"So, what exactly did you get out of her?" Celt found himself a chair and sat down. "Why did they do those things in the first place?"
He was referring to why this scholar had assassinated Samuel, and why, after Samuel joined the ritual, the other scholar from the Fate Rectification School had been willing to self-destruct in an attempt to kill Samuel.
At the ti, the rules had been too clearly rigged against Samuel. There was simply no room for argunt.
Evina secured the collar around her neck and explained on her behalf. "It's because, in the original fate, we didn't exist."
"So they wanted to rectify that fate, to make us cease to exist."
"All over sothing so trivial?" Celt couldn't help but frown. "And what gives them the right to believe that the fate they see is the real one?"
"Don't be so harsh~." Evina pulled the scholar's head back into her embrace, resting her own chin on top of the woman's head.
Celt didn't bother arguing with her about which one of them was more like a devil. He simply continued, "Did she say anything else?"
Evina played with the scholar's hair and shook her head.
"So you didn't get anything out of her after all?" Celt rolled his eyes.
"I never planned to squeeze anything out of her in the first place," Evina said matter-of-factly. "She's already a Law Contemplator. If it were that easy to pry secrets from her mouth, it wouldn't be possible."
Celt pinched the bridge of his nose.
"Fine, do whatever you want."
"Mm-hmm, anything else?" Evina asked.
Celt shook his head.
"Have fun with her yourself. I just ca to confirm a few things and then I'm leaving."
"Feel free to join the gathering later if you want."
"Alright." Evina nodded, pulling out the phone Samuel had just recently made to check the ti. "There's still plenty of ti."
…
The Theater Hall.
Mrs. Burroughs had followed the attendant on a tour and had now returned to the main hall.
She was quite satisfied with her son's new job.
Especially since, during the tour, she had seen many elegantly dressed gentlen and ladies.
They exuded an aristocratic aura she could never emulate, and it seed they too had chosen to visit today because of the "theater personally invested in by the Fifth Prince" title.
Most of their faces carried smiles, clearly pleased with the theater.
"Mother." Falson, having arrived two minutes early after receiving the ssage, saw his mother had finished her tour. He walked over and called out softly.
"I'm here." Mrs. Burroughs hid her face behind her fan. "This is a wonderful place, Falson. You must work hard and try to stay here, understand?"
"I'll do my best." Falson nodded earnestly.
"There are no performances at the theater today. Let see you ho first," Falson said.
Mrs. Burroughs wasn't stupid; she could guess this was Samuel's idea.
So she nodded graciously.
"Alright, but you'll probably have other work to do later," she said, glancing at the book in Falson's hand. "Just seeing to the carriage is fine."
"Okay." Falson didn't argue.
The two soon left, chatting and laughing as they walked toward the main entrance.
There were many people coming and going in their luxurious attire, so neither of them noticed a blond gentleman in a tailcoat passing by them in the opposite direction. He stepped into the theater just as they walked out through the main entrance.
"Oh?" Mr. Pride, who had just walked in, paused mid-step and turned his head to look at the mother and son walking toward the carriage.
He slowly raised a hand, but it stopped halfway. Then he continued lifting it, adjusting the top hat on his head.
"Heh." He let out a soft laugh, though it was unclear what he was amused by.
Withdrawing his gaze, Mr. Pride, Wyatt, continued deeper into the theater.
Soon, beside a magnificent pillar, he spotted Samuel, who was grinning and waving at him.
"You knew I was coming?" A smile also spread across Wyatt's face as he walked toward Samuel.
"I had no idea." Samuel shook his head with a smile. "I just happened to be taking a stroll."
Wyatt didn't say whether he believed him or not. He walked straight up to Samuel.
"Don't you need to watch over your gathering?" Samuel asked.
"No need anymore," Wyatt explained. "Everything I did before was to make my 'order' override the reality's 'order.' That's no longer necessary now."
"I see. I really don't know much about all that." Samuel smiled and turned to lead the way. "Let's find a private room to talk."
"Sounds good." Wyatt followed behind Samuel.
Along the way, the two chatted and laughed, showing no sign of the dignity befitting a newly promoted Law Inscriber like Wyatt.
"I went back and did so research. I have so leads on the question you asked last ti," Wyatt said as they walked.
"Oh, really?" Samuel looked pleasantly surprised. "I appreciate the effort."
Soon, they reached the second floor, picked an empty private room, and stepped inside.
Click.
Wyatt, who was half a step behind, casually closed the door behind him.
The mont the door shut, it seed as if so special effect had been triggered by Wyatt's action.
All sound from outside vanished instantly.
"Is it really necessary to be this tense?" Samuel said without turning around. He walked over to a sofa in the room and sat down. With a snap of his fingers, various fruits and drinks appeared on the exquisite small table beside the sofa.
It was a private room for two.
