In the wooden cabin, Sonia placed Diya onto a recliner and came over to watch Yaxiu and Denzel's question.
"Do I know her too?" Yaxiu pointed at the Eyepatch Girl in the painting, looking somewhat puzzled.
Yaxiu hadn't expected his question to be the same as Denzel's, let alone that the visual material used would be an option from Denzel's first question.
This question was clearly exclusive to Denzel, yet he could answer it as well?
The Watcher said nothing, merely jutting his chin toward Diya.
At the sight of Diya, Yaxiu was instantly rendered speechless—Diya looked identical to the Eyepatch Girl; he really couldn't claim he had never seen the Eyepatch Girl before.
"Speaking of which, across these questions, a total of four people who look identical to Little Sister (Diya) have appeared," Sonia analyzed. "Among them, the Black-and-White Girl is Little Sister herself, and the Princess is Little Sister's grandmother. Following that logic, the Basement Girl and the Eyepatch Girl should be Little Sister's relatives as well."
"The Eyepatch Girl has three possible identities: Missionary Saint, Secret Think Tank, and Gospel Incarnation... Come to think of it, Little Sister's grandmother even wanted her to become a living god in the mortal realm..."
Sonia suddenly trailed off. Remembering the frail little girl she had just seen in the painting who was so poor she had nothing to do but study, her lips naturally pouted so high you could hang a teapot from them. "What an illustrious background she has."
"No need to be jealous," Yaxiu consoled her. "Her background may be illustrious, but you have me!"
Sonia stared blankly at Yaxiu. Yaxiu gave a bright, tooth-flashing grin.
Then, as if her spine had been ripped out, Sonia slumped dejectedly into an armchair. Her lifeless eyes stared up at the wooden cabin's ceiling, her face a picture of misery. "I can't even bear to imagine how tragic my life will be once I get my memories back..."
"Hey, have at least a little faith in your own taste before the amnesia!"
Denzel looked at Yaxiu and Sonia, then suddenly said, "Regardless of anything else, the two of you must truly be lovers."
Yaxiu and Sonia paused. Brief though their time together had been, they both sensed that Denzel was the deliberate, calculating sort who never spoke without absolute certainty—the polar opposite of an imaginative terrorist like Yaxiu, who at the sight of a bare white arm immediately jumped to all sorts of wild associations.
"Why?"
"Even after losing your memories, you can still carry on such dense, continuous banter devoid of any useful information so naturally. That proves your personalities have been tempered by time, allowing you to fit together into a complete, mutually soothing unit under any circumstances."
Though validated by Denzel, Yaxiu and Sonia merely uttered an "oh," feeling not the slightest ripple in their hearts. Not to mention Yaxiu, even Sonia had grown so accustomed to being called "Lover" that she had basically accepted the label; the word no longer elicited any maidenly shyness from her.
More importantly, they both understood Denzel's subtext: cut the nonsense and hurry up with the answers.
"I think Option Two, Secret Think Tank to the First Emperor, is the most likely," Sonia said.
Yaxiu nodded. "I think so too."
Denzel wasn't surprised in the least. "Is it because she chose the codename 'Empress' for herself?"
Without a doubt, the greatest source of intelligence in this wooden cabin was the phantoms who possessed all their memories, and the codenames the phantoms had chosen for themselves were naturally a vital basis for deduction.
Like "Sword Princess," which at least indicated Sonia was best at swordsmanship; like "Witch," which suggested Diya was usually quite mischievous; like "Watcher," which implied Yaxiu... really enjoyed being a bystander watching the drama unfold?
And the codename carrying the most information was without question "Empress." It indicated that Denzel in reality was very likely a sovereign who ruled the realm while resting intoxicated on Yaxiu's lap.
And "Secret Think Tank to the First Emperor" in Option Two happened to be related to sovereigns.
Without any further information, this option was the most probable.
"Wait." Sonia suddenly noticed a loophole in Yaxiu's deduction. "Sovereign and mistress—aren't those two identities mutually exclusive?"
"Who said that?!" Yaxiu vehemently retorted. "Having an Empress as my mistress only makes me more excited!"
Sonia fumed, "Even if you're willing, she wouldn't be!"
"I am willing," Denzel said, dropping another bombshell. "Mundane status will not hinder my pursuit of love. However..."
Denzel looked at Yaxiu and Sonia. "If I truly am an Empress wielding worldly power, then I would lock up my beloved, eliminate everyone connected to him, forbid anyone from approaching him, and forbid him from ever leaving me. I will be his one and only."
Chills ran down Yaxiu's spine. A sudden surge of respect welled up in him for his pre-amnesia self—*How on earth did you provoke a woman like this? Could it be she pursued you first?*
*No good. If she really is my mistress, I have to figure out a plan for after we leave the cabin. At the very least, I must ally with my Lover—*
Yaxiu turned his head, black lines forming on his brow. "Why are you standing so far away from me?"
Without realizing it, Sonia had retreated all the way beside the unconscious Diya. She said with utter solemnity, "I need to take care of her right now; it's not convenient for me to get close to you. Besides, you've already cheated and have an Empress as your mistress. I think it's best if we spend some time apart."
"Cowardly traitor!" Yaxiu lamented bitterly. "Isn't true love supposed to share joys and sorrows, live and die together, walk through fortune and misfortune side by side, whether in prosperity or adversity, richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, in joy and in sorrow, forever staying together and never parting? Lover, you're betraying our love like this!"
Sonia shuddered, murmuring, "True love..."
"That's right. Lovers should support each other and never part..."
"If you abandon the other and run at the first sign of danger, can you still call yourselves lovers?!"
Yaxiu was deeply moved. "I'm glad you understand..."
