bookbashuk Page 106
Page 106
"The existence of this child affects more than just the operation of a world. What we are facing now is a matter of the world's survival, which cannot tolerate the slightest mistake. The things involved here are not something that you or the inheritors of the Fifth Law can do at will."
Youzhu pursed her lips and remained silent. All along, she seemed not to care much about what was happening to Yue Zhengling, but in reality, she had already mobilized all her resources to investigate.
The result was not ideal, because there were really not many clues. The only clue that was clear was the hint given by Nero Chaos.
Using the political influence of the Kuonji family, Yuzhu investigated Yue Zhengling's residence and school connections, and found out that Yue Zhengling was a nobody no matter where he was. People's impression of him was that he was taciturn, had no presence, and some didn't even know he was a person.
As Yu-joo gradually investigated his past, several things struck her as odd.
Firstly, Lok Ching-ling's guardian was his grandfather, but after his grandfather passed away, the ten-year-old boy was not sent to welfare facilities without a guardian, and even the inheritance procedures were all handled by an unknown person.
However, this unknown person never appeared, and left no trace. Youzhu saw the will left by Yue Zhengling's grandfather in those documents, which appointed a private law firm in Tokyo. But when she investigated the firm, she found that after handling the case of Yue Zhengling, the firm canceled its business license, and all the lawyers there were just there for show and never actually went to work there.
This is the first strange place.
Next, the second strange thing is that, apart from the neighbors, no family members appeared at Yue Zhengling's grandfather's funeral, but someone from the Regional Division, one of the nine divisions of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department, came to the door and took care of everything afterward.
It's strange that a regular Chinese restaurant would have people from the Regional Affairs Section of the Regional Department come to help out.
Why would the government specifically send someone to visit an immigrant family, and specifically a department directly under the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, rather than a regional department here?
When Yuzhu discovered this place, the Kuonji family received a warning from the highest-ranking nobles in Japan, and she herself was also tested by Huang Lujia, one of the representatives of the nobility, at school.
华族是日本于明治维新至二战结束之间存在的贵族阶层，其出现是始于1869年6月17日，而正式确立“华族制度”的《华族令》则是于1884年7月7日制定。
Although the Huang Lu family and the Kuonji family were of similar social standing, and the matter at school could be ignored, the warning from the highest-ranking nobles made the remaining elders of the Kuonji family nervous for a while. In the end, Bu Xi personally went to Yu Zhu's mansion and questioned her, the unwelcome heir of the Kuonji family.
After all, Japan's political and economic structure was controlled by the aristocracy that had survived from the Warring States period. Although when it comes to the origins of aristocratic history, China is far superior to both Britain and Japan.
However, rebellions throughout Chinese history have always been characterized by a tendency to eradicate the entire population, with high-ranking officials and nobles of the previous dynasty almost always being slaughtered. France fared even worse; with several major revolutions, the nobility was wiped out in just over a century, a fate far more tragic than that of the Chinese nobility.
Great Britain and Japan are both island nations, yet their circumstances are quite different, and the reasons for preserving their aristocracy are also different.
Since the Middle Ages, Great Britain has always been the one bullying others, and it has never been the other way around for others to invade the British Isles. In addition, the stability of the national monarchy has allowed countless nobles to survive.
Japan is quite strange. It is warlike and prone to internal strife. This situation reached its peak during the Sengoku period. However, in the end, no matter which family it was, such as Oda, Toyotomi, or Tokugawa, there was always bloodline that survived. It seemed to be an unspoken rule not to exterminate the nobles.
The six major Japanese conglomerates—Miyoshi, Miwa, and Mitsubishi—are controlled by daimyo nobles who have been associated with the Warring States period.
The warning to the Kuonji family came directly from Kyocera Corporation, a subsidiary of the Sanwa Group located in the Kansai region.
From this perspective, Youzhu is certain that Yue Zhengling's family is not simple and may be hiding some secret.
After that incident, Yuzhu never used the connections of the Kuonji family to investigate the matter of Yue Zhengling again. Instead, she entrusted her friend in London to investigate through economic and political influence as well as through means in the underworld. As a result, the progress became unusually slow.
As for the ancient Eastern country where Le Zhengling came from, not even a single piece of information could be found.
The last and biggest question is whether Yue Zhengling, like himself, is capable of performing magic related to the First Law.
The manuscripts left behind by Le Zhengling introduced many people, but there was not a single piece of information about himself. The letter, which was more like a suicide note, seemed to be a complaint about the world.
The problem is that, as far as she knows, the power of the First Law has little to do with the workings of the world; that is the content of the Second and Fifth Laws. Everything recorded in that manuscript is so terrifying that it has already crossed the realm of magic.