It wasn't large, but the decor was luxurious. There were two very comfortable-looking sofas with a small table between them. Directly across from the sofas was a one-way glass panel—those inside could see out, but no one outside could see in. The distance between the sofa and the glass was just right; sitting on the sofa and looking down slightly, one could see the theater stage.
"Of course." Wyatt briefly sealed the room inside and out, then walked over to the other sofa and sat down. "Even though my brother probably already knows, the fewer people who know about this, the better."
"So mysterious." Samuel giggled, leaning back in his seat.
"Yeah." Wyatt picked up a champagne flute from the small table, but only held it without drinking.
"So, what do I need to exchange for the answer to my question?" Samuel picked up a grape he had created with his Illusion Magic and tossed it into his mouth.
"Nothing at all." Wyatt gently swirled the glass and answered.
"Oh, really?" Samuel looked at Wyatt.
"You could ask Ethen about this kind of thing, and he'd tell you the sa thing," Wyatt explained.
"But I trust you." Samuel teased.
"It's my honor." Wyatt removed his top hat and placed it on his lap.
He paused for two seconds before continuing.
"But I think that's enough pleasantries. Let's get back to your question."
"You should still rember what you asked last ti, right?" Wyatt asked back.
"Mm-hmm," Samuel nodded. "I asked you, 'What exactly am I?' and you said you didn't know."
"Right. I didn't know back then," Wyatt admitted. "But in the past couple of days, I did so digging and I think I have a rough guess."
"It must be more than just a guess, or you wouldn't have co all the way here." Samuel ate another grape.
"Can't you just let be humble?" Wyatt leaned back comfortably into the sofa.
"I'm saving you here," Samuel said matter-of-factly. "Otherwise, if your Law goes wrong later, that wouldn't be good."
"Yeah, that's a good point. Thanks." Wyatt nodded seriously and even raised his glass in a mock "cheers" gesture.
He took a small sip of the champagne and began to share what he had found.
"My guess is that you are likely a 'Singularity of Absurdity.'"
"Singularity of Absurdity." Samuel repeated the term.
"That's a new term I've never heard before."
"So, what is it?"
"Mm..." Wyatt prepared his wording. "A... good thing?"
It seed he wasn't entirely sure how to describe it either.
"To put it simply, your skin is a good thing, your bones are a good thing, your blood is a good thing, and your organs are a good thing."
"You're a treasure from head to toe." He gave a thumbs up.
"So I'm that valuable." Samuel seed enlightened. "So what can I be used for?"
"I wouldn't know," Wyatt said with a smile. "I'm not a craftsman, after all."
"But if soone used you as material, they could probably make Law Objects on the level of a Law Inscriber with ease."
"If they took you apart, they might even make several pieces."
"Wow, so I'm that impressive." Samuel continued his act of sudden realization. "Then I really should keep this under wraps."
"I don't want to get bagged and dragged off while walking down the street."
He then put on a wary expression, crossed his arms, and stared at Wyatt.
"This is my turf. You better not try anything funny."
"I'll scream for help."
"Go ahead." Wyatt gently swirled the champagne glass. "But I've already sealed this room shut."
"Oh no, I'm a turtle trapped in a jar!" Samuel looked horrified. "Am I about to be caught and, you know, done this and that and the other?"
Watching Samuel writhe and twist on the sofa while hugging himself, Wyatt calmly took another sip of his drink.
"Of course, all of that is just the most basic use of a 'Singularity of Absurdity,'" he continued.
"Are you familiar with the theory of parallel worlds?" Wyatt asked.
"Mm-hmm." Samuel nodded.
"In your opinion, among the countless parallel worlds, which ones could be called the 'main world,' and which are extensions of that 'main world'?"
"Well..." Samuel thought for less than a second. "That's impossible to determine, isn't it?"
"No, it is possible," Wyatt said.
"A world with a 'Singularity of Absurdity' is the main world. A world without one is an extension."
"?" Samuel pointed at himself. "I'm that aweso?"
"Then am I the only one across all realms?"
"Not quite." Wyatt shrugged. "It's just very rare, not completely nonexistent."
"For a 'main world,' maybe one appears every one or two hundred years? With good luck, maybe every few decades."
"Oh, so I'm a 'main world specialty item' after all. I thought I was the anchor of the 'main world' itself."
"Haha," Wyatt chuckled. "If that were really the case, I'd definitely try to get my hands on you."
"But it's true that existences like you are very rare," Wyatt confird.
"'Singularities of Absurdity' are called 'singularities' precisely because they can easily create 'Law Narrative Points.'"
"And what's that?" Samuel stopped squirming, curious.
Singularity of Absurdity, Law Narrative Point.
They only differed by one word, but he felt the difference was huge.
"Let think." Wyatt pondered. "My Liant Town is a Law Narrative Point."
"So it ans an alternate space?" Samuel interpreted it in his own words.
"Not exactly." Wyatt shook his head.
