Chapter 4032

"If an external soul is to satisfy the definition of a new life, must it either abandon everything to be reborn, or possess no past of its own?"

Xia De pondered deeply, and the old man nodded with certainty:

"Apart from these two possibilities, even if an external soul enters a completely new body, it does not count as the birth of a new life."

Xia De felt he had grasped something of great importance; according to Mr. Finch, he knew of one example that met the criteria: "an external soul entering a completely new shell, yet still counting as the birth of a new life."

【You...】

"She" hesitated with words unspoken, while Xia De, filled with some excitement, asked in his mind:

"You also agree that is a new life, one that could potentially become the 'Child of the End', correct? I am speaking of Ms. Helena Carter!"

【...】 Yes.

"Although her soul originally belonged to the 'Moon Sorceress', that soul had, due to the Time Curse before her death, essentially transformed into a tree. After her death, she first manifested as a tree, then transferred from the tree into the Moon Egg. Dac Dac Nisi and I even worried she might lose most of her memories.

She has died once; everything from her past can never be retrieved. Essentially, even if she is not a dragon, she can only be considered a tree, absolutely no longer human."

From this, Xia De's thoughts turned to the matter of "Black Sand Pier"; the souls sent far away by the 【God of the Ferryman】 also counted as opening a brand new second life, though their "death" was not as pure as Ms. Carter's.

In this way, Luvia's conjecture turned out to be possible; if the "Moon Egg" could hatch by seizing this opportunity, then Ms. Helena Carter would also meet the requirements of the "Child of the End".

Besides the information regarding the Spark, the 【Order of the Hidden Light】 also supplied Mr. Finch with a batch of materials, allowing him to continue monitoring the situation in the Arcadia region.

Mr. Finch then freely gave Xia De some interesting alchemical items he had crafted, as a reward for the precious intelligence Xia De had provided.

Of course, beyond that, Mr. Finch himself had some intelligence to share with Xia De:

"Traces of 【Skin-Things】 have appeared locally. I suspect the true form of that Sage-level Relic has emerged. You should pay attention to this matter recently.

Previously, you mentioned Skin-Things to me and spoke of the power within the depths of the 【House of Fakes】 related to that ancient God of Creation. Come to think of it, the 【Skin-Thing Guild】 might also possess vast vitality. Even if you do not wish to become the Chosen One, it is necessary to go and stop those cultists and illegal Ring Mages from extracting that vitality."

Xia De was not surprised by the news that the 【Skin-Thing Guild】 might appear; from the moment he saw a Skin-Thing among the heirlooms of Vige's mother, he had guessed the 【Skin-Thing Guild】 would eventually emerge. The outsider with the Ten Rings possessed extremely powerful intuition.

"A Sage-level Relic... I will pay attention."

Xia De nodded, and Mr. Finch added:

"Additionally, you mentioned to me that Lady Connaught is suspected of having connections with a follower of an Unknowable-level Relic. Recently, the local Liming Sect received a report and has already arrested her, but last weekend, she died."

"Oh?"

Xia De was very interested in this matter, quite expecting it to be related to that mermaid:

"Is there definite news? How did this person die?"

"A friend of mine in the local Liming Sect said that after eating breakfast, she claimed to feel somewhat tired and wanted to rest. As a result, after she lay down, she never woke up again. The Sect performed an autopsy on the corpse afterward; you absolutely cannot guess what the Sect discovered."

"Was the corpse a fake?"

Xia De thought of the situation regarding Vige's mother:

"Could the Sect have let someone escape? If this is true, that would be too shameful."

Mr. Finch shook his head:

"No, no, no, the corpse was real, but during the autopsy, it was discovered that Lady Connaught was merely a layer of skin, and the one wearing that skin was not Lady Connaught herself. The identity of the deceased is still under investigation, but with the assistance of the Prophets' Association, it can be determined that the time since that layer of skin was created was not long.

After the charity banquet last Friday, did the Sect not take away that Viscountess and her young lover? The skin was likely peeled off after that. As for whether Lady Connaught was forcibly replaced in identity, or whether she shed her own skin to escape, that is difficult to say."

Xia De took a deep breath:

"When the Sect captured her a second time, did they not detect any traces of a Skin-Thing?"

"Skin-Things, like high-level Fakes, are very difficult to detect without specific means of inspection. The craftsmanship of Lady Connaught's Skin-Thing was extremely superior, and it is highly probable it was directly crafted by a high-level 'Skin-Crafter' from within the 【Skin-Thing Guild】."

