Chapter 431

“...”

“...”

A heavy silence settled over the workshop as the two men stared at each other in wordless tension.

“...You could’ve at least given me a heads-up if you were going to show up here,” Se-Hoon said first, letting out a sigh.

“Would you have answered if I did?”

“Of course. Do you think I wander around aimlessly like you, old man?”

Li Kenxie’s brows twitched.

This little punk...

He hadn’t exactly been polite when they first met, but he had still become even ruder with time. His insolence annoyed Li Kenxie greatly, but he stopped himself from saying something and exhaled sharply instead.

No point wasting my breath.

He just grumbled inwardly instead, and at that moment, Se-Hoon turned toward the kitchen in the workshop.

“Do you want something to drink?”

“No tha—actually, fine. Make me some tea.”

“Really?”

Seeing the surprised look Se-Hoon gave him, Li Kenxie sat down with a frown.

“Why ask if you’re just going to question the answer? Stop yapping and get on with it already.”

“

Hm...

Alright.”

Heading deeper into the kitchen, Se-Hoon pulled out a new teabag someone had left in the cupboard and stared at it with a curious expression.

So why is he really here?

When he first saw Li Kenxie standing in the darkened workshop, looking all serious, he thought the old man had come to settle things once and for all. However, their exchange just now hadn’t quite matched that intensity.

Still, there was a certain sharpness to Li Kenxie that didn’t sit right with him. Even his instincts were telling him that a turning point was before him.

I don’t know what kind of turning point this will end up being, but...

Lost in his thoughts, Se-Hoon silently watched the water in the mug slowly turn a light brown from the teabag. Then, when it reached a certain color, he took it out to Li Kenxie.

“Here.”

“Serving tea in such a mug...”

Clicking his tongue in disapproval, Li Kenxie took a sip and immediately grimaced before setting the cup down on the nearby table.

“Are you not going to drink it?”

“That’s not tea, it’s sewage. Just throw it away when I leave later.”

“...”

Se-Hoon’s eyes narrowed.

Is this old man going senile?

That smug look on Li Kenxie’s face—like he’d expected the outcome—made it clear the old man had only asked for tea to provoke him.

Annoyed, Se-Hoon silently ground his teeth. Meanwhile, Li Kenxie finally got to the point.

“So where’ve you been until now?”

A casual probe—Li Kenxie was watching him carefully.

Noticing, Se-Hoon answered without flinching. “I was in the Netherworld.”

“For what?”

“There were a few things I needed to check for the project I’m working on.” At those words, Li Kenxie looked like he was about to dig deeper, but Se-Hoon spoke again before he could. “There’s a major project underway called the Planetary Reinforcement Project. Would you like to take a look?”

Slightly surprised, Li Kenxie raised an eyebrow before nodding. And upon seeing his nod, Se-Hoon pulled out a planning document from his void pocket.

“Here you go.”

Taking it, Li Kenxie began flipping through it with suspicious eyes, likely thinking it was a decoy. However, the further he read, the more his expression changed. From intrigue to surprise and finally to mild shock.

“Hmm...”

Having skimmed through the full proposal, Li Kenxie was dead silent, deep in contemplation. And when he looked up after a short while, there was an odd expression on his face.

“You’ve lost your damn mind, haven’t you?”

“...Excuse me?”

“

Ahem.

That came out wrong.”

Clearing his throat once again, Li Kenxie gave Se-Hoon a firm look.

“You’ve really gone off the deep end.”

“...”

At that moment, Se-Hoon started seriously wondering if it would be easier to just knock Li Kenxie out and clean up Caden while he was at it.

As Se-Hoon’s plans moved on to actually considering the feasibility, Li Kenxie spoke once more. “Registering the Seeker’s clone as a Perfect One to alter the power protecting the planet... even that lunatic wouldn’t have tried something this insane.”

Li Kenxie stared at the proposal like he couldn’t believe it.

“But there’s no other way, is there?”

