Cloud Thinking

"Da da da--"

The crisp sound of footsteps approached from afar, echoing down the corridor. Yuros immediately concealed the dark emotions churning in her eyes, and a gentle smile bloomed on her face: "Sister."

"Is the person still alive?" Helia pushed open the door and entered, holding a ball of energy swirling with multicolored light in her palm—the form in which the magic that had dissipated in the room had been re-condensed.

It turns out that the magic bullets that Cammod had previously fired at Yuros had been quietly absorbed by the invisible barrier set up in the room, and now they had returned to Helia's hands as pure magic.

"Don't worry, she's just temporarily unconscious. I'll be careful." Yuros took a step closer, his arm naturally brushing against her sleeve. "I've remembered everything my sister specifically instructed me to do."

Since Yuros awoke, Helia has keenly sensed the subtle changes in him.

He used to love making his presence known, and he liked to act childish. Occasionally, he would playfully tease her, like a spoiled and jealous puppy who would happily pounce on her no matter how many times she was pushed away.

but now……

He spoke less, but became more clingy in physical contact. He wanted to stay close wherever they went, as if seeking a sense of security from the warmth of skin-to-skin contact.

Like a young animal lacking a sense of security, it always needs to be close to someone to feel at ease.

Sometimes Helia would find him in the way, but he wouldn't get angry or make a fuss. He would simply step back to a place where he wouldn't be in the way and stare at her with those persistent eyes.

His gaze was so intense that it was impossible to ignore, and it even sent a chill down Helia's spine.

Helia thought to herself: How did my sunny little dog turn into a gloomy male ghost...? Who stole my dog...?

She picked up a strand of Yuros's white hair, feeling its cool touch on her fingertips, and couldn't help but feel heartache: "Haven't you fully recovered yet? Why did you put yourself through this again?"

“It will take time to digest those powers.” Not wanting her to worry, Yuros reached out and smoothed the wrinkles between her brows, deliberately teasing her in a lighthearted tone, “Besides, doesn’t your sister like white hair the most?”

Helia patted his chest lightly, then pushed him away slightly, saying with a hint of annoyance, "Nonsense! You can't joke about your body no matter what."

But when their gaze fell upon his pale, almost transparent face, even the greatest anger turned into heartache, and all blame became a helpless sigh.

She gently wrapped her arms around his shoulders, pressed her forehead against his chest, and said in a muffled voice, "I just want you to be alright."

She didn't look him in the eye when she said this, and Yuros couldn't see her expression clearly, so he couldn't judge how much of it was genuine or just empty words to flatter him.

But at least, Helia was willing to coax him, indulge him, and cherish him.

When he noticed this change, Yuros was overjoyed.

“Don’t worry, sister,” Yurosk said, suppressing the fervor in her eyes, as she gently hugged him back, her movements as careful as if she were handling a fragile treasure. “No matter where you go, I will always be by your side.”

"Never, ever again will we be apart..."

The two embraced quietly, cherishing this hard-won, brief moment of tenderness.

A moment later, Helia left the not-so-warm embrace and knelt down to check on the unconscious Cammod.

A faint light shimmered at her fingertips as she carefully examined his condition.

"Wasn't the Goddess of Fate stripped of her authority and now only in charge of fortune? How come there are still people who claim to be believers in the Goddess of Fate?" She frowned in confusion.

“Your understanding of Him comes from His own words. If He intends to conceal something, you will naturally have no way of knowing.” Watercress’s figure quietly appeared and stood beside her.

Upon seeing Eurythus, He merely glanced at him without any further expression—neither liking nor disliking him.

His attention was entirely on Helia.

Watersese has been silently watching over Helia, but he rarely shows himself unless Helia calls for him or needs him.

He was watching over her from the shadows, whether as a guardian deity or monitoring and attempting to control everything, it was unclear.

“The power of destiny is partly divided among the forces of order, partly scattered outside, and partly remaining in His hands.” Yuros squatted down next to Helia. “Therefore, there are still believers in destiny in the world, but most of them do not show themselves in public, but reside in the Triple Temple of Destiny.”

"Scattered out there?" Helia raised an eyebrow at Yuros. "The Tanasa family?"

Yuros nodded: "Yes, they divided up a portion, and a small portion ended up in the hands of mages who possess precognitive magic."

"What is the Triple Palace of Destiny? Why is it guarded there? Is there any treasure there?" Helia asked in rapid succession.

The world is too big and too complicated, and it always brings her new surprises. Even though she has seen many wonders, there are still countless unknowns waiting to be explored. She feels that she is still too ignorant.

