Dow and Carbon-Based Monkey Breeding Guidelines

Chapter 1024: The End of the Sky, the Corner of the Earth (Part )

Jania touched the thorns at the bottom of Miffy's chin again and again. "Which theory do you believe in?" she suddenly asked Chilabin.

"As for me," said Chilabin cunningly, "I think each of them has its merits..."

Jania didn't allow him to get away so easily. She stressed, "Which one do you believe in the most? If you can only choose one?"

"This is a difficult question for me. I need to think about this question carefully: the celestial theory is the most classical and the most approachable. Most people in the middle position hope that it is true because it gives us comfort about the future prospects and the final destination. Moreover, its believers have such a long history and are so powerful. The overflow theory is also inspiring and willing to provide us with the guarantee of our own superiority and independence. What a wonderful feeling it is to be able to face the whole world without feeling ashamed! Even if it does not work for the time being, there is still great hope in the unpredictable future. As for the monster theory, it is relatively unpopular and somewhat undermines people's enthusiasm. Moreover, the expectation for the future prospects is too pessimistic. Except for romanticists who love myths and firm believers of reincarnation, there are indeed not many people who will firmly support it..."

A question suddenly occurred to Jania's mind, and she asked curiously, "Who came up with the monster theory? Is he also a mythology enthusiast? I think this theory sounds more like a myth."

"You've got the point, boss. As I said before, the man in the pointed hat proposed the heaven theory, the man who built the machine proposed the overflow theory, and the monster theory was said by the monsters. This is the creation myth they believe in. Just like the creator gods in your myths look more or less like you, the creator gods in the eyes of monsters must also be monsters."

"Doesn't that make it suspicious? To take a national myth without any evidence and treat it as a theory?"

"Look!" Chilabin said in surprise, "How can you despise national myths so much? As far as I know, many important beliefs here also originated from national myths. Isn't theism a theory here?"

"It's not something we worry about when we study the universe," Jania said in a tone that was very much like her mother's, but a little arrogant.

"Well, you have your own local view," Chilabin said, "but, sir, monsters are not a 'nation' or even a distinct 'race'. Do you know what a monster is?"

"Giant dinosaurs that knock down buildings?" Jania said, getting this impression from the weird leather-covered movies her brother watched. "Goblins hiding in kids' closets and under their beds?" She got this from cartoons.

"They don't count... but they do count here, because they are not adapted to your environment, and if one or two appear occasionally, they will definitely scare you regular residents. But if you think more tolerantly, if they reproduce like you and have similar physiological structures, then they are just an ordinary species. They are just bigger or have some special living habits. Do you call elephants monsters?"

"Elephants don't usually hurt people."

"This is based on the convenience of your race," Chilabin said. "I don't mean to nitpick, but you do like to call anything that is harmful to you a monster. This is because your language itself has no power, so it is easy for you to overgeneralize it. But this word should originally be conditional. It refers to those creatures that you cannot name. You cannot include it in the known biological system and laws. This is called 'weird', isn't it?"

Jania didn't want to argue with him about the meaning of words. "Let's say you're right, Captain," she said, stopping Chilabin from quibbling over words. "Then what exactly is the monster that proposed the monster theory?"

"There are so many different kinds, boss. I can't give you a general idea because each one looks very different and has different abilities. Some are about the same size as us, some are much larger than your planet, and some you can't even figure out what they look like... In short, they usually don't have the concept of heredity and traits, but this is not an absolute rule."

Jania began to cross her arms across her chest. "It sounds like you're talking about ligers and mules and irradiated mutants."

"No, no, that's completely different. The 'monsters' we're talking about are things that break the rules of the area. They usually exhibit properties similar to infinite facilities - well, there's no time to explain what infinite facilities are right now - let me try to put it this way: they can change the facts. Of course, this is not as simple as just talking, because if you modify a parameter, the entire system will be affected, and it may eventually affect itself. That's why they usually only stay in specific areas, in their most familiar and safest territories. In short, as long as you don't wander around, the possibility of encountering them is not high. They are not all harmful, and many are quite friendly! But there is one thing you must pay attention to: big monsters can't easily meet each other."