Mr. Finch lifted his teacup and took a sip:

"Combined with my investigation revealing the appearance of 【Skin-Things】 in the local black market, that is why I say the true form of the 【Skin-Thing Guild】 is suspected to have appeared in the Arcadia region. You know, this Relic dispatches 'Skin-Crafters' as advance scouts; once enough people wearing Skin-Things gather, the Guild will actively reveal itself, allowing them to truly become members of the Guild."

"The Skin-Thing has become entangled with the 'Mermaid'."

Xia De thought to himself, and began to ponder whether wearing a Skin-Thing in pursuit of charm aligned with the 'Mermaid's' pursuit of desire.

Mr. Finch spoke with Xia De at length this morning; when discussing matters concerning the Chosen Ones, he also sighed:

"If a truly new life is to emerge, I hope such a life will help us delay the arrival of the End, or help us survive better in an End environment.

Whether flesh and blood, machinery, or even something stranger, I hope that although its birth time is very short, it can be friendly to this world, capable of building bonds with this world from zero, able to fight against those ambitious individuals who seek to make the world slide faster into the abyss of the End, and even after the Era of the End arrives, be able to walk within it to defeat powerful evil creatures."

Xia De felt that the thing he described seemed very much like himself.

At noon that day, Mr. Finch finally found an opportunity to treat Xia De to lunch. The two found a mid-level restaurant in the Outer City to dine; although the dishes were likewise local cuisine of the Arcadia region, the flavor was still very different from that produced by the chefs at the Fragrant Mansion.

After lunch, Xia De did not continue to disturb Mr. Finch, but instead planned to check on the situation at the Blue Ink Library. After he confessed everything to Vige in a few days, he would be able to enter and exit the library normally; Xia De intended to discuss with Miss McDonald the matter of placing the 【Hamilton Detective Story Collection】 in the library.

However, when Xia De arrived at the Blue Ink Library, that tall Miss was not there; after inquiring, he learned that the Miss had an urgent matter and had returned to the school laboratory.

"Going to school is truly hard work."

The outsider, who no longer needed to attend school, sighed; he then thought of the three children of the corpse that died from "Wither", so while he had time, he went to visit them again.

Vige had already arranged for someone to handle the neighbors, planning to arrange work and schooling for the three children this week. The children all still recognized Xia De and already knew Xia De was a good person, so they invited him into the house as a guest; the slightly older girl even brewed tea for Xia De.

"Big brother, do you know where mother went?"

The youngest child, holding a brand new teddy bear, asked Xia De this, but was immediately held back by the slightly older girl who pressed down on his shoulder. Thus, for the rest of that afternoon, no one mentioned this topic again.

Xia De then thought of the boy Little John he had helped in the Green Lake region; that had been a year ago. Now the boy worked at the Green Lake Inn while attending school, and his life had completely gotten back on track.

For most people, this era is always filled with various tragedies; even for the seemingly very powerful Thirteen Witches, not everyone's life goes very smoothly.

The outsider possessed the determination to change this world; however, the primary contradiction facing the entire civilization now lies not within the civilization itself, but in the world approaching its final destruction, and the outsider is not yet truly strong enough to change the world, so now is not the time to handle these problems.

While spending this afternoon with the children, the outsider, who had stopped walking, also pondered many things. The story of Creation reminded him once again of what would happen in the future; the seemingly long path of witnessing the Thirteen Chosen Ones is now actually nearing its end.

He would change all of this, change everyone's tragedies. This was not a responsibility forced upon him by anyone; it was a path he willingly chose. Even if at the very end of this path, as the deceased Dark Chosen One Ivan Darknis said, the outsider would be the most tragic one, he would not regret it; he would fight fate with all his might.

Xia De stayed with the three children until four in the afternoon before taking his leave. The three children were merely another scenery he had briefly passed on his journey of adventure; he had encountered many such people in the past, but the outsider would remember them... He sincerely hoped the children would not appear on the battlefield of "Past Life: City of the End".

Since Flora had arrived in Arcadia City, Xia De had to meet her. As the time was not yet particularly late, Xia De set out again for the Fragrant Mansion.

However, when he arrived at the mansion in the Upper City, neither Vige nor Flora were there, but Miss McDonald had already returned from school. She had changed into another dress; when Xia De knocked on the door, she was also preparing to go out:

"Mr. Watson, how coincidental that you have arrived; I was originally preparing to go to the Blue Ink Library to wait for you."

"What is the matter?"

"The teacher and another lady have gone out, but news came from Gray Rock Pass just ten minutes ago: the Misses who took the detector you gave them to investigate the graveyard outside Gray Rock Pass have discovered traces of 'Wither' again."