Chén Yè's heart skipped a beat.
Nobles were greedy, cruel, disgusting, but this was worse. A being whose morality had been twisted by centuries of power and distance from humanity. For someone like that to keep him imprisoned for days, only to suddenly talk about purpose…
He was useful.
Chén kept his expression calm despite the thoughts racing through his mind.
"What purpose," he asked quietly, "is worth forgiveness?"
The boy smiled. "That is where you come in."
The boy turned fully toward him.
"You hate nobles," he said. "Deeply. That usually means you've suffered under them. Perhaps once. Perhaps many times."
He tilted his head.
"So let me ask you something, Chén. What do you believe is the root cause of all this?"
Chén thought. Emotion? No. Emotions only reveal themselves when people have power. They don't create corruption, they expose it. Remove emotions? Impossible.
He lifted his gaze.
"The problem comes from human emotions. But humans cannot exist without emotions. So in the end… the real problem is humanity itself."
The boy nodded slowly. "You're close. But not quite correct. Your conclusion would imply that the solution is a world without humans."
Chén shrugged. "Sometimes the answer isn't a solution. Sometimes it's just an acknowledgement of how completely screwed we are."
The boy chuckled softly.
He walked forward and sat on the edge of the bed.
"After centuries of observation," he said thoughtfully, "I came to a different conclusion. The problem is inequality. A child is born and immediately labeled a commoner. Another is labeled a noble. Simply because of the circumstances of their birth. A commoner must struggle their entire life to obtain what a noble receives as a privilege."
He gestured slightly.
"The true problem is inequality. The course of a person's life is decided before they even begin living. Because of birth. Because of circumstance. Because the world was tilted either toward them… or against them."
Chén studied him quietly.
"You're right. But your answer still isn't a solution."
"Explain," the boy said.
Chén thought for a moment.
"Inequality is life. Equality only exists in limited situations, for limited beings, within limited positions. Human beings can never all be equal. Equality and inequality are fundamental forces of existence."
The boy glanced briefly at Arven, then back at Chén.
"You misunderstand something. Equality does not mean identical outcomes. It means identical beginnings."
He stood and paced slowly.
"What I seek is a world where everyone begins from the same starting point. The determining factors of life should be equal. Everyone should stand on the same field. What happens afterward depends on intelligence, effort, capability."
Chén laughed.
"That's exactly what nobles claim. They say their power came from merit too." He shook his head. "And even if your system worked, it would still produce inequality eventually. It's a loop. You're not ending the system. You're just restarting it."
The boy stopped walking.
He seemed to consider that for a moment.
"I hadn't considered it that way," he admitted. "But I'm not speaking on a mortal scale."
His gaze sharpened.
"I'm helping you understand something first… so you can understand what I intend to do on a divine scale."
Chén frowned.
The boy continued.
"The equality I seek is different. I want to remove the greatest inequality of all. Some people form connections to concepts. Others never do. That single difference determines everything."
Chén raised an eyebrow. "Pardon?"
The boy suddenly stood on the bed, excitement lighting his expression.
"Imagine a world where every single person becomes a divine existence. No exceptions. A world where everyone evolves. A world where we control the forces that create the representation."
Chén's stomach twisted. He forced the reaction down.
Equal divine connections. Mass production of divine existences. Creating people specifically for certain concepts.
"And how," Chén asked slowly, "do you plan to do that? That's impossible."
The boy smiled.
"No, Chén. It isn't."
His gaze locked onto him.
"You're here now. You're the answer."