"Follow me."
Nicholas led Li Mo back to his room. Here, Li Mo saw shelves filled with rows of books that exuded a sense of history, their worn appearance fitting for the era.
The book Kallen held contained a very old story, one that must have survived for a long time in the river of history.
He wondered from what point in time it had been passed down.
But that raised another question.
The book recorded events from a million years ago, but Li Mo knew very well that a book absolutely could not be preserved for a million years, unless it had been specially protected by a modern civilization with a protective layer.
But if that were the case, it would be difficult for people to obtain.
And using books to record information was not a very efficient method, at least not in the grand scheme of history.
Carving the content onto the stone walls of a cave would have been more practical.
But since it existed, Li Mo decided he would keep an eye out for similar books. Unfortunately, he found none in Nicholas's room.
"What are you looking at? Observing your unfamiliar surroundings? A good habit."
Nicholas commented calmly, walking to his seat and sitting down, facing Li Mo.
"Can you no longer restrain yourself from baring your fangs, Otto Apocalypse? To become the heir of the family, do you know what you must sacrifice?"
Nicholas's expression was cold, and Li Mo's was the same.
Nicholas didn't think he wasn't Otto. In fact, he believed Otto had been hiding his true strength for a long time, only now revealing it.
Anyone else might have been puzzled by Li Mo's drastic change in personality, but someone who had spent years scheming between families would instinctively assume Li Mo had been playing dumb before.
He couldn't act too mature, but he couldn't be too childish either.
Li Mo weighed his options internally. He needed to come up with an excuse to convince the old man.
"That's not important. I just feel that I should have more power now. It would make my life easier."
"I know power is like a giant vortex. Anyone who tries to touch it will be sucked in, losing their autonomy. The freedom built on the foundation of power will ultimately become a cage for free will."
"But I need it."
Li Mo held out his hand, looking at Nicholas seriously, trying to persuade him.
"Is that all?" Nicholas asked.
"That's all," Li Mo replied.
The room fell into a silent stillness. They stared at each other. Li Mo showed no fear, meeting Nicholas's gaze head-on without wavering.
After a long moment, Nicholas finally spoke. "It's for the youngest daughter of the Kaslana family head, isn't it? That girl named Kallen. You like her."
"I..."
Before Li Mo could explain, Nicholas added, "Don't think I've ignored you. I have given every child of the Apocalypse family a fair chance to compete. All of your actions are within my sight."
"It started that day, when Kallen climbed over the wall to return your broken paper airplane. That's when you fell for her, wasn't it?"
Li Mo: "..."
Otto likes her. What does that have to do with me, Li Mo?
Even if we both have a thing for white-haired moeblobs, you can't just lump us together like that.
Kallen is Kiana's ancestor, for crying out loud. The family tree is getting messed up.
"Do you know that in the game of power, emotions are nothing more than a disposable chip? The moment they lose their value, they cease to have a reason to exist." Nicholas said, studying Li Mo's reaction. "What do you think?"
Li Mo stood motionless, like a petrified statue.
"Of all my children, you are the most complex... You inherited your mother Sabrina's cleverness, learned a bit of scheming from me, and your grim side is just like your grandfather, Frank. People say you are weak and incompetent, but that is clearly not the case. Even though you've shown intelligence and decisiveness far beyond your years today, I'll be blunt: you're not qualified to be the heir."
"Not unless you can use Kallen Kaslana as a stepping stone to climb to the peak of power. Otherwise, it's all just empty talk."
Nicholas had expected Otto to remain silent for a long time, but the next second, a reply came swiftly.
"Fine."
"Why not?"
The sun was half-hidden by the western mountains, and the dim yellow light of dusk shone on Li Mo's back from the doorway.
Due to the lighting effect, his face appeared dark and unfamiliar.
As if taking an oath, Li Mo spoke with deliberate care, word by word. "I, Otto Apocalypse, promise that I will definitely use Kallen Kaslana as a stepping stone to climb to the peak of power."
"Not only that, but my mother, Sabrina Schariac; my older brother and sisters, Ferdinand, Fabian, and Risa; and even you."
"All of you will become tools for me to achieve my goals."
Li Mo's words were forceful and resonant. Anyway, he was making the promise as Otto, not as Li Mo.
A promise made is a promise made. What if he didn't fulfill it?
