Me! Cleaner!.

Chapter 1265 Journey and Carving Knife
Whose child am I...?

Faced with Lyon's pointed question, the baby blinked, then, as if suddenly remembering something, said with a serious expression:
“Father, now that you mention it, I’ve remembered something very important…”

"This is the most important thing right now!"

Looking at his son, who shared the same flaw as him—always changing the subject when faced with a difficult question—Leon took a deep breath and narrowed his eyes, saying:

"So your mother is Frederica? In one timeline, I was mixed up with her, right?"

"Well... I can only say that it's possible, but it's not very likely..."

"..."

If that's your reaction, then it's 99% correct...

After gleaning the answer to the question from his son's reaction, Leon couldn't help but rub his temples, feeling a throbbing pain in his head.

This trip around the Time Mountain was shrouded in an eerie atmosphere from the very beginning, with all sorts of strange coincidences happening everywhere.

Because he was with the old ox, he ended up being sent to the old ox's original timeline, where he met Fu2, who had been regretting his choice after completing his ultimate mission. The subsequent series of events seemed to have been preordained.

If I hadn't been so wary and consistently refused to communicate with her via microphone, the "normal" process would probably have been like this.

Eager to return to the original timeline, he reluctantly sought help from Fu2. Meanwhile, Fu2, having been lonely for too long, wanted to confide in someone about her pain and regret, and offered to help her return to the present world, thus building a good impression on each other first.

Then, when they send themselves back, they discover that they are that "external force," and they will definitely decide to chase after them back to help them get rid of Frederica in this world. They will then build up their trust and propose this "journey to meet destiny."

If that's the case, even if in the end the two Fus become one Fu, then she has been half-whitewashed from being a mortal enemy and has become a neutral target that can be barely cooperated with.

If she really does use herself as a guiding light, uses all the roots as fuel, and sacrifices everything just to send herself back, seeking a happy ending to atone for her sins and succeeds, then her redemption progress will basically be 99%.

And then... growing to know each other? Falling in love over time? Or is there some other twist? Damn it! This time it was all so perfectly orchestrated, I almost followed his script!
Looking at his son, whose eyes were darting around and who seemed to be the one "on the receiving end," Leon's face darkened, and he glared at him irritably.

It seems that before this, other sons had done similar things. The son in the "Emma line" specifically emphasized the threat of the graveyard ruler, creating an opportunity for himself and Emma to be alone in the dead world, trying to forcibly bring himself and Emma together.

There's also the son in the red-haired version. Although he didn't directly force a marriage between them, he seemed to be planning a roundabout way of doing things. He seized the opportunity when the Taurus director was present and did a bunch of random things, leaving him still unsure how to explain himself.

All I can say is... this little rascal may not harm me, but he has his own plans, and each of his sons has completely different plans. If you really believe everything he says, you might be led astray at any time.

"That's it!"

Ignoring the baby's fierce resistance, he forcibly lifted him from the cradle, gave him three hard slaps on the bottom, and then, mimicking how Anna usually disciplined Melanie, lightly pulled his ear and sternly warned:
"This absolutely cannot happen again, or else... cough cough, even Anna won't be able to protect you! Do you hear me?"

"Oh……"

With a calm expression, the baby nodded its little head, showing its submission to Leon's weak and feeble threat. Giving its father ample face, the infant blinked and said:
“Father, you probably have a third question for me, right? You want to know whether it’s better to keep your promise or to break it, right?”

"..."

Although it feels a bit shameful to use your son as a fortune-telling crystal ball, it would be a miracle if you could resist asking questions when you have a "prophet" who can see the past and future by your side.

After a slightly awkward cough, Leon averted his gaze and said:
"I do have this plan... but the main thing is that this matter is not very secure, so... um... you should be able to understand, right?"

I understand, of course I understand~
After giving Lyon a cute "you've got what you deserve" smile, the baby suddenly reached out and grabbed the edge of the cradle. Under Lyon's puzzled gaze, the baby tumbled off the cradle and ran off into the inner room, calling out as it went:
"Auntie! Auntie Anna! Father is up all night and insists on asking me who he's been having an affair with! He even threatened to spank me if I didn't tell him! You have to do something about him!"

