Mystery: She came from the Chaos Sea.

Chapter 167 The Truman Show

Rosell frowned slightly, his mind racing. After a brief silence, he finally voiced his doubts:

"You two have spent so much time talking to me about the true gods, even the secrets beyond the order. I can sense that you have expectations of me. So, allow me to ask, do I still have a chance to become a 'Perfect One'?"

Hermaine remained silent.

Seeing this, Grisha took the initiative to continue the conversation, saying, "There can only be one True God in the 'Perfect One' pathway, but there are many vacant True God positions in other sequences."

Upon hearing this, Roselle's lips curled into a slight smile, and he said with a hint of mockery, "I thought you were going to say that I am the most suitable person for the 'Perfect One,' or even that you were going to hand over the opportunity to become a god to me."

Grisha remained calm, his tone indifferent yet solemn: "If you swear to become the core of the AI, I can give you everything."

Upon hearing this, Rosell waved his hand. He was one of the few people who understood the AI ​​best, and he politely declined, saying, "Never mind then..."

Then, a hint of curiosity flashed in His eyes, and He continued to ask, "Which paths of true gods are vacant? What arrangements do you have for me?"

If possible, Rosell would like to make more choices rather than be dictated to. But Rosell knows that the sequential pathway is difficult to change.

Seeing through Roselle's thoughts, Helmaenie said, "There are only three ways to be in accord with you: 'The Perfect One,' 'The Hermit,' and 'The Black Emperor.'"

There are three more? Hearing the names of these three paths, Roselle suddenly continued the conversation, asking, "The Hermit? The wise old man…is He a true god?"

For Roselle, the "Hidden Sage" was the first person in the world to show him kindness and the first guide who led him into the mystical world.

Although He wouldn't necessarily shout the slogan of sharing life and death, He wanted to hear from Hermaine and Grisha what kind of role the "Hidden Sage" played from their perspectives.

"That begins with your origins," Helmaenie said.

Helmaene had anticipated this topic and wanted to win Rosell over to her side. The "Hidden Sage" who had guided Rosell and the "Angel of Time" who had hunted Rosell were both unavoidable topics.

As for why she chose to win over Rosell instead of nurturing others, it was a decision made by Helmaenie after considering various factors.

Certainly, the world was altered in many ways by her fluttering like a butterfly.

However, the illogical and mysterious connections of this mysterious world allow some things that have not yet happened, and things that originally belonged to the original timeline, to potentially affect the world she is currently in.

The strong connection between the awakened Grisha and her "sun god" is one such empirical example.

Therefore, Helmaenie intentionally pushed Rosell back to the position of "Black Emperor".

After all, Russell Gustav was a "Black Emperor" in the original timeline.

If Roselle had never been born, it would be fine, but knowing that Roselle had already appeared, yet insisting on bypassing Roselle to cultivate a new "Black Emperor" might leave some hidden dangers, which could very well be used by the Outer Gods in the future.

Moreover, the "Black Emperor" is itself a path that possesses "distorted" power.

Of course, Helmani is also searching for another "Black Emperor," Solomon, in the human kingdoms, but so far there has been no news of him.

Seeing Rosell's unusually attentive listening, and realizing that Rosell was also interested in gathering information from different angles, Helmey said:

"In the distant prehistoric era, our civilization suffered a catastrophic catastrophe. After that disaster, a large number of humans died. But fortunately, some of them stubbornly survived."

Seeing a glint in Roselle's eyes, Helmaenie continued, "These survivors are the ancestors of the giants, elves, and pure-blooded humans of today. With your current abilities, verifying these things yourself shouldn't be difficult."

"However, I, Grisha, and you, we who are remnants of the past, are not the same as those ordinary human survivors. We are special beings; in layman's terms, we are the 'protagonists' chosen by fate."

Speaking of the "protagonist," Helmaenie sighed slightly. The sense of destiny in the mysterious world and the almost harsh class divisions made it difficult for ordinary people to breathe.

Although she was delighted to live in such a supernatural world, which gave her the extraordinary power to realize her ambitions.

But for ordinary people, and even the vast majority of extraordinary individuals, this world of "conservation of extraordinary characteristics" is truly cruel.

