Honkai Star Rail: I must live a peaceful life

Aleister.

Seeing this name, Milo confirmed the existence of a certain someone.

The mechanical greatsword that had been floating around Milo for processing and repairs was temporarily suspended, falling from its hovering state onto the table.

Reverse engineering would now have to become code-breaking.

Milo was seriously exploring the plot, but his attention had long since left the game.

[Your time is running out.]

[You can still leave now, though that's just theoretical, considering you have a competitor.]

[Perhaps you'll get to witness the destruction of this place firsthand.]

[Outsider, you may leave now, but you'll return sooner or later to witness the story once again.]

[I'll be watching you.]

From the boundaries, fractures gradually approached. Earth and stone disintegrated, buildings collapsed, and in the continuously crumbling world, everything fell into spatial turbulence, breaking into fragments and even dust.

The young man with the monocle's lips curved into an eerie smile as he cursed those fleeing. Then, spreading his arms, he fell backward into the spatial rift and vanished without a trace.

As the screen gradually darkened, the results interface popped up. Miss Jessica, who had already completed her escape, stared in disbelief at these unimaginably luxurious achievements.

She had obtained the only remaining escape quota, but this round didn't end with her completing the mission. Milo, discovered by the final BOSS, had somehow survived numerous judgment checks and forcibly dismantled the instance in the endgame, causing it to shut down permanently.

Especially since this was a newly extracted instance, the rewards for first clear, rating, time, and ranking directly dealt a massive shock to Miss Jessica's sanity.

She couldn't comprehend it, she was greatly shocked, she was severely impacted.

Three random orange summons plus one instance-specific directional contract.

Adding the Mira she got at the start, she could form a full orange-tier squad!

"Are you going to continue?" Miss Jessica asked, somewhat dazed.

"No, I'm planning to check out the recent updates in the Fourteenth Chronicle," Milo shook his head.

Miss Jessica left with a stiff expression.

She began to doubt her own skill level. Even though it was a game with elements of luck, why did she, who could interfere with fate, still lose?

In a room at the Astral Express headquarters, a gray-haired young man smiled as he answered a distant question. "It's Authority. I added Authority to it."

"That was quite brutal," he suddenly rubbed his face, expression pained. "Even if it's a false timeline, at least don't hit the face."

The Authority of analysis and deduction could already let him experience time identical to reality in his simulations, but this information advantage wasn't so useful once detected.

Not to mention Yuan, the people around him had almost all become abnormal under his influence, able to judge whether they were in reality based on behavioral logic. In the virtual timeline, they were all more volatile than him, quick to resort to violence.

Clearly deflecting blame, completely ignoring how his own despicable and malicious behavior led others to identify the virtual timeline, Aleister one-sidedly accused others.

The gray-haired young man suddenly looked into the distance and smiled. "My friend, I've given you the necessary hints. Now it's up to you to see if you can reverse that terrible future."

"As my chosen companion, don't disappoint me." Aleister closed his eyes lazily, and just before entering the new false timeline, he suddenly laughed oddly. "I hope that gift will satisfy you."

Milo searched for information about the Fourteenth Chronicle, looking at the new story released online a few days ago.

[Miss Mira has reappeared in the city. She will witness this change.]

[...]

[I'm going to send a letter to a friend far away, inviting them over. The pedestrians conversed thus, unaware of the impending destruction.]

[The moon of the Fourteenth Chronicle watches over everything.]

"The post office..." Milo muttered to himself. He'd go take a look there after finishing what he was working on.

The mechanical greatsword, now mostly repaired, floated silently in mid-air. It had been more challenging than Milo had initially expected.

It wasn't just the structural differences between this decade-old model and current systems; this seemingly ordinary mechanical greatsword had an incredibly intricate internal design. While it couldn't achieve major improvements in power and strength, it could self-adjust its energy level according to power tiers.

In simple terms, this mechanical greatsword was a growth-type equipment. It could serve as a main weapon from the Awakening stage when first entering the supernatural world all the way to the Third Tier when one becomes a core powerhouse.

Although Milo didn't personally approve of this design philosophy—after all, with the same materials, he could achieve the same results through late-stage upgrades, and do better in terms of both strength and cost—as a half-pure craftsman, he had to admire this delicate design.

And express contempt for the designer's peculiar taste. This mechanical greatsword was clearly a custom-designed temporary model. Considering its range of use and that employer's age...

Tsk tsk tsk, obviously using the title of "growth-type divine weapon" to tease a loli. What an undignified designer.

Milo's face broke into a teasing smile. If this was before meeting Aleister, he probably would have just made a mental note and silently criticized, but now~

It could potentially be used next time.

He had to admit he'd been influenced by a certain someone.

*Knock knock knock*

A knocking sound came from outside the door. A figure in a light green uniform stood there with a mail bag.

So they're here already. Milo looked at the Astral Express's signature logistics system uniform outside the door. For some reason, Aleister had a particular fondness for this color combination with postmen, and had even stubbornly pushed forward with this decision in the internal concept blueprints at the time.

"Please come in," he said warmly to the person outside.

"Yes, sir!" The young man outside saluted with sparkling eyes. "Astral Express White Star Sequence #10086 Leon at your service. Jupiter asked me to relay a message to you."

"What did he want to say?" Milo raised an eyebrow.

"Your seat is still reserved by the council. You can directly enjoy the corresponding treatment as soon as you're willing to return." Leon took out a smooth black box from his mail bag. "This is a gift from Jupiter for you, Mr. Thomas."

"My name is now Tom," Milo reminded him.

"Yes, Mr. Thomas, I understand, Mr. Thomas. But Jupiter told me the recipient is Thomas Vader, so please remember to enter that name when opening it, Mr. Thomas."

Leon spoke rapidly, and the series of movements—bowing, nodding, and running away—were executed smoothly in one go as he ran outside.

End of Chapter