"Decateron! Stop, stop, stop!"

Tyler’s voice cut sharply through the collapsing void.

The world, which had been dissolving into grids of fading light and drifting particles, froze mid-disintegration. Fragments of forests hung suspended like broken glass. The sky remained half-shattered, revealing the black geometric abyss beyond— but nothing moved.

Silence.

Tyler slowly lowered his hand and looked up at the floating cube with the red square eye.

Decateron stared back at him, its pupil adjusting as though recalculating.

"Can you do me a favor?" Tyler asked.

"No."

The reply came instantly.

Tyler blinked. "I didn’t even say what it is."

"You intended to request preservation of this world," Decateron replied evenly. "The probability of that being your request exceeds ninety-eight percent."

Tyler exhaled slowly. "Then you already know."

"This world exists in a different universe. A different reality branch," Decateron continued. "It was destroyed approximately two million years ago. What you experienced here is not the original planet."

Tyler frowned.

"It is a reconstruction," Decateron clarified. "A data environment built from residual soul fragments and memory echoes we collected."

"Collected?" Tyler repeated.

"Yes. An extreme Time Dilation Storm passed through that planet shortly before its destruction. The phenomenon distorted causality and scattered temporal fragments across dimensions. We harvested the data remnants."

"Time Dilation Storm?" Tyler asked.

"It is a rare cosmic anomaly," Decateron replied. "In simplified terms, it can drag elements from the past or future into the present state of a planet it touches. Memory residues. Soul imprints. Structural records."

Tyler’s gaze drifted toward the frozen skyline.

"So this world... is just data?"

"Yes."

"And the people?"

"Reconstructed consciousness and soul fragments , patterns."

Tyler’s jaw tightened slightly.

He remained silent for a moment before asking directly, "So in short—can this world be kept or not?"

Decateron paused longer this time.

"It is not impossible."

Tyler’s eyes sharpened.

"But we cannot break the rules," Decateron finished.

Tyler scoffed lightly. "You’re the one who made those rules. You can change them comfortably."

The red square eye flickered.

Streams of zeros and ones cascaded across its surface, like rapid internal computation becoming briefly visible.

"As I stated previously," Decateron said at last, "to break a rule, we must obey a higher rule. Rule modification requires systemic instability."

Tyler folded his arms. "Meaning?"

"Saving this world is feasible," Decateron said. "However, two conditions must be met."

"Tell me."

"First," Decateron began, "we require an individual to initiate a new Trial."

Tyler frowned. "You want to send someone to a random planet again? I thought only Orion Cube holders could enter Trials."

"Selection parameters can be adjusted," Decateron replied. "Just choose one."

"But why a Trial?" Tyler pressed.

"Because," Decateron explained, "each time we activate a Trial, we experience a brief internal glitch. A system instability. During that micro-window, core directives can be modified."

Tyler’s expression shifted.

"That’s why you sent me to multiple Trials..."

"Yes. Repeated instability cycles increase rule flexibility."

Tyler let out a quiet breath.

"And the second condition?"

The cube hovered closer, its red eye glowing brighter against the dark void.

"For that," Decateron said, voice lowering in tone, "you must end this Trial."

Tyler looked around at the frozen world —the paused fragments of a civilization that never truly existed, yet felt painfully real.

"What happens when I end it?" he asked quietly.

"The simulation fully terminates," Decateron replied. "All active constructs dissolve."

Tyler’s fingers brushed the Copper Pot at his waist unconsciously.

"And during that termination," Decateron continued, "we access the instability required to rewrite preservation protocols. We will make sure nothing here erased during that time."

Tyler stared at the suspended ruins.

"So I have to destroy it... to save it."

"In simplified terms," Decateron answered, "yes."

Silence lingered between them, heavy and absolute.

Far below, Chole and Kristina remained frozen.

Kaeya stood unmoving beside bound heroes.

An entire world waited— paused between deletion and possibility.

Tyler slowly lifted his gaze.

┉┈ ◈ ◉ ◈ ┈┉

Tyler gasped as air flooded back into his lungs.

For a brief second, he felt weightless —disoriented —like someone pulled abruptly from the depths of an endless ocean. His eyes snapped open.

Beside him, Serena lay sleeping peacefully.

They were no longer inside the collapsing world.

The cube that had carried them dissolved into strands of fading light, its structure unraveling like digital mist. Beneath them, a transparent platform formed out of geometric lines and soft white radiance.

Tyler slowly pushed himself upright.

They were surrounded by countless glass cubes stretching outward into infinity— each one containing different cubes , just infinity cubes. Some were bright and vibrant. Others were cracked and dim.