“It’s just a temple dedicated to fate, the name sounds impressive but nothing special.” Watersci glanced at Yuros, his brow furrowed slightly, his tone flat. “Fate has not fallen, there are still believers who worship it, but as far as I know, there are very few Temples of Fate left.”

"Believers who have faith in destiny are blessed by it and can see their fate and foresee the future."

Not to be outdone, Yuros retorted, "They call it 'stationing,' but in reality, it's about surveillance and relaying messages. They're not protecting individual destinies, but the destiny of the entire world."

"The whole world?!" Helia was shocked.

“In terms that my sister can understand, it’s called the world line. The goddess of fate can see the direction of the world line.” Yuros drew a straight line on the ground with Cammod’s blood. “When a major change is about to happen in the world, the goddess of fate will take precautions in advance, send her followers to carry it out, and use the gentle breeze of a butterfly’s wings to stir up a storm that reverses fate.”

"But more often than not, He is powerless and will not easily interfere with the timeline. Because once He intervenes, fate is no longer predetermined and its course is difficult to predict."

"Therefore, accepting and submitting to fate is the principle upheld by most believers in fate and the Tanasa family."

"The believers who reside in the Triple Temple of Destiny are called high priests or prophets. When a major upheaval is about to occur, the goddess of destiny will send down divine pronouncements, which they will then convey to the world."

Helia wondered, "Isn't this just a disguised form of interfering with fate? Isn't letting people know their own fate a form of resistance against fate?"

“Not everyone is like you, with the courage and perseverance to defy fate.” Waterscissor’s voice carried a hint of emotion. “Most people, once they know their fate, choose to submit and accept it.”

“Moreover…” Yuros added, “The Triple Palace of Destiny has been silent for hundreds of years, and the world has almost forgotten its existence.”

Helia rested her chin on her hand, her gaze deepening: "If the Triple Palace of Fate has always been under the control of the Goddess of Fate, why have there been no divine pronouncements for the past few centuries? Is it because..."

"He had long foreseen the world's inevitable destruction."

“He is powerless to stop it, unable to change it, and even less able to release the news and cause panic. Remaining silent is perhaps the wisest choice.” She paused. “People are capable of anything when they panic. He cannot guarantee that this prophecy will not become the fuse that ignites everything, so He chooses to remain silent and seek solutions in private.”

Recalling her previous conversation with Sphentenia, Helia realized that Sphentenia only mentioned the conflict with the Order and never the destruction of the world.

Doesn't He know?

impossible!

Even order and wisdom know this, so there's no reason why He, who once held the power of destiny, wouldn't know.

The solution provided by the gods of order and wisdom is to cultivate Helia as a savior. So what is Sphentenia doing? Is she merely observing?

But if the world is destroyed, there is no point in fighting for power and changing the order.

A closer look reveals that Sphenanthea held a positive attitude toward the future direction of the world.

He believed that the world would not head towards its predetermined destruction, and was quite certain of it, which is why he bypassed this premise and negotiated with Helia to seize power and change the order.

So, did He devise a foolproof plan, or did He firmly believe in His ability to succeed?

But fate is mysterious and unpredictable, and Helia could not grasp, control, or reverse it.

Most of the time, she refused to believe in fate.

This is why, even with Casper, the young master of the Tanasa family, by her side in the Arctic Village, she wouldn't let him use his precognitive magic.

Knowing one's destiny, if things turn out as desired, one may become arrogant and complacent, thus failing to achieve one's goals; if things turn out badly, it may damage one's self-confidence and lead to falling into the trap of fate.

Uncertainty about the future can motivate people.

It is precisely because it is unknowable that there is nothing absolutely impossible or certain; everything is subject to change.

Isn't that kind of life more interesting?

“Fate is always unpredictable.” Waterscissor shook his head. “Fate remains silent for years because of its mission; no one knows what it is thinking or doing.”

Recalling unpleasant memories, a shadow crossed His handsome face: "And nobody likes to be schemed against or used. Perhaps in His eyes, everyone is just a pawn on the chessboard of fate, their value determined only by their position."

Helia nodded in agreement: "Indeed, He doesn't treat people like human beings."

Thinking of Sphentennia's blindfold, she joked, "Well, actually it's hard to say whether she can even see!"

Yuros was amused, his chest trembled slightly, and he chuckled softly.

Watersci tapped Helia's head lightly with her finger: "Don't talk nonsense."

He looked up at the roof, his gaze seemingly piercing through the obstruction to see the sky, and murmured, "The eyes and ears of the gods are everywhere."

Helia knew this was a reminder, so she got back to the point and pointed at Cammod: "So this guy came for me."

"Did he come to me out of greed, or... was he just bait?"

“Why don’t we just open his head and take a look?” Yuros suggested.

