On the empty stage, the lights were stark white.
The curtain fell on the theater, leaving only ruins.
Sunday and Robin stood together, and in the shadows, several silhouettes silently appeared—the enforcers of the Hound Family.
"Are they here?"
Sunday's voice was unusually calm, as he prepared to accept his fate with composure.
He shielded Robin behind him.
"This has nothing to do with Robin; please do not involve her."
The leading Hound's face was hidden behind a mask.
"Former Head of the Oak Family, we only act according to the rules. The Hound Family Head will make his own decision."
"You..."
Sunday's eyes suddenly sharpened, but Robin gently pulled his sleeve and shook her head.
"It's alright, brother."
Her voice was gentle, but her gaze was incredibly firm.
"This time, we'll face it together."
The Hounds closed in step by step, the air seemingly sucked dry, making it suffocatingly oppressive.
Just then.
An indescribable burning sensation descended out of nowhere—not fire, but a kind of will, enough to burn even souls to ashes.
All the Hounds' movements froze, rigid in place.
A figure in a black robe with white hair had appeared behind them, unnoticed.
Phainon slowly walked to the front of the leading Hound, and casually placed a hand on his shoulder.
It was clearly just a light, understated gesture.
Yet, the Hound's alloy shoulder armor groaned under the unbearable weight, his body trembled violently, as if carrying a thousand catties!
"I still prefer things simple," Phainon said indifferently. "One person acts, one person bears the consequences. It's very fair."
He turned his head slightly, his gaze fixed on the leading Hound.
"Or... does your Hound Family want to use this opportunity to change Penacony's power landscape?"
The surroundings fell into a dead silence.
Only the frantic pounding of the Hounds' hearts could be heard.
They wanted to speak and explain, but found they couldn't utter a sound.
The man before them wasn't negotiating at all; one wrong word, even a single character, would put their lives in danger!
"Gentlemen, what are your thoughts?"
Phainon's fingertips gently tapped on the Hound's shoulder armor.
Tap, tap, tap—
Each sound was like the tolling of the Grim Reaper's bell, striking their very souls.
"If not, I don't mind paying a personal visit to your Family Head."
The leading Hound's psychological defenses were completely shattered.
He used all his strength to force out a smile.
"Brother... Brother's words, we... we completely agree!"
He suddenly turned his head and roared at his colleagues behind him, who were already terrified.
"What are you looking at! Aren't you going to take the former Family Head to rest?! You have no foresight!"
Then, he looked at Phainon and smiled again, "Brother, do you think this handling is acceptable?"
Phainon nodded, "Hmm... it seems you have plenty of time. Do you want to continue chatting with me?"
"No, no, no, we have other important matters."
A storm thus subsided.
The Hounds hurriedly left with Sunday, not daring to spare Robin another glance from beginning to end.
Phainon came to Robin's side, "He is a noble person, he just chose the wrong path."
Phainon watched Sunday's receding back, then changed the subject, his voice so soft that only the two of them could hear.
"You know many things better than I do. Don't worry, Sunday will be fine."
Robin composed her emotions, and smiled slightly, "Thank you..."
—
Phainon stood alone atop a building in Dream's Edge.
He overlooked the city, just awakening from their long dream, but felt no joy in his heart.
The battle was over, but the mysteries in his heart grew like an abyss.
path: Erudition (Activated), Destruction, Elation, The Hunt, Nihility, Harmony
Authority: Omniscience and Omnipotence (Activated)
Omniscience and Omnipotence: To define the known within the unknown is Omniscience and Omnipotence.
He looked at the system panel that had been bound to him from the very beginning.
In the past, he had merely passively accepted.
Now, he wanted to flip the chessboard.
Phainon used the Authority of Omniscience and Omnipotence to define the panel as "known."
Phainon's will transformed into a sharp blade, stabbing fiercely at the system interface!
Buzz—
The panel shook violently, constantly shifting, with countless garbled characters streaming down like a waterfall.
The system was resisting!
It refused to be spied upon!
Phainon's gaze did not waver in the slightest.
Before his will, the system's defenses were like paper.
Finally, with a crisp cracking sound, he forcibly unlocked the system's highest authority.
The panel before him was no longer singular, but transformed into an incredibly complex control interface, like a supercomputer that recorded destiny in real-time.
Phainon clicked on the 'Archives' section.
Observation Target Record Files
The first line of text made his brow furrow slightly.
Observation Target: 628-718 Universe "Phainon", high-dimensional life, alternate-world counterpart.
Record 001: Observation Target "Phainon" encounters the Astral Express, beginning to load... Samsara Reincarnation Data Backup No. 1-33550336...
Observation Target successfully absorbs reincarnation memories, current sanity dominance: 71.96%.
Conclusion: Consciousness unstable, risk of losing self exists.
Core Driving Force Assessment: The Name of the Negative World, Never Forget.
So that's it... The truth of my transmigration was to be an observed target from the very beginning.
Such a vast memory would be enough to burst any soul; only my so-called "high-dimensional life" could serve as a vessel to carry it.
Even so, at first, my self-consciousness was too severely diluted, walking on the edge of madness.
He continued to read downwards.
Record 002: Herta Space Station, Observation Target's emotional threshold exceeds 1000%, body undergoes complete combustion, warning ineffective. Conclusion: Life force depletion, irreversible.
Suggestion: Find the next "Phainon", restart observation.
Variable detected: Observation Target fuses with Nanook's golden blood, regaining life force. Suggestion: Continue observation.
Aha! How entertaining!
Warning!!! Detecting intrusion of "Elation" information! Initiating blockade... Blo... Blo... Failed...
...All normal, observation record continues.
Scene after scene from the past were no longer his memories, but lines of cold data, carrying the indifference and scrutiny of an outsider.
Nanook... severed golden blood, regained life... so that's how it was?
Record 003: Observation Target deconstructs reincarnation data, transforms into "Khaslana"...
Elation Authority increases, Chrysos Heirs reappears... Sanity dominance steadily increases...
Key Record: Chrysos Heirs Anaxa, highly overlaps with "Erudition", suggested to be added to observation targets.
Record 004: Observation Target bears The Hunt... Chrysos Heirs Mydei reappears, sanity dominance: 95%.
Body entering meltdown countdown. Suggestion: Find the next "Phainon", restart observation.
Record 005: ▇ ▇ is implanted with counter-memes...
▇ ▇ is tainted by Nihility, body meltdown progress paused at 99.99%...
▇ ▇ achieves harmony with reincarnation memories, dominance: 100%. Experiment... successful.
Experiment successful.
Phainon stared at these four words, seeing a lofty existence watching him through this screen all along.
He saw the final conclusion.
Conclusion: All behavioral dominance remains within the controllable range of the anchored moment, and has not deviated from the predetermined future timeline.
Current error correction: 0.0042%
Processing Suggestion: Do not intervene.
Phainon slowly closed the system panel.
It turned out that from the beginning of his transmigration, all suffering, all battles, were merely a meticulously designed and coldly observed experiment.
He raised his head, looking up at the deep starry sky, as if he could see the eyes of Erudition, hidden at the end of the universe.
The night wind ruffled his white hair, but could not blow away the coldness and madness in his eyes, enough to freeze the stars.
"You're scared too, aren't you?"
"You calculated everything, but found that Amphoreus had an 'error' you couldn't calculate, so you regarded me as a white blood cell to correct the error."
"You already knew that 'Phainon' would accept his fate and embark on his journey."
"So, all of this is just a massive experimental field from outside Amphoreus."
He said softly, a curve of extreme coldness appearing at the corner of his mouth.
"Very good, Erudition."
"Now it's my turn... to bring you true unknown!"