Chapter 179: An Opportunity

Chapter 179: An Opportunity

Listening to Will Auceptin’s “tearful complaint,” Klein truly had no idea what expression he should make. In the end, he simply made no expression at all.

Only after the baby wrapped in silver silk had calmed down did Klein ask, rather puzzled, “Even if I had said it earlier, it wouldn’t have been useful. When I first met you, you had already restarted.”

“No. Back then I was still Will Auceptin, without the surname Ceres. I had already been restarted for a long time.” The chubby baby wiped away his tears. “Although adulthood was still quite far away, as long as I was willing to bear a certain amount of risk, accommodating it wouldn’t have been impossible. With the luck I had accumulated, that kind of risk could have been resolved. But now, I’m short by far too much. There’s no way to make up the gap.”

Klein’s thoughts shifted. After weighing his words, he said, “Perhaps we could find an angel of the Marauder pathway to steal your time and let you grow up earlier.”

Will Auceptin was still sniffling a little. He shook his head.

“It’s useless… They can’t precisely steal away my ‘childhood’ and ‘adolescence.’ If it’s merely time spent alive, it won’t make me grow. It will only reduce the number of years I was originally meant to live… In that case, it would be Will Auceptin Ceres dying young—born June 1350, died October 1350, age four months…”

“But I’ve seen examples of time being stolen and people aging rapidly because of it.” Klein recalled what he had seen inside Amon’s mausoleum.

The chubby baby still shook his head.

“No. That is only a symbolic manifestation. If it acted on me, this baby would start growing wrinkles, and his hair would turn white along with it…

“If you truly want to steal away ‘childhood’ and ‘adolescence’ precisely, you can only look for Amon. And it would have to be His true body in person…”

At this point, both the baby wrapped in silver silk and Klein fell silent. For quite some time, neither of them spoke.

If Amon were invited over, what might be stolen away would very likely not be limited to “childhood” and “adolescence.”

After a while, Klein let out an undisguised breath and said, “Then we won’t consider this matter for now. However, I still want to know where I might obtain the method to accommodate a Uniqueness. If there is a chance to obtain it, we certainly cannot miss it. It may prove useful one day.”

Will Auceptin lowered the hand he had been using to wipe tears and sniffed.

“There’s no need to ask others. I actually obtained it long ago. It’s just that none of the methods I know can be done. Otherwise, did you think I, the president of the Life School of Thought, was a fake?”

“…” Klein was both surprised and curious. “Why can’t they be done?”

Will Auceptin tugged at the small blanket inside the baby carriage.

“There are three methods to accommodate a Uniqueness. The first is to be born with it, equivalent to the Uniqueness coming alive and fusing with humanity. The second is to let the Uniqueness come alive to a certain degree, then forcibly take it into the body, relying on the Creator’s power to suppress it and slowly wear it down, adapt to it, and reach balance over a long period of time. The third is to blend the Uniqueness into an incomplete potion and drink it together with a simplified version of the apotheosis ritual.

“The first method needs no explanation. That is the source of envy toward those two brothers. The second method is no longer possible after the ancient Sun God’s fall. The third is the only viable method at present, but for a Sequence 1 of the Fate pathway, it depends entirely on how fate arranges things.”

The first point had been mentioned in Emperor Roselle’s diary, as something Mr. Door had told him… Does the second point imply that after the ancient Sun God grasped multiple authorities, He was, in essence, at least half a level—perhaps even a full level—higher than the present true gods? The Creator’s status? Klein asked thoughtfully, “What does it mean that it depends entirely on fate’s arrangements? And what does that have to do with my saying earlier that I would help you accommodate the Uniqueness?”

A sighing expression appeared on Will Auceptin’s chubby infant face.

“The apotheosis ritual of the Fate pathway may be the simplest, or it may be the most difficult.

“As long as we can find the right opportunity within the flood of fate, we may directly drink the potion and attempt to advance.

“The problem is that the precise opportunity cannot be divined, cannot be prophesied, and cannot be locked onto by any method. One can only eliminate some interference, then patiently experience and seek it. I have restarted no one knows how many times. I have lived through unimaginably long years, and yet, even now, I still haven’t encountered it…”

At this point, tears began falling from the baby’s eyes once again.

It sounds so simple, but in reality it can only rely on destiny, only on one’s “face”—one’s luck… Klein sighed inwardly, then asked with some understanding, “When I said I would help you accommodate the Uniqueness, you vaguely grasped that opportunity?”

The chubby baby cried even harder.

“Although I had not truly found it yet… I already had a certain premonition…”

…So that’s how it is… Back when Will Auceptin first contacted me, besides hoping for help from Yesterday Once More, he was also being pushed by luck? What a charlatan… Klein gave an “Mm” and said, “Then there’s no helping it…”

“Then you can only give me more of those charms!” Will Auceptin nodded hard.

“All right.” Klein replied without the slightest stinginess. Then he added, “You’ll have to fold more paper cranes for me.”

