Chapter 1790 - 159: Brain in a Vat (Part 3)

"Alright."

He tucked the Demi-human Girls Completion Manual back against his chest, while the Cardinal of Destiny raised a finger, using the power of fate to shorten the external space and transport them both outside.

Within the Gap, the Scarlet Mist was pervasive; contrary to the scene in reality where one would look up at the Gap, they now looked downward and could vaguely see the mountains and settlements quickly skimming by through the mist.

The Sema Snow Mountain was above the Northern Countries, then came the Sardinia Female Country, followed by an ocean, and finally Schwali...

"Hehe..."

Watching slowly below, the Cardinal of Destiny clasped her hands behind her back and suddenly chuckled softly, drawing the pondering Fisher’s attention to her.

"What are you laughing at?"

"I suddenly recalled the time several thousand years ago when I first interacted with Asuka... She was like every Transferee’s teacher, not only responsible for guiding us in controlling the chaotic power constantly breeding within us but, more importantly, helping us [complete] the gaps existing within our hearts, which is the reason our manual has such a name."

"When did you meet?"

"A long, long time ago, back when Stars hadn’t invaded the Northern Realm, about seven thousand years ago."

"It’s hard to imagine what it feels like inside, living for so long."

"It doesn’t feel like anything because I often cut off my brain, discarding all but some essential memories. So, mentally, I remain perpetually young, which is my secret to longevity..."

"You seem to have solved your previous problems by cutting off your brain—more terrifying than putting it in a vat, wouldn’t you say?"

"Haha..." The Cardinal of Destiny laughed at Fisher’s earnest analysis, pointing to her own head, then said, "It’s not that scary; I’m not a holder of chaotic chaos. I simply restored parts of my brain; with time regression, accumulated chaos and madness disappear together, so... I’ve lived well this long."

"Did Asuka teach you this too?"

"No, I found it out myself. Regarding chaos, she was largely helpless; her teachings were more on the inner plane. She’d only use magic to seal memories for those she truly couldn’t aid, like Caleb Wuz, ensuring they remained stable in the stillness of memory for at least decades..."

The Cardinal of Destiny reminisced fondly as she lowered her gaze to the looming Scarlet Mist below, revealing the ocean within.

"Actually, when I crossed over, I was only nine years old..."

"Nine years old? How did you survive..."

"It’s quite miraculous, but actually, my mental age was seventeen because from a young age, I seemed to have a strong connection with chaotic power... I often saw future events, long series of them, sometimes spanning an age that blurred my grasp on whether I was young, and which reality was true."

The Cardinal of Destiny used an analogy to make her situation more concrete,

"You know what it’s like? Imagine suddenly, one day, you return to an afternoon as a cheerleader in high school, then immediately revert back to being nine years old, and your familiar friends become your elementary school classmates? You spend a year or a few months at nine, then suddenly revert to three, only to jump to seventeen after years of infancy... In this process, my cognitive ability began to collapse, and I couldn’t distinguish what was real and what was hallucination..."

"Brain in a vat, right?"

"Exactly. At seventeen, I suddenly knew things from when I was three, but when you carry those fuzzy memories back to three, those memories turn you into a character in a script, unclear about what will happen next but familiar with everything as if rehearsed countless times—everything seems prearranged..."

The Cardinal of Destiny shaped her hand into a gun form directed at her brain, transforming from an ancient woman of thousands of years to a seventeen-year-old girl experiencing this cognitive collapse,

"So I became disoriented and began questioning the reality of everything, leading to endless indulgence... In memories of seventeen, I drank, smoked, used my parents’ pocket money to buy marijuana cigarettes; in essence, I indulged in everything bad you can imagine... I even forgot about having several different life stages, becoming a... foul-mouthed mad girl. But all of it changed after meeting Asuka; she was like my partner in this journey, helping me search for truth and explore answers."

Fisher looked at her, noticing an involuntary smile gracing her lips, and asked,

"It seems you have found the truth now, haven’t you?"

"Yes, though it’s a method between Asuka and me, not the standard answer for the brain in a vat... Perhaps every individual’s answer varies as we are inherently born to defend the answers within."

"Indeed."

"I mean, Fisher..."

The smile on the Cardinal of Destiny’s face faded gradually, her expression turning extremely serious. She faced Fisher, looking intensely into his eyes, earnestly requesting,

"Meeting Asuka was a milestone in my life, the beginning of my rebirth, and I am deeply grateful to her. Hence, after she disappeared, I spared no effort inheriting her wish, wanting to find her... Although it seems now I am still unworthy of being called her successor, I hope to see her again... At the very least, to know her whereabouts instead of knowing nothing..."