[Wordsmith of the Great Yan: Right now? Something must be up.]
[Lord of the White Holy Throne: Yeah. I'm thinking of heading over to your side.]
[Wordsmith of the Great Yan: What's the situation, specifically?]
[Lord of the White Holy Throne: Don't worry — it's not that something went wrong on your end. This is purely personal business on my side. There are some materials I need, and I might have to swing by your place to track them down.]
[Lord of the White Holy Throne: So, while I'm at it — any chance you'd be willing to pass a message along to a few of the Elders ahead of time? Let them know I'm coming, that sort of thing?]
[Wordsmith of the Great Yan: ?!]
Two simple punctuation marks blinked onto the chat group screen — and Anthony immediately understood.
This was going to work out.
When Anthony had started turning over the question of an Authority related to forging and derivation, he'd given it a few seconds of thought — and then stopped himself.
What exactly is there to think about? There's a walking, breathing member of the Elder family sitting right in front of you. Where else are you going to look?
In the lore of Arknights, the most fundamental Authority of the Sarkaz Elders was evolution. And among them, there were Elders like Nian who specialized in evolution as their core domain.
If Anthony remembered correctly, in canon — even Jie's Book Knife, simply by absorbing her aura over time, had come to carry the power of her Authority within it.
In other words: if that was true for Jie's blade, then by the same logic, any personal item carried by any Elder should be usable as a material for [The Artificer] path.
In an instant, the entire world of Terra took on a distinctly rosier hue in Anthony's eyes.
Dangerous, treacherous Terra, teetering on the edge of perpetual crisis?
This place is a gold mine. An absolute gold mine.
The only potential snag was the negotiation with the Elders themselves — that might get a little awkward. He was a complete stranger, after all. Even if he opened with "I know Jie," there was no guarantee they'd actually believe him.
In theory, he could just rattle Jie directly out of her slumber... but Jie's resurrection difficulty was, in all likelihood, the single highest in the entire group — second only to his own. With the Points he currently had on hand, that was a steep ask, to put it mildly.
One wrong move, and he'd end up looking like a rogue Elder-class entity trying to sow chaos and manipulate people — and get flattened like a bug on the roadside. That wouldn't be fun at all.
Fortunately, Anthony already had a target in mind.
Wang and Nian.
Wang was the opening. Nian was the ideal objective.
With the plan sketched out in his head, Anthony started typing to Jie.
He laid it all out clearly: his Personal Main Storyline Mission, his decision to pursue [The Artificer] path, the specific obstacle he'd hit, and the solution he'd come up with. Then he sent it and settled in to wait patiently for her reply.
It wasn't like any of this was something he needed to hide. Stating his needs plainly and openly was, frankly, just easier to work with.
[Wordsmith of the Great Yan: So, once you get here — you're planning to go have a chat with Wang, come away with something from him to use as your enhancement material?]
[Wordsmith of the Great Yan: And you want me to help by... acting as the go-between.]
[Lord of the White Holy Throne: Ah, yeah, more or less...]
[Wordsmith of the Great Yan: Of course. No problem.]
The reply came faster and more cleanly than Anthony had expected — not a moment of hesitation, not a single point that required him to persuade her.
[Wordsmith of the Great Yan: It's just introducing a friend. Nothing to stress about.]
[Wordsmith of the Great Yan: Besides, there are some things I've been wanting to say to Second Brother myself. I have no idea how he's been lately. In that regard, I might have to impose on you a little.]
[Lord of the White Holy Throne: ...]
[Lord of the White Holy Throne: Jie, are you an angel?]
Genuinely thoughtful of her.
Anthony typed the message quietly, a feeling of warm appreciation rising in his chest. But as he read Jie's last line, his expression took on a slightly complicated cast.
Lao Wang's current situation...
Ha.
If Jie ever found out that this particular man was gearing up to go pick another fight with the Sarkaz Beast — another full-on, all-in collision — she'd probably let out a scream that could shatter glass.
Not that it was any of Anthony's business right now. If an opportunity came up down the line, he could try to talk Lao Wang out of that particular death wish.
Not purely out of goodwill, mind you. The truth was, Anthony had his eye on something sitting at the base of the Sarkaz Beast — that Originium-dense core of hers.
If he recycled that thing, how many Points would it net?
And even if he didn't recycle it — it had to be extraordinary material. He'd definitely find a use for it eventually.
Anthony had come down with a particular condition. A condition that struck whenever he laid eyes on anything valuable — his legs would stop working, his eyes would go red, and all rational thought would exit the building.
The likely cause of this condition: being chronically broke.
[Wordsmith of the Great Yan: Stop saying weird things. Just come whenever you're ready — sooner rather than later.]
[Lord of the White Holy Throne: Got it. Give me a moment — I need to get a few things ready first.]
After sending a quick reply to Jie, Anthony pulled the metaphorical fishing rod out of his head and got to work.
In truth, Anthony had no intention of making this trip as his soul-body directly.
He was going to meet the Elders, after all — and setting aside the question of whether they could even perceive a wandering soul, travelling to Terra in raw soul form came with a whole laundry list of inconveniences.
This was precisely where the Stand that had fused with [The Angler] came in handy.
This was its advantage over [Soul Splitting] — [Dimensional Fishing] produced a physical Angler Individual, an entity with genuine material existence. Even someone who wasn't a Stand User could perceive it.
A bit of an NPC in terms of autonomy, sure — but as a body that could physically interact with the outside world, it was exactly what Anthony needed right now.
And the NPC problem? He had a solution for that too.
[Soul Splitting] activated in an instant. In the blink of an eye, Anthony split off a fragment of his soul — one capable of carrying a portion of his consciousness. He fed it a set of operating parameters to lighten the cognitive load on himself, then slapped the fragment cleanly onto the fishing rod.
This was a combo technique of his own devising.
The Angler Individual generated via [Dimensional Fishing], given consciousness and thought by a soul fragment produced via [Soul Splitting] — the result was something close to an "Avatar." A separate body that could carry his will and act in the world on his behalf.
Without any further hesitation, Anthony cast his line, guided by instinct and sensation, reaching out to connect with the world of Terra. After a long stretch of stillness, the float bobbed once — a slow, deliberate rise and fall.
He sent his Avatar in immediately.
As that fragment of consciousness slid down the fishing rod and dropped through the dimensional divide, Anthony paused briefly — and spoke.
"From this moment forward, you are a part of me — an extension of my thoughts, my hands, my feet. Another existence that is Anthony. Even so, I should give you a name."
"There may well be more Angler Individuals after you, after all."
He exhaled quietly, turning the question over in his mind. Something that fit the aesthetic.
This Avatar would probably be most active in Terra — specifically, in Dayan — and would almost certainly end up deeply entangled with the Elders' affairs. Fitting to give it a single-character name, then. Something that matched the aesthetic of that world.
"Let's call you Po."
And then, in the very next moment —
On the soil of Dayan, a "person" opened his eyes.
The form shifted rapidly, settling into an approximation of Anthony's appearance from his living years — with one small set of additions. Two dragon horns had grown from the crown of his head, and a dragon's tail curved out behind him.
"Hah... there we go. I've arrived in Terra. Even threw in some local flair."
Anthony's awareness descended into the body along the fishing rod's line. He murmured to himself — and then let a slow smile spread across his face.
"Well then. I'm here, Dayan."
____
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