Chapter 192: Clue of Canaan, Artificial Angel Project (Two-in-One)
The night was long, and Rast looked at Mr. Silver on the windowsill, who gazed back with innocent clarity in his eyes.
A person and a beast stared at each other, neither saying a word.
After a long silence, Rast coughed lightly, breaking the strange atmosphere.
“These pieces of information shouldn’t have leaked out yet, right?”
“Of course, your origins have long been classified as a top secret by the Tower of Secrets. The only people who know about your past in this world are me, Young Tina, the old principal, and maybe a few from the royal family…”
“The Night Travelers from the Lionheart Academy have no idea about the shocking events you’ve caused in Deep Blue Harbor, Frozen Water Town, Paradise, and the Battle of the Broken Coast.”
Mr. Silver blinked his beast-like ruby eyes: “So those Night Travelers from the exploratory group simply followed the standard procedure for opening a new Night World, treating the various messages from that hugely popular VR game as normal exploratory information submissions.”
“As for the name Rast… it’s quite normal for an ancient name to reappear in the echoes of history without much association to anyone in the modern world since they are unaware of your secrets.”
“Don’t worry, once this information is compiled into the Tower of Secrets’ database, I’ve encrypted and sealed it, so it shouldn’t be discovered along with your little secrets.”
He extended his fluffy white tail, playfully wrapping it around Rast’s shoulder: “But, Young Rast.”
“You are quite extraordinary.”
Although Mr. Silver had already sensed various anomalies about Rast through live streaming earlier.
For example, the little girl named “Grey” whom Rast saved in Frozen Water Town, who he had given a name to, actually reappeared in the new echoes of history a decade later, even clearly remembering everything about Rast and reuniting with him.
You see, according to Starry University’s previous understanding of the Night World, they regarded the Night World and historical echoes as independent past reflections, mere replicas based on past histories.
No matter what the Night Travelers did in the historical echoes, once they cleared the Night World, the entire instance would be completely reset, let alone have any impact on the truly past events.
However, Rast was different.
From the very beginning, he was trapped in Deep Blue Harbor, nearly mistaken by Hiltina as a quest NPC… and his subsequent actions in other historical echoes could directly influence the future historical trajectory and bring about permanent changes.
For this, Mr. Silver was utterly confused—whereas other Night Travelers entered the Night World merely to explore an instance like a d*ath game, Rast seemed to have truly traversed time and space and actively participated in everything from the past.
Yet, Mr. Silver didn’t dwell too much on it.
Since he couldn’t figure it out, he might as well drop it; he was just an ordinary silver weasel and shouldn’t be doing such brain-intensive work, which was a job for bipeds.
After all, he had already made ample early investments in Rast when he was at his weakest… The more astounding accomplishments Rast achieved, the more delicious and valuable this ticket would be for him, bringing countless benefits with no harm.
“Although I had my suspicions before, I didn’t expect Grey to actually come this far.”
Rast’s words carried a hint of sentimentality.
In front of him, memories of the times spent with Grey seemed to float back—
In Frozen Water Town, that little girl who stealthily entered his room in the dead of night, wanting to steal his and Hiltina’s Guardian badge in exchange for a chance to join the Guardians for protection, timid like a young beast.
In the headquarters of the Guardian Organization, that girl who had just passed the newcomer test yet could only walk alone on the sunset-dyed streets, solitary like the little match girl… only to regain light in her light green eyes when she saw his figure.
On the cliff of Paradise City, that girl who, after learning of his betrayal, recklessly ran up the cliff in the rain, questioning herself in pain and anger why she betrayed the Guardians, kneeling in the mud, crying helplessly.
And then, three years later, their reunion in the scriptures, where she would activate countless time resets to try to stop him from ascending to divinity, ultimately realizing all was futile, resolutely initiating a grand reset that brought the world back to the beginning.
After the Battle of the Broken Coast, that hair all a mess from the sea wind, inheriting the mission from himself and Leader Cisel, the new Guardian who said goodbye to him on the rocky shore with a sad look…
And now, after nearly two hundred years.
The once tearful, fragile little girl who liked to cling to him… had finally grown into a legendary strongman like Cisel, a true leader capable of guiding an entire civilization forward?
Moreover, she single-handedly revitalized that initially devastated, chaotic Sixth Epoch civilization after the Battle of the Broken Coast—within less than two hundred years, it burst back into life, entering an unprecedentedly prosperous sci-fi era.
“However, thinking about it carefully, it’s not that surprising.”
Rast smiled: “What Grey wields is the great power called ‘Fate.'”
“Being able to rewind time to a certain extent and observe the future, if she becomes a leader of a civilization, it means that civilization has unimaginable trial-and-error abilities…”
“She can directly sidestep the detours that other civilizations inevitably face in their development and will never make mistakes in any major decisions that determine the civilization’s fate.”
“It’s not surprising that they would quickly develop to a technology level beyond the modern world.”
“Yeah, to be honest, I also really want to try that VR game that’s fully immersive, simulating real sensory and tactile experiences using neural signals, allowing players to dive completely into virtual reality.”
Mr. Silver flicked his fluffy tail, his ruby-like eyes shining with longing.
