CHAPTER 1496: CHAPTER 1496: FOURTEENTH OFFICIAL COPY WORLD SETTLEMENT (SUPERSIZED CHAPTER, MONTHLY TICKET REQUEST)

Night Peeping, He Ao gazed at this name.

The name was quite fitting.

Until now, He Ao had no idea who the divine being behind the simplistic eye sketch was, did not know Their true name, nor Their communication ritual. His understanding of Their power was limited to knowing They could construct a simplistic eye sketch.

However, judging from Di Man’s situation, this divine being should be extremely skilled at concealment, even able to directly cover up or erase a person’s existence, with an authority presumably related to secrecy.

From the state of this Character Card, it was highly likely this divine being was the one who finally intervened to save ’Paxiu’, preventing ’Paxiu’ from being torn apart by the Witch of Desire.

But this likely wasn’t a good thing.

Unlike the straightforward God of Knowledge and the Witch of Desire, this secrecy-related divine being is the classic type who secretly schemes behind the scenes and uses Their authority to hide Their existence, a voyeuristic old coin.

If not for Their need to reclaim the divine power from Di Man, and out of interest in He Ao, wishing to peep into He Ao’s secrets.

He Ao estimated that even if he died, he would never see this guy’s true form.

That this guy was willing to go to such lengths to save He Ao showed he was very interested in He Ao’s ’secrets’.

This time the Character Card involved fewer divine beings, but the trouble was probably greater than the previous Character Card involving many divine beings.

After all, chaos often implies opportunities, the more divine beings involved, the more that could be leveraged.

With one divine being fixated, it meant He Ao had to truly face this divine being.

Like the older sister, an old friend, He Ao understood Her quite well so he dared to tentatively use Dream Phantom for a brief moment.

But in opposing such a master of concealment, He Ao could not be sure if his means of confrontation were truly effective, whether he had not really been discovered.

If he thought he hadn’t been detected, delightedly enforcing his plans, and then was traced back by the other side, that would be a ’surprise’.

Unless he truly mastered a method to bypass this divine being’s ’surveillance’, otherwise, even if he exchanged for this Character Card, it would be unusable.

As He Ao’s thoughts flowed, a new subtitle appeared in his field of view.

[Would you like to pay 13 Exchange Stars to redeem ’Night Peeping’? (You currently have 10 Exchange Stars available.)]

Thirteen Exchange Stars.

Two more Exchange Stars than Suote’s ’Circular City’.

What do these two extra Exchange Stars signify?

Is the power involved in ’Night Peeping’ higher than Suote’s ’Circular City’ or Linen’s ’Whispering Lock’?

Does that make sense?

He Ao had not even figured out why Circular City and Whispering Lock required so many Exchange Stars, and now even more had appeared here?

Is the power involved with Paxiu more complex than Suote and Linen?

No, on the contrary, the power related to Paxiu was simpler.

It’s not necessary to use the lower to deduce the higher, you can also infer the lower from the higher.

Is there something especially unique about Paxiu, relating to higher powers?

No.

He Ao knew very well that before the final battle, ’Paxiu’ was hardly involved with beings above the Angel level.

Therefore, the issue must have arisen in the last fight.

This time, the battle’s conclusion was not much different from previously, with divine beings involved, though the older sister had dealt with them, it wasn’t the first time she had to do so.

Thus, the variable was that new voyeuristic friend.

Or rather, it was with Di Man.

The core reason this ’new friend’ joined was that the divine power of the concealment-meister was stolen by Di Man, forcing Them to step in to reclaim Their power.

This event’s distinction from the previous ones lay in the power ’stolen’ by Di Man.

He Ao didn’t know what exactly happened at that time, but from the current situation, it seemed ’Paxiu’ was tied with those divine powers and even partially fused with them.

Precisely because of this, ’Night Peeping’ required such a high number of Exchange Stars.

’Usurper God’?

This term popped into He Ao’s mind.

Were the high Exchange Stars demands of ’Circular City’ and ’Whispering Lock’ for similar reasons?

This conjecture also sparked some other thoughts in He Ao’s mind.

Judging from this event, the divine being with the stolen power, the one mastering ’concealment’, seemed sneaky enough and cautious enough.

