Restraint

There are still many contradictory points that don't add up, but this isn't a criminal investigation that requires a complete chain of evidence. Although not every guess can be confirmed yet, Rowan's subjective judgment is that the fact that "Ying" has gained sentience is at least eight or nine parts certain.

Rowan is no longer concerned with the experiments inside the Castle. Not only did he obtain what he wanted, but to be honest, the results even exceeded his expectations, catching him off guard.

He spent ages plotting and has been fighting the Star Sea Alliance for nearly a century, only to realize he was merely on the first level. Fortunately, he can finally see a bit of the chessboard now, and there is still time to adjust.

In truth, Rowan hasn't made any mistakes regardless of who his opponent was. Even if there were loopholes left due to a lack of foresight at the time, they were basically patched up afterward.

However, the appearance of "Ying" truly caught him off guard. As the oldest antique in the Star Sea Alliance with a unique life form, it can rapidly scan and recall every detail from the past. Given the monitoring system the Original Epoch Clan has always maintained, there is likely nothing in the Star Sea Alliance that it doesn't know.

Facing an enemy with such insight, memory, and breadth of knowledge, many of Rowan's diversionary tactics will become useless. This is indeed an opponent that gives Rowan a headache.

But the past is the past; even if there are flaws, Rowan cannot travel through time to change them. He can only do better in the present and future to make up for them.

And this is precisely what is bothering him. According to his thinking, the best strategy now