"Welt, just tell me. I only just woke up, and I don't know anything. Come on, tell me more about things in the universe!" March 7th's lively voice rang out once again.
"Sigh, I think you just want to hear a story." With a clinking sound, Welt set the teacup in his hand down on the table.
"Hehe?" March 7th put on an innocent, bashful expression.
"Alright, then I'll tell you the story of a genius." Welt wore a helpless expression. March 7th was great in every way, except that her personality was far too jumpy. When Himeko first brewed her a cup of black coffee, she had dumped spoonful after spoonful of sugar straight into it. She had even gone to the data bank, pulled out every single book inside to search for information on Six-Phase Ice, and then shoved them all back in a chaotic pile because she couldn't remember the original order. Not even little Pom-Pom had escaped her clutches; every morning when Pom-Pom went to her room to call her for breakfast, she would grab Pom-Pom and cuddle her for ages, until the task of waking March up for breakfast eventually fell solely to Himeko.
Now, it was old Welt's turn to have bad luck. Perhaps driven by a desire to find information about her own origins, the moment March saw that he or Himeko had free time, she would without fail come over to ask about stories of the universe—focusing primarily on him. In her own words: "Himeko-nee-san says you know way more than she does." So it was Himeko who had said that, huh? Old Welt was filing that grudge away. But the truth was, he came from another universe himself; his own understanding of the universe wasn't all that vast.
Finally, Welt gave up struggling and told March the very last bit of "story" he had:
"Legend has it that Genius Society #50, Shen Wan, was a very special person. He was able to help low-level planetary civilizations step out of their worlds and enter the interstellar era without asking for any price in return. Such selfless and altruistic behavior would suggest he ought to be a Pathstrider of the Abundance; yet in reality, he became a genius representing an Emanator of Erudition."
"Why? Welt, his actions were, as you said, selfless and altruistic. Apart from not having healing abilities, he seemed to fulfill every other requirement of the Abundance. So why did he end up becoming a member of the Genius Society?" March 7th asked bluntly, with her usual carefree attitude.
Welt Yang: "Though it certainly sounds strange, he once said to someone: 'The only thing I do is assist those civilizations in upgrading, without paying attention to the choices they make afterward. I merely give them the right to choose. As for whether they subsequently cause their own civilization's destruction out of greed, or withstand the darkness of human nature to achieve true progress for their civilization, that is their own choice. I will no longer intervene in cause and effect.' Judging by these words, he didn't care about the final outcome of the civilizations he assisted. It was just like doing a task—once the task is completed, why would he care about what happens next?"
"But a person like that should surely become a figure like a leader to the civilizations he helped. If those civilizations really ran into trouble, how could they not consult him?" March 7th was full of doubt.
"Well asked. But according to the data bank's records, he never participated in politics, and as soon as a civilization qualified to venture into the cosmos, he would slip away rapidly, almost never even participating in the civilization's celebrations. Under those circumstances, civilizations lost track of him long before they ever encountered any problems, so naturally, they couldn't seek his help when trouble arose."
"Well, what a weirdo. You really'd think he was just completing quests, wouldn't you?"
The discussion aboard the Astral Express continued, but on a planet far, far away from the train—Sky-Sun Star—the Sky-Sun Federation was holding a grand inauguration ceremony to confer military rank upon the federation's youngest general. Yet neither the righteous-looking, elderly Federation Chairman nor the hawk-eyed, scowling, disgruntled Elder Council's Grand Elder could manage to get in touch with the protagonist of the ceremony: the young man named Shen Wan.
"Hey, Leyden, have you gotten hold of that kid?" The Grand Elder was thoroughly displeased. He was merely a researcher—by what right could he rely on so-called controllable nuclear fusion technology to jump straight from major to major general?
"No, I've already sent guards to his house to look for him. Let's wait a little longer." Chairman Leyden was utterly exasperated. *Seriously, you've got to be kidding me.* Just a few days ago, he had gotten into a screaming match with the Grand Elder precisely to secure this general's rank for the little guy; how could they still be unable to find him on the very day of the ceremony?
Not long after, a sweating guard called in: "Mr. Chairman, I'm at the General's residence, but I can't find General Shen..."
