Chapter 138 The Three States

After Hao Ren's reminder, everyone focused their attention on this seemingly insignificant detail.

From the first time Vivian came into contact with her evil spirit body, it seemed she could observe it in three different ways: First, everyone could clearly see the evil spirit body's appearance, but Vivian couldn't; second, she could observe the evil spirit body clearly, just like everyone else; third, no one could see the evil spirit body clearly, but Vivian could still clearly observe it.

What rules or secrets were hidden behind these three situations?

"In any case, this is definitely not a natural phenomenon," said Loli Sasha, although she was just a "newbie" who had just joined, she was no stranger to the relevant fields, "I listened to your descriptions, that 'evil spirit body' seems to be a kind of entity-possessing doppelganger, driven by negative mental power, although it is not controlled by the main body, there is still a certain connection between it and the main body, so Vivian will inevitably be affected by this connection when observing the evil spirit body. Except for her, everyone else here can be regarded as unrelated 'third-party observers' to the evil spirit body, so our observation of the evil spirit body should be the 'standard result', while Vivian's observation of the evil spirit body is the result after being affected. The error in her observation of the evil spirit body is not only due to her own or the observed target's side, but the connection between the two is changing."

Loli Sasha spoke of her guess in a flat tone, as if she was analyzing a scientific report, but the possibility vaguely revealed behind the guess made people feel chills, and Hao Ren frowned involuntarily: "The connection between Vivian and the evil spirit body is changing? What kind of change could it be?"

"Don't you think that Vivian's three situations when observing the evil spirit body have a sense of 'progression'?" Nangong Sanba suddenly interjected at this time.

Hao Ren glanced at him: "Progression?"

Nangong Sanba explained: "From not being able to see clearly when observing normal evil spirit bodies at the beginning, then being able to see normal evil spirit bodies clearly like us, to finally being able to see even the shapeless evil spirit body shadows, isn't this a progressive process?"

Lily immediately showed a realization: "Ah! The bat's eyesight is getting better and better!"

Nangong Sanba: "...Um... I don't think that's what I meant..."

"The connection between me and the evil spirit body is being strengthened," Vivian didn't care about Lily's interruption, she seemed to have guessed it long ago, so at this moment she just said lightly, "Whether I want to admit it or not, the connection between me and those negative doppelgangers cannot be severed, we ultimately come from the same source, so the appearance of this kind of change today... is also within expectations."

Lily immediately became nervous: "Bat, are you going to kick the bucket?"

Vivian glared at the husky girl immediately upon hearing this: "You can't expect ivory from a dog's mouth!"

Lily touched her mouth in confusion: "Is what you said an insult or a statement of fact..."

Vivian didn't take up Lily's words, but stood up and stretched: "Forget it, it's too late, let's talk about anything else tomorrow."

Lily looked at Vivian with a strange expression: "Bat, this doesn't fit your biological clock, according to the general rule, shouldn't you still be energetic for most of the night?"

"I didn't say I was going back to sleep right away!" Vivian put her hands on her waist, "I feel a little tired after so many things have happened! I want to go back to my room early to calm down and think about the future, is that okay?"

Seeing that these two seemed to be about to start arguing again, Hao Ren quickly stood up and blocked them: "Alright, alright, you two stop it—what Vivian said is also true, it's getting late, everyone just fought a battle in Aerytos, let's get some rest early today. I plan to go find Raven 12345 tomorrow, for things related to divinity, that female lunatic should be more professional than us no matter how crazy she is."

Everyone naturally had no objections, said good night to each other, and then went back to their rooms.

At this moment, it was late at night outside, and the lights of every household were gradually dimming. In the atmosphere of silence in all directions, the Hao family mansion gradually merged with the surrounding silence and soon became quiet.

While everyone else was falling asleep, Vivian was sitting on the bed in a daze.

This was indeed not her sleeping time—she had returned to her room early today, really needing to sort out her thoughts and chaotic memories, and calm down to seriously think about things related to the evil spirit body and herself.

The basement was not lit, and scattered rays of light came from the appliances in the corners of the room and the skylight above the wall. These hazy and dim lights were not enough to illuminate the room, but instead cast many vague shadows around Vivian. Vivian thought quietly among these shadows, and those shadows were also rippling faintly in her mental fluctuations, as if there were living things hidden inside.