Using someone else's identity gave him a sense of righteousness; he didn't even need to lie.
Nicholas looked up, studying him carefully.
Li Mo's expression was completely serious, his eyes unwavering. If it was a disguise, then a fourteen-year-old being able to fake it to this extent was a talent in itself.
"You are too arrogant, Otto."
"But I have the ability."
"How will you prove it?"
"Give me the authority, and I will prove it immediately."
Li Mo walked to the door, his gaze fixed on the Apocalypse family's sanctuary, where the Void Archives was kept.
Though, right now, it was called a śarīra.
With just one glance, Nicholas understood Otto's intentions, and his stern expression relaxed slightly.
"You can try. If you really succeed, I will grant your request."
"Deal."
Seeing his chance, Li Mo didn't hesitate and walked quickly toward the sanctuary. However, he was stopped at the door by the guards, even though he was the youngest son of the Apocalypse family.
After all, the guard who had failed to secure the armory had been punished just today...
Nicholas came up behind Li Mo and waved his hand, and only then did the guards let him pass.
Once inside the sanctuary, Li Mo ignored the weapons and treasures hanging on the walls, walking straight to the śarīra in the innermost part of the hall. It was rumored to contain the wisdom of the world.
The Void Archives...
Li Mo wasn't sure if he could subdue the Void Archives right now. The primary condition was high intelligence.
An artificial intelligence that controlled a civilization wouldn't recognize a fool as its master. This was a hard requirement.
However, Li Mo vaguely remembered what the first Divine Key desired.
"I promise you ten years of absolute freedom."
In the sanctuary, Li Mo placed his hand on the Void Archives. A faint light emanated from it.
Li Mo didn't want to leave his fate to chance, so he whispered this sentence to the Void Archives.
Upon hearing these words, the Void Archives released its seal, transforming into a small golden box, like a Rubik's Cube, and floated above Li Mo's palm.
With this, Li Mo had finally secured a foothold in this world.
On the way back, Li Mo was alone.
Nicholas had promised him that starting tomorrow, he could order anyone in the family with a lower status than him to do anything, and he could also mobilize the family's resources, just like his older siblings.
"Sigh... More scheming. I just escaped the bizarre primeval forest, and now I have to deal with family disputes."
"I must find a way to gather as much influence as possible, otherwise that old bastard Nicholas will look down on me and revoke my authority. But I also need to send people to the primeval forest to gather intelligence. The forest is so big, determining the location of the Bizarre Thing and its general rules is a very mentally and time-consuming task. With both of these, I won't have enough time to change Kallen's tragic fate."
Li Mo walked while thinking, soon returning to his own room.
Sending people to the forest would take time. Their return would take time. The time they spent wandering the forest gathering intelligence would also take time...
The round trip would take a very long time, and he couldn't send too many people at once.
It had to be a moderate number, otherwise, if they all died quickly, how could he send more?
But it couldn't be too few either, or they might all die without bringing back any information.
Li Mo estimated the survival rate for the first group to venture deep into the primeval forest would be less than five percent.
It would be better after they obtained some information, but not by much.
Wait a minute...
Why don't I just go ask Francis? They were fighting Honkai Beasts in the forest, so they must have seen some strange things.
"I'll go to the Kaslana family estate tomorrow morning."
Having made his decision, Li Mo untied his sash and jumped onto the bed.
He currently had no strange powers to sustain his mental energy, so he needed sufficient sleep to maintain a good mental state.
The more tired and sleepy he was, the more susceptible he would be to cognitive interference from consciousness-based Bizarre Things.
Impostors clearly fell into that category.
"Moshi moshi, Misfortune Ghost, are you there? Squeak if you are. It's been a while since I heard your voice, and I'm getting a little nervous."
Li Mo lay in bed, staring at the ceiling and talking to himself.
He knew the Misfortune Ghost wouldn't respond to such a question. It would only let out a shrill curse when his consciousness was about to fade.
Whether it was at the funeral, on Mount Taixuan, or in the extremely special Soul Ferrying Passage.
As long as some strange rule tried to erase his consciousness, the Misfortune Ghost would serve as a protector until the other's rule completely overpowered its own.
"But with this body... I have a feeling the Misfortune Ghost wouldn't have come with me. I should be more careful in the future."
