Zen-like

"Step one: they needed to find an 'Ark' that could smuggle them into the Alliance."

"To this end, the King of Xin cleared the Instance and faced the world's will directly, seeking a method of salvation."

"But in reality, he was aware of Azure's predicament and knew that Azure needed a body to escape."

"So he found Azure, who had merged with the world's will, and pretended to be deceived by him. He signed a contract with Azure to save Xin City, voluntarily allowing himself to be merged and sacrificing his own body."

"Under the influence of the world's rules, Azure was forced to fulfill this contract, but he had only one way to do so at that moment."

"So from the very beginning, the King of Xin's goal was to lead Azure into actively merging the souls of everyone in Xin City."

"By utilizing Azure's ability to remain conscious amidst soul mutation, he ensured that all the souls of Xin City would eventually form a soul crystal."

"I suspect he left a contingency plan, such as being able to sever the connection between Azure and the other souls at a specific time."

"Step two was to ensure they could survive the Calamity Rules."

"In fact, this condition was met the moment they were merged by Azure in step one."

"Because they were part of a single individual, they didn't satisfy the 'together' condition. And since they lacked self-will, they wouldn't feel 'pain'!"

"So even if the Calamity Rule ultimately became 'Do not feel pain,' they could perfectly evade it by controlling their connection with Azure."

"As for step three, the Pope made multiple preparations."

"He deliberately shared information with us, emphasizing the formation process and value of the crystals."

"If Azure failed within that world, the crystals would likely be brought back to the Alliance by us because of the Pope's hints."

"If Azure was discovered and killed within the Alliance, the soul crystal would remain through the King of Xin's contingency plan, preserving the chance for them to be restored."

"Even if Azure actually succeeded... I suspect they would have tried to kill Azure themselves to seize control."

Yes, so Azure, that guy, was meant to die from the very beginning.

The moment he merged with all the souls of Xin City, his fate was sealed.

Everything Azure did afterward, like trying to possess Ren Yi, had nothing to do with the people of Xin City anymore. They just had to lie low and wait for the 'Ark' to carry them out of the apocalypse.

Clap, clap, clap.

Dr. Lin clapped expressionlessly, his perfunctory manner making Ren Yi's face darken with annoyance.

"Wow, truly impressive," he said flatly. "But I have one more question."

"What if you were just too dense?"

Ren Yi fell into deep thought upon hearing this. After a long while, he looked up with a serious expression. "Did my brother... really not beat you up this time?"

Dr. Lin looked as if he had swallowed a fly. He snapped, "No, I mean, what on earth is going on inside your head?"

"Who told you to be so passive-aggressive today?" Ren Yi shrugged, sounding perfectly justified.

Dr. Lin took a deep breath to suppress his irritation and explained patiently.

"What I mean is, what if you hadn't deduced their plan? What if you had just gone ahead and refined the crystal without knowing anything?"

"Have you considered that possibility?"

"Uh..." Ren Yi was at a loss for words. A few seconds later, he said with a smile, "That's why I'm asking for your advice, Teacher Lin."

"True, the enemy's intelligence is also a serious concern. So, I think they must have left a backup plan..."

Dr. Lin struck a pose, looking all ears.

"Like being able to preserve their soul's will under certain circumstances and negotiate a deal with us directly."

Dr. Lin nodded.

"I get it."

"You mean this soul crystal could be conscious and even speak."

"Maybe it could even move on its own, float around like a ghost, and hover just five centimeters behind your head to give you a heart attack..."

"Right?"

...

The world suddenly became very quiet.

Ren Yi stared at Dr. Lin's smiling face and turned his head stiffly to look behind him.

A sparkling soul crystal was quietly hovering right in front of the tip of his nose, so close that he would bump into it if he tilted his head up even slightly.

Wait, I clearly had my perception active! Why wasn't this thing in my range?

Just then, the flying crystal finally appeared in Ren Yi's perception, albeit belatedly.

So... I was being interfered with by a certain jerk.

"Pfft... Hahahaha!"

Dr. Lin's laughter grew increasingly unrestrained behind him.

