Three days later.
At the northern spaceport of Noriosse, the port hall was bustling with people. As far as the eye could see, there were heads of different creatures. Countless travelers stopped here or boarded ships to leave. An ordinary female cosmic human, carrying a bag, walked slowly.
In fact, the other person hiding under this disguise is the very person Han Xiao and his group are looking for—the teacher who adopted Ames as a child and guided her to awaken her superpowers.
His name is "Iso," and his special ability is prophecy, but his race is even rarer than his rare prophetic ability.
Iso was born before the Galaxy Era; he was an immortal being who had lived for countless years.
Long before Han Xiao came into contact with the teleportation mage, Iso foresaw that Han Xiao and the others would refuse to participate in his "game." The ability of prophecy itself is vague because the future is full of uncertainty and can change at any time. If the future cannot be changed, then prediction is meaningless. Generally speaking, prophecies without a goal usually only show a fog. To activate the ability, there must be a theme, that is, a "trigger," to gather the possibilities of the future.
More experienced precognizers would set up more factors to bind the future; the various clues left by Iso and his mischievous arrangements were all part of his strategy to control the possibilities.
The future exists in a superposition state, and "triggers" can cause the future to "collapse." Simply put, when a person is not hungry, they may do all sorts of things, but when they are hungry, one action is certain: they will definitely eat. Iso deliberately left clues for this purpose, so that those searching for him would follow the clues he left behind. If a bead on flat ground would roll in all directions, but now the bead has fallen into a groove, it can only move back and forth, meaning that the "future" has changed from a free-form problem to a multiple-choice problem with limited options. In this way, his predictions could see the future.
Prophecy cannot see too far into the future, and it has no combat power. The ability itself is not powerful; what is powerful is the user—even a prophet needs to use their brain!
At this moment, Iso had already purchased a seat on a long-haul flight. Even without using his precognitive abilities, he had already seen through Han Xiao's intentions: to stall for time until Ames arrived in Noriosse, thus leaving Han Xiao with nowhere to escape.
"Too naive." Iso chuckled inwardly. Only a fool wouldn't see through such an obvious intention. Did he think he'd foolishly stay on this planet after being rejected? Did he think he wouldn't leave?
Putting himself in Han Xiao's shoes, if Iso were in Han Xiao's situation, he felt he would pretend to agree to search for the Heart of Crystal Fire and then stall for time, which would be better than refusing outright... But no matter what Han Xiao chose, the result would be the same. In reality, Iso had no intention of staying, and even if Han Xiao pretended to agree, he would still leave.
"If they agree to my demands, my subsequent arrangements will put them in trouble. They will be driven off this planet by the Noriosse Financial Group. Even if they refuse my demands and try to stall for time, Ames won't be able to find me after I leave, and she will take her anger out on these halfway through, 'missing the opportunity,' and they will still suffer."
"The outcome was already decided the moment you obtained the clues I left behind from the intelligence organization." Beneath the disguise, Iso smiled. "You misused my name, so a slight punishment is fair."
"Yeah?"
Suddenly, a voice sounded from behind, and with a snap, a hand landed on Iso's shoulder.
Iso's expression suddenly changed, his body abruptly stopped, and he slowly turned around.
A strange man stood behind him, and the man rubbed off a mask as thin as a cicada's wing, revealing Han Xiao's face.
"Good fucking morning, Mr. Iso Harricken."
Han Xiao had a beaming smile on his face.
"How did you know I was here?" Iso was startled, his eyes widening in surprise.
He didn't ask Han Xiao why he was there—that didn't need explaining; he belatedly realized it and immediately understood. At this moment, he was puzzled by another question.
Of Noriosse's five ports, how did the other side manage to pinpoint the exact correct one?
I think I heard Jenny mention it before; apparently, this Black Star is also a prophet.
"Good question. Let me introduce you." Han Xiao pulled someone out from the side, removed the mask from the person's face to reveal Fording's face, and chuckled, "This is my mascot."
"... You mean to take a chance?"
Iso's face stiffened for a moment, then he relaxed. A skilled prophet like him knew very well that there was never a perfect plan. No matter how ingenious the plan, it would be broken by unexpected events. Luck may be unpredictable, but the simplest things are often the most unsolvable.
Han Xiao possessed the Child of Destiny card, understood the precognitive mindset, and knew the so-called triggers, but this time he didn't use the Child of Destiny card; it wasn't worth it.
After refusing the request, based on his understanding of Iso, he knew that Iso could easily see through his "intentions." Therefore, Iso only had one choice: to avoid the approaching Ames, he could only leave Noriosse by spaceship. This would close off the possibilities. He only needed to have everyone spread out to five spaceports to keep watch, as those were places Iso would inevitably pass through.
In this way, Iso is caught in a dilemma: if he doesn't leave, he will definitely be found; if he leaves, he might be found.
Therefore, even if Iso foresaw this possibility, he would still have to fall into the trap—not to mention that, lacking a trigger, Iso did not use his supernatural abilities.
Those who delve into logic often fall into paradoxes they cannot see clearly, a phenomenon known as "the one involved is confused." Iso wanted Han Xiao to act according to his rules, but Han Xiao turned the tables, turning his intricately linked scheme into a fair environment where both sides competed in luck. Then, Han Xiao used his rich experience to defeat him— Fording could dominate any problem involving luck.
Iso's clumsy disguise might fool the airport's identity check, but the seasoned master of disguise, Master Han, had already anticipated this.
Logically, if Iso left Noriosse early after laying out his plans, the scheme would be unsolvable, meaning he would be invincible. However, Han Xiao had a major advantage: he knew Iso's personality from his previous life. This long-lived old monster had experienced too much and had an eccentric personality.
Power? It's meaningless. He once served as the vice president of a star cluster-level civilization.
Wealth? It's meaningless. Resources have always been ownerless; wealth is just a false definition.
Beauty? I'm sick of it. The various species I've mated with could circle the stars several times over.
Power? I've experienced it; wiping an entire planet off the map with terrifying weapons.
Iso was truly tired of living. This isn't meant as a derogatory term; it's the literal meaning. His life was reduced to a few simple pleasures: freedom, curiosity, and excitement!
Thus, he became a treasure hunter, constantly traveling and adventuring, his whereabouts unpredictable. Only when he was on the verge of danger could he truly experience life. Therefore, when scheming, Iso would never stand aside or hide behind the scenes to secure victory. He would create a level playing field for his opponents, giving them a chance to taste the fruits of victory. For him, this was a dangerous game.
He won, but he felt empty.
He was happy to have lost.
Living too long can truly make you incomprehensible to ordinary people.
Iso also shed his disguise, revealing his weathered, middle-aged appearance, and laughed heartily, "It seems my apprentice has found a formidable partner."
Han Xiao laughed along, his expression seemingly flawless, but other thoughts were brewing in his mind.
He had murderous intent.
Such a powerful prophet—even if not your enemy, who can guarantee he won't pose a threat to you in the future?
Han Xiao was well aware of Iso's abilities; his superpower was prophecy, so his combat power was practically zero. As long as he captured this prophet, killing him would be no more difficult than killing a chicken.
This is a good opportunity to eliminate the hidden danger. All we need to do is tell Ames that she hasn't found her teacher, and let Iso "disappear" forever.
so,
Should we... before Ames arrives?
Kill him?!
Han Xiao's eyes flickered. As a chaoticist, he believed that no one had to die.
Similarly, there is no one who cannot be killed.