"What will happen if we meet?"

"Not good." Chilabin said seriously, "very bad. They have a tendency to kill and devour each other, especially monsters of similar nature."

By this time, Jania was getting a little impatient. If she were chatting with a stranger on a holiday beach, these strange talks might interest her, but at the moment, she was distracted by her brother's whereabouts and had no intention of listening to these vague and ambiguous things. "I wonder," she said patiently, "if there are two giant monsters fighting at No. 206 Dongyun Road?"

"That's not there."

"Then we don't have to talk about monsters anymore."

"But this matter is indeed related to the giant monsters, Boss. I know you think I'm talking nonsense, but I still have to make this clear to you first: we know that there is no friendship between giant monsters. They don't have common interests, and we rarely observe them showing a sense of cooperation. Therefore, if several of them come up with similar statements at the same time, we can't simply think that they have colluded to make up nonsense. Their abilities are innate, what's the point of making up a creator god who is more powerful than them?"

"I don't know," Jania said ungraciously. "Maybe it's just like we make up gods who look like us?"

Chilabin laughed. "No, they are not like that, boss. These big monsters, at least most of them, are very sincere, as if lying is something they need to worry about. Compared with our own kind, you will find that trusting them is not a bad idea in many cases."

"That doesn't mean what they say is right."

"That's right, that's right." Chilabin agreed, "When madmen speak mad words, they don't mean to lie, they just say what they believe. These big monsters are also like madmen in our eyes; they never "demonstrate" anything with you, and their opinions are always about will, so what they say is what it is, and you can only choose to believe it or not. There is a saying here that goes like this - only what is impossible is worth believing. But this is also the trouble: they are all very powerful madmen. Look, if there is something that can make your sun and moon turn backwards with a wave of its hand, and it claims that it created you personally, or it can see all your destiny, then you won't be so easy to refute it, right? Even if you can still doubt them, you can guess that they are just alien civilizations that rely on high technology to deceive primitive people, or time travelers who know future information, but before you can do the same thing, or at least understand the principle, you can only be skeptical, but you can't expose their tricks. This is also the difficulty that people who oppose the monster theory usually encounter."

"What can they do that you can't, Captain? Not even a pistol bullet can kill you."

Hearing Jania mention this, this hateful outsider (Jania had already determined this) showed a humble attitude. "Of course I can be killed by bullets." He said without any reservation, "The method is very simple, and our Matti Tao must know it, but he didn't have time to complete the whole process. The key here is that there are two thinking centers in my body, one of which is located in a similar position to yours, and there is a dormant secondary center, which will only be activated when the main center is damaged. It will take over the work of the main center during the period of suspended animation until the main center is repaired by itself. Therefore, it takes at least two consecutive bullets to kill me. The location of these two shots must be accurate and the interval must be short."

Jania was a little surprised. "Would you tell me something like this?"

"Why not?" Chilabin said casually, "This is very common, boss. People who often travel outside will develop the habit of backup. My method can be said to be a relatively basic evolutionary strategy. They call it 'heterotopia', which means that our race places the thinking center in a different position from similar races."

"This is truly amazing. Would you mind telling me where your paracenter is hidden?"

"Boss! You are really hurting our relationship by asking this. Do you think you will be able to use this information later?"

Jania curled her lips slightly and did not insist on asking for an answer. This was not the time for internal strife, and she could not shoot Chilabin twice while he was driving to verify whether he was telling the truth. She gently covered Fina's eyes to stop it from staring at the back of the driver's head; its behavior did not seem to be influenced by Miffy, it seemed that it simply did not like the person in front of it.

