Epilogue: An Unspoken Agreement

Late at night on June 2, 2101. Tiandu.

After the prison break earlier that day, the entire city had been placed under martial law and a curfew imposed. Countless reports to read, countless orders to issue, countless pieces of intelligence to analyze... For every senior official of the imperial court, tonight would be a sleepless night.

Inside the imperial palace, at the residence of the seventh prince, Krause Wittstock.

“You actually managed to slip in. Hmph... Is security at my residence that lax?” Tea Immortal stood before the floor-to-ceiling window with his hands behind his back.

Five or six meters behind him stood a pitch-black figure with a blue-green gleam in its eyes.

“I assume Tian Yi didn't send you to assassinate me,” Tea Immortal said slowly, turning around. He knew it was Darkwater without looking. Of the Inverted Cross members he knew, Darkwater was the only person—or rather, “humanoid creature”—capable of successfully infiltrating Tiandu.

“No.” Darkwater's answer was brief and to the point. “I came to convey some information.”

“Convey information? You mean gloat?”

“What purpose does this behavior called ‘gloating’ serve?” Darkwater asked.

“To proclaim your achievements and satisfaction to me in an ostentatious, provocative manner, with the intention of inducing a behavioral change in me as an ‘individual’...” Tea Immortal spoke almost instinctively. Usually so composed, he was truly angry now, and the answer slipped out before he could think. Only when he heard his own words did he realize that by taking this seriously, he had already lost.

“Why am I explaining this to you...” Tea Immortal gave a wry smile, then something else occurred to him. “I see. You don't really understand human emotions, do you?”

Darkwater answered with complete honesty. “My analysis of the memories of everyone I have consumed indicates that emotion is a major cause of all manner of illogical behavior. It is your human response to the various physiological and psychological stimuli you receive from the outside world. You humans have almost limitless desires, yet you are extraordinarily sensitive to trivial matters of no consequence. A simple conversation can determine whether two people become friends or enemies. Almost the entire course of human history has been written under the influence of this thing. You also call it ‘feeling’ and lavish praise on the precious qualities of humanity, believing that an increasingly rich emotional life is a sign of moving beyond instinct to become a civilized species.

“I consider it merely a farce in which an inferior species attempts to justify itself. For thousands of years, humans have repeatedly violated, overthrown, or readopted the ideals they once praised, repeating the same mistakes to satisfy the selfish desires of a very few. Your sins will never disappear now. That is why the Transmitter had no choice but to become the Guide...

“The reality is that only a species that acts on instinct, follows objectively optimal priorities in all things, and has no so-called ‘emotions’ can possess unity, strength, selflessness... eternity.”

“Heh... Sounds like a society of high-IQ zombies... Well then, Mr. Eternity, may I ask which planet you're from? And where are the other members of your superior species at the moment?” Tea Immortal made no effort to soften his mockery.

Darkwater replied, “Disclosing that information is not the purpose of my visit, and would endanger my safety.”

“So you refuse to answer?” Tea Immortal had suspected he wouldn't say. The question had also been a way to probe how Darkwater spoke and thought.

“All right. Tell me what Tian Yi sent you to say.”

Darkwater did not answer. He reached into his own throat and pulled out an envelope covered in black slime. Opening it, he took out the relatively dry letter inside and handed it to Tea Immortal.

Tea Immortal accepted the letter without taking any precautions against Darkwater, then turned around and began to read.

“Hello there, Tea Immortal. Getting a letter like this while you're shut away recovering from your injuries should be quite exciting. You can't possibly be unaware of what happened today, so I'll just give you a rough account of a few things you don't yet know much about...

“The prisoners from Tidal Prison have boarded the Freedom Front's airborne carrier, the Sky Vulture. A total of 471 survivors made it aboard. That may seem like a substantial number, but I estimate that Tidal Prison held at least five thousand inmates. Allowing for the very few who have some way of surviving at sea or can swim across the Pacific, over 90% of the prisoners died in this escape.

“Although you didn't join the game this time, I didn't win. Jarvidon Harl's appearance disrupted the plan, and all I could do was try to minimize the losses. I'd originally been confident I could save more than half the prisoners, but now... All I can say is that there are no ‘ifs’ in this world. That's what makes it so interesting.

“Fortunately, we successfully rescued Divine Key, and Blood Owl has officially rejoined us. It's just that the other resistance organizations won't get enough new talent in the short term as I'd expected they would.

“So I took Long Tassel and Time Attendant along and casually killed two Fierce-rank members of the Ten Celestial Guards. That was also to balance out the strength of the various sides and give the resistance leaders something to dream about, to make the games ahead more interesting.

“Also, I'm sure that tomorrow you'll advise the court to deploy its defenses in full force at all the naval fortresses and along the west coast of the Americas. That would indeed be the correct assessment and course of action, but I'd advise you to keep quiet.

“As you must know, your third elder brother proposes to Long Tassel, otherwise known as Alice, once a month on average. Given his persistence despite being rejected more than fifty times, he must have gone mad by now at the news that I've taken her prisoner. This is your chance, Tea Immortal. You can consider this a threat against the lives of Time Attendant and Long Tassel. Please use your intelligence and this opportunity to remove that elder brother of yours from the contest for the throne within three months. If you succeed, I will release one hostage unharmed.

“One last thing. Please don't try to capture or kill Darkwater. He is definitely stronger than when you last saw him. I'd suggest you take care of yourself. Wishing you a speedy recovery.

“P.S. That's right, I'm not Paper-rank. What are you going to do, bite me?”

Tea Immortal finished the letter, every word imprinted on his mind. He faced Darkwater again. “Since you managed to get into the palace, I assume you can get out?” He could sense no energy from Darkwater, which was what led him to that conclusion.

Darkwater replied, “Ah... I just need to use the bathroom.”

For some reason, this sent a wave of nausea through Tea Immortal. “Can you take a message back to Tian Yi for me?”

Darkwater said, “If I couldn't, why would I stand here waiting for you to finish reading the letter?”

Tea Immortal snorted coldly. “One month will be enough.” As he spoke, he tore the letter to pieces.