Chapter 214 - 179: Fate Vortex Physique

Chapter 214: Chapter 179: Fate Vortex Physique

Balder didn’t put up much of a fight and was subdued on the spot.

Then came the interrogation.

Zhang Ji wasn’t needed for this part. The process of gathering information could be left to Cyril and the others.

Meanwhile, Zhang Ji went to find Gu Jie.

While Gu Jie was still a little bewildered, Zhang Ji spoke to the fairy hidden in his collar. "Come on out. Let’s have a talk."

Besides their affinity for the elements and their most unique trait of Extraordinary luck, the fairy race actually had many other boons. Their talent for understanding all languages was one of their more inconspicuous ones.

Without using Magic, they could understand the general meaning of other living beings’ speech and communicate with them telepathically. They could even converse with plants.

This uniquely blessed race had received far, far too much love.

Confused, Gu Jie suddenly felt a twitch in his collar. A small, winged, blonde girl flew out from under it.

"When?"

Gu Jie had no idea when the little thing had flown in.

Logically, he should have been able to feel it if even an insect had landed on him.

"Don’t come any closer..."

Anty clung to Gu Jie’s hair, hiding behind it as she watched Zhang Ji warily.

She was terrified.

’She had never seen such a being before.’

Gu Jie froze. He wanted to reach up and grab Anty from the top of his head but was afraid of hurting her.

For some reason, he felt a natural affection for the little creature.

"I mean you no harm. I just want to ask you for some information," Zhang Ji said.

Anty hid in Gu Jie’s hair, unwilling to come out.

"Then ask me like this!" Anty said.

Zhang Ji didn’t know why she was so afraid of him.

"Gu Jie, come with me," Zhang Ji said.

"Yes, Master," Gu Jie nodded.

A short while later, Gu Jie followed Zhang Ji into a conference room.

Giles and Tran were also there.

The interrogation had been handed over to Cyril and Ferguson.

"So this is the little thing?" Giles asked, curiously sizing up Anty in Gu Jie’s hair. "Looks like something out of a fairy tale."

Anty wasn’t nearly as afraid of Giles. She met his gaze without opening her mouth, but her voice appeared in his mind. "Hello, big gorilla."

"She talks." Giles chuckled. "Where are you from?"

"I just came from the Harvis Mountain Range in the Saint Silver Church Country," Anty replied.

"Never heard of it."

Giles thought for a moment but couldn’t recall any such place.

"She’s a creature from the Otherworld. It’s normal that you haven’t heard of it," Zhang Ji interrupted the exchange between Giles and Anty. He said to her, "Go on, tell us. What’s your name, and how did you get here?"

Anty was still a little scared of Zhang Ji. Hiding among Gu Jie’s hair, she carefully peeked out with half her head and said, "My name is Anty... I was traveling when I saw a sweet Magic Potion that a Mage was brewing. I wanted to ask him for a little, but he started chasing me as soon as he saw me. He wanted to use me in his potions, so I ran. Then I saw a spatial rift and came through... What is this place? A small country in the Arcane Federation? And who are you people?"

"Anty... miss," Zhang Ji began, choosing his words carefully, "I believe you’ve come to the wrong plane."

"The wrong... plane?" Anty froze for a second, then said in pleasant surprise, "You mean, I’m not in Lan’er anymore? I’ve heard that explorers have left behind travel information about other planes before... I’ve always wanted to see other worlds, but I never had the chance..."

Giles was a bit stunned by the little creature’s reaction.

’Finding herself in a strange land, surrounded by a group of giants... shouldn’t she be scared?’

’Why does she look so thrilled, like she’s hit the jackpot?’

Zhang Ji, however, could understand.

Fairies were just that kind of simple creature—they always went with the flow, always looked on the bright side of things. They were pure optimists who rarely had a worry in the world.

Combined with their ridiculously good fortune, they could live a truly carefree life.

"Let’s put a stop to the daydreaming for now, Miss Anty. What I want to know is where you came from and specific information about your world," Zhang Ji said, cutting her off.

"From up there. A spatial rift opened up, and it doesn’t look like it’ll close anytime soon. You want to know about Lan’er? It’s a wonderful place! I’ve been to so many places. There are giants as big as mountains and pointy-eared elves. Do you know about Giant Demons? They don’t like to bathe..."

Once Anty got started, the words just flowed out of her endlessly.

She had a way of warming up to people quickly, and Zhang Ji didn’t stop her, letting her jump from topic to topic to give Giles and Tran a better understanding of Lan’er.

Zhang Ji himself was already quite familiar with Lan’er World.

Demon Elements, faith, Demon Energy machinery, steampunk, and the unavoidable topic of "Demon Potion Science."

The Demon Potion Science over there would completely subvert the understanding of those on Origin Star.

Its Magic wasn’t the conventional magic seen in most works of fiction, either.

The Demon Elements had no attributes; they were pure aether particles, the very cornerstone of the world.

But they underwent new transformations upon combining with all things.

"Oh, right! Near the Saint Silver Church Country and the Machine Heart Empire, I even saw a Fire Dragon! It was huge! It would eat two giant elephants for a single meal..."