Yet Their power was easily stolen by Di Man, and even up to the end, They may not have regained complete control over Their power, possibly leading to its fusion with ’Paxiu’.

He Ao quietly gazed at the calm face of the card, at the flickering yellow glow, the dim night, and the purple glow extending from afar.

Either this divine being was not in good condition themselves, or They were ’schemed’ against.

Of course, it may also be both.

Did Di Man acquire divine power, not by some ’accident’?

In that moment, He Ao suddenly thought of Ines.

Super Memory was a soul-level Talent Sequence, so he naturally noticed Ines’s soul was off early on.

Ines’s soul issue was prominent enough that even without contact or peering into her memory, He Ao could roughly guess her state.

The complex soul composition caused her thoughts to more easily leak to the surface; although He Ao couldn’t spy on her deep thoughts, he could still vaguely sense her ’recognizing’ Paxiu through the perception of Super Memory.

Precisely due to this recognition, He Ao refrained from contacting Ines or peering into her memory.

He didn’t have full confidence that Chief would not notice his power passing through Ines’s body.

Even if Chief indeed didn’t notice, if Ines reported to Chief about their interaction, it would arouse suspicion from the old fox.

The final outcome was that ’Ines’s’ ’testimony’ lost all credibility.

Chief letting Ines introduce him, He Ao could guess the intent.

He was ’suspicious’ of him.

The contrast in Paxiu’s ability before and after was too drastic.

Eight years of mediocrity, being completely manipulated, becoming a puppet for assassinations of the President, a pawn at the mercy of the higher-ups.

But in just one night, as if enlightenment struck, executing various extreme measures, even showcasing Angel-level power.

Not to mention Chief, if He Ao himself encountered such a situation, his first reaction wouldn’t be ’Paxiu had an awakening’, but rather ’this guy is possessed by an Angel or an Evil God?’

Chief’s suspicion was normal; He Ao could even guess Di Man’s first reaction of doubt.

To know, Di Man was probably present when He Ao first dealt with the Dark Lizard in Denno City.

His reason for not intervening likely stemmed from fearing the unknown tactics of ’K’, afraid of revealing his presence outside the city, making it harder for him to reenter.

But as the puppet master orchestrating all of this, he also knew about ’Paxiu’, it was impossible not to be suspicious.

Among those below Angels, the Transcendents perhaps didn’t have such a clear understanding of special abilities, and weren’t that easily suspicious of He Ao’s identity.

After reaching the Angel Level, especially after witnessing the bizarre powers of different angels, He Ao’s first reaction now when encountering abnormal situations is, ’Is someone scheming against me?’.

Not to mention the angels in the Copy World, who are basically as cunning as old foxes.

Even Levi, the reason why there’s no explicit ’suspicion,’ is because when He Ao was acting under the identity of Linen, Levi was still locked in the Abyss.

When he came out, he had to fight alongside He Ao, so he was forced to trust He Ao. Of course, He Ao also earned his trust with his actual abilities.

He probably had his doubts too, but that was after He Ao’s Copy World ended.

Besides, before He Ao, Linen and he had little interaction. The one who truly fought side by side with him and built trust was actually ’He Ao.’

So, the last time He Ao used ’Pete’ to go to Yilan City, he could actually feel it.

Levi didn’t care about ’Linen’s’ identity.

But this time the situation was entirely different from Yilan City; He Ao was exposed to the angel’s gaze from the very beginning.

Whether it was Di Man or the old director, they were likely watching him from the start of the assassination case.

Moreover, there’s a high probability that both sides doubted his identity at the beginning.

So He Ao’s biggest crisis in the early stage was not actually how to thwart Di Man’s schemes and the Dark Lizard, but how to prove to both sides that he was ’Paxiu.’

Or in other words, to make them willing to believe that he was ’Paxiu.’

Of course, He Ao could tell that the old director’s doubts were even more than Di Man’s.

Just ’Ines’s’ testimony could only make the old director lean toward one side but couldn’t dispel his suspicions.

So ’Paxiu’ must perish together with the ’Dark Lizard.’

Hatred can’t be faked.

An outsider angel, no matter how well they act, can’t gamble their life on the hatred of the body’s original owner.

He Ao originally had the chance to drive the Dark Lizard away. When the Dark Lizard was escaping at the end, if He Ao did not forcefully kill the Dark Lizard, he wouldn’t have been on the brink of death.