While embarking on an extraordinary path inevitably involves danger, living an ordinary life in an extraordinary world is nothing short of foolishness and weakness.

In particular, most of the time, extraordinary individuals are beyond anyone's control, or rather, no one is willing to control them.

Unable to change the underlying rules of this world, Helmani's current thought is to do everything in her power to narrow the huge power gap between low- and mid-sequence extraordinary individuals and ordinary people, while bringing those extraordinary powers beyond the norm into an orderly regulatory system as much as possible.

Of course, the reason she is so persistent in pushing these things forward is not only because she still retains her humanity and the great power she currently possesses, but also because of her shared destiny with humanity.

"We are the 'protagonists' chosen by the Old Ones," Helmaenie said slowly, emphasizing her words.

"Before the end of the prehistoric civilization, we were like the chosen people of God who boarded Noah's Ark and received special protection."

"What sheltered Grisha and me was the primal substance called the 'Chaos Sea'."

"And what protects you is the source material called 'Source Castle'."

Source... Roselle had just heard Grisha mention it, and knew that Source was the key foundation for becoming the Old Ones.

"It is precisely because you descended to the world from the 'Source Castle' that you were targeted by both the 'Hidden Sage' and the 'Time Angel'," Hermaine continued.

"In my prophecy, you were supposed to come down from the Source Castle during the 'Iron Age,' but the Outer Gods, by virtue of their control over destiny, took you away before me and led you onto the path of the 'Perfect One.'"

Roselle astutely grasped the key information and pressed further: "So, the 'Perfect One' path isn't the best option for me?"

Helmani nodded and said:

"Just like the potion system, each advancement of an extraordinary being follows a predetermined path. The same applies to the transition from a true god to an ancient being."

"The source substance corresponding to the 'Perfect One' is called the 'Wilderland of Knowledge.' The paths corresponding to the 'Source Castle' are the 'Fool,' the 'Gate,' and the 'Error.'"

Roselle asked, "So, the three gods suitable for me are 'The Fool,' 'The Gate,' and 'Error'?"

"That's true. If you had chosen any of these three paths after coming down from the Source Castle, you would have had a high probability of successfully accommodating the 'Source Castle' and becoming the corresponding Ancient."

"However, now that you've embarked on the 'General Knowledge' path, you've completely lost that opportunity."

Rosell raised an eyebrow and asked, "Then what about the 'Hermit' and 'Black Emperor' paths?"

Helmani patiently explained, "'The Hermit' is an adjacent pathway to 'The Perfect One,' and in the higher sequence stages, adjacent pathways can be interchanged. However, 'The Black Emperor' is unique in that any extraordinary being from any pathway has the opportunity to jump to this pathway."

"The 'Black Emperor'... Is this path related to imperial power?" Rosell asked, pondering. Judging from the name of the path alone, he intuitively felt that "Black Emperor" was more suitable for him than "Hermit."

Helmani said, "It's the 'shadow of order'."

"Shadow? I see, no wonder it's called the 'Black Emperor'." Roselle suddenly realized, then asked curiously, "And what is the path that represents order?"

"It is the 'judge'."

Russell sensed a heavy sense of responsibility in the name of this approach. Some of the things that AI is doing today are related to judgment and oversight.

Rosell then inquired in detail about the three paths: "Black Emperor," "Hermit," and "Perfect One."

Helmani made no attempt to conceal anything, concluding by saying, "However, I have already promised the uniqueness of the 'Hermit' pathway to someone else. As for the uniqueness and high-sequence extraordinary properties of the 'Black Emperor' pathway, they are currently scattered in unknown corners, their whereabouts unknown."

Rosell's eyes widened in surprise. "Huh? No way, beautiful lady, are you kidding me?"

Not a single mistake, not a single poem, not a single post, not a single piece of content, not a single look!

Russell's reaction was expected. At this moment, Grisha also stepped forward and said, "Philip, if you cooperate, we are confident that we can find the uniqueness of the 'Black Emperor'."

Upon hearing this, Roselle remained silent for a moment. Based on Grisha's words, it was revealed that He also had a connection with the "Black Emperor".

Without waiting for Rosell to ask, Helmani said directly, "In the future, you will be the 'Black Emperor'."

