"Wei Qing, that's enough!"
"Do you think I'm three years old?! Akivili resurrected? Transfer three hundred million credits to fix the Astral Express?! If you're going to lie, at least make it sound believable!"
Herta was furious. She genuinely hadn't expected that—even now—Wei Qing would still be cracking jokes.
"Ruan Mei, where's your truth serum?"
"If last time didn't work, then this time just up the dosage—pour it down his throat until he dies!"
Ruan Mei still looked calm, but even her gaze at Wei Qing carried a trace of helplessness.
"Herta, my truth serum is about quality, not quantity. If it didn't work on Lord Wei Qing last time, it likely won't work this time either."
Just like that, she casually admitted she'd drugged him before.
"Oh?" Wei Qing asked, feigning ignorance. "And what does Lady Ruan Mei mean by that—are you saying you poisoned me in those pastries last time?"
"Lord Wei Qing, why ask what you already know?" Ruan Mei replied evenly. "If you hadn't noticed my little trick, how would you have come up with that whole story about me 'discussing aesthetics with Nous' just to mock me?"
Wei Qing's face showed surprise, then slowly turned into an amused smile.
"So that's how it is. I thought you simply had… unique culinary skills. Didn't expect it to be such creative craftsmanship. Seems next time I sample your desserts, I'll need to be a bit more careful."
"Enough, Wei Qing." Herta cut in.
"Last time, fine. But this time I'm not letting you bullshit your way out."
"If you tell us what you saw in the simulated world, then I, Herta, will agree to do one thing for you—anything, as long as it's within my power!"
Her expression left no room for negotiation. To pry open the secrets of an Aeon, the genius clearly didn't mind paying a steep price.
Ruan Mei didn't speak, but her tranquil eyes expressed the same expectation.
Wei Qing looked at the two geniuses, hunger for knowledge practically leaking out of them. He knew that if he didn't give them something real, he wasn't leaving today.
And maybe… when it came to that unpleasant "death prophecy" tied to [Finality], these two might actually be able to help.
He paused, then said, "Alright. The Aeon that descended just now was indeed not Akivili."
Herta and Ruan Mei's focus instantly sharpened.
"I met Fuli of [Remembrance]," Wei Qing said slowly. "It showed me… some prophecies about the future."
"[Remembrance]?! A prophecy of the future?" Herta's eyes widened. "About what? Aeonic movements? The structure of the cosmos? Or—"
"It concerned certain possibilities… about me," Wei Qing cut her off. His tone turned subtle, heavier. "Possibilities that… aren't exactly pleasant."
"It said that in the near future—within a hundred years, or a few hundred—I will die."
"I will be killed by [Finality]."
"You'll die? Killed by the King of the End… by Terminus?" Herta repeated, stunned. "Fuli personally showed you this prophecy?"
The information was so shocking that, for the moment, she forgot to interrogate the details of how Aeons communicated.
An Emanator being prophesied to die at the hands of an Aeon?
And not just any Aeon—Terminus of [Finality], the most mysterious one of all?
From what Herta knew, Terminus was an Aeon that moved against time, a being from the future. [Finality] drifted like a ghost through the cosmos, murmuring prophecies that must come true.
An Aeon with no apparent subjective will—yet in Fuli's prophecy, it would kill Wei Qing in the future?
"Did Fuli say anything else?" Ruan Mei asked, frowning.
"No." Wei Qing shook his head. "After telling me that, it left."
Herta's brow furrowed even tighter.
"Setting aside why [Finality] would kill you… why would Fuli go out of its way to tell you this?"
"Just like [Finality] has always been described as purely recording an inevitable end, [Remembrance] has always been about recording, too. I've never heard of Fuli interfering so directly in a mortal's fate."
Then Herta suddenly laughed—bright, thrilled, almost feverish.
"Interesting… so interesting!"
"An Aeon actively intervening, pointing to another Aeon's future act of killing! The variables and contradictions in this… Wei Qing, you have to cooperate with us!"
"This is a once-in-a-millennium opportunity. We might finally peel back a corner of the logic behind Aeonic behavior."
"With a genius like me involved, we can absolutely analyze it—and avoid that future!"
"You're that confident you can evade a destiny 'set' by an Aeon?" Wei Qing asked, genuinely surprised.
"Destiny?" Herta waved a hand. "That's just what people call it when they don't have enough information!"
"If Fuli let you see it, that means the future isn't completely closed. Otherwise why bother? The Aeon of Remembrance isn't sentimental—this act itself is a massive variable."
Wei Qing couldn't help laughing at how serious she was.
"Then I suppose I should thank Lady Herta for being magnanimous enough to help me despite my… minor offenses."
After a brief pause, his eyes flicked to the mangled wreckage around them.
"Looks like the Poor-Observation Array still can't withstand an Aeon's gaze. In the short term, there's no way we're using it again to get more information."
Only then did Herta seem to remember the sparking, ruined devices. She glanced over the expensive debris with a brief wince—then her excitement swallowed it whole.
"Broken is broken. We got most of the data recorded anyway, and we've basically grasped the core principles. We can build another."
She made a dismissive gesture, utterly unbothered.
"Compared to that, an Aeon-level death prophecy? That's a research subject we've never had before!"
"Wei Qing." Herta leaned in, speaking fast. "How about a trade?"
"A trade?" Wei Qing asked carefully. "Go on."
"Simple!" Herta said. "We'll use every resource and every bit of our intellect to analyze this death prophecy—search for any loophole, variable, or method to evade it."
"But in exchange—we get to study you."
Ruan Mei didn't say a word, but her eyes made it clear: she agreed completely.
Join here to read ahead.
In Star Rail, Ultra-Beast Armored — Have I Caught "Equilibrium"? l (Chapter 80)
Uma Musume, But I Only Have Five Years Left to Live (Chapter 120)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 100)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League (Chapter 100)
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter89)
Yu-Gi-Oh! — Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl (Chapter86)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter63)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter75)
Can Playing Games Save the World? 53
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 57
From Junkman to Wasteland 35
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