"?!!!"

……

Deep in the old land, surrounded by mountains.

"Uh-"

After letting out a listless howl, the Donkey, lying on the edge of the mountaintop, glanced up at the vast starry sky, then turned to look at Frederica not far away, and said with obvious displeasure:

"It's been several days already? Is he not planning to come?"

"..."

"There's still no definite news. I think he definitely doesn't want to come,"

"..."

"Number 1, why don't you try seducing him? Maybe he'll fall for it?"

"..."

"I remember when you were dancing among the orchids, he said you..."

"Shut up!"

After glaring at the Star Lord who was starting to have fun again, Frederica frowned and said:
"You better behave! Lyon will be here."

"That's hard to say."

The donkey's greatest fear in life was loneliness. Hearing Frederica's reply, it, already impatient, couldn't help but mutter:

"That kid looks very slippery. I think he might have found some way to run away with all his relatives and friends and hide from you in another timeline."

Anyway, there are so many chaotic worlds, and new timelines are constantly being added. If they really want to hide, you wouldn't find them even if you stayed in the tower every day..."

"He won't."

Frederica, sitting in the center of a circular text, shook her head slightly upon hearing this.

"The person who has had a close encounter with Leon is another version of you, so you don't know him well enough. Leon is not the kind of person you think he is."

Even now, you're still saying he's not that kind of person... and you're still telling me you two aren't having an affair?
Looking at Frederica's expression that said, "You have no idea, I'm the one who understands Lyon," Lezi Donkey couldn't help but curl his lip and retort:
"If he's not that kind of person, then what kind of person is he?"

"People who do not accept compromise."

Frederica, her eyes filled with circular characters, said without turning her head:

“He is absolutely unwilling to hide. Right now, instead of worrying that he will run away directly, I am more worried that he wants to get rid of me once and for all, and will directly attack and kill me, or even bring an entire plane here, intending to smash me and the Ring Mountain together, and use the time turbulence to tear me apart or something like that.”

"..." So you two... really are quite in sync...

A little taken aback by Frederica's answer, Lezi Donkey clicked his tongue in exasperation and couldn't help but speak up:

"Number 1, if I promise not to tell him, can you tell me the truth? Do you have any other plans? For example..."

"he came."

After waving her hand to interrupt Lezi Donkey's Nth attempt, Frederica rose from the circular text scattered on the ground, walked towards the edge of the Ring Mountain, and waved to disperse the layers of brass-colored clouds.

Just as the sea of ​​brass clouds atop the Ring of Time dissipated, a wisp of bluish-white smoke emerged from the clouds, and the old ox, with a homemade cigarette dangling from its mouth, had already carried Leon to the foot of the Ring of Time.

They actually came... You two really are a perfect match, you see right through each other.

Is this the ritual leading to the past?

Unaware that the amusing donkey was inwardly criticizing him, Leon frowned slightly after glancing at the densely packed circular text atop the Ring Mountain. He then looked at Frederica, who was approaching, and said:

“I’ve seen these words you carved in the sacred site of the Hope lineage. Are these circular characters our way back to the past?”

"Yes."

After glancing at the old ox beneath Ginger and sensing no tension or wariness from it, Frederica's expression softened, and she replied:

"These circles that can flow through different times are the script used by my people. My people are born beyond time, so these scripts form rituals..."

Can't you put it another way?

Lyon couldn't help but frown, finding Frederica's way of speaking rather odd.
"Even if you were once part of that original race, aren't you still human? Can you please stop talking about 'my people' every time you mention them? It sounds really awkward."

"I just feel that, based on what I've done, it's really... well."

Noticing the impatience in Leon's expression, Frederica nodded and stopped insisting, instead saying gently:
"Those circles you see in the Holy Land are the script that the original race taught us humans to ensure that we could reliably choose a 'race member'."

