Over the following months, the High Elder toured Aiur under Pei Guang's guidance. The more she saw, the more she felt that this man was truly capable.
Not only had he stolen part of the Aeon of Propagation's authority, he had even developed his swarm to this extent? These creatures clearly weren't creations of an Aeon's divine power like the Vidyadhara were—they had been developed step by step?
Even more astonishing was the fact that she discovered Pei Guang's swarm had somehow obtained part of the Path of the Abundance's power.
After discussing with the Preceptors, they agreed that if offspring could truly be born, then alliance, and even sending a few members, was negotiable.
This day became a day of celebration for the people of Aiur and the Vidyadhara alike. The Vidyadhara officially joined the alliance against Tayzzyronth's swarm, and that night, for the first time, the Vidyadhara regained the ability to reproduce.
[The Vidyadhara are now reproducing. Numerous Vidyadhara eggs have been laid. Pei Guang has provided sufficient resources to accelerate their growth. For the Vidyadhara, this is the hope of their people's revival.]
On the night the Vidyadhara spontaneously laid eggs, the High Elder approached Pei Guang.
"Ah Guang, thank you. Thank you for giving our people a chance to prosper again. As for the ones you asked for..."
Pei Guang: "That won't be necessary. Quite a few of your people have already taken a liking to some of mine..."
Even Pei Guang found it hard to believe as he spoke. Over the past few days, some of the Vidyadhara had made contact with the "humanized" and adorable forms of the swarm. Through these interactions, kindred spirits found each other and paired up.
And thanks to Pei Guang's nurturing trait, they ended up producing offspring...
The Vidyadhara High Elder looked a bit surprised but still blushed as she glanced at Pei Guang: "So that's how it is~ That's pretty nice too. By the way, Ah Guang~ I am the High Elder of the Vidyadhara, so by all rights I should also contribute to our race's reproduction. I think you're quite pleasing to the eye: how about we..."
[The Vidyadhara High Elder has submitted a reproduction request to Pei Guang. However, Pei Guang declined the request, stating that he came to this world for the experience, not to play an eroge. He also added that, ideally, his first time should be with March 7th, followed by Stelle. While Pei Guang is quite the playboy in games, in this hyper-realistic experience, he's 'unexpectedly' pure-hearted.]
At that moment, Pei Guang stared at the system log, his fists clenched so tight they cracked audibly. He just wanted to strangle his system. Was that really necessary? All he did was decline a request—did the system really have to roast him like that?
Even though this was just a memory world, Pei Guang still declined the offer seriously:
"Sorry, I can't accept that request. You're not within my expected range."
Pei Guang liked beautiful girls, and he knew he was a bit lecherous. He was fully aware that in this memory world, the experience was entirely real: but precisely because it was too real, he didn't want to mess around.
In virtual games, he was the kind to go after anyone he met, without hesitation or restraint. But the realism here made him unexpectedly conservative.
He could accept being with people he was familiar with, but in this memory world, most things he just fast-forwarded through. Plus, due to the influence of the Aeon of Remembrance, he wasn't allowed to get too emotionally involved.
As a result, he didn't feel anything in particular—except every time something like this came up, his mind would be filled with March 7th, and occasionally Stelle would pop in too.
Pei Guang was still happily expanding his empire, but as he continued, a few entries left him totally confused.
[The Vidyadhara have joined the alliance to fight Tayzzyronth. The Vidyadhara begin mass reproduction, but the High Elder realizes the consequences of unchecked population growth. She initiates population planning and sets a rule: any Vidyadhara who raise offspring must participate in the fight against the Aeon of Propagation.]
In truth, Pei Guang didn't care at all about a population explosion among the Vidyadhara. He was here to enjoy the ride. As long as he found a way to take down the Aeon of Propagation, who cared what happened to the memory world afterward?
The information on the High Elder and the Vidyadhara was still reasonable—until the next few entries, which completely threw Pei Guang off.
[The Vidyadhara and the Zerg girls fell in love. 1,145 Vidyadhara fell for members of the Swarm. The Vidyadhara and the Zergs became couples and produced the first Vidyadhara egg.]
[Aha took great interest in the Vidyadhara egg. As the Masked Fool, Aha gathered rare resources from across the universe for the egg, accelerating its growth.]
[The Vidyadhara-Swarm hybrid egg drew the attention of both the Zerg and humans. It received abundant resources and is growing rapidly.]
