Chapter 116: Witches' Coven |
Seeing Gao Fan fall silent, Virgil turned her attention back to Ming Po. Whenever she spoke, she would direct her gaze at the person she was addressing.
"I presume you are unaware of Red Queen's organization, or what the people behind her are trying to achieve."
Virgil did not bother to conceal her motives, instead stating openly, "Because she approached you on her own initiative, I had to come personally to show how seriously we take this.
"According to regulations, I must inform you of the following:
"Red Queen's Deceiver faction, Tea Party, is a subordinate branch of a transnational Deceiver criminal organization known as the Witches' Coven.
"The Witches' Coven is an extremely dangerous Deceiver organization—this danger is not limited to their violations of law and morality, but extends to their destruction of the timeline itself."
"...The timeline?"
Ming Po's heart skipped a beat as a spark of realization flashed through his mind.
He recalled the seven sticks of incense burning before the portrait in his living room. Two had already burned out, and one was currently lit.
The Ming Po that Raccoon had encountered was, in fact, an entirely different person—the Ming Po she met clearly possessed memories. He even possessed an ability similar to a Wangliang, capable of dragging people into illusions.
She had confused the two versions of Ming Po. That was why she succumbed to hallucinations at the very end and killed herself.
Looking at it now...
This collapse of the timeline and the initiation of a "new cycle" seemed to follow a traceable pattern?
"Exactly."
Virgil nodded.
She countered with a question, "You all should be aware of the restrictions placed on Deceivers when they alter the past, right?"
"...Such as?"
Ai Shiping asked with a hint of hesitation.
After all, he had yet to use Time Chips to alter the past.
Or rather, aside from resurrecting his family, he had no particular past he desperately wanted to fix.
"The past that a Deceiver modifies must be a past they have 'personally experienced.'"
Virgil explained the rules for using Time Chips with absolute clarity; not even Ming Po had completely figured out this specific rule. "When returning to the past, you can only use your Title abilities and Time Chips. The only thing that changes with you is your own memories.
"Whether it be Treasures, data, documents, or any other items, you cannot bring them back. Any physical changes, such as disabilities, scars, or the results of physical training, cannot be brought back either.
"Those who return to the past cannot continue traveling to an even earlier past, nor can they travel to the 'near future'. If they have an urgent matter and must leave, their only option is to terminate the modification. This termination will cause their physical vessel to be left exactly where they were at that moment in time. If they encounter danger or even die, there is a massive probability that their future self will become a Paradox. You must pay special attention to this.
"Furthermore, the moment you terminate the modification, your body will retain absolutely no memories of the future. Every change you made, every message you left, and every invention you created will be automatically rewritten by the world into something logical. They will become 'passing whims' or 'adolescent fantasies' of your past self. Therefore, having a conversation with your past self is virtually impossible.
"Only in extremely rare circumstances might one experience fragmented remnants of those memories in a dream. This is what we call 'prophetic dreams.'"
"...This is the first time I have heard such detailed rules and experiences."
Gao Fan sighed in admiration. "Thank you."
Ming Po, however, picked up on something and frowned slightly. "From what you are saying... it sounds like you don't mind us altering the past?"
She was even teaching them how to alter the past more safely...
Virgil offered a gentle smile, her bright, water-like eyes filled with understanding. "Since you have all become Deceivers and fought desperately to survive until now, it stands to reason that you must have a past you wish to change.
"To order you not to make modifications would be inhumane and unreasonable. What would be the point of obtaining Time Chips then? Since the vast majority of people wouldn't follow such a rigid rule anyway... the rule itself would be useless.
"It is like telling students not to copy homework. If they are given so much homework that they cannot possibly finish it without copying, telling them not to is pointless. Rather than repeatedly threatening, inspecting, and investigating them, it is better to reduce the homework itself, or allow the students to review their lessons through other means alongside their assignments... Besides, those of us who are Deceivers from the past have all already used our chips. If we forbade future Deceivers from doing the same, wouldn't that make us selfish tyrants?"
"In that case, this Witches' Coven..."
"This is where Deceivers' Ethics comes into play."
Virgil raised a single finger, her expression turning serious. "No matter how much someone benefits from altering the past—saving their family, gaining wealth, making up for regrets—if their ultimate goal is strictly for 'themselves', then those changes to the past are inconsequential.
"Even if someone becomes the richest person in the world, they still have to spend that money. That part doesn't matter.
"But if they seek to change others, chaos can ensue.
"I just mentioned this—when modifying the past, a Deceiver exists as a 'projection of memories from the future'. In other words, it is absolutely impossible for someone to modify memories from before they were born.
