Apocalyptic Era: Starting from picking up a Bishoujo
Chapter 281 - 263 Epilogue

Chapter 281: 263 Epilogue

Choosing not to bind with additional Divine Seal Fragments is of course meaningful.

At the present stage, the handling of the Divine Seal Fragments in the hands of us Chosen Ones is entirely up to us; however, if the Master of Divine Seal wishes to resurrect himself, he must completely restore the divine seal. The current situation actually does not serve the interests of the Master of Divine Seal.

Zhu Shi and I have speculated in the past that the Master of Divine Seal might possess a method to forcibly reclaim all Divine Seal Fragments at the final stage, relying probably on the binding between us and the Divine Seal Fragments. And now, it seems, our connection with the Void Realm can also serve as supplementary material.

When I first came into contact with Dr. Silver Mask’s Divine Seal Fragment, the fragment automatically bound itself to me without regard to my will. I suspect the same has happened to others. Divine Light No. 6 must have noticed this and, therefore, likely delegated the collection of the subsequent Divine Seal Fragments to those under his command who are destined with the fragments.

This is to prevent the Master of Divine Seal from forcibly reclaiming Divine Seal Fragments through our connection in the future, a preventative measure. I previously thought about offering the extra Divine Seal Fragments to Mazao and Zhu Shi, and even I could think of that, given the same intelligence there’s no reason Divine Light No. 6 wouldn’t have thought of it.

"To discern my intentions so quickly implies that you’re thinking from a stance similar to mine. Indeed, just as I suspected, you are an adversary of the Master of Divine Seal, aren’t you, No. 3?" Divine Light No. 6 said to me, "You are the person I most want to invite. If you join me and disclose your method for entering the Void Realm, I am willing to exchange three Divine Seal Fragments with you."

"I’ve emphasized before that I haven’t used any special method."

If I were to name it, it would be Mazao’s Broom Star Physique, yet I couldn’t possibly reveal this to anyone, especially not to Impermanence. The significance of the Broom Star Physique to Impermanence is abundantly clear to me.

Divine Light No. 6 silently stared at me, while Xuanming No. 4 let out a strange laugh, saying to Divine Light No. 6: "You dare to expose to me that you possess so many Divine Seal Fragments, aren’t you afraid I’ll sneak to your home?"

"Come if you dare, Xuanming, I will kill you," said Divine Light No. 6, brimming with murderous intent.

Hearing him casually talk about pulling out three Divine Seal Fragments, No. 1 thought for a moment, then asked the Master of Divine Seal, "Master of Divine Seal, how many Divine Seal Fragments are there in total? How many do we need to collect for it to count as complete?"

"The total number of Divine Seal Fragments is not fixed; it changes depending on the time and method of observation. I have controlled it within the range of twenty-one to thirty-five pieces, and I will declare it complete once all are collected," the Master of Divine Seal answered.

"An indefinite amount" is truly an incredible statement, but since it is related to the Divine Artifact, I can accept it.

I computed in my mind, assuming the existing Divine Seal Fragments are the minimum number of "twenty-one," subtracting the seven fragments corresponding to the seven Chosen Ones, the two fragments I traded before with No. 5, plus the fragment from Xuanming No. 4 and the three from Divine Light No. 6 (of course, I am certain they have more), and the one from Fufeng Base, the remaining unidentified Divine Seal Fragments could be at most seven.

If it is the maximum number of "thirty-five," that means twenty-one more need to be found, which sounds like many, but considering more fragments likely possessed by Xuanming No. 4 and Divine Light No. 6, fragments owned by Ying Lingyun, and other fragments Impermanence may have collected... the truly unidentified "ownerless Divine Seal Fragments" might only be a minority.

And if calculating based on the median number of "twenty-eight," there might not even be any so-called "ownerless Divine Seal Fragments" left; those not in the hands of us Chosen Ones might only number in the single digits.

Looking at this, the competition for fragments seems to have unknowingly progressed to the later stages, with Divine Light No. 6, seemingly indifferent to the opportunity to make a wish, apparently leading.

