Chapter 954

“It’s fine.”

After listening carefully to Atifi 00’s account, Prince Andre nodded, then smiled and replied:

“According to the Assassins’ Guild’s assessment, the Head of the Scorpio Branch isn’t quite at the Pillar God level, but he’s very close—by the Cleaners’ standards, that’s about 70 Leon points.”

“And the materials you have are just the flesh of ordinary True Gods who died long ago; they differ greatly from human bodies, and even the best quality barely exceeds 60 Leon points. It’s not your fault you can’t fully repair him.”

“...”

Is Andre... being too easygoing today?

Watching Andre, who remained calm even after learning the true condition of the Scorpio Head’s body—and even volunteered to excuse her—Atifi 00 felt a deep unease.

A primal instinct, leftover from the human brain and distinct from mechanical computation, was screaming warnings at her: if this abnormality wasn’t broken, disaster awaited.

“Actually, his soul has some flaws too.”

Unconsciously clenching her fist, Atifi 00 spoke calmly:

“You know his soul’s strength differs fundamentally from all previous experimental subjects. My soul encoding technology cannot yet perfectly decode such a powerful soul.”

“So, just like his body, if that Leon truly forces him to his limit or delivers excessive stimulation, his soul might break free of the soul encoding’s control.”

“Yes, you’ve mentioned this before.”

Andre nodded again, his expression calm:

“I remember you proposed a solution: if his soul shows signs of breaking free, immediately scramble the soul encoding to plunge him into 24-hour unconsciousness, then revive him once his soul stabilizes...”

“What’s wrong? Has this added safety valve failed too?”

“No, that hasn’t failed...”

“Then there’s no problem.”

Smiling at Atifi 00, Prince Andre said:

“Since you’ve done your best, no matter the outcome, I won’t blame you... By the way.”

As if remembering something, Andre turned to the visibly uneasy Atifi 00 and asked curiously:

“Aren’t you constantly using mechanical computing power to calculate my probability of victory? What’s the current percentage?”

“Um... roughly...”

Heart pounding, Atifi 00 instinctively stepped back half a pace, then explained:

“Last time it was seven to three, but that Leon Prince is stronger than I estimated, and the Scorpio Head’s condition is worse than before, so your win rate dropped slightly—but it’s still around sixty percent, higher than his.”

“I see.”

Andre nodded noncommittally, then smiled.

“I still trust your calculated probabilities. But why did the odds shift from seven-three to six-four? Is it because the Scorpio Head’s condition is poor—or because you’re fully switching sides to that Leon Prince?”

?!!!

He knows?!

Hearing Andre’s question, Atifi 00’s heart jolted, yet she smiled and countered:

“My dear Andre, Auntie loves you dearly. How could you have such a strange thought? You...”

“Don’t worry, I’m not blaming you.”

Andre interrupted her, smiling calmly:

“Though you have no good intentions, I allowed you to interact with him. Otherwise, I could’ve simply ordered you via the Time-Split Scepter to avoid him entirely.”

“...”

Amid Atifi 00’s startled and uncertain expression, Prince Andre walked to the corner of the room, took out an easel, set it up, then calmly continued painting while asking:

“I suspected you might have collaborated with him. After all, I kept you locked away for years—it’s natural you harbor resentment, and wanting to overthrow me with someone else is even more understandable.”

“But from the details of your ‘collaboration,’ it seems he’s the mastermind, while you’re entirely subservient—led around from start to finish. So...”

After sketching a few strokes on the old canvas nailed to the easel, Andre lifted his head, curiosity in his eyes:

“Auntie Atifi, has he gotten hold of something on you?”

?!?!

Looking into Andre’s curious eyes, Atifi 00 felt a sudden chill down her spine.

The “leverage” he held over her was the truth of that incident years ago—and worse, she wasn’t entirely innocent in it, as Leon had claimed.

While Philia and Andre’s “illness” was real, there were other solutions besides sacrificing Philia: periodically damaging parts of these children’s brains, modeled after ordinary human brains.

This process was painful, accompanied by irregular memory loss and intermittent motor dysfunction, with side effects potentially lasting into their thirties or forties—or even lifelong—but it would let both children survive.

But I didn’t want Philia’s extraordinary talent wasted, so I moved several scholars capable of proposing and completing this solution over a year early, forcing Fein to choose only “one out of two,” ultimately making Philia into Atifi 01.

If Andre found out about this...

“So it’s something you can’t tell me.”

Staring into Atifi’s eyes and sensing a firm resolve, Prince Andre paused his brush, frowning slightly in frustration.

“Your expression tells me that if I force you with the Time-Split Scepter, you’d rather violate soul encoding rules and be temporarily shut down than confess to me.”

“Yes.”

Taking a deep breath, Atifi 00’s expression calmed again, and she smiled at Andre:

“Andre, everyone has secrets they don’t want others to know. Learning not to pry into them is an unspoken rule among adults. Not touching others’ secrets benefits you, me, and everyone.”

“Heh.”

Hearing Atifi’s words, Andre let out a quiet laugh, then said with amusement:

“Funny. Father once said you always hated ‘unscientific’ things like social niceties. I never thought you’d say something like this.”

“...”

“Alright, since you won’t tell me, I’ll guess myself.”

Lowering his head, Andre sketched two quick strokes with his brush, capturing Atifi 00’s figure in one corner of the canvas. Without looking up, he said as Atifi’s expression darkened:

“Auntie Atifi, the secret you’d rather trigger soul encoding shutdown than tell me—is it about that ‘one out of two’ decision involving me and Philia all those years ago?”