Super Righteous Player
Chapter 461 - 2 Go With the Flow_1

Chapter 461: Chapter 2 Go With the Flow_1

"This is Nicholas’s residence, huh."

Annan raised his head, squinting his eyes slightly as he looked around.

This place was St. Bernie District of Noah, also known as the most densely packed dark market district in the Royal Capital, colloquially called the "Black Market Area."

"Old Daddy’s Grocery" and "Alberta’s Used Bookstore" were right here. Annan had just bought books nearby with Paper Princess, not far from Nicholas’s residence. After hearing what Paper Princess said, they went around half a street and arrived here directly.

It was a two-story, low stone wall villa, surrounded by desolation, with unkept grass in the courtyard. A street away, a high-rise residential area was being flattened and rebuilt, and even outside the door, one could sniff the scent of stone materials.

The setting here could definitely not be considered nice.

Damp, dark-colored stone walls, overgrown ivy layer upon layer. Old stone bricks showing fine cracks... This house could be said to be quite old.

Generally speaking, it was hard to imagine a researcher living in such a dwelling.

Although Annan was not familiar with alchemy and transformation spells... if it was too humid, it would supposedly affect the experimental data, wouldn’t it? Preserving potions might also pose some problems. The so-called "kept in a cool, dry, and ventilated place" after all.

However, such thoughts disappeared immediately after Annan entered the house.

When he entered the room, he distinctly felt as though he had passed through some kind of barrier. The steps he took inside met with slight resistance... like walking against the wind, but only for a brief moment.

In that instant, the air spontaneously formed a filter membrane, sieving out the impurities and excess moisture from his body.

And the air inside the room was exceptionally fresh and dry. Even odd smells were removed as he entered the room.

——Most importantly, neither Annan nor Paper Princess had detected this barrier before entering because it was cleverly designed to "activate in the instant someone enters." If it were a trap, they might have already walked into it.

"Worthy of Nicholas."

Instead of getting angry, Annan admiringly said, "Such an intricate barrier is still operating on its own after his departure..."

"Indeed. And just this self-cleansing filter barrier is not something any ordinary person could create."

Paper Princess looked around.

She was surprised to notice... this barrier was actually a complex barrier casually constructed with a test tube rack as the pivot point, intricate yet not chaotic. His handling of several details even inspired Paper Princess.

Paper Princess also gave Nicholas a high evaluation, "I didn’t have a direct understanding of his alchemical abilities before. Now it seems...

"He probably has completed the Crown of the Supreme."

"He certainly has completed it."

A deep and sonorous voice resonated in the room.

Annan and Paper Princess shifted their gaze over.

A plaster statue, as tall as a person, was sitting cross-legged on the ground.

With its eyes half-closed and deep sockets, it seemed to be silently contemplating something; its pained expression could remind one of a philosopher or a monk who strictly observed his vows, devoid of desire or want.

"Stone Father."

Paper Princess nodded at him.

But Stone Father simply replied evenly, "You know, you shouldn’t have come. Especially not with Annan."

"But you gave me the address. And you knew I was with Annan, yet you didn’t stop me," Paper Princess retorted. "That in itself is an attitude."

"Perhaps."

Stone Father didn’t say much else.

He seemed not fond of talking, merely lifting his head.

His eyes, though carved out of marble, met Annan’s like those of a living creature.

"What do you want to know?" Stone Father indifferently replied, "I’ll tell you depending on the situation."

His implication was clear, that there were certainly things he wouldn’t talk about.

"Was it you who let Nicholas go?"

Annan cut straight to the point.

Because if even this couldn’t be discussed, then there wasn’t much point to the conversation.

Stone Father hummed, "Deliberately, yes. But Nicholas probably doesn’t know that, his escape plan was meticulous.

"He took the opportunity of his soul’s projection and created a ritual site in the sewer two kilometers away in a straight line from here. He gradually severed the connection between his soul and his body, cultivated an ephemeral body that could be temporarily used with minimal materials, and project his soul into it in stages... Then using a spirit fortifying potion mixed into the pure heart elixirs, he patched the gaps in his own soul.