"I don't know if Impostors are real, but the primeval forest definitely has some... not-so-normal things."
"The people I send out will need to be carefully checked when they return. It's best not to have any physical contact with them. And I can't make eye contact with them, nor can I allow them to say my name."
"No, they can say my name. I'm not Otto Apocalypse anyway. To be safe, I'll just have them call me Young Master."
Li Mo formulated a plan in his mind, but fearing he would forget, he got up, took out a pen and paper, and wrote it down at his desk.
However, as Li Mo rummaged through Otto's things, he found that all the paper he could write on looked somewhat familiar.
It seemed like he had glimpsed it in his notebook.
But that wasn't important. Yellowed paper probably all looked the same.
Light a lamp? Li Mo hesitated for a moment before deciding to move to the window.
Using the moonlight for illumination, he quickly wrote in his journal—
[My name is Li Mo. My name is Li Mo. My name is Li Mo.]
This was the first sentence, a reminder to himself that he was Li Mo.
Without the protection of the Misfortune Ghost, Li Mo could only rely on his memories of Kiana to maintain his self-awareness.
That memory was like a primordial rule, branded deep in his soul. No matter how his body changed, as long as that memory remained, Li Mo would never lose himself.
Trapped among the Bizarre Things, it was like falling into a boundless, endless sea.
The unforgettable memory was like an anchor floating on the surface of the sea, with a thread extending down to wrap around Li Mo. No matter how deep he fell, he could always see his original self.
[impostors are suspected to exist. Based on my deductions, there are several yet-to-be-confirmed rules—]
[One: Impostors can appear at any point in history, in any place, without arousing suspicion. They... are everywhere.]
[Two: Perceptive humans in a crowd will feel an "extreme" sense of wrongness upon seeing an Impostor for the first time, causing them to act contrary to their own personality.]
[Three: When a human interacts with an Impostor, if the human fails to detect the Impostor's presence in time, or agrees to the Impostor's request, their body will be taken over by the Impostor...]
[Countermeasures—]
[One: Maintain a high level of suspicion towards everyone around you, regardless of who they are.]
[Two: Constantly monitor your own behavior for any changes.]
[Three: Do not easily agree to anyone's request. Even if you agree verbally, do not actually follow through.]
After finishing the notes in his journal, Li Mo suddenly felt a chill run down his spine. He looked up.
He saw a thin, dark figure sitting on the courtyard wall, facing his direction.
Then...
The dark figure's head suddenly twisted. It had been looking at his house, but now Li Mo was certain.
It saw him!
"It's not Kallen..."
Li Mo frowned, immediately closing the window, stuffing the journal under his pillow, and hiding under the covers, not exposing any part of his body.
Who could it be?
Li Mo's mind raced. The figure was an adult with short hair.
He couldn't see the clothes or face clearly because it was too dark.
Excluding Kallen and Nicholas, the only normal people in the family who would dare to casually climb the wall were his two older brothers.
But in Li Mo's memory, those two wouldn't climb the wall in the middle of the night for no reason.
Was it an Impostor?
I was just speculating about the existence of Impostors. Could they really exist? Am I just scaring myself?
Although he thought this, Li Mo still treated the figure as a ghost by default.
Whether it was an Impostor or some other ghost, even if it was a person, he would deal with it as if it were a ghost.
Li Mo huddled under the covers, suppressing his breathing as much as possible to avoid making a sound.
Fortunately, it was autumn now, so it was only stuffy under the covers, not hot.
Li Mo waited for a long time but heard nothing outside.
No footsteps, no knocking on the door, no window being opened.
He heard nothing at all, as if the dark figure had just been his imagination.
Li Mo bit his lip, thinking of a countermeasure.
He had no margin for error now. He had to be extremely careful and always have an escape route before acting.
I couldn't have seen it wrong. The head definitely twisted.
That dark figure on the wall definitely saw me.
I didn't hear anyone approaching. The window is closed, and so is the door. To enter, it would have to make a sound.
Although ghosts are spiritual beings, most of them act according to their former physical existence, knocking on doors and walking normally.
Unless...
Li Mo thought of a terrifying possibility.
If his deduction was correct, and the first half of the first Impostor rule was true: it can appear anywhere at any time.
Then perhaps, the moment he peeked out from under the covers, he would see a person with a strange expression standing by his bed, staring at him with a stiff face.
