In the cartographer’s diary, the person whose manner of controlling fire resembles the Catastrophe Demon, is evidently the silent and withdrawn girl under the cartographer’s protection.
It turns out that the "fire-manipulating anomaly" that once attacked her team is indeed the Catastrophe Demon, and her fear of stems from associating with the Catastrophe Demon.
But why does she find my fire so similar to the Catastrophe Demon’s? At least in appearance, my orange-red flas should be completely different from the black flas of the Catastrophe Demon described in rumors.
Supposing that the Catastrophe Demon really is my future self, then in that scenario, would the Catastrophe Demon also have the Vermilion Bird Seed like I do?
According to the information I had before, it is impossible for two Vermilion Bird Inheritors to exist in the sa era, just as it’s impossible for two sets of Divine Seal Fragnts to appear in the sa era. Even if I traveled from the future, this rule should hold.
Or perhaps in the chaotic Doomsday Era, even this basic rule has been shattered? Or could it be that my future self (the Catastrophe Demon) continued to maintain his power after losing the Vermilion Bird Seed?
Since my Fla Power can still function normally, it ans the Vermilion Bird Seed is with , not the Catastrophe Demon. Following this logic, the most reasonable conclusion is that the "present Catastrophe Demon" has already lost his power.
When paired with my previous analysis and speculation of the "Ti Island Theory," the fact that the Catastrophe Demon and I were in different areas should also be seen as being in different ti periods, aning that we could indeed both possess the Vermilion Bird Seed in the Doomsday Era.
And this ans that when the Catastrophe Demon and I appear in the sa region, one of us would inevitably lose all of their powers...
I held my speculations at bay for now and continued reading the cartographer’s diary content.
"Like another child I took in, she was a severe Frenzy sufferer. She forgot her real na and much of her past. She lacked even the most basic self-sufficiency skills, and I could barely maintain her basic ntal structure using my anomaly ’Guiding Directions.’
"Survivors severely infected by Frenzy often experience intense hallucinations and illusions, seeing moons in the night sky that aren’t there like the Blessed Monks, and vaguely hearing the Gospel. Most people assu survivors in this state are exceptionally fragile and dangerous, but sotis, it is precisely this fragility and danger that bestow upon them a sensitivity unavailable to ordinary survivors—they can sense mana fluctuations, much like the Blessed Monks.
"The Catastrophe Demon’s fire is reportedly black, whereas Zhuang Cheng’s fire is clearly orange-red. Still, since she judged that their frequencies were very similar through her mana fluctuation perception, I can’t ignore this point.
"Legend has it that Great Demons are fallen Gods. They’re a king of anomalies that knows only destruction and cannot communicate. But Zhuang Cheng, whom I’ve interacted with, is rational and can speak human language, making it hard to believe he’s a Great Demon.
"However, he indeed seems to possess so traits of the Catastrophe Demon. For instance, when releasing power, there’s no mana fluctuation from him — only the flas he generates display them.
"Could he actually be the ’past Catastrophe Demon’? In this bizarre Doomsday World where even the river of ti becos shattered and chaotic, can such incredible miracles be shown?
"The idea of a God before transforming into a Great Demon... is sothing I’ve never heard of, at least not recorded in this diary...
"No matter what, it’s too far-fetched. To randomly pick up a Forgetful Blessed Monk who lost his mory from the outside and imagine him as a pre-fallen God is overly fanciful. I cannot imdiately believe in this conjecture.
"But if Zhuang Cheng truly is a God..."
The diary ended at this point, as if the cartographer didn’t know how to express his feelings further at the mont, so he temporarily put down his pen to record later.
However, there was no "later" for him, as he was incinerated by after turning into a Sin Demon.
Another question erged in my mind.
From the diary’s text, it’s clear that the cartographer didn’t consider as rely a "typical Blessed Monk who controls fire." Though he never fully believed I was the Catastrophe Demon, he never dismissed the suspicion. Yet, in later interactions and attacks against , he seed convinced I was fish on the chopping block, waiting for him to butcher.