Anty chattered on, having jumped onto the tabletop. Just then, she suddenly caught sight of Zhang Ji, startling her. With a flap of her wings, she flew back into Gu Jie’s hair.

"Miss Anty, you seem very afraid of me. Why is that?" Zhang Ji asked, not understanding.

He was sure he hadn’t shown any malice; his attitude toward the fairy was one of indifference.

He had no intention of using her for alchemy.

After all, the difficulty of using such a creature in alchemy was no less than that of fighting a duel to the death with a super S-rank master.

Besides, fairies were basically harmless, so he naturally held no ill will toward her.

Yet despite his non-threatening demeanor, the fairy still feared him. That was very strange.

"You’re... different..." Anty said, a bit awkwardly.

"Heh, what did I tell you? Walking around with that grim face all day isn’t good for socializing. A Supreme One should be a bit more approachable," Giles commented from the side.

Zhang Ji ignored Giles’s banter and looked seriously at Anty. "How am I different?"

"In the web of fate, there is no trace of you. You’re like a vortex... good luck, bad luck... you destroy it all," Anty said.

In Anty’s eyes, she could see the veins of fate clearly.

Everyone’s future had countless threads of fate, connecting them to numerous possibilities.

Some were good fortune, some were misfortune.

Take Gu Jie, for example. His fortune was vast. A dense web of fate was woven around him, its countless threads and strands leading to a future full of infinite possibilities.

But Zhang Ji was different.

Every thread of fate that reached for him was devoured.

Be it good luck or bad, he absorbed it all.

This was a person who existed outside of fate. He didn’t even have a future.

He would also affect the fates of others.

His every action tore at the interwoven web of fate, reducing countless possibilities to nothingness.

Fate was lashing back, constantly trying to correct this error. He would face one calamity after another until this mistake was completely rectified.

Anty couldn’t help but be afraid of such a person.

To put it bluntly, just getting close to him could get you caught up in the calamitous backlash of fate.

"So what you’re saying is, I’m an existence that isn’t controlled by fate?" Zhang Ji asked.

"No, fate doesn’t control anyone. Everyone has infinite possibilities. It’s just that some people have more ’weight,’ so they can create bigger ripples in the web of fate. But you’re special. If we describe the possibilities of fate as an interwoven net, you are devouring all the possibilities that extend toward you... which means... you’re almost impossible to predict," Anty said.

’Is it because I’m a transmigrator? A bug that isn’t part of the overall system?’

"Isn’t that a good thing?" Zhang Ji asked. "Doesn’t being unpredictable mean more possibilities? That I can control my own destiny?"

Anty shook her head repeatedly. "No, no, no, that’s not it. The changes in every living being, every speck of dust, are all connected to countless other things. It’s like tossing a pebble into a lake and making ripples—that’s normal. But you don’t make ripples. You disrupt the entire system. No matter what you do, even if you throw a boulder into the lake, there’s not the slightest wave. All the disturbances are absorbed by you... This has turned you into a vortex. And the more good and bad luck you devour, the bigger it gets, until you finally burst..."

The fairy was speaking in riddles, and Zhang Ji couldn’t quite grasp the analogy she was making.

But he could chalk it up to a difference in perspective.

Zhang Ji had thought she was going to say he was unaffected by causality.

But after thinking about it, it seemed he wasn’t unaffected by causality—he devoured all of it.

Perhaps ’black hole’ was a more fitting description.

"Can you summarize that in one simple sentence?" Giles asked, scratching his head.

"More good things will happen to him, and more bad things will happen to him. And they are unavoidable," Anty said cautiously.

"That’s a completely useless thing to say. Isn’t that true for everyone?" Giles said, throwing his hands up.

Anty grew a little anxious. ’Why don’t these people understand how dangerous this guy is?’

"So you mean I have a constitution that attracts both disaster and fortune?" Zhang Ji said.

"Mhm, mhm, mhm," Anty nodded. "Yes, that’s it. And the stronger you get, the more exaggerated the effect becomes. Who knows, one day you might attract a disaster, and while you might be fine, everything related to you will be destroyed."

"I’ve seen protagonists like that in TV shows. Their parents die, then their friends, then their wife, then their disciples... everyone dies one by one. But the protagonist himself, despite facing countless disasters, never dies. He just has one lucky encounter after another, getting stronger and stronger. And the stronger he gets, the more disasters he attracts..." Giles said with a sudden realization.

Dark lines were already forming on Zhang Ji’s forehead. He had half a mind to smack Giles.

Tran, being more perceptive, cut Giles off. "Instead of all this baseless mystical talk, the spatial rift in the sky should be our main concern right now. If something else comes through from the other side—or even an army—it won’t be a small problem."

Immediately, Zhang Ji and Tran began discussing how to handle the spatial rift.

Anty was a little dissatisfied with their attitude of not taking her words seriously, but there was nothing she could do.

Cowering in Gu Jie’s hair, she swore to stay far away from Zhang Ji, not wanting to be tainted by his fate-vortex constitution.

’Although his constitution attracted fortune as well as disaster, who could guarantee they’d encounter the fortune? What if they just happened to be caught in the disaster?’