[Honkai: Star Rail] The Aeon of Nihility Reinvents Themself as a Galaxy Ranger

This column airs alongside Shiyue Zhicao's Repeatedly Teetering on the Brink of Mara-Struck.

No name, no identity, only a code name.

A child born in the wilderness is brought to the Xianzhou and presented to the general of the Zhuming Xianzhou.

After hearing the boy's story, Huaiyan looks up. When his eyes meet those dim blue ones, he loses himself for a moment, as if caught in a whirlpool with no way out.

The boy has no name and refuses to let Huaiyan give him one. Though Huaiyan doesn't know why he resists so fiercely, he agrees not to press him.

"The Xianzhou once had nine great ships. Now that you serve the Xianzhou, we'll call you Nine."

After another war, the boy, having won great honors for the Xianzhou, stands before him again. A name might be too much to ask, but a code name should be fine, Huaiyan thinks as he says it.

The boy's immediate agreement, without a word of objection, is not what Huaiyan expects. Seeing the clear change in Nine's emotions, he falls into thought.

Honestly, he'd already come up with all sorts of ways to reassure him.

He doesn't know whether the boy likes being called that, or simply likes the number nine.

"Erudition is a lump of scrap iron, Preservation is a blockhead, the Hunt has no sense of humor, Destruction is a lunatic, the Aeons are all one-track-minded, and Aha has no dignity."

The Aeon of Elation sings and laughs as it roams the universe. Then it suddenly remembers something. "Nihility is a simpleton, utterly boring."

A lifetime passes by, a kaleidoscope of memories.

Nine has no memories of his past, and never searches for those elusive traces.

Until, on his way to the Xianzhou Luofu for training, Nine, who never dreams, has an inexplicable dream. He dreams of black Nihility, and of THEM.

No one dares to face Nihility, afraid of being swallowed up and annihilated. Only Nine has never been harmed by THEM. A glimmer of light appears in his blue eyes.

That familiar feeling, as if they were one and the same.

"Are you ready? Ready to set out on this brand-new journey?"

A dream woven from broken memories, his nature now utterly different from THEIRS, moving in the opposite direction.

As the moon sets, the sun slowly rises.

"Are you sure you want to leave?"

"I'm sure."

The boy's firm voice rings out, leaving the gloom of the past behind. His vibrant energy emerges in this moment.

"Then may you walk in the sunlight from this day onward."

The story of the Galaxy Rangers may never end. Their journey may be long, but the memories it brings will always be cherished.

.

"Why does life fall asleep?"

"Because it has fallen into an illusory happiness and doesn't want to wake up."

"Because we all have to wake up."

"Because someone is always waiting for dawn, ready to welcome a brand-new future."

Theme: Because we yearn for a better world