Now Is the Time (Continued)

—She was performing some kind of ritual...it was a voluntary act, not a forced interference.

Miss Surtr breathed a soft sigh of relief; a new chain of logic formed in her mind—

Persephone's break led to a decline in the administrative efficiency of Chernobog —the decline in efficiency prevented Skadi from completing the signing and revision of documents within the originally scheduled time— Skadi did not choose to work until four in the morning but instead suspended the work—by suspending work early, Skadi, who was free to move around in Chernobog earlier, found a new executable task.

That makes perfect sense; there's no fallacy in this chain of logic. The only point worth considering is what exactly influenced Skadi to put this unknown ritual into operation alone here.

—Skadi contacting me at four in the morning to request leave is likely due to her personal habits rather than an emergency. After all, I don't really need sleep either, just like her. And if it were truly an emergency, she could have simply sent a message on her terminal or notified Persephone directly.

—Skadi told me it was to welcome a companion... She had no reason to lie about something like this. Considering the game's records, it's highly likely this companion is Specter. I can still believe that Skadi's decision to bring Specter back was a sudden event. After all, she had previously considered herself my watcher and accepted Persephone's offer of employment.

—So, I can conclude that there is some special way of communication between these Abyssal Hunter, and that she contacted them through this method some time ago... or was contacted by Specter or other Abyssal Hunter.

—I see, that's how it is. After all, 'Abyssal Hunter are connected by blood.' And the communication environment on Terra is so terrible.

As the cause and effect gradually formed in Miss Surtr's mind, she could determine the time when Skadi completed her paperwork in the previous timeline—it should have been before 4 a. m., perhaps 3 a. m., or perhaps earlier but definitely later than Persephone's hibernation time—after completing the paperwork, she received communications from her compatriots and obtained some information from them.

—Specter ... let's assume it's Specter for now, and sent her a message. This message seemed positive, so she didn't immediately drop everything and leave upon receiving it. She planned to bring Specter from the ocean off Terra to Rhodes Island Pharmaceuticals. Therefore, based on both subjective perception and objective intelligence, this message should be related to Specter's illness.

—Good news, related to the illness, but requiring follow-up treatment from a professional medical institution. Combining these three elements, the message should indeed be: ' Specter's Originium infection symptoms have lessened, but the mechanism behind the symptom reduction is unclear or there may be aftereffects.' Yes, that should be it, so it's not an urgent matter. In the previous timeline, Skadi completed her paperwork, which is why she came directly to me to ask for leave. This time, she probably wasn't able to complete the necessary procedures, so she's not in a hurry to leave, but rather lingers in this city, waiting for Rhodes Island Pharmaceuticals to complete her onboarding paperwork, and then communicating with the improved Specter using the Abyssal Hunter method?

"I see... Hmm, looks like I'm pretty smart after all."

Miss Surtr blinked and lowered her hand from the ruins—if she reached a less than ideal conclusion, she would simply take matters into her own hands, displacing the gravity of the abandoned city and dealing with Skadi's problems. But since Skadi was now perfectly fine, she shouldn't meddle and inadvertently disrupt the Miss Orca's ritual.

My slightly tense heart calmed down.

Fortunately, the current situation is still within the realm of the butterfly effect rather than the sudden detonation of some terrible bomb. She rubbed her temples, trying to calm her overworked brain cells. Before leaving, she planned to do one last quick check.

What are the Abyssal Hunter's special communication methods? — Skadi didn't say, but Miss Surtr had a slight guess. Because just yesterday, when she was strolling through the territory of the Imperial Consciousness, this Miss Orca had twice shown alertness but ultimately gave up asking.

—I think their method of communication must be related to their travels within the Imperial Consciousness.

—So, if I were to infiltrate the Imperial Consciousness, would I be able to confirm Skadi's condition?

The mind follows the thought; once it's said, it's done.

The next moment, Miss Surtr infiltrated deeper into this world, into the skies above the territory of the Imperial Consciousness.

What came into view was an endless sea of fog.

As before, what appeared beneath Miss Surtr's feet was a ruined city shrouded in thick fog. Decaying, dilapidated, and desolate, many grotesque and monstrous creatures, seemingly pieced together from flesh and organs, roamed among the broken streets and buildings. Unlike the well-preserved residential areas, in this abandoned city that had suffered the Originium, she saw many murky crystals growing on the earth.

Numerous mangled undead, barely recognizable as human figures, wailed in the cracks of the earth. Parts of their bodies were embedded in the fissures, or perhaps they were simply plants, their flesh and blood serving as roots, protruding from the cracks into their broken shells. Scattered, murky crystals also grew on their bodies, which, when viewed by Miss Surtr, shone like overloaded light bulb filaments, twisting and dancing before disintegrating into scattered dust.

