[White Holy Throne: Huh? Wait, hold on?]
Staring at the message David had posted in the group chat, Anthony immediately fired off a triple-take of bewilderment, his pupils practically earthquake-ing.
In the end, a thousand words collapsed into a single punctuation mark.
[White Holy Throne: ?]
[Let Night City Burn: Anthony, does this count as fishing talent on my part?]
For a moment, Anthony was at a complete loss for words.
His rational mind said: yes. Absolutely, undeniably, spectacularly yes.
But the fisherman buried deep in his subconscious said: average, I'm not jealous at all, not even a little.
After a long silence, he finally typed back:
[White Holy Throne: Beginner's luck. That's all.]
[White Holy Throne: You got it wrong — where exactly were you when you reeled it in?]
[Let Night City Burn: Huh? Oh, I didn't keep track of that. Does it matter?]
[White Holy Throne: Didn't keep track... well, forget it then. Remember to note it down next time.]
[White Holy Throne: Ahem, anyway, back to the actual topic.]
Having reined the conversation back in from its tangent, Anthony sent a trade request to David.
[You have received: Singularity Product · Glass Window]
[Grand Flame Wordsmith: By the way, what exactly is this thing?]
Jie, who had just returned to the continent of Terra, sent this thoroughly baffled message.
[White Holy Throne: Oh, this? In a certain sense, it's the thing that could give the big bro his second phase directly — and send Nian screaming awake in the middle of the night.]
[Grand Flame Wordsmith: ?]
[White Holy Throne: Ahem, forget that. Simply put, the Glass Window is a tool for observing and having conversations with the different possibilities of one's own existence.]
[White Holy Throne: It's an urban-exclusive technology called Singularity Tech. Carmen should be pretty familiar with it — though the Glass Window itself probably hasn't appeared in your timeline yet, right?]
[AAA City Ghost: Mm, that's right. It's a Singularity Technology that has never had a patent filed in the city.]
[White Holy Throne: An even simpler way to think about it: treat it as a tool for observing your parallel worlds, with a few minor differences.]
[Grand Flame Wordsmith: Is it just observation? Or conversation only?]
[White Holy Throne: Not exactly. In theory, it's possible to directly extract that possibility and load it as a deployable personality.]
[White Holy Throne: The catch is that the Glass Window version's functionality is a bit unstable, and its energy requirements are probably enormous.]
Honestly, the moment Anthony saw this Glass Window, the thought had crossed his mind — pull out Shuo Qiao right then and there, and give Nian a good ghost story.
But after thinking it over carefully, Anthony could only reluctantly abandon that tantalizing idea.
He had no doubt whatsoever that he genuinely could extract Shuo Qiao's personality. The problem was — how much energy would that take?
In other words: how many points would that cost?
Maybe worth experimenting with down the road, but definitely not something he and the others could handle right now.
[White Holy Throne: Alas, farewell for now, my Shuo Qiao bro, my demon rabbit. I'll come for you once I'm rich...]
[Konoha's Yellow Flash: ? What is this guy even on about?]
[White Holy Throne: Ahem, anyway — @Grand Flame Wordsmith, the major hurdles for your resurrection should now be sorted out. The only remaining gap is points.]
[White Holy Throne: Though, that particular gap might be... a little on the large side.]
Even as he typed it out, Anthony couldn't help feeling a little helpless about it himself.
Looking at the current rate of point inflation, his gut told him: without a million points, pulling off the Shuo Qiao-elbowing-Nian plan was probably a pipe dream.
And so, after going around in circles, they were right back where they started:
Coach, what do you do when you're broke again?!
[White Holy Throne: After all that, the core issue still comes back to earning points.]
[White Holy Throne: The way things stand, Jie is actually the closest one to being resurrected.]
[White Holy Throne: It's just that this point gap is genuinely awkward.]
[White Holy Throne: I'm starting to think I seriously need to come up with a proper money-making plan.]
After typing that out, Anthony once again sank into helpless contemplation.
Same old problem. The scale of his current income streams just wasn't cutting it.
The ritual earnings had the Demon Slayer and Grand Flame sides feeding in, and his own contributions kept trickling through — but it was still small change in the grand scheme of things.
