Me! Cleaner!.

Chapter 1261 Another Possibility

"..."

Why...why did a cow suddenly appear?

Looking at the old ox, its back to her, wriggling and struggling to escape the turbulent flow of time, Frederica No. 2 was slightly taken aback, then asked as if she understood:
"Were you with the man who left before?"

"?!!!"

Upon hearing the question from behind, the old ox froze, then turned its head in terror, letting out a high-pitched scream in its mind.

Holy crap! Fu!!!

"stop!"

Seeing the old ox suddenly retract its neck, seemingly wanting to escape, Number 2 Frederica immediately lunged forward, her fair hand, imbued with the fourteen roots, reaching out to lift it up by its horns.

Oh no, this is really going to kill the cow!

After being pulled out of the time turbulence, the old ox looked at the other Frederica with a slightly furrowed brow in front of him and felt a wave of dizziness, as if his ox life was about to come to an end.

It's rare that I managed to come up with a way to find Leon in this desperate situation, but I never expected that I would have to face a Fu who is the ultimate version of the Fourteen Roots just as soon as I found Leon's whereabouts. This is just too much...

"Ah Huang?"

"..."

?! ?! ?! ?! ?! !!
Ah Huang? How do you know that name?
Upon hearing another Frederica's somewhat uncertain question, the old ox trembled violently, suddenly recalling an almost impossible possibility. He then stammered, his eyes wide with disbelief:

"Moo? Moo moo moo? (Fu? You're Fu? The Fu who raised me and then sent me to Mount Huanshi?)"

It really is you...

Listening to the old ox's strange, rhythmic mooing, and after turning it over to look at the scars on its rump, Frederica, number 2, nodded with a somewhat complicated expression:

"You were playing around in the holy land and refused to come out. The patch of hair on your butt that was scraped off by the thorns is still bald. It seems we must be the ones who know each other... Ah Huang, how many years has passed since I sent you away? Two thousand years? Three thousand years?"

You...it really is you?!

Faced with this unexpected reunion, the somewhat bewildered old ox paused for a moment, then replied with a mixture of joy and surprise:
"Moo moo... (I don't know about your situation, but it's been almost ten thousand years on my end...)"

Ten thousand years... Has that really been so long?

After briefly closing her eyes, Frederica, number 2, showed a hint of guilt. She then changed the subject, asking with a complex expression:

"Ah Huang, are you with that man? Did you bring him here?"

That man...Leon?

After blinking its eyes, the old ox obediently nodded and explained in a strangely childlike voice:

"Moo moo moo (I came here with him. You from that world... Anyway, Leon rescued me again, and I'm temporarily his mount)"

Mount... I see. No wonder I always felt his aura was so familiar. Even though we've never met, it felt strangely familiar. It turns out it wasn't his scent, but the scent you left behind.

“Ah Huang, I have a question for you.”

Having figured out the source of Leon's aura, Number 2 Frederica released the old ox bound by the Root and asked:

"What happened in the world you went to? And why did that man named Leon become a fugitive?"

"Moo... (This is a long story...)"

"Then let's make a long story short!"

"..."

Although the person before him was his former master, considering what Frederica and the others were about to do, the old ox was inclined to refuse to answer. However, after glancing at the fourteen neatly arranged roots within her soul, he understood that resistance was futile and finally nodded, humming:

"Moo...moo moo moo moo... (To make a long story short... it means you planned to collect all the Roots, and he tried to stop you, but you ambushed him and pushed him off the summit of Mount Everest...)"

I pushed it down with my own hands...

It seems that the me in that other world must have identified him as an escapee, and when locating his original world, I mistakenly used Ah Huang's aura as a guide, which is why, among countless different worlds, I just happened to send him to me...

"Ah Huang!"

Having roughly figured out why Leon had come to this world, Number 2 Frederica took a deep breath, clenched her fist slightly, and said:

"If you could have found this place, you would have come back long ago. You wouldn't be only coming back to find me now. So you came here after that Leon? Do you have a way to find him?"