"So let's break up," Sonia sighed. "That way, we won't be lovers anymore, and I can abandon you with a clear conscience. Ah, what a fleeting romance. I'll miss you, Sir Knight whose name I still don't know."
Yaxiu was rendered utterly speechless with indignation. But it didn't matter, because he was quickly enveloped in a warm embrace, slender arms circling his neck as the back of his head once again rested against that intoxicating tenderness—
"Can we answer the question now?"
Denzel's voice, devoid of any inflection, instantly snapped Yaxiu back to seriousness. "Mm. I hate people who start chit-chatting in the middle of serious business. Let's finish up this cabin trip quickly."
"Option One can be completely ruled out. Up to now, we haven't acquired any information connected to 'Missionary Saint.' In an amnesiac state, picking an option with zero intel is tantamount to gambling."
"Option Three is the same, but..."
Denzel asked, "But?"
Yaxiu pondered. "Across these questions, we've seen four people who look completely identical to Little Sister (Diya), but based on the answers, we know all four are different people."
"So could we make a hypothesis?" Yaxiu adjusted his head, thoroughly rubbing the back of it against the Empress's bosom. "Only one of them is the real one, while the other three are... imitators?"
Sonia was baffled. "What do you mean?"
"I don't know what it means either, but unless it was deliberate, it's impossible for four people to look completely identical," Yaxiu said. "So one must be the original prototype, and the others deliberately grew to look like her in order to become that 'prototype.'"
"And do you remember the answer to Little Sister's (Diya's) third question? Her grandmother wanted her to become a god in the mortal realm... If we connect that to this question..."
Denzel caught on. "The Eyepatch Girl is the original living god?"
"Not necessarily," Yaxiu said. "But she definitely possessed some kind of power—enough that someone deliberately made future generations grow up looking identical to her just to inherit her authority."
"And among these three options, the identity most likely to carry unknown power is..."
Both Yaxiu and Denzel looked toward Option Three: The Omniscient Weaver's Gospel Incarnation.
Even without their memories, they could feel the grand, enigmatic power radiating from those words.
"Still, this is merely my speculation. It's full of hot air without a shred of hard evidence," Yaxiu said. "For now, the most likely option is still Option Two."
Denzel asked, "Then what will you choose?"
"I choose Three."
"Then I choose Three as well."
"Does this mean we share the chemistry of lovers?" Yaxiu asked.
Denzel didn't answer the question. Instead, she said, "Do you know the kind of person I like most? People who love to think, people who are calm, people who are knowledgeable."
"Wisdom is the quality that moves my heart most. I have no resistance to smart people."
"Only just now did I catch that scent of wisdom I love so much on you." Denzel lowered her head against Yaxiu's cheek and took a deep breath. "If you can keep exuding this scent, then even though I've lost my memories, I will fall deeply in love with you all over again."
Yaxiu didn't dare make any sudden moves. He tilted his head slightly toward Sonia behind him.
Yaxiu blinked: *I get it. If I play dumb later, I can dodge a bullet!*
Sonia blinked: *I don't think you even need to pretend.*
"Oh, right, right. Before you answer, you need to know the treasures bound to this question," the Watcher said. "Needless to say for that beauty over there, it's still the 'Secret Incarnation.' And for you, Sir Knight, your treasure is this—"
A cluster of starlight materialized in the Watcher's hand. "'Avatar of the Stars.' This is the most precious thing on you."
The moment she saw the "Avatar of the Stars," Denzel's eyes widened.
Even having lost her memories, the sense of mission engraved in the depths of her soul immediately made her understand her task—she had to obtain this item!
"If I answer correctly, can I specify the 'Avatar of the Stars' as my reward?" she asked at once.
Just as the Empress was about to speak, the Watcher beat her to it: "Of course."
The Empress stared at the Watcher's profile. She already realized that something had gone wrong with the wooden cabin.
When Denzel answered her question correctly earlier, why was the reward 10,000 soul power instead of another conceptual incarnation? Because conceptual incarnations were unique—they were never rewards the wooden cabin could produce!
There were no duplicate conceptual incarnations in this world; all concepts were one of a kind!
If Denzel answered correctly, it would be impossible for the wooden cabin to grant an "Avatar of the Stars," unless—
"So, have you confirmed your answers?" the Watcher reminded them. "Theoretically, you aren't allowed to choose the same answer for the same question. If you insist on doing so, you might face a certain penalty."
*No, there is no such rule.*
Since its inception, the wooden cabin had never entertained two guests at once; there had never been an opportunity to formulate rules for a two-player game.
Yet the Empress could say nothing, because the moment the Watcher spoke, that rule genuinely manifested in the cabin.
Once it was confirmed that neither Yaxiu nor Denzel would change their answers, the Watcher announced in a breezy tone, "Good! Congratulations, you both picked the correct answer."
Before they could breathe a sigh of relief, the Watcher added, "However, because you chose the same answer, the wooden cabin suspects you of copying each other, so you must also receive a penalty. Even so, you still get a reward."
"The penalty is that the treasures you wagered are gone."
"The reward is that you receive an item of equal value to your treasure."
"Therefore..."
At that moment, the "Avatar of the Stars" surfaced in the Watcher's palm, and the "Secret Incarnation" appeared at the Empress's fingertips. The two clusters of light swapped places, each flying toward its new master.
Yaxiu gained the "Secret Incarnation" and lost the "Avatar of the Stars."
Denzel gained the "Avatar of the Stars" and lost the "Secret Incarnation."
Yaxiu didn't feel anything in particular; after all, he didn't know the value of either of these things.
Denzel sank into deep thought. She could feel the sense of duty deep within her soul being satisfied.
*So... I've accomplished my mission?*
Chapter 310