Chapter 2776: Chapter 2777: The Answer
Seeing Angel not responding for a long time, the silver-haired girl thought for a moment and said, "Perhaps my inquiry was somewhat presumptuous. If you donât mind, I could give you a free remark."
Before Angel could respond, Dox beside him muttered, "You just said you couldnât see the bond, and there would be no remark. How is it that now youâre offering a free remark?"
The silver-haired girl initially didnât want to acknowledge Doxâs comment, but his words did pique the curiosity of the others, who all looked toward the silver-haired girl. She paused for a moment and then said to Angel, "Though I canât establish a bond with you, there are things reflected in my mind from you..."
"Eh? Eh!"
The sound again came from Dox, his tone changing from a high point to sly, his eyes shifting from shock to something else.
Even without saying a word, Doxâs tone seemed full of implications.
The silver-haired girl glanced coldly at Dox and held back her irritation, explaining in a low voice, "Reflection of the Heart only corresponds to intelligent beings."
In other words, what the silver-haired girl referred to was not Angel, but the intelligent beings with him.
For example, Dangross, or the Wood Spirit.
Angel also heard the silver-haired girlâs words, but he had little interest in what she called a remark. In Angelâs view, how could her so-called Reflection of the Heart compare to Dororoâs prophecy?
You know, the several times Angel set out to see Dororo, Dororo would arrive at the destination first and wait, offering crucial prophetic guidance before Angel even spoke.
Just like this time, when Angel went to see Dororo, he hadnât even mentioned his situation, and Dororo said directly: "The Sage is not foolish."
Back then, Angel had not yet encountered the Sage, illustrating the extraordinary nature of Dororoâs prophetic abilities.
With such backing, why care about a remark?
Nevertheless, although Angel thought this way, his expression showed a hint of interest.
After all, the relationship between Dororo and Illusion Demon Island was not known to outsiders. While Dororoâs name was spreading outside, more widely known was his performance at the Stargazing Day, enhanced by the Mysterious Object, not entirely credited to Dororo. So outsiders still held a bit of skepticism regarding Dororoâs own prophetic abilities.
Until Dororo spreads his wings fully, Angel did not want to reveal the true extent of his prophetic abilities.
"I cannot answer this question, my apologies."
In the gaze of disappointment from the silver-haired girl, Angel continued: "Itâs not that Iâm unwilling to answer; I genuinely donât know. Before this, concepts like bond, Temporal Body, Reflection of the Heart... Iâve never heard of them."
"If I havenât heard of them, how can I guard against the so-called bond?"
Angel shrugged: "So, donât say youâre curious; Iâm curious about the reason too."
Angel spoke candidly, and the others nodded in agreement. They had always been communicating via Mind Ribbon, whether Angel truly didnât know or was pretending was clear.
Moreover, Dox had repeatedly cried out in fairness, questioning why the Rabbit Girl directly handed the mask to Angel.
Throughout the process, Angelâs actions and mind were unguarded. As for what others might think, everything was plain to see.
Therefore, they agreed with Angelâs statement.
As for curiosity? Of course they were curious, but since Angel claimed he didnât know either, were they really going to make Angel display every object and ability he had to prove which was the "truth"?
Angel wasnât someone to be casually manipulated by others; even faced with the Wise Sovereign, he showed no fear, certainly having hidden cards. Riling a tigerâs whiskersâwhy would they do that?
The silver-haired girl gazed quietly at Angel, and after a long while, she softly spoke: "Indeed, I was oversimplifying things. Too long floating in that Distant Sea, with too many chaotic memories, Iâve somewhat forgotten that everything in reality must adhere to logic. Questioning without logic wonât yield answers."
The silver-haired girlâs words were vague, but the meaning was clear: I know you definitely have an answer in your heart, but I canât prove these matters because the evidence I hold isnât enough, and logic doesnât allow me to deduce this conclusion. So, you win.
Angel understood her words, but he felt indifferent to her "self-mockery-like accusation."
