Chapter 1045 - 20: Happy New Year

Chapter 1045: Chapter 20: Happy New Year

Watching the Boundary Demon quickly enter the state across the table.

Opposite Alice’s eyebrows trembled slightly, seemingly subconsciously wanting to say something, but then stopped.

"..."

"..."

Naturally, this wasn’t due to the need to maintain absolute silence in the library; otherwise, the conversation just now wouldn’t have happened.

The maiden mainly found Yakumo Zi’s state somewhat unimaginable, possessing a certain indescribable sense of dissonance, as if the things she saw conflicted with her subconscious understanding, causing her expression to appear slightly curious...

—You can’t blame her for being a little inexperienced, after all, she’d only seen this state on Patchouli before; that witch in her grand library had such grace.

—Once serious, the witch could effortlessly extract critical clues from an ocean of data...

Of course, it’s not that it’s particularly rare, just very efficient.

However, specific issues require specific analysis, and everything must be viewed in context; for instance, it depends on who is exhibiting it. It’s normal for Patchouli to exhibit this, but when it comes to the Demon Sage, it inevitably feels out of place.

At least that’s how Alice felt—

Her impression of Yakumo Zi was not of such a competent person.

It’s no wonder, as this one typically sleeps during the day and wanders at night, living a nocturnal lifestyle. Come winter, she won’t be seen for several months, supposedly in lengthy hibernation... But whether it’s winter or any season, it seems she’s completely reliant on the Shikigami Fox.

When there’s a problem, Yakumo Lan handles it; when there’s none, she causes trouble for Yakumo Lan to solve.

No matter how renowned the Demon Sage once was, since Alice got to know this Great Demon, this has been the demeanor, so having these subconscious thoughts is not surprising. Just like not long ago, when she realized Yakumo Lan was present but Yakumo Zi wasn’t, she was slightly worried about whether the latter would starve...

"No more data..."

The Boundary Demon, in a quantum wave speed-reading-like manner, turned over dozens of books stacked beside her in mere seconds, almost like a phantom, then shook her head with a slight regretful expression and pushed the book pile to the side.

On the table, she pressed the return-request button, and soon a Mr. Skillful model autonomous robot floated, with a heavy cylindrical mechanical body, waving three long mechanical arms like a suspended anti-gravity metal octopus, quickly arrived in the area.

This was one of the library’s administrators.

After a simple confirmation, the Skillful Robot collected all the books and returned them according to classification.

"All the network-recorded data that could be found has been searched and these precious paper storage copies can mostly be found in the library..." Yakumo Zi mused, "But this is not the only library; should I check out other cities?"

The Ring World is very large, exceedingly large.

It reaches an incredibly majestic extent.

You must know, this giant ring structure built around the Fixed Star Shell is perhaps the most magnificent miracle project in the universe.

The outer ring serves as the largest factory and orbit complex; the inner ring is smaller but has a surface area comparable to millions of Earth’s.

Consider normally, Earth’s surface area is rarely fully utilized. Yet from all possible parallel worlds, capturing countless atmospheres, oceans, and lands to gather in the final world line of the Ring World, it shows immense scale and majesty.

Even when moving countless residents from parallel worlds into it, it’s still not exhaustive.

Consequently, conventional national sovereignty or past ruling systems can no longer govern such vast regions.

Therefore, everything from the past is overturned; this world holds independently existing small villages, slow-paced ordinary towns, and vast urban agglomeration areas, yet the concept of nations no longer exists... People reset with "common sense" are accustomed to this.

They believe the world is originally like this—

Everything is part of the mundane world’s innate order.

"This, shouldn’t make much difference... Plus after checking the world map, how could it be possible to find every city one by one?"

Alice shook her head decisively, presenting a different opinion.

"That’s true..."

Yakumo Zi nodded and then, looking at her notes on the table, suddenly sighed with lack of interest. She propped her cheek with her hand, no longer speaking, seemingly pondering something, a vacant and dazed appearance.

"..."

"..."

The Blond Maiden raised her eyebrow, testingly asked: "Did you find any leads?"

"A bit, but it feels unreal, might even be wrong..."

The Demon Sage averted her gaze, glanced at her, and after a long silence, began speaking in a particularly strange tone: "After all, previously, I heard your father mention some omnipotence discussions, thinking perhaps that’s where the key lies..."

