Chapter 47: Before Qiye
After writing the report for a while, I suddenly remembered that I hadn’t eaten dinner.
Eating is something I cannot forget, especially meat. Forgetting it triggers that berserk mode, and I absolutely don’t want that! Crawling on all fours like a monkey is one thing, but drooling and rolling my eyes? I don’t want to become like that!
Moreover, at that time, I would have treated all humans as moving chunks of meat. I also don’t want to become a source of infection for the Zombie Virus.
In short, I need to find something to eat. Otherwise, there will be over ten hours of emptiness from now until tomorrow morning.
I capped the pen and put it down, then stood up from my seat. After stretching, I turned to Phil and asked.
“Phil, I’m going to find something to eat. Do you want to come with me?”
Phil, who was reading, turned his head to look at me and replied.
“Hmm? Are you going to eat? In that case, the hotel offers room service. You can just call and order from here.”
“Ah, is that so.”
That’s right. After all, it’s a five-star hotel; they must have 24-hour room service.
But, how should I put it? It’d also be good to stretch my legs, so I want to go out and find something to eat.
Besides, coming all the way to an island in the Southern Kingdom and only eating hotel food would be too boring, wouldn’t it?
I also want to try some local cuisine. And it’s not that late yet; dinner time hasn’t completely passed, so most places should still be open.
“Well, anyway, I want to go out and find something to eat. Do you want to come?”
“Sure, I’ll accompany you then.”
Phil closed his book, put on his shoes, and we went out together.
No one has come to find me today. Li Nai is probably writing her report too. What are the others doing?
After Miss Shirley took Lianbing and Lanhua away, I regained my freedom and naturally started thinking about the situation of others. Hmm, is this considered being fickle?
Walking shoulder to shoulder, I felt the atmosphere was a bit stifling, so I struck up a conversation with the quiet Phil.
“By the way, Phil, I remember you joined the organization to hunt down a fugitive from the Heavenly Realm, right? Was that really a demon or something?”
“Yes, that’s my mission. I have to hunt down a new species of demon.”
“Isn’t that mission a bit too dangerous? A new species of demon, and you’re still just an intern angel, right?”
Why would such a dangerous mission be assigned to an intern angel?
Hearing me mention “intern,” Phil suddenly became shy and said coyly, lowering his head.
“Ugh, yes, I’m still an immature intern. That’s why I don’t even have wings. But! As long as I complete the internship mission of capturing the ‘Laplace’s Demon,’ I can become a formal angel!”
“Laplace’s Demon?”
I think I’ve heard of it. It’s a hypothesis proposed by that mathematician, isn’t it?
“Yes, it’s also called ‘Laplace’s Devil,’ an e^m^onde de Laplace, a new type of demon belonging to the ‘paradox demons.’ Because this demon has the ability to precognize the future, it’s very difficult to catch. But I won’t give up! I will definitely become a capable angel!”
Precognitive Ability? Isn’t that ability too overpowered! How can anyone catch it! Even if you set up a foolproof trap, it would be useless against someone who already has the script!
But, paradox demons? I think I’ve heard of that somewhere—hmm, where was it?
The image of a speeding maid flashed in my mind.
Ah! Right, when that troublemaker maid Lin Bai repaired my finger, the ability she used was called the Paradox of Theseus’ Ship.
Could the two be related? I should ask.
“Phil, what are paradox demons?”
“Hmm, to explain this, we first need to know the origin of demons. Juncheng, do you know where demons are born from?”
Uh, weren’t they always there?
“Hehehe, everything has a source. And demons are ‘created’ by you humans.”
Phil raised his index finger and said something shocking in a relaxed tone, which startled me greatly.
“Eh?! What does that mean?! SE Novel”
“Not just demons, angels are the same. We are all born from humans.”
“When people hold onto hope, yearn for beautiful existences, and have the thought of creating a paradise, heaven and angels who guide humans and save the world are born. But when people feel despair, anticipate a destructive ending, and want to destroy everything, hell and demons who entice people to fall, devils who destroy the world, are created.”
Phil added with an “Ah” sound.
“Ah, though now it should be called ‘Old Hell.’ The former hell has split, and the independent part is called ‘Demon Realm,’ establishing a new order. It’s not as terrifying as described in the Bible, but I heard the economy is not good lately, and companies are laying off people heavily, turning it into an overtime hell. The remaining part has merged with the ‘Underworld’ here to form a complete system of the Netherworld.”
