Elise: Shocked-the mastermind was me all along

Seeing that aura descend, Sylph immediately sent people to arrest him.

This thief clearly meant no good. Once he had stolen enough, the Sage on the other side would come to receive him and open a time tunnel. You might not even be able to catch him.

This was already the beginning of a cosmic war!

The prodigies and powerhouses of the various systems descended one after another. This was the battlefield of the Outer Domain universes.

At that moment, Atabia finally stood up and said:

"Everyone, that illegal cross-world traveler has arrived. He must be carrying a mission: delivering a message and having the 'self' of this era act as an inside agent."

His words dragged everyone back to the subject they had been unwilling to discuss.

And the truth was indeed so.

As long as one had a brain, one would find a way to join forces with oneself.

After all, this was not another version of oneself. In essence, they were the same person—one was the present self, and the other was the self from five thousand years in the future.

It was equivalent to the self from five thousand years in the future sending a letter to oneself!

So there was fundamentally no possibility of betraying oneself, because they were both oneself.

And how would they join forces?

That was simpler than simple.

They could secretly mention something only they themselves knew, or use a method that only their own authority could activate. Comparing notes with oneself would not be difficult.

"In other words, someone here is about to 'awaken' and betray our friendship."

Atabia's expression was utterly calm, with no joy or sorrow visible. He said mildly:

"But I still hope you won't join forces with your future self. That future you from another Timeline