The Seeker, too, had been shocked when she heard about it, but she hadn’t stopped Se-Hoon. They’d both realized it was the only way to protect this planet from the Perfect Ones and Harbingers of Destruction.

“You’re not wrong. But...” Li Kenxie trailed off, then looked up to face Se-Hoon. “There’s something I want to ask you.”

“Right now?”

“If I like your answer, I’ll tell you what’s wrong with your plan.”

“Sure... Go ahead then.”

Noticing the instant switch to Se-Hoon’s tone, Li Kenxie stared at him momentarily before dismissing it and continuing. “When Li Fei was training with the Defiant Ember, I noticed that her Sacred Flames moved on their own. Any idea what might have caused that?”

“Hmm...”

Se-Hoon’s expression turned thoughtful.

What’s he talking about?

The Sacred Flame wasn’t a living thing—why would it act on its own? He had never seen such a phenomenon while creating the Defiant Ember with Meirin. Stumped, Se-Hoon dug through his memories.

If I had to guess... maybe it’s that time?

Not long after he’d learned how to use the Sacred Craftsman’s power, Se-Hoon had visited Paradise with Jake and Erika. They had gone to a restaurant, and while speaking with Archbishop Kamal of the Pilgrimage Church, the Sacred Flames in his body had suddenly gone wild and engulfed him.

What was I thinking back then...?

The memory felt distant and blurry, but he kept digging until the thoughts from that moment came back.

Why did Li Kenxie take Li Fei to the mountains?

Why hadn’t the Sacred Craftsman fled, even with the Harbingers of Destruction at his doorsteps?

What had he been trying to forge at those last moments?

They were all fundamental questions about Li Kenxie. The first had somewhat been answered after hearing about his daughter-in-law, but the second and third were still vague. Those two were related to events in the previous timeline, so there was no way to know for sure anymore.

I still can’t tell what my Sacred Flame reacted to.

He tried forcing the memory, hoping it would trigger something. But the Sacred Flame inside him remained calm, just circulating through his mana circuits as normal.

Trying again, Se-Hoon remained silent for a long moment before letting out a sigh.

“I also don’t know how it really works.”

“Not even a guess?”

“No. Not a single thing comes to mind.”

“...Is that so.”

The disappointment on Li Kenxie’s face made Se-Hoon uneasy. It wasn’t just the fact that he would miss out on hearing the problem with the Planetary Reinforcement Project. What was more important was the bad feeling he had that if things ended like that, the so-called “turning point” would head in a less-than-favorable direction.

I need to figure something out. Anything.

What exactly was the power of Anatta created for? What was the Sacred Flame truly meant to burn? His mind racing, Se-Hoon mulled over how the concepts of the powers of Perfect Ones worked as he looked at Li Kenxie—all of a sudden, a thought struck him like a bolt of lightning.

“The subconscious.”

“Hmm?”

“Maybe it was Li Fei’s unconsciousness that moved the Sacred Flame?”

If there had been no external interference, then the cause had to lie within. And if she wasn’t aware of it herself, then it was almost certain the trigger came from her subconscious.

“Her subconscious...”

Li Kenxie fell into a thoughtful silence. A long while passed, and then, all of a sudden, his eyes abruptly widened in realization of something.

“So that’s what it was. It really

was

there...” he murmured under his breath before abruptly standing up.

To Se-Hoon, Li Kenxie’s words were incomprehensible. Confused, he observed Li Kenxie, who looked like he was about to march out of the workshop. But instead of heading out, Li Kenxie turned his head and looked back at Se-Hoon.

“If you want to register the Seeker’s clone as a Perfect One, start by understanding the criteria.”

“The criteria?”

“How much of the Seeker’s physical body must be used to qualify as a Perfect One? Where does the clone’s identity end and the Seeker’s begin?”

Li Kenxie looked Se-Hoon squarely in the eyes and said in a calm but serious tone, “If you don’t have a clear grasp of that criterion, your project is going to fail in the end. Or worse—

she

might come back to life.”

“...That’s a little terrifying.”