"Ultimately, he succeeded in breaking out of prison."

"The ’Warden’ Father Stone answered so calmly."

"...But?"

Annan knew that Father Stone had more to say.

Sure enough.

Father Stone nodded, speaking firmly, "But he doesn’t know... that all ’palaces’ are my body, all ’sculptures’ are my eyes and ears. And the entire Royal Capital is a massive palace... His actions have been exposed under my surveillance from the very beginning; if I wished, I could cause the sewers he’s in to collapse in an instant. I share a barrier with him, such a feat is very simple."

This was the reason Father Stone had become Nicholas’s watcher.

It was actually also the reason why he brought Nicholas to Noah’s Royal Capital.

As the god of palaces and sculptures, his powers could only be maximized in the capital of a typical nation—freely surveilling, controlling palaces, and using sculptures as his "surveilling guards." Only in the capital would he have enough palaces and sculptures.

Even the body he was using now was not Father Stone’s true form.

Because Father Stone existed within all sculptures—this was merely a medium for him to manifest in the world.

Father Stone was different from the Paper Princess; he was not a creation of Yawen that "became a spirit." Instead, he was a student of Yawen... and one of the very few who earned Yawen’s approval. He was a mortal who mastered Yawen’s thousands of years of accumulated sculpture and architecture expertise in just fifty years and made an almost negligible innovation, hence becoming a deity.

In fact, he was the only deity who had achieved godhood in the realm of art as a mortal.

"But why... did you let him leave?"

Annan stared intently at Father Stone.

And Father Stone calmly answered, "His talent couldn’t be utilized in Noah. The lack of materials here would only restrain him."

That was a lie.

At least, not the whole truth.

But Annan didn’t rush to point this out.

He just slowly asked, "Then, Nicholas... does he know he’s a ’mirror’?"

Upon hearing this, Father Stone fell silent for a long time.

About half a minute later, he spoke again, "That can’t possibly be your own deduction."

"It was the Faceless Poet who told you, right?"

"That’s right."

Annan responded gravely, "But because of that, I’ve also guessed many other things."

"For instance... this is not the real Nicholas. He doesn’t have Nicholas’s soul, nor is he Nicholas’s homunculus; he is merely a sentiment of Nicholas that has been granted a body."

At this, the Paper Princess immediately shuddered and blurted out, "I didn’t say anything!"

"I know. This too was told to you by the Faceless Poet. It seems that even Nicholas’s escape was predestined."

Father Stone calmly replied, "Within the domain of [Secrecy], I cannot spy... You’ve been out of my sight for only a short while, only the Faceless Poet could have had the opportunity to tell you these things."

"His actions are dangerous. You shouldn’t know that you act in pursuit of a mirror, because that is your destiny."

"As everyone knows, [Fate is the Wheel of Celestial Chariot], leaving traces only after it has passed. Pursuing your own destiny is in itself a paradox. This means that when you search for your mirror with your own will, you might end up unable to find your own mirror. Only when you do not crave the mirror will it appear before you."

...So, is it because I didn’t know about Henry VIII, Nicholas, and Bernadino that they appeared before me?

And when I pursued Bernadino, it was to seek justice for Salvatore, not in search of my own mirror... which is why I caught him!

Clarity dawned on Annan.

So when Annan had recently been considering when to look for Nicholas, this "fourth mirror," Nicholas suddenly disappeared.

Thus, new questions arose in Annan’s heart:

Why would the Faceless Poet tell me such a thing?

And why would Father Stone let Nicholas go?

...Unless.

These two actions were originally aimed at the same purpose.

Two deities, without communication, made random responses that inadvertently formed a silent coordination...

"...Could it be that you hope this fake ’Nicholas’ truly believes he is Nicholas who has lost his memory and acts as Nicholas among people?"

Annan keenly grasped their thoughts.

But what... would be the point of that?