But I feel this affair won’t end so easily, not to mention, there could be more than one Divine Seal Fragment that has flown to the Doomsday Era. Those are fragments only No. 2 Little Bowl, who is in the Doomsday Era, can collect. However, Little Bowl’s power is limited; her inherently poor skills in fending off danger are even more sealed in the Doomsday Land, making it difficult for her to collect unidentified Divine Seal Fragments.

As long as she doesn’t collect them, the divine seal cannot be repaired, and the competition for fragments will not be able to come to a close. How does the Master of Divine Seal plan to solve this problem?

Everyone seemed immersed in their thoughts, some pondering the remaining Divine Seal Fragments, some contemplating Divine Light No. 6’s recruitment, amidst all these varied emotions, I noticed that No. 7 still looked leisurely. She sat bored on a rock seat, not uttering a word from beginning to end, as if a bystander watching the fire from across the shore.

The Void Realm fell into a silent atmosphere, with no further communication or trade proposals.

Sensing that this meeting in the Void Realm was about to end, I looked toward No. 2 Little Bowl once more—to this little girl, wiser and more world-weary than me, who values others above herself.

In her, I saw a trace of the former Mazao.

After leaving the Void Realm, she will return to that oppressive, terrifying, and dangerous Doomsday Land.

I want to save her.

"I remember. You suspected that Sister Mazao and I were soul-loss patients from the Peace Era, souls transferred to the Doomsday Era, forgetting our pasts and believing we were natives of the Doomsday Era... Even Sister Mazao had such doubts, but you didn’t find my existence on the list of soul-loss patients," she said.

"Yes, but I still don’t intend to completely give up on this assumption. Maybe you really are one of the soul-loss patients, we just haven’t identified you yet. I want to try again," I said.

She did not deny my idea, but followed up with, "Then, Mister Number Three, how do you plan to try?"

"I want to know your memories of the past," I said, "I’m well aware that you have forgotten those things, but, could there still be some fragments remaining?"

"I used to have a friend who wasn’t very close who said that while knowledge is objective, people can only process and digest it through their own subjective perspectives, adding their own subjective colors to the knowledge. Although your event memories may be forgotten under the wash of Frenzy, skill memories remain. And the relationship between event memories and skill memories shouldn’t be absolutely clear-cut."

Some people learn knowledge through books, some through practice, the latter building knowledge on interaction with the external world. The results of such interactions, stored in the mind, are both skill memories and event memories. Even if the attributes of events fade, since skill memories remain, the core event memory parts would not have been completely deleted.

Humans aren’t born able to speak and possessing social norms; these are formed through interactions with the external world. And since Little Bowl Number Two hasn’t forgotten language and common sense, there should still be some fragments of past memories remaining.

"Fragments..." she muttered to herself.

"Anything is good. An image, a sound, a smell, even just a little vague impression," I said.

As if straining her brain, she pondered intently, and after a moment, she said, "...I’m not sure if this can be a clue, or even if it’s really my memory or just an impression I fabricated."

"Go ahead, tell me," I said.

"I think I used to have a mother," she said.

"Mother?" I asked.

"I can’t remember my mother’s face or name, and I don’t know when we parted, but I remember... there might have been such an event..." she said dreamily, "As a child, I seemed to have many dolls, but then something happened, and I decided to abandon all the dolls... However, my mother picked up all the dolls I abandoned and carefully stored them in a white box."

"Mother, dolls, white box..." I noted, "Anything else?"

"...No, that’s all," she said apologetically, "Sorry, that’s all I can remember."

"It’s okay."

These pieces of information, as clues to find her real-world identity, I really didn’t know how to use.

Though I didn’t voice these thoughts, her ability to read nuances and the ongoing telepathy connection likely allowed her to sense it. I could only try to change the subject, and at that moment, I noticed the surrounding grey mist was becoming denser.

This was the signal for the end.

The gathering in the Void Realm was finally coming to a close.

Lastly, I remembered something that might be important.

"Right, you mentioned before that we hadn’t truly gotten to know each other. I don’t think I ever told you my real name," I said.

Hearing this, her voice gained a hint of anticipation: "Yes, Mister Number Three."

"My name is Zhuang Cheng," I said, "I hope to meet you again next time."

"Mhm, see you next time, Brother Zhuang Cheng."

With a slight smile, she responded to my farewell.

The dense fog enveloped everything like a curtain.

The dream ended.

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