Chapter 220
The system had effectively established a firewall in Xia'er’s mind, freeing up a significant portion of capacity to store information that would have directly attacked his brain, allowing him to break free from "uniqueness" without being tainted.
"Can I access that knowledge freely?" Xia'er asked.
【Hehe, that’ll cost you some life points to exchange for it^^_】
Xia'er: "..."
Thank goodness Xia'er had only felt a twinge of pity for the system a moment ago; now he just wanted to punch it through the screen.
He pushed aside his thoughts and focused on the notepad in front of him, falling into deep contemplation.
From his earlier conversation with the system, Xia'er had filled in a considerable amount of the missing information in the simulation.
The outcome, however, was not very promising.
In the simulation, he had already brushed against the trait of "uniqueness," and that gear trait had collapsed to the point where it could only be observed in this world.
This meant that even if he conducted another simulation, the raven in that world would take on a form devoid of the gear trait...
Its abilities would be significantly diminished. Forget about Xia'er; even the other two could probably pull it out quickly.
Reality and simulation were different; with the deviation in the timeline, the significance of the simulation was greatly reduced.
Unless he followed the previous steps in reality to obtain that uniqueness, the timelines of simulation and reality would align again, without deviation.
Did he really have to speedrun through the previous method?
Xia'er lightly tapped his fingers on the wooden table, weighing the pros and cons.
"Is this 'uniqueness' worth going through all that?"
He asked himself this question once more in his heart.
【This is "authority," host】
【This is your chance to grasp "authority"】
【This is something ordinary extraordinary beings wouldn’t even dare to dream of; it’s what transcenders vie for】
【This is yours...】
To wield authority as an ordinary person?
Mine?
At this point, Xia'er could almost confirm it.
The system was hiding some things from him.
Both the system and himself harbored secrets.
"System, what exactly are you? And what am I... really?"
【You’ll know when the host personally ventures into the "Old Days" to forge a path】
As expected, it was another "Old Days" simulation?
Whenever the topic turned to the system or paths related to himself, the system's answers always circled back to the "Old Days" simulation.
It seemed that no matter what, if he wanted to uncover the whole truth, he would have to undergo an "Old Days" simulation.
But before that, Xia'er had to ensure his own safety and crush any dangers in their infancy...
At this point, Aivina's personal maid should have already brought back a reply.
Xia'er stood up and walked downstairs, opening the door at the time marked by his simulated self.
The morning sunlight spilled onto the steps, where a maid stood, ready to knock. Upon seeing Xia'er open the door, her face showed a hint of surprise and bewilderment.
"Is this Aivina's reply?"
Xia'er smiled and nodded at the maid, reaching out to take the envelope from her hand. "Thank you."
"Uh... you're welcome."
After the door closed, the maid stood there, still dazed. After a while, she turned to exchange a glance with another maid, both of them revealing a hint of confusion.
Why was Miss Xia'er so familiar with this?
It was as if she had known we would come to deliver the letter at this exact moment...
Chapter 133: "Fanatical Loyalist" Tara.
As Xia'er walked toward his room, he opened the envelope and looked at its contents.
Aivina's thoughts mirrored those of his simulated self almost perfectly.
The only difference was that in reality, he hadn’t woken the maid at two in the morning to send a letter inquiring about the corpse, the tailor, or the setbacks in Aivina's revival ritual.
Thus, Aivina's letter mainly expressed concern for Xia'er’s well-being and asked why Adele had come to find him with a medical kit.
The distinction between simulation and reality was that the channels through which he had obtained information in the simulation were unnecessary in reality, giving Xia'er a lot of extra leeway.
He opened the system shop interface and browsed through the items he had brought out from the last simulation.
Aside from a prison introduction letter, Xia'er was surprised to find Aivina's family crest, both priced at 1 life point.
Why wasn’t this noted in the notepad? What had his simulated self done to obtain Aivina's family crest?
Xia'er didn’t dwell on the issue; if his simulated self hadn’t written it down, it meant it wasn’t important, and he didn’t need to waste time on such matters.
He didn’t rush to exchange the recommendation letter and family crest; those could be redeemed anytime, and he could wait until he needed them.
In the simulation, Xia'er had asked Aivina for information without considering the risk of exposure, so he had dared to ask anything and give anything.
In reality, Xia'er would never directly ask Aivina why she was stuck at the first tier or if she needed him to gather some cultists for her promotion.
It was obvious that cultists had a significant connection to Xia'er; if it piqued Aivina's curiosity, she might reverse-engineer the information after deprogramming Gema.
Given Aivina's resources and meticulousness, it wouldn’t surprise Xia'er if she traced it back to Tara, and involving Tara could very well expose him.
After all, his upcoming plan required him to make contact with Tara.
The simplest way now was to let Aivina "discover" the cultist Gema on her own without notifying her, and use her to complete the revival ritual.
At that point, Tara could send a confidential letter with Gema to visit Aivina under the pretense of looking for Opode.
Although the "Otherworldly Page" in Xia'er’s possession was already in tatters, Nia would definitely sense something was off; she was exceptionally sensitive to the aura of the Otherworld.
Moreover, since Gema was merely a second-tier cultist high priest, Tara wouldn’t need to reveal her identity; she could simply issue orders as a bishop, and Gema wouldn’t even know which bishop had given the command. Even if he was deprogrammed, there would be no risk of exposing Tara.
Thus, unlike the simulation, in reality, Xia'er, the Holy Church, and Aivina had completely severed ties.
Aside from Xia'er, no one could deduce his existence from the other side; he could still operate independently of any faction.
Of course, the crux of this plan was that Tara, as the intermediary, had to be absolutely loyal to Xia'er—something he had verified multiple times in simulations.
In the simulations, even when pushed to madness, Tara only became more fanatically devoted to Xia'er; she was an unwavering zealot, a fundamentalist of "Mother God Xia'er."
Even if Xia'er declared the Holy Church was a sham, Tara would probably rally her loyalists and split off to form the Xia'er Church.
Soon, Xia'er finished writing a plain reply to Aivina, mentioning only that his mental state had improved and inquiring about the tailor. Finally, he handed the letter to the maid living across the hall.
At the same time, he instructed the maids to return to Aivina’s side, no longer needing to stay there to deliver messages and provide protection.
In reality, it was better to have fewer eyes on him.
After sending off his letter and dismissing the maids, Xia'er returned to his room, contemplating his next steps.
Tara wouldn’t arrive in Boren City until early tomorrow morning, but there was one thing Xia'er couldn’t control.
That was Amy.
If he wanted Tara to be absolutely loyal to him, he first needed to "validate" his identity as the "Mother God."
And that "validation" would require the divine servant sealed behind Amy’s back.
He had to come up with a way to keep Amy in the dark while allowing the "divine servant" to emerge and "kneel" before him.
However, both Amy and Tara were unaware of these events that had occurred multiple times in the simulation, giving Xia'er ample room to maneuver.
Xia'er genuinely didn’t want to use the "instigator" to manipulate his friends, so he would try to keep Amy in the dark as much as possible.
But that matter wasn’t urgent; in the simulation, Amy would only bring Tara to find him at noon tomorrow, the 26th, giving him plenty of time to figure out how to handle it.
Right now, the more pressing issue was the clothing.
Table of Contents
