Spatially, the so-called "Galaxy" in the world of Star Rail doesn't refer to the Milky Way, but rather the entirety of the observable universe.
Temporally, under normal circumstances, the flow of time across different worlds within this vast expanse is fundamentally uniform.
However, in the boundless cosmos, unexpected events—miracles of probability—occur almost constantly. Among these are starquakes, which aren't particularly rare.
A starquake can trigger gravitational collapse, drastically altering the curvature of spacetime within the affected star system. A message sent from within a starquake zone might take decades to reach someone outside.
When such temporal anomalies accumulate, interstellar civilizations throughout the galaxy face chaotic obstacles in communication.
And so, the Amber Era was established.
This calendar system uses the rhythmic strikes of the Amber Lord's hammer as its universal benchmark.
The power of the Aeons is cryptic, wondrous, and utterly beyond human comprehension.
The sound of the Aeon of Preservation striking their hammer ignores all time differentials imposed by physical laws, echoing absolutely simultaneously in every corner of the galaxy.
This celestial rhythm serves as the standard, calibrating time across the entire universe.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
Hammer blows powerful enough to make the whole universe tremble.
If this sound could truly reach the outside world unimpeded, the entire galaxy would have skipped four whole Amber Eras in this single moment.
Right now, however, it was merely the backdrop to His furious roar.
"Ha~! The calculation succeeded! Qlipoth actually manifested... Holy crap! What have you two been doing!?"
Outside, beside the Simulated Universe device, Herta, who had been inspecting Caelus's loading process logs to troubleshoot issues, leaped up, letting out an involuntary curse.
Her expression was one of utter disbelief, as if she'd seen a ghost.
She had loaded Stelle and Caelus as core factors into the template of Akivili, the Aeon of Trailblaze. Her hope was that other Aeons, noticing the 'resurrection' of their old acquaintance, would emerge to interact with the pair. During this process, she intended to study and understand the Aeons better.
So, when Herta saw Stelle joyriding the Astral Express through the simulated cosmos like 'toot toot toot', she decided to let her play for a while. Thinking she'd investigate the earlier bug first, Herta temporarily withdrew her consciousness from the Simulated Universe.
She was like a parent who puts their kid on a mall kiddie ride, then turns away to work on their laptop.
The appearance of the Amber Lord triggered a system alert for Herta. Thrilled, she instantly tossed aside the log window and reconnected her consciousness to the simulation.
And then—dammit!
The kid had taken the kiddie ride and crashed through every single stall and display rack in the entire mall!
[A-KI-VI-LI!]
The voice of the Aeon of Preservation should have been as majestic as His towering form, but right now, it sounded like a mild-mannered person pushed to the absolute brink after being relentlessly bullied.
He had toiled day and night for countless eons, working tirelessly to protect this universe.
Every single Subspace Crystal Wall was forged by His own hand!
Every Celestial Comet Wall was plastered smooth with the very essence of His Path!
He had always been meticulous and uncompromising in His cosmic construction. Even the tiniest crack, spanning a light-year, demanded His personal attention to repair it flawlessly, without a hint of weariness.
But now, all the mortar He'd mixed, all the walls He'd painstakingly built, bit by bit... lay in utter ruins!
How could He tolerate this?
How could He tolerate this?
Aren't you just bullying the honest working man!?
His hand, gripping the hammer's handle, trembled slightly. He raised the hammer high, its amber head glowing with a brilliant, dazzling light.
"Ah~? ↑↗↓↘ Huh?"
Beneath the light of the hammer, brighter than any star, Stelle and Caelus clung to each other, trembling uncontrollably, letting out a yelp of pure panic.
"It wasn't me!"
"You've got the wrong person! My name isn't Akivili!"
Stelle and Caelus hugged each other tightly, chests pressed together, like Tom and Butch cowering before an enraged Spike. They scrambled desperately to escape, only to collide.
The next second, both froze. Their eyes met, and in that instant, a shared understanding, a cold clarity, dawned.
"He did it!"
"She did it!"
In perfect, mirrored synchronicity, Stelle and Caelus shoved each other away, performing a 'sacred severance' at light speed, each pointing an accusing finger at the other.
"Hmph, you insolent whelp, trying to frame me? I've already been branded a pervert because of you! How dare you continue to slander me like this?"
Caelus was righteously indignant, eyes wide, a vein throbbing on his forehead.
"Who's framing who? Who's slandering?"
Stelle immediately flared up, pointing at Caelus and shouting angrily at Qlipoth, "Old man! This is the guy who floored the accelerator!"
"How much speed could my limited control add? Weren't you the one primarily piloting the Express?!"
"Nonsense! I'm just an innocent one-year-old baby."
"Hah! As if you're the only one~"
"..."
For a moment, the entire universe seemed to fall silent, leaving only the sound of their bickering echoing through the starry void.