At this thought, Li Mo couldn't help but swallow, his heart racing.
I can't just sit here and wait to die!
If there really was an Impostor in the room, he absolutely could not stay here.
In Kallen's story, the Impostor stayed with the primitive humans in the cave for one night, which led to the torchbearer becoming the new Impostor.
Since everything was uncertain, he couldn't assume that only agreeing to an Impostor's request would trigger the rule. Perhaps prolonged proximity would also trigger it.
Li Mo's brain worked furiously. After a brief period of thought, he had to make a choice—
Check the room.
This meant Li Mo would have to come into direct contact with a ghost with absolutely no protection.
The blanket could, to some extent, separate the space inside from the outside, but it was ultimately just an ordinary rule. The rules would constantly clash until the blanket lost its ability to divide space.
Thinking of this, Li Mo took out the Void Archives. It was his only trump card.
Even though he had never tried to mimic anything before, the current situation forced him to try.
Fwoosh—
Li Mo grabbed the blanket and threw it off.
Holding the Void Archives, he scanned the room with a cold expression.
Pitch black...
Li Mo didn't dare to turn on the light, so he opened the window.
The dark figure on the wall was gone, disappeared to who knows where.
Using the moonlight, Li Mo checked every corner of the room, especially above him.
He certainly didn't want to find an Impostor with its limbs spread out like a spider, clinging to a corner of the ceiling.
Fortunately, he found nothing.
"Am I just being too paranoid?"
Li Mo couldn't help but doubt himself. The naked eye of a living person was indeed prone to hallucinations, but...
"No, I trust my instincts."
"Even if I've lost the ability to sense Bizarre auras, I have far more experience than an ordinary person. In this situation, I should trust my instincts and intuition, not the feedback from my living senses."
In the book, the torchbearer didn't trust his instincts, which led to him becoming the next Impostor.
Li Mo's heart pounded. He jumped off the bed and checked every corner of the room.
He opened all the closets, leaving no hiding place.
The night was incredibly quiet. Outside the window, there wasn't even the sound of insects, only the gentle breeze rustling the leaves, making a grinding, rustling sound.
In the room, the sound of Li Mo's footsteps was the only sound source. He tried to control the sound of his walking, but since he wasn't wearing shoes, his feet still made a faint sound whenever they touched or left the floor.
Thump... thump... thump...
The room was quickly checked, and nothing suspicious was found.
Even near the wall where the figure had been, there was no longer any shadow.
Everything seemed to prove that he had seen wrong.
Li Mo returned to the bed and breathed a sigh of relief.
Just when he thought he was safe, he suddenly felt something staring at his back.
Instinctively, Li Mo rolled off the bed.
"What was that?!"
Li Mo sat on the floor, clutching the Void Archives, and shouted at the bed.
The bed had no space underneath; it was a platform bed. That's why Li Mo hadn't checked it earlier.
But now it seemed like something was inside the bed.
"Mimic, Judgment of Shamash."
The Void Archives didn't move.
"Is this how MEI told you to treat the successor of the Current Era? You can refuse to listen to me your whole life, but sooner or later, I'll have her teach you a lesson personally."
Seeming to sense Li Mo's determination, the Void Archives coughed twice before quickly mimicking the dual pistol form of the Judgment of Shamash.
[How do you know about the Judgment of Shamash and Dr. MEI?]
"None of your business. Now get out here and record everything that's happening. Don't miss a single detail, because we could very well both die here..."
The way Li Mo acted as if he were facing a great enemy made the Void Archives find it amusing.
[You will die, but I won't. I am a Divine Key, fundamentally different from flesh and blood.]
"Is that so? Did MEI ever tell you about 'ghosts'?"
[Ghosts? Those are just things that exist in human fantasy.]
"'Impostors'?"
[...]
The Void Archives fell silent for a few seconds, its tone shifting from frivolous to serious:
[How do you know about them? Even Dr. MEI only stumbled upon records and descriptions of such beings in ancient ruins by chance, and they were never confirmed. Where did you get that name?]
Hearing this, Li Mo was almost certain that ghosts had appeared in this world long ago, but for some unknown reason, they hadn't spread.
The primeval forest...
Speaking of which, how could there be a primeval forest near Vienna in medieval Europe?
