Chapter 441
The Pope nodded slightly, raising his right hand to form a fist across his chest, then lifting and spreading his palm to rest on his forehead, performing a gesture of the Order of the God of Order.
This gesture was familiar to Xia Er; she had come across an analysis of it while reading. In the doctrine of the Order of the God of Order, the chest symbolizes oaths and the soul, the horizontal position represents balance and justice, while the forehead signifies wisdom and order.
The entire sequence of movements, pivoting on the elbow of the right arm, traced a triangle from the left chest to the forehead, corresponding to the triangular symbol of the Order.
Xia Er had no formal return gesture to offer; she simply nodded in acknowledgment before leaving.
It wasn't until Xia Er and her companions had exited the hall and the door had closed behind them that Henry finally looked up at the Pope, disbelief etched on his face. "Your Holiness... that information... it wasn't recorded in the Memorandum of the Otherworld, was it?"
The Pope remained silent, shaking his head.
At that moment, she could only wish for time to move faster.
"Let’s go to the East District, find Qiangyin, and get to the bottom of this."
During the wait, she had to find Qiangyin and exchange intelligence.
...
Xia Er, along with Tara and Perci, climbed into the carriage prepared by the Order of the God of Order, heading home.
The choice to ride in the Order's carriage was deliberate, aimed at avoiding an unexpected encounter with Qiangyin and the trouble that might ensue.
Xia Er had shared her address with the Pope, but she wasn't overly concerned.
As long as they investigated, they would undoubtedly uncover her close relationship with Aivina, inevitably linking her to "Crown Guardian" Nia, and even speculating whether her interference had caused their previous plan to take Nia to fail.
But none of that mattered, because by the time the Pope sent people to reconcile accounts, Xia Er would have long since left this simulation.
Right now, she was more concerned about what Tara had seen while she was still down below communicating with the beings of the Otherworld.
Once home, Xia Er led Tara and Perci into her room.
After sitting on the sofa, she looked up at Tara and Perci, who stood nearby, and said, "Please, take a seat."
With Xia Er's permission, they sat down across from her.
Especially Perci, who seemed to regard Xia Er with newfound respect after the earlier events.
"Tara, what did you see just now?" Xia Er asked, focusing on Tara. "You seem a bit unsettled."
"Lady Xia Er..."
Tara took a deep breath, standing to face Xia Er. "Just now, I saw that Pope..."
Tara hesitated for a long time, struggling to find the right words. After a moment, she glanced at Perci and said, "I'm sorry, Perci, but I signed a contract. This information can only be shared with Lady Xia Er..."
"Alright, Teacher Tara." Perci said nothing more, rising decisively to leave the room and closing the door behind her.
The contract of the Order of the God of Order was not unfamiliar to Perci; in fact, even standing outside, she could hear Tara speaking inside.
This contract was somewhat subjective, not yet powerful enough to form any strict rules. As long as Tara believed she hadn’t conveyed the information to anyone other than Xia Er, she could reveal those secrets without fear of punishment.
Once Perci had left, Tara proceeded to recount everything she had seen in that forbidden zone in detail to Xia Er.
Listening to Tara's description, Xia Er nodded slightly.
If that was the case... it explained why the Order of the God of Order wanted to take Nia and why they sought Qiangyin's assistance. All this information connected in Xia Er's mind...
Originally, Xia Er thought Qiangyin was the one pulling all the strings, but it turned out to be a "coincidence"... because the ambition of the Pope of the Order was no less than that of Qiangyin.
Ansu City truly was a place teeming with talent...
It seemed the Order had made significant progress in their research on that brain, and it was highly likely that the Pope had already utilized this technology.
The brain Tara had seen might be the very object that recorded all the memories of that Pope... The erratic and contradictory behavior she exhibited during their first meeting could very well stem from this.
However, Xia Er was now almost certain that her plan to drive Qiangyin mad could completely bypass the Order of the God of Order, at least without exposing herself to the Pope.
Now, only one final step remained to eliminate Qiangyin...
Xia Er did not have a foolproof plan for the kill.
Driving Qiangyin to madness, making him lose his mind in reality, wouldn’t mean he would truly die. Once he was dead, the "uniqueness" in his mind would still help him rewind time, trapping him in a loop until his flesh and blood completely disintegrated.
During this time, a deranged Qiangyin could cause unimaginable destruction.
Was there a way to pinpoint where the "uniqueness" of the chain would help Qiangyin rewind?
After the simulation ended, wherever she was in reality, she would be there.
But the chain's rewind clearly operated in a fixed time loop, with a specific "starting" point.
It could also be understood as the refresh point for each of Qiangyin's "rewinds."
Could it be that day, October 25th, during that simulation?
No, that seemed unlikely...
That instance was constrained by the simulation, causing Qiangyin to only rewind six hours, merely aligning with the time when the simulation had just begun.
Surely, he wouldn’t suddenly resurrect on October 25th after she killed him?
Nor would the world fast-forward to October 25th after she killed him in reality...
Xia Er didn’t believe a flawed "uniqueness" had such power.
She needed to confirm the exact time of the loop rewind...
And the only way to obtain that precise time was to act in reality.
Xia Er could certainly have her simulated self attempt it, but she was unsure if her simulated self, being merely a subsystem, could retain the memory of the rewind.
As long as she could confirm the specific location and time of Qiangyin's rewind...
If it was in the future, Xia Er could set up a node in the Otherworld in advance. Once the rewind occurred, Qiangyin would be instantly pulled into the Otherworld node, where he would be slain by the platinum armor.
Rewind—pulled into the Otherworld node—slain—rewind...
Qiangyin would find himself trapped in an endless cycle of death for that one second, until he completely disintegrated.
This move would be utterly unresistable for Qiangyin.
However, before that, Xia Er needed to ensure that the platinum armor would fully cooperate with her; otherwise, if the armor didn’t "guard the corpse," Qiangyin could escape the node, breaking the cycle of death.
If it was in the past, Xia Er could use this method as well.
She could set a node in a past simulation, dragging Qiangyin into an endless loop... provided the simulation time matched.
Xia Er still had plenty of points; she could quickly refresh the simulation time through speed-running simulations to see the desired simulation time sooner.
"Ha..." Xia Er raised her hand to rub her forehead.
She had found a way to kill Qiangyin in reality.
This was a mad plan that only Xia Er could execute.
However, implementing it would indeed require a lot of mental effort from her, ensuring that every step of the plan was precise.
Did she need to kill Qiangyin in reality to trigger a rewind?
To make Qiangyin die instantly without leaving any information behind... triggering the rewind.
Find the platinum armor for cooperation...
Ask it about the "Time Binder"...
To meet the platinum armor, she could only do so through the Otherworld node. If she were to sacrifice "Crown Guardian" again, it might summon a completely different dark worm, just like before.
The summoning direction was still a bit too weak; the platinum armor hadn’t established a strong enough connection with her like Xiao Zuo and the second dark worm.
At least in this simulation, Xia Er wouldn’t attempt it again.
Although she didn’t feel much mental strain now, her mental state in reality could very well deteriorate due to the extensive contact with the Otherworld.
She needed to assess her physical and mental condition in reality before considering her next steps based on the actual situation.
For now, this simulation would be preserved as an extraordinary save... after all, there was still some time left.
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