.
Xu Qiong pondered. His 'Time' windless zone had a limited coverage; it couldn't even fully encompass all of Okhema yet.
Letting these Memokeepers run wild would indeed be troublesome.
'But,' Xu Qiong paused, then countered, 'do you really know what it is that's trapping you now?'
In this regard, he ultimately wasn't as good as Herta.
When these Memokeepers were captured by Herta, they were terrified out of their wits. After all, Herta truly had ways to torment them to death without actually killing them.
But obviously, facing others, these Memokeepers felt emboldened.
'Wait!'
The leading Memokeeper didn't choose to be stubborn.
Experience told her that even if the other party lacked immense reputation in the intelligence circles or across the galaxy, she should still tread carefully.
They were, after all, someone capable of trapping them.
She touched her chest, speaking with a trembling voice. 'We can tell you the Garden of Recollection's secrets. Don't you want to know why we're here?'
'Right?!'
'The Garden of Recollection's secrets, and what they covet — I'm willing to tell you everything!'
'Oh?'
Xu Qiong wore a thoughtful expression, lightly resting his chin on his hand. 'The Garden of Recollection's secrets, and what they covet?'
'Yes!'
She lifted her head, attempting a mix of threat and enticement. 'We are Memokeepers. You know how difficult it is to completely eradicate us.'
'Spare us, and we'll tell you everything we know. You must want to understand what the Garden of Recollection is plotting, right?'
'Hmm...' Xu Qiong nodded as if considering it.
Seeing some effect, the Memokeepers exchanged glances, seemingly seeing a glimmer of hope.
'Pity.'
Xu Qiong shrugged. 'I was just messing with you.'
'...'
'Huh?'
As if joking. As a second-playthrough player, how could he not know what the Memokeepers and the Garden of Recollection coveted?
Letting these memory thieves wander around Amphoreus wasn't a good idea either, even though they couldn't possibly find anything.
So after some thought, Xu Qiong decided to use this opportunity to issue a warning.
'Fine, you'll do.'
'What?' One of the Memokeepers widened her eyes.
Xu Qiong smiled with interest. 'This is the first experiment, but using it on you is just right. After all, you're probably not that important.'
'I hope your disappearance won't cause too much change in this universe.'
He approached that Memokeeper and made a flicking motion in the air. 'Actually, I think you 'should not' exist...'
'...'
'...'
Silence.
Flawless silence.
Accompanied by a hazy sense of eeriness, like a drowning person violently surfacing in extreme oxygen deprivation, everything around felt alien.
Dizziness, confusion, disorientation — the leading Memokeeper shook her head vigorously.
When she opened her eyes again, aside from the fact that there were now three Memokeepers instead of four, nothing seemed amiss?
Even Tiresias and Robin nearby didn't notice any strange changes.
But after a brief few seconds of stunned silence...
The leading Memokeeper, though featureless, seemed to sense something!
Her emotions had collapsed to the extreme, even losing her voice amidst trembling.
'Wh-what?'
'You, what did you do? Why... why has it become like this!'
'No, no...'
'Why, why is it gone?!'
Xu Qiong frowned, wearing a strange expression. 'Huh? That's odd.'
'False advertising, this ability. Wasn't it supposed to be undetectable by anyone? How does she still know?'
Xu Qiong pondered the matter in his mind.
Alright, he had to admit it was probably related to the Path of 'Remembrance.' Fuli's influence was still a bit explosive, huh? Even this could be recorded?
Altering a world's established Rules was like deleting a line of code. How could the code itself know it or its companion had been deleted? Only the programmer would know.
And Fuli's 'Remembrance' continuously recorded everything, like a time machine system with backups.
There was once a school of scholars called the Candle Ink Scholars, dedicated to opposing Enigmata and correcting distorted history.
Unfortunately, what Xu Qiong did was real, not fake. So 'Remembrance' was at best an irreversible time machine.
'Is... is it the Path of Enigmata?'
'You're a Fictional Historian? You used a Path to affect her 'existence'?!' the leading Memokeeper shouted.
'Has 'Enigmata' also set its sights here? You...'
Since Memokeepers have no physical form and exist as memes, theyIn principle cannot die.
So what is their only natural enemy, or rather, the natural enemy of 'Remembrance'?
Oblivion!
Which coincidentally was the power Long Night Moon possessed.
So at this moment, all three remaining Memokeepers panicked.
Xu Qiong stepped forward, shaking his head silently. 'Oblivion? Alteration? Of course not those low-tier things.'
'I didn't make you forget her. In fact, how can someone who never existed be forgotten?'
Xu Qiong's smile was perfectly normal.
But at this moment, in the heart of the leading Memokeeper, it felt like falling into an icy star, a bone-chilling cold.
Fabricated code could potentially be restored.
But if this string of code never existed in the first place, how could one even talk about restoration?
This was the Path named 'Rules.'
And he, Xu Qiong, was currently the first and only faction of this Path in the universe.
'The Narrator ∞' —!
...
Soon.
The remaining three Memokeepers were completely imprisoned in the temporal cage; they had utterly given up resistance.
Even though they had no idea what Xu Qiong had done earlier, it still left Robin and the others incredulous, as they sensed the Memokeepers' shock.
'To think we were being tracked by Memokeepers. I hadn't noticed at all.'
'Thank you so much, Xu Qiong. It seems that not long after parting at Penacony, many changes have occurred within you.'
Back then, the Paths Xu Qiong possessed were still quite monotonous.
Now they were not only numerous but also particularly peculiar?
'I'll explain later when we return.'
Xu Qiong glanced at the two. 'Here, we might get eavesdropped on by Memokeepers again.'
'Okay.'
...
[Tonight Eat Roast Chicken: Tiresias, congratulations on wrapping up!]
[Attached image.jpg]
At the same time.
The photo taken before the mountain gate was also posted by Xu Qiong on his feed as promotional material after the storyline concluded.
In the picture, Tiresias's smile was radiant, deeply moving Guinaifen in front of the screen.
But with this series of photos released, seemingly like epilogue merchandise, the atmosphere aboard the Astral Express dropped to the same temperature as March 7th.
After all, Himeko and the others were currently among the few who knew Amphoreus truly existed.
So this series of photos...
Were they photoshopped...
Or were they real?!
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