It is precisely because of these time-traveling secret texts that I can ensure that my will on every timeline can successfully travel back to the same past and temporarily become a member of that original race.

This time, our writing is a little different from that one. You don't need to truly merge with countless versions of yourself. You just need to briefly send your will back, complete your encounter with 'fate,' and then it will end on its own... Any more questions?"

"There is still one."

After carefully listening to Frederica's explanation and trying to touch the circular characters engraved on the mountaintop, Leon gazed at her and asked:

"What will you do after you send me back?"

"According to your understanding... you should be considered dead, right?"

Frederica stated frankly:

"The Chronograph that took me back to the past was written by all the people of the Root Races together, and everyone shared the cost. But the Chronograph that sent you back to the past was written by me alone, and I alone have to bear the cost of it."

Now I am completely one with the Root. After I send your will back to the past at the cost of the complete Root across an entire timeline, I will be about to burn out.

If I'm lucky, maybe I'll still have a portion of my will left, enough to talk to my people... and my friends from my ancestral race?

Burn everything...

After staring into Frederica's eyes for a while and finding no hesitation or evasion, Leon nodded and stepped into the ritual space made up of countless circular characters.

"I'm fine now, let's go."

"it is good."

After nodding to Leon, Frederica took out a small carving knife, first pulling Leon's palm over and slicing his fingertips.

Then, as if he had returned to the past, he gripped the hilt of the knife through his robe and slowly plunged the blood-stained blade into his heart... while casually kicking the gleaming Lezi Donkey beside him away.

"Don't cause trouble. Without an inscribed ceremonial knife, you can't get back even if you sneak in."

"Holy shit! You didn't even include me in this fun trip back in time? Are you even human? You two dogs..."

Amidst Lezi Donkey's furious howls, the densely packed secret texts atop Huan Shi Mountain began to flow, along with the concentric circles of the mountain's summit, completely drowning out Lezi Donkey's roars.

Immediately afterwards, countless flowing circular characters, like parts of a giant mechanical watch face, rapidly spliced ​​and circulated along some rules that Lyon couldn't understand, distorting the entire world.

The once clear scene before my eyes instantly shattered, like a bucket of paint being overturned during high-speed mixing, turning into countless wildly flashing, dazzling blocks of color and lines.

As for the wills of Leon and his companion, they were suddenly "pulled" out of the summit of the Ring Mountain by an irresistible and immense force, and sped along the track paved with those chaotic lines and almost boiling circular characters towards the direction called "the past".

Just as Leon was getting used to the strange feeling and turned to look at Frederica holding his hand, the narrow "track" suddenly shuddered and then seemed to expand infinitely.

And not far from the two, another "Frederica" ​​was also bound on the twisted track, her eyes filled with terror as she retreated backward. She had the same black hair and white dress, the same youthful beauty, and even the pattern of bloodstains spreading across her chest was exactly the same.

What the hell……

Looking at Frederica, who seemed to be pulled back to the distant past from countless different timelines like shooting stars, Leon's eyes widened, wanting to ask what was going on.

But before he could even ask, the countless tracks leading to the past, like rainwater falling into a giant funnel, instantly converged and condensed into two unique tracks.

One was Frederica in a black robe, clinging to Leon's arm and gazing at her other self; the other was Frederica in a white dress, looking bewildered, her eyes filled with confusion, and a bloodstain on her chest.

"Thank you."

As the two tracks drew near and were about to merge into one, Frederica in the black robe smiled at Leon, then surprisingly released his hand, gripped the carving knife, leaped out from the tracks, and pounced on the white-dressed Frederica, who hadn't yet reacted, piercing her heart with a resolute slash.

"you?!!!"

"Don't worry, I'm not completely lying to you. You can go back as long as you see 'Destiny' once."

After knocking another woman in a white dress to the ground and plunging the carving knife into her heart with the hilt, Frederica in black robes relaxed slightly on her shoulders, then turned around with a sigh of relief, revealing a faint, apologetic smile.

Whether fate can be changed, I don't really know, but a fate without my existence might be the best one for everyone.

(End of this chapter)