No way… the High-Dimensional Overseer was reborn as Reid's newborn son?
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Could this be possible?
Hastur carefully examined the figure several more times, yes, it was indeed Chief Reid. The surroundings also matched exactly what he had seen when he visited Chief Reid's home that day.
The high-dimensional Overlooker had indeed used some unknown method to occupy the body of Chief Reid's son.
The newborn baby, only a short while into life, now lay quietly in bed, enjoying the tender care of his parents.
Who could imagine that within that fragile little body there actually resided a Outer Deity named high-dimensional Overlooker!
If this wasn't the reincarnation of a fragment of the Overlooker's consciousness, then it had to be a divine descent carrying part of Its power!
What puzzled Hastur was that if this really were an offspring of the Overlooker, then the moment the child was born, shouldn't all the ordinary people around have perished?
At the very least, they should have been contaminated. How could there be no influence at all?
Looking at the baby lying peacefully in the cradle, it seemed like just an ordinary infant, with nothing strange about him.
Chief Reid and his wife also showed no sign of being affected, everything looked normal.
'Could it have something to do with the special authority the high-dimensional Overlooker possessed?'
The Overlooker hadn't had Its source essence drained away, nor had Its Beyonder pathway been torn apart, so it was impossible to guess what sort of authority It held.
The only clue was Its epithet, from which one could try to infer Its domain of authority.
Hastur pondered for a long while and came up with a somewhat feasible idea: probe the Son of Chaos for information.
Given His nature, having roamed the starry skies for so many years, the Son of Chaos must surely know about the high-dimensional Overlooker's abilities.
But how to ask without arousing the Son of Chaos's suspicion?
Should he just send the Son of Chaos the baby's projection and casually remark, "Interesting"?
That would be far too deliberate, and the Son of Chaos would likely see through it, perhaps even suspect him.
"Maybe I can ask Will. With his broad knowledge, he might actually know something."
"Even so, I'll still need to be careful with my words, so as not to expose the existence of the Hall of Stars."
After thinking it over for a long time, Hastur still felt it would be more reliable to consult Will first.
If that didn't work out, he could always wait and observe for a few days. If the baby continued to show no abnormalities, then he could bring it up casually during the next Gathering at the Hall of Stars, as if it were nothing of consequence.
Leaving the Hall of Stars, Hastur rose and went into the study. From the wind chime by the window, he took down a paper crane and wrote upon it: Come quickly.
After finishing, he rehung the crane on the wind chime, then returned to his bedroom to sleep.
After about ten minutes, dream overtook him.
Will, lying on his bed, sat up straight, pulled the blanket up to his waist, and frowned unhappily. "Even if I'm no longer a child, proper sleep is still necessary for my growth."
"Something unexpected has happened."
"What happened?"
Will's expression grew serious as well. He knew that something major must truly have occurred, otherwise Hastur would never summon him in the middle of the night… asking him for help.
After all, barely an hour had passed since their previous conversation.
"What do you know about the high-dimensional Overlooker?"
"I've only heard that name as one of the outer gods. Beyond that, I don't know much."
Hastur felt a bit troubled, but still asked: "Then can you guess what sort of authority It might have?"
"Of course… I can't." Will finally admitted his ignorance.
"Sigh…"
Hastur let out a quiet sigh, which made Will snort in irritation. "In times like these, who would dare wander the stars? Not knowing about Them is normal. Besides, this high-dimensional Overlooker hasn't actively invaded, and there are very few records of Its existence."
"Then who might know more about It?"
"Other than the current seven righteous gods, only the Seven Pure Lights of the Spirit World. Those seven beings are fairly benevolent and know a great deal about the outer gods and Great Old Ones. They should know about the high-dimensional Overlooker."
"That's troublesome…"
Hastur sighed again, and Will couldn't help but ask: "What exactly happened that has you so worried?"
"Today Chief Reid's son was born. He wanted me to name the child. I couldn't think of anything suitable, so I tried to glimpse the baby's destiny."
Hastur carefully chose his words, so as not to make himself sound too unusual.
"…"
Will blinked and asked softly: "And then you received a revelation concerning the high-dimensional Overlooker?"
"Mm."
Will rolled his eyes and muttered:
"?"
"Then why aren't you dead yet?"
"I'm rather favored by fate."
