Chapter 656: 134. Coercion
At this moment, the truth behind the strange mechanism behind him and Captain Alagina, who was quietly observing him, was unknown to Fisher. He simply looked seriously at the flustered Emhart and Alicia, who had her head lowered beside him.
It was clear that Alicia actually had no idea what happened last night in her dreams; she seemed completely unaware, but this was not the first time she had seen a reaction like Emhart’s.
When she was still by Heilson’s side, the expressions of her maids and the chaos by her bed after waking up would let her know that she had not been calm the previous night, and their expressions resembled Emhart’s at this moment in a way.
She thought she had become accustomed to it, but at that moment, she still couldn’t help but recall the pain of hurting her grandfather, causing her to lower her head, feeling a little sad and guilty.
However, Fisher simply watched her petite figure and then stepped back to clear the way into the chambers, saying,
“Come in first, let’s stay calm.”
The first sentence was directed at Alicia, while the second was for Emhart.
As soon as he finished speaking, he belatedly realized that Alicia couldn’t see him yet, so he had Emhart take her inside first.
“Alright, alright, let’s all stay calm. Huh, what is this? A mechanism? Why is there such a huge mechanism here, what’s it for?”
As soon as they entered, Emhart’s attention was drawn to the mechanism floating in mid-air. He inched closer and asked after surveying it for a while.
Fisher glanced at Emhart; this object was very likely something Elizabeth was observing. If Emhart were to say something dangerous, he could suffer from being torn apart by the mechanical eye. Not to mention, if he talked too much about other ladies, Fisher might also be implicated.
“This could be Elizabeth’s mechanism; she is working in the front yard and might be using this thing to watch me.”
“Really? It doesn’t look like it at all.”
Emhart squinted and examined the seemingly dull mechanism for a long time, feeling internally that this mechanism did not seem to be Elizabeth’s. Instead, he thought the blue moonstone light flowing on it appeared somewhat green.
The more he looked, the more he felt that this thing was completely different from the mechanism that had just been sent to them from outside. He turned to Fisher and asked,
“Is it possible that it’s simply broken? I’ve been wandering around the Golden Palace for the past two nights, and I found that these mechanisms are all controlled by devices in a unified area. Once manipulated too much, they easily become uncontrollable and fail. There are quite a few backup and malfunctioning mechanisms in the pile of clutter outside; they are nowhere near what they used to be.”
“Yes, that’s indeed the case.”
Fisher remembered that mechanisms seemed to have a “network,” not just the models created by Mikhail and Michael that could instantly contact the Holy Realm and the ground. Even the subsequent mechanism overseer from the Creation Society could control it remotely, but the one devised by Nali couldn’t do so; he didn’t know why.
Nali must have obtained the technology from the fallen Holy Realm. Logically, it should inherit the most glorious technology of the angels, so how could it fall behind the prototypes made when it was first created in terms of “networking”?
Fisher didn’t know the reasons behind it, but hidden behind the mechanism, Alagina did. She learned from “David” at the spirit realm sanctuary that the network function between David and the mechanisms had been shut down for some unknown reason long ago, which prevented it from linking to any mechanism instantly like before.
Now, most of the mechanisms created could only be controlled through short-range direct manipulation; they couldn’t transmit commands to control thousands of mechanisms from a thousand miles away as they used to.
However, through Alagina’s research, this “shut down” function could actually be turned back on.
The Nali people hadn’t fully understood how mechanisms worked; many parts of the mechanisms were unknown to them. They only knew how to use them and replicated the machines obtained from the Storm Sea, so the parts belonging to the network were intact, just waiting to be reconnected.
This was also the method Alagina envisioned to defeat the Nali mechanism army; she wanted to take direct control of them, turning the enemy’s power into her own.
Unfortunately, the process of unlocking the network connection was quite difficult. It was evident that significant effort had been put into shutting it down by those extinct angels, and it was unclear how they managed to do so.
In any case, Alagina had spent a long time deciphering one of the Golden Palace’s mechanisms, just to use it to find Fisher.
But this Elizabeth’s mechanism wasn’t what Fisher was primarily concerned about. What he really worried about was the issue of Alicia in front of him.
He turned to Emhart and asked,
“What exactly happened last night? Was it serious?”
“Was it serious? You don’t know how horrifying it is to watch her turn from a human girl into a hideous monster, and then see her gradually shrink back into being a girl again!?”
“.”
Fisher imagined it for a moment, and indeed, it seemed quite terrifying, but the Alicia in front of him still appeared so normal, looking nothing like someone who could undergo such a transformation.
“Did she dream of anything last night?”