Instead, he was somewhat curious about her judgment.
"Why do you believe I must have the answer?"
The silver-haired girl: "I canât answer that, as I canât formulate a logical reason that would convince you."
This is truly an evasive answer... Angel sighed nonchalantly, but he casually replied: "Alright, I donât need you to provide a logical reason. Purely from a result standpoint, you believe I must have the answer, correct?"
"Yes." Nearly without hesitation.
Angel chuckled: "Prior to this, I was very sure I had no answer. Whether I lied or not, you can step outside the mirror and use Truth-Saying to check."
"However, after your firm response, I started entertaining some ideas."
If the silver-haired girlâs judgment is "absolutely correct" as she claimed, then Angel could be certain that among his previous predictions, one of them must be the correct answer.
Among Patterns, Primeval Flame, Blood Night Shelter, Wilderness of Dreams, and Eye of the Sky, surely one is the correct answer.
But which one specifically, Angel couldnât discern.
"Indeed, I do have several standby answers, and if your judgment is correct, then I guess the answer you want should be amongst my standby answers." Angel didnât hide and directly shared his thoughts.
The silver-haired girlâs eyes suddenly lit up and focused on Angel.
Angel shrugged: "However, those standby answers of mine are pretty much... secrets, you know."
Angel squinted slightly when he mentioned "secret": "So, what makes you think you have the right to demand my secrets?"
Although Angelâs words were devoid of emotional fluctuation, the content was filled with tension.
Yet the silver-haired girl wasnât angered by Angelâs provocation; instead, she pondered over the question carefully for a while before tentatively inquiring, somewhat hesitantly: "What about the remark I mentioned earlier?"
"Do you think the intelligent beings with me would gain any insight from your remark?"
Angel paused, then gestured to the others around him: "And do you think they would appreciate your remark?"
"Forcing a bond and karma through the so-called bond. By leaving a mask, making us unwillingly enter ties and Bridges of Fate. What you call a remark is simply attributed to arrangements made for you by the Wise Sovereign, not something we actively seek, nor do we currently need." Angel: "To say you use your so-called remark as âreward,â have you considered how we view your remark?"
"These remarks are merely rewards you presume in your own world. To us, itâs an undeserved burden placed upon us."
"Moreover, your Temporal Body presents whatâs called a test... It seems like a test, but in fact, itâs trying to use this to create a karma link between us and your Temporal Body, isnât it? This wasnât demanded by us; in fact, we were coaxed into entering your bond. Why should you think a token of advice would make us grateful to tears?"
Angelâs previous words had a hint of gunpowder, and now he directly ignites the fuse and opens fire.
However, what he said really made everyone else freeze for a moment. They hadnât considered this angle before, just puzzled why sometimes itâs a test, sometimes itâs a Temporal Body, and sometimes itâs a Reflection of the Heart. Now Angel has directly clarified the logic inside.
In fact, everything sheâs done was to create karma, to create bonds.
The mask left for them is also a product of karma. They got the "fruit" of the broken mask fragment, so the "cause" of planting this fruit naturally connected.
Moreover, Angel highly suspects that if it werenât for the karma links established by the three Temporal Bodies, the silver-haired girl might not have been able to appear before them.
Because the silver-haired girl said from the start: My true body is still hidden in the Distant Sea, so only my three Temporal Bodies can replace me to contact you.
At that time, Angel even asked, if the true body is still in the Distant Sea, then what is appearing before us?
Her answer was: Mirror image. In other words, itâs a shadow.
In this situation, she could actually meet them with a shadow from the start, but she didnât do this. Instead, she let the Temporal Body communicate with them first, which meansâbefore the Temporal Body contacted them, before establishing the karmic bond, she couldnât even manage to have a mirror image appear before them.
It can be said that everything was arranged by her.
They were kept in the dark, led by her threads, doing a series of events... Creating bonds, accepting the mask, turning into karma, were all caused by her.