Rosell suddenly realized, and after a moment of contemplation, he slowly asked, "Then what price do I need to pay?"

Helmani shook her head slightly and chuckled, "The price? Rosell, don't overestimate your importance... You may indeed be the 'Black Emperor' in the future, but you're not the only 'Black Emperor'."

There isn't just one "Black Emperor," but there is definitely only one true god for each path; otherwise, Grisha wouldn't have needed to talk about transferring resources.

Roselle then realized the reason behind those words, and exclaimed in astonishment, "Even a true god can fall?"

"Of course," Helmaenie said. "Just as we can gradually ascend to become true gods, the death of true gods is also a natural occurrence."

"And Rosell, you should understand that we are not making a deal with you, but offering you an opportunity. An opportunity for you to take control of your own destiny."

"The chance to seize one's destiny?" Roselle repeated in a low voice, a complex look flashing in his eyes.

He vaguely knew that since He came into this world, He seemed to have been under some kind of invisible control.

He felt like Truman in the movie world.

Now, with some of the truth being revealed, even though His heart is filled with ambition to pursue greater power, these truths also make Him feel somewhat powerless.

"And what about the 'Angel of Time'?" Rosell asked again.

"As you can see, He is my child," Helmaenie admitted.

"He pursued you because when you fell from the 'Source Castle,' you carried with you an extraordinary quality that He needed to become a god, a quality that was later taken away by the 'Hidden Sage.'"

Rosell astutely inquired, "Is it from the 'Fool's Gate' 'wrong' path?"

"Yes." Helmaenie did not explain the harm this characteristic posed to Roselle. Roselle might not believe her explanation at this moment, so it was better to say nothing.

In any case, it was the "Hidden Sages" who led Roselle onto the path of the "Perfect One," and as long as Roselle had this understanding, she would not blame them for the choice of path.

The more Roselle realizes the error of his chosen path, the more doubts he will have about the initial guidance of the "Hidden Sage."

At this moment, Roselle's expression gradually hardened, and he asked, "How do you require my cooperation?"

"You are now a 'Master' of the Perfect Path Sequence 2, but Grisha has already used up all three of your 'Dark Light' traits. Although there is a way to separate them, doing so would affect the stability of the AI."

Helmani extracted an extraordinary attribute from the dream space and said:

"This is the extraordinary trait of the adjacent pathway sequence 'Knowledge Emperor'. Once your condition stabilizes, you can use this trait to advance to the 'Knowledge Emperor' level."

"Once you discover the uniqueness and extraordinary characteristics of the 'Black Emperor,' you can then change your path to become the 'Black Emperor.'"

……

Western Continent.

Only after becoming a registered disciple did Zhou Mei truly integrate into the world of the extraordinary. She and Napoli Disri both worked hard to continue their studies and martial arts within the sect. During this process, Zhou Mei also came into contact with some members of the Holy Sect.

The Holy Sect doesn't have many disciples. Even including Zhou Mei and Napoli Disri, the "Master of the Dark Lodge" only has five direct disciples.

However, two of my senior uncles remained in the sect.

However, it is not only the Holy Sect lineage that can inherit the name "Dark Abode". Other branches of the Holy Sect, as long as they can follow the Dao and be granted talismans, can also become Holy Masters and call themselves "Masters of Dark Abode".

Zhou Mei has had the most contact with a senior martial uncle named Lin Jing so far, and all of her sect's lessons have been taught by this senior martial uncle Lin.

However, Master Lin's teaching philosophy leaned more towards indulging desires, which caused Zhou Mei a lot of suffering, and also caused her to lag behind Napoleon Disri in terms of cultivation progress.

If it weren't for Hermaine's interpretation and guidance of the scriptures and martial arts, which kept Zhou Mei's cultivation progress from falling too far behind that of the "amazingly talented" Napoleon, Zhou Mei might have even become a target of bullying by the Holy Sect's disciples.

Hermaine, however, also gained something. In addition to a deeper understanding of the Western Continent system, she also learned from her Uncle Lin that the Taoist Celestial Master and the Luo Sect Holy Maiden, whose status was equivalent to "Master of the Dark Abode," had both disappeared several years ago.

(End of this chapter)