Chapter 679
Salas hunched over, coughing violently as if she were about to cough up her lungs.
The fit took a toll on her strength, but it also brought a slight spark of energy back to her spirit.
“Lord Timebinder...”
She instinctively spoke, her vertical pupils scanning the surroundings like clock hands, only to realize where she was.
Still at the alleyway of the Ansu Cathedral District...
But unlike before, the henchman known as the priest was no longer by her side.
Is this it? The real world where the Timebinder resides?
She leaned against the wall and made her way toward the alley's exit.
...
Salas reached out to me?
It wasn’t until the silver flames in her mind flickered out that Charles finally opened his eyes.
To think that the person Remedais trained would turn out to be Salas!
Now that the Omniscient has leveled up, as long as someone speaks a name that points to Charles, he can directly sense their existence.
But he hadn’t expected it to happen so soon; he had only just begun constructing the second round of the Witch Society when he felt Salas’s call.
However, it wasn’t entirely out of his expectations that Remedais would choose Salas.
Salas was the system’s designated candidate for corruption, and her talent was undoubtedly highly compatible with the pocket watch... but Charles wasn’t quite sure what Salas’s current situation was.
At least from what he sensed earlier, Salas’s mental strength was like a candle flickering in the wind; he needed to focus intently to catch the fragments of her message.
Charles glanced at the completed experiment records and reports before standing up and addressing Tara beside him, “Let’s go out. Gather Eleanor and Percy.”
“Yes, Lord Charles.”
Tara slightly bowed, and in the next moment, her figure was replaced by a white shadow. After a brief pause, the white shadow transformed back into Tara.
“They’re already nearby, Lord Charles.”
“Let’s go.”
Charles stood up, feeling a wave of dizziness wash over him.
This was already her nth anchor point reincarnation; the research progress had hit a dead end, and her mental energy was nearly depleted. She had no need to reincarnate again.
Originally, she had planned to end the anchor point cycle this time, but Salas’s appearance interrupted Charles’s plans. Now, she had to try to find Salas.
Charles had just sent out a call for Salas to find her, but she wasn’t sure if Salas had received her message. To avoid leaving Salas empty-handed, she had to take the initiative to search for her.
Tara opened the door, and Charles stepped out of the room, heading straight downstairs. When she reached the palace entrance, she encountered a familiar figure.
It was Princess Vitalis.
At that moment, Princess Vitalis seemed to have just entered the palace. Upon seeing Charles, her gaze flickered with a hint of avoidance, and she stepped aside, lowering her head slightly.
Charles ignored her and walked straight out of the palace, boarding a carriage to leave. Only after Charles had departed did Princess Vitalis let out a slow breath.
In that brief encounter, she felt her back drenched in cold sweat...
She raised her eyes to the place where Charles had vanished, a deep fear reflected in her gaze.
At this moment, Vitalis completely regretted her earlier thoughts of helping Charles overthrow the stronghold.
Now, Charles was even more insane and authoritarian than the stronghold had been...
Almost all major extraordinary organizations within Ansu had been bound together into a collective of interests, conducting inhumane and horrific human experiments.
The experiments conducted by Lafayette back then were nothing compared to what Charles was doing now...
Her intelligence network had once informed her of an escaped test subject from the seaside of Bliss... a bizarre creature with a human face, and Vitalis wanted to forget the descriptions from the reports.
Aside from the terrifying laboratories, Charles had also established an organization called the “Witch Society,” filled with high-level extraordinary beings above the third tier, essentially forming Charles’s private army.
The Witch Society was continuously recruiting high-level extraordinary beings, and Charles’s power was expanding like never before... at least in this entire continent, there was no force left that could rival Charles.
No one knew what Charles intended to do, which was the root of everyone’s fear—a powerful force expanding madly without revealing any purpose was enough to fuel rampant rumors.
She had become the terrifying witch of legend, possessing persuasive words and charm, a being that all extraordinary individuals and organizations feared and avoided.
Charles was well aware of this.
She had learned about these matters from the letters left by her simulated self.
She didn’t care that her reputation in the simulation had turned her into a villain; everything her simulated self did was merely to make the Witch Society renowned, even if it was for infamy.
At that moment, Charles was still in the carriage, heading toward her home, which had become a contact point for the Witch Society. She needed to send out information there to enlist others in the search for Salas.
---
**Chapter 347: Charles’s Old Memories**
Sitting in her study at home, Charles took the order slip that Tara handed her and placed it in front of her.
Just as she picked up a pen, ready to sign her name, the moment the quill touched the ink...
Buzz.
A spiritual alert?
A faint buzzing echoed in her mind. Charles lifted her gaze, scanning the surroundings but found no source for the alarm.
When she looked down again, she noticed that the previously blank signature line on the order slip now bore her name, written in her own handwriting.
What’s going on?
Buzz.
In the next second, the paper in front of Charles completely vanished. She looked up to see Tara, holding the order slip, had already reached the door.
Perhaps noticing Charles’s gaze, Tara turned her head back and asked, “Lord Charles, do you need anything else...?”
Buzz—
The spiritual alert sounded again, and this time, Charles distinctly felt everything in her line of sight flickering with silver snowflakes... but they vanished in an instant.
And the Tara who had been standing at the door was gone.
What is this...?
Charles quickly opened the system panel to check the current time.
**[Coming Day]**
**[Year 742, Month 7, Day 3, 00:32]**
**[Countdown -19:20:21]**
Having already gone through two anchor point cycles, there was less than 20 hours left.
But now...
Buzz—
Silver snowflakes flickered again, and the time on the system panel changed right before Charles’s eyes.
**[Coming Day]**
**[Year 742, Month 7, Day 3, 00:33]**
**[Countdown -19:19:21]**
Time... jumped forward by a minute...
No, it was fast-forwarded by a minute.
Not just the time in the simulated world, but even the time she could remain in the system panel had jumped forward by a minute...
Time...
Charles slowly raised her head, gazing at the moonlight outside the window.
Salas has arrived.
She had come to this simulated timeline of the Coming Day... Charles’s guidance seemed to have taken effect.
Has she been using her abilities? The abilities through the pocket watch?
What is she doing?
Is she searching for me?
Others might not have noticed the time being fast-forwarded, but Charles, who possessed the “uniqueness” of the pocket watch, could receive the alert...
Then, if I use my abilities... could it also give her a hint?
If the owner of the pocket watch uses their abilities, to others with the same pathway, it should be as dazzling as fireworks in the night sky...
Fireworks...
Charles braced herself against the table and stood up, walking directly to the window.
She opened the window and raised her right hand toward the night sky.
With a flash of silver light, the “Deadly Blood Roland” appeared in her right hand. She adjusted the gun’s muzzle toward the night sky, her right eye’s pupil replaced by a silver dial, while the gears in her left eye turned slightly.
Click.
Silver cracks spread across the body of the “Deadly Blood Roland.” Charles aimed at the night sky and pulled the trigger with her right index finger.
Boom!
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