CHAPTER 484: CHAPTER 481: [HAIR-RAISING]

Chapter Four Hundred and Eighty-One: A Chill to the Bone

A man and a cat faced off for a long while.

Then, the Gray Cat suddenly asked in a strange tone, "That guy, Seed... how is it doing?"

Chen Nuo raised an eyebrow. "Seed?"

"Who else could it be?" grumbled the Gray Cat. "You carry its mark; you are its Chosen One. That is what baffles me the most. That guy is clearly sealed away, yet how did you become its Chosen One? Could it be that it has grown so powerful that, even in a sealed state, it can still come out and find itself a Chosen One?"

Chen Nuo thought for a moment and replied, "It should be fine, I guess. But it will be a while before it can come out. For now, it’s best to let it sleep soundly."

The Gray Cat sighed.

This plump Gray Cat gazed into the distance and said wearily, "Among us creatures, it is the most unique one—well, or rather, it always fancies itself as the most unique one. That’s why it proudly named itself Seed, as if the name ’Seed’ was reserved for its exclusive use."

Seed, SEED.

Chen Nuo chuckled.

Indeed, this was quite in keeping with that guy Seed’s way of doing things.

"Tell me about the being that sent you to look after this little girl... what exactly is it? Another Seed?"

The Gray Cat blinked. "If I say I don’t know... would you believe me?"

"Of course not," Chen Nuo shook his head decisively.

This cat was the sliest, and if one wasn’t careful, they would be easily deceived by it. More accurately, the Gray Cat didn’t lie—whatever came out of its mouth was generally the truth. But... this creature would conceal some important information.

"Then please explain," Chen Nuo sneered. "Someone asked you to take care of this little girl, yet you claim you don’t know who it is. So, how did this person communicate with you?"

The Gray Cat blinked, thought for a moment, and then said softly, "Well... just like that, a voice appeared in my head, telling me to come to London, find a little girl, and ensure she doesn’t die. Yep... just like that."

Chen Nuo’s eyes widened in shock!

In the mind... a new voice appeared??

Just like... in Chen Jianshe’s mind, a sudden voice guided his prophecy?

But... that’s not right! The Gray Cat is a Seed!

He exclaimed angrily, "Are you playing me? You plump Gray Cat!! You are a Seed! A powerful Seed, and yet someone invaded your Consciousness Space, input some voices, and you didn’t even notice?! I would never believe such a thing!"

The Gray Cat waved its paw. "But that’s the truth."

"From what you’re saying, this entity that spoke in your head... how immensely powerful must it be?!! Capable of casually invading a Seed’s Consciousness Space! Even Seed would not be able to freely penetrate your Consciousness Space, right?!!"

This logic was easy to understand—if one were powerful enough to casually invade a Seed’s Consciousness Space without the Seed’s awareness, then... they could also silently kill the Seed. This level of absolute overpowering strength, Chen Nuo absolutely couldn’t believe anyone was capable of.

"Why must you understand it as ’invasion’?" the Gray Cat shook its head. "To communicate with consciousness doesn’t always have to be a forceful, one-sided invasion... haven’t you ever considered that this might just be a basic ability of a Spiritual Life Form? It’s as simple as making a phone call."

"You make it sound simple. Can you do it?" Chen Nuo sneered. "Can you communicate with Seed on a consciousness level at will?"

"...Alright, I can’t."

The Gray Cat sighed, but quickly, its tone became serious. It answered sincerely, "I can’t do it, but I don’t think this unknown entity is as powerful as you believe it is... It can do this, maybe not because there’s a huge difference in strength. Maybe, just maybe, in terms of life form, it’s a little more advanced than I am. Do you understand what I’m saying?"

Life form... more advanced than a Seed?

Chen Nuo frowned. "Could it be... the Mother..."

He had intended to say Mother, but halfway through, he shook his head.

The Gray Cat shook its head as well. "It can’t be the Mother. If there was a Mother that could roam everywhere, that could communicate with the Seeds at will... then it could have long been commanding us to do anything."

After a pause, the Gray Cat looked at Chen Nuo. "Maybe, it is another existence I know of."

"??" Chen Nuo frowned at the Gray Cat.

"Another Seed... Perhaps, it’s the most special one among all of us Seeds."

Chen Nuo instantly bristled!

There are hidden settings?

What the heck...

"When the Mother gives birth to Seeds, it seeks a direction for evolution. But no one can be sure if this direction is the right one. So, what we know is that the Mother, at the time of our birth, also gave birth to another form of Seed.

"We call it: ’Zero.’ How Zero was born, what life form Zero has, these are unknown to us Seeds. We only know it’s very special. The path it follows is different from ours. Of course, it’s different! Otherwise, why would it exist independently of all other Seeds?

"We’ve only roughly speculated that maybe Zero’s direction of evolution is different from ours. Perhaps this is another attempt by the Mother. However, for a long time, none of us knew where Zero was, what exactly Zero was, or what direction Zero’s evolution took. In essence, it was an entity that had never shown itself.

"We even suspected that maybe Zero was hiding among us Seeds, but everyone was ruled out after investigation. Many, many years ago, when we were establishing the Seed Laws, there was a discussion. Our final guess was that maybe Zero’s direction was the opposite of ours."

"Opposite? What do you mean by opposite?"

The Gray Cat rolled its eyes. "How should I know? I’ve already told you it’s only a guess. When we truly can’t find an answer, when we really can’t find a direction, we can only make a random guess!"

Chen Nuo shook his head. "That answer can’t satisfy me."

The Gray Cat spread its paws. "Then there’s nothing I can do. Regarding the existence of ’Zero,’ all of us Seeds know very little."