The big haul came from raiding Arasaka Tower, and he'd scraped together a bit more from the Naruto side — but a stable, large-scale source of points remained frustratingly out of reach.
Grand Flame was undeniably an excellent option, but without resolving the Nian Beast situation, how could he possibly farm there in any serious volume?
The Naruto timeline had also stalled for now.
When all was said and done, it seemed only one option was left.
[White Holy Throne: @AAA City Ghost]
[AAA City Ghost: What's up?]
[White Holy Throne: Let's go rob the Executive.]
[AAA City Ghost: ?]
[White Holy Throne: Ahem, not serious, let me rephrase that.]
[White Holy Throne: Right now, the issue most people are running into is a shortage of points. The only solution I can think of is Lobotomy Corporation.]
Given the current size of the group, it was probably the only viable path.
Anthony had many thoughts about Lobotomy Corporation.
Up until now, the somewhat awkward problem of Gallion had kept him from pushing the Lobotomy route too aggressively.
But faced with this dead-end on both sides, Anthony finally clenched his jaw and decided to just try his luck over at Lobotomy Corporation.
So what if it's the Executive? Let's just blow her up.
After all, no matter how you looked at it, Lobotomy Corporation was genuinely loaded. In this current bind, it was worth every bit of effort Anthony could throw at it.
Once the Gallion problem was resolved, the road ahead with Lobotomy would be wide open.
Even just skimming money directly from Lobotomy would probably net a substantial haul.
And after Gallion's death, Lobotomy Corporation would ignite the Smoke War — a conflict blanketing nearly half the city, and a war fortune ripe for the taking.
More importantly, Anthony had also set his sights on Lobotomy's Singularity · Mind Manifestation.
If he could manage it more cleanly — setting up a branch of Lobotomy Corporation right there on his Styx Vessel...
Anthony turned the idea over in his mind, mapping out future plans, and finally let out a long breath.
One way or another, pushing forward through the city's storyline was an absolute necessity now.
Including the Seed of Light launch later on — he'd need to get a hand in that too. After all, Anthony was fairly certain it was tied to Carmen's resurrection.
And conveniently, the Glass Window he'd just received might actually come in useful during the upcoming Lobotomy trip.
Perfect timing to put it to good use.
At that thought, a smile spread across Anthony's face.
He remembered it clearly: after the future Seed of Light launch, Carmen had ascended directly to become a Multiversal Ghost — capable of observing and even interfering with any possibility. Terrifyingly powerful.
But what if, right now, he let Carmen use the Glass Window to try making contact with those other possibilities?
All in all — this trip to Lobotomy had enormous potential!
[White Holy Throne: Alright then, let's just go with that.]
[White Holy Throne: @AAA City Ghost, I'll spin up a new Stand right now and then head over.]
[AAA City Ghost: Coming now? I don't have any objections.]
[AAA City Ghost: Just — do be careful. You know what the lab situation is like.]
[AAA City Ghost: Just don't get cut down by Carly the second you land.]
[White Holy Throne: Lmao]
[White Holy Throne: It won't come to that, will it?]
Anthony typed back with mild uncertainty, thought about it for a moment, and then gave up thinking about it.
He opened his Angler skill tree, glanced at his remaining balance of three hundred thousand points, and took a slow, deep breath.
The Hades Armor still wasn't built, but at this rate, there might not be enough funds for it anyway.
Better develop at Lobotomy first, then deal with it afterward.
As for right now — what he needed to do next was self-evident.
He opened the Dimensional Fishing Stand from within — and found something that surprised him.
It seemed that because his Soul Strength had reached 10 and risen to 14, Dimensional Fishing had grown alongside his soul itself.
Simply put: the creation of his next Angler individual would have considerably fewer requirements, and could even carry some of his own soul's divine aspects along with it.
"Well, that's a nice bonus."
Anthony raised an eyebrow. Without much deliberation, he activated his third Angler individual.
And before him, once again, a humanoid figure appeared — one bearing a striking resemblance to his own face.
This time, however, the figure carried something different: a flowing, iridescent quality about them, like the shifting colors of the Primordial River itself.
The complexion looked otherwise normal — but along the veins on the back of the hands, light streamed and shimmered, suffused with deep, swirling hues.
