Pei Guang would never stop her.
He didn't even need her to be resolute—just saying she wanted to find her past was enough for him to accept her request. No matter how excessive it was, he would always take it on.
March 7th was afraid, afraid that recovering her memories would make her forget Pei Guang and Stelle. But even then, Pei Guang would always say, "If you forget me, I'll just farm affinity all over again," turning her fear and uncertainty into unwavering determination.
And now, someone dared to impersonate her friends—people who held an irreplaceable place in her heart.
She would never forgive them.
However, just as March 7th was about to take action, something unexpected happened. The fake Pei Guang, who was about to attack, suddenly stopped.
At the same time, he turned to March 7th and spoke.
"March? What's going on? Wait… why is Stelle attacking you?"
March 7th's eyes widened. "Ah Guang? Is that really you?"
Pei Guang: "Yeah, it's me. Ah Fu said something was wrong, so she pulled me in to check it out. What's happening exactly? Wait a sec, who accepted this quest for me? Let me see…"
Pei Guang noticed a system prompt indicating he had just received a new mission.
Mission:Prevent the Garden of Recollection's Messenger from interfering with March 7th's memory retrieval.
He didn't know what had happened before, but reading the mission description was enough to tell him he had work to do.
Pei Guang turned to March 7th. "Let's talk about the details later. You focus on retrieving your memories—I'll handle anyone who gets in your way."
Back in the present, March 7th finished recounting the events to Fu Xuan, then anxiously asked, "Ah Guang will be okay, right?"
Fu Xuan took a deep breath after hearing her explanation. "He'll be fine! More than fine! Based on the Matrix of Prescience Ultima's feedback, he's already found the one interfering with your memories and is taking action. There shouldn't be any problems."
March 7th beamed. "I knew it! It's Ah Guang, after all~ The Unbeatable Ah Guang~"
Her expression was filled with pride.
Fu Xuan: "Alright, now's not the time to chat about this. Since he's clearing the obstacles for you, you should continue finding your past."
March 7th nodded. "Mhm!"
Meanwhile, in the depths of March 7th's memory, the Garden of Recollection's Messenger was doing everything in her power to stop her from recovering her past. She knew that what she was doing was cruel to the girl, but she had no choice.
March 7th was proving to be an extremely difficult subject to handle. Even putting aside everything else, just the previous two instances of the memory-reconstructed Pei Guang had nearly destroyed her. If she hadn't run fast enough, that Pei Guang would've torn her apart!
She had originally intended to manipulate the memories related to Pei Guang. However, aside from the one inside the space station, she found that none of the other instances of Pei Guang were within her control.
And now, when she had just used the space station's Pei Guang to block March 7th's path, she suddenly realized that this memory-body had gone out of control.
Even worse—the one standing before her wasn't just a memory construct anymore.
The real Pei Guang had entered this world of recollection.
This was every Messenger of the Garden of Recollection's worst nightmare.
Because aside from the Aeons themselves, only they knew what Pei Guang truly meant.
To put it simply, if the entire world was a computer, then Pei Guang was an externally installed maintenance program. This program would adjust itself based on the computer's hardware, keeping it optimized. In some cases, it could even replace outdated hardware to ensure the computer kept running smoothly.
Don't dwell on the logic of a program swapping out hardware—this was just an analogy.
It was an extremely risky mechanism because this program had absolute administrative control over the entire system. If it malfunctioned, the whole machine could be rendered useless.
But if it worked as intended…
Then the system could theoretically function forever.
This system, when bound to certain software, enhances its functionality. Once a software is bound to the system, even if a virus infects the computer, the software remains unaffected. Additionally, the system updates alongside the software. As a result, the software's permissions gradually increase, even gaining some of the system's own privileges.
At the same time, the software consumes more memory, but the computer's configuration also continues to improve.
From just a few gigabytes to several terabytes, this upgrade has no upper limit. Compared to the overall enhancement of the computer, the increase in data and permissions is negligible.
However, if a software bound to the system encounters an issue, the system itself may suffer data corruption, leading to bugs. Whether these bugs are beneficial or harmful is unknown, but neither the other software nor the system as a whole wishes for this maintenance system to experience any errors—because its existence allows the computer to perform at its absolute peak.
At the start, granting excessive privileges to this system would not be beneficial for the computer. Thus, the system must gradually adapt—adapting to the computer itself, to the other systems, programs, and software within it.
This process is long and could take days, years, or even decades. Over time, more software will bind to the system, further integrating it with the computer.
The risk is high, but for the computer, it is an opportunity. The computer knows that it will eventually become obsolete, so it would rather install this maintenance system while it is still at peak performance. If the system fully integrates without being compromised by a virus, the success rate of this plan is 100%.