In the abnormal world, caution is a basic trait for a demon hunter, and it’s all the more essential in the Doomsday Era. If an objective leaves you indecisive and you cannot fully discern its nature, the most appropriate action is to give up early, not to stubbornly advance.
In the end, he still chose to show his fangs and served poisonous food. This rash approach was sowhat brazen. It was certainly not a decision that an experienced survivor would co to after rational thought.
Unless he wasn’t acting on reason but was driven by a sentint incomprehensible to people like Tan Xiang and , who lived in the modern world.
I rembered his last words he spoke in the face of the fiery hand from the sky before dying.
Then, I continued to flip through the diary, wanting to see what events the cartographer had experienced previously and try to glean more knowledge about the Doomsday Era from it.
Regrettably, text records from the Doomsday Era and the mories of survivors are equally difficult to preserve, with the latter becoming fragnted and the forr inexplicably damaged. The diary had many inexplicable blackened markings.
So texts not blackened also contained analyses regarding these damages. The cartographer suspected at one point that he might be under Frenzy’s control, sleepwalking to black out his diary. But the blackening persisted even when there were no pens or inks nearby, and his experience was not unique among survivors. He ultimately attributed it to peculiar phenona unique to the Doomsday’s onset.
"So survivors believe in hidden regularities within the chaotic space, thinking that when we move, we’re not entirely randomly teleporting to different regions. To survive better, they attempt to analyze the space-ti changes of their current area and record it on paper, calling it a ’map.’
"Of course, few survivors willingly undertake such labor-intensive and high-difficulty work, although it’s said the Evangelical Institute is actively advancing this project. Participants in this effort are referred to as ’Doomsday Mapmakers.’
"In the past, it seems I was one of them and was quite passionate about the job. Sothing must have happened later that led to flee the Evangelical Institute, yet I never gave up on map-making, and so a long ti passed... Long enough for my personality to iterate repeatedly under the soaking of Frenzy, and I couldn’t even rember who I used to be — only this map remained intact at my side.
"Perhaps the map isn’t that intact, actually quite ruined? Such a scribbled map, with ssy, careless lines, would be difficult to detect even if altered randomly a few dozen tis over.
"I not only lost the desire to make maps but also lacked the knowledge to decode this map. If a monk from the Evangelical Institute happened to find it, perhaps they could decode its contents, but such maps are likely outdated and obsolete.
"Though through the ’Guiding Directions’ superpower, a bit of it can still be deciphered, I have no interest in my past work results.
"I do not wish to recall my past."
Another diary entry passed as I flipped through. The further I went back, the more severe the blackening phenonon was. This was considered so of the most well-preserved content.
As I continued to read, my understanding of the Doomsday Era increased, and I greatly benefited. But as I roughly finished reading, strange movents occurred nearby.
I set down the diary and looked beside . A wandering soul let out a low moan, then slowly opened his eyes, staring blankly at the space above like soone with low blood sugar.
Monts later, clarity finally dawned in his eyes, and he abruptly sat up, surveying his surroundings, then fixed his gaze on Tan Xiang and .
"Who are you...?" he uttered.
"You’ve finally woken up? Let’s start with so introductions. I’m Zhuang Cheng, he’s Tan Xiang."
I first pointed to myself and then to Tan Xiang, and asked him, "Who are you then? Do you rember your na?"
Upon hearing this, the wandering soul glanced at , then at Tan Xiang, then covered his own forehead as if a nail still lingered in his brain, muttering, "My... na..."
Tan Xiang, standing by, quipped, "You look just like a mobile ga player just getting into the prologue, at the stage of choosing your userna. Don’t give yourself weird nas, or you’ll regret it."
The wandering soul wore a strained expression as if searching for a lost thing in a swamp. Seeing this, I tried to remind him, "Isn’t your na ’Wandering Soul’?"
"Wandering Soul... Wandering Soul?"
He muttered the na repeatedly, and his deanor gradually cald down.
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