Chapter 2638: Chapter 2639: Fair Question and Answer
Previously, Vay had asked the Alchemy Golem, what counts as meeting the standard? The Alchemy Golemâs answer was: "Touch the Box of Cicia with your hand, and it will tell you."
After Vayâs attempt, the Box of Cicia seemed to indeed possess a certain intelligence.
Since he knew there was such an "existence," even if the Alchemy Golem let Angel pass directly, Angel wouldnât leave. No matter what, he wanted to try and communicate with the other party.
Just as Angelâs hand touched the Box of Cicia.
The red light from the boxâs mouth blazed brightly.
But strangely, unlike Vay, Angel wasnât pulled into an inky black space. Apart from being surrounded by the red light, nothing else changed. Even the Mind Ribbon constructed by the Black Earl remained uninterrupted.
Just as Angel was feeling puzzled, his left earlobe suddenly felt as if it had been scorched by fire, stinging and hot.
Was the Flame Mark left by Odeclass triggered? What was going on?
While Angel was still wondering, a crisp female voice sounded in his ear: "Huh? Such familiar fluctuations..."
"Who are you?" Angel, unsure of who was speaking, simply asked aloud.
"Someoneâs talking to you?" The Black Earl looked over in confusion.
Angel nodded to the Black Earl, then returned his gaze to the Box of Cicia: "Is it you speaking? Are you this box?"
"I cannot influence the outside world; if you want to know who I am, you must seal off what wards against my abilities on yourself..."
It was still that feminine voice, but her voice was evidently growing weaker, almost inaudible toward the end.
Angel wanted to speak to her again, but there was no response whatsoever, even the red light around him began to gradually fade.
The others, seeing this, didnât understand what was happening: Had Angel passed or not?
"What happened?" the Black Earl asked once more.
Angel pondered this and then said in his mind: "Someone just seemed to whisper in my ear, a female. I suspect itâs the same presence Vay encountered in the black space earlier."
"You werenât pulled into the black space, my lord?" Vay asked curiously.
Angel: "I have multiple defenses on me; it seems her abilities canât break through them. Earlier, she whispered that I should seal off my defensive powers..."
Angelâs words were eighty percent true and twenty percent false, and due to the sudden turn of events, even the Black Earl didnât notice the flaw in Angelâs words.
"She wants you to drop your defenses so she can pull you into the black space?" The Black Earl pondered a moment and said: "How do you plan to decide?"
Angel smiled, and in front of everyone, he removed all his defensive fields, even turning Earl Mi into a gleaming, ghostly-blue earring, which he placed on his left earlobe.
Through his actions, Angel expressed his choice.
He had originally intended to communicate with the other party, how could he give up this rare opportunity?
The Black Earl wanted to say something else, but Angel had already closed his eyes. As Angel closed his eyes, the surrounding red light also completely dimmed.
...
When Angel opened his eyes again, everything was pitch black around him.
This must be the black space Vay had experienced earlier, but... where was the female voice speaking just now?
While Angel was observing his surroundings, a pair of hands emitting a faint, ghostly light passed through the Dark Mist, silently caressing Angelâs body.
At first, Angel felt nothing until the hand reached his earlobe, and both he and the owner of the hand were singed at the same time.
Angel abruptly turned, finally seeing those slender hands glowing faintly in the darkness.
"Are you the Spirit attached to the Box of Cicia?" Angel didnât realize that parts he couldnât see had been thoroughly touched, assuming the other only brushed against his ear. Thus, he could still calmly face those hands in the darkness.
"Spirit, Iâm not some ghostly thing. Listen carefully, I am Cicia." The crisp female voice carried an inexplicable arrogance.
"You mean to say youâre called Cicia? Then this Box of Cicia is your manifestation, you are the Spirit?" Angel couldnât see the "Cicia" in the dark, hence he couldnât judge the other partyâs identity yet.
"Hmph, do you humans not understand the rules? You put in a Demon Gold Coin symbolizing absolute fairness, but failed to achieve the balance sought by the Crowned Joker."
Angel: "You mean..."
"Iâve already answered one of your questions, now itâs my turn to ask!" Ciciaâs tone was intentionally raised, her arrogance intensified; Angel could even imagine a woman with her chin up, eyeing him haughtily.
