Chapter 822: Backward or Forward

The meeting had ended.

In the vast meeting room, only Lu Jiayun and Grace, who had not spoken a single word throughout, remained.

Grace looked much younger now compared to before.

Her head full of white hair had turned back to raven black.

It was only after the projections of the other two had completely vanished that she finally spoke:

"What do you plan to do? Send people to the RUN Company headquarters to find that thing? From what I know, both Abukado and the Emperor's Order already have members heading there. The former, did you send them?"

Lu Jiayun answered without any hesitation.

"Not me.

But the ones who went looking for that secret Substitute Cube before were also their people. It's just that those useless fools weren't thorough enough, and actually let a weak native human escape with the secret Substitute Cube.

This time, I won't trust them."

"So?"

"So? Naturally, I'll send the people I trust to the RUN Company. Grace, you... have changed?"

Grace toyed with a strand of her hair, paying no mind to Lu Jiayun's confusion.

"I am Grace. What's there to change?"

Looking at the young, beautiful woman in the projection, just like when they had first met all those years ago.

Lu Jiayun opened his mouth, but found himself unable to say anything.

"Lu Jiayun, I believe you can succeed."

"We can succeed!"

Lu Jiayun felt an inexplicable sense of irritation rise within him.

"Ah, right. Recently, I have some matters to attend to. If there are any more meetings, just have one of your subordinates with a Time Flow Synchronization Module contact me. I'll still come."

"What do you mean by that? You're going to enter the Wasteland? You... you're going to enter the next station?!"

Grace's movements came to a halt, her gaze never once meeting Lu Jiayun's eyes.

"To become the new mayor of the Nation on Ships, this is something that must be done. You should be able to understand me."

"..."

Grace disappeared.

Lu Jiayun sat silently in place for who knows how long.

Why did it have to be like this?

Back then, everyone had been full of ambition and drive.

For the sake of returning home, they could casually use hundreds of worlds as fuel, all just to power a single train.

For the sake of finding their homeland, they cared nothing for their own lives, nothing for their own futures.

But now...

He couldn't, and wouldn't, stop these old friends from charging toward a better future.

"I will keep walking my path. My dream will definitely come true. Even if I'm abandoned by all... even if no one understands me... I must keep going, until the very last moment."

Lu Jiayun murmured to himself.

The exhaustion on his body vanished in an instant.

He pressed a button.

A burly man immediately ran in from outside the door.

"Boss!"

"Bartos, take some men to the RUN Company headquarters. Find the Train Conductor who possesses the secret Substitute Cube. The information is insufficient. All we know is that he's male, handsome, and accompanied by a woman carrying a pet carrier.

Bartos, I trust you. You must find that thing."

"Yes!"

The burly man swallowed his saliva, feeling the pressure bearing down on him, and steeled himself to accept the mission.

Lu Jiayun pulled open the curtains. Beyond the massive floor-to-ceiling windows lay the pinnacle of this grandest of human cities.

"Space, memories, coordinates... planets... worlds... The Supreme of Space has dropped to Divine Sequence 3. Could it be because of that Emperor's Order demon who holds the Blasphemy Card?"

"Damn it... and recently, there's also appeared someone called Ye Qiyan, a holder of both the Blasphemy Card and Calamity... Why? I've worked so hard, so why can no one understand me? What we should be doing is going backward, returning to the very beginning, returning to our homeland..."

————

"Huh? Brother Qiyan, is it really correct for us to keep going forward?"

Top floor of the RUN Company headquarters.

Ye Qiyan led Zhao Lin forward, but they still hadn't found the meeting point agreed upon with Stacia.

"Just keep walking forward. As long as we keep going, we'll always find our target eventually."

Ye Qiyan leisurely ate his ice cream. Lisette, who he had released from the Matrix space, was carrying a bunch of snacks, all purchased from this water park built for the Train Conductors.

There were actually far fewer people here than one might expect.

The reason, Ye Qiyan had asked around.

The performance by Stacia and Alice was aimed more at the RUN Company's own employees.

They had been invited here, and many Train Conductors who wanted to watch the concert to speed up their Spirit recovery didn't even know how to buy tickets.

People like Ye Qiyan and Zhao Lin, who had come directly through VIP invitation letters, were an absolute rarity.

"Sigh, I thought Brother Qiyan knew the way..."

"Aren't you the one who arrived earlier than me? By all rights, you should be the one leading."

"Well... I actually haven't been here that long either..."

The two chatted casually and easily.

Ye Qiyan stopped in front of another food stall.

He took an interest in the grilled meat sprinkled with Holy Light effects on display.

"Boss, how much is this?"

"Ah, customer, I'm sorry, but I'm out of stock at the moment. Perhaps you could discuss it with this customer here? She's already bought up the last few skewers."

Ye Qiyan looked to the side.

There stood a woman equipped with sunglasses, a mask, and a baseball cap, still bundled up tightly despite being in this water park.

For some reason, he felt like this person looked somewhat familiar.

"...Alice?"

"Huh?! No, no, I'm not Ali... Huh? Mr. Altos, it's you! How did you recognize me? I thought I disguised myself pretty well!"

Alice secretly took off her glasses, revealing a pair of light pink eyes filled with confusion and delight.

"I just guessed randomly."

That was the truth.

He just thought her outfit looked very similar to those big-shot celebrities who hide themselves on TV.

Combined with the concert that was supposed to take place here, he casually asked.

He never expected her to actually admit it.

"Sigh... Looks like I've been deceived. These are all tailored high-grade props for hiding one's identity, and they turned out to be completely useless."

Alice didn't believe Ye Qiyan's words. She looked at the sunglasses in her hand with some helplessness.

"Oh, right! Is Mr. Altos also here to watch my concert?!"

Her tone shifted to one of delight, but Zhao Lin, who had been standing behind Ye Qiyan all along, spoke up at that moment:

"We're here to attend Sister Stacia's idol fan meeting."

"I see..."

Alice looked somewhat disappointed, but then noticed that the man in front of her was sizing her up with an appraising gaze.

She pinched the hem of her skirt and asked in a small voice:

"Mr. Altos? Is there something special about me?"

Ye Qiyan felt no embarrassment at being caught staring. He hadn't even planned to hide his gaze in the first place. After a moment of thought, he asked:

"Can you tell me who it was that invited you to the RUN Company?"

"It was the boss here, Russell."