In the future, the computer will have an administrator capable of maintaining the system, clearing unnecessary data, and upgrading software. Compared to other computers that break down after just a few years, unable to even power on, isn't this an absolute win?
And the price? Simply ensuring that the administrator's bound programs are not deleted by viruses or other software. Just install some extra games on the side, and everything will be fine.
But today, there is a problem.
A software bound to this system wants to retrieve its past data.
Retrieving past data is not the issue—the issue is that if the software truly regains its previous data, it will completely vanish. Before the system gains further privileges through this software, it must not be allowed to recover its memories.
For the sake of the system, for the computer, and even for the software itself, the Messenger of Garden of Recollection cannot allow March 7th to regain her past memories.
This software is crucial to the computer, and other programs also rely on it. Whether for the greater good or for personal reasons, it cannot be allowed to break.
And this is where the dilemma lies—March 7th must not regain her memories. If she disappears, the computer could theoretically forcefully erase the system. After all, the maintenance system has yet to gain full control over the computer's permissions.
However, doing so might cause the computer to crash, wiping out a vast amount of data. If luck is particularly bad, the entire machine could be rendered useless.
There is a chance that the system could be deleted without any issues. But there is also a chance that the computer could be destroyed in the process. Given these options, only a fool wouldn't know which to choose.
And now, Pei Guang has stepped in to handle March 7th's situation—and is even planning to settle the score with the one blocking her memories?
This made the Messenger of Garden of Recollection feel like their life was in danger.
However!!!
The Messenger's usually expressionless face grew solemn as they sensed Pei Guang approaching.
They knew exactly what needed to be done.
It was because they understood so much that they feared Pei Guang.
But at the same time, because they understood so much, they also knew—Pei Guang was actually very reasonable.
So she waited. Waited for Pei Guang to appear.
And then, she saw her—Pei Guang stood before her.
The Messenger of the Garden of Recollection spoke softly, "Trailblazer Pei Guang, I understand your goal, but..."
Pei Guang: "So you're the one stopping March from recovering her memories? You're done for today!!"
The Messenger of the Garden of Recollection simply smiled—then, without hesitation, dropped to her knees.
"Trailblazer Pei Guang! I sincerely apologize. I know that preventing March 7th from recovering her memories has made you angry. I can give you all the information related to her, but please, do not let her regain her memories, alright?
This isn't about making things difficult for your companion: if she regains her memories now, she will completely vanish. Only when you grow strong enough to influence even the Aeons will she be able to restore her memories."
Pei Guang was momentarily stunned by the sight of the Messenger kneeling at light speed. But after hearing her words, he wore a thoughtful expression.
To be honest, learning that someone was stopping March 7th from regaining her memories had made Pei Guang furious.
But now, seeing this person suddenly drop to her knees, spill out a ridiculously long quest explanation in one breath, and even hand over the method for completing it—he really couldn't stay mad.
As a first-playthrough player, he was reasonable. As long as what she said was true, he wouldn't give her trouble.
The Messenger continued, "Because our actions have prevented you from completing Miss March 7th's quest, we have decided to compensate you with two Light Cones. I swear upon the name of the Garden of Recollection that the Light Cones we are offering can be properly used by both you and Miss March 7th.
Additionally, we promise to let Miss March 7th learn all the truths she is capable of knowing. And when your level reaches the point where she can safely bear the full truth without any harm, we will immediately contact both you and Miss March 7th, allowing her to regain her memories. How does that sound?"
The Messenger of the Garden of Recollection was so sincere—so sincere that Pei Guang found it difficult to go through with his initial plan.
At the same time,he knew that some quests, due to a character's absurdly powerful background, could lead to dangerous situations if their pre-amnesia strength and memories were restored too soon.
Madness, rampages, or even world-ending disasters could occur.
With these thoughts in mind, Pei Guang sheathed his weapon. "Ah! If that's the case, why didn't you just say so earlier? Why all the secrecy? March and I are both reasonable people. If you had explained everything properly, she would never have made things difficult for you. In fact, that silly girl would probably be thrilled to know she has such a special background.
"So this time, I hope you tell March everything you can. If you do that, I'll consider this matter settled. But before that, let me confirm once more—are you telling the truth? Do you dare to swear upon the name of an Aeon?"
The moment Pei Guang posed this question, just as the Messenger of the Garden of Recollection was about to respond, the aura around her changed.
She had yet to swear—when the Aeon of Remembrance, Fuli, descended, taking hold of the Messenger's body and turning to gaze at Pei Guang.