"I thought introductions were a matter of courtesy and didnât count as a question." Angel: "But since this is your domain, whatever you say goes."
Angel didnât mind the other partyâs questioning. On the contrary, what he didnât want was for the other party not to ask anything and just toss him out like with Vay.
Communication was Angelâs goal.
After all, barring any accidents, she should be, besides that Wise Sovereign, another intelligent being who had seen the Wood Spirit. Perhaps he could get some information about the Wood Spirit from her, or even about the Wise Sovereign.
"Tell me, what is sealed within your left earlobe?"
Given that the other party secretly touched his earlobe earlier, Angel knew they would surely question him about it. He just didnât expect this so-called Cicia to cut straight to the chase with no preamble.
"I merely asked who you are, yet you ask for my secrets. If you truly pursue the Crowns Jokerâs idea of absolute equality, the value of this question doesnât equate to my previous one."
If Cicia had proposed an equal exchange as practiced in the Wizardsâ Realm, it wouldnât matter exchanging one question for another. But Cicia mentioned the Crowned Jokerâs ideology first, who strives for "absolute fairness," where exchanging questions isnât fair, only exchanging questions of equal value is fair, according to the Crowned Jokerâs philosophy.
Thus, since the other proposed the Crowned Jokerâs ideology, it was only fair for Angel to respond with the same ideology.
As expected, after Angel said this, the other party was visibly stumped, pausing for a moment.
A few seconds later, Angel heard a mumbling whisper beside his ear: "Such a large man, yet so stingy."
"Iâm not even twenty years old." Angel revealed his age without a care.
If the Box of Cicia had existed from the beginning, sheâd have at least a millennia of "age," making Angelâs twenty years not quite "large" by comparison.
"Do you just enjoy stalling?" Ciciaâs voice seemed squeezed through clenched teeth, showing her great frustration.
"No. I wasnât stalling; I was conversing by your standards. If youâre strict, then Iâll be strict; if youâre magnanimous, then Iâll be magnanimous. But if you expect me to be magnanimous while youâre strict, then thereâs nothing to discuss."
Angel paused, then added: "Oh, and what Iâve just said counts as a round of Q&A too."
"So, weâre now even again. Itâs my turn to ask now."
Cicia was silent for quite a while this time.
Although Angel didnât know Ciciaâs thoughts, his heightened senses were still at work, with emotional waves constantly surging in the darkness, indicating that Ciciaâs mood was definitely unsettled.
After a long while, Cicia spoke again, "Alright, go ahead and ask."
This time, Cicia didnât have much to say, and those proud emotions had already begun to gradually retract.
"My question is still the same as before, I already know your name is Cicia, but in what form do you exist? Iâm very curious."
Angel paused for a moment, "By the way, Iâm young and itâs normal to be small-minded. I hope the previous unpleasantness doesnât continue."
Cicia snorted coldly, "A brat like a radish mound, in the past, if I saw someone like you, Iâd definitely give a swift kick!"
Angel smiled faintly and didnât respond.
After a round of cursing, Cicia returned to the main topic, "In what form do I exist? Havenât you seen it? My shell exists in the form of a box, and my consciousness is confined within this box. Iâm neither a spirit nor an undead; my soul has merged with the box and is completely imperceptible. So, when you ask in what form I exist, I donât know either; perhaps a conglomeration of memories? Or maybe, some unknown energy form."
Ciciaâs words answered thoroughly, yet were also very obscure.
Ordinary wizards may not fully understand in a short time. However, Angel was different; he had seen souls taken by the Demon God, yet the consciousness remained in Popota in the Wilderness of Dreams.
So, for such an existence without a soul but with thought and consciousness, Angel wouldnât be surprised.
Of course, having Angel explain the principles involved, he wouldnât be able to do it either...
Angel: "Your answer was very thorough; I roughly understand your situation. Now itâs your turn to ask questions."
Cicia sneered, "I donât believe you can understand my situation."
Following this, Ciciaâs question came from the misty darkness, "My question is still about your left ear. Iâm interested in your left ear, but I wonât ask in a specific manner anymore. You can tell as much as youâre willing to."
Ciciaâs words were actually quite crafty; between the lines, it seemed like she was offering a favor to Angel, but this unlimited form of questioning made it hard to guess Ciciaâs true intent.