This kind of contemplation lasted for a long time, some messy and broken memories appeared and disappeared, some shallow impressions that were not known to be true or false flashed through her mind, and the already dim moonlight outside the skylight had almost completely disappeared at this moment. It had fallen into the sea of ​​clouds at some point, hiding in the thick dark clouds, quietly peeking at the silent earth.

After a long time, Vivian raised her head, and as she raised her head, the deepest shadows beside the bed shook for a while, and then a vague shadow stood out from the darkness.

This shadow initially appeared transparent and illusory, blurry and distorted, a veil of black gauze shrouded her whole body, but soon, all these blurry places solidified, and she turned into a woman who looked exactly like Vivian, with no difference from her facial features to her figure. The only differences were her long blood-red hair and her turbid eyes that seemed to have no sanity.

The two "people" were facing each other quietly. If one wasn't sitting and the other standing, it would be like a reflection in a mirror.

However, Vivian seemed to turn a blind eye to the "evil spirit body phantom" that appeared in front of her. She just stared blankly in the dark, her gaze passed over the phantom and cast directly on a certain place in the corner of the room.

After being eerily silent for a moment, she stretched and yawned: "Forget it, let's go to sleep first, and ask the goddess with Hao Ren tomorrow... Why have I been so sleepy these past few days..."

She really didn't see the figure in front of her from beginning to end.

After Vivian lay down, the phantom of the evil spirit body did not speak. She just turned around silently, and a dark shadow like ink swept behind her like a cloak. Countless glimmers and shadows appeared in that shadow, and scenes from time flashed in these glimmers and shadows: the constantly disputed mythical era, the collapsing and disintegrating halls and temples, and the cold and desolate world ten thousand years ago—the severe winter left on the earth after the end of the Ice Age had not yet receded, and a god-made life stood on the earth.

This god-made life looked very much like Vivian, but with a strange sense of disharmony. That coldness and indifference seemed to hide a deep malice. This malice was suppressed under her delicate appearance, but it was already on the verge of bursting out.

The phantom of the evil spirit body went away, and the shadows she brought also dissipated in the air, but in the re-silenced dim basement, Vivian opened her mouth as if talking in her sleep: "I see..."

The night in the southern suburbs was still the same, and the small movements in the basement seemed to have no effect on the tranquility of this world. However, in the realm undetectable by humans, an unprecedented change was gradually enveloping this planet.

The vast universe is empty and boundless, and it seems that there is nothing lonely. However, in fact, the eyes of the world administrator always permeate everything, including the wide-area radar signals from the sovereign hub, and Raven 12345's "eyes" that cross time and space. The latter's vision sweeps across the entire universe day and night, and everything cannot escape the scrutiny of the gods—as it should be.

However, at a certain moment, on the third planet of the solar system, a small ripple broke out. This ripple was insignificant compared to the gaze of the god of the entire universe, but it had the same power as the god. In a time as short as the Planck unit, this ripple obscured the world administrator's perception and temporarily stole the authority of time and space near this small planet.

So in the streets and alleys, mountains and rivers, plains and forests of the earth, countless things that did not belong to this era, or even to this world, appeared instantly, and replaced the originally stable real world.

An ancient Roman army driving chariots appeared out of thin air in the center of the city, unicorns running wildly and golden-armored warriors wearing horned helmets appeared on the highway, a giant shining with thunder walked down from the clouds with his head held high, and Valkyries riding on pegasus streaked across the aurora in the Arctic Circle like meteors—the civilized world built by mankind over thousands of years was instantly fragmented, and phantoms from the desolate ancient era descended on the present world, and were inlaid with the modern earth to form a bizarre whole.

Strangely, after these things belonging to different eras and regions appeared, they seemed to have no effect on the operation of the real world—projections of the mythical era appeared all over the world, but the humans who witnessed all this seemed to ignore the scene in front of them and continued their daily lives as usual. Viking pirates swaggered through the downtown area, office buildings were crowded with senators from the Roman Empire, and humans in modern clothes moved among these strangely dressed "phantoms," as if they were soulless puppets.

What happened on a small planet was as insignificant as a drop in the ocean for the entire universe. However, the god's sight finally noticed this small "blind spot" in her field of vision, and her attention quickly focused over.

A moment later, Raven 12345's voice spread throughout the universe:

"Holy crap?!"