Chapter 147: What Do You Mean You Had an Epiphany Mid-Conversation? |
"If that thing really is 'Him,' then how can that guy fight Him for so long?" Samuel asked, puzzled.
"Because what came isn't the original body," Greed said matter-of-factly. "There are so many parallel worlds in this universe, and each world has things requiring 'witnessing' happening every moment."
"Of course, it couldn't be the original body."
"Besides, it's just a partial incursion. The Great Witness didn't intend to actually kill Wrath either."
"You mean..." Samuel caught the crux of the issue, "out of infinite parallel worlds, there's only one Him?"
"That's right," Greed nodded.
The battle overhead grew more intense by the second, yet no normal person could even bear to watch.
Up there, all vision, hearing, smell, touch, and taste had merged into one.
No one with normal senses could distinguish what was actually happening in that battlefield.
Even Samuel could barely make out the general shape of things.
"Can you understand what's going on?" he asked Greed for help.
He watched as Wrath grabbed a clump of what seemed to be materialized 'wails' and shoved it into one of the giant eyeballs in the sky.
Then, Wrath's own body collapsed first, most of it vanishing.
Though it recovered quickly, his body kept breaking down repeatedly, scattering into flying debris.
This left Samuel utterly bewildered, unable to grasp what was actually happening.
"I can understand, but unfortunately, I can't tell you." Greed kept his hands shoved in his white coat pockets. "Even if I told you, you wouldn't get it."
"To me, the data expressions on this battlefield only come in two symbols: positive and negative signs."
"With just those two symbols, you can compose all the information in the world."
"Binary?" Samuel hadn't expected to hear that term from someone living in a medieval-style world.
"Binary?" The term made Greed pause.
He thought for a moment, then nodded.
"Is that what you call it?"
"Indeed, that's a fitting name."
His tone turned a bit strange.
Samuel looked at him quizzically.
As he watched, he noticed Greed's eyes shifting repeatedly, as if deep in thought. His lips moved rapidly in a muttered monologue, too fast to make out.
After about a dozen seconds, his pace slowed, and the light in his eyes grew brighter and brighter.
"Yeah... that's it..." Samuel heard him say.
"If we change the symbols to 0 and 1..."
He slowly raised his hand, condensing a ball of data in his palm.
A vast, complex mass of information coalesced within it.
Each stream of data carried its own meaning, interwoven, tangled, blurred, and ambiguous.
"But... but if..."
Greed's expression grew more and more focused.
He seemed to enter a state of complete absorption, losing all interest in everything around him.
He stared at the information sphere in his hand, his eyes seeing nothing else.
The data sphere began to change—the massive tangle of information was broken down into the most basic numbers: 0 and 1.
The middle-aged man's eyes grew wider and wider, shining brighter, sparkling with radiance.
Watching Greed's expression, Samuel sucked in air through his teeth.
Tsk... It seemed like he'd just made Greed have an epiphany.
At that moment, Samuel felt like he understood why Law Inscribers rarely solved problems through peaceful communication.
Either you fight directly, or you stay out of each other's way.
Because if you chat and accidentally make the other guy enlightened, aren't you screwed?
"That's it... yes, that's it!" Greed suddenly exclaimed with joyful surprise.
"Using Spirituality to forcibly alter the environment is too inefficient..."
"Forcibly interfering with and rewriting existing information is too inefficient..."
"But if it's just the two numbers, 0 and 1..."
"If I just rearrange the numbers..."
Samuel followed his gaze and saw Greed's clone—originally composed of massive data—begin flickering rapidly.
His body fluctuated unstably, data collapsing and reassembling, quickly reforming into strings of 0s and 1s.
He used his newly understood binary language to reprogram the data of this information clone.
The clone solidified again, and Greed finally looked at Samuel.
Samuel tilted his head.
"What's up?"
"Nothing, nothing." Greed smiled and shook his head. "I just feel like I really, truly need to thank you properly."
"Ah, when you say it like that, it sounds like you're about to ambush me in a dark alley," Samuel said.
"Why would I do that?" Greed denied.
"Seriously, I don't know how to thank you enough."
He slowly raised one palm, and a translucent screen appeared in his hand.
On the screen, massive amounts of numbers scrolled past rapidly, in wave after wave.