"We have to get back to the issue of the giant monsters," Chilabin said unaware. "Several of them have proposed the monster theory. This view is certainly not welcomed by people with lofty ideals, but it is not easy to prove that they are wrong. They are generally very powerful, even if they don't care about other people's opinions at all - this is so regrettable, head, we always listen to what the powerful say, not whether the weak say something reasonable - in addition, they have another advantage in their position, that is, they can get very close to the phenomenon we call the 'Chaos Sea' or the 'High Spirit Belt'."

"What do you mean 'very close'?"

"It's like swimming in magma." Chilabin said in a tone that sounded like he was envious. "As I emphasized before, the high spirit zone is a dangerous phenomenon for us. When I say 'us', I mean you, me, and even my psychiatrist. Although you can also regard him as a kind of monster with human nature, Zhou is not much different from us in front of the high spirit zone. At best, he is a very gentle little monster. Big monsters are a completely different matter. They often create their own territories and play around in their own territories as they please. Such territories always have all kinds of strange and ancient creatures. There are strange rules, so they have to be isolated from the regular universe, but they don't completely cut off communication between the two ends - maybe there are those that never communicate with the outside world, but we don't know - but where is the exact location of this territory? We can't find them in the known physical universe and historical coordinate system. Although we can visit them in many ways, these methods do not allow you to measure the location. In the end, we can only accept the words of those people in pointy hats and admit that the territory of the big monsters is in the sea of ​​chaos. That's why we can't locate it. "

He honked at the car in front of him that was driving slowly. "Please note! This hypothesis completely regards the Celestial Realm as the truth - their bodies are lurking in the Chaos Sea, deeper than the waves that surge from time to time. They are the natural guardians of the 'perfect place'; and the territories they create are like isolated islands on the sea, or they may be reef beds or bubbles on the seabed. They can move freely between their territories and the seashore. Although the nature of the Chaos Sea is fatal to us, it is just what they can use. They use the disordered waves as a shortcut to travel to faraway places! However, this point is controversial. Many people believe that they They can't really come out of the sea. What can be seen are just a few claws, a few hairs or tentacles, or even just the shadow of tentacles, but this does not affect the main point of the whole thing. The main point is that they probably live in the Chaos Sea. Who knows their habitat better than them? This makes their arguments about the Chaos Sea particularly difficult to refute. It's really hateful! Sometimes I really suspect that they are in collusion just to make us residents standing on the shore feel unhappy! These great dragons! These insidious beasts! Their mere existence is enough to make people annoyed!"

Chilabin suddenly cursed happily, and passed the car in front of him on the fast lane. The owner of the car in front was driving very slowly, but now he honked at them angrily, as if he thought he was being insulted. Chilabin did not fight back, but just kept his position at a leisurely pace, just to prevent the other party from overtaking him. "I think our needs should take precedence over those of the monsters," he said cheerfully, "It is true that their existence is very fascinating, but is there anything more important than our own survival position? If the final answer we get is not the one we want, then it is not an answer."

Jania was not sure if she heard the irony in these words. She was so absorbed in her thoughts that she forgot that she had been very impatient with this topic a few minutes ago; a sentence that was undoubtedly from a fairy tale book popped into her mind: As long as I practice hard, I can believe six impossible things before breakfast every day. In fact, she had not eaten anything today, but she had heard a lot of impossible things: Maggie Wall, the Ark of Doom, the Chelabin of the Ectopic Brain, infinite geology, the big plug hidden under the Cave Cloud Road, and the big monster, which made at least six things now. But none of these things really bothered her. What bothered her at this moment was the person telling the story; because just a moment ago, she seemed to have vaguely seen another face of the fake playwright and heard another tone under the cynical tone. The real face was serious and gloomy, and the tone hidden under the laughter was passionate and cold. This made her realize that her temporary partner was not a truly indifferent bystander. This person was very concerned about the topic of "monsters" and had strong personal emotions; she just couldn't tell what color those emotions were.

She stared at the small hole in the central rearview mirror for a long time until the reflection in the mirror looked at her. "You make me feel like I didn't wash my face this morning, sir." Chilabin said, "Of course, I definitely washed it, although it was a bit sloppy, I just asked the person guarding me to wipe it with a wet towel. But I can guarantee that the spots on my face are just a natural feature of my bloodline, not stains or acne..."