"..."

Yes... there really is.

When Leon resurrected me, he left a small fragment of my soul with me. If I stimulate that fragment with a little bit of the Root, it will spontaneously move closer to the original soul... But what do you mean by asking this?
It seems he treats Ah Huang very well... or maybe it's just another way of saying I'm too... sigh...

Seeing the old ox instinctively take a step back, its two eyes fixed warily on her, Number 2 Frederica couldn't help but sigh, then spoke:

"Don't worry, although I want you to take me to him, it's not to take away his source or do anything for the other me. I just want to verify something else."

Ah Huang, don't worry that I'm lying to you. I've now gathered all the origins of this world. If I really intended to do something to him, I wouldn't have let him leave just now, right?

"..."

Logically, it makes sense... but haven't you mentioned the most crucial point yet? Why do you want me to take you to pursue him?
"Because he represents another possibility!"

Amidst the startled expression on the old ox's face, Frederica, who had been spying on its thoughts, pursed her lips and said:
“Ah Huang, the root of your becoming a fugitive comes from me, so your thoughts are almost transparent to me. But you don’t actually know much about me. I… never mind, you should see for yourself!”

As Frederica No. 2 spoke, the old ox felt a slight throbbing in its head. The source within its body, originating from the spiritual realm, activated, and a massive amount of memories were forcibly poured in. The remnants of the source… the ultimate mission… the artificial source race… No. 1, different from everyone else… the ritual that traversed time… the only 'finished product' to have achieved the standard… an incredibly long period of companionship… a choice destined to lose half… to be No. 1 or to be Frederica?
"..."

So... Fu wasn't taken over by someone, but was forced to return to the distant past and live another incredibly long life?

That's roughly how things went...

Seeing the completely stunned old ox, Number 2 Frederica sighed softly, then spoke:

"I have no intention of making any excuses for myself. After all, what's done is done. Now I am the common enemy of all living beings across all timelines. The reason I'm telling you this is that I hope you can believe me and take me to find that man named Leon."

Although he doesn't belong to the world you went to, he's not an escapee either. I couldn't find his 'origin' in any timeline. This person seems to have appeared suddenly, and suddenly filled every possible timeline. This is very important!

"Moo moo moo? (What can Ang do there? Why did you let him go earlier, but now you suddenly want to find him?)"

"Take me to him first. If he's been gone for too long, I'm afraid you might not be able to find him either. Let's get going first, and I'll tell you everything on the way, okay?"

"..."

"Ah Huang! Believe me! I've never lied to you!"

You don't lie outright, but that's because there's no need. You can fool me perfectly well enough without lying... Oh well...

Looking at the sincere-looking Frederica No. 2, and recalling his memories of when he was still a calf, as well as the incredibly complex emotions in her eyes when she sent him into the Ring of Time, the old ox finally nodded and lowered his head to Frederica No. 2.

"Moo! (Come up!)"

Phew... It's done!
Upon seeing the old ox kneeling down amidst the turbulent flow of time, offering her a seat, Frederica No. 2 breathed a sigh of relief, responded, and climbed onto its back.

Next, the old ox, like a big yellow dog born into the wrong species, lowered its head and sniffed around. Finally, following the guidance of the small fragment of Leon's soul, it found the time turbulence with a similar aura and slowly stepped inside.

And just like in the incredibly distant past, Frederica, number 2, sitting sideways on its back with her legs together, helped widen the passage while explaining as agreed:

“Ah Huang, although my people cannot ‘understand’ the existence of time, they are not unaware that they will be torn apart by time and that the entire tribe will come to an end, so they have made a lot of corresponding preparations.”

The ultimate mission that I and the other thirteen people represented was not the only way to deal with it, but it was the one that was considered the most feasible. At the time, the most accepted idea was that if we could not survive the cataclysm of time, we should simply reincarnate into another race.