"What? Why would that be?"
"I don't know, Mr. Chairman. The butler at the General's estate says he hasn't seen the General since morning. He's not in the General's research lab either, and there isn't even any sign that the General has been doing experiments."
The General had vanished on the very day of his inauguration ceremony, shocking the entire federation. But to ensure political stability, the old Chairman had no choice but to join forces with the Elder Council to suppress the explosive news of the General's disappearance. In less than ten days, no one anywhere in the federation could pull up any information on this General; it was as though this General had never set foot in this mortal world at all.
Several days prior, on an uninhabited planet in the Sky-Sun star system, sat a spacecraft. It was unmistakably something that could never have been built by the Sky-Sun Federation—the sole civilization in the Sky-Sun star system, and one that had only barely managed to enter the interstellar navigation era. The interior of the ship was unpretentious and plain, glaringly empty save for the necessary control consoles and a few daily living items. A young man with black hair and black eyes was lying sideways on the single sofa inside, staring at a display screen. On the screen was the scene of the Sky-Sun Federal Government's conference room, where a meeting was currently underway. Officials, some familiar and some unfamiliar, were arguing fiercely with red faces. If one listened closely, it seemed they were bickering over which area should be given priority for further development once the controllable nuclear fusion technology completed the development of interstellar spacecraft.
"Heh, still fighting for their own interests, are they? Well, of course. After all, the Sky-Sun Federation still knows nothing about the future. I just hope the note I left behind in the house gets found; it explicitly spells out that once an ordinary civilization enters the interstellar stage, it automatically acknowledges the reality of stepping onto the cosmic grand stage, and the entire civilization needs to pour all its energy into resisting foreign invasions. Let's just hope Sky-Sun isn't discovered by the Antimatter Legion too quickly, or I won't be able to gather the data I need again." He muttered to himself. Though his words sounded heartless, judging by his tone, his heart was far from calm. Perhaps it was because old Chairman Leyden had yet to find a qualified successor, forcing him in his old age to fight off the parasitic Elder Council members who understood neither technology nor developmental vision; or perhaps it was a mockery of the self-righteous Elder Council, whose members actually knew nothing besides low-level gaslighting.
"Alright, time to settle the quest now," Shen Wan said, uttering something utterly baffling.
"Ding! Detected that the host has completed the quest *Soaring Upwards* (1023/1024), illuminated the 1024th Trace of the Erudition Path, and obtained Aha's Glance."
"No way, bro, getting eyeballed by Aha counts as a reward too? As a transmigrator, a System owner, the weirdest genius in the Genius Society, and the prophetic pioneer of civilization evolution dubbed the 'Sage' by the world—I've stacked all these buffs to the max. Are you sure I won't just explode the moment Aha glances at me?" Shen Wan, who had been lounging lazily on the sofa just a moment ago, leaped straight up.
"Ding! Host, no need to worry. Who do you think I am, bro? A System, you see—a Civilization Observation System! With me around, what is there to fear from Aha? Even IX could get a beating."
"How come I remember that back when I had an audience with Nous, no matter how much I yelled at you, you didn't respond? Are you sure you're not afraid of Aeons?"
"Ding! At that time, I went to the restroom and didn't hear you calling me. I ate something bad, which is why I ignored you for so long."
"Huh? No way, bro, what kind of restroom does a System go to?"
"Ding! Apologies, when nature calls, nature calls."
"Nature calls your [Honkai Star Rail profanity], you're not even human."
"Ding! Warning to the host: you may insult my combat capabilities, but please do not question my character."
"What, is there a real person operating you behind the scenes?"
"Ding! Host clearance is insufficient."
Shen Wan grew frantic: "Insufficient my [Honkai Star Rail profanity]! There really is a human behind you, right? How could an AI be this [Honkai Star Rail profanity]?"
"Ding! Hard to say."
Shen Wan grew even angrier, letting loose a stream of Honkai Star Rail profanities, but the System ignored him entirely.
"I am seriously [Honkai Star Rail profanity]. If I had to transmigrate, why is my System so [Honkai Star Rail profanity]?"