Read Novel Full Chapter 771: The Limits of
Chapter 771: The Limits of Parallel Memory
The abandoned building remained silent.
Zero stood beside the broken table, the old skill record still in his hand.
F-rank.
The classification remained unchanged.
Yet he couldn’t forget what he had seen.
SS.
For a moment.
Then gone.
He looked toward Earth Zero.
"There’s something we’re missing."
Earth Zero didn’t answer.
Zero continued.
"We keep asking why Parallel Memory became SS-rank."
He placed the record on the table.
"But that’s the wrong question."
Earth Zero’s eyes shifted toward him.
"What do you mean?"
"We should be asking what an SS-rank Parallel Memory would actually be capable of."
Silence.
Earth Zero’s expression became serious.
"That’s exactly what I’ve been avoiding."
Zero frowned.
"Why?"
"Because we don’t know its limits."
***************************************
A voice came from the darkness.
"Then perhaps you should ask someone who has already seen the consequences."
Both Zeros turned.
The temperature in the room seemed to drop.
A figure stepped from the shadows.
The Emperor of Destruction.
Zero immediately reached for his weapon.
Earth Zero didn’t move.
The Emperor smiled faintly.
"If I intended to fight you, you would already know."
Zero remained cautious.
"You shouldn’t be here."
"Neither should I have been in this world."
The Emperor looked toward the skill record.
His expression changed.
For the first time, he looked genuinely interested.
"Parallel Memory."
Zero’s eyes narrowed.
"You know it?"
"I know enough."
Earth Zero stared at him.
"How much?"
The Emperor walked toward the table.
"My world taught me something neither of you have learned."
He touched the edge of the record.
"Power isn’t dangerous because of what it can destroy."
He looked at Zero.
"Power is dangerous because of what it can change."
*****************************
Zero remained silent.
The Emperor continued.
"You are asking what Parallel Memory can do."
"Yes."
"Then begin with what it cannot do."
Zero frowned.
"What can’t it do?"
The Emperor looked directly at him.
"It cannot freely create another world."
Zero’s expression changed.
Earth Zero’s eyes narrowed.
"Are you certain?"
"Yes."
The Emperor’s answer was immediate.
"If it could create worlds, my world would not have ended."
Zero studied him.
"Then what does it do?"
The Emperor shook his head.
"That is the wrong question again."
He pointed toward Zero.
"It remembers."
Zero looked at him.
"That’s obvious."
"No."
The Emperor’s voice became colder.
"You believe memory means seeing something that already happened."
Zero didn’t respond.
"Perhaps that is what an F-rank Parallel Memory does."
The Emperor looked at the old record.
"But if the classification changes..."
He paused.
"...the meaning of memory may change with it."
*********************************
Earth Zero stepped closer.
"Explain."
The Emperor looked between them.
"A memory doesn’t have to be yours."
Zero’s expression hardened.
"I’ve already seen another world."
"Exactly."
"Then Parallel Memory can access other people’s memories?"
"Not necessarily."
The Emperor shook his head.
"It may be accessing another possibility."
Zero froze.
Earth Zero’s expression darkened.
"Possibility?"
The Emperor nodded.
"A memory of what happened."
"A memory of what could have happened."
"A memory of what is happening somewhere else."
"Or perhaps..."
His eyes settled on Zero.
"...a memory of what was supposed to happen."
Silence filled the room.
Zero slowly looked toward Earth Zero.
The records.
The expected sequence.
Hiro’s position.
Mia’s rise.
The convergence.
Everything suddenly seemed connected.
But Earth Zero shook his head.
"Don’t assume that yet."
The Emperor smiled.
"Good."
Earth Zero looked at him.
"Why good?"
"Because certainty is what destroyed my world."
********************************
Zero looked at the Emperor.
"You destroyed your own world."
"I did."
"And now you’re warning us about certainty?"
"Yes."
The Emperor’s expression didn’t change.
"I knew exactly what I was doing."
He paused.
"What I didn’t know was what my actions would leave behind."
Zero stared at him.
The Emperor continued.
"A world can survive destruction."
Zero frowned.
"A dead world?"
"No."
The Emperor’s eyes became distant.
"A world can survive the destruction of cities. Kingdoms. Magic. Civilization."
He looked back at Zero.
"But once the rules holding that world together begin changing..."
His voice became quieter.
"...there may be nothing left to destroy."
**************************
Zero felt a chill.