"Is the sea monster we found last time also a big monster?" Jania asked directly, "Is it the thing that lives in the Chaos Sea as you said?"

Chilabin calmed down. The car he had overtaken finally seized the opportunity and was about to squeeze in front of them again. The driver's recklessness and emotionality made Jania a little worried. She didn't want to waste time at this critical moment for something stupid like a car collision. Just when she was about to remind Chilabin how urgent their current mission was, the latter graciously pulled over to let him pass.

"That's exactly what happened." He still spoke in a casual manner. The strange emotion that Jania had sensed in him earlier had disappeared. "There are many big monsters. The one we went out to sea to find last time was just one of them..."

"Why this one in particular? What's so special about it?"

"To solve a problem, we always have to start with the most effective part. However, let's not discuss this in detail. This is a problem that Maggie and I should worry about. As for you, boss, I think it's too early for you to pay attention to these things. I'm not looking down on you. I say this out of love. You're still so young, and after all, you have your own things to do."

"Have I seen that sea monster you're looking for?"

"How would I know? Maybe you visited a distant place by chance in your sleep. The probability of such a thing is small, but it does happen."

"You sent me a picture, didn't you? My brother's friend was visiting me when I received it. Do you know that thing he had?"

Chilabin smiled in the rearview mirror. "You're very perceptive, Boss."

"How can sea monsters appear on human bodies?" "In fact, they often appear on human bodies. As I said before, people wearing pointed hats believe that real big monsters cannot come out of the Chaos Sea. Some people say that this is because their bodies have adapted to the environment of the Chaos Sea, so they cannot move freely in our world; others argue that some force has restrained them, such as the heaven they have always wanted to find. In any case, the big monsters we observe are usually in this form: they rely on some living or even dead things, just like putting a puppet on the tip of their finger, so that they can communicate with us. Of course, the matter about the puppet on the fingertip is just speculation, but this speculation is more or less reasonable, because you can even observe the same monster extending several fingers at the same time, each finger covered with a different puppet, and these puppets will quarrel and fight with each other. They acknowledge that they are one and the same, while attacking each other more fiercely. It is really interesting. This phenomenon is called 'parasitism'."

"So what I saw was a 'host'?"

"I'm not sure. Maybe it is, or maybe it's just a doll of a doll. This kind of copying of the original is very common. For example, have you ever studied the fractal problem of broccoli?"

Jania was not satisfied with his evasiveness. She felt that no matter how many lies Chilabin had told her, he was consistent in not wanting her to know the motives of his actions, whether it was out of love or not. Everything was almost connected, she said to herself, her brother's good friend was involved with a sea monster, and that "sea monster" seemed to be Zhou Wenxing's relative - did this mean that Zhou Wenxing's brother was also just a finger puppet whose consciousness had been taken away? Just like her brother's friend? In any case, if it was to save people, her brother would definitely take the risk.

"Is he the one who controls my brother's fate?" she said, "the incarnation of the 'sea monster'? Is he also the one who is blackmailing Maggie Wall?"

Chilabin seemed to be lost in deep thought. "I think," he said, "this judgment is at least half right. The current signs allow me to say so."

The guarantee that the medical student had given her was obviously invalid. Jania thought that this was a very important lesson, telling her that a quiet and serious person could be as unreliable as her brother. She couldn't say how deep her feelings for him were, but she asked with a concern that was basically out of moral sense: "What happens to people who are possessed by sea monsters?"

"It depends. I can't guarantee anything on that matter."

"So we can also find him in Dongyun Road?"

Chilabin did not answer, but made a very strange movement, somewhere between shaking his head, nodding and shrugging, and it was impossible to tell whether he agreed or disagreed. He did not give Jania a chance to continue asking questions, but suddenly threw out a scary sentence. "I think," he said, "you can get what your brother asked for from him. The price is not small, but you can get it. In this regard, the big monsters are very trustworthy, at least they are not more malicious than the machines."

