“History is repeating itself.”

“The High⁠⁠​‌‌⁠‌​‍⁠‌​‌⁠‌‌​​‍⁠⁠⁠​‍ Peak say… the Poet has vanished.”

Jiang Xiao’s face was pale-green with rage, making his red eyes look as if they were burning. He gritted his teeth and said, “A grown man with paralyzed legs just disappeared like that. The Black Tower had him under house arrest in the cathedral with dedicated guards. As it turns out, not only did they let him secretly mail out illegal letters, they can’t even figure out when he escaped.”

Sienna found it unbelievable. “How is that possible? No one the Black Tower wants to keep pinned down can escape, not even with wings.”

“Perhaps he really did grow wings,” Qin Zhilu whispered, looking at Sienna. “You’ve been hiding for so many days, have you found any clues about Disf?”

Sienna shook her head. “I’ve searched every corner of District 99 these past few days. It’s like he vanished into thin air. Currently, the deluded believers in District 99 harbor immense malice toward me. To find him, I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve fought to the death.”

“His people have been actively attacking you?” Qin Zhilu frowned at her, then asked after a moment, “Then how did you know to come here to meet us?”

“I can sense you.” Sienna sighed as she threw her overcoat onto a stool. “Don’t forget, I am of your kind. Perhaps your perception of me is weak because I am too small. But in my eyes, your presence is incredibly strong. The moment you stepped into District 99, I already felt it.”

An Yu sat in the corner, listening to them exchange intel while sending a message to Codex.

The signal was so poor it took a while to receive Codex’s reply.

Codex
Yes, I foresaw long ago that Eye would leave the Main City. But I gave no warning, because no warning can stop him, nor can it stop his curse.
An Yu frowned reflexively.
An Yu
You said you could see more possibilities than him. Why are you so certain about this?
Codex
Codex
My vision is indeed broader than his because I can see variables. He can only see that the path ahead leads to death, whereas I see a blurred path among a thousand dead ends. But there are some things for which there are no variables, no matter how many spacetimes exist. An Yu, time is running out. Stop doing meaningless things. Eye is destined to walk a path contrary to ours.

An Yu put away his terminal, only to take it out again a moment later. He reread the passage, a sudden realization stirring in his heart.

An Yu
Who does ‘ours’ refer to? All of humanity resisting chaos?
Codex
No. It is Law, you, and I.

An Yu looked at the sheepskin drawing on the table in astonishment. If his understanding of the drawing was correct, then the perceptions of Codex and Eye were now perfectly aligned.

Codex
An Yu, do you remember that evening long ago? The three of us coincidentally appeared at the cathedral at the same time; that was our first and only meeting with Eye. In that cathedral that day, I briefly lost my insight and cognitive powers. The depths of my consciousness were blurred, as if I could only sense a massive, indescribable presence. But I was unconscious of it then; I only recalled that feeling long after leaving.
Codex
Looking back, everything that day was profound. The three of us stood together at the entrance, while he occupied the high platform alone. Perhaps that was a clue given to us by the universe—he is destined to never walk the same path as us.

Codex, worried An Yu might not understand, sent several more paragraphs of explanation. An Yu read them in silence. He actually had a vivid memory of that day because, at the time, he hadn’t yet awakened his time-stagnation ability, yet when he stepped out of the cathedral, he realized that time inside the building had briefly stood still.

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An Yu snapped back to reality. Qin Zhilu was still discussing District 99’s Super-aberrant with Sienna. When he casually mentioned District 95, Sienna immediately asked: “So why did the entity in District 95 suddenly obtain infinite chaos?”

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Sienna looked distressed. “I still can’t figure out what kind of ending the Colonel wants, sucking up chaos through his believers like this…”

Don't scrape

Don't copy

“Is anyone here?”

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Kaos pulled cleaning supplies from a cabinet and knelt on the platform, scrubbing the bloodstains vigorously. His walkie-talkie suddenly crackled; a soldier asked: “The coordinates from the Black Tower say you’re at the activity center. Have you met up with the Commanders yet?”

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“Stop complaining. Watch yourself. Have you had any dreams lately?”

“I have. I dreamed the hunting team told me to quit the military and go hunting with them, said being a soldier doesn’t suit me. The weird thing is, I actually agreed in the dream. Dammit, it’s not like I’m even good at hunting.”

There was silence over the radio.

“You reminded me, I haven’t synced this situation with the Black Tower yet. I could be brainwashed by the Super-aberrant at any moment. They really shouldn’t let me stay near the three Commanders… Holy—!!”

A thick, crimson snake tail dropped from behind the attic curtain, unceremoniously poking his shoulder.

Kaos nearly fell on his backside in fright, his eyes bulging. “What is that!!”

The curtain was yanked open. Jiang Xiao said impatiently, “What is the ‘new anomaly point’?”

“Commanders?! You really are here!” Kaos exhaled a massive sigh of relief. “The mining plant, something big happened. It might be because the snowstorm suddenly got heavier.”

Jiang Xiao said coldly, “Everyone there is dead. What else could happen?”

“It’s not people, it’s… I can’t even say what it should be called.” Kaos loudly swallowed up, fished his terminal from his pocket, and tossed it up. “You’ll think I’m crazy, but I took a photo. See for yourselves.”

The crimson snake tail snatched the terminal mid-air and set it on the table. On the screen was a photo of the mining plant taken thirty minutes ago.

Frost had condensed into spiraling, hideous pillars. The corpses and mechanical debris from the factory swirled within these frost columns. The tops of the pillars vanished into the sky as if merging with the firmament, while the bottoms were embedded in the earth, freezing deeply with the soil.

As a result, mottled cloud formations appeared upon the earth, and broken sand and stone surfaced in the sky.

When the sky was stained with yellow earth and the earth revealed a cerulean blue, the world looked like a lump of kneaded, mixed modeling clay. Staring at it too long made one lose their sense of space.

The attic fell into a deathly silence. Jiang Xiao and Sienna’s hands were trembling. Qin Zhilu remained calm, but his dark eyes were so somber they made one’s heart turn cold.

“As expected,” he whispered. “History is repeating itself.”

M1zushi: sorry my readers i got burnout bcs SAOR has higher word count per chapter than my other novel and I can’t start a chapter without finishing it so I kinda of dreaded starting them. Yet when I start I want to translate more… We’re nearing the end…