Because the contents are more like revealing everything about the world through words, the answers a magician wants can be found to some extent in that manuscript, and the only difference between it and the "root" that magicians pursue is whether it is detailed and specific.
That is why, when facing Tsbia Eltnam Atlasia, the strongest alchemist in history known as the "embodiment of calculation," Yuju had the confidence to contend with him. This confidence was not based on strength, but on wisdom.
After Tsbia finished speaking, Ayumi's long silence was enough for him to calculate countless possible reactions from the other party, and Tsbia was also full of confidence in his near-predictive calculations. However, after Ayumi spoke, all his calculations went wrong, and even his ability to make the next calculation failed.
"When you say the world continues to exist, do you mean the destruction of Gaia caused by the arrival of the Steel Earth? Or do you mean the death of Alaya caused by the extinction of humanity?"
Tsbia's closed eyes gradually widened. His usually rational gaze turned into needle-like eyes due to excessive surprise. His fragmented thinking could no longer be described as chaotic. The seven thought processes that were constantly calculating all stopped, and a brief blank appeared in his mind.
All these previously unreasonable judgments have accumulated to the point that they can no longer be categorized as errors or interference.
At a time when he was completely unprepared, the fairy tale witch, who should never have known the final outcome, spoke to him the truth, which was more accurate than his calculations.
Tsbia's face became unusually ferocious due to excessive excitement, and his appearance was very similar to that day when he transformed into Tatali, completely depraved, reckless, and in a berserk state where he abandoned reason.
"Ha...ha ...
"Is that so? Is that so?! Is this the unexpected joy, completely beyond our calculations?! Finally! Finally, someone else has come to know the greatest despair that we Atlas calculated?!"
Overjoyed, Tsbia trembled and shouted in a voice that could no longer be simply described as excitement.
"Tell me, witch! How did you reach that incredibly distant, incredibly desperate, incredibly pitiful end?!"
Tsbia's appearance has changed—he has developed serrated, sharp teeth, his pupils have disappeared, leaving only blood-red eyes, and his voice is hoarse.
These facts exposed to Yuzhu undoubtedly indicate that this Dead Apostle has stepped onto the edge of going berserk, and if there is any problem with her answer, a fierce battle awaits her.
A blue robin flew onto her shoulder, and Youzhu raised her head high, revealing an extremely indifferent expression, and said, "I saw it very simply."
Upon hearing this answer that wasn't an answer, Tsbia's mind instantly calmed down. He habitually engaged in ultra-fast thinking, listing a series of possibilities in an instant. Then, he tentatively asked, "Is it related to the First Law?"
Although Yu-chu didn't know what Tsbia was thinking, after hearing his question, she subconsciously glanced at Le Zhengling and then nodded.
Tsbia could tell that Yuzhu wasn't lying to him; the other person's expression, heartbeat, and movements all indicated that the answer to that question was yes.
Because only this answer is closest to the truth of the matter, and the reason why she glanced at Yue Zhengling on the bed was probably because the two of them were both involved in the first law. This fateful encounter led to the fairy tale witch gaining the qualification to know the ending.
After all, in other timelines, the significance of Kuonji Aratama's existence has not been properly utilized, a fact that can be guaranteed by the ability to observe other parallel worlds and by the ability of the Jewel Elder to handle thorny issues.
However, Tsbia was unaware that the truth was vastly different from what he had guessed, calculated, and recorded.
The misunderstanding arose from Youzhu's first action—or rather, a year and a half ago, or even from the moment Yue Zhengling was born.
A wrong question will inevitably have a wrong answer.
Whether it's language, writing, or actions, once a certain meaning is expressed through a person's actions, the recipient will interpret the meaning based on their own subjective consciousness. The deviation already exists the moment it leaves the speaker's thoughts.
Whether the meaning expressed is biased enough to overturn the meaning of the speaker depends on the understanding of the recipient and the complexity of the ideas the speaker wants to express.
Complete understanding is impossible. Even in direct communication between souls, which avoids all informational errors, subtle differences still exist in the cognition of the speaker and the receiver.
Not to mention, intelligent people always think more, and those who think more tend to complicate matters. Tsbia, who was skilled in calculation and used to using massive computational foundations to determine things, clearly misjudged the situation this time.
“Fairytale Witch, you are now qualified to be just like me.” Having sorted out her chaotic thoughts and regained her composure, Tsbia looked at Yuzhu with calm eyes.
"That's why I sincerely hope to get your help. Please tell me everything that just happened."
Just now, because he was too emotional, the part of his mind that was supposed to be isolated and read inadvertently synchronized with the remains that were traveling on the Star Chart, and he received a message that he cared about a lot.
That is, the Black Knight Stuart contacted Tatali, asking it to complete the blood collection as soon as possible, as the Black Princess suddenly needed it urgently.
This news gave Tsbia a clue, so he wanted to confirm it.
