Where exactly are you going? Don’t play the disappearing act on me.

The Sea​‍‌‌⁠‍⁠‍‍‍‌‌‍⁠​⁠⁠​‌⁠⁠‌‍​ of Plundered Kisses, once a pirate-infested expanse of high seas, was named for its strait, shaped like two lips. After the calamity arrived, it became devoid of human presence. It wasn’t until over a decade ago that humans accidentally detected a dilapidated temple ruin on the seabed, which seemed to have existed for thousands of years.

The vortex formed by the ocean’s chaos reaction was located right above the temple. The Bait City that was swept in had been hundreds of kilometers away; no one knew how the city appeared on the sea surface instantly. No aberrant signals were detected there. Rather than a Super-Aberrant controlling the Chaos Reaction, it seemed more like a purely mysterious event.

The brief mission data made An Yu even more uneasy. He decided to go to the church to ask about Codex’s premonition, but as soon as he pushed open the door, he saw Codex standing by the window in the corridor.

An Yu greeted him in surprise, “Did you foresee that I would look for you?”

“Hm?” Codex turned back and smiled at him. “No, I just wanted to come see you.”

“I’m going to the Polar Region as soon as the plane is ready. Xi De needs support.” An Yu paused as he spoke. “See me?”

Codex didn’t reply. In the dim midnight light, he stood in the shadows by the window, gazing quietly at An Yu, holding that thick manuscript in his hands.

An Yu suddenly realized that from the moment they first met, he had been unconsciously comparing Codex and the Poet. The Poet always carried a pessimistic and mysterious air, while Codex was gentle and frank. His gentleness made him faintly glow, making those close to him feel soothed, as if surrounded by gentle light.

As if possessed, he suddenly called out softly, “Mizutani Mo.”

Codex was dazed for a moment, then lowered his eyes and smiled faintly. “Haven’t heard anyone call my name in a long time. You actually remember.”

“My memory has always been good. Perhaps this is also something that thing bestowed upon me for survival.” An Yu said, “You were right. I have no self. Everything about me comes from His intervention. My will to survive, my timidity and fear, all my skills for survival, come from Him…”

Codex interrupted him. “But you have a self now, An Yu. God has dwelt in man for too long, and humanity has grown upon divinity. What did you need me for?”

“The Commander is about to leave for the Sea of Plundered Kisses. I have a bad premonition.” An Yu said truthfully, “Although my premonitions have never been accurate, but…”

Codex nodded in understanding. He pressed his palm against the manuscript and meditated for a while. He hesitated somewhat, but finally said, “Law shouldn’t encounter any danger in the Sea of Plundered Kisses. At least I have no cognition related to that.”

An Yu breathed a sudden sigh of relief, but immediately asked, “What were you hesitating about just now?”

“Not hesitating. It’s just that the connection between the Sea of Plundered Kisses and him is too weak, so weak I can barely perceive it. So I think, perhaps before he arrives, the wind and waves there will subside.” As Codex spoke, he turned his head to glance out the window. The Main City was silent in the dark night. He stared out the window, somewhat lost in thought. After a long while, he whispered, “An Yu, perhaps this is the last time I will see you like this.”

“Last time?” An Yu was stunned. “Like what? Where are you going?”

“The separation of Eye and me caused us to lose the perfect perspective, but I always feel the truth is very close to me. I can no longer wait passively; it won’t arrive in waiting.” Codex murmured as if to himself, then turned back to smile at An Yu. “It’s okay. I know you will need me from time to time. Please remember that the manuscript and I are one. Every page carries my spirit. So, you know where to find me.”

An Yu was confused listening to this. Just as he was about to ask further, his earpiece automatically connected to the Black Tower channel.

“Corner, the plane is ready. Xi De is still out of contact. Please proceed immediately.”

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“Alright. Then please convey my message: he must return safely.” An Yu strode into the elevator, then looked up towards the window again.

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I will, he thought.

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The pilot escorting An Yu to the Polar Region this time was Billy. Due to the unpredictability of the mission, Black Tower chose An Yu’s acquaintance among the Protectors with better flying skills, trying to make him feel more relaxed.

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An Yu nodded. “That’s good. She will be a powerful companion.”

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For some reason, he always felt that Black Tower, Brain, and the Spire were calm on the surface but had undercurrents surging beneath. But he had no basis; these were all from his intuition, just like a small animal suspecting the surrounding environment wasn’t safe enough.

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Although it was a joke, An Yu didn’t see the slightest smile in those eyes. The indicator lights on the dashboard flashed incessantly, dazzling his eyes. He turned to look at the chaotic clouds outside the window and sighed heavily.

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He slept a long sleep during the flight.

When he woke up, the plane was bumping violently.

He tried hard to sit straight amidst the spinning world, and abruptly, he remembered the last sentence Codex said just now.

—”The manuscript and I are one. Every page carries my spirit. So, you know where to find me.”

A spark flashed in his mind. A few months ago, the high-level officers held a welcome party for Codex and Lumen joining. Early the next morning, a hungover Codex had complained to him that one page had been torn out by Zhu Tao messing around.

“It is part of my consciousness. My body won’t be hurt, but my spirit will be missing a piece because of it. Some of my fine virtues…” Codex had explained to him like that back then, and then annoyedly dived back in to find that page.

Everything from that morning suddenly flooded back into An Yu’s mind. He remembered Codex was very strange that day. After searching around, he said he found it, but insisted An Yu told him not to keep the retrieved page in the book because it would fall out easily, and to find a place to hide it.

An Yu felt wronged. The memories of people around him seemed to always get confused. Ling Qiu was like this, and so was Codex, always attributing things he didn’t do to him.

He took a deep breath and opened the chat box with Codex.

– You don’t mean the page torn out by Grape, do you? Sigh, you weren’t thinking clearly that day. The person who helped you tidy up that page wasn’t me. I don’t know where you hid it…

After typing, he felt the focus was off, so he simply deleted it and asked instead: Where exactly are you going? Don’t play the disappearing act like Eye.

The bubble icon kept spinning. An Yu held the terminal and waited patiently for half a minute until the spinning icon turned into a red exclamation mark. He poked the octopus chibi, and the octopus chibi returned a classic disconnected reaction: “Is there something?”

“Signal lost?” An Yu looked at Billy in confusion, only to see Billy frowning tightly, his gaze scanning repeatedly between those dashboards.

An Yu’s heart suddenly trembled, and he turned to look out the window.

He realized belatedly that the dizziness upon waking wasn’t caused by turbulence.

“We seem to have crashed into a space we can’t get out of. The radar signal is looping, but our flight path shouldn’t have repeated.” Billy frowned. “Too weird. It shouldn’t be like this, but I can’t contact Black Tower, nor the people in the Polar Region.”

An Yu stared at the ominous clouds outside the window and whispered, “You didn’t fly wrong. The space here is disordered… very chaotic.”

A thick layer of frost condensed on the plane window. They were not far from the Polar Region. The Chaos Reaction in the sky clearly far exceeded expectations; even the nearby high altitude began to distort with it.

“Perhaps—” An Yu pointed to a spot in the clouds. “There’s an exit there. Sorry, I can’t give its coordinates, but you can approach slowly. I’ll remind you how to adjust.”

“Understood.” Billy immediately turned the direction. “Hope it’s still in time.”