And after completing these, she not only felt she made no mistake, she also thought giving "advice" was a kind of repayment.
This is truly disregarding them.
Even though they were looking forward to the so-called surprise from the Wise Sovereign, it doesnât mean they can accept such a thoroughly arranged surprise, without any right to know. Is just one sentence of advice enough? What about the karmic bond established?
If the karmic bond could let the silver-haired girl see the so-called Reflection of the Heart, canât she perform some other actions through this bond?
The Prophet Wizard often does prophecies, even curses, to others through pheromones and the so-called karma.
The three major branches of the prophecy system even created words for this: strumming the Strings of the World, guiding the River of Fate, and stirring the Wheel of Time.
These situations, if using the silver-haired girlâs words, arenât they just "bonds" and "Bridge of Fate"?
The Prophet Wizard can curse others through this, doesnât the silver-haired girlâs bond have the ability to attack?
Creating a bond unknowingly, doesnât this count as deception? Is one sentence of advice enough to settle this?
Precisely because Angel learned the truth of the so-called bond and Bridge of Fate from her, and cleared up these matters, thatâs why he felt the silver-haired girl is simply... brainless and ignorant.
If the other side didnât make a request, Angel might bury these words in his heart, no problem.
But after knowing Angelâs answer in his heart was "secret," the silver-haired girl still wanted to continue exploring, even thought that advice could trade for Angelâs secret, thatâs the main reason Angel would ignite the powder keg.
Of course, Angelâs heart wasnât as angry as it appeared externally. He did this also to observe the silver-haired girl, while testing her character, ability, background, and limits.
The little calculations in Angelâs mind might only be seen through by the Black Earl. But Dox and the two apprentices were completely immersed in the "victim" background Angel created.
The more they thought in Angelâs direction, the more empathetic they felt.
Angry gazes locked onto the silver-haired girl.
The silver-haired girl probably didnât expect Angel to suddenly fire away. Moreover, the words he said really stirred everyoneâs emotions.
The silver-haired girl is not someone self-centered; she is also trying to understand Angelâs anger.
In her view, everything was to repay the previous kindness of the Wise Sovereign, without any other intentions. However, this is just from her own standpoint; if from the other sideâs, it indeed might generate all sorts of negative emotions Angel mentioned.
Because of this difference in understanding, leading to incidents of betrayal and isolation, sheâs seen countless times in the Distant Sea filled with various fragmented memories.
Through the manifestation of these memories, she seemed to understand a bit why the other party would feel so angry.
Hesitating for a moment, she slowly stretched out her hand.
Slender white fingers pointed at everyone through the prism.
With her movement, Dox instantly pulled Vay and Kaier behind him, meanwhile, Earl Mi emerged from the shadows, and Speedy also stood beside Earl Mi, blocking the forefront.
In their alertness, the silver-haired girl lightly tapped the prism.
Mirror-like a lake surface, rippling.
The moment the ripples appeared, figures emerged from the prism.
Not the silver-haired girl, but her three Temporal Bodies: Bard, Astrologer, and Rabbit Girl.
After appearing, Bard and Astrologer respectively opened their palms.
Halos rippled out from their palms, containing no aggressive energy but revealing various scenes of the Black Earl, Dox, and the others answering questions earlier.
These scenes turned into a stream of light, finally merging into the old stone mask held by the Hand of Magic.
Once the halos disappeared, Rabbit Girl stepped forward, took out a mask from her carrot bag, and placed it in front of everyone.
This mask is exactly the one the silver-haired girl previously held, depicting a womanâs face, the old stone mask.
After completing this, the three Temporal Bodies simultaneously disappeared.
Meanwhile, the silver-haired girlâs voice echoed in their ears: "Although the bonds and Bridge of Fate have little effect on me as merely a mirror image, eventually sinking back into the abyss of mirrors... But since you care about its existence, I shall return them to you."
"The bond is reinstated, the Bridge of Fate has been severed."
"And the double-faced mask of the Shepherd is my apology for being impolite."
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