thefictionvixens Page 200
Page 200
Chapter 214 She will observe the newborn from afar.
Before going to sleep, Latis woke up the simulation panel again.
As he watched the panel light up again after the countdown ended, he suddenly fell into deep thought.
The emulator previously stated that it lingers within the flow of time and space, and that if it were to interact with reality, it would need a day to stabilize its state. So, does this mean that the emulator's own state is actually not very stable?
Latis kept this guess to himself for the time being and continued to think:
"I'm still cautious about the simulation function, mainly because I'm worried about the potential trouble it might cause after learning that people with high magic affinity can sense the simulated experience. Until I'm certain it won't affect my own safety or the safety of those around me, I'll put it on hold for now."
More importantly, I don't want Art to dream about those separation scenes anymore...
He sighed, pondered for a moment, and then said:
"Simulator, could you please answer the question I didn't get answered last time? It was about my time travel. Also, how can I prevent others from sensing the simulation happening? For example, how can I stop the simulation, uh..."
He wanted to ask something more, but then he remembered what the simulator said about the unstable state, so he stopped talking.
"Anyway, if I ask too many questions, it'll just use the word limit as an excuse, tsk. Judging from the previous replies, the emulator itself isn't really a little female, is it? Damn it, I don't want that kind of thing!"
Latis rubbed his tingling scalp and continued to think:
"However, interdimensional travel should still be able to proceed without affecting the current plane. Hmm, I'll try again when I have enough time."
He shook his head, glanced at the dark room, and felt a little regretful that he couldn't share a room with Jennifer like in the simulation.
"But for some reason, not explicitly expressing my feelings seems just as good. Could it be some kind of unspoken understanding? Love is truly a mysterious thing! In other words, I'm so lucky that these feelings can happen in the present moment, and that I can consciously experience and remember every little detail..."
Latis laughed, then yawned and closed his eyes.
……
【Dear Mr. Latis, hello!】
The concept of a "past life" may not be accurate; whether Zhuangzi dreamt he was a butterfly or a butterfly dreamt he was Zhuangzi is a matter of a single thought. However, one thing is certain: I do not possess the power to resurrect the dead. Perhaps you will acquire such miraculous abilities in the future... In short, the answer to your question is "you are not dead."
[You should have already noticed that even two simulations conducted within a short period can produce drastically different outcomes, because even a slight difference in understanding can have a huge impact on the future. If you now feel that spending too much time in the simulation might pose a danger, your simulated self will naturally choose to terminate it. Of course, the form in which you terminate it is not something your real-world self can control.]
Goodnight, Mr. Latis.
……
……
Elegant white parasols fluttered in the air.
Slinger, one hand hooking the parasol, glanced at the desolate trade route on the distant ground, then raised her bright eyes to look at the rising sun peeking through the cracks in the floating island. Her golden eyelashes fluttered, and she murmured to herself:
"Am I too early...?"
She shook her head, slightly turned her body, and rode the wind. Instead of using "flight magic," she used simple "lightness magic" and control of the wind direction to drift unsteadily toward the ancient tree that had already revealed its shape.
For high-level mages, achieving this level by harnessing the power of nature is quite normal. Their ability to use magic essence is already highly refined; the difference lies in their innate affinity for magic essence.
Some people can activate magic essence with a mere thought, while others need to sense the flow of magic essence itself and cast minor spells to achieve the same effect... However, under the magic network, everyone is equal, and even the most powerful mage cannot use spells if they are far away from the magic network.
Slingk exhaled, intending to check the magic network for any new requests, when suddenly his gaze froze as he looked at the figure waving his hands on the canopy of the ancient tree, and a smile involuntarily appeared on his face.
"Lord Latis arrived even earlier than me!"
……
……
"Jennifer has already started conquering the Tower Fortress Ruins with Gan Gan, following the strategy I provided. As long as the weather doesn't change drastically, the method shouldn't be too difficult."
"By the time I get back, I should be just in time to enter the Tower Fortress Hall. Then Jennifer and I will take down the necromancer..."
Latis stopped the thoughts swirling in his mind and looked at Slingk, who was gracefully flying towards the treetops with his clothes fluttering in the wind. He couldn't help but admire him in his heart.
Bathed in the morning light, her exquisite dress and parasol resembled pristine clouds. The flowing skirt swayed in the breeze, subtly revealing the lace ribbons above her white stockings.
Looking upwards, past the leather belt resembling a corset and the intricate ruffled collar, Slinger's golden eyes, though unfocused, seemed to gaze gently at the earth, reflecting a brilliant light.
She smiled and nodded at Latis, the breeze around her gradually subsided, and she gently landed on the treetops, closing her parasol.
Good morning, Your Excellency Gouzi.
"...Hey!" Latis, who had been in a good mood, suddenly felt a sharp pain in her head, slapped her face, and cried out in despair:
"Little princess, please don't say that name!"
Slinger's golden eyes slightly shifted her gaze. She seemed to have learned something pleasant, a slight smile playing on her lips. Then, she gave a very proper bow and said:
"Lord Latis, I learned from Lord Zerris that you urgently wished to see me. May I ask what brings you here?"
"Hmm..." Latis scratched his head, feeling that letting her take out the flower branch to revive the ancient tree was a bit too abrupt. So, a thought suddenly struck him, and he remembered that there was something he could ask her, so he quickly said:
"There are a few things. First of all, uh, have you ever seen this pattern before?"
He took out a blank scroll and roughly sketched the pattern on Torso's badge.
"Huh, an ally of the royal family?" Slingk said in surprise as he took the scroll.
"An ally?" Latis perked up and asked, "Could you elaborate?"
