Chapter 133: A Shared Fate
“Rules?”
Xu Zhi asked curiously.
[Yes.]
Even though she could only see text, she felt the narrator’s “tone” had grown a bit more serious.
[That is the true core, the most powerful force that all transcendent beings crave.]
[However, it requires a deep understanding of knowledge and the arcane. You’re not there yet.]
[Neither is the Little Aberrant. It doesn’t even have a brain. It’s far further from touching the rules than you are—it operates purely on instinct.]
[If it weren’t a high priest, and if the rules themselves didn’t favor it, it wouldn’t have been able to seal that rift.]
“Why do you say that?”
Xu Zhi actually didn’t understand how the Little Aberrant had managed to do it. She had been surprised too, when she opened her eyes and saw it.
[Because of the rules.]
[Follow the rules, and things go more smoothly. The rules dictate that nothing from Midnight may enter the real world. The creatures from Midnight try to break that rule, but the Little Aberrant goes along with it—of course it succeeds more easily.]
[Not to mention… there’s also you, the disrupt—]
Xu Zhi snapped to attention. “Disrupt? Disrupt what?”
[Disrupt other people’s plans, you genius troublemaker.]
“You’d better explain yourself clearly.”
[Ahem.]
[Anyway, it definitely can’t leave this place for now. Letting things from Midnight loose now would be a terrible idea. Even though you’re strong enough to rival them, you don’t know how to use that strength. You’ll get beaten.]
[And besides, their goal isn’t just to get out. Far from it.]
“Details.”
[Can’t give you the details.]
Heh.
Xu Zhi had already guessed as much!
“If you can’t explain that, then what were you doing during that ‘maintenance’ period earlier?”
[Why don’t we talk about what they’re actually after instead?]
Xu Zhi: ?
“Enough stalling! Out with it!”
[…]
[Fine. I suppose I can explain. That ‘maintenance’ mode? You can think of it as me conserving energy.]
[That’s basically it. If I hadn’t stepped in at that crucial moment, you think you could’ve absorbed that shard so smoothly?]
[You were nearly burned alive. If I hadn’t been there, you’d have turned to dust.]
Now that the narrator mentioned it, Xu Zhi did vaguely recall feeling a strange energy helping her fuse with the shard at the time.
She had already suspected that energy came from the console, or she wouldn’t be treating it so kindly now.
This moment just confirmed it: the console had helped her.
“But why?”
“Why go to such lengths to help me?”
Still unwilling to let it go, Xu Zhi asked.
The narrator was silent for a moment, then finally gave a semi-direct—but still incomplete—answer:
[You could say that you and I are now bound together. If you die, I’m finished too.]
“A shared fate? Or shared interests?”
The difference between those two implied very different loyalties.
[A shared fate.]
“Okay. I believe you.”
Xu Zhi nodded. The words I believe you sounded casual, but anyone who knew her would realize she meant it sincerely.
Hard to say why. Xu Zhi wasn’t the type to trust someone just because they said nice things. No matter how much the console had helped her, its origins were still unknown—it was a shadow always looming in the background.
But in this moment, Xu Zhi decided to cast that shadow aside and fully trust the console.
Why?
Probably just… intuition.
It sounded flaky, but she chose to trust her instincts.
So in truth, there wasn’t much logical reasoning. It wasn’t that the narrator had said anything particularly persuasive—it was just that at this moment, Xu Zhi felt she could trust it completely.
So she did.
It wasn’t exactly logical, but it was very Xu Zhi.
“So what exactly was that shard? Why did it raise my life level so dramatically?”
Xu Zhi finally asked what was on her mind the most.
[As you saw—it was just a shard.]
[A tiny fragment torn from some untouchable entity.]
“Tiny fragment…”
Although the shard itself was indeed small, this phrasing suggested that whatever it came from must be unimaginably powerful.
After all, just consuming this tiny piece had let her leap to a new life level. If she could eat the entire—
[Stop.]
[I know what you’re thinking. Don’t even think about it!]
[Are you getting arrogant already?]
“What, I’m not even allowed to imagine it?”
[Nope. Even just imagining it leaves traces. And if it picks up on that… it won’t think well of you. That’s a very bad thing.]
“I don’t get it.”
What kind of rigid, uptight being wouldn’t even let someone think about taking a bite?
[Anyway, you’ll find out what that entity is eventually. If nothing unexpected happens, and you keep moving forward, you’ll meet it one day.]
[Once you’re close enough, you’ll understand.]
[And when that time comes, you’ll never entertain such a rude thought again.]
[For now, just enjoy and master this unexpected gift.]
Xu Zhi wanted to keep questioning, but she knew the narrator would just repeat itself at this point.
She focused on the power still surging and growing inside her, a bit puzzled.
“Isn’t this like forcing a sprout to grow too fast? Won’t there be side effects?”
[You’re not secretly thrilled about this? What’s there to worry about?]
[Let’s say you touched the Source and absorbed a piece of its power. That’s the purest kind of energy—once absorbed, it immediately becomes your own. No side effects. No conflict with your existing powers. It only strengthens them.]
[It’s perfect power.]
[But… if I had to mention one issue—it’s not really a side effect.]
[Like I told you before, you’ve ascended too quickly. You have the power, but no knowledge.]
[You have no idea how to use it.]
Xu Zhi looked innocent. “But having power is still better than not having it.”
Grab it first, ask questions later.
[…]
[You’re not wrong.]
[Still, the knowledge has already been placed in your mind. Now it’s just a matter of slowly understanding it. Once you fully comprehend it, you’ll have full command of your powers.]
“This shard is so thoughtful? Comes with knowledge too?”
[?]
[Dream on. You think the world’s that generous?]
[It’s just raw power. It doesn’t give out knowledge. Any transcendent being that could access it—every last one of them had already filled their heads with knowledge ahead of time, all to understand, touch, and wield it.]
Xu Zhi sensed a bit of bitterness.
She blinked, suddenly thinking of a possibility.
“Then where did the knowledge in my head come from?”
[You probably stepped in dog poop and got lucky.]