"I made it up myself. It just so happens that MEI and I thought of the same thing. Never mind that for now. Do as I say, or we'll both die."
"It can kill me and then take my place. Since you know what an Impostor is, do you really think you can escape?" Li Mo threatened, determined to make the Void Archives give it its all.
[I understand. I'll do as you say.]
The golden pistols glowed brightly. The next second, Li Mo barked, "Get rid of the light. No glowing."
[Alright...]
The Judgment of Shamash dimmed, but the energy within it never ceased.
Li Mo took a deep breath, walked to the bed, carefully grabbed the bed board, and slowly lifted it.
Through the crack, Li Mo saw a pair of strange eyes, wide open.
A normal person's eyes are definitely not perfectly round, and most people don't keep their eyes wide open with such intensity.
But Li Mo saw it...
There was a person inside, eyes glaring, but with a smile on their lips.
"Haha, I didn't think you'd find me, Otto. I was planning on waking you up over and over again while you were asleep until you opened it!"
The person crawled out, patted the dust off their clothes, and took several deep breaths of the cool night air.
A prank?
Li Mo's expression turned hostile. He quickly put the pistol behind his back.
"Heh, you dare to trespass in my room. Are you prepared to be punished by Nicholas?"
"Give me a break. Lord Nicholas doesn't care about you. You're just a disposable piece in the family."
From this simple exchange, Li Mo couldn't find anything wrong.
This person hadn't been present during his public confrontation earlier in the day.
He did exist in his memories, though. When Otto's paper airplane was broken by his brother, several peers had come to mock him, and this person was one of them.
Even his tone and style of speaking were a perfect match.
It was all very reasonable.
Nicholas wouldn't announce his reinstatement and reentry into the succession race until tomorrow, so it was normal that this person didn't know.
"Then leave. I'm going to sleep. Remember, there won't be a next time. If you come into my room without my permission again, I'll kill you."
Li Mo's eyes were filled with malice, but the other person seemed completely unfazed, shrugging and saying casually, "You, a sickly weakling? That's hilarious. Looks like you haven't been bullied enough, Otto. Anyway, I'm tired and going back to sleep, so I won't bother you anymore."
With that, he walked to the window, opened it, and prepared to jump out.
For a moment, Li Mo couldn't tell if he was genuinely clueless or just couldn't sense his killing intent.
Even without taking out the pistol behind his back, his intimidating tone alone should have conveyed that he was serious.
"By the way, Otto, before I go, I have a favor to ask you."
"What is it?"
The boy's expression returned to normal, not as strange as before.
He pointed to the oil lamp behind Li Mo and said with a smile, "Can you turn on the light? I want to see if you're sweating bullets from fear, haha."
"Get out!"
Li Mo didn't comply, just snarled a fierce "Get out."
"Can you please turn on the light?"
The boy asked again.
Li Mo felt something was wrong. He tightened his grip on the Judgment of Shamash and replied again, "Get out!"
"Are you sure you won't do as I say?"
The boy's tone became increasingly calm, as if delivering an ultimatum.
In the dim light, Li Mo couldn't see his face clearly, only vaguely sensing that his facial contours were very discordant.
Fortunately, the moonlight brightened a bit at that moment. Li Mo could just make out that the other's eyes were glaring at him angrily, but his lips were slightly upturned. His knee was pressed against the sharp edge of the window frame.
The other leg, which had not yet moved, was held at a ninety-degree angle, perpendicular to his body.
Gradually, he seemed to lose interest in leaving.
He slowly lowered his leg from the window, preparing to turn and walk towards Li Mo.
"Hee hee..." the boy let out a strange laugh.
"Otto, you recognized me, didn't you?"
BANG!!
Flames instantly engulfed the boy and began to spread throughout the room.
Li Mo grabbed his journal and the Void Archives and ran out of the room. The raging fire instantly spread throughout the entire house.
"Hah... hah..."
Li Mo, wearing his pajamas, ran out to the garden, his heart still pounding with fear.
He didn't care about the house burning down; he could make up any excuse to explain it away.
But that boy... was a real Impostor. Fortunately, he had been vigilant enough not to agree to his request.
Anyone else might have agreed just to get him to leave quickly.
A short while later, people from the Apocalypse family rushed to put out the fire. Even Nicholas was awakened and came to the scene.