Chapter 817: The Nature of Chaos

For a moment, the room was so dead silent that a dropped needle could be heard.

Yet even so, Fu Qian sensed the Lucid Dream churning.

Given that Nepheli was essentially nothing more than an inhuman projection, it stood to reason that this turbulence came from Kisaragi Chie.

To be affected to this extent... it was clear that to her, the image of the King of Ye Island was completely irreconcilable with death, triggering an intense wave of self-doubt.

"Why... how could he die?"

This time, without any prompting from Nepheli, Kisaragi Chie forced the words out herself.

"Isn't it obvious?"

Fu Qian looked surprised, his tone perfectly natural.

"I killed him."

"You—"

Amid Kisaragi Chie's near-hysterical tone, the instability of the dream instantly spiked.

Fu Qian didn't forcefully maintain it. Instead, he snapped his fingers and ended the Lucid Dream.

Reality returned, but Kisaragi Chie didn't slump over the table. She remained sitting stiffly upright, staring at Fu Qian as she spoke in an indescribable tone.

"So, you knew Nepheli was here?"

So she really does have to rely on the infected person's cognition to exist?

Faced with Kisaragi Chie's eerie manner of speaking, Fu Qian sighed inwardly, forming further theories about Nepheli's hiding techniques.

"I did."

He nodded honestly the next moment.

There was a reason she could easily infect even a demigod without being detected.

In essence, Nepheli's ability didn't forcefully implant her own will into a target. Otherwise, now that all her cards were on the table, wouldn't it be simpler to just possess her directly to converse?

Her current state was like a character in a book—existing only when Kisaragi Chie read and imagined her.

Through a special technique, she could then make the target forget what they had read, thereby achieving perfect concealment.

This method clearly had numerous restrictions and lacked direct offensive capability. The advantage, however, was that it was far more covert.

Of course, this also led to another conclusion: Nepheli's germaphobia was truly astonishing. She would rather go through all this trouble than infect him directly to speak.

"In fact, by my count, this makes our third meeting."

Amid his musings, Fu Qian dropped another shocking remark.

Facing an opponent like Nepheli, after saying what he just had, Fu Qian never expected her to continue her self-deception, especially since she already harbored particular suspicions about him.

The reason he pierced the veil was because he knew the previous mode of conversation couldn't possibly wring out any more valuable information.

Now that he had confirmed she had taken the bait, he just had to make sure he didn't scare her off.

Since they were both scholars, it was better to be direct.

"That's a bit too impolite toward a lady. Nepheli is visibly displeased."

Kisaragi Chie, however, merely shook her head with a bitter smile.

"Understandable. Anyone would go crazy if they thought they were invisible while strolling down the street bare-assed for three laps, only to have someone finally point it out."

Fu Qian's words remained as sharp as ever, plunging the knife in without hesitation.

He perfectly understood Nepheli's current mood.

The sheer contrast of a higher entity instantly turning into a clown would keep even an ordinary person awake at night, let alone a proud and arrogant Divine Emissary.

"Don't be angry; Mister Dancy is actually quite a polite person."

The next moment, Kisaragi Chie simply stood up, seemingly yielding her seat to someone who wasn't there.

"So Yasui Tokiyuki really met with some misfortune? And it has to do with the Red Moon in the sky?"

After briefly adopting a listening posture, she quickly looked up and asked.

See? Even if he told people he killed Yasui Tokiyuki, no one would believe it, not even Nepheli.

Fu Qian shot Su Gao an I-told-you-so look, then scoffed coldly.

"The Origin Council isn't the only one with an ancient entity standing behind it."

His tone was entirely in control, adopting the perfect posture of a mastermind behind the scenes.

"So what exactly did you mean by the nature of chaos earlier? Is it the conclusion regarding the Miracle Potion?"

Having finished posturing, Fu Qian addressed the empty seat across from him with utter seriousness, acting as if someone were actually sitting there.

"Isn't the purpose of the Miracle Potion to discover a way for people to obtain transcendent power?"

"But Nepheli seems to be frightened by Mister Dancy."

Kisaragi Chie looked shocked. After a brief hesitation, she spoke.

"Nepheli says you are a brilliant yet insane person. Your actions make it impossible to understand your motives."

"Aren't you the same? Helping others with knowledge in order to seek more knowledge—in the eyes of many, that's completely backwards."

"Everyone's path of advancement is different. What suits Yasui Tokiyuki might not necessarily suit me."

Kisaragi Chie spoke almost instantly this time, then explained.

"I don't understand these words. Nepheli told me to repeat them to you exactly as she said them."

"The chaotic nature of the world isn't just reflected in the Miracle Potion. It is better understood as the turbid intertwining of soul and flesh. During the process of splicing various limbs, you should have noticed this long ago."

"Furthermore, it's obvious that although various Psychic Type transcendents are exceptionally powerful, have you realized that pure spirit entities practically don't exist in this world?"

"As for the Miracle Potion, its essence truly isn't to find a meaningful formula, but to search for missing laws."

"For a long time now, we've grown increasingly aware that something that should exist is missing, like a missing piece on a map... This makes every path to becoming a God twisted and unstable."

"As for why I was able to help Yasui Tokiyuki, it's because my own abilities are fundamentally tied to knowledge."

Kisaragi Chie's words came to an abrupt halt.

Fu Qian understood this meant it was his turn in their back-and-forth exchange.

"Yasui Tokiyuki isn't dead, but he might as well be. The incident is related to the Red Moon, but she currently has no interest in you."

He replied the next moment in highly concise terms.

"But you'd better put your toys away."

Toys...

"Do you mean Ariel?"

Silence hung in the air for a brief moment before Kisaragi Chie asked.

"Or his kind."

Fu Qian's expression remained flat.

"A little piece of advice. You don't have to listen."

"Nepheli says she thought you and Ariel were of the same kind."

Hm? The light of fireflies dares to compete in brilliance with the sun and moon.

Fu Qian snorted and looked up at the ceiling at a forty-five-degree angle, too lazy to even dignify that with a response.

"Nepheli silently left the divination hut. Ye Island returned to peace, and Kisaragi Chie forgot this story."

The next moment, as if turning the final page of a book, Kisaragi Chie took a deep breath, a profound sense of loss washing over her expression.

Fu Qian knew that the Tier 2 Divine Envoy, Nepheli, was no longer here.

"So, what are the results of your divination?"

Gesturing for the slightly bewildered Kisaragi Chie to sit down, Fu Qian casually drew a card, though his mind was occupied with something else entirely.

In truth, that entire exchange just now felt seemingly familiar.

He seemed to know now why Raven Feather and Wehle had been practically inseparable back in Dunis.