After a long Trial—

He was finally back at the Orion Tesseract. Finally back at his world.

Subconsciously, his hand moved to his waist.

The Copper Pot was still there.

The cube hummed faintly. A ripple formed in the void ahead.

Decateron has appeared.

It was Floating before him Silently.

Its red square eye observing him with mechanical precision.

Beside it hovered another cube— but this one was unstable. It flickered constantly, data streams barely holding it together. Fractures ran through it like spiderweb cracks of corrupted light. 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

"This," Decateron said, "is the broken world."

Tyler stared at the cube.

Inside, he could faintly see outlines—mountains, forests, —like a memory trying to remain intact.

"We require a vessel," Decateron continued. "A container capable of stabilizing it."

"What kind of vessel?" Tyler asked quietly.

"A Mind Consciousness," Decateron replied. "One stable and vast enough to contain planetary-scale data. Once integrated, this construct will evolve into a real world within the Sea of Consciousness."

Tyler’s brows furrowed.

"A consciousness big enough to hold a world..." he muttered.

"Yes," Decateron confirmed. "You possess a World Tree within your mental domain. Its structure is sufficient to anchor and nurture this world-fragment."

Tyler fell silent.

Inside his consciousness, the World Tree stood rooted in an endless consciousness— its branches spanning thought and memory.

"Then do it," he said firmly.

Decateron paused.

"You must endure the integration process. Neural collapse probability exists. There is a measurable chance your cranial structure may fail."

"In simple words," Tyler said flatly, "my head might explode."

"Yes."

Tyler did not hesitate.

"Just do it."

The red eye flickered once.

"Before initiation," Decateron added, "you must dispatch an individual into a Trial. This will create the instability window necessary to modify preservation rules."

Tyler frowned slightly.

"You may use the girl’s quota," Decateron said, glancing at Serena’s sleeping form. "However, that individual will undergo the Trial alone. Survival is not guaranteed."

Tyler looked down at Serena.

Then away.

"So I should send someone I don’t care about..." he murmured.

He truly didn’t have many options.

Then his eyes sharpened.

"Wait... I do have one."

He closed his eyes and reached inward.

Within his Sea of Consciousness, his Ship White Pearl is just floating aimlessly.

He scanned the ship and found what he is looking for.

With a pulling motion, an unconscious man materialized onto the platform.

Ling Tian.

Yumina’s childhood friend.

The inheritor of the Peng aspect of the Ancient Kun Peng.

Tyler is the Kun part and he is the Peng Part.

If Tyler embodied the Sea—

Ling Tian represented the Sky.

Tyler glanced at him briefly.

"Yeah... I don’t really care about this guy," he said casually. "Just send him."

Decateron’s red eye scanned Ling Tian.

"Trial parameters initializing."

As the cube began preparing the transfer, Tyler lifted Serena gently.

He was about to store her safely inside his consciousness when he paused.

"What was her task?" he asked suddenly.

Decateron responded without delay.

"To become Demon King."

Tyler blinked.

"Huh..."

He looked at Serena again.

"She never told me."

"She failed her assigned objective," Decateron said calmly.

Tyler exhaled softly, then shook his head.

"Well she really doesn’t need to finish the trial after all."

He stored Serena within his consciousness, placing her near the World Tree where she would remain protected.

"Oh, right," Tyler added. "What happened to Dia?"

"She awakened in her original timeline," Decateron replied.

"Just as I guessed."

Tyler thought for a moment.

"Can you relay a message to her?"

"Specify."

"I want her to bury Gailo’s body beneath the Northern Ocean."

A pause.

"Message recorded."

—

One million years earlier.

Inside the Orion Tesseract.

A glass cube slowly opened.

Water poured out in shimmering currents.

A beautiful mermaid opened her eyes.

Her long hair drifted gently as she sat upright.

Beside her, in the same cube—

Lay the lifeless body of a merman.

It was Gailo, his actual body.

The red square eye of Decateron materialized before her.

"Congratulations," it said. "You have completed the Trial. You are now eligible for Immortality."

The mermaid did not respond immediately.

Her gaze searched the endless array of cubes.

"Where is Tyler?" she asked softly.

"He awakened in his original timeline," Decateron replied.

The mermaid lowered her eyes.

"Tyler..."

A faint blush colored her cheeks.

"Husband... just wait for me... I will find you and tie you up. I will make you my king."

She smiled.

It was soft and Gentle.

And yet—

There was something unnervingly sharp behind it.

A quiet promise.

One that even time itself might not be able to escape.

"Tyler asked you a favor." Decateron said.