"Then what happens?"
"I don’t know."
The Emperor’s answer surprised him.
"You don’t know?"
"No."
For a moment, the Emperor looked almost tired.
"My world ended before I could learn the answer."
Earth Zero crossed his arms.
"So you came here to find it?"
The Emperor smiled.
"Perhaps."
"You expect us to believe that?"
"No."
Zero stepped between them.
"Enough."
Both turned toward him.
Zero looked at the skill record.
"We’re avoiding the actual question."
He pointed toward the classification.
"If Parallel Memory is truly F-rank, then its limits should be simple."
Earth Zero nodded.
"Memory fragments."
"Exactly."
Zero looked at the Emperor.
"But if it is behaving like something beyond F-rank, we need to know where the boundary is."
The Emperor nodded.
"Then ask."
Zero took a breath.
"Can Parallel Memory change the past?"
"No."
The Emperor answered immediately.
Earth Zero nodded.
"That’s consistent with everything we’ve observed."
Zero continued.
"Can it predict the future?"
The Emperor shook his head.
"Not reliably."
Earth Zero added:
"That’s important."
Zero looked at him.
"Why?"
"Because if it could see the future, those records would be predictions."
He looked toward the skill record.
"But they’re not."
Zero understood.
The records weren’t predicting events.
They were describing an expected order.
That was different.
Zero continued.
"Can Parallel Memory create another version of me?"
The Emperor’s eyes narrowed.
"No."
Zero waited.
"Are you certain?"
"Yes."
"How?"
The Emperor looked directly into his eyes.
"Because you already exist."
Zero frowned.
The Emperor continued.
"The skill doesn’t need to create another you."
His expression became darker.
"It only needs to connect you to one that already exists."
*********************************
Silence.
Earth Zero slowly looked at Zero.
Zero felt his stomach tighten.
"Then Earth..."
"Is not necessarily being created by your skill."
Earth Zero finished the thought.
Zero looked toward him.
"Then Parallel Memory is connecting existing worlds?"
"Possibly."
The Emperor corrected him.
"Don’t turn possibility into fact."
Earth Zero gave him a cold look.
"You’re remarkably cautious for someone who destroyed an entire world."
The Emperor smiled.
"That is precisely why."
*******************************
Zero lowered his gaze.
"Then what are the limitations?"
The Emperor considered the question.
"The first is distance."
Zero frowned.
"Distance between worlds?"
"Perhaps."
The Emperor nodded.
"The farther apart two possibilities are, the harder it should be for the skill to reach them."
Earth Zero immediately interrupted.
"Then how did Zero see your world?"
The Emperor looked at Zero.
"How far away was it?"
Zero thought about the vision.
"I don’t know."
"Exactly."
The Emperor smiled.
"You don’t know where that world was."
Zero’s expression hardened.
"Which means distance may not mean physical distance."
"Correct."
Earth Zero became thoughtful.
"Then what determines it?"
The Emperor shook his head.
"That is what you need to discover."
*********************************
Zero continued.
"What is the second limitation?"
"Identity."
"Identity?"
"The skill needs a connection."
Zero looked confused.
"Between what?"
"Between you and what you remember."
The Emperor pointed toward him.
"Your memories of Earth are not random."
Zero’s expression changed.
"You think I have a connection to Earth."
"I think you already did."
Earth Zero’s eyes narrowed.
"Before Parallel Memory changed?"
The Emperor nodded.
"Possibly."
Zero looked down.
That possibility disturbed him more than he expected.
If his connection to Earth existed before the anomaly—
then Parallel Memory might not have created the connection.
It might only have exposed it.
***********************************
"And the third limitation?"
The Emperor was silent for several seconds.
Then—
"Control."
Zero waited.
"You don’t control what you remember."
Zero’s eyes narrowed.
"That’s true."
"You don’t choose when the visions appear."
"Yes."
"You don’t choose which world appears."
"Yes."
"You don’t choose how long they remain."
Zero slowly nodded.
The Emperor looked toward Earth Zero.
"And that is your greatest problem."
Earth Zero’s expression darkened.
"Because if the skill becomes stronger..."
"It may begin choosing for him."
**************************************
The room became completely silent.
Zero stared at the Emperor.
"What does that mean?"
The Emperor’s answer was quiet.
"Today, you remember."
Zero waited.
"Tomorrow, you might experience."
Zero’s expression changed.
"And after that?"
