"Pure White Angel"… "Omniscient Eye"…
So this was the true nature of the "golden finger" ability? That was why he could always experience the powers of the "Reader" pathway in advance, why his abilities of "Analysis" and "Retrospection" far surpassed those of ordinary demigods?
So that was also why the "Divine Light" he simulated through the Pure White Eye exceeded the genuine version, and could even draw the attention of that third Pope of the Church of the Eternal Blazing Sun, sealed inside the "Mirror of Calamity," and the second Pope who had seized Selo's fate—making both recognize him as their master?
But these two things clearly weren't part of the space behind the Pure White Eye originally… and they even blocked the entrance.
Who had placed them here, making them his "golden finger"?
Ebner faintly guessed the answer, but he had no evidence. He wasn't in a hurry, though, for if his guess was right, the proof lay within this very space.
At this thought, the Insight Eye in the shadow, under Ebner's control, carefully observed the illusory "sun." Soon, he saw a golden wheel of light at its top—the very "Wheel of Destiny" that had intruded earlier.
On the left side of the golden wheel was a crimson mass. The aura it emitted felt vaguely familiar. After some recognition, Ebner realized it was Zaratul's historical projection.
But most of that red mass had already been dyed black. The little that remained grew ever dimmer, as though it struggled desperately against some kind of corruption.
Beneath the sun, many black spots were scattered. Some were near—close enough that the Insight Eye could almost touch them—while others lay far away, some even behind the illusory sun.
Amid those dark marks, very close to the pair of illusory "brass eyes," floated an ancient-looking seal, glowing fiery red.
Just by seeing it, Ebner felt a strange sense of familiarity, and he blurted out:
"The Calamity Seal?!
"So it's here! That means… my vague guesses might actually be correct?
"Hm, if the Calamity Seal is listed alongside those black spots… then their essence must be…"
He immediately directed the Insight Eye toward the nearest black spot and extended his spirituality to make contact.
In an instant, a foreign memory unfolded before his eyes.
It was from more than a year ago, when a foreign soul named Liu Bo descended upon a gentleman who had just died in a shipwreck.
But tragically, even after taking over, Liu Bo couldn't escape death. He watched helplessly as the original body's wife and children were devoured by a Segust sea monster, and soon after, he too perished in the ocean.
After witnessing this brief five-minute life, Ebner fell silent. Only after a long while did he sigh softly:
"So, the anonymous check of 500 pounds that the Dream Labyrinth Tower once gave me… actually belonged to the former 'me'!"
Yes, even though that life lasted only five minutes, Ebner discovered within Liu Bo's inherited memories a familiar anonymous check. Its withdrawal code was identical to the reward he had received from the Dream Labyrinth Tower.
This matches some of the things I once suspected in the Land of Evernight but was prevented from thinking deeper about…
So, I really wasn't crossing for the first time!
Then, those so-called 'other transmigrators'… were all me?
But those guys were all so crafty… no, shrewd and calculating… Can someone as simple as me really be them?
One case proves nothing. I need to look further.
With that, Ebner guided the Insight Eye deeper into the space, contacting several more black spots.
Sure enough, each one corresponded to Liu Bo's "transmigrations" over the past decade or so. But not a single one lasted long.
One had crossed into a "sorcerer" who invented unique sorcery to borrow power from higher-tier extraordinary items, hoping to probe his golden finger. But he died on the spot from mysterious backlash.
One, similar to Ebner's own first crossing, sold formulas at a foreign Beyonder gathering, only to be tracked and murdered for profit.
Another had transmigrated into a fallen Nighthawk. Upon awakening, he found enemies guarding the corpse to harvest its trait, and unsurprisingly was killed again.
Ebner's expression grew darker with each one he examined. Finally, when he touched a black spot near the surface of the "sun," he saw a somewhat "familiar" figure and a life much longer than the rest combined.
That black spot bore the imprint of Giuseppe Castilla.
Giuseppe Castilla, heir to Count Senepot Sevia, member of an angelic family, died after trespassing into the ruins of a Red Angel in Backlund.
Afterward, Liu Bo transmigrated into him, escaped the underground ruins successfully, and took the new name "Felipe."
Instead of returning to his family, Felipe, while traveling, "accidentally" encountered Lamia, who had fled from the Earth Mother Church. The two fell in love and lived a carefree life as "husband and wife" in a hidden valley of Blue Mountain Island.
Because of Lamia's special body, they could not conceive children, so they adopted a baby boy.
Becoming a father seemed to give Felipe the resolve to face the coming apocalypse. He went out seeking advancement opportunities but eventually died within the Ghost Empire.
A stream of vivid memories swept through Ebner's mind. Even as he mocked the melodrama of this "plot," his scalp tingled with dread.