As Persephone once said, the living beings seen in the Imperial Consciousness are essentially spiritual projections of living beings in the real world or remnants of information from inanimate objects. In other words, an individual seen in the Imperial Consciousness may not have a corresponding existence in the real world. However, if no specific derivative is seen in the Imperial Consciousness, it means that there is definitely no living being in the corresponding area of the real world. If there is, it means that this living being is on a journey within the Imperial Consciousness.

—After all, I've personally tested it several times. When escaping the Imperial Consciousness, no matter where I wander in this illusory land, my consciousness always awakens in my physical body in the real world. Similarly, no matter where my previous consciousness wandered, when a new journey begins, the landing point will inevitably be the corresponding coordinates of my physical body in the real world.

—Then, I only need to glance at Skadi's coordinates here to confirm whether this Miss Orca is exploring the Imperial Consciousness.

She still fondly remembered her chance encounter during her last exploration. The little red dog, the sick baby shark. Being surrounded by adorable animals lifted her spirits, especially when all other visible creatures were in a state that was... not very aesthetically pleasing to the average person.

She landed lightly on the ruined city, and as her toes touched the ground, the strange little creatures shrieked and scattered in all directions—she didn't actually dislike these bizarre creatures that posed no threat other than their ugly appearance. After all, her aesthetic sense was on par with that of the gods.

Land and push aside the obstacles.

The artificial chamber where Skadi was hiding opened its doors to her on a conscious level—and sure enough, Skadi, or any living being, was nowhere to be found on the corresponding coordinates of that conscious level. Instead, there was a closed portal constructed with Aegir script, which subtly corresponded to the ritual circle on the physical level.

Clearly, this must be the secret technique of the Abyssal Hunter —unlike Miss Surtr, who can come and go as she pleases, Skadi and her kin may have to put in some extra effort when exploring consciousness.

—She's not here.

The red-haired girl realized that she had noticed traces of living beings moving along a collapsed path in the secret chamber. She also discovered that the portal formed by the Aegir script vaguely served to prevent the surrounding mutated beings from approaching.

Skadi has left. Indeed, she is exploring the Imperial Consciousness; it seems she is not at ease with her ailing kin. And she needs to protect her login point.

Should we continue investigating?

—No, there's no need. Skadi didn't ask me for refuge, and I have no reason to pry into her secrets without her permission.

She nodded, said nothing, and simply pondered. Then, silently, she stepped back.

As she left the secret chamber, she caused the overturned stones to fall back to their original state.

Then, log out.

The instant she returned to the real world, her gaze pierced through the thick fog for the first time—at the edge of her vision, she saw a colossal ship constructed of whale bones splitting the earth, steadily approaching this mobile city-state.

"Is that the Rhodes Island flagship? It's already this close...?"

On the real world, Miss Surtr's gaze was directed towards the same area as the whalebone ship—her vision then rapidly expanded, covering hundreds of kilometers in an instant. Although Terra, being a sphere, couldn't directly observe the location of Rhodes Island's main ship, she still caught a glimpse of the bustling activity rising from the edge of the earth.

The straight-line distance between Rhodes Island and Chernobog is approximately 533 kilometers.

It is currently 4:16 AM, and considering the Rhodes Island's speed as a high-speed land-based ship, the ship will be able to dock with Chernobog around 1 PM.

That's good.

Once the Rhodes Island main ship arrives, presumably both Persephone and Kal'tsit, or even the overworked Amiya, will be able to get a comfortable rest period.

Ah, Kal'tsit...

—I always keep my word. Since I promised Kal'tsit I would stay by her side until she woke up, I should not break that promise.

—After all, 4:16... it hasn't been long since I made the same decision.

Her body remained in the same spot where she had entered the Imperial Consciousness, high above the abandoned district—she carefully glanced at Skadi's ritual site, and after confirming that there were no obvious oversights and having made plans to inform Persephone of everything that had happened here when she awoke, she left the sky above the ruins and headed to the ICU ward.

She indeed couldn't see anything wrong with Skadi's actions.

Time continued to flow, and there were no longer any matters that required her attention.

She arrived at the ICU ward and, just like in the previous timeline, came to Kal'tsit's side—unlike last time, this time Kal'tsit didn't seem to be trapped in a terrible nightmare. Even so, she still held Kal'tsit's hand in her sleep.

She simply held it, doing nothing else—and this was exactly what Amiya saw when she opened the door to visit Kal'tsit, carrying carnations, after the dawn's light.

Ah... it's the last day of the month. I'll ask for a vote, though.

Thinking about organizing my thoughts tomorrow, and also planning to set up an unlimited bounty to motivate myself _(:з"∠)_