Sparkling

"My turn to ask." Igola weighed his words. "Miss Anfiel, are you the staff member responsible for... well, cleaning mental energy?" Yet Anfiel laid it bare immediately. "You mean to ask if I'm the vessel that holds the 'impurities,' don't you? Yes, I am." Igola drew in a sharp breath. Ever since he first heard that Berdette could commandeer the computational power of millions of minds and siphon their mental energy, a massive question mark had formed in the mind sorcerer's head: wasn't the Berdette clan head afraid of poisoning herself to death? In the mental realm, any thought other than 'self' was a slow-acting poison, and schizophrenics were the finest example. Even the clean, hygienic personas they fractured from themselves could poison them to death, let alone the thoughts of strangers. A day or two might pass without harm, but soaking in other people's thoughts for prolonged periods was bound to cause neurasthenia, warped self-perception, bipolar disorder, and worse. In truth, Berdette's mechanism of domination—'taken from the debtors, used upon the debtors'—was neither an earth-shattering concept nor a patent monopolized by the Angel of Necromancy. Why hadn't previous domination sorcerers done the same? Why was Berdette the sole practitioner in all of Gospel? Because mind, consciousness, and thought were an inseparable whole. Just as winning the lottery lifted your spirits while constipation dragged your mood down, human thoughts directly swayed mental ebbs and flows. Like orange pulp in juice, mental energy was filled to the brim with all kinds of stray notions and impulses. The mental energy Berdette harvested was undoubtedly riddled with 'ideational impurities.' Using such raw mental energy directly was no different from drinking poison to quench thirst or eating filth to satisfy hunger. If a wolf-pack domination sorcerer tried to copy Berdette by draining a pack's mental energy to control them, his only fate would be turning into a wolf wrapped in human skin. He would be assimilated and tainted by the minds of countless wolves until he completely forgot who he was. For that reason, domination sorcerers maintained strictly one-way output. They would never dare take in a subject's mental energy, not even that of a Lalafell. Conversely, the fact that Berdette dared to absorb the mental energy of intelligent beings meant they possessed a reproductive mechanism to 'purify impurities.' Igola's prime suspect had originally been the statues. Storing mental energy was one thing, but if a mere piece of stone could filter out active thoughts, Igola would have suggested adding health insurance coverage to the statues as well—how could a lump of carved stone possess such all-encompassing versatility? That was, until Igola noticed that Anfiel had no routine duties whatsoever. Her daily task was simply to wander the manor grounds, touching this statue and stroking that one, stepping into the scene like the answer presenting itself in a fill-in-the-blank question. "So," the Swindler asked, "your ability to read anyone's thoughts is your... special trait as the vessel?" Anfiel shook her head. "I can't read thoughts. If I could, my sister wouldn't have been duped by you... I can only become whatever people like." She slowly closed her eyes, her expression serene. "I can hear the thoughts of countless people, understand countless preferences, perceive countless dark depths... Whoever appears before me, I can retrieve a persona similar to theirs from my database. They might even be in my database already. "Have you ever seen a mimosa plant? The moment you touch it, it shyly folds its leaves. I'm very much like a mimosa. I don't do it on purpose, but whoever appears before my eyes, I transform into the personality they love most." Out of curiosity, Igola asked, "If you had to converse with Yaxiu and me at the same time, what would you become?" Anfiel answered, "When chatting together, I find the overlap and show the side both of you like. When speaking one-on-one, I switch back to a specific persona." "And what about yourself?" Igola asked. "What does the real you think?" "I can hear the thoughts of countless people." That was all Anfiel said. *All except my own.* Anfiel was like a mirror: she could reflect the side everyone adored, yet could never reflect her own image. Even so, Igola had to admit that conversing with Anfiel was remarkably comfortable. He naturally favored this style of dialogue, where only the crucial pieces of information were shared and the conclusions had to be deduced on one's own. It engaged the brain in just the right measure. Within the Funeral Agency, communicating with Annan was the most pleasant, followed by Banjie and Lisi (her mature version). Dead last were naturally those two artiodactyls; unless things were broken down to a level an idiot could grasp, nothing would get through to them. "Then it's my turn to ask." Anfiel poured two cups of hot tea and slid one across. "Why exactly did you deceive Berdette, Mr. Igola?" "Berdette's Dominance Faction knowledge." Igola made no effort to conceal his criminal motive. "And I needed Berdette to draw everyone else's hatred, so we could continue our escape." Even without the Scheme Board, the Family Board alone had been enough to turn the members of the Funeral Agency into a pack of despised, muck-stirring pariahs. These past few days, Igola had constantly pondered how to alleviate the pressure on Funeral. But Funeral's reputation had already hit rock bottom, and until the day they