Atop the lead car of the Express, the two gray-haired figures were already grappling, entangled in a messy brawl over shifting blame.
Caelus turned to jump off the train, but a pair of small hands suddenly wrapped around his waist, yanking him back with immense force.
Pinning Caelus to the floor, Stelle, with her long, slender, fair legs, made to bolt.
The next second, Caelus grabbed onto one of those thighs, the one adorned with a blue leg ring.
Wrapping his legs around Stelle's like a sloth clinging to a tree trunk, Caelus hung on, refusing to let her escape.
Herta watched in speechless silence.
She merely, silently, used her administrative privileges, opened the modifier panel from the backend, and pumped every possible buff and stat boost she could into Stelle and Caelus!
Although these blessings were likely no more substantial than paper against the true Hammer of Preservation, what else could she do?
The Simulated Universe's ability to replicate the might of Aeons wasn't based purely on computational power; it relied on a connection between the virtual Aeons and the real power of the Paths – think of them as minor avatars of the actual Aeons.
Even for the developers like her, the ability to interfere with an Aeon was extremely limited.
Not mourning Stelle and Caelus's predicament for even a second, Herta felt an irrepressible excitement bubble up inside.
Though the process was deviating just a tiny bit from her plan, the objective of making contact with an Aeon had definitely been achieved.
Qlipoth's fury... she'd lived for over a century and had never witnessed anything like it!
Never even heard of it~!
Yet these two gray-haired troublemakers, barely two hours into the Simulated Universe, had managed to push Qlipoth—the most solemn and peaceful Aeon, the proverbial 'honest man'—to such an extreme.
In the name of genius, she, Herta, had to admit: these two were 'geniuses' on a whole different level!
The old Preservationist stood with His hammer raised, hesitating whether or not to smash the joyriding hooligans who had wrecked His hard-earned construction work.
After all, He was benevolent.
He recalled His past relationship with Akivili...
Excellent!
Resolve hardened!
Fists clenched!
Qlipoth's hesitation vanished visibly. Just as He was about to bring the hammer down, a toy rubber ball rolled out from the void, followed by various circus props.
"Fool~ Fool! Spare them from the hammer!"
The voice sounded like the Monkey King calling out to Pigsy.
"It's Him! Why is He here?" Herta was shocked, but a thrill of delight followed.
Qlipoth's movement paused for a fraction of a second, and then...
The hammer fell even faster!
Encompassing even the circus props and masks beneath the righteous weight of His judgment.
"Holy crap! He's actually smashing us! Dammit, Aha!" Caelus cursed loudly. Just moments ago, the old Preservationist had still been hesitating.
Instantly grabbing the train controls that Stelle kept tossing back to him, Caelus slammed the accelerator to the floor, steering the Express to hide behind the dark figure holding the mask.
BOOM!
The energy wave from the hammer's impact radiated outwards, powerful enough to make stars hundreds of light-years away tremble.
The world... was purified.
The Amber Lord turned and departed, apparently off to gather materials to rebuild His walls.
Against the backdrop of the silent, dark universe, a clown mask gradually materialized. It opened its mouth, and the Astral Express chugged out, 'toot toot toot'.
"Well done! My friends, and Akivili!"
The dark figure was doubled over with laughter. "Next time, how about we blow up the [Baseplate of the Great Attractor] together with Aha?"
"No, no, that sounds way too dangerous," Stelle waved her hands frantically, her face still pale with lingering terror.
But then, the thought that she could boast about 'taking a hit from the Amber Lord's hammer' began to turn her fear into excitement.
"Please! Akivili! Didn't we promise to be train buddies for life?"
Aha suddenly turned sorrowful, questioning them tearfully, "Without you, what will watashi..."
"What can I do to bring you back? Anything I can do, I'll do it!"
He whimpered pitifully, tears brushing against the back of Stelle's hand.
"You know, you only ever think about yourself," Caelus shook his head with a sigh.
"Ehehe, well, I am just an equation in a computer!" Aha switched back to a grin in a split second.
"That guy, he knows again. I need to get Screwllum to modify his data..."
Herta hadn't even finished her thought when her eyes widened in shock as she looked at the Simulated Universe's code.
"This- This is!"
"My friend, I hope your arrival will fill the entire universe with joy~! Come on, play with me~!"
[Host, I've found the problem. The part of the code influenced by Aha's power has been triggered by Him. He is intervening in the Simulated Universe!]
Aha's voice and the System's alert sounded almost simultaneously.
The next moment, a searing storm, like the death throes of a star, swept through. This star system began to boil like water instantly heated to its critical point.
Planets, spinning madly, disintegrated into atoms. Joy and elation grew within every single atom, and like tadpoles finding their mother, they surged towards Aha and Caelus.
The entire Simulated Universe collapsed in less than a second.
What followed was—
The Big Bang!
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