After he said that, the baby wrapped in silver silk and he fell silent at the same time again.

…

Inside the rented apartment, Klein woke from the dream, turned out of bed, walked to the outer room, took out paper and pen, and began writing to Leonard:

“…I have obtained a few charms originating from the high Sequences of the Seer pathway. They can allow one to borrow strength from one’s past self…”

Klein did not mention whether his poet classmate needed one. It was as though he were merely giving a simple description.

After folding the letter, he took out a gold coin and a rectangular, diamond-like charm, then blew the adventurer’s harmonica.

Reinette Tinekerr, wearing a gloomy, complicated dress, walked out of the void carrying four blond-haired, red-eyed heads. All of those eyes turned at once toward the Yesterday Once More charm.

Her four heads spoke one after another:

“This time…” “who…” “are you…” “dealing with…”

So direct… Klein sighed, smiled, and answered, “It has not been decided yet.

“Next, I will try to sabotage George III’s scheme. At the critical moment, I may need your help.”

Reinette Tinekerr’s four blond-haired, red-eyed heads immediately answered:

“This…” “sounds…” “very…” “dangerous…”

“Need…” “additional…” “payment…”

“More of this kind of charm?” The corner of Klein’s forehead twitched, as though he had once again experienced that pain of having his soul torn apart.

“Three…” The head that had not spoken in the second round just now bobbed up and down.

…Klein squeezed out a smile.

“No problem, but I’ll need one to two weeks.”

First, he had recently separated many Worms of Spirit and made quite a few Yesterday Once More charms. He felt he was already approaching his limit and had to rest for a while. Second, he believed that in one or two weeks, once Miss Magician’s new book was published, his Bizarro Sorcerer potion should be fully digested, allowing him to attempt advancement to Scholar of Yore. At that time, there might be easier and simpler methods.

The four heads of Reinette Tinekerr bobbed up and down by the hair that held them, indicating that there was no problem.

Klein then pointed to the letter and the gold coin.

“Deliver it to the mailbox at 7 Pinster Street.”

He had done a divination earlier and discovered that Leonard was not at home, seemingly having gone to the South Borough of the bridge district.

One of Reinette Tinekerr’s heads swung forward, drawing the letter, gold coin, and Yesterday Once More charm into its mouth.

Watching Miss Messenger step into the void and vanish from the room, Klein pondered for several dozen seconds before beginning to set up a sacrifice-and-bestowment ritual.

Since the Bizarro Sorcerer potion was almost completely digested, he naturally had to prepare all the materials for Scholar of Yore ahead of time.

Among them, both the Flaring Heart of a Fog Demon Wolf and the White Frost Crystal seemed obtainable from the Evernight Goddess.

And once he had the Flaring Heart of a Fog Demon Wolf, he could use it to “fish” for a Fog Hound in the spirit world.

After a period of busyness, Klein finished setting up the altar. He stepped back twice and examined the surrounding environment.

“It’s fairly clean… With the Spirit Wall sealing the place, it meets the ritual requirements… Recently, I haven’t made any contribution. How should I pray for a bestowment? Don’t tell me I should tell the Goddess I intend to take out a credit loan and pay it back in installments… Would that be somewhat blasphemous… Mm. I can try sacrificing something valuable. If the Goddess is willing to accept it, She will give the corresponding bestowment…

“Something valuable…” As he thought, Klein’s thoughts shifted to the pile of miscellaneous items above the gray fog.

He rather wanted to bundle together the Biological Poison Bottle, the Interrogator Beyonder characteristic, the Madman Beyonder characteristic, the Ravings aura, Thousand-faced Hunter blood, Six-winged Gargoyle eyeball, Spirit World Plunderer dust, and the other items that currently had no use and could not be sold for the time being, then sacrifice them all to the Goddess in exchange for the Scholar of Yore materials. Yet he felt that doing so would make the Goddess seem like a junk collector, so he abandoned the idea.

“It must be of roughly equivalent value… Groselle’s Travels won’t do. It hides no small number of secrets and may play a great role. Right, the next time Little Sun and the others explore the Giant King’s Court, I can give them Groselle’s ashes. I didn’t do so this time because I didn’t know how far they could explore and worried they might return before truly entering the Giant King’s Court…

“The Sea God Scepter? That’s even more important. It’s not only my strongest sealed artifact at present, but also concerns the Sea God’s believers. They will serve as my anchors for the foreseeable future. Once I have other, more numerous anchors, I can grant it to Mr. Hanged Man…

“Hvin Rambis’s Beyonder characteristic… I already promised that to Miss Justice…” After some thought, Klein found that his options were not many. One was the Staff of Life. The others were the Sunflare charm, Fate Siphon charm, Yesterday Once More charm, and Spirit-controlling bullets.

The latter are all disposable items. Even added together, their actual value cannot compare to the main ingredient of a Sequence 3 potion… Besides, after my Wound Transfer ability improves again, I can take on part of the Staff of Life’s function myself… After hesitating for a while, Klein finally made his decision.