"Omnipotence? Wait, is it what I think?"

Alice frowned slightly. She vaguely understood the meaning of the term, but precisely because she could understand, it felt all the more absurd.

"Just what you think it means..."

"How is that possible?" The blond maiden immediately showed a clear expression of disbelief.

She did not doubt the power that her father possessed. The Supreme God of fantasy had, long ago, acquired the ability to rule over all Demons and Gods. This was an undeniable fact. However, this Divine Power should also have its limits and bounds, a boundary that ought to be identifiable.

"Indeed, even your father scoffed at that notion back then, clearly not believing in such a concept... That’s why I find it a little strange. It seems impossible, unless..."

Recollecting the past, the Boundary Demon spoke hesitantly, her tone reflecting a sense of uncertainty. Because she recalled some peculiar events, after all, she had known him for so many years, and naturally had quite a deep understanding of the situation.

Strictly speaking, the bizarre growth demonstrated by a certain someone was the most attention-grabbing aspect.

That bug-like ability to learn and master seemed entirely unrestricted. No matter what it was, even the inherent talents of other species could be replicated if given the chance—

This was her personal experience gained by teaching him to simulate "barrier" as a skill, and he successfully mastered it. It was rather startling to some extent. Especially at that time, she couldn’t help but wonder, like Shenqi, if this guy was part of her tribe.

If that bug-like characteristic could truly be limitless, collecting every element of all existence, mastering all Domains and authorities in hand, then... wouldn’t it be a reflection of omnipotence?

After all, because of its omnipresence and capability, it can highlight every "ability" among manifold "abilities."

No matter what kind of miracle, or what kind of incredibility.

"Unless what?"

Alice asked with furrowed brows, glancing at Yakumo Zi who was deep in thought. Her heart secretly whispered that this woman seemed to know more than imagined.

"Nothing..."

The golden-haired monster maiden shook her head, her gaze drifting to the world outside the window. The sunlight shone perfectly, though it was a simulated artificial application of sunlight, yet it derived from the energy of the Fixed Star itself, carefully adjusting as it poured down onto the earth without an ounce of waste.

"Let’s go, Xiao Ai. Let’s head home and take a look..."

What does it mean for us to head home now? And calling Xiao Ai, it’s obviously speaking of something completely unrelated!

Faced with such blatant diversion of the topic, Alice instantly felt a bit displeased. Hearing such words, she couldn’t help but state, "It’s my home, not your home..."

"What’s the difference?"

"Hmph, the difference is significant... Even Miss Lan is there, and you are not. Doesn’t that say something?" Probably due to a natural class opposition, Alice decisively mocked and attacked relentlessly, hoping that this woman would back down and abandon her fanciful ideas.

"Ah lah ah lah..."

The Demon Sage squinted her eyes and observed her for a while, then suddenly laughed, showing no sign of anger, "Xiao Ai, do you really think Lan has more chance than me? Think it through, that’s absolutely impossible, isn’t it?"

"Hmm..."

"Lan is just the connection between him and me. The more that is so, it explicitly shows that subconsciously, he doesn’t want to give up on me. Otherwise, Xiao Ai, you wouldn’t so easily encounter me." Yakumo Zi raised her fan, her crescent eyes full of smiles.

"Like now, continuing like this, Xiao Ai, sooner or later, you’ll call me mom..."

"You...!!"

Alice’s complexion instantly changed dramatically.

...

...

"Regaluk..."

Muttering to himself, Gu Mo slowly opened his eyes. He reached out to rub his forehead, slowly sat up.

It seemed that after lunch, he unknowingly fell asleep on the sofa and somehow had a peculiar dream. In the dream, it felt as if someone kept calling him... Tch, what is this strange name? He didn’t remember having such a foreign name.

Shaking his head, he didn’t take the random dream seriously, yawning as he looked around.

Darkness.

Couldn’t see his hand in front of his face.

What time was it now? Where did the others go?

In the dark void, a little dazed, he looked around instinctively, "Let there be light..."

...

(PS: Happy New Year everyone, though a bit late... But here comes the second wave... (oﾟvﾟ)ノ Does everyone have confidence? Wishing everyone a smooth new year, bound by nothing, as normal life is really too hard, it’s all just a mess...)