[The first hybrid egg from a Vidyadhara and a Zerghatched—it's a girl. She inherited the Vidyadhara bloodline and the Swarm's perfect genes. Genetically, she is a Zerg, not a dragonkin. Her birth caused a sensation throughout the memory world. She became the first of her kind, the Vidyadhara Zerg, and was titled the Vidyadhara Zerg Sovereign.]
[Aha celebrates the birth of the Vidyadhara Zerg. The entire universe feels Aha's joy. The Masked Fool blesses the girl's birth, then tries to celebrate in other Vidyadhara territories, only to get seriously injured.]
[Aha deeply adores the Vidyadhara Zergand grants the first-born girl all his blessings. Aha carries away the Vidyadhara Zerg Sovereign.]
[Aha, disguised as the Masked Fool, takes the first Vidyadhara Zerg to visit other dragonkin.]
In front of a High Elder who looked strikingly similar to Dan Feng, the disguised Masked Fool—Aha—held the infant Vidyadhara Zerg Sovereign: "Vidyadhara, behold! This is your hope—your future, the Vidyadhara Zerg Sovereign!"
"She is the child of the Vidyadhara and the Swarm! Your race can reproduce!"
"But she's not a dragonkin—she's Zerg! So she's a Vidyadhara Zerg, and the leader of her kind—the Swarm Sovereign."
Faced with this "humiliation" from the "Masked Fool," the Vidyadhara launched a manhunt for Aha.
[Aha refuses to explain how the Vidyadhara Zerg hybrid was born. Other Vidyadhara branches are shocked by this new development. Unaware of how dragons and bugs even reproduce, other High Elders see this as an insult to the Vidyadhara bloodline. They want to kill the "Masked Fool," but none can catch him.]
[The furious Vidyadhara enacted a new rule: 'No Masked Fools or dogs allowed.' Hearing this, the Masked Fool found endless joy in trying to sneak into Vidyadhara territory—but with little success.]
[While being hunted, Aha runs into Akivili and hitches a ride. The Aeon of Traiblaze Akivili sees great promise in the first Vidyadhara Zerg, and believing Aha isn't fit to raise a child, decides to take her instead. Akivili adopts the first Vidyadhara Zerg, who then becomes a Nameless.]
[Aha gets kicked off the train by Akivili. The train speeds away, leaving Aha behind.]
[Aha tries to chase after Akivili to get the child back, but Akivili's train is too fast. Bullied by Akivili, Aha feels utterly humiliated.]
Within the memory world, Pei Guang's actions were sending everything down a wildly unexpected path. Forget other people, even the messenger from Garden of Recollection was dumbfounded the moment the Vidyadhara Zerg Sovereign was born.
"…What the hell? How'd you even manage that? How is there a Vidyadhara-bug hybrid now?"
What's more, judging by how the memory world is developing, it looks like the number of Vidyadhara Zerg is still increasing? Even some ordinary Zerg now carry Vidyadhara blood?
What is going on in this memory world? How did things go from normal to completely incomprehensible—like someone strapped a rocket to the plot?
While the Messenger stood there completely dumbfounded and utterly lost, the Aeon of Remembrance suddenly turned a wary gaze toward the Aeon of Elation.
Because they'd noticed: not only was the Aha in front of them making moves, but the Aha inside the memory world was stirring things up too. Sure, the version of Aha within the memory could still be controlled… but the one right here in person? Not so much.
The Aeon of Elation didn't care what Remembrance thought. They'd already figured out who the High Elder in the memory world really was: her reincarnation currently lives as a High Elder in the Xianzhou Alliance.
And at that moment, Aha got an idea. A fun one.
They were going to extract the feelings this past High Elder had for Pei Guang—and at just the right moment, show that memory to her current incarnation.
What? Implant the memory? Oh no no no! Aha would never do something as boring as forcing a memory in to change someone's thinking.
No, what they wanted was to witness the expression on this current High Elder's face when she saw that her past self had fallen for Pei Guang and even wanted to have a child with him.
Aha was deeply curious—what kind of face would she make seeing that?
Of course, that would have to wait until this particular stretch of the memory experience was over. If Aha left now, he'd miss the payoff later—and that just wouldn't do.
Sure, he couldn't intervene in person this time… but watching his own memory-world self stir up chaos? That was still plenty of fun.