Chapter 25

When Wa'erte Yang led Star out of the Simulated Universe Laboratory, San Yue Qi, who had been waiting outside, immediately hopped over like a lively pink rabbit, circling around Star, her sky‑blue eyes full of worry and curiosity.

Terms: Wa'erte Yang, Simulated Universe Laboratory, San Yue Qi. Also maybe Star (the protagonist? Not in glossary; it's a name but not listed; we treat as name? Not in glossary; but we might need to include if it's a named entity? The glossary list includes only those given; we should list only those that appear and are in glossary. The protagonist Star is not in glossary; we don't need to list it. Also Star maybe a name but not in glossary; we ignore.)

"Star! You finally made it out! Are you okay? What happened inside? It was chaotic out there just now—Yinlang causing trouble and Monkeys singing—so scary!"

Terms: Yinlang, Monkeys. Also maybe Star again.

She bombarded him with questions while carefully scrutinizing Star, constantly feeling that something was off.

No glossary terms.

Jizi also stepped forward, her elegant brows showing concern: "Star, how do you feel? No anomalies in the simulated universe, right?"

Terms: Jizi, Simulated Universe (maybe not in glossary; we have Simulated Universe Laboratory but not Simulated Universe alone; not listed). So only Jizi.

Her keen eyes caught the indescribable shift in Star's aura.

No.

Walther pushed up his glasses, his expression extremely complex—a tangled mix of shocked resignation and an unspoken sense of déjà vu.

Terms: Walther. Also maybe déjà vu not in glossary.

He opened his mouth, finally managing to utter a few strained words: "... No serious injury. It's just... on the Memory level, there may have been some... impact."

Terms: Memory, impact (maybe part of Memory Shock but not separate). The glossary has Memory Shock and Memory Experience. Here we have memory layer... impact. Not exact term. So we may not list Memory alone? The glossary includes Memory as a term. It appears: memory layer. So we should list Memory (Memory). Also maybe impact not separate.

(Inner thought: Whose simulated universe has a Kaiwen wielding Heavenly Fire?! And they even had a heavy conversation about "Salvation" and "Cost"?! This is even more absurd than seeing Kekeliya resurrected to dance ballet! But he can't explain—it's a story from his hometown, far too remote for his current companions.)

Terms: Simulated Universe, Heavenly Fire, Kevin, Salvation, Kekeliya. Also maybe cost not in glossary.

Jizi, upon hearing "Memory Shock," furrowed her brows, a bit puzzled, but still turned her gaze to Star and gently asked, "Star, are you okay? Is anything uncomfortable?"

Terms: Jizi, Memory Shock.

At that moment, Star stood quietly there, her posture seeming more upright than before, her back noticeably straighter.

No.

The naive, fearless‑as‑a‑calf quality she once had had vanished, replaced by a calmness, an introspection that seemed forged by countless trials; in the depths of her golden eyes lingered a weight far beyond what her age should bear.

No.

If the earlier Star was like an uncut, radiant raw stone, now she is like a sword sheathed, yet faintly emitting a cold glint.

No.

San Yue Qi could no longer hold back, pointing at Star and exclaiming, "Wow! Star, why do you... seem like you've become a different person? You sound so serious! It's not you at all!"

Terms: San Yue Qi.

Dan Heng crossed his arms, standing a short distance away, observing calmly; he gave a slight nod and succinctly remarked, "Your aura is like a completely different person."

Terms: Dan Heng.

He keenly sensed that Star's current state resembled that of a... warrior rather than the Pioneer who had just set out on the journey.

Terms: Pioneer. Also maybe Warrior not in glossary.

Walther silently nodded in his mind:

Terms: Walther.

(How could it be just two different people… This is simply like being possessed by some 50,000-year-old old man!)

No.

At that moment, Star turned her gaze to San Yue Qi, her expression unusually solemn; in a low, serious tone she asked, "San Yue, do you know why... birds can fly?"

San Yue: "... ah?"

She blinked her big eyes, as if a literal question mark had popped above her head, completely unable to follow Star's line of thought: "Birds... birds? Aren't birds born knowing how to fly because they have wings?"

Terms: San Yue Qi.

She blinked her big eyes, a concrete question mark seemed to pop up above her head, completely unable to follow Star's train of thought: 'Bird, little bird? Aren't birds born knowing how to fly? Because they have wings?'

No.

She felt that Star's question was utterly bizarre.

No.

However, Walther, standing nearby, couldn't help but see a vein in his forehead pulse when he heard the familiar‑sounding question; his hand adjusting his glasses tightened slightly, his knuckles turning pale.