As a true homebody weasel, Mr. Silver’s greatest joy in life was lounging around with soda while playing various electronic games.
Needless to say, for a homebody weasel, the allure of VR games that allowed for complete immersion was immense.
It was like a paradise where you could have whatever you wanted, turning all fantasies and dreams into reality.
Wouldn’t he end up with endless little fish skins, and in the game, set Rast and Hiltina as his two primary caretakers, one responsible for fanning him and the other for grooming him…
Just thinking about it felt like such a beautiful picture, absolutely the pinnacle of weasel life.
Mr. Silver shook his small head, pulling himself out of his daydream, and looked back at Rast: “In any case, you have become quite a noteworthy figure in the future Night World.”
“In that Night World, there exists a game based on real historical events, a classic ‘cultural phenomenon epic virtual reality immersive stealth game on the entire continent.'”
“And you are the co-starring super-popular character in that historically based VR game alongside ‘Cisel, the Sun Lion’—’The Forgotten One of Time,’ ‘The Solitary King Who Turns His Back on All.'”
“Mr. Silver, are you serious about emphasizing my cringe-worthy titles in that tone?”
“Not at all!” Mr. Silver playfully blinked: “Mainly because Young Rast, your title is just too cool! If I were a player and saw such an epic title, I’d definitely spend a fortune just to claim it.”
“Back to the point.”
Mr. Silver coughed lightly: “I know since you asked me to gather this information, it means you’re preparing to enter the Night World, so I suggest you get ready to conceal your identity when you step into the historical echoes—otherwise, with your face walking down the street, you’ll surely be surrounded by people thinking you’re an ultra-realistic cosplayer and crazily collecting memorabilia.”
“Of course, if necessary, you can also reveal your identity to seek help since your name is indeed quite well-known… but you may still need to find a way to prove your identity.”
“Additionally.”
Mr. Silver paused slightly: “If you intend to directly cling to Grey’s thigh after entering the instance, that probably won’t work.”
“Why?”
Rast glanced at Mr. Silver.
To be frank, this was indeed the first thought that popped into Rast’s mind—
After all, according to Mr. Silver, Grey had become a leader of that technological civilization, having broken through to legendary status a century ago.
If possible, as long as he could find Grey in those historical echoes and identify himself, he could seamlessly gain the support of an entire human civilization—making it much simpler to complete the tasks released by the Night World or to explore the clues of Canaan and Xiao Ai.
As for the girl he once named and who had led him like a guider, who had now achieved legendary status… the sudden reversal of status didn’t concern Rast much.
His character was all about efficiency; as long as he could achieve his goals—then his dignity, laws, and even social morals were things Rast could entirely discard.
He didn’t believe that after two hundred years, Grey would have completely changed her disposition… Even if, hypothetically speaking, her feelings for him had deteriorated over the long time, wishing to play the yandere role with him, Rast actually wouldn’t mind.
If it weren’t for that, then during the three-hundred-year cycle in Deep Blue Harbor, Rast wouldn’t have become the headliner at the nightclub just to please himself.
“According to the latest information transmitted back from the Night Travelers of Lionheart Academy, the legendary leader Grey in that world had broken through to legendary status shortly after the Battle of the Broken Coast a century ago.”
“And about ten years ago, at a certain time node in the Night World, Grey completed another breakthrough and transformation… surpassing the original legendary level and advancing to a higher rank.”
Mr. Silver blinked: “That is, above the legendary level represented by the seventh rank, to the even higher eighth rank.”
“Or, the so-called—”
“‘Angel.’”
Angel?
Rast’s heart stirred.
In the secrets he had learned, the legendary realm and the seventh rank were already the limits.
Although he had speculated, for instance, about the nameless fool who created the ‘Library of Fools’ in the Age of Gods, and the ‘Fire Stealer’ who betrayed the Gravekeepers and established the Guardian of the Shore Organization, the first Guardians… perhaps had already surpassed the legendary realm and reached a higher level.
But that had only been speculation; this was the first time Rast had heard of someone having clear clues of reaching the eighth rank.
Grey had actually come this far?
“If the legendary realm is the limit for humanity, the essence of life begins to transition from human to non-human.”
“Then the eighth rank, known as the so-called angel, is a true mythical being, stepping into the divine realm.”
“Those so-called evil gods trapped at the threshold of the Seraphim… most are also at the eighth rank, but they must delve deeper and further, which is termed ‘from divinity’ or ‘false gods.'”
“However, for the new civilization of the Sixth Epoch, having its leader breakthrough to the eighth rank and achieve ‘Angel’ is not a good thing.”
Mr. Silver’s tone became more serious: “Because shortly after achieving angelic status, Grey abruptly vanished.”
“Before her disappearance, she left behind two things for the civilization of the Sixth Epoch, one being the virtual reality game based on the history of the Sixth Epoch.”
“That’s why this game became so popular; many players believe it contains clues left by leader Grey regarding her own disappearance.”
“And the second is a mechanical creation project named ‘Artificial Angel.'”
Mr. Silver looked into Rast’s eyes:
“Some Night Travelers, while investigating the ‘Artificial Angel’ project…”
“Discovered fragments of information related to ‘Canaan.'”
(End of Chapter)