Jania's eyes widened, and even Fina opened her mouth slightly, as if she was very surprised by the news, or maybe Jania just accidentally pinched its neck too hard. "What did he do?" She asked sharply and a little aggressively, "My brother asked the sea monster for something before?"

"Oh, no. Probably not."

"That's exactly what you just said."

"I didn't say it really happened," Chilabin said quickly. "It depends on some very subtle definitions. If you ask your brother whether he had ever been asked by a sea monster for anything before today, at a very specific time period, or after certain confirmed facts, I can only say no. Not only would I say so, but he would also say so when you ask him, and he would mean it sincerely. Even if all the confirmed facts that have occurred are examined most strictly, your brother has never done it. He has no chance of doing such a thing. But if you change your perspective, things are not so absolute. It all depends on how high you stand and how broadly you understand the word 'facts'... Alas, head, I don't want to blame your brother in this regard. It is quite understandable that he took such action."

"what are you talking about?"

"Let's put it more simply. I hope it won't offend you. If you die, your brother will do everything he can to avenge you, and even want to resurrect you. This is just human nature. Do you agree with me?"

Janet looked down in surprise, looking at her solid body. She didn't feel offended. "Are you trying to say that I'm dead, Captain?" She asked in a somewhat amused tone, "The last time we went out to sea? In fact, I was drowned, and it was your psychiatrist who kept my soul in my body temporarily, and my brother is trying to revive me?"

"No, no, no, of course not. You are alive, just as real as I am alive. Therefore, your brother did not ask the sea monster for anything before today. I am just proposing a causal hypothesis."

"Why do you insist on 'before today'? Am I going to die soon?"

"Look! You shouldn't say such things. Think about how sad your family will be."

"But you are clearly hinting at me like this."

"What I want to say is just a tendency." Chilabin explained, "When we say that a stone will sink to the bottom of the water, we don't necessarily see a stone sink to the bottom. This is just a description of the internal law. As long as the density of the stone is still so high and the nature of the water is still so gentle, the stone will always sink when it is thrown into the water. Therefore, 'the stone will sink to the bottom of the water' should also be regarded as a fact, right? The most we can do is to put the stone as far away from the water as possible."

He pondered for a moment, and then suddenly said, "It seems that his method makes some sense. Although I don't think it really works. After all, in the long run, every stone has fallen into the water."

"Are you talking about my brother?"

"No, I'm talking about someone else. But it doesn't matter, let's continue talking about your brother. I think you will agree that your brother is a stone that sinks to the bottom very easily. And the sea monster I'm looking for - let's get straight to the point, it is equivalent to Zhou's brother in a sense - it has a hidden collection habit for stones that sink into the water. Regardless of whether this collection habit has utilitarian motives, this behavior exists objectively anyway. My personal opinion is that there is a bit of personality involved here. The sea monster likes drama very much, you can judge this from the way it weaves spells - I glimpsed that there is something wrong with your eyes , I think you must have some opinions about the term "weaving spells". This term is indeed not rigorous, it is completely my personal description. The specific thing is this: the big monsters have very powerful abilities, they change the world as easily as casting magic, and they are not like the more popular magicians in your legends, who need to recite spells or wave wands, and have no magic or mental power. Basically, they just need to think, if they want to make the sun rise, it will rise, and if they want to kill someone, they will die. Although they each have some areas of expertise and weaknesses, in general, it is so easy for them to make dreams come true. "

"At no cost?"

"That's not the same thing, except that the cost in their eyes is different from ours. It's actually quite troublesome to make your wishes come true, because it's not as easy to control your thoughts as it is to control your language. For example, let's say we have a quarrel over something right now, and you're so angry that you go crazy, and an impulsive thought flashes through your mind: you want me to die immediately, and make this red-skinned monster disappear from the world forever."