Was this an inheritance of his own Earthbound Spirit traits?
Hard to say what the specific effects would be.
Anthony paused in thought for a moment, then once again divided a fragment of his soul and settled it into the avatar before him.
Then came the naming.
"What should I call this one?"
Anthony looked out beyond the Styx Vessel, at the iridescent Primordial River flowing past.
Since he was heading to the city, the name ought to have at least some urban flavor to it.
With that thought in mind, Anthony deliberated briefly, and then bestowed a name upon the figure:
"You'll be called Prometheus."
"Now then — head to the outskirts of the city. To the lab."
[Requesting World Traversal]
[World Traversal Target: The City]
[AAA City Ghost has approved this World Traversal request]
[Detection: City timeline is currently at a critical juncture. Issuing Emergency Support Mission.]
[Emergency Support Mission · Angel Investor]
[Mission Requirements: Assist group member Carmen in completing and witnessing the establishment of Lobotomy Corporation within the laboratory.]
[Note: This is one of the conditions for Carmen's resurrection.]
[Mission Reward: 200,000 Points, Functional World Positioning Unlocked]
With the Emergency Support Mission appearing, Anthony felt the powerful sensation of World Traversal washing over him.
But this time, it felt unfamiliar — different from every time before.
If previous traversals were like getting ambushed with a blackjack, then this one had a far more explosive quality to it.
It felt exactly as though he'd been launched by a truck, and was now streaking through the sky like a meteor.
That instant brought with it an even more violently disorienting sensation — the kind that made Anthony feel profoundly, thoroughly unwell.
Chat group! Can you not use a normal method of transport next time?!
And so, like a falling star, Anthony hurtled downward toward the city.
*
At that same moment, in the outskirts — inside the laboratory.
"Almost finished, is it?"
Ein looked at Angela, lying peacefully within the capsule before him, and spoke. At his side, Benjamin gave a nod.
"Yes. We're not far from completion now. All that's left is to input the final piece of the mind-model data."
"But, Professor — are you certain this is alright?"
"If you're asking about breaking the taboo — didn't we establish a contingency for that before we ever started?" Ein turned back to ask Benjamin, and Benjamin paused, seeming for a moment as though he wanted to say something but couldn't quite find the words.
"No, Professor. You know that's not what I mean."
Finally, he shook his head and spoke:
"I mean — abandoning the import of Carmen's memories."
Ein was quiet for a moment. Then he turned to look at Angela in the capsule, as if lost in thought.
"I think Angela is a beautiful name, Benjamin."
He finally said: "Carmen's memories — there's no need to include them. I won't regret that."
After all, the voice he'd heard that day...
No — he couldn't even be certain whether that fleeting voice had been real or a hallucination.
He hoped it hadn't been a hallucination.
But either way — as long as there was even that faint sliver of hope, there was no longer any need to burden Angela with expectations like those.
He had already committed enough sins. The act of building Angela itself was one of them — no need to add yet another on top.
He thought this, wearily, and in the end tucked his hands into the pockets of his lab coat, turned, and walked out.
"I'm going to step out for a bit. I'll be right back."
He said it, then left the research room and stepped outside.
He crossed paths with Carly in the corridor — exchanged a brief greeting — then walked out of the lab altogether and into the open expanse of the outskirts.
The weather in the outskirts was unstable, and even time seemed erratic here. By now the starry sky was already visible overhead.
Ein shook his head. The city's sky had always been something city dwellers paid no attention to — neither willing nor inclined to look up at it.
But tonight, Ein found himself — as if guided by some inexplicable impulse — tilting his head back, for reasons even he couldn't explain, to gaze up at the distant stars.
And then, he saw something that stopped him cold.
High up in that vast sky, amid the infinite field of stars, he could just barely make out — one of those stars falling?!
The next moment, he realized it was no hallucination.
Among the stars, a single streak of light was cutting straight across the sky — a meteor, plummeting down.
It grew larger and larger, closer and closer, until — right there before Ein's stunned gaze — it struck the ground roughly two kilometers away.
Staring at the distant plume of smoke that showed no sign of settling, Ein stood there, dumbstruck.
Hold on. Wait a moment.
What had he just seen?!
____
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