Yu-joo thought that people who liked to talk to themselves were always inexplicable. She guessed that the other person might have misunderstood something, but she had no intention of explaining.
"A heart. The black cat took a heart. That's all I can tell you." After saying this, Yuzhu shut her mouth, making it clear that she wouldn't say anything more.
Upon hearing the word "heart," Tsbia couldn't help but gasp. The smell of blood, the heart, and the Black Knight's urging—these things combined made him tense.
"Where is that black cat now?" Tsbia pressed, but Yuzhu didn't seem inclined to answer.
Seeing this, Tsbia gave her a deep look and said, "The owner of that heart is not someone to be trifled with. I advise you here that if you really don't know anything, just forget about that heart."
After saying this, Tsbia did not linger and hurriedly left the ward.
Now is not the time to dwell on trivial matters, because if I'm not mistaken, Black Princess's heart is somehow here. In other words, Black Princess, far away in Italy, may be seriously injured, and the Holy Church might take advantage of her if things go wrong.
The most pressing matters for Tsbia now are finding that heart and refining enough blood essence for Black Princess; all other issues must be postponed.
Watching Tsbia leave, Yuzhu pursed her lips. Although she appeared very calm, she was actually sweating profusely.
Chapter 241 Stance (Part 2)
After confirming that Tsbia had indeed left, Yuzhu also recalled the Rose Demon Dog.
This conversation, though seemingly brief, took a tremendous toll on her. She couldn't help but lie down on the hospital bed and decide to take a nap.
The robin wanted to chat with its master, since it had finally gotten a chance to appear and wanted its master to remember it. But before it could speak, Yuzu, who knew her familiar's terrible personality, suddenly reached out, grabbed the robin, and squeezed it slightly. Then, the blue robin turned into a wisp of smoke and was deactivated.
Ten minutes later, Youzhu fell into a light sleep, her slightly undulating back representing the rhythm of life, while in her unseen vision, Yue Zhengling's breathing gradually slowed down.
On the other hand, Aoko, who had already bought groceries in the shopping street and was walking back to the Kuonji Mansion on the mountain path, suddenly felt a pang of fear, as if it foreshadowed something terrible about to happen.
Meanwhile, Orange, far away in London, also entered Heathrow International Airport, preparing to board a flight to Japan to return to her birthplace.
It was still morning in London, the sky was bright, and the beautiful girl in her all-black outfit was exceptionally dazzling.
The black, tight-fitting blazer perfectly accentuated Aozaki Touko's well-developed, high breasts and slender waist. The silver-white collared shirt underneath had one button undone, which, although completely concealing her ample breasts, still made her swan-like, fair and beautiful neck stand out beautifully.
Underneath the suit jacket was a tight-fitting skirt. In some ways, Orange still has a rather conservative personality. The skirt reached her calves, and from the side, the curve of her shapely buttocks, a beautiful and refined young woman, had a captivating and alluring charm.
When paired with stylish brown sunglasses and a face that can only be described as exquisite among Asians, she attracted countless eyes in this international airport.
After shooing away the fifth pretentious man who tried to pick her up, Orange took off her glasses and looked out at the planes on the runway through the huge floor-to-ceiling window.
As she looked up at the sky following a plane taking off, the sun, which had just been hidden by the clouds, reappeared. Caught off guard, Orange was dazzled by the sunlight and unconsciously took two steps back.
"Aozaki." Just then, her companion's voice rang out behind her.
"Lydel, is everything settled with the luggage?" Hearing this voice, Orange turned to look at her companion.
The girl in the pink dress glanced around unhappily, smoothed her pigtails, and complained irritably, "Why the sudden rush back to Japan? If I had waited a day—no, half a day—I could have applied for private jet access and wouldn't have had to share flights with these commoners!"
The girl's name is May Riddell Archelot, who calls herself a "super☆British beauty" and "a busy witch with many suitors, the first witch in history to have over 100 million fans, and the world's number one idol in the association."
Her adoptive father is the owner of a multinational corporation and, on the surface, a world-famous idol who spends a lot of time in the UK, performing concerts all over the world.
But none of that matters. The most important thing is that the letter of recommendation that Orange used to enter the Clock Tower came from this person.
This person was Yuuka's childhood playmate in England, and also the one who named Yuuka's fairy tale familiar. The reason was that Yuuka hadn't named her fairy tale familiar when she was young, and would number it every day according to her mood. She borrowed a fairy tale familiar from Yuuka to please her new father, but ended up borrowing a perfume that would make people curse continuously for a whole day if sprayed on (later named Goblin Freon), which became a laughing stock.
Later, to prevent the wrong person from being lent out again, Yuzhu named all the fairy tale familiars.
The family lineage is the Acherlotts, the Coal Witches, a family that rose to prominence during the Industrial Revolution.