Jania squinted at him in the mirror. Chilabin himself was not embarrassed at all, and still said cheerfully: "If you were also a big monster, I would immediately disappear with a bang and never be found again. But I am the one responsible for driving the car. If you kill me, the car will of course be out of control; you have to continue to think about the car and think of a way to keep it running steadily - this is from the perspective of aftermath. On the other hand, we are partners in adversity after all! When the evil fire in your belly dies down, maybe you will start to feel sorry (Jania shook her head maliciously), you won’t? Really not? You will definitely regret it a little! Feel that you shouldn’t take my life for such a small thing. So you You started to think that you should let me come back and resurrect me. However, as early as when we were arguing fiercely, the idea in your mind was not only to kill me, but also to "disappear forever." This is not just an exaggeration, head, although you may regret it a few seconds later, but at that moment you were furious and thought so sincerely, so this decision was carried out meticulously. You found that you could not resurrect me, because although you can modify the rules of the entire universe at will, you can't break the decision you made. Because the past you made the request first, and she and the current you are completely equal in power. In other words, there is no regret medicine in the world, even for big monsters. "

"Then I should be more careful in every decision I make."

"Have you ever tried to control your thoughts, Boss? I guess you are a self-disciplined person and can usually control your words and actions, but thoughts are another matter. Can you control every moment of your thoughts? Imagine that even your most irrational and whimsical thoughts will be realized immediately. When you want to know what it would be like if the surface of the earth suddenly lost its ocean, or hope that someone who offended you would suffer a miserable end... For us, it is completely normal and even healthy to have such thoughts occasionally, because it is just a flash in the mind after all, and it is easy to be suppressed by reason. But for the big monsters, they have completed the thought in the instant it is generated, which will lead to irreversible consequences for themselves. Not only to the outside world, but many situations are extremely dangerous to themselves. For example, if they have joys, anger, sorrows, and happiness like us, and wish to die in a moment of extreme passion or frustration... They may actually die, and because of death, they will stop generating new ideas. That means they can't even be resurrected by themselves."

Somehow, Jania suddenly felt like laughing. She didn't think it was particularly funny, but she couldn't help showing it. Chilabin turned his head and looked at her seriously while steering. "There's nothing funny about this, boss. This is a serious question about inner desires and the expression of desires."

"Maybe. But will the big monster also have so many boring thoughts like us? Or even want to commit suicide?"

"I don't know if their original bodies - I mean, the parts that are usually believed to remain in the Chaos Sea - would have suicidal thoughts. But I can tell you that they would. No matter what kind of fingertip puppet it chooses, it will make the creature of this type look exactly like it, including the weaknesses and problems. This may be why they usually choose relatively stronger and more excellent races, otherwise they will easily die in their tender infancy."

"Would it be very hard for the monster to have a doll die? Like if we had a finger cut off?"

"Personally, I doubt they feel that bad," Chilabin pondered. "It's probably more like having a hair plucked out or a nail cut, because we haven't heard anyone say there's a limit to the number of hosts they can have. No, it's doubtful whether the big monster will die, but many of their hosts have a desire to survive, or they act out a desire to survive similar to the creatures around them. No matter what they actually think in their hearts, at least they imitate it on the surface."

Jania said a little doubtfully, "I don't think the thing I saw looked like an ordinary person."

"Head, you haven't seen anything that's really not human! If a thing can speak to you and you can roughly understand what it says, then we can generally say that it is very similar to a human. Don't be picky about some details, such as whether it likes to take a bath or whether it has eaten its own children. Do you dare to conclude that your own kind has never done such things? Are you 100% sure?"