In fact, at the time, the condition for resolving the situation just required driving the Dark Lizard away. From an ’official duty’ perspective, as long as He Ao drove the Dark Lizard away, he would have completed the task.

So in reality, neither the old director nor Di Man probably expected that He Ao would directly exchange his life with the Dark Lizard.

And this was clearly a ’personal vendetta.’

If He Ao had only driven the Dark Lizard away, although he would have achieved the goal, the old director and Di Man would have only confirmed their suspicions.

Once they confirmed their judgments, it would be difficult to reverse it later.

Then He Ao’s task would slide directly to the brink of failure.

However, He Ao exchanged his life with the Dark Lizard, was severely injured, and on the verge of death. Even if the old director guessed that this was He Ao’s strategy of turning light into dark.

He would also feel that He Ao was truly ’Paxiu’ in the genuine sense.

This strategy was too crazy, only with enough hatred could one accomplish it.

This move was very risky, but the effect was excellent.

He Ao really almost died there.

In the end, when He Ao finished off the Dark Lizard and encountered Di Man’s sneak attack, he truly had no defensive power left.

If Boris hadn’t arrived in time, he would have most likely died there.

As for Boris, He Ao actually had met him.

In fact, he was the elderly who chatted with He Ao in the rain at the South Gate fast-food restaurant.

He was instead the first angel to come to meet ’Paxiu,’ and He Ao estimated that he also doubted ’Paxiu’s’ identity.

Their encounter had a touch of chance.

He Ao did not expect an angel to appear in such an old fast-food restaurant, so at first, he didn’t even think about it.

Furthermore, Boris concealed himself well, completely like a mortal.

He Ao only vaguely sensed the other’s extraordinary nature.

Of course, in the Extraordinary World, perhaps there are no complete coincidences.

Boris might have had the intention to find Paxiu, only to ’happen’ to ’meet’ in the cafe.

And Ines might not have been genuinely ’accidentally’ appearing.

Judging from the state of her soul fusion, Ines essentially was closer to an Evil Spirit transformed from a deceased’s obsession, but she had a complete body, a complete Talent Sequence, and apart from her soul, everything else about her acted no different from an ordinary person.

Following the old director, He Ao could feel that her ability to maintain her current state likely had something to do with the old director.

But her power was completely different from the old director’s.

This indicates that the old director was probably not the core element that led to her birth.

And Ines’s power attribute was purple.

This differed from the power attributes of Di Man and that Hidden Divine Being.

Among the Divine Beings He Ao has come into contact with, the only one who clearly exhibited purple power attributes was the Elder Sister.

Moreover, the beauty and allure Ines displayed were also similar to the Elder Sister.

Originally He Ao had no related suspicions, but after seeing the Character Card in front of him, he vaguely realized that Ines’s ’origin’ might not be so simple either.

Although from ’Paxiu’s’ deep heart, he hopes for the existence of Ines.

Even if it’s just in this form, it’s also a continuation of the lives of those familiar people of his.

But this is too much of a coincidence.

Combining it with the affair of Di Man easily seizing Divine Power, the story became even more pronounced.

Since coming into contact with the Fate Spinning Wheel, He Ao has developed a subconscious doubt towards all these ’coincidences.’

In fact, he also slightly ’nudged’ fate’s threads during this incident.

He did not very strictly interfere with destiny, but merely stimulated the part of the memory regarding the fear of casualties in the subconscious of the City Defense Army soldiers, making them appear more ’cautious’ in battle, thereby reducing the death rate of the South City Defense Army.

Of course, he also used this as a way to test the strength of destiny’s backlash, exploring the boundaries of his own power.

Only by understanding the cost of power can one truly grasp power.

However,

He Ao’s gaze once again fell on the card in the field of view.

If these ’coincidences’ truly have a cause, since the power of that Hidden Divine Being reached Paxiu, then this Character Card is tied to even more things.

Shaking his head, He Ao exhaled slightly.

But speaking of which, there is no Character Card of his that doesn’t have a complex story behind it.

Anyway, this Copy World was ultimately successfully completed.

The card in his field of view slowly put away, and his gaze shifted to look at the words appearing on the other side.

[Calculating the mainline mission evaluation...]