Following that, screens of light appeared around Greed's body—more and more translucent panels materializing out of thin air.
Those screens displayed endless streams of 0s and 1s, flowing continuously.
As the numbers kept changing, the surrounding environment also shifted.
The temperature rose and fell; plants sprouted from the barren soil, then quickly withered and rotted.
Everything here seemed to be within Greed's control.
Greed spread his arms in ecstasy, making a gesture of embracing the sky.
Massive numbers of 0s and 1s appeared around him, covering the dry ground.
These numbers rapidly converged and took shape.
"Proto-Divine Realm·Narrative Calculus... no, Binary Library!"
"Even the name of the proto-Divine Realm changed..."
Samuel's complaint had barely left his mouth when the surrounding environment transformed.
First, the ground was covered in a layer of 0s and 1s, then quickly replaced by orderly flooring.
Massive amounts of data rose from the ground, slowly forming towering bookshelves that reached into the clouds.
Wrath, still locked in combat with the Great Witness, glanced down briefly before looking away.
He made no move to stop Greed from unfolding his proto-Divine Realm within Wrath's own.
Yet the anticipated "Divine Realm Collision" never occurred.
This was a phenomenon that only happened when two Law Inscribers harbored absolutely no hostility toward each other.
"Divine Realm Fusion."
Though it sounded a bit ambiguous, it was actually a fairly common tactic between "battle companions" who trusted each other enough.
It had many benefits.
The proto-Divine Realm's effects improved, energy consumption decreased, and both Law Inscribers could use a portion of each other's abilities...
The biggest drawback was that, under normal circumstances, two Law Inscribers couldn't let their guard down around each other.
For a moment, the battlefield above grew even more chaotic.
A constant rumbling sound—though it was impossible to tell whether that 'rumble' was 'sound,' 'image,' 'smell,' or 'sensation.'
"He seems to be having a blast up there." Samuel looked up at Wrath in the sky.
Though Wrath's face remained expressionless, Samuel was the Singularity of Absurdity after all—he could sense a person's emotions.
Samuel could clearly feel that, despite Wrath's calm exterior, he was joyful at heart.
Even though the battle above was overwhelmingly one-sided, he was still joyful.
"Didn't peg him as the warlike type."
"He's not exactly warlike." Greed tilted his head back, arms still spread, explaining lightly. "He just simply wants to kill the Great Witness."
"What's that about?" Samuel grew more curious.
"I heard it's because, during the Mutant Uprising, humans had more Law Inscribers than Mutants. So the Great Witness restrained the human side more heavily."
"That turned what could have been a decisive victory into a pyrrhic one."
"Plus, since the Great Witness doesn't look human, Wrath thinks He was playing favorites."
"Hmm... yeah." Samuel pinched his chin and nodded. "Going by what you said, there's definitely a strong case."
"Aren't you going to join in? I remember you said no one's willing to go all out with Wrath."
"If that's the case, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Isn't it worth studying?" He looked into Greed's eyes.
Greed's eyes flickered, symbols and numbers flashing through them.
"I wouldn't dare," he replied with a smile. "If the Great Witness traces me back to my original body, I'd be in trouble too."
"So why doesn't He hit me?" Samuel asked. "I thought we shared the punishment equally."
"Do you really want Him to hit you?" Greed shot him a puzzled look.
"Why does your stare feel so invasive?"
"No, I just didn't realize you had that kind of fetish."
"That statement is way more invasive."
Greed put his hands down and looked at Samuel.
Samuel felt goosebumps break out all over his body.
"What's with that look..."
Greed straightened his coat and adjusted his glasses.
"Anyway, I truly thank you for today."
"Without your reminder, I might not have thought of this direction for who knows how long."
He extended a hand toward Samuel.
"Allow me to introduce myself."
"I am the Director of the Orlis Institute, the Chancellor of the Federal Adrian United University, and the Chief Researcher of the Rondos Federation—Kevic Adrian."
"You may call me Dr. Kevic directly."
"Oh, a doctor? Respect, respect." Samuel immediately reached out with both hands and shook Kevic's hand.
"I feel like you should switch to a dark trench coat and put a hooded thermos on your head to match your identity better," Samuel said sincerely.