Jania couldn't argue with him on this topic. She had indeed seen people who were even less human, so she had to ask Chilabin to continue. "Parasites often have this ability to make their wishes come true." Chilabin said with the satisfaction of victory, "In order not to let themselves be dragged down by bad thoughts, they have invented several methods to control their ability to make their wishes come true. For example, they can cleverly construct themselves and turn themselves into a very pure and simple consciousness in terms of thought. They can only think within a safe range and will never have bad thoughts - but the disadvantages of doing so are also obvious, that is, they will become very incapable of adapting, and their personalities will either be very extreme or too simple. What if they don't want to become freaks or fools, and want to be closer to so-called ordinary creatures? They will stop this ability to make their wishes come true until they really need it. At that time, they will try to make themselves think very slowly, and they must also use pointers. Certain actions or words are used as confirmation. These actions and words may not have any real effect objectively, and their meaning is completely given by the user. It's like you clench your fists hard before starting to work, giving yourself a positive psychological hint. For the big monsters, this is what they see as spells and rituals. You can find that they don't rely on spells to gain power, but rely on the process of chanting spells or completing rituals to limit their power. Performing rituals is a process of compiling their own desires, so that they can describe their goals step by step, and have sufficient time and conditions to observe whether the execution of this idea is really in line with their wishes. If they find that the situation is not good during this process, they can completely stop the ritual halfway or make corresponding adjustments. "

"So, the spell is just a psychological suggestion? It's only effective when the big monsters recite it? It won't work if we recite it instead?"

"No, no, on the contrary. As long as these spells and rituals are woven by them and have not been abolished, they are of course useful. Anyone can use them, or at least participate in them. Otherwise, what's the point! Many times, spells are created for our use. For example, in an absolutely hypothetical statement, your brother may have come into contact with certain rituals. It is a very old ritual, perhaps it has been abolished, but its ritual tools still remain. This matter is related to Zhou's brother... Do you remember the story he told you about his brother last time? In fact, it was only part of the story, a very small part at the front, but it was very thought-provoking. At that time, his brother could still be considered a mortal. For some reason, his ability to make his wishes come true was limited. It is said that he created a ritual that required five selected assistants to eventually help him get rid of his mortal state - at least that's what it said on the surface."

"You think this isn't true?"

"You can't trust this kind of thing too much." Chilabin said earnestly, "I only take all publicly circulated stories with a half-belief attitude, unless there is a completely reliable source. Besides, the content of the ritual can be modified, and they have the final say, remember? With such unfair rules of the game, you can't take anything too seriously. But there are a few things I know to be true - my sponsor gave me inside information - the five assistants each hold a sword, symbolizing the five stages of the creator of the ritual during his mortal period. When each sword completes its task in the hands of its corresponding owner, the ritual will be completed. But it seems that it has never been truly completed, because the five people who meet the conditions are always unable to get together. Either the right person cannot be found, or the person holding the sword in front has died. I think this is the general trend of history that is against the completion of this ritual, for reasons that we don't understand yet. Such situations also happen from time to time, such as the October ritual..."

"Captain," Jania finally couldn't help interrupting him, "Aren't we talking about my brother?"

"Oh, yes. We are talking about your brother. It's a little off topic, but it's still about your brother's problem. He is now deeply involved in the vortex caused by this ritual..."

"You mean he was one of the five helpers?"

"I don't think so," Chilabin said. "Well, there are some strange rules here... When a chosen assistant dies due to external factors, the person who will replace him is usually the one who killed him, at least the first-in-line heir. This is the cultural tradition of that place, and they think it is absolutely reasonable. If there is no murderer in the whole thing, that is another matter, but in any case, I don't think your brother meets the requirements. He did not complete the necessary task, so he cannot get the corresponding qualifications. I don't think he really wants that qualification, but the most basic problem is that he has to complete his revenge. He can't do this, and he has wasted his only chance. So, I think the sea monster has other plans for him."

"What kind of arrangement?" Jania asked. "Sacrifice?"

"No way! I want to talk about the pathfinder - I really want to help you with this matter, boss. To a certain extent, our interests are the same, but I also have to advise you to be mentally prepared, because, uh, the pathfinder will be taken to the ends of the earth and specially used to explore the most dangerous areas. This is the function of the pathfinder! So, if we fail this trip, your brother may never come back."

Jania's heart dropped. Fina huddled in her arms, her tail swinging in a rhythmic motion like a pendulum. She heard the ticking sound again.

(End of this chapter)