It truly proved the saying: adults are safest when things are dangerous, but they are the most dangerous when things are safe.

"This is how you're 'giving me advice'?" Ren Yi turned around, glaring at Dr. Lin through gritted teeth.

"Because there's nothing to advise on!" Dr. Lin shrugged, struggling to hold back his laughter as he walked over and patted Ren Yi.

"Little guy, the Alliance's rules are more powerful than you imagine."

"So, since it hasn't been struck down by the rules, it means it's already yours."

"You should just ask the owner for advice directly... I'm going to the fridge to see if there's anything good to eat."

With that, Dr. Lin coolly slipped into the kitchen and even thoughtfully pulled the door shut, leaving one Anomaly and one crystal staring at each other in the living room.

The crystal bobbed up and down slightly. Ren Yi could somehow tell that it seemed a bit embarrassed.

A second later, a somewhat familiar voice came from within.

"Uh... Mr. Ren Yi, actually, I've been trying to call out to you for a while, but you didn't seem to hear me."

The voice sounded exactly like Azure's, but miraculously, Ren Yi could immediately tell the difference between the two.

The owner of this voice spoke slowly, giving off a sense of being exceptionally emotionally stable.

"...King of Xin?"

Ren Yi looked the crystal up and down, but he couldn't tell anything from this bare crystal that had no features or patterns.

"It is I. Hello, it is a pleasure to meet you for the first time." The crystal's voice remained steady.

Ren Yi realized that 'first time' referred to his own first meeting with the King. From the way the King had called out his name just now, it was clear he knew what had happened in the Three Cities World.

"Have you been conscious this whole time?"

"No. It was that gentleman..." The crystal hovered and bobbed toward the kitchen. "He appeared suddenly just now and woke me up early."

"I see..." Ren Yi nodded, then suddenly got stuck.

What should he say next?

Although he had many questions, he suddenly didn't know how to start.

After all, based on the reactions of Dr. Lin and his brother, this person was already completely one of their own.

Asking those questions felt a bit like poking at a sore spot.

But wait, why am I the one looking for a topic?

What's with this atmosphere?

"Do you... have anything you want to ask me?"

The crystal tilted slightly as if thinking. After a long while, it spoke. "No."

After a pause, as if sensing Ren Yi's confusion, it added.

"From your conversation just now, I also know that there is a chance for everything I desire to be achieved."

"That is enough."

"Whether you believe it or not, we are very grateful to you."

"Furthermore... you are very special. In my view, meeting you is our good fortune."

He seemed to be carefully weighing his words.

"In short, to restore my city, I shall offer my loyalty."

"Oh, and of course, it's impossible to be disloyal anyway. Even if you don't trust me, you have to trust your world's rules."

He even felt like making a joke.

What exactly was with this atmosphere?

Ren Yi thought about it and understood why.

Suspicion, testing, bargaining—it felt like several steps had been skipped.

After confirming that his goal had a chance of being achieved, the King of Xin showed no hesitation about the future.

He firmly believed he could do it and naturally tried to make everyone around him believe it too.

For this goal, he assumed he would give his all, so there was naturally no need to bargain.

It was quite amazing. This person knew exactly what he wanted and what he should do.

But perhaps because he was too clear about it, his train of thought moved very fast.

And since the goal was a long and difficult one, he realized there was nothing he could do for the moment and needed time to learn and adapt.

In short, all of this resulted in him being a bit lazy now.

In other words, he had temporarily decided to just 'lie flat.'

And then... the atmosphere had somehow turned into this slightly relaxed state.

It reminded Ren Yi of a magical animal called a capybara.

It could explode with terrifying power in times of crisis, but when it wasn't dangerous, it was quite 'Zen-like.'

So, the King of Xin was actually this kind of person?

Over there, the crystal was still speaking slowly.

"Uh... saying all this feels a bit baseless. I'm not very good at expressing myself."

"If only the Pope were here. He would probably be able to say many grandiloquent things."

Ren Yi felt that if the crystal had hands, the King of Xin would be scratching his head right now.

All in all, it felt like a certain filter was slowly shattering.