TN: And we're back! sorry for the week long hiatus, it was not intentional since I had to get my right leg in a cast after tripping 3 floors down a stairwell (like an idiot ://) and be unable to use my PC setup upstairs BUT I should be OK now.
Anyways, Thanks for Arcanic Madness, WeissAkumu and WolfWTF for becoming as Supporters!,
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"A very good question."
HooH's ethereal voice echoed within Aventurine's mind, recounting history with the tone of an elder telling a long tale.
"Even if it is only a few short decades, the disparity between the peaks and troughs of your life is already immense. If you were truly allowed to grow up under the protection of the followers of Preservation, the fluctuations inflicted upon the timeline would still be significant."
"So, THEY exercised THEIR authority and made certain modifications to your life. You—are you psychologically prepared for that?"
"Of course." Aventurine smiled faintly.
He could understand the difficulties faced by the Aeon of Equilibrium. Even if he couldn't, he would have to.
As long as his family had been saved, everything else was nothing more than passing clouds before his eyes.
No matter what he had 'experienced,' he would not care.
He sat calmly at the edge of the bed, his smiling face nodding gently, signaling for HooH to continue.
"Very well. Mm. Aeons do not possess ethical concepts, but to ensure you understand, THEY will use human terminology. In short…"
HooH acknowledged his cooperative attitude, then slowly stated, "You are an orphan."
Aventurine's eyelids twitched stiffly.
Brother… why are you suddenly insulting me?
The sheer absurdity of it nearly made him blurt out his thoughts.
But considering the dignity of an Aeon—and the happy life beckoning ahead—he forcibly held it back.
No, wait. You just personally said my actions to save my family succeeded. So how did I suddenly become an orphan? Can those two things even coexist?
Or is it that, in an Aeon's understanding, my mother from twenty years ago isn't my mother?
He clenched his teeth and asked the deity weakly, "Aeon of Equilibrium… please explain it using your previous logical framework."
"Mm. It is not that THEIR understanding of humans is insufficient. Rather, human language is overly complex. Even with synesthetic beacons, it cannot always achieve one hundred percent accurate transmission."
"Is that so?"
HooH was clearly confident in THEIR understanding of humanity. For example, at this very moment, THEY could tell that Aventurine's words did not fully match his true feelings.
However, the Aeon had no intention of entangling with Aventurine over such trivial matters. THEIR concern was solely to completely settle the turmoil caused by the alteration of history.
"The detailed version is this: when you were still old enough to remember things, you were abducted by a group of interstellar raiders and sold to Sigonia-IV. After enduring countless hardships, you, as a slave, drew the attention of the Corporation's upper echelon through your arrogance and sharp tongue. And then…"
Upon hearing this, Aventurine found the story far too familiar and smoothly picked it up. "And then, after being evaluated by Jade, I entered the Strategic Investment Department?"
HooH confirmed succinctly, "Correct. And because you had not yet formed memories when you were taken, you do not remember your family at all. Over the past twenty years, although you were close to them in distance, on the rare occasions you happened to meet, you were nothing more than strangers passing by."
"Hmm~ tch."
Aventurine took a deep, heavy breath, pressing one hand to his forehead, his expression screaming headache.
Why does this feel exactly like some low-IQ melodrama?
What's next? After a string of coincidences, I finally break through the villain's layers of obstruction, recognize my mother, achieve a grand reunion, and everyone happily makes dumplings together?
Yet he had to admit that, from the perspective of protecting the timeline, this was indeed a good solution.
But why did his perfectly intact family have to be forcibly torn apart for twenty whole years?
And more importantly—how was he supposed to explain all of this to his mother and sister?
According to HooH's script, he had never even seen his mother before.
What, am I supposed to wait until my mother gets sick one day, then hope a nurse accidentally sends her blood sample for a maternity test?
What kind of incompetent nurse would do that? They'd be fired immediately!
Or should I just tell my mother directly that I went back in time?
No. Shopkeeper Sylvester had warned him—under no circumstances could he reveal that matter, or he might be humanely erased.
A mother and child meet, exchange a single glance, and are forever separated between heaven and earth.
The trashy script immediately escalated another level—into himself collapsing one second before victory, his mother clutching his corpse and wailing in grief.
After agonizing internally for a long time, he still couldn't come up with any good solution.
He complained with clear frustration, "What kind of ferocious interstellar raiders are these, kidnapping someone from the Corporation just to sell them to some godforsaken place like Sigonia-IV? Aren't they afraid of going bankrupt from the loss?"
In the end, he didn't dare direct his anger at HooH. With nowhere else to vent it, he dumped it all onto those brainless raiders instead.
But HooH 'kindly' dispelled his doubts. "They were not afraid. Those individuals were shaped through authority. Once this matter was completed, they vanished from the sea of stars forever."
Hearing this, Aventurine choked on his words. "I—"
So, it was you after all?!
I really want to curse you out right now!
"You're truly… thorough in your work." Aventurine ground his teeth as he offered the praise, sounding extremely forced.
At that moment, his respect and evaluation of the Aeon plummeted straight to rock bottom.
An Aeon might not have a mother—but he could not be without one. Especially when she existed perfectly well in this world.
He stood up and began pacing, thinking hard about whether there were any loopholes he could exploit.
Seeing the gravity on his face, HooH asked in confusion, "Human, is there still something amiss?"
In THEIR view, the matter had been handled flawlessly, without a single flaw to criticize.
If Aventurine's expression hadn't suddenly changed, THEY would already be on THEIR way to report back to Sylvester.
That human with such an anomalous ability…
Thinking of Sylvester, even an Aeon felt a sense of melancholy. The impact he might have on the sea of stars could very well become the most critical variable determining the ultimate destination of various Paths in the future.
"There is," Aventurine said, voicing his concern while the Aeon worried over the universe. "How am I supposed to reunite with my mother and sister? Twenty years as strangers—if I just show up claiming to be her son, they'll think I'm insane, won't they?"
Watching Aventurine pace back and forth in the room, HooH replied in confusion, "Human. Why not simply tell them the truth—that you traversed time and altered the outcome of their deaths? As for proof of blood relation, surely your technology is capable of identifying that."
"Huh?" Aventurine stopped dead in his tracks, staring in shock. "Wasn't I not allowed to talk about time travel?"
HooH answered matter-of-factly, "Human. Twenty years ago, you could not speak of it in order to avoid altering history. Now, if you do not speak of it—would that be to avoid altering the future? Simply say it. At this point, it no longer matters."
After a brief pause, THEY added, "Of course, if humanity attempts to exploit this to play with time and conduct large-scale research, then all resulting consequences shall naturally be borne by humanity itself."
"Ah… I, I see."
Recalling the pile of absurd scenarios he had imagined earlier, Aventurine felt so embarrassed that goosebumps erupted all over his body.
That was close. I almost socially obliterated myself.
Thankfully, he hadn't voiced his thoughts. Thankfully, the one before him was the Aeon of Equilibrium—so he hadn't dared to say them at all.
With that, things suddenly became much simpler.
Mm… to make it easier for his mother and sister to accept, he should probably find a Remembrance Pathstrider and have the memories turned into memory bubbles for them to see.
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