Just as humans cannot survive in the ocean, but fish, which are 'lower' than humans, can, everyone can transcend time yet be harmed by it. However, those races, such as humans, who are far less powerful than humans, will not collapse due to the division of time.

So if everyone's will is scattered beforehand and they are reincarnated into one of the fourteen chosen and created races capable of surviving the Time Calamity, then it's equivalent to everyone surviving.

The old ox, upon hearing this, asked in surprise:

"Moo? (Doesn't that sound nice? Why didn't they do it later?)"

"Because people believe that although they can survive this way, the person who survives in the end will no longer be the same person they were before."

After closing her eyes and recalling for a moment, Frederica, number 2, sighed:

"Just think about the Root People. Although they still possess the power they once had and are no longer harmed by the tearing of time, they are no longer themselves."

Although everyone still retains some habits, Number 2 still likes all kinds of interesting things, and Number 4 is still always serious. They seem to be the same people, but they have completely become two different people from the original ones.

Moreover, while many races are immune to the ravages of time or minimally affected by it, very few possess the 'root' capable of bearing the immense will of a member of their race and fully completing reincarnation. They can only save a small fraction of their people… Never mind that.”

After shaking her head slightly, and sensing the other world that had appeared before her, Number 2, Frederica, sighed:
"The main reason I brought this up is to say that the person who came up with this idea... is the smartest among all the people. She came up with more than a dozen plans to survive the Time Calamity all by herself."

Although the ultimate mission chosen in the end was not the plan she proposed, it was based on her theory of reincarnation that led to the other thirteen members of her race who transcended time. Even the technology that brought countless versions of me back to the distant past was derived from her artificial origin race project.

It's fair to say that without her, not only would there be no ultimate mission, but countless versions of myself wouldn't have been simultaneously brought back to the distant past, merging into one of us, and none of this would have happened..."

Upon hearing this, the old ox paused for a moment, then, with a hint of shared indignation, growled:
"Moo?! (So she's your enemy?!)"

"No, she is my friend."

"???"

Under the old ox's questioning gaze, Number 2, Frederica, shook her head slightly, looking somewhat wistful, and said:

"She could even be considered my best friend, and she was the first person to come and persuade me to give up my ultimate mission and not do these things in the future. She even went so far as to sabotage a large number of reincarnation rituals in an attempt to stop me from returning to the future, but she failed in the end and was captured by others."

By the time more and more of the tribespeople came to accept me and began to regret sending me on this ultimate mission, it was too late to interrupt the ritual. Because of her actions in disrupting the ritual and injuring many tribespeople, she was imprisoned and unable to complete her final research.

"Moo? (Research? What research?)"

"To find someone who does not exist in this world, and thereby completely shatter the study of 'fate'."

"Moo?"

"Simply put, time itself is fragile, but at the same time it is also incredibly resilient and absolutely cannot be changed."

Number 2, Frederica, explained with a complicated expression:

"When I was born as Frederica, I, as Number 1, had already appeared in the distant past. No matter how I try to influence everything now, I will only become part of this time loop."

This means that from the moment I was born, Frederica becoming number one was already destined to happen, and it has already happened. This certainty that cannot be changed is what she calls fate.

She herself was born from the source of destiny, and even her name is Destiny. Therefore, she has an extremely deep understanding of the rules of destiny, and she was the first to see everyone's fate of destruction, and she tried to break it all.

According to her hypothesis, if one could find a person who doesn't exist in any world and whose fate has never been intertwined with anyone's, and place that person into an already completed destiny, it would be equivalent to applying external force to the fixed fate, giving one the opportunity to 'alter' the ending!

"Moo?! (You mean that person?!)"

"Um……"

After affirming the old ox's idea, Number 2, Frederica, bit her lower lip and said with a tense expression:
“I suspect her research was actually successful, and Leon is the ‘external force’ she found!”

(End of this chapter)