“It’s best not to,” Watersese immediately objected. “What if he has something else on his mind? Even without fate’s intervention, wouldn’t the Magic Association take precautions against Zhou Ranyi?”

Helia stroked her chin and nodded: "Father God is right, there are indeed risks..." Then she smiled brightly and changed the subject, "But it's not impossible to pay the price to satisfy curiosity."

Seeing her rubbing her hands excitedly, with a look of eagerness on her face, Watercress knew that her mind was made up and there was nothing she could do to stop her, so she could only sigh helplessly.

Yuros, on the other hand, looked completely at ease.

"Alright, be careful." Watersese placed his broad hand on Helia's head, a flash of light, and a warm current rushed through her skull, protecting her.

Not to be outdone, Yuros pulled Helia's hand to draw spell patterns on the back of her hand, but Helia grabbed it instead.

She didn't speak, her gaze fixed on the white hair fluttering beside his cheek.

Warm fingertips gently stroked the back of my hand, soothingly, while my rapidly blinking eyes silently said, "I'm fine, don't worry."

Yuros reluctantly let go.

After calming Yuros down, Helia took a deep breath, placed her five fingers on Cammod's head, closed her eyes, and slowly infused her magic into the other's consciousness to capture fragments of memory.

She wouldn't check it herself—a person has too many memories, and trying to read them all at once would not only make it impossible to remember, but would also make her head feel like it was going to explode.

As a transmigrator, she has a system cheat code!

Xiao Si is a genius among geniuses when it comes to data processing; he's fast and efficient, far superior to her, and can effectively mitigate risks.

Xiao Si: Firewall! High-tech! Don't you understand?! (Proud face)

[My lord! Although the critical information was encrypted, their technical skills are superb; they cracked it in thirty seconds. Please check your inbox!]

After showering her with compliments, Helia thought to herself: "Little Si, your voice is starting to sound more and more like a fawning eunuch..."

She carefully examined the stream of memories that had condensed into a ball of light in her hand, her gaze shifting between Watersese and Jurassus for a moment before slowly bringing the ball of light to her forehead.

"Crack-"

A loud crackling sound, like an electric spark, suddenly rang out, and Helia's head snapped back uncontrollably, as if she had been flicked hard on the forehead.

The ball of light in her hand turned into quicksand at a visible speed, falling through her fingers and dissipating into invisible dust upon landing.

"Sister!" Yuros immediately stepped forward, supported her shoulders, gently lifted the back of her neck, and slowly straightened her up.

When he saw the deep red mark on Helia's smooth forehead, his bloodshot eyes almost bled, and his gaze became cloudy and dangerous.

Helia's head was throbbing with pain, but she couldn't care less about that.

She turned to look at Cammod lying on the ground, only to see his body, like that ball of light, turning into quicksand and seeping into the unseen void, moving so fast that she didn't even have a chance to reach out and grab him.

“The High Priest of the Triple Temple of Fate is extremely valuable.” Watersese glanced at the spot where Cammod had disappeared. “Regardless of who intervened to save him, or the means by which he protected himself, it only proves one thing—”

"There are some secrets you cannot know."

Helia felt a surge of frustration and defeat, but upon hearing this, her rebellious spirit was instantly ignited: "What I want, I will get at all costs! No one can stop me!"

When faced with Helia's fierce and determined eyes, Watersci remained calm.

But upon closer inspection, one can glimpse a faint smile in his deep eyes.

"Little Four, you have a backup, right?" Helia communicated directly with the system through her mind.

[Hey, sir!]

"Can you let me bypass the limitations of this world to view the content?" she asked again.

[Hmm...theoretically possible, but I haven't tried it, so I can't guarantee it 100%.]

【Let me try it out first, please wait a moment!】

The system processes information extremely quickly; within a few breaths, Xiao Si returned with the message Helia wanted.

Lord, I cannot show it to you directly, but I can present it in a different format.

[I've extracted key information from that person's memories; please check it, Master~]

"call--"

A soft whooshing sound rang out, and a book appeared out of thin air, landing directly into Helia's outstretched hand.

Goodness, Xiao Si has converted an MP4 video file into a TXT text document!

It's understandable that Watersciel wasn't surprised, since he was aware of the system's existence.

But Julius showed no change in expression, which is intriguing.

This shows that he was already used to Helia's ability to conjure things out of thin air.

He really has been with me for a long time... Helia thought to herself.

Moreover, their relationship must be extremely close and trusting; otherwise, she wouldn't have revealed such a transcendent entity as the system to him.

She suddenly felt an urge to directly extract Yuros's memories.

She was incredibly curious—curious about their past experiences, and even more curious about what he had gone through and how long he had waited for her.