“Fisher is asking you if you dreamed of anything last night?”
Emhart acted as a repeater, repeating this to Alicia, who couldn’t see Fisher.
“Dream? I—”
She pressed her lips together, straining to recall everything she saw last night, but the more she thought, the paler her face became.
After that, she shook her head and said a little uncomfortably,
“I must have dreamed of something, but now it’s very vague… I don’t remember much. It’s like I only remember someone speaking in my ear, saying something like… time is running out, I must find another apostle waiting to become a base, hurry and descend, and that being seems to feel… Big brother, you have already interacted with me, that’s why it kept urging me to become that… base.”
“Allies? I understand.”
The chaotic being linked to Alicia was one of the foreign deities invading this world, so the ally it mentioned probably also referred to another foreign deity.
According to the information Renee provided to Fisher, the four levels of chaos, including life, were quite similar, and they were also acquainted with Ramastia, so the ally mentioned here could be one of the other three types of chaos?
In other words, aside from the life chaos that chose Alicia to become a base, there might exist other deities selecting their own “apostles” to become bases?
“Um, big brother.”
Just as Fisher was pondering, Alicia, with her head lowered, still couldn’t help but pinch her skirt and murmured for several seconds before continuing,
“Otherwise, you can just… eat me. I’m really scared, scared of becoming that kind of monster in my dreams, and… rather than that, I’d prefer to die like this, as a person, as my grandfather’s granddaughter.”
Looking at Alicia in front of him, Fisher couldn’t help but recall the notes left by Heilson, which recorded his experiences entering the spirit realm when he was young.
At the end of those notes, which detailed many of his legendary stories, Heilson had indeed left a lot of words for Fisher, his only disciple.
One part was about this granddaughter, Alicia.
How could someone as intelligent as Heilson not notice Vaili’s hostility towards her? This hostility was entirely born out of concern for his safety. Thus, Heilson had already foreseen that after his death, Alicia would fall into a hopeless situation.
Heilson said she might not be like an innocent child, begging you for death, but I hope you can refuse her, take care of her, and give her hope to live.
Heilson said that when he pulled her out from the flesh monster named “Anna,” he saw her pure and beautiful soul, saw her unparalleled magical talent, which was why he kept her by his side.
But in these five years, Heilson hadn’t fulfilled the initial purpose of adopting this child; he hadn’t taught her any magic but had only raised her as an ordinary girl.
To be honest, as his granddaughter got married and had a new family in Shivali, while his only disciple was wanted across the world and old friends busied themselves aiding the newly appointed empress, this legendary magician, who had become lonely in his later years, barely realized that many things were no longer important at this time.
He had reached human limits, achieving the utmost in virtue, status, and the skills he took pride in, yet he still couldn’t escape the fickleness of fate, unable to leave anything behind in his later years.
Therefore, he had thrown aside his originally valued purpose and fully immersed himself in the process of accompanying the growth of a young life.
Heilson’s love for Alicia and Alicia’s reverence for Heilson seemed to be deeply felt by Fisher at that moment.
He glanced in Alicia’s direction, and it seemed, in a mysterious way, Alicia sensed that a transparent shadow suddenly appeared in that direction; she knew big brother was in that direction.
It was as if she could see big brother a little more clearly.
Although, just a bit.
Fisher took a deep breath, and just as he was about to say something, Alicia’s words suddenly surged into his mind, and at that moment, inspiration returned to him,
“…rather than that, I’d prefer to die like this, as a person, as my grandfather’s granddaughter.”
As a person.
Human.
Wait a minute!
Fisher suddenly realized an issue.
First of all, both he and Erwind had read the Life Completion Manual, and both had been stuck before the door named “Treasure,” which was also the “Third Mountain.”
Before exploring what this so-called treasure really was, Fisher seemed to have suddenly discovered a problem, which was: whether it was he or Erwind, the essence of using the Life Completion Manual’s ability was actually to change one’s own body into a form that could be “easily changed.”
This meant that, regardless of whether it was Erwind or Fisher, after using the powers of the Life Completion Manual, they could no longer be considered “human” in the traditional sense.
Erwind was a monster disguised as a human, walking with a bird-beaked mask; and Fisher, although he had always believed he was human, this world ultimately was not idealistic; he was actually no different in essence from Erwind, merely differing in the depth of consciousness.
However, Alicia was not like that.
Remembering the first time he met Alicia, Fisher was not under any hidden blessing. He used the observational power of Mythical Rank to look at Alicia, concluding that she was a person close to perfection both in appearance and soul.
This meant that, no matter how those life chaos influenced changes on her, her essence remained unchanged—she was still a human.