After all, the Earth Mother Goddess—Lilith herself—had once personally admitted that Lamia was one of her more unusual avatars. Much of the "liveliness" she now showed in her human nature came from her time as Lamia.
Giuseppe was Liu Bo—was himself…
No wonder Lilith treated him with such leniency. With the relationship Lamia once had with Giuseppe, their bond was still rather distant now.
Hmm… if all previous transmigrators were him as well, then he must have known Lilith long ago. Even his body as "Rhine Karenardia" had been in her hands, serving as her vessel for descent…
Wait, Kalun and Helene are heirs of the Feast of Blood, carrying Rhine's bloodline… Could they be my and Lilith's descendants?
And come to think of it, Rhine, Vicente, Arvin, Ivans, Felipe… all those names appeared in Arcana! Even Daniel seemed to show up in that novel…
The naming style was so consistent. If Felipe was Liu Bo, then the others very likely were too!
That's right—why had I forgotten Arcana before? I had to recall it from Felipe's memories…
If I had remembered, I would surely have connected the dots and realized that all the so-called transmigrators outside the original story were the same person…
And I would have very likely concluded that they were all me!
Yes, that must be why I had forgotten Arcana!
Lilith had clearly told him not to investigate these things before reaching demigodhood. She must have been referring to this truth—that all transmigrators were Liu Bo.
But what danger did uncovering this pose?
Just then, Ebner noticed the Insight Eye he had sent into the "unknown land" becoming sluggish.
Sensing carefully, he was shocked to find it was being "corrupted" by a strange power, much like Zaratul's historical projection. The corruption spread faster and faster, and soon he lost control. It even tried to spread back along their link to overwhelm his true body.
At once, Ebner severed the connection.
Frowning, he "retrospected" the entire process of the Insight Eye entering the unknown land, then muttered thoughtfully:
"The moment it entered, it was already being corrupted by that power. But its resistance seemed stronger than Zaratul's historical projection. At the entry point, the corruption progressed so slowly it was negligible.
"But the deeper it went, the stronger the force became. By the time it reached Felipe's black spot, it quickly lost resistance. And that's just at the entrance of the passage. Beyond the 'sun,' the corruption will surely be far worse!
"Hm, what resisted the corruption was the 'divinity' I attached to the Insight Eye. In other words, if I want to see further, to glimpse the earlier lives that belong to me, I must keep enhancing and strengthening my divinity.
"Heh, who knows how vast that space is… Beyond the sun might lie boundless regions. It probably takes an angel to truly pass through the sun at the entrance and delve into the unknown.
"That must be why Lilith forbade me from investigating before reaching demigodhood… Perhaps even knowing the truth—that all transmigrators were Liu Bo—would allow corruption to seep out from the unknown land. Without demigod divinity, I probably wouldn't even have been able to cut off the connection.
"But what exactly is the essence of that corruption? The secret technique I once created to control 'Owen,' based on the hints from those earlier transmigrations—or rather, earlier versions of myself—likely also used this corruption.
"Unfortunately, though Felipe lived a happy life, he contributed nothing to this secret art. He knew even less about the unknown land than I do… Truly a…
"Cough, he was me too… I can't just curse myself."
After mulling it over, Ebner suddenly remembered something: ever since he revealed the truth to Klein, Klein had never once called him "Liu Bo." Yet he himself sometimes called Klein "Old Zhou" in the Sefirah Castle.
"For my past self, Liu Bo, perhaps Klein knew something?
"And he still hides Roselle's crucial diary pages?
"Yes… I recall that whenever I badmouthed those so-called 'senior transmigrators,' even though his expression control was perfect, there would occasionally be a slight incongruity…
"I didn't think much of it then, but now it seems he must have already known that those transmigrators were me. He was watching me make a fool of myself!
"Heh, Old Zhou, you really are something!
"Tomorrow is the Tarot Meeting. During the small gathering, I'll settle accounts with him… and make sure to get those key diary pages."
Having made up his mind, Ebner steadied his thoughts and once again studied the Pure White Eye. But this time, he didn't send the Insight Eye in, and of course he wouldn't enter himself. In terms of resisting corruption, he was no stronger than the Insight Eye, since both consumed his divinity.
Instead, as after each promotion, he examined how the Pure White Eye, his golden finger, would enhance his abilities.
"Come to think of it, whichever past me put this thing here, it was clearly prepared to help later versions of me better utilize the unknown land.
"With it, opening the passage becomes much easier. Even mere spirituality suffices, though at first only for a few seconds…
"Heh, perhaps until the Pure White Eye itself enters and stabilizes the entrance, I will need to be at least a demigod—or maybe even an angel—before I can truly connect to the unknown land!"
(End of this chapter)