The End

In other words, for this cat, the future was the past.

And precisely because of that, it could use that already-occurred "future" to deduce the "past" he was in.

"Tsk~"

Realizing this, Zhang Qi could not help but suck in a sharp breath.

The thing before him was far more troublesome than he had expected.

There was not even a way to counter it, because although it was here at this moment, it was also there in that moment.

Without the ability to completely step outside the timeline, one could not escape the script it had written—

This was practically cheating—

"So, what exactly do you want?"

Zhang Qi took a deep breath and raised the question again.

If that was truly the case, then the outcome of his meeting with Nous should also have been predetermined.

In other words, its goal was not to kill him—

Or rather, that was not a high-priority matter.

Even from the moment he boarded the train to his arrival in Penacony, everything had been part of the future woven by this cat.

The black cat did not answer his question directly.

It merely tilted its head. Its golden pupils reflected not this frozen world, but only Zhang Qi's silhouette. "Before answering your question, why don't we discuss something else? In your view, what is the essence of the Paths?"

"The Paths? I don't know for now—"

Zhang Qi thought for a moment, then shook his head.

At present, he had only observed the phenomena brought about by the Paths; he had not seen through their essence.

After all, the "Paths" of this world and the "Beyonder Characteristics" of the Backlund world were completely different concepts.

Beyonder Characteristics at least had vessels in the physical world. They could be seen, touched, and interfered with.