Terms: Walther.

(Inner thought: Fist clenched. jpg this familiar formula, familiar taste……)

No.

Just then, the Black Tower, having finished dealing with the aftermath of the Yinlang and Space Station disturbances, passed by with an impatient expression, apparently ready to service the puppets that had been inexplicably controlled.

Terms: Yinlang, Space Station, Black Tower.

Jizi politely called out to her, "Black Tower Lady, please wait. Star just emerged from the simulated universe, and her condition seems a bit abnormal; could you..."

Terms: Jizi, Black Tower Lady, Simulated Universe. Also maybe she refers to Black Tower Lady.

The Black Tower stopped, her violet eyes casually scanning Star, her face expressionless.

Terms: Black Tower.

She didn't even wait for Jizi to finish speaking; she simply raised her Magic Staff and, seemingly casually, tapped it against Star's forehead.

Terms: Magic Staff.

"Dong." A light sound rang.

No.

Star was knocked slightly backward, a fleeting look of bewilderment flashing across her face.

No.

A few seconds later, the Black Tower retracted her staff, speaking evenly: "No serious issue. The Star Core is very stable; the mental wave fluctuations are a bit unusually active, but the structure is intact. So, what happened?"

Terms: Black Tower, Star Core.

She obviously didn't make too much of Star's changes; in her view, as long as the Star Core is fine, everything else is just minor issues.

Terms: Star Core.

Walther could only laboriously string together words, skirting the main issue as he explained, "In the simulated universe, Star seems to have... undergone an extraordinary 'Memory Experience,' which has caused subtle changes in her cognition and... behavior now."

Terms: Walther, Simulated Universe, Memory Experience, Cognition.

The Black Tower, hearing that, then examined Star more closely, her brows slightly raised: "Memory? That's beyond my jurisdiction; I'm not a 'Memory Keeper' from the Floating Dawn side, specializing in that."

Terms: Black Tower, Memory, Floating Dawn.

She summoned a Virtual Interface again to quickly review the core data of the simulated universe, saying, "As for the simulated universe itself, I just checked; the Run Log shows no records of abnormal external data injection or logical errors. She may have randomly landed in a particularly... profound fragment."

Terms: Virtual Interface, Simulated Universe, Run Log, External Data Injection.

She waved her hand, appearing a bit impatient: "It looks like she's neither foolish nor insane, actually much more normal—so that's good, right?"

No.

In her view, Star's previous noisy, overly curious baby‑like state was the one that seemed 'abnormal.'

No.

After saying that, she didn't linger, turned and left, continuing to handle her "big cleanup."

No.

For Jizi, San Yue Qi, and Dan Heng, Star's sudden change was abrupt, but since the Black Tower confirmed her body was unharmed, it might simply be aftereffects of a particularly deep Simulated Body experience, and she will gradually recover.

Terms: Jizi, San Yue Qi, Dan Heng, Black Tower, Simulated Body, Aftereffects.

They were mostly surprised and curious.

No.

But for the informed Wa'erte Yang, watching this Star who intermittently blurts out "Humans must defeat Honkai!" or discusses the "meaning of Salvation" in an extremely solemn tone, he feels overwhelmed—one head is not enough for two problems.

Terms: Wa'erte Yang, Honkai, Salvation.

Faced with this Star Core Essence that constantly spouts Kevin Quotes, he felt an unprecedented mental exhaustion and… hard to endure.

Terms: Kevin Quotes, Star Core Essence.

【Perspective shift: System Space】

Terms: System Space.

The Black Curtain Lady had no idea how much trouble the "Past Pleasant Land" data packet she casually released caused for a certain Star Core Essence and a former Ruler of Reason.

Terms: Black Curtain Lady, Past Pleasant Land, Star Core Essence, Ruler of Reason.

She was currently walking down a newly appeared corridor leading to an unknown Golden Descendant "Cell."

Terms: Golden Descendant, Cell.

This corridor differed from the spiral stone stairs she took when heading to Xi Lian; it was straighter and wider, and instead of cold stone walls, its sides were made of continuously flowing dark‑colored data code, as if walking within a solidified data river.

Terms: Xi Lian.

Below her feet was a mirror‑smooth black floor, reflecting the sway of her skirt and the outline of her Witch Hat.

The air was filled with a buzzing of countless streams of information silently screaming, unsettling the mind.

The air buzzed with a hum as countless information streams screamed silently, leaving one feeling unsettled.

No.

(Inner thought: I don't know what the next scene will look like; I hope it's not again that kind of scene that makes one's chest feel blocked… Although, given the style of the "Iron Tomb", hope is slim.)