"As for the people eliminated by those Deceivers... if they are bound by karma to them, it isn't a huge issue. Whether motivated by revenge, jealousy, or hatred, those actions can be absorbed into their own personal karma.
"However, if the people they kill in the past have absolutely no connection to them... then the victims will become Wronged Dead."
"Could it be..."
Ming Po's pupils dilated slightly as he listened.
He realized something.
The Wronged Dead could become Deceivers, and Deceivers could alter their entire past since the day they were born.
Then what if... they killed an elderly person?
If a person born in the 1980s became a Deceiver in 2020, they could return to their teenage years and murder an old man born in the 1940s. That would turn the old man into one of the Wronged Dead.
If that old man passed the screening, he could become a Deceiver. The old man could then return to his own teenage years... and from there, he could murder someone born during the Qing Dynasty.
An endless cycle...
If everything went smoothly, they could alter an infinitely distant past!
And the price would be that even they themselves would eventually be drowned in the ebb and flow of time.
If modifications were made from a past that distant.
Then merely saving a single person, or killing a single person... the resulting butterfly effect could destroy the lives of tens of millions of people in the future! And if they acted recklessly without restraint...
Human civilization would be altered into something completely unrecognizable!
"It seems you understand."
Virgil lowered her hands.
She looked at Ming Po and let out a soft sigh. "I guessed... that you would quickly realize the implications behind this, which is why I hurried over.
"Once the temporal storms gather to a critical mass, we have no choice but to actively destroy the timeline and force the Game of Deception to reboot. This is all to combat those lunatics who constantly spread the Game of Deception."
As she spoke, she handed a blue folder to Ming Po. "I hope you will join the Watch and Assist Protocol."
Seeing Ming Po earnestly leafing through the document, Virgil explained from the side, "The Watch Mutual Aid Organization is a subordinate branch of Divine Comedy. It is also the Deceiver organization through which we established our cooperative relationship with the government. It does not demand that Deceivers abstain from using their innate authority... it merely asks that whenever you make any modifications, you report exactly 'what you have done'.
"Aside from that, if you notice any anomalies in your daily life—for instance, if a milk tea shop suddenly changes owners, if someone's child suddenly died over a decade ago, or if someone who never finished high school suddenly got accepted into a top-tier university... Any obvious discrepancies like this can be reported via a designated website or email address.
"Any anomaly is fine, and you do not need to worry about misremembering. The organization has ways to distinguish truth from falsehood.
"If we gather enough clues, the Artificial Intelligence Heavenly Query can piece together any changes in the timeline, monitoring and tracing them back to their source in real-time. I did not learn about you through surveillance; Heavenly Query deduced that you might join Tea Party in the future... so I came early to prevent that from happening.
"If any major shift occurs that would result in drastic changes, or if someone attempts to create an 'excessively ancient Deceiver', we can dispatch personnel to the past immediately to stop them."
Virgil's tone was warm. "Of course, you won't need to handle such dangerous work. That falls under Divine Comedy's jurisdiction.
"In return, all Deceivers who join the Watch Mutual Aid Organization will gain access to more intelligence. If you want to try modifying the past but are unsure of the consequences, you can submit an application beforehand. Heavenly Query will run simulations to determine how likely it is to affect your existence as a Deceiver.
"Furthermore, if Divine Comedy ever needs to recruit new team members, they will prioritize candidates from the Watch Mutual Aid Organization."
"...Alright."
Ming Po stayed silent for a moment before extending his hand toward Virgil. "Give me a pen. I'll sign."
It wasn't for the sake of the simulations.
It was because he had realized something else—
If he didn't join a Deceiver organization, wiping out every Deceiver using only his own personal strength would be completely impossible.
Because someone was intentionally creating more Deceivers... not just in the "present", but even in the "past". The Game of Deception was spreading out of control.
The state of the world could no longer be described simply as "precarious".
If the world were a person, it had likely been "defibrillated" multiple times already.
After signing his name, Ming Po handed the folder back to Virgil.
"...I have one more question."
Ming Po asked, "Do you know a lady named 'Nameless'?"
Hearing this, Virgil looked momentarily taken aback.
She studied Ming Po for a moment before flashing a radiant smile. "Yes, I know her.
"However, I require explicit authorization from Miss Nameless herself before I can share any intelligence regarding her with you. I am terribly sorry. But the reverse is also true—I will not leak any information about you to her."
In other words, Nameless was not a member of Divine Comedy.
He had already understood Virgil's hint.
"I see. That will be all, thank you."
Ming Po gave a polite nod.