Nevertheless, no matter what Cicia intended, she had clearly removed the veneer of "absolute equality in the concept of the crown clown." In some aspects, it also meant conceding to Angel.
"I donât know what youâre interested in, so Iâll tell you as much as youâre willing to accept."
Angel then began to speak at length.
Since Cicia had shown an attitude of concession, Angel didnât use rhetorical tactics or fancy speech. Otherwise, Angel would certainly start from the moment he was "born" to discuss the changes in his left ear.
Angel knew what Cicia wanted to know was definitely connected to the Flame Mark. Yet he didnât know to what extent Cicia wanted to delve.
If it was only about the superficial Flame Mark and the situation regarding Odeclass, Angel could talk about that.
But if she wished to probe deeper... Angel would need to think it over.
Thus, based on these conditions, what Angel said about the left ear was mostly superficial.
For instance, the earring on the ear was transformed from a certain shadow creature, temporarily sealing the mark inside.
Additionally, the mark on the earlobe is a symbol of friendship from a major figure in the Abyss.
Lastly, Angel provided a general description of the rumors about that major figure from the AbyssâOdeclass, and then stopped speaking.
"Iâve said as much as I can for the time being; I wonder if youâre satisfied?"
Angel seemingly casually asked the question, "Are you satisfied?" In reality, it was a way to probe Ciciaâs intentions.
If she was satisfied, it meant what Cicia wanted to know was likely within the things he said. If she wasnât, then undoubtedly Cicia was seeking the deepest secret.
Cicia: "You certainly had much to say about your left ear. Judging by the weight of your responses, it was sincere. Unfortunately, you didnât cover what I wanted to know."
That is to say, Cicia was not satisfied.
Angelâs eyebrows drooped a bit, and he already had some thoughts.
"Itâs my turn to ask now. To save time, how about I ask two questions directly?"
The slender hand in the darkness waved carelessly, "As you wish."
Angel could feel that Cicia was probably tired, maybe due to not getting what she wanted to know, her interest was waning.
Itâs quite normal, after all, these old creatures, over the passage of time, had long since worn away their old passions. For Angelâs left ear to ignite even a bit of Ciciaâs curiosity was already quite remarkable.
"The first question, does the so-called treasure refer to items with emotional attachments?"
Cicia: "Thatâs right, those items that the owner finds hard to part with often hold some unspeakable emotions. These emotions can add a bit more joy to my dull life. Just to note, your two gold coins hold great value to me; you can feel your attachment to them."
"So does this mean Iâve passed?"
Cicia: "This question is a freebie for you, indeed. Once you leave here, I will mark you, granting you the qualification to continue forward."
When Cicia said this, she noticed Angelâs eyes flickered. She was about to wrap up but added another sentence after noticing his expression.
"I know what youâre thinking: why is there a setup here to exchange a precious item for the qualification to proceed, right?"
Angel nodded.
Cicia: "This question isnât a secret, but itâs a complicated story. Starting from the beginning would be long and tedious, so Iâm not going to bother. You just need to know that initially, the precious items required here were designated by the Warden; nowadays, itâs up to me to decide."
Although Cicia didnât elaborate, she had essentially made the main point clear.
To progress from here, you must have a pass or a precious item. Over ten thousand years ago, the precious item designated by the Warden was different from todayâs.
Thus, perhaps the so-called precious item from ten thousand years ago was a fixed, specific treasure, and "it" might have also served as an alternative "pass"?
Angel only mused a little and didnât truly inquire further. He was indeed curious about what the treasure from ten thousand years ago referred to, but that wasnât the most crucial thing at present.
"Hurry and ask; afterward, I need to rest. I absolutely despise children, especially crafty ones. I have no intention to keep droning on with you," Cicia said while speaking, Angel even heard a yawn, showing that Ciciaâs enthusiasm had indeed waned.
Given this, Angel decided to set aside his original question regarding the Wood Spirit temporarily and opted to ask another question.
"My second question is about you, Cicia."
Cicia sneered, "Youâre that interested in me? Too bad, Iâm not interested in hairless ones."
Angel didnât mind Ciciaâs mockery and slowly began to speak:
"Is Cicia a Baiyuanian?"
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