The Emperor looked directly at him.
"You might stop knowing which one is yours."
**************************************
Zero’s breathing slowed.
Earth Zero immediately stepped forward.
"That’s enough."
The Emperor didn’t move.
"You’re afraid."
Earth Zero glared at him.
"I’m cautious."
"No."
The Emperor smiled faintly.
"You’re afraid because you’ve already seen it happen."
Earth Zero’s expression hardened.
Zero turned toward him.
"What does he mean?"
Earth Zero remained silent.
"Earth Zero."
"I said I don’t know the limits."
"That’s not what I asked."
Earth Zero looked away.
The Emperor answered instead.
"He has seen the boundary."
Zero’s eyes widened.
"What boundary?"
The Emperor looked toward the dark windows.
"The point where remembering becomes experiencing."
Zero felt his skin crawl.
"You’ve seen that?"
Earth Zero finally spoke.
"Once."
Zero stared at him.
"When?"
"Before I met you."
*****************************
Zero stepped closer.
"What happened?"
Earth Zero hesitated.
"I saw an event."
"From Earth?"
"I don’t know."
"From Edolas?"
"I don’t know."
"Then what?"
Earth Zero looked directly at Zero.
"I saw myself standing somewhere I had never been."
Zero froze.
Earth Zero continued.
"And I remembered doing something I had never done."
Silence.
"How?"
"I don’t know."
"Was it real?"
"I don’t know."
"Did it happen?"
Earth Zero’s expression became grim.
"Not yet."
Zero’s eyes widened.
"Then it was the future."
"No."
Earth Zero shook his head.
"Because the event never happened."
Zero stared at him.
"Then what was it?"
Earth Zero answered quietly.
"A memory of a path that disappeared."
***************************************
The Emperor nodded.
"Now you understand."
Zero slowly turned toward him.
"No."
The Emperor smiled.
"Good."
Zero frowned.
"Why is that good?"
"Because the moment you believe you understand Parallel Memory..."
He looked toward the skill record.
"...you’ll stop questioning it."
***************************************
Zero looked at the old classification again.
F-rank.
A useless skill.
Yet somehow—
it could show him worlds that shouldn’t be connected.
It could show memories of events that never happened.
It could reveal paths that disappeared.
And perhaps—
if it continued changing—
it could eventually blur the difference between what happened and what almost happened.
Zero’s voice became quiet.
"Then what happens if Parallel Memory reaches its limit?"
Neither Earth Zero nor the Emperor answered immediately.
Finally, Earth Zero spoke.
"We don’t know."
The Emperor added:
"But we know what happens when there is no limit."
Zero looked at him.
"What?"
The Emperor’s expression became cold.
"Everything becomes possible."
Zero’s eyes narrowed.
"That sounds like power."
"No."
The Emperor shook his head.
"It sounds like the end of rules."
************************************
The words stayed in the room.
Zero looked between the two men.
Earth Zero.
The man trying to preserve the intended sequence.
The Emperor.
The man whose world had already ended.
And himself.
The person carrying the skill neither of them understood.
For the first time, Zero realized that the question wasn’t whether Parallel Memory was strong enough to destroy Edolas.
The more frightening possibility was different.
What if it didn’t destroy Edolas?
What if it changed Edolas until the world was no longer the world they knew?
He looked at his hand.
"Then we need to find the limit before the skill finds it for us."
Earth Zero nodded.
"Agreed."
The Emperor smiled.
"Now you’re asking the right question."
Zero looked toward him.
"And where do we start?"
The Emperor pointed toward the skill record.
"At the moment it stopped being F-rank."
Zero’s expression hardened.
"We don’t know when that happened."
"No."
The Emperor’s smile disappeared.
"But someone might."
Earth Zero immediately looked at him.
"Who?"
The Emperor turned toward the door.
"That..."
He paused.
"...is the question you should have asked first."
The three of them stood in silence.
Then the old record on the table flickered.
F-Rank.
For a moment—
nothing changed.
Then a second line appeared beneath it.
Not SS.
Not another rank.
Zero stared.
Earth Zero’s expression went rigid.
The Emperor’s smile returned.
And then—
the words disappeared.
The record returned to normal.
F-rank.
Practical Value: Negligible.
As if nothing had happened.
Zero slowly whispered—
"Someone is hiding the limits."
Earth Zero shook his head.
"No."
He looked toward the empty doorway.
"Something is."