Starry Sky Railway: Starting with a furious outburst at Aha

Chapter 13 Light Cone

"What the hell is this thing?!"

Zhou Yuan pulled out the card completely, and suddenly his expression changed drastically. He felt as if half of his strength had been drained away, and he felt as exhausted as if he had just been shot.

"This situation is exactly the same as when I first came out of the simulated universe! Only the symptoms are not as severe."

Zhou Yuan's hand trembled, and the blood-red card slipped from his fingertips. Seeing this, March 7 reached out to catch it, but was stopped by Walter, who had been watching the group closely.

"Don't touch it in March!"

"Uncle Yang, what's wrong? Do you recognize this?"

Startled, March 7th stayed put and didn't move.

The card was as light as a feather, swaying as it went, and disappeared straight into the train floor, passing right through it.

"Gone...gone!" March 7's mouth gaped open. He glanced at the ground, then looked at Zhou Yuan. "So you weren't just using a card to tease us?"

"I was just kidding, how come you actually managed to make something out of it?"

“If I’m not mistaken, that’s a light cone.” Walter walked to where the card had fallen and said in a deep voice, “A light cone is formed from memory, so it can naturally penetrate physical objects.”

"It almost exclusively reacts to intelligent beings."

"A light cone?" March 7's voice grew louder. "Uncle Yang, do you mean Zhou Yuan just casually conjured up a strange object?"

Upon hearing this, Xing covered her head with her hands, looking at Zhou Yuan with an expression of utter disbelief:

"How did my cheat end up with you? Ribbit!"

“It’s not at the level of a wondrous object yet,” Walter explained. “Without special methods, the light cone cannot exist for long. Normally, it will disintegrate within ten seconds.”

As Walter finished speaking, Zhou Yuan felt the string connecting him to the card in his mind suddenly snap, and his symptoms of weakness quickly disappeared.

"Uncle Yang, I..." Zhou Yuan's mind was a mess, with too many questions on his mind, and he didn't know how to start.

That card is a light cone? How can I create it? How can Aha's power do this?

Why do I lose strength when I create it? Why do I regain my strength when it disappears?

Walter pondered for a moment, then asked Zhou Yuan:

Is manufacturing it a big burden for you?

"Not big."

“That’s good,” Walter adjusted his square-rimmed glasses and said earnestly to Zhou Yuan, “Could you please make one for me using the method I just described?”

"Perhaps you could try reducing one of the forces; that would benefit both of us."

Walter smiled modestly: "I don't want to be bloated with a huge amount of memories and become a fool."

"it is good."

Zhou Yuan nodded, recalling the events of just now, and imagined a line in his mind.

"What did I just add to it?" Zhou Yuan pondered.

"That's right, it's pain."

Zhou Yuan focused his mind, and the image of himself shielding the star in front of him reappeared in his mind. Pain began to spread, and he carefully took out a small part of it and fused it into the lines.

Zhou Yuan joined his right index finger and thumb next to his head, successfully pinching one end of the line and rolling it into a ball. Then, Zhou Yuan's hand slowly began to pull it outward. It was as if a spacetime rift appeared next to his head, and a reddish card was formed out of thin air.

"Wow, it really came out! It's like magic!" March 7th exclaimed excitedly, frantically taking pictures with his camera.

Completely removing it from his mind, Zhou Yuan felt some of his power disappear from his body.

Walter was right. With less added painful emotions, the burden was indeed much lighter, and correspondingly, the red on the card faded.

“I’m ready.” Walter placed his hand under Zhou Yuan’s hand and nodded to him.

Upon hearing this, Zhou Yuan slowly released his fingers, and the card immediately floated down. The moment it touched Walter's hand, it disappeared and merged into him.

Walter's eyes suddenly closed, and his breathing became heavy, but he quickly recovered.

“It’s not a light cone, or rather, it’s not a light cone as we know it,” Walter said, opening his eyes.

"What is that?" March 7 asked curiously.

“It contains no memories,” Uncle Yang carefully recalled his feelings just now. “The moment I touched it, I felt a pain inexplicably, as if I had experienced something… Zhou Yuan, did you add pain to it?”

“Yes,” Zhou Yuan said thoughtfully, “and I feel that other emotions can also be added.”

"Could you please make one that contains elements of fear?"

“No problem,” Zhou Yuan said, repeating the same method, and took out another light purple card.

“It seems its color is related to the corresponding emotion,” Walter said after absorbing the card for a moment. “Let’s call it the Emotion Cone.”

"After all, its operating principle is similar to that of the light cone."

“Emotional light cone…” Zhou Yuan murmured the words, looking at his right index finger, where the golden heart remained.

“Perhaps you could try adding a memory to it, so our train will have its own memoryr,” Walter keenly noticed Zhou Yuan’s poor condition. “However, let’s talk about it after you’ve rested.”

Zhou Yuan nodded in agreement. After the emotional light cone was absorbed by Walter, his power did not recover as before, and he did feel somewhat tired.

After Walter gave a few instructions on not to misuse the words, he returned to the sofa and sat down. March 7 and Star immediately surrounded him.

Before they could even speak, Zhou Yuan could read their thoughts from their eyes and decisively refused: "I really can't take out a single one!"

"Hmph, fine, don't give it to me then," Xing turned her head away haughtily. "It's not like we care about it!"

“But,” March 7th mercilessly exposed Star’s lie, “what’s wrong with your right hand? You clearly cherish it!”

Xing's right hand reached out to Zhou Yuan, waving it up and down in front of his eyes, ready to catch the light cone.

"Oh no! It's alien hand syndrome! March, quickly help me hold it down!" Xing's expression changed drastically. She immediately lay down, pressed her right hand under her body, and began to fight with both hands simultaneously.

"What? I'll help you!" March 7th seemed to believe it and rushed forward as well.

“I’ll join too… Divine Metal.” Zhou Yuan was about to join in when he suddenly realized something and stopped.

Just as he was watching the two men's eyelids twitch, Himeko came over from another carriage carrying two boxes.

“Young people just get along so easily,” she said with a smile, noticing the chaos in the carriage. “Zhou Yuan, Xing, come here for a moment.”

"Okay, sure." Hoshi's symptoms immediately improved, and she ran to Himeko.

“Here, take this,” Himeko handed the box to the two of them. “Zhou Yuan, this is yours.”

"What is this?" Zhou Yuan asked.

"These cell phones are a gift for you," Himeko said with a smile. "Your SIM cards are linked to my family number, so you can use the data network freely... Let's add each other's contact information later so we can stay in touch."

"If you don't understand any specific procedures, you can ask March 7th."

"Can it connect to the internet?" Zhou Yuan grasped the key element, then looked at the star with some concern. A star without internet access was just an abstract concept; what would happen if it connected to the cosmic network? It would be a disaster!

Pam's jump countdown came out from the loudspeaker. March 7th pulled Xing along to do the no-fall challenge, while Zhou Yuan and the others returned to the sofa.

Walter, listening to the countdown reach zero and seeing the light flashing past the window, seemed lost in thought. After a long while, he slowly exhaled, glanced at Zhou Yuan lying on the sofa, and murmured to himself, "Those are truly distant memories."