Chapter 83: Elios

With the Celestial Arbiter in place, Hermes had no rush to find Onphalos.

On the other side, Jizi also did not hurry to depart; after traveling through the Cosmos for a considerable time, the Train Crew needed rest.

Moreover, the current Court of Stellar Diadem was a perfect, ideal place for the Train Crew to align with the Path of Expansion.

They occasionally drove the Stellar Express into the Quantum Sea to capture and study the unique World Bubbles within.

Sometimes they even rescued a few unlucky souls from within the [Sea]—this kind of life…

On their path of Expansion, they grew ever farther, moving ever faster!

Under these circumstances, how could they possibly be eager to leave so soon?

Yet while Hermes and the Train Crew were unhurried, the black cat, having torn through several [Scripts] in fury, was nearly driven mad…

There was no choice.

To make amends, Elios could only deploy his last resort.

During this time, the Nuclear Hunters had been extremely busy fulfilling Elios’s script.

The Yepera Rebellion.

According to Elios’s script, Kafka of the Nuclear Hunters deliberately allowed herself to be captured by the Yepera Brotherhood.

“Everything is within Elios’s script.”

After Sam’s precise rescue, Kafka, beneath her rose-purple hair, smiled with elegant amusement as the situation unfolded exactly as scripted.

Then she casually secured the [Nucleus] within her grasp.

“Elios can see my future.”

“I can also [see] my own future.”

Sam’s mechanical voice faded, replaced by the soft tone of Flowing Firefly: “He says fate has only one path—but before that, I want to know what else I can still do.”

She had followed Elios’s script all along, and that was perfectly understandable.

But she hoped to accomplish something beyond it.

Most of her life had been spent as a weapon, as [Sam].

If [Dys-syntony Syndrome] was irreversible, she wished to understand this world more authentically as [Flowing Firefly].

Not to live out her final days alone, merely as a weapon.

“Don’t worry, Flowing Firefly—everything is within Elios’s script. Everything has already been arranged.”

Kafka, rarely showing tenderness, comforted the little girl she had found drifting in the stars.

Though she lacked fear, she was not devoid of emotion; this child, whom she had known for so long, had already claimed a place in her heart, and she wished for her to have a better future.

And according to Elios’s script, all of it would come to pass.

At that moment, the Silver Wolf appeared abruptly beside them.

Then, with grave expression, the Silver Wolf said: “Elios says the script has been altered!”

Upon hearing this, Kafka’s composed, elegant demeanor darkened with deep confusion: “It’s inconceivable—can someone alter a past already [determined]?”

The End Star God travels backward through time.

For Him, the future of ordinary beings is already the past.

Under these conditions, Kafka found it utterly implausible that anyone could drastically rewrite Elios’s script.

Even the Nuclear Hunters, who held the script, could only carefully lay out each move.

Drawing upon the Star God’s power, step by step, hoping ultimately to guide toward a better future…

“It’s Genius Club #84, Hermes!”

The Silver Wolf was intrigued by this genius capable of rewriting the script, but she still delivered Elios’s message: “Elios wants us to find him/Her at this coordinate and try to reach an agreement on certain matters!”

“Sigh! Do I have to go too?”

Flowing Firefly was puzzled—she had always served as the frontline assault unit in the Nuclear Hunters; why assign this task to her?

“That’s right!”

The Silver Wolf also found it strange, but replied honestly: “Elios says that if Itachi wish to persuade him/her, Itachi will be a crucial weight!”

Him/Her?

From Elios’s words, both Kafka and Flowing Firefly sensed something profound.

Who exactly was #84, that even Elios would refer to him/Her as [Her]?

…

The Cosmos was vast, nearly without boundaries.

Yet the Cosmos was also small; with the coordinates known, the Nuclear Hunters reached the former location of the Court of Stellar Diadem in merely three days.

“What’s this? There’s nothing here at all?”

The Silver Wolf scanned the area repeatedly, yet despite her skills, found absolutely nothing.

“Though a minor issue arose, Elios’s script remains reliable.”

Kafka glanced at the Silver Wolf and said directly: “What’s next? Elios must have said something.”

While the other two spoke, Flowing Firefly stared at the special [Light Cone] brought by the Silver Wolf, her gaze distant.

The figure within the Light Cone was her own, before she had the name [Flowing Firefly], when she was still Ar-.

Back then, she was an ordinary Grammer Knight, existing between past and future, devoid of meaning.

As Flowing Firefly stood lost in thought, Hermes, far away in the Court of Stellar Diadem, seemed to sense something, his expression subtly shifting.

Yet in the next instant, he followed the feeling and appeared before the visiting Nuclear Hunters.

In an instant, the image of Flowing Firefly holding the special [Light Cone] entered his sight.

Instantly.

The subtle emotion within Hermes’s eyes deepened further.

“Fascinating~”

The silver-haired man murmured in confusion: “How could a mere Elios create an artifact of this caliber?”

“Or where did he even obtain this thing?”

As soon as this figure appeared, the Silver Wolf and Kafka fell silent.

This man before them felt utterly strange!

He appeared to be nothing more than a normal human—silver-haired, green-eyed, merely a touch more handsome than most…

Well, they had never seen a man so beautiful.

Yet in moments of disorientation, they felt as if they sat beside a humanoid universe.

Flowing Firefly, after a moment of silence, spoke softly: “This is what Elios told me to give Itachi.”

“Elios says: if Itachi accept this artifact, it means Itachi have agreed.”

“Elios also says: once Itachi accept the artifact, let me stay—Itachi will give me the perfect answer I’ve longed for.”

Recalling Elios’s exact words, Flowing Firefly’s confusion grew heavier.