were delisted, the pressure would only mount. Thus, he changed his approach: a financial storm was inevitable, but wouldn't spreading the impact out reduce their own losses? So he and Evalin had struck an instant accord. Evalin wanted to dominate the elite members of the other clans, and Igola not only cooperated wholeheartedly, but carried it out to the very end. That's right—Yaxiu is Berdette's hound, but so are all of you! Come on then, if you want to beat the hound, you'll have to step over the master's corpse first! Even if Evalin didn't want to swallow this bitter grievance, once the others returned seeking revenge, could she really just stand there and take the beating? This back-and-forth was more than enough to draw a great deal of firepower away from Funeral. "Is that all?" "Far from it." Igola swirled his teacup. "There are plenty of other reasons. For instance, Annan's subtle hints. For instance... but the biggest reason is: I wanted to." "You wanted to?" "Conning a clan head rich enough to rival a nation, orchestrating a farce that ensnares Sanctuary Sorcerers, and pinning all the blame on you in the aftermath..." The Swindler shrugged. "With an endeavor this magnificent and entertaining, even without any compensation, I expect I would still have thrown myself into it with absolute passion." "Sister would burst with rage if she heard that," Anfiel laughed, taking a sip of tea. "My second question," Igola said. "Why did Evalin... no, why do all the Berdette clan heads become cold and heartless?" Anfiel set down her teacup, glancing toward the portrait in the office. "Sister hasn't become cold and heartless. It's just that... her emotions have been diluted." The red-haired girl looked at the Swindler. "Since you've already tried dominating others, you must understand why Sister ended up like this." Igola rubbed his temples. "As expected... is it because of mobilizing that mental energy?" The mental energy of tens of millions—that was a magnitude sufficient to bring about qualitative transformation. Every time a domination miracle was invoked, the Berdette clan head had to channel that 'sea of minds.' Over time, with repeated use, even a purified sea of minds would leave irreversible effects on the clan head. To make an analogy: an ordinary person's mental energy was sugar water. Anfiel had absorbed tens of millions of portions of sugar, so she was sweet to the point of melting, losing even her own flavor. Facing anyone, she could exude whatever sweetness they craved. Evalin was the opposite. Every time she invoked a domination miracle, she had to blend herself into tens of millions of portions of water, diluting the sugar within her until she became as bland as plain water. "How did you notice something was wrong with Sister, Mr. Igola?" Anfiel asked. "She usually chats and laughs, gets angry, gets happy... How could you tell she was cold and heartless?" "Is that your third question?" "Aw~ Can't you let me take a little advantage?" Anfiel blinked. "Then let's count it as one." "There are many reasons," Igola replied. "She claims to care deeply about her friendship with Annan, yet showed no mercy when dealing with her. She claims to be terrified of retaliation from the eight major clans, yet acted with ruthless efficiency... Her emotional and rational sides are completely severed. She does possess feelings, but those feelings have zero influence over her decisions. A textbook rational actor. "However, the biggest reason was that she wanted you and me to go on a blind date." Anfiel blinked. "Oh?" "Before Annan came to Mengfeila, Evalin had always lived in this manor. Everyone here was her servant; she had no friends, no lover, not even a sex life. Under those circumstances, her sole emotional anchor should have been her younger sister. Yet to win me over, she actually entrusted her sister to an outlander she had known for only a few days? "Trust should only be placed in those worthy of it," Igola said. "After Evalin pulled such a grotesque parody of human behavior, I knew she didn't care about you at all. What runs in that heart of hers is black pus." "That's a bit harsh, Mr. Igola." Anfiel frowned slightly. "Besides, why aren't you worthy of trust?" "Haven't I proved it through my actions?" Igola pointed toward his debt, which was still skyrocketing. "If you could become one of Berdette's own, wouldn't you be worthy?" Anfiel tilted her head. "And Sister truly did want to find a suitable partner for me. Among your group, aren't you the most suitable, Mr. Igola?" "How could that be?" Igola countered. "Isn't Yaxiu far more suitable than me?" "Is he?" "Of course." Igola's finger traced the rim of the teacup. "Granted, he's lazy, foolish, and vulgar. Aside from taking shelter from the rain and not getting himself lost, he has virtually no merits. But..." "Living with him makes you feel that no hardship in this world is insurmountable, and whenever your mood drops, he notices immediately." Igola glanced at Anfiel. "I, on the other hand, happen to be someone who—apart from dealing with clients—loves nothing more than belittling other people's intelligence to feed my own sense of superiority. My former partners all thought I was too vicious; they'd rather die than work with me, so they all died. "Evalin didn't choose the sparkling Yaxiu, but chose gloomy me instead. If you say she cares about you, I don't buy it." "Hmm..." Resting her chin in her hand, Anfiel said, "There's something I don't know whether I should..." "You shouldn't," Igola cut in. "I