“So, you’re saying…”
“Yes, and the paradox demons I mentioned are the same. Before humans illuminated the light of technology, what enticed people to fall were desires and evil thoughts, hence the birth of the Seven Deadly Sin Kings. But modern humans have begun to seek truth. However, they still go astray in this process. That is error, fallacy, and paradox. The new demons born from those erroneous thoughts are paradox demons, which can also be called ‘demons that deviate from the truth’.”
Demons born from error? Like bugs.
“This new type of demon has the ability to distort reality, and it’s very terrifying. So, Juncheng, if you encounter one, please flee immediately and notify the organization. The organization’s list of Anomaly pursuits includes several paradox demons, and each of them is an ‘S-class anomaly or above,’ so you must not be careless.”
The ability to distort reality, meaning Lin Bai’s ability really is like that—replacing a part of the body with something else, defying the laws of physics. It can no longer be called regeneration.
So, if Lin Bai is a paradox demon… “Miss Shirley…”
But her title doesn’t seem problematic. No, Lin Bai’s title also doesn’t indicate she’s a demon. Does that mean paradox demons have the ability to conceal their true identities?
SE Light Novel
This means Miss Shirley could also be a demon, and she is perfectly likely to be the ‘Laplace’s Demon’ that Phil is hunting!
Up until now, I’ve felt more than once that Miss Shirley knows everything. If she really is the Laplace’s Demon with precognitive abilities, then everything makes sense.
But there’s still one thing I don’t understand.
“Such a powerful being was actually born from human thoughts.”
Human faith created heaven and hell, as well as various angels and demons.
It feels a bit strange. Humans actually created beings stronger than themselves?
“Perhaps an individual’s mental thoughts are not powerful, but if the collective consciousness of all humanity is gathered, it becomes a ‘great spirit,’ encompassing all things—that is the divine. However, each human is also an independent individual, so it’s difficult to achieve unity. But the collective unconscious of all beings, the Alaya-vijnana, is interconnected and possesses immense Destiny Power capable of changing reality.”
“—Wait! Destiny Power! Phil, do you know what Destiny Power is!”
I didn’t expect to hear this keyword here and quickly seized the opportunity to ask.
Overly excited, I even forcefully grabbed Phil’s shoulder.
Phil frowned, showing a pained expression, and said softly.
“Ah, I’m sorry.”
“Hmm, it’s okay. Destiny Power? It’s a Spiritual Power that all beings with consciousness possess to change the objective world. Or, it can be directly called ‘the power to change fate.’ But because fate already has a fixed trajectory, the world doesn’t change easily because of one person’s thoughts. Everything has cause and effect, so individual Destiny Power is so weak it’s almost negligible. However, sometimes things like ‘speak of the devil and he appears’ happen. Such coincidences might be the effect of Destiny Power.”
“The power to change fate, huh.”
SE Light Novel
And it’s a power that can be changed solely by thoughts and spirit—the ability to ‘make wishes come true’?
In other words, my sibling and I have too strong Destiny Power? Strong enough to change the world?
This is too absurd.
But something like that has already happened, and Mom suffered such a calamity because of it.
Did the Yata no Kagami coming to us of its own accord also have something to do with my Destiny Power influencing it?
“Juncheng~ What are you guys talking about? It sounds interesting.”
“Hm? Xuan’er? Are you also out looking for food?”
With that speech pattern, I knew who it was immediately. Turning around, it was indeed Xuan’er.
For some reason, she was still wearing a school swimsuit, with a semi-transparent sun jacket over it, and flip-flops on her feet.
“No, I wanted to feel the sea breeze. Xue’er wouldn’t accompany me, so I came out alone.”
“I see. Phil and I were just about to go find something to eat. Xuan’er, why don’t you join us?”
“Eating~ Okay~ I know the local specialty here~”
“That would be great.”
With another companion joining us on our food hunt, I was naturally very welcoming.
Xuan’er walked over and took my hand, swinging it as she walked forward with large strides.
I felt Phil wasn’t keeping up and was about to turn to call him when I saw his surprised and stunned expression.
Phil covered his mouth with one hand and pointed at Xuan’er with the other. His slender legs were turned inward, and he said in a slightly trembling tone.
“Miss Xiangyue? Your spi—”
Soul? What’s wrong with Xuan’er’s soul?
I followed his gaze to Xuan’er. At this moment, Xuan’er’s expression also changed. The smile disappeared from the corners of her lips, replaced by a calm expression that seemed like resignation.
Then, Phil finished his sentence.
“It’s almost being devoured.”
The fact that Xuan’er had stepped into a desperate situation.