Chen Nuo stared at the Gray Cat. "But I feel, you definitely know a little more than others!"

The Gray Cat shrank its head. "Why do you say that?"

"Because compared to other Seeds, you are also very special." Chen Nuo’s eyes sparkled. "You are the only one who declared withdrawal from the competition! So, I think you must know something that the other Seeds don’t. That’s why you are scared! That’s why you chose to withdraw!"

"It’s because I’m afraid of dying, okay!" the Gray Cat answered righteously.

"Fear of death always has a reason, doesn’t it?"

"..."

"..."

Man and cat looked at each other for a long time.

"Alright." The Gray Cat sighed. "But first, I need to ask you a question."

"Okay."

"Who are you, exactly?"

"I come from the year 2002," Chen Nuo replied directly. "Back in 2002..."

"Was I still alive in 2002?" the Gray Cat immediately asked its most pressing question.

Chen Nuo gave the fear-stricken lazy Gray Cat a sideways glance, "Alive!"

"...Phew..."

The Gray Cat let out a breath.

"Back in 2002, you were my pet."

"Huh?" The Gray Cat’s eyes widened again. "I... I was turned into a pet by Seed’s Chosen One?! What kind of move is this?!"

"Because you fear death, anyway... I don’t know why you followed me. But that was the situation. In 2002, Seed had already been unsealed and was the strongest of all Seeds. There were four Seeds left at the time: you, Seed, that entity from the Octopus Organization—oh right, its human identity was Kamisou Ichiro—and, there was another Seed, whose name I don’t know. I just encountered it and fought against it."

The Gray Cat waved its paw. "I know who it is. A sly fellow."

"Yeah, you could say that," Chen Nuo nodded. "Then, I unexpectedly encountered something and discovered a human being who possessed the Time Ability... I caught him, and as I entered his Consciousness Space, I was transported to this era. And that human with the Time Ability told me that he was able to have this Time Ability because, when he was young, suddenly one day, a voice started speaking to him in his mind..."

"Zero?" The Gray Cat immediately shivered!

Chen Nuo frowned and sighed. "Now it seems, it’s very likely it was Zero. Only..."

Why?

This was the question in Chen Nuo’s heart.

If this entity was Zero, why would it target Chen Jianshe? Why would it have the Gray Cat protect Louise, this little girl?

"My feeling... it seems to be targeting you," the Gray Cat said squinting, licking its paw.

Chen Nuo fell silent!

"That human who gained control of the Time Ability... is he related to you?"

"...Yes."

"Then, you arrived in this era, and you met this little girl. I always feel, the two things Zero did seem to be aimed at you. Whether it’s the human with the Time Ability or this little girl, they will eventually connect with you, so..."

So, it’s all related to me, and the target is all pointing at me?

Chen Nuo silently speculated.

"Now, tell me what you know," Chen Nuo said with a frown. "I came back from 2002 to this era, and you don’t doubt it at all?"

"If it’s Zero’s doing... then perhaps these things aren’t so strange," the Gray Cat shook its head. "The Time Ability... the timeline, huh? A fascinating direction of evolution."

"Tell me what you know about Zero!"

This time the Gray Cat pondered for a while before finally speaking, "Do you know why I chose to drop out of the competition?"

"Because you fear death, you’ve said as much."

"Yes, I fear death. But as you just asked... why would I suddenly start fearing death?"

"..."

The Gray Cat whispered lowly, "There’s a question that no one has ever thought of, that no one has ever asked... Everyone thinks everything is as it should be, as if it’s all logical, as if it’s all happened naturally..."

"What question?"

"The question is this: initially, all our Seeds were fine on their own. After birth, we all knew our objective was to find the Mother. Whether we found one or not, the original intent of the Seeds was very pure.

"But suddenly...

"The Seeds began to change their minds!

"They all started thinking about self-evolution, finding the Key to evolution, becoming higher life forms...

"Suddenly...

"They began to murder each other, to take each other’s Life Force!

"Suddenly...

"The number of Seeds began to dwindle, many Seeds dying in the mutual slaughter—we call it competition!"

Chen Nuo frowned. "This matter, I’ve heard Seed talk about it... It said that initially, it awoke, realizing it wanted to seek a higher path of evolution..."

The Gray Cat looked at Chen Nuo with a smirk. "Tell me, in your words, what does ’awakening’ mean?"

"Awakening? Awakening naturally means..."

Chen Nuo spoke halfway through effortlessly, then suddenly, he clammed up!!

His expression was filled with shock!!

Thousands of years ago, or perhaps tens of thousands...

One morning or maybe an evening.

A Seed was sipping sweet morning dew or had just killed a prey and was luxuriating in cool river water...

Watching the sunrise or gazing at the sunset...

Suddenly, a question arose in its mind.

What is the meaning of life?

Why must I find the Mother?

Why can’t I become the Mother myself?

Why not seek the direction of life’s higher forms on my own?

And then...

The Seed awoke!

—Is this what awakening is?

This was what Seed had described as its awakening.

Perhaps that’s how the other Seeds awoke too.

But...

That sudden voice that appeared in one’s mind, raising those questions...

Was it really one’s own?

That voice, that sudden consciousness that appeared in one’s mind...

Was it really, truly one’s own?

Chen Nuo’s face was one of horror as he looked at the Gray Cat.

The Gray Cat quietly watched Chen Nuo.

Chen Nuo’s voice was dry. "Your guess, about that so-called awakening, is..."

"Yes! That’s what I’m guessing, and that’s why I became afraid," the Gray Cat replied.

Chen Nuo suddenly felt a chill run down his spine!