have one last question: is the reason you two sisters each bear one side of the price of domination to resist the call of your ancestor?" Anfiel's lips parted slightly, and she clapped her hands with a light laugh. "Incredible, Mr. Igola! You actually deduced that? It's exactly as you say!" From the moment he saw the number one spot on the Family Board, a deep confusion had plagued Igola: the Angel of Necromancy clearly desired resurrection, so why hadn't he groomed his descendants into vessels for his rebirth, instead forbidding them from entering his mausoleum? Wasn't that taking the long way around? To say the Angel of Necromancy cherished his descendants was pure nonsense. Even Harvey had confirmed that the Angel of Necromancy was a counterfeit necromancer who had no regard for life. And how could a sorcerer who feared death so intensely harbor so many moral reservations? Therefore, one had to look at it in reverse: it wasn't that the Angel of Necromancy rejected his descendants' inheritance, but that the descendants had always been dodging their ancestor's murder! Following that logic, the Angel of Necromancy would certainly reshape his descendants into suitable vessels for possession. What kind of vessel was most ideal for taking over? First, her thoughts should ideally be extraordinarily active, yet devoid of personal will. Second, her spirit should ideally be immensely surging, yet devoid of personal emotion. Ideally, she should come with a massive family fortune, enabling the Angel of Necromancy to rapidly restore his former strength. Anfiel could hear the thoughts of countless people, yet she had lost her personal will, reduced entirely to her sister's tool—she was 'thoughtless.' Evalin could mobilize vast mental energy, yet her personal feelings were diluted, turning her completely into a cold, ruthless rational actor—she was 'heartless.' A person combining both, devoid of heart and thought—wouldn't that be the perfect vessel for the Angel of Necromancy to possess? "Which means Harvey wasn't returning kindness with malice..." Igola murmured. "When he said he would grant Berdette eternal rest, he truly only wanted to release you from your destiny... I'm done asking." In truth, Igola still had many questions: why did Berdette insist on inheriting the Dominance Faction, why didn't they attempt to turn the tables and slay the Angel of Necromancy, why must they bear this fate... But remembering that this was a trap laid by the Angel of Necromancy for his resurrection, and that Berdette had managed to split the burden between siblings, their ancestors had indeed done everything in their power. "My turn to ask the final question," Anfiel said. Right then, however, the bookmark of their Books of Gospel gleamed with light, indicating that the Scheme Board had finally completed its update for the night— [Igola Bogin receives the reward: 'Kingdom Gold Coin.'] [Kingdom Gold Coin: While holding this gold coin, your personal will cannot be tampered with, twisted, or eroded in any way, remaining forever pure.] Flipping the freshly minted, warm coin in his hand, Igola asked, "What did you want to ask?" "I originally wanted to ask: after incurring such staggering debt, theoretically requiring you to share 99.9% of your thoughts, how did you plan to resist Sister's domination in the future?" Anfiel spread her hands. "No need to ask now." Just because Igola could borrow endlessly didn't mean he didn't owe Berdette money. The moment Evalin caught her breath and froze his Huabei account, Igola would be completely defenseless, left entirely at her mercy to rummage through his brain. Yet now, with the Kingdom Gold Coin rewarded by the future leaderboard, Igola had no reason to fear Evalin ruining his mind. After a moment's contemplation, however, Igola flicked his thumb, sending the coin soaring through the air. "Catch." Scrambling, Anfiel caught the coin, watching in astonishment as the Swindler walked over to the window to gaze out at the distant crowd. "Mr. Igola?" "It's yours," Igola said calmly. "There should still be a sliver of self-awareness left deep in your soul. Use this coin to buy it back." "Why?" "When I devised this plan, I never factored in the rewards from the Scheme Board." Igola smiled faintly. "Gifts bestowed by fate are not things I dare accept lightly." "Then how will you resist Sister's domination?" "I stole the knowledge of the Dominance Faction, and I've already figured out how to counter your domination. My theoretical foundation is solid now; all I lack is practical experience. If Evalin is willing to be my sparring partner, she's more than welcome. "Besides, your range of domination has its limits. Once I reach farther lands, if Evalin wants to scramble my brains, she'll have to pull out trump cards I haven't uncovered yet. I'd love to see whether Evalin breaks me first, or if I master Berdette's Dominance Faction from her completely." Igola looked toward Yaxiu and the others in the distance, bright starlight washing over his handsome face. Not a trace of fear lingered in his eyes—only anticipation for the future. Anfiel stared blankly at him, then suddenly said, "There's something I don't know whether I should..." "You shouldn't." "I'm going to say it anyway! I'm going to!" Igola glanced at her. "The coin took effect that quickly?" "Or maybe this is the type of girl you like?" Anfiel smiled gracefully. "I just wanted to say, Mr. Igola: people don't emit light, nor do they sparkle." "Hm?" "So what's truly sparkling is the light in your eyes."