"Simply put, imagine creating an entirely new parallel world, then extracting a specific ti period and a specific piece of space from that parallel world, manifesting it into reality, and overlapping it onto the existing reality."
"That is a Law Narrative Point."
"Oh~." Samuel rubbed his chin. "That sounds pretty incredible."
"Yes, it really is," Wyatt nodded. "And this is only part of what I've uncovered so far."
"As far as I know, 'Singularities of Absurdity' seem to have quite a few other effects, but I haven't found them yet."
"So in short, they're very valuable." Samuel drew the conclusion.
"Priceless." Wyatt replied.
The two gently clinked glasses, as if to toast Samuel's fortune.
A few seconds later, the smile on Wyatt's face faded slightly.
"However..." Wyatt shifted the conversation.
"The appearance of a 'Singularity of Absurdity' isn't entirely a good thing."
"Huh?" Samuel raised an eyebrow. "Does my existence have a downside?"
"Not exactly." Wyatt shook his head gently.
"It's just that, following past patterns, the ergence of a 'Singularity of Absurdity' often heralds the arrival of a 'Calamity.'"
"Calamity?"
He'd encountered another new term.
"And what's that?"
Wyatt looked at the champagne glass in his hand, his smile fading a little more.
"It's not sothing good, that's for sure."
"Ah... I got that much." Samuel nodded. "Can you tell more?"
"Of course." Wyatt nodded.
"You should have heard about the most recent calamity."
"The Mutant Uprising was part of the last calamity."
"Part?" Samuel repeated the word.
"Yeah, part."
"Think of it like this: after a devastating rainstorm, you get animal riots, floods, landslides, food shortages, even people trading their children for food... The floods are part of the natural disaster, but they aren't the entire disaster itself. Only by adding up all the catastrophes from beginning to end do you get the full disaster."
"Got it." Samuel made an OK gesture. "So what's the 'complete version' of that calamity?"
"That's the most terrifying part." Wyatt's expression was a bit strange. "I don't know."
"Huh?" Samuel tilted his head.
"Yes, I don't know." Wyatt nodded firmly. "As one of the direct survivors of that calamity, I actually forgot."
"Not just . The entire world forgot."
"Even now that I've beco a 'Law Inscriber,' I still can't rember."
"Is that so? That really is troubleso." Samuel responded. "But just saying that doesn't give any real concept of a calamity."
"Is there a truly complete version of a calamity?"
"A complete version? It's not impossible."
"But that wasn't sothing I experienced myself. I can only recount what I've heard." Wyatt explained.
"This was about eight hundred years ago," Wyatt said. "I've only read about it in historical records."
"The effect of that calamity was 'the loss of death.'"
"It wasn't immortality, not being unable to age or be injured. And it wasn't just humans who couldn't die—it was all living things..."
Samuel imdiately pictured that scenario.
"Wow..." He wasn't sure how to describe the image in his mind.
But Wyatt said it out loud.
"People would age little by little, but they would never pass away. They would slowly beco withered, decrepit, reduced to skin and bones, yet still alive."
"Animals and plants that were eaten—even after being digested and turned into waste—would still be alive, still writhing. People who should have died, even if burned to ash, would still be 'alive.'"
"It wasn't just the 'death' of the body that was taken away. The 'death' of the mind was also taken," Wyatt added.
"People's minds couldn't break down. They could clearly feel everything happening to them. Even when reduced to ashes, their consciousness was still 'alive,' able to clearly feel every part of their body, every single grain of ash."
"And it wasn't just the visible plants and animals. Even the invisible microorganisms in the air were affected."
"Mass decay, disease..."
"Yeah... That was when people beca aware of the existence of microorganisms."
"In short, that calamity lasted less than thirty years, but the result was a world filled with rotting, decaying, twisted flesh that couldn't die."
Seeing that Samuel looked very interested, Wyatt spread his hands.
"If you're really interested in the details, you can go ask Father Ethen of the Continuity Church."
Samuel raised an eyebrow.
"Are you saying?"
"Yes." Wyatt nodded. "Ethen beca a Law Inscriber during that very calamity."
After speaking, Wyatt felt a little thirsty and took a sip of his champagne.
In those few seconds while Wyatt was drinking, Samuel's mind raced.
Ethen had beco a Law Inscriber eight hundred years ago, during the ti of "no death." If so, he might have been heavily influenced by that era.
This was also reflected in his Law.
His Heaven swallowed others, devouring them into his body...
Samuel suddenly had an idea.
If the calamity only affected the real world, then wouldn't the people Ethen swallowed be able to find true release?
No decay, no disease. Although they couldn't die, their consciousness would gradually be erased, rging into the whole, becoming indistinguishable. Under the guidance of Ethen's powerful consciousness, they would no longer feel pain.
If that was truly possible, then Ethen's "Heaven" would have been a genuine "heaven" for the people of that ti.
A place countless people would kill to enter.
Reviews
All reviews (0)