As for whether Valentina was the same, Fisher couldn’t confirm because at that time he was under hidden blessings and couldn’t determine if she was a “true phoenix” after reverting to a phoenix or if she was like him and Erwind—”a monster maintaining the phoenix’s exterior.”
But now, Fisher seemed to have discovered a key property of the “treasure.”
The so-called “treasure” can completely maintain its original property under the influence of the power of life chaos, namely, the authority of the Chaotic Being.
Understanding this is extremely important because if the purpose of the Life Completion Manual is to nurture the powers of the Chaotic Being to harm this world, it implies that the “treasure” is a necessary condition for its power’s descent, similarly for the base.
From one perspective, Fisher could utilize this condition to read the entire Life Completion Manual, thereby sealing the powers of chaos; while on the other hand, if Fisher could alter this property in Alicia, she could lose the qualification to become the base of the Chaotic Being and would be safe, no longer needing to adopt the method of killing her that Renee mentioned.
Fisher inhaled excitedly, and then, amidst Alicia’s surprised gaze, she felt the transparent shadow in front of her wrap around her.
“Alicia, I found a solution.”
“Huh? Big brother, what did you say? I can’t hear you clearly.”
Although they were close, because Alicia could not yet fully see Fisher through the hidden blessing, her attempt to listen to Fisher felt like listening to someone speaking from shore while submerged three or four meters deep in water; she could only grasp a vague idea.
This was not important; although it was currently just a hypothesis, Fisher seemed to have grasped a thread that stretched from long ago to now.
Recalling back to when Erwind gazed at Anna, who had transformed into a monster, expressing disappointment.
She said that experiment had failed because Anna lost control and completely became a monster.
So conversely speaking, what should be the result of a successful treasure experiment?
What Erwind truly desired was a creation that could withstand the influence of the Chaotic Being’s power (flesh implant surgery) yet remain unchanged in essence; that was the “treasure.”
This undoubtedly once again corroborated Fisher’s conjecture.
Alright, let’s once again thank the long-deceased Erwind; thanks to her brutal research, the remnants can still illuminate the present.
“It’s alright; I think I generally know how to resolve this, but it’s not feasible yet.”
He had not yet gathered the power of hidden blessings left behind by the Subhuman Girl Enthusiast, so he couldn’t control the blessing to transform it into a form that allows him to freely wield extraordinary powers. He needed to use extraordinary powers to explore the deeper principles of the treasure and change his and Alicia’s constitution.
Speaking of this, he couldn’t help but sigh and said to Emhart,
“By the way, remember to prepare when we return today; we might go on a trip soon.”
“A trip? You can go? I don’t believe Elizabeth will let you out. You’re her canary now; every move of yours needs her approval.”
Fisher smiled and said to Emhart,
“This time, she will take us out together, under the pretense of a honeymoon.”
“Oh wow, a honeymoon. Haha, guess which unlucky guy ended up marrying you and hasn’t even gone on a honeymoon yet? That’s right, it’s your mom!”
“.”
Unfortunately, just as Emhart tried to make a joke, half of what he wanted to say was stopped by Fisher, who pressed down on him to silence him.
The reason was simple; at this moment, the mechanism behind them, which was apparently monitoring them for Elizabeth, was still watching both of them, and revealing more information about Valentina carried great risks. Thus, Fisher had a strong survival instinct to get Emhart to shut up.
Of course, the feelings Fisher had about his teacher and the bond with his granddaughter, his insights about the so-called “treasure,” and his banter with Emhart were all being recorded in real time by the mechanism floating in mid-air that watched them.
But behind that mechanism, after all, was not the terrifying Nali Empress, but a lovesick and pitiful woman from the Kingdom of Sardinia.
At this moment, Alagina had originally taken out paper and pen after seeing Fisher meet with others, wanting to record any potentially useful information that could help her “rescue Fisher from peril.” However, after listening to Fisher’s dialogue and thoughts for half a day, the contents he articulated left her completely baffled.
It felt like she and Fisher were originally a pair of rural farmers from the Kingdom of Sardinia, and then one day, Fisher, as the husband, said he wanted to go to the city to work as a servant for a wealthy family, and upon returning, the way he dressed and spoke had become something that a true rural woman like her couldn’t understand.
Moreover, the husband, now serving the wealthy, would also show a bit of shyness and unnatural flush on his face when talking about that wealthy family.
Maybe that’s how it felt.
Thus, after listening for quite some time and understanding nothing, Alagina could only slowly write on the paper:
“Elizabeth imprisoned Fisher, forcing him not to leave the Golden Palace, and also forcing him to have a honeymoon with her.”
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(End of this chapter)
