Everyone followed Caterpillar's footsteps and finally found the long-awaited Narzissenkreuz Ordo.
"Wow, so this is the Narzissenkreuz Ordo."
Paimon looked at the conference hall before her.
Classical books were lined up everywhere.
It was very similar to the previous Sleeping Place.
The most obvious thing was right in the center of the room.
That spot was usually where a chandelier would be.
But in the Narzissenkreuz Ordo.
That place was occupied by an inverted clock.
"There are no more ritual props, and the dispersal ritual hasn't been performed for a long time. However..."
Caterpillar walked at the front, looking around.
"The familiar arrangement is awakening my memories. This is the right place."
Mu Yang went straight to the core, "Then tell us about your past memories."
Caterpillar said he could, but he had to explain in advance.
Several hundred years ago, he was also outside the decision-making level and did not fully understand the whole picture of events.
Mu Yang expressed understanding, "Then let's start with your master, Narzissenkreuz."
Caterpillar cleared his throat, "Every one of us has a prophet sleeping within us. Every time he awakens, another portion of evil is added to the world..."
Paimon was very puzzled, "What is this?"
"It's my mentor." Caterpillar said, "Narzissenkreuz is such a person. He should be the source of everything."
Many years ago.
There had been intense confrontation between Alain Guillotin, now called the 'Duke of the Machine', and Narzissenkreuz.
Back then, Guillotin was still called the White Knight of the Nation's Protection.
In Caterpillar's memory, the people of the Narzissenkreuz Ordo were all quite kind.
Only Narzissenkreuz's teachings were relatively radical and might be hard for people to accept.
He would follow ancient rites and use the holy sword to preside over rituals.
"In Liyue's ancient methods, it is called 'Slaying the Three Corpses.' In Sumeru's ancient methods, it is called 'Severing Self-Attachment.' He called this act self-abnegation."
[What? Daoist me has become?!]
[Is this the "detach from possessions" thing?]
Narzissenkreuz believed that human self-will was an obstacle.
If one accidentally obtained a Vision while seeking the Way, that meant stepping onto an irreversible wrong path.
Mu Yang naturally did not agree with such a view.
A Vision was merely one form of external power.
Its effect was determined by the person using it.
For example, Yoimiya. She had not given up her beloved fireworks business just because she obtained a Vision.
On the contrary, as a flint, the Pyro Vision was unexpectedly useful.
Caterpillar was only repeating his teacher's words.
He did not fully accept his views either.
Paimon asked, "What does one become after self-abnegation?"
Caterpillar shrugged, "Actually, it's quite normal. It is said that people cannot see the truth of the world because there is a self inside the body that intentionally filters out sensations."
However, while he said that, Caterpillar himself did not understand why his master would research in this direction.
After that, what Caterpillar said were all peripheral details.
It was possible that he truly did not touch the core.
Of course, Mu Yang was more inclined to believe that he had intentionally forgotten these matters.
Fortunately, Caterpillar was not the only one related to the Narzissenkreuz Ordo.
Soon, Mu Yang set off and brought An and Seymour over.
He brought them to the Narzissenkreuz Ordo...
The moment Seymour saw Caterpillar, he issued an alarm.
"Negative. Danger. Danger. Narzissenkreuz Ordo remnant activity detected."
[Ah? What happened? Are they still hostile?]
[Skipping ahead, right? Seymour was made by Alain, Caterpillar was made by Narzissenkreuz, so of course they're hostile.]
[So the Narzissenkreuz Ordo is actually a cult organization?!]
"Everyone, please immediately find a safe place to take shelter. Wide-area annihilation mode activated."
"You even have this mode?!" An panicked.
"Calm down, Seymour." Mu Yang stood between the two.
He was here to clarify the truth of the matter and Jakob's plan.
Not to watch a mechanical dog and a Hilichurl argue.
Caterpillar, however, was not angry. He kindly greeted Seymour.
"The White Knight of the Nation's Protection's [This Is My Own Little Invention], we meet again."
"Affirmative. I am... (noisy mechanical sound) the 4th product, possessing many bold design elements."
After a brief processing by the logic unit... "This topic's priority has been downgraded. Please immediately surrender."
[Holy crap, it can do that too?]
[Forcibly interrupting the conversation.]
Caterpillar spread his hands, "Alright, I now surrender to Miss Lumine and Mr. Mu Yang."
"Good. Now we can talk about my extraordinary designs again." Seymour instantly accepted his surrender.
[???]
[Humour unit activated.]
[Face-changing without deducting beans.]
[Feels even funnier than Noailles' cold jokes.]
At this moment, Caterpillar suddenly asked Seymour a question, "How is that little girl you are protecting?"
Everyone looked at him together, and he looked back at everyone.
He said he didn't know why he had said that sentence.
Seymour's automatic response was activated. He was protecting his master, whose name was Ma—
"Mary-Ann Guillotin." Caterpillar preemptively said her original name.
Lumine knew the name Mary-Ann, and it was Guillotin!
It seemed they were getting closer and closer to the truth.
Lumine couldn't help but give Mu Yang a thumbs up.
It looked like directly bringing An and Seymour over was very effective.
Mu Yang seemed somewhat pleased as the corner of his mouth curled up.
[Family, he's smiling at me!]
[Damn, I'm shipping this.]
[It's just average. Only desktop wallpaper level.]
Although Mary-Ann's original name had been mentioned.
Caterpillar still hadn't recalled much.
So An, who had a deep connection with Mary-Ann, stepped forward.
"Caterpillar, have we met before?"
"My memory is very bad, so it's possible we have met. May I ask rudely, what is your relationship with the Red Queen?"
"Uh... who is the Red Queen? It sounds somewhat familiar..."
"Then how about this name? What is your relationship with Lyris?"
At this moment, An had already broken through the shackles of the story and knew that this name was merely a character in the story.
Caterpillar nodded. He had already understood An's current state.
"I am also a person harmed by riddles, so I will absolutely not play mysterious here. I should speak without holding anything back."
"Lyris does exist. She is a Oceanid."
"Within the Narzissenkreuz Ordo, she was called the [Red Queen] by Narzissenkreuz."