"..."
"I'll consider it."
A thermos that listens to advice.
"Your insight today enlightened me. I owe you a favor."
"If you ever need anything, come find me."
"All the positions I mentioned are ones where I hold some authority. If you have issues in those areas, feel free to ask for my help."
Samuel raised his hand, pressing his index and middle fingers against the corner of his mouth. He thought for a moment, then suddenly smiled.
"Hey? Funny you should mention it. I do have something."
Kevic raised an eyebrow.
"Go ahead."
"Hmm..." Samuel snapped his fingers lightly twice. "Telling you outright probably wouldn't work."
"You'll need some groundwork first."
Kevic didn't understand, but considering Samuel followed the path of Absurdity, he accepted it and patiently waited for him to continue.
Samuel summoned a slightly more refined game console with a casual wave and handed it to Kevic.
This one was larger than the console he'd used earlier against Kevic—long enough to span from the tips of Kevic's fingers to his elbow.
After handing over the console and a few game cartridges, Samuel smiled.
"Play with this first, get used to it, build a foundation. I'll come back for your help next time."
Kevic looked down at the console in his left hand and the cartridges in his right, then nodded.
"Alright."
The items in his hands vanished, teleported away.
Samuel summoned the Travel Guide with a casual gesture.
While Kevic studied the console and cartridges, he had some free time to check the guidebook, which had likely updated.
He flipped to the file page, and sure enough, there was a new entry.
**[Madman File: 004.]**
**[Name: Kevic Adrian]**
**[Appearance: A man with golden hair and green eyes. Wears glasses and likes white coats. Looks around forty, with a clean-shaven face that still looks aged.]**
**[Law Tendencies: Fallacy, Ultimate Wisdom]**
**[Law: Greed]**
**[Law Marks: Collector, Scholar, Craftsman, Foreseer, Reader, Thief]**
**[Law Rhymes: Ultimate Wisdom Scholar, Fire-Stealer, Enlightenment Mentor, Astral Computer, Omni-Calculation Codex]**
**[Rank: Law Inscriber]**
**[Description: The Greedy—driven by profit, never satisfied. Seeking gain for himself is too much of a loss; seeking gain for the world barely breaks even. And what he 'covets' is knowledge. His pursuit of knowledge never stops, never knows satiety. In the future, there will always be new knowledge, always more advanced things. He wants knowledge, craves progress. He will generously share his knowledge. Because knowledge only develops better when it's spread. He greedily acquires all knowledge, greedily shares all knowledge, greedily hopes all of civilization can improve. The more selflessly he gives, the closer he approaches 'Greed' itself. Because true greed can't even bear to 'monopolize.' If anyone sincerely seeks his guidance, he'll only charge a token fee at most—as long as you're willing to learn, he'll never hold back. He will distribute all wisdom to every soul worthy of it.]**
Astral Computer?
Samuel raised an eyebrow.
Astral Computer!
Was that even something that should exist in this era?
"So, this book can check the information of the person recorded?"
Kevic glanced over and quickly guessed the Travel Guide's function.
"Huh? How did you figure that out?" Samuel was quite surprised.
He shouldn't be able to read Chinese.
Well...
Maybe not?
Samuel had no idea how long it would take an Ultimate Wisdom Law Inscriber to learn a new language.
"Don't worry, I didn't read it," Kevic reassured him.
"Then how did you figure it out?" Samuel was even more curious.
"This?" Kevic adjusted his glasses. "I'm not telling you."
"..."
Samuel gave him a dead-fish stare.
Didn't it say he never held back?
Why was the book's description different from reality...
Samuel's eyes drifted down to the Law Rhymes section.
So, was that 'Astral Computer' thing real or not?
"By the way, did you actually modify your original body into a computer?" Samuel asked.
"What you really want to ask isn't just 'computer,' is it?" Kevic replied.
"I think, compared to 'computer,' you're more interested in 'Astral Computer.'"
"That's right."
"It's exactly what it sounds like." Kevic smiled. "I modified my original body into an Astral Computer."
Samuel's eyes went wide.
"As big as a planet?"
"For now... about half the size of the moon," Kevic answered.
Samuel blinked.
"So where's your original body now?"
"I'm not telling you."