The great eating contest concluded. Although Kiana's culinary skills weren't great, a fact she herself acknowledged, her lifelong practice in making toast and pizza meant that even if her creations weren't exceptionally delicious, the taste was definitely acceptable.
In short, the result of the competition was Kiana's victory. Although Xin Yu possessed a superhuman physique far superior to that of ordinary humans, he ultimately couldn't compare to Kiana.
One was called a god because their abilities were ridiculously overpowered in terms of mechanics; the other was a god whose raw stats alone were already absurdly high.
"I lost... So, Kiana, what do you want me to do?"
Xin Yu lay sprawled on the ground like a deflated salted fish. Since they had agreed not to use abilities, he naturally wouldn't use the power of the Void to obliterate all the food in his stomach. Thus, he was completely stuffed, feeling the urge to vomit with the slightest movement.
"Xin Yu, give this to my past self."
A somewhat transparent, pure golden crystal suddenly materialized in Kiana's hand. Xin Yu took the semi-transparent, pure golden crystal, somewhat puzzled. What was Kiana planning? And the Honkai energy contained within this was astounding, even more than what was inside the Third Herrscher he had fought.
"If I can only wait here every time, watching you walk your journey alone each time, then wouldn't it be the same whether I'm here or not? But my current power is too immense. If you were to travel through time and space with me in my current state, the toll on you would be practically incalculable."
"So, within this crystal, I have entrusted everything that happened in the future, all the memories of my life. Deliver this to my past self. This way, isn't it equivalent to me accompanying you even while I'm here, allowing you to walk the path you must tread?"
"Even if you're going to be a hero, it doesn't mean you have to face all difficulties alone from start to finish. I can help you too."
"...Kiana, isn't this a bit... off? Why does it feel like your future self is trying to possess your past self?"
Kiana couldn't help but laugh at Xin Yu's somewhat conflicted expression.
"Possess? Haha! Xin Yu, future memories returning to the past can't be considered possession; at most, it's a rebirth. Besides, the memories contained in this crystal don't hold any emotions or anything like my soul. It's purely memories of the future, and my methods for resolving some of the problems within my past self."
"That's good then... I should probably be leaving. I can't actually stay in a future time period for too long. If you hadn't forcibly kept me here this time, I reckon I would have left very soon."
"Is that so? Why can't you stay in a future time point for longer?"
"I'm not sure. In fact, I still don't have a clear understanding of my own abilities. I don't know where they come from, nor do I know what they're capable of... For now, I can only proceed by trial and error, feeling my way across the river by touching the stones."
"Then... in my past, in your future, we shall meet again."
"Alright."
Kiana released the time-frozen state she had maintained in this area. The moment the state was lifted, Xin Yu's figure instantly vanished from before Kiana's eyes.
Throughout this process, Kiana had been observing Xin Yu's condition. She could clearly perceive that just before he disappeared, there indeed seemed to be a faint manifestation of some higher-dimensional power.
......
From Xin Yu's perspective, he had just agreed, not even managing to say his farewells, when he was suddenly plunged, as if pushed into water. By the time he came to his senses, he had appeared in another unfamiliar place.
"This time, it's not a return to the past, but another random transmigration?"
Xin Yu stored the crystal within his body and looked around, finding himself in a vast, snowy plain.
"?"
Xin Yu had just finished observing his surroundings when he suddenly sensed that the Void power within him seemed to have formed a connection with something. The previously dormant Void energy had now become somewhat activated, and its corrosive nature towards him had even intensified slightly.
"...Which means the world I'm currently in can directly connect with the deity behind the Void... It seems this is the universe where Huangquan resides."
Xin Yu knew that this time, he hadn't transmigrated to a different point in time within the same world; he had directly jumped to another universe.
"I wonder what aliens look like. Miss Huangquan, whom I met before, seems to be the only alien I've encountered. But she looked almost identical to Raiden Mei, so there's not much reference value there."
Xin Yu walked across the vast snowy plain. Initially, he had planned to fly directly into the sky to search for any signs of civilization nearby. But then he recalled the scene where he was also in a snowy plain, also flying in the sky, and then Mr. Siegfried blasted him out of it with a single Skyfire Unsheathed. He thought about it and decided it was better to rely on his own two legs.
After all, who knew if these aliens would launch some special weapon to shoot him down just because they saw him flying in the sky.
Although it might not kill him, it would still hurt.
Xin Yu didn't feel cold anyway, so he just walked forward. Not long after he started, he saw a giant robot suddenly stand up on a distant mountain peak.
"Holy crap!"
Xin Yu watched as the cool-looking giant mech began to slowly move, seemingly attacking someone on that mountain peak.
"I absolutely have to go check this out!"
Not only because he wanted to see if anyone there needed help, but also because, for some unknown reason, Xin Yu felt a strange sense of excitement upon seeing the giant mech, wanting to get closer for a better look.
......
"Xin Yu, he's run off to an outer universe?"
Sitting on the moon, Kiana, who was originally preparing to wait for past memories to synchronize with her present self, suddenly shifted her gaze to the distance. As long as that crystal remained with Xin Yu, Kiana could perceive everything happening around him through it.
Of course, Xin Yu didn't know about this, and Kiana hadn't revealed it.
......
Xin Yu quickly reached the vicinity of the mech by flying at a low altitude. When he arrived, he saw a gray-haired young girl wielding a knight's lance. Flames burned on the lance as she used it to pierce the abdomen of a humanoid creature.
Subsequently, the humanoid monster erupted with powerful energy, blasting away a group of people who had gathered around it. The ice crystal-like decorations and armor on its body receded, revealing the appearance of a middle-aged, beautiful woman.
Then, a heart-wrenching scene of parting began to unfold.
Xin Yu watched the sorrowful expression of the young girl, who bore a resemblance to Bronya. He scratched his head, then directly snatched the woman's soul from the grasp of some entity.