Two days later, at the Casnoe Imperial Palace.
Emperor Kevinlit sat in his study, having spent a full twenty minutes reading the investigation report submitted by the Allen siblings.
He recognized every word on the report, but when they were put together... they felt increasingly alien the more he looked at them.
Especially that one sentence—
【No projection of his existence can be found in time.】
Kevinlit stared at that sentence several times, his brow furrowing tighter and tighter. No matter how he looked at it, this didn't seem like a proper investigation report.
What did it mean, to be unable to find a projection in time? Was it possible to erase one's own existence from time itself? Even the gods probably couldn't achieve such a feat.
So many people had direct contact and communication with him, and yet they were telling him he couldn't be seen in time? What a joke.
Kevinlit set the report down and slowly pressed his hand against his temple, rubbing it.
Noah and Leah's records were very detailed—the alleyway, the warehouse, outside the temple, the side door, Mokotoba’s house. They had attempted to retrospect every location where the man named Li Yuan was confirmed to have appeared.
The results were perfectly consistent: Li Yuan himself could not be seen, no matter what.
Kevinlit rubbed the space between his brows again.
If someone else had delivered such a report, he would probably suspect they were playing a prank on him.
But the ones who had written this report were the Allen siblings.
The Allen family’s talent for Time Retrospection had never failed in the empire’s records. As long as the location and time were correct, they could see images of what had happened in the past.
This was precisely why he had sent the siblings to the City of Divine Grace, yet they had brought back something like this.
Kevinlit leaned back against his chair and remained silent for a long time.
The siblings were not in the palace at the moment; they were still in the City of Divine Grace following up on related investigations. Otherwise, he really would have wanted to call them over and ask them exactly what this report was supposed to mean.
Kevinlit felt that he couldn't just puzzle over this on his own; he needed to find someone who actually knew the trade.
And the person who understood Time Retrospection best within the empire was undoubtedly their grandfather—the current patriarch of the Allen family, Oslama Allen.
Early the next morning, Kevinlit did not convene a court assembly. Instead, he changed into low-profile, dark-colored common clothes, took two personal guards, and went in person to the Allen family’s estate located in the North District of the Royal Capital.
Unlike the flamboyant mansions of other nobles, this residence looked very ancient and simple. There were no exaggerated statues or emblems at the entrance, only a brown stone plaque carved with the family crest.
By the time Kevinlit arrived, Oslama was already waiting in the foyer.
The old man looked older than his actual age, with completely white hair and a slightly hunched frame, but his spirit was exceptionally vigorous.
He bowed to Kevinlit.
“Your Majesty.”
“No need for formalities,” Kevinlit said, raising a hand in dismissal. “This is a private visit today. There is something I would like you to look at.”
Oslama did not ask questions and led the Emperor into the study.
There were no superfluous decorations in the study; bookshelves lined all four walls, and an old magic lamp and some volumes sat on the desk.
Kevinlit handed over the report. After Oslama took it, he glanced at the signatures on the cover.
Noah Allen and Leah Allen—this made his expression turn slightly more serious.
Kevinlit stood by the window, waiting patiently. After a long while, Oslama finally stopped reading, his gaze lingering on the sentence 【No projection of his existence can be found in time.】 His brow was deeply furrowed, and his expression grew solemn.
Seeing his reaction, Kevinlit’s heart sank slightly, sensing that this was not a simple mistake.
“How much credibility does this report have?”
Oslama did not answer immediately but looked up and asked in return,
“Does Your Majesty believe Noah and Leah have any reason to fabricate a false report together to deceive you?”
Kevinlit was speechless; they certainly didn't.
The Allen siblings were investigators directly under the royal family with clean backgrounds, and their family’s roots were in the empire. They had no motive to risk the crime of deceiving the monarch by writing such a report.
Kevinlit remained silent for a moment before continuing, “Then what is going on with this situation?”
Oslama looked down at the report and shook his head.
“I have never encountered this either...”
Kevinlit’s brow furrowed even tighter. A situation that even this living fossil had never encountered was indeed unexpected.
Oslama spoke slowly, as if explaining and defending his grandchildren at the same time.
“Time Retrospection is not omnipotent; it is affected by certain conditions. For instance, incorrect locations, time deviations, or a lack of substantial connection between the target and the scene can all lead to incomplete images. But like what is in the report... where everyone else exists but a single target has completely vanished? That does not fall within the normal range.”
“In other words, it’s not a problem with their ability?”
“No.”
Oslama’s answer was firm.
“If the ability were failing, the entire scene would be chaotic, rather than just missing one person.”
Kevinlit said in a low voice, “Then someone has erased their traces?”
“That doesn't seem like it either.” Oslama shook his head. “Erasing traces still leaves traces behind; time is not a piece of paper that can be altered at will. What they saw is more like that person was never recorded by time from the very beginning.”
The study fell silent again. Kevinlit felt this statement was even harder to understand than the one in the report. If he could, he would rather deal with government affairs than discuss temporal issues here.
Never recorded by time from the very beginning? Then was he even human?
Oslama closed the report and placed it back on the desk, saying slowly,
“Your Majesty, I need to look into the relevant records. Perhaps there will be a mention of this in the family’s collection of books.”
Kevinlit nodded.
“Inform me immediately if you find anything.”
“Understood, Your Majesty.”
Kevinlit did not stay long and left in a hurry—he had a lot of work waiting for him and couldn't spend all his time on this.
After he left, Oslama stood alone in the study for a long time. It wasn't until the sound of the carriage outside had completely faded that the expression on the old man’s face slowly darkened.
He picked up the report and read that sentence once more: “No projection of his existence can be found in time.”
Then, he turned and walked toward the back of the study, where there was an extremely ordinary-looking bookshelf.
Oslama reached out and pressed on the spine of an old book on the far left of the third shelf. The bookshelf slid open silently to both sides, revealing a narrow stone staircase behind it.
He picked up the magic lamp and slowly walked down the stone steps.
At the end of the steps was a hidden underground library.
The air here was very dry, and the surroundings were filled with sealed book chests. Each chest was marked with very old seals, some of which had become brittle at the edges.
Oslama came to the innermost row of chests and used a key to open one of them.
Inside the chest lay an ancient tome and a small compass.
The writing on the cover of the ancient tome had become blurred; one could only faintly see the two characters for “Heavenly Secret,” and they were not in the common tongue of the Ogu Continent, but in an entirely different script.
The compass was even older; its wooden casing had lost its original color, but the needle remained as good as new.
Oslama placed the ancient tome and the compass on the table, the dim yellow light falling on the cover of the tome, making it look incredibly dark.
He reached out and stroked the cover of the ancient tome, a very complex emotion surfacing in his eyes.
He slowly opened this long-buried book and lingered for a long time on several yellowed pages.
To his side, the compass needle actually began to rotate slowly. Oslama stared at that needle, remaining silent for a long time.
Finally, he let out a low sigh.
“So, it has finally come...”
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