Chapter 270: Cunning Eyes

Recently, Aleph had been hearing voices inside his head.

They can be classified into three types:

"Aleph."

"Ain."

"Eternity."

The first two belonged to voices he was familiar with. 

"Earth…"

Just then, one of these voices rang inside his head.

"Aleph will…"

It was a familiar high-pitched voice laced with venom.

"Mobius." He muttered. "It is confirmed now. These are the loopholes that emerged after I dealt with Finality's influence."

Back then, Aleph had his head on a sack. He could not 'see' these loopholes. Finality's influence over this universe is an impenetrable wall. He was able to see more during his eight synergy state, but that was it.

If it was that easy to deal with Finality's test, it would not have been a test.

"Hm..?!"

He stood up at his seat in a roadside tea shop. A phantom of Aleph remained sitting. 

"I can…"

The connection established by Mobius' voice was different this time. He tried to connect to the other side several times but to no avail.

Now, Aleph felt that he could pierce open this 'thin wall' and reach the other side.

Psshk-!

Without hesitation, he tore space and time open.

*****

"..!"

The ELF Aleph who was sitting on Kiana's shoulder trembled. The latter who had just done sleeping in class became bewildered.

'It's been a few days…'

Although intellectually challenged, her emotional quotient was quite high. She might not notice it the first few times, but if it happens more than nine times, she would.

'Aside from that ancestor… He talked about his friends. Could it be them?'

Kiana was shocked when she heard about Aleph's identity for the first time. She could not fathom how someone could live for thousands of years.

Later on, she chalked it up as incomprehensible. It exists. She does not need to understand anything else.

"I am going out for a while."

"Meeting up with a friend?" She asked.

"...Yes."

"Good luck."

Aleph nodded to her words before disappearing. The next moment, he already appeared within Mobius' special space. No signs appeared prior to it—as if he was there in the first place.

The existence of a loophole was thoroughly taken advantage of by Error.

It did not need the existence of Aeon-level powers. Aleph stayed within the limits all these time. That was how easy it was.

"Tell me. Where is Aleph?"

One of the Mobiuses spoke.

'There are two Mobius…'

He shuddered at the thought of two identical Mobius teaming up against him.

'One of them… it's the Mobius I know. Then the other…'

It was akin to glancing at a network—a hive mind. A single glance was all it took to understand everything.

Ring-!

Knowing his existence was exposed, Aleph playfully answered:

"...Here."

…

Silence.

Nobody spoke for a while. It was an awkward event. The tension between the two Mobius became somewhat strange.

From sparks of a fight into…

'...This look.'

Both of them sent him a look of disdain. Their snake-like eyes squinted at the same time.

"I already explained things to you… well, my Mobius."

"..."

"How bold."

The one to fall silent was the original Mobius. The parallel world Mobius could not help but click her tongue.

Buzz-!

A series of rainbow electric arcs appeared between Aleph's palm. He clasped them both before revealing an old-fashioned ring key made of transparent crystals. Their colors reminded them of a kaleidoscope.

He walked over to the real Mobius and handed her the key.

"It's like a USB. It contains everything I couldn't tell everyone before."

"...Huh. The world beyond the Oort Cloud…"

After a while, she glanced at the other Mobius. The latter seemingly told her something. 

With a complicated look, she nodded at her.

"Go talk to her first. She won't have other chances later."

Her poison-laced words pointed to the brutal truth. Mobius did not care. The other Mobius did not care either.

'...It's a universal experience.'

The last time Aleph saw this was between Senti and Hua. The two can communicate without even looking at each other. Whenever Hua acts, Senti follows up. That kind of understanding could only be reached with… well, parallel selves.

Who could understand Mobius if not herself?

True to her words, the surrounding space shifted. Darkness swallowed the real Mobius whole.

They were the only people left.

"...Will you consider that a success?"

Aleph pointed out Mobius' current state. 

"Barely. It goes to prove the validity of my direction." She replied. "If not else, how could the Cocoon have its current ability?"

"You are capable of acting as a final boss."

He sighed at Mobius' schemes. 

Project Cataclysm is a plan to cut down humanity's numbers to less than ten percent. The remaining ones will become humans with strong potentials. This was the foundation of the parallel Earth's strength to contend against Judgement-class Honkai Beasts head-on.

However, that was not the end of it.

"Vill-V…"

"She must have an idea about it. Her talent is wasted if she doesn't."

Aleph sighed at the ambition of this duo. His abrupt disappearance during their sixth major eruption did not deter them. They carried on with their project towards a higher level of life.

'They saw it in me. The possibility.'

Way back then, he surpassed every single human. The formidable Herrschers were nothing but ragdolls in the face of his strength. Aleph indirectly proved that humans could become that strong.

Project Cataclysm is their most successful project.

It did not only mean a large-scale destruction.

"The act of god. Too bad it fell short."

"Heh. It's far from succeeding, isn't it? I don't need some comforting."

"You got me."

Aleph let out a helpless smile.

"There are three flaws with your plan…"

First, the discarding of the human body.

Using the Divine Key as a buffer, Mobius was able to become the twelfth Herrscher. The Herrscher Core did not corrupt her due to the Divine Key. She was able to transmit the virus throughout the entire world.

Then, she went further and used the Herrscher of Corruption's ability to form a hive mind. It was not so much as direct control, but merely leaving a "mark" of her.

What followed next was a series of trial and error. Despite her ability to be 'reborn', Mobius' continuous experiments caused her ability to err. The damage to her ICHOR was irreversible. The mere act of splitting herself into millions of successful human evolvers overloaded it.

Her physical body was broken in the end. The Divine Key was broken along with it and her attempt was considered a failure.

Fortunately…

 "Mind works in different ways. Gods… or Aeons, we have the ability to split our thoughts into billions, if not trillions of parts."

Aleph gave out genuine affirmation.

"You faced the dilemma of losing yourself."

"Hm." She nodded. "No matter how brilliant I am, a tiny bit of me can't withstand the torrent of endless memories."

That was the second mistake: using other people to 'ascend'. 

In Aleph's eyes, it was a failed endeavor from the start. Then again, Earth truly is limited when it comes to possibilities.

'The imaginary barrier… It's the source of it all.'

Without it, geniuses like Mobius, Vill-V, and MEI could have been big-shots throughout the universe. They won't fall short of geniuses like Herta and Ruan Mei.

"You…" 

He was about to say something when he stopped.

"It's not like me at all." 

Mobius finished off his words as she drew closer.

Finally, she was only a step away from him. Reflected in her pale green eyes is the familiar white dot he faced off against.

"What do you think of me?"

Mobius' third mistake came into light.

"Tell me."

She stole a fragment of the Cocoon.