"Are you sure you want to talk about fate with a Snake of Mercury?"
"…" Hastur stayed silent, letting Will's imagination run free.
"You're only at Sequence 7! How dare you recklessly pry into an existence of that level, an outer god!"
Will was very shocked. Even at his strongest, at most he could only peek at a god's little secrets.
Outer gods, those were terrifying beings even he would actively avoid!
If he dared to peer at them, he would definitely be tainted, with a great chance of dying a miserable death on the spot.
Hastur corrected him: "I only accidentally received a trivial revelation while peeking at an infant's fate."
Will looked at him like he was an idiot. "Do you think that makes any difference?"
"Of course it does. One is an active offense, the other is a passive accident."
"No matter how careless, it's still an outer god!"
Will's tone rose, not wanting to argue with Hastur about this anymore. After a moment's thought, he asked, "So what do you plan to do?"
"Couldn't make up my mind, so I came to discuss it with you."
"Don't drag me into this, I don't want to get caught up in that trouble!"
"Mm, let me think."
Hastur never intended for Will to get involved anyway, he only wanted to learn from Will a little about the High-Dimensional Overseer.
Unfortunately, Will didn't know either.
After a while, Will whispered: "Let it develop naturally. Just stay away from it, don't get involved, otherwise people will die."
"Don't worry, I value my life. I won't risk it so easily."
"That's good." Will nodded, then warned again: "About tonight, you'd better not tell anyone else. Otherwise, you'll bring trouble on yourself."
"Mm."
Seeing Hastur had his own thoughts, Will said nothing more, waved his little hand, and left the dreamscape.
With Will's warning, plus his own inclination to observe further, Hastur decided not to provoke this matter for now, and to keep his distance.
As for naming the baby… Voyeur?
That name should suit him well, right?
Hastur lay in bed thinking for a long time before finally falling asleep late at night.
The next day, he instructed Butler Neil that he would be away for a while and not staying at home. If anyone came to look for him, he should politely turn them away.
After arranging these things, he took a carriage to Grey's villa.
The security there was very strong. People like Chief Reid could never get close, which avoided potential contact between them.
Moreover, since Grey was to introduce him to the Prime Minister, staying with Grey for a time was a good choice.
Grey was clearly delighted by his arrival, and in the evening invited him to drink a lot of wine.
Fortunately, Hastur came prepared this time, he had taken one of Glaint's anti-drunkenness concoction's beforehand. Together with his barbarian physique, no matter how Grey poured him drinks, he handled them all.
In the end, it was Grey himself who couldn't handle it and raised a flag of truce.
Late at night, Hastur once again entered the Hall of Stars through his dream.
The other stars were as quiet as ever, but Hastur kept his gaze fixed on the star of the High-Dimensional Overseer, trying to determine the Overseer's powers.
It was already midnight. In the vision, Chief Reid slept on a single sofa beside the crib, while his wife slept on the bed. The baby lay quietly in the crib.
As the two slept, the baby, who had been sucking on his fingers and drooling, suddenly rolled over, and stood up directly from the crib!
From birth until now, not even three days had passed!
The sight gave Hastur the feeling of watching a horror movie.
The baby's body wobbled at first, then grew steadier until he stood firm.
He walked to the edge of the bed, stuck his little legs out over the side of the crib, and held the railing, gently swinging his feet.
He seemed in a very good mood.
While swinging his feet, he tilted his head, staring at his parents.
As if considering how to deal with them.
In the darkness, the baby's gaze appeared especially frightening.
Hastur, watching this, thought the High-Dimensional Overseer was about to kill his parents outright, leaving his just-born self an orphan.
But the baby only stared, with no intent to act.
After a while, Chief Reid's wife twitched slightly, stretching out an arm half-asleep toward the crib, habitually reaching to touch and check on the baby.
The baby stood up, wobbling, walked to the crib's edge, and climbed back in with short steps.
Just before Chief Reid's wife awoke, he appeared beneath her arm, letting her touch him.
At the same time, a loud cry rang out from him.
The cry quickly woke Chief Reid and his wife. They scrambled up, one hurriedly changing the diaper beneath the baby, the other gently patting him, trying to soothe him back to sleep.
This warm scene, completely different from just minutes ago, left Hastur speechless.
He couldn't help but marvel, this High-Dimensional Overseer really knew how to play.