Chapter 228
Xia Er deliberately took a long detour, avoiding all the places where members of the Goddess of Salvation Church might appear, especially steering clear of the clock tower church. Finally, she arrived at the abandoned factory that had been left unfinished.
Tala had already scouted the area under Xia Er's direction for a few days, confirming that no children would venture in here to explore or play, and that typically, no one would enter at all. Unfortunately, the factory lacked a basement, which made it less than ideal for Xia Er's purposes.
However, the version of herself in the simulation had already used this factory twice, so she felt it was still a suitable location—it was on the outskirts of the city, far enough from prying eyes.
Xia Er knew that Aivina would arrive at three-thirty, but she had arranged to meet her at five. If they were scheduled for three-thirty, Aivina might show up as early as two, which could lead to some rather unfortunate situations.
Dragging the body into a dark corner of the factory, Xia Er leaned against the wall and sat on the ground, watching time flow by, quietly waiting for the moment to arrive.
Reality couldn’t be skipped; even knowing all the steps, Xia Er could only wait for the specific time to come.
What she could do was ensure that she utilized all the information she had gathered from the future or the past to complete the process as quickly as possible.
Playing through multiple cycles was indeed boring...
Xia Er's heartbeat began to quicken, but she made a small joke in her mind to ease her tension.
Whether she could end it all depended on today...
At this moment, Xia Er had stopped thinking about the subsequent steps; instead, she cleared her mind, trying to alleviate her inner anxiety.
In truth, she had no reason to be so nervous. Logically, her rest time was more ample than that of her simulated self, and her mental state should be better.
The sun slowly rose, filtering through the broken roof of the factory, illuminating a small area, yet it couldn’t dispel the darkness deep within.
Soon, dark clouds rolled in, obscuring the sun's light, and the entire sky began to darken, as if it were ready to rain.
But the rain never fell.
7... 8... 9...
13... 14... 15...
At the moment the clock struck three in the afternoon, a silver light flickered in the darkness of the factory.
A few minutes later, a tall figure, swaying slightly and dressed in luxurious golden robes, emerged from the shadows, standing in the sunlight, looking up at the sky with an unnatural flush on her face.
“**.”
Under Xia Er's control, the body slowly spoke to the sky, uttering an ancient and unfamiliar name.
Slade.
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PS1:
224.5 (overdue) - 2 (extra) = 222.5 (overdue)
Waaah, I’m never writing before bed again! I almost fell asleep twice while writing. I’ll definitely write ahead tomorrow.
Write early! Tomorrow’s me!!!
Good night! I’m going to pass out!
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Chapter 137: The Chaos Begins.
The most effective phrase in the simulation, the one that the simulated Xia Er had the body utter at the end, received no reaction.
Transformed into the "coroner," Xia Er felt no panic at this unexpected situation.
Before things began, she had felt some tension.
Success or failure hinged on this moment; the closer it got to a life-or-death decision, the calmer Xia Er became.
She used a small knife to cut her left wrist, letting her blood flow down her fingers, drawing a pattern on the ground with her blood.
At the same time, she multitasked, controlling the body to repeat the words that the simulated Xia Er had tried from start to finish.
It might not have been the last word that fully awakened the memory of that feathered pen; these "preliminary acts" were also extremely important...
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A raven circled above the outskirts of Bole City, over the Dedton Manor.
The massive shadow cast by its form covered a large area below. In its cold gaze, a brown-haired woman stepped out from the entrance of Dedton Manor.
She held a rust-colored coin in her hand, seemingly trying to leave the manor.
The moment she stepped out, the raven's shadow swooped down, landing on the outer wall of the manor, watching the woman, its shadow enveloping her entirely.
But the woman seemed oblivious to the raven's shadow, focused instead on the coin, slowly raising her hand to flick it.
The coin spun upward, then arced back down toward the back of her hand.
The rusty coin landed steadily on her hand, and in the raven's eyes, the invisible thread connecting the coin to the woman snapped, only to connect to another line.
The consequence of this action was that the coin, which had been resting steadily on the back of her hand, slipped off at an odd angle and fell to the ground.
The eyeball demon on the back of the coin gazed at the sky. Seeing this, the woman's expression shifted slightly. After hesitating, she bent down to pick up the coin and, after a moment of contemplation, retreated back into Dedton Manor.
For days, the woman had been testing the boundaries with the coin. Soon, she would understand what she needed to do.
The raven spread its wings and soared into the sky, flying toward the city.
In its eyes, the city seemed shrouded in a gray mist, with countless fine threads intricately connecting different people.
These threads were woven from a mix of white, blue, and orange light, though the orange was scarce. The brown-haired woman had brought a hint of orange.
Following one of the thicker orange threads, it flew toward the Clock Tower District.
This thread connected to a well-dressed nobleman with short golden hair, who was currently walking down the street in the Clock Tower District, holding a golden-edged cane in one hand and a blue eyeball-like crystal in the other.
Another man who hadn’t found his destiny...
With a casual flick, the blue eyeball in the man's hand suddenly turned deep purple, the dark red core fixating on a servant following behind him.
The man turned around just in time to see the servant, face twisted with rage, drawing a pistol from his waist and aiming it directly at him.
Upon being discovered, the servant shouted something, then pulled the trigger.
Bang—
The bullet shot toward the man's face, but when it struck his skin, it made a crisp sound, sparking and ricocheting off.
Bang bang—
More gunfire erupted, and the street descended into chaos. The bullets that the man dodged struck several passing civilians, who fell into pools of blood.
The man looked at the fallen civilians, his expression unchanged, but when he saw one of them wearing the robes of the Goddess of Salvation Church, his face shifted slightly. He reached out and knocked his servant unconscious with a punch.
He had gotten himself into trouble.
The raven's shadow, hovering above, was satisfied as it watched this unfold before it departed.
At that moment, it felt like a deity, controlling the fates of all, playing with them at will.
And it seemed to relish this feeling of manipulating lives, flying joyfully toward its next destination.
When it reached the top of a half-finished factory, it sensed an unusual aura. But more than that, it was drawn to the woman standing below, connected by a single blue thread.
This is...
It perched atop the roof, its massive shadow covering the entire area.
The woman's words were muddled and chaotic, but just listening made the raven feel a pang of spiritual pain.
What is this?
I am an omniscient god... How can I not understand what she is saying?
Impossible...
I am a god...
The silver gears in the raven's eyes began to turn slightly, and in an instant, a flood of memories surged into its mind.
I knew it, I definitely knew...
The massive raven shadow suddenly spread its wings, but soon, both the raven and its shadow froze.
Because this time, it truly understood, and upon understanding, those memories it had deliberately sealed away, belonging to "mortals," began to tear open, revealing themselves.
“From now on... let’s call you Slade?”
“It doesn’t hold any special meaning, just something that rolls off the tongue.”
Slade...
In the half-lit factory, the woman, illuminated by the dim sunlight, seemed to be performing a bizarre one-woman play, even without an audience.
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