Acherot is currently one of the twelve monarchs of the Clock Tower, the monarch of the plant family.
This family line assisted Dr. Henry Jekyll (Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde) in making elixirs centuries ago.
"I didn't expect you to come along either." Orange looked at the super rich girl with a headache. When she noticed that more people were turning their attention to this side, she quickly walked up to Lydia and put her brown sunglasses on her face.
"What are you doing!" The short-tempered Lydia shook her head and tried to take off her glasses, but Orange stopped her.
"You're an international superstar, can't you have some self-awareness?" Seeing the people gathering around, Orange didn't hesitate to pull her hand and move to another spot.
"Hmph, you mean those commoners will surge up? You'll get used to this. And don't forget, my bodyguards aren't pushovers." Having understood the situation, Lydia gave a wink to the black-clad bodyguards in the crowd, and then the surging travelers were stopped in place by various means.
The two walked quickly into the waiting room. Orange, who breathed a slight sigh of relief, checked the time with some annoyance and found that there was still more than half an hour before boarding.
"I came home for some business, so why did you follow me?" Orange had just booked her plane ticket and left the Clock Tower with her things when this young lady blocked her way.
Without saying a word, the other party pulled her into the car and drove straight to the airport.
On the way there, Orange wanted to ask her about it, but the other person remained silent. After arriving at the airport, the other person took away her luggage that couldn't be shipped back to Japan through normal channels and arranged everything on their own.
"Hmph, you didn't even inform your benefactor before leaving London." Lydia put her hands on her hips in dissatisfaction. "I didn't rush to intercept you after receiving a message from your teacher. I just happened to be going to check out the venue for my next concert in Japan!"
Hearing this completely untenable reason, Orange looked at Lydel with a wry smile. Lydel was the same age as Aoko and Aoko. Although Orange's mental age hadn't reached the level of her post-apocalyptic self, she had still grown a lot.
Lydia's words had already revealed a lot, and the subtext was quite obvious, so Orange said directly, "So when we go to Japan and meet Yuzhu, should I say that you came to Japan to familiarize yourself with the venue in advance, and that I happened to be going back to Japan, so I invited you to come along?"
"Hmph, that's true. I didn't go to Japan just to see Alice," Lydia said, blushing but trying to remain calm.
The Alice she mentioned was Ayumi's British name. It was a special thing that Ayumi had such a common name that fit her fairytale witch identity so well, and that only she could call her that.
Chapter 242 Hidden Dangers (Part 1)
Hearing Lydia's arrogant words, Orange gave a teasing smile, which made Lydia blush even more.
"Fine, since you want to come along, I won't object." Orange felt there was no need to tease her anymore. After all, in a way, Lydeer was her benefactor, and to put it bluntly, Lydeer was a golden goose. During the past year and a half of spending money, a large part of the funds came from this young lady. So Orange called Lydeer "ATM Princess" in her heart.
Of course, this is just a joke. In their interactions, money played a very minor role. After all, Acherlot, one of the twelve monarchs of the Clock Tower, was no fool. Their relationship was a relatively simple partnership. Acherlot invested in Aozaki Touko, and Touko provided the technology Acherlot wanted. It was a win-win situation. With their interests intertwined and both parties willing, their cooperation was excellent.
"But let me warn you beforehand, there might be a little unexpected thing on my trip, and I won't be looking out for you then~" Orange pushed up her glasses and said in a joking tone.
Lydia snorted, "I've known what kind of person you are, Aozaki Touko, for a long time."
Lydel knew that Touko was going back this time because there were rumors from the Aozaki family that her younger sister, Aozaki Aoko, had been chosen as the successor to the magician. In Lydel's mind, Touko's return home was actually to fight for the family business, and this journey might very well turn into a bloodbath.
However, based on the information she gathered, Aozaki Aoko, Touko's younger sister, is a novice who has only recently started learning magic. Compared to Touko, who made a name for herself as soon as she arrived at the Clock Tower and achieved in a year and a half what many magicians could not achieve in their entire lives, there is no comparison between the two sisters' abilities.
If it really comes down to a fight for the family business, then Aoko, as Touko's younger sister, has the greatest support behind her: the sorceress Aozaki.
Lydia had no doubt about Orange's abilities, but her opponent was one of the world's only three remaining mages. Although she wasn't entirely sure how powerful they were, she was certain that Orange would be no match for them.
Lydia knew very well that everyone had to take responsibility for their own choices. Orange's personality was such that once she made up her mind, she wouldn't allow outsiders to question it. So, she didn't even bother to say anything encouraging or comforting.
As for why he rushed over and boarded the same plane as Orange, it was only to visit Yuzhu, and he had no other purpose.
Yes! There was absolutely no other purpose.