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Academy City, District 7 - the Windowless Building.
After returning to Academy City, Fang Li did not immediately go home with Sylvia and Index. Instead, he had Sylvia take Index back first while he himself came here.
As if they had already anticipated Fang Li's arrival, a guide had been waiting before he even arrived, leading him into the building before hurriedly leaving.
Thus, Fang Li once again arrived in that vast chamber sealed off like a cage.
There, within the life-support device filled with medicinal fluid at the center of the room, floated the being whose gender could not be determined, and which could hardly even be identified as human, remaining unchanged as always.
"How was it?"
The voice of the Board Chairman, known as Aleister, slowly echoed throughout the surroundings.
"Did you enjoy the fight?"
Clearly, Fang Li's duel with Kanzaki could not be hidden from this monster-like being who had long since transcended ordinary humanity.
Fang Li merely raised his head and looked toward Aleister floating within the life-support apparatus.
"Didn't you already know the result?"
In response to Fang Li's words, Aleister calmly replied: "At most, I merely derived the outcome after calculating all possible factors. As for the exact details, even I cannot know them."
After all, the fifty million UNDER_LINE terminals spread by Aleister existed only within Academy City.
But the location where Fang Li and Kanzaki fought was in the outskirts beyond Academy City.
There were no UNDER_LINE terminals there.
Of course, the artificial satellites Academy City had launched into outer space could likely monitor that area, but the footage could not be transmitted to Aleister immediately.
Because of that, Aleister could only calculate possibilities rather than directly obtain the result.
"Even though your opponent was a Saint from the Magic Side, someone whom even nuclear weapons cannot harm unless deployed in sufficient quantity, it should not have posed much difficulty for you."
Aleister spoke softly.
"And if you were capable of using the power you displayed during the Misawa Cram School incident, then even a Saint could be defeated in a single blow. This is the unified result obtained after more than 23.54 million calculations conducted by Tree Diagram, with an accuracy rate reaching 99.99%."
Those machine-like words, spoken as if by an emotionless instrument, were enough to send chills through anyone who heard them.
Yet Fang Li merely narrowed his eyes before suddenly smiling.
"You're still trying to probe me?"
With a single sentence, he directly exposed Aleister's true intention.
It seemed Aleister still placed considerable importance on the power Fang Li had used back then.
Of course, Aleister himself would never admit it outright.
"It is merely the most basic form of information gathering," Aleister said indifferently. "The level of a collaborator's abilities determines the outcome of an operation. Naturally, I must understand you to a certain extent."
"Then this 'certain extent' should already be enough, shouldn't it?" Fang Li corrected him. "Besides, we're not collaborators. You merely hired me for a reasonable reward, and only for a single job."
"Even if it is only once, the result of that one occasion is still something that must be obtained," Aleister replied. "And I do not underestimate any result."
"Is that so?" Fang Li shrugged and asked, "Then have you already decided what kind of work you intend to have me do?"
The only response Fang Li received was this answer:
"Within my plans, there are approximately three hundred and sixty-three tasks in which you could play an indirect role, and forty-eight tasks in which you could play a decisive role. According to my calculations, among these four hundred and eleven tasks, the results you can achieve are the most optimal. Although the substitutes could still accomplish the most basic objectives, their outcomes would not compare to yours."
Though the wording was somewhat ambiguous, Fang Li understood instantly.
In other words, Aleister was still calculating the method by which Fang Li's value could be maximized, allowing the completion rate of his plans to be optimized as efficiently as possible.
That was the work Fang Li needed to complete.
"You really do trust me quite a lot," Fang Li said with a meaningful smile. "Aren't you afraid I might deliberately ruin things and cause your plans to go up in smoke?"
Words cold enough to freeze the air itself failed to shake Aleister in the slightest.
"If you wished to destroy my plans, you could do so at any time. Just as you said before, with the power of your Mystic Eyes, you need only kill the AIM Diffusion Fields throughout the world," Aleister said calmly. "And since you have not done so, that proves you currently have no intention of becoming my enemy."
Otherwise, if Aleister had sensed hostility from Fang Li, he would have already taken countermeasures.
"Only…" Fang Li said with a faintly smiling expression, "that's just for now."
"Of course I understand that," Aleister replied softly. "If I were to do something you disliked, then you would immediately become my enemy, correct?"
"And you're the same, aren't you?" Fang Li answered with an indifferent smile. "If I do something harmful to your plans, you'll eliminate me immediately as well, won't you?"
Aleister's response to that was simple.
"Naturally."
In other words, the relationship between Fang Li and Aleister was like walking a tightrope, capable of collapsing at any moment.
Fang Li understood this, and Aleister understood it as well.
Yet neither of them made any attempt to hide it, causing the already frozen atmosphere to grow heavier and heavier, enough to make breathing difficult.
Just as in the past, the atmosphere between Fang Li and Aleister was one of drawn swords and bent bows—dangerous to the extreme.
If someone timid were standing here, their legs would probably go weak from merely remaining in the room.
Precisely because he understood this, the guide had panicked so badly earlier and hurriedly fled.
That guide, who had probably never before seen anyone confront Aleister in such a manner, had likely been scared out of his wits.
"In any case, if you don't currently have anything for me to do, then it'll probably have to be delayed," Fang Li said to Aleister. "I'm planning to leave Academy City for a while in the near future."
Aleister immediately fell silent for a moment before speaking again.
"Where do you plan to go?"
To that question, Fang Li gave an answer devoid of even the slightest politeness.
"No comment."
Hearing this, Aleister showed no reaction and simply continued asking:
"Will that Diva be accompanying you as well?"
"Of course."
"And what about the Index Librorum Prohibitorum?"
"She'll remain in Academy City."
"Then there is no problem."
The conversation ended there.
Under those circumstances, Fang Li directly turned around and prepared to leave.
Before departing, however, he tossed out one final question.
"Oh, right."
Without turning his head, Fang Li suddenly asked:
"You already predicted this entire development before handing the Book of the Law over to me, didn't you?"
Fang Li's question drew a quiet laugh from Aleister.
Then he answered:
"At most, it was merely the result derived after calculating all possible factors."
(End Of This Chapter)