"However, I've never seen this ally's emblem before..."
Slinger muttered something to himself, then looked up and smiled, saying:
"Your Excellency Latis, you see, the flower in the background of this pattern is the Siyuan flower from the Imperial Capital. It is named Siyuan flower because the shape of its petals resembles the slender head of a mandarin duck and the patterns inside resemble the eyes of a mandarin duck. The Imperial Capital is also called Siyuan Flower Castle because it is a specialty of Siyuan flowers."
"If you are a member of the royal family, there should be a circle of hibiscus flowers around the edge of the badge, and your personal image should be engraved in the center. For example, the badge I gave you last time has my name on it."
Latis took out the badge from before and looked at it. In the middle, there was indeed the words "Slinger Whiteley" in gold lettering, and you could also vaguely see the silhouette of Slinger himself.
"As for the shape you drew, it is a symbol of royal allies. It is usually engraved with the family crest or a specific symbol... However, I have never seen the symbol you drew before. It may be Her Majesty the Queen's private ally or a very distant organization."
Slinger, at this point, couldn't help but feel a little puzzled.
“I see…” Latis stroked his chin, thought for a moment, and asked, “When you return to the capital, is there any way to find out who owns this badge?”
"There may be records in the royal library."
Slinger blinked, then shook his head and said:
"But it's not guaranteed that you can find it. In fact, only a minority of the royal allies will wear their badges. For many allies, cooperation with the royal family is just an exchange of benefits. Wearing it is like telling others, 'I'm making money off the royal family,' hmm..."
“Alright! Well, for most people, it’s really not appropriate to wear this badge!” Latis couldn’t help but shudder at the thought of a nouveau riche nobleman constantly shouting, “I’m making money off the royal family,” while other nobles stood by and said, “Who asked you?”
He touched the goosebumps on his arm, thought for a moment, and still felt that Torso didn't seem like that kind of foolish nobleman, so he asked:
"Under what circumstances would the owner of the badge openly wear it?"
"Um……"
A gust of wind blew by, gently ruffling Slink's hair. She listened intently to the distant howling wind for a moment, her face showing a thoughtful expression. But to Latis, who knew that Slink would talk to herself when she was thinking, Slink's silence at this moment meant she was just daydreaming.
After waiting for a moment, Latis reluctantly stretched out his hand and waved it in front of Slinger.
"Little princess? Asleep?"
"Eh?" Slinger snapped out of her reverie, her golden eyes turning back unfocused. She coughed lightly, gave a curtsy, and said:
"If an ally feels that there is no unspeakable exchange of benefits, or believes that its alliance is legitimate and something to be proud of, it should wear its badge without any concealment."
“That makes sense…” Latis pondered for a moment, then suddenly felt a burning gaze fixed on him. He looked up and saw it was Slingk.
He scratched his head and asked, "What's wrong, little princess?"
“No.” Slingk shook her head gently, letting her braided hair sway around her ears, and said with a smile:
"I am just surprised that when we first met, you gave me a clump of Morning Glory flowers, and the second time we met, it was under this ancient Morning Glory tree."
"It's truly an amazing thing..." she murmured to herself, then, after organizing her thoughts, said:
"You may not know this, but when I was a child, I often came here. Back then, this area wasn't so desolate..."
Slinger walked to the edge of the treetop, bent down slightly, and gazed into the far distance:
"However, the adults told me back then that the ancient tree had already died, and I wondered: Do trees also die? If there is no life that is forever vibrant in this world, how should people face the changes of life?"
She turned to look at Latis, who had walked up to her, blinked, and asked, "Your Excellency, what do you think I'm thinking?"
"I don't know!"
Latis sighed inwardly, then frowned and forced out, "You, you would think, well... that it's enough to shine brightly enough in a person's short life?"
"Lord Latis seems to have a very good impression of me..."
Slinger loosened her gloves so the cool breeze could cool her slightly warm palms. She shook her head and said:
"Actually, I wasn't thinking about anything."
"Huh?" Latis was taken aback.
“Hmm.” Slinger nodded and said with certainty, “The adults say that this tree has been dead for more than ten or twenty years, but I have never seen the moment it died. To me, its death has continued from the first time I saw it until today... That’s far too long on a human life scale.”
“So you can’t know what death feels like from it,” Latis said suddenly, as if struck by a sudden realization.
“Yes.” Slingk gently bent down and reached out to touch the cracked bark on the tree trunk. The bark crumbled instantly without any adhesion and scattered into the air with a gust of wind.
She glanced at the tree trunk, now bare in patches from her gentle touch, sighed sadly, and said:
"The time I spent with it was merely a slow, careful observation of its lingering influence fading after its death. If the feeling of death is so bland, then should the desire for life also be completely undisturbed? I cannot know..."
So, in the simulation, your first ending will be such an ordinary and uneventful death...
As Latis watched Slinger's hair flutter in the wind, she suddenly felt that there were some things she should do for her, and that perhaps it would be more memorable than her watching the changes happen on her own.
So he crouched down, glanced at the spot where the bark had just peeled off, nodded, and said to Slingk:
"Little princess, could you please lend me the Morning Glory flower branch that I gave you last time?"
"……Eh?"
Slingk's eyes widened, and he tilted his head curiously. He took out a flower branch from the dimensional rift and handed it to Latis, saying:
"I'm still looking for a suitable place to plant a grove of Morning Light Flowers. When I get back this time... Hey! Lord Latis?"
She stared blankly as Latis forcefully poked a hole in the tree trunk and then inserted the flower branch. Faced with such a bold scene, even the composed and calm princess couldn't help but open her mouth and stammer, "..."
"Your Excellency, what... what are you doing?"
"Shh!"