Chapter 551: Unveiling
Chapter 551: Unveiling
"It's alright."
After listening attentively to Artifex 00's report, Prince Andre nodded and smiled, then replied, "According to the League of Slaughter Kings, the level of the Scorpio Bureau Chief is not quite at the Pillar God level, but it's not far off. In the terminology of the Purification Bureau, it's equivalent to a strength of nearly 70 Leon Values.
As for the materials you have, they are just the flesh and blood of ordinary True Gods who died a long time ago. Not only are they significantly different from human bodies, but even the best quality ones have only just broken through 60 Leon Values. It's not your fault that they couldn't fully repair the body."
"..."
Today's Prince Andre seemed a little too easygoing. After hearing about the actual condition of the Scorpio Director, he maintained a good attitude and even proactively absolved her of any blame. Artifex 00 couldn't help but feel a bit awkward.
A human instinct, different from the automaton's deduction, was going wild inside her, telling her that if this situation wasn't resolved, she might not be facing something good.
"Actually, his soul also has some defects."
Artifex 00 clenched her fist unconsciously and then calmly said, "As you know, the strength of his soul is fundamentally different from all the previous experimental materials. My soul encoding technology is not yet capable of perfectly deciphering such a powerful soul.
So, just like his body, if that Leon truly pushes him to his limits or causes him too much stimulation, his soul might break free from the soul encoding."
"Hmm, you mentioned this before."
Prince Andre nodded again and calmly said, "I remember you suggested a solution. If his soul shows signs of breaking free, immediately scramble the soul encoding to induce a 24-hour slumber. Once his soul stabilizes, we can wake him up again..."
"Is there a problem with this safety measure?"
"No, there isn't..."
"Then there's nothing more to worry about."
Prince Andre smiled at Artifex 00 and said, "Since you've done your best, I won't blame you no matter the outcome. Oh, by the way..."
At this point, Prince Andre seemed to remember something and curiously asked the slightly anxious Artifex 00, "Haven't you been using the automaton's computing power to calculate the probability of my victory? What's the current probability?"
"Umm... roughly 6 to 4."
Artifex 00's heart skipped a beat, and she subconsciously took a half-step back before explaining, "The last time it was 7 to 3, but the strength of Prince Leon is slightly stronger than I initially judged. Plus, the condition of the Scorpio Director isn't ideal, so your winning probability has decreased a bit, but it's still around 60%, higher than Prince Leon's."
"I see."
Prince Andre nodded noncommittally and smiled.
"I still trust the probability you calculated. But the change from 7 to 3 to 6 to 4, is it because the Scorpio Director's condition isn't good, or because you're planning to fully side with Prince Leon?"
?!?!
He knows?!
Artifex 00's heart skipped a beat, and she smiled, asking curiously, "My dear Prince Andre, Auntie loves you so much. Why would you have such a strange thought? You..."
"Don't worry, I'm not blaming you."
Prince Andre interrupted Artifex 00's words and smiled, "Although your intentions aren't entirely pure, I've tacitly allowed your interactions with him. Otherwise, I could've directly used the Time and Space Scepter to order you to stay away from him.
In the midst of Artifex 00's perplexed expression, Prince Andre walked to the corner of the room, took out an easel from the cabinet, and set it up. As he painted on it, he calmly inquired, "I had considered that you might collaborate with him, after all, I did keep you locked up for many years. It's understandable if you hold a grudge against me and even more so if you want to team up with others to overthrow me.
But from the details of your 'collaboration,' it seems that he was the mastermind behind the plan, and you were merely under his control, led by him from start to finish, so..."
After a few strokes on the old canvas pinned to the easel, Prince Andre lifted his head and asked curiously, "Aunt Atifi, did he have some sort of leverage over you?"
?!?!
Gazing into Andre's curious eyes, Artifex 00 felt a sudden chill down her spine.
The 'leverage' he held over her was the truth behind the incident from those years, and even more damning was that, as Leon had said, she wasn't entirely innocent in the matter.
Although Felicia and Andre's 'illness' was real, there was another solution besides sacrificing Felicia—regularly damaging parts of their brains, similar to those of ordinary people.
This process, though painful, came with the cost of intermittent memory loss and occasional motor coordination issues. The aftereffects might persist until their thirties or forties, or even for life, but it would allow both children to live.
However, not wanting Felicia's exceptional talent to go to waste, she intentionally transferred several scholars capable of proposing and implementing this solution a year in advance, leaving King Fein no choice but to make a 'Sophie's choice.' In the end, Felicia became Artifex 01.
If Andre were to find out about this...
"It seems it's the kind of leverage you can't tell me about."
Staring into Artifex's eyes, he found a certain determination, causing Prince Andre to pause in his painting, slightly troubled, and frown.
"Your expression tells me that if I were to use the Time and Space Scepter to force you to answer, you'd rather violate the rules of Soul Encoding and be temporarily 'shut down' for disobeying my orders than confess to me."
"Yes."
After taking a deep breath, Artifex 00's expression calmed, and she smiled at Andre, "Andre, everyone has secrets they don't want others to know. Learning not to touch these things is an unspoken rule among adults. It's better for you, for me, and for everyone."
"Heh."
Hearing Artifex's words, Andre couldn't help but chuckle lightly, then added, "That's interesting. Father mentioned you when he said you always hated things like human relations and social conventions, things you considered 'unscientific.' I never thought you'd say something like this."
"..."
"Alright, if you don't want to talk about it, I'll just guess."
He bent down, brush in hand, and with just a few strokes, he captured Artifex 00's figure in one corner of the canvas. Then, amidst Artifex 00's unpleasant expression, Prince Andre continued without looking up, "Aunt Atifi, you'd rather trigger the Soul Encoding and be forcibly shut down than tell me about what happened with Felicia and me, wouldn't you? It's not about the 'Sophie's choice,' is it?"
(End of Chapter)
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