To have Terra recognized as a Perfect One, it wasn’t just her physical form that mattered—her synesthetic mindscape needed to be finely distinguished and adjusted as well. Immediately understanding the gravity of Li Kenxie’s point, Se-Hoon gave him a respectful nod.

“Thank you.”

“As long as you get what I said.”

With those curt words, Li Kenxie headed for the workshop’s front door. But just as he was about to exit, he was stopped.

“Sir.” Se-Hoon had called out to him.

“What now?”

“If you could make one last thing before the end... what would you want to forge?”

Se-Hoon still remembered how Li Kenxie had kept forging something relentlessly, even as the Harbingers of Destruction advanced. Until the very end, he had never stopped, and his legacy had fallen into Caden’s hands only to vanish forever.

But what had that legacy even been? Se-Hoon knew it was a question that couldn’t possibly be answered, but he still found himself asking anyway.

“...What I lost.”

Li Kenxie stopped his feet but didn’t turn around.

“If it’s the last thing... that would be what I’d want to make.”

Without another word, he left the workshop.

Left alone, Se-Hoon remained in place for a while, turning the words over in his mind.

“Chairman.” He called out into the air.

“Go ahead.”

“If Li Kenxie ever tries to go somewhere else while I’m away...” Se-Hoon trailed off. The subject was sensitive, and he just couldn’t bring himself to say it outright.

Thankfully, Ludwig understood.

“Don’t worry. I’ll handle it.”

While the future was hazy, it was best to prepare in advance considering the potential disaster ahead.

“Then I’ll leave it to you.”

With the final arrangement in place, Se-Hoon stared into the now-empty workshop once more, then stepped outside as if chasing after Li Kenxie.

The sun had long since set, and darkness blanketed the sky. Alone in the darkness, Se-Hoon lifted his head and gazed at the night sky. It looked no different from the one before his regression.

“This is getting quite troublesome...”

His words were loud enough for only himself to hear.

***

Inside a private meeting room radiating luxury and indulgence, accessible only to the Seven Saints and their direct subordinates, angry voices laced with boomed back and forth nonstop.

“What did you bastards say back then?! You guaranteed the Association would never catch wind of this! I trusted you and left it in your hands, and this is how you handle it?!”

“

Trusted

us? Wow... Skipping meetings ‘cause you were too drunk and lazy is ‘trusting’ now? Guess I’ll start doing that too.”

“You dumped all the hard work on us, and now you're throwing a tantrum? Just go back to drinking and spare us the noise.”

“Hey, are

you

drunk too? After messing up this badly, you should at least have the decency to shut up instead of acting like you’re in the right...”

They slung insults back and forth, dragged out each other’s weaknesses, and shoved responsibility around. It was difficult to even call such chaos a “meeting.”

But despite all the yelling, Caden just watched in silence with a blank expression.

That continued for a while, until randomly, the one standing next to Caden calmly spoke up. “Are you not going to drink your tea?”

“

Hm?

Ah.”

Caden glanced at the now-lukewarm tea in front of him.

“It’s not really an important conversation right now.” His voice was flat.

“Interesting.... So you only drink it when it matters?”

“Something like that.”

Somewhere along the way, Caden realized that he—who used to grumble while preparing tea for his master—had started wanting tea during the same moments to clear his thoughts during pivotal moments.

“It doesn’t really mean anything anymore, though.”

Caden made a bitter smile at the habit left behind by the days under his master, then looked at the figure: Doppelganger.

“By the way, did you locate the source of that déjà vu you mentioned earlier?”

“No. I haven’t sensed anything unusual since then.”

Doppelganger narrowed its eyes, doing another scan of its surroundings for signs.

“Maybe I was mistaken... or it’s already gone.”

“I see.”

Under normal circumstances, Caden would’ve brushed it off. But in the current situation, even the smallest sign couldn’t be ignored. Thinking, he took a sip of the cooled tea in silence before turning toward the Seven Saints, who were still in the middle of a shouting match.

“May I make a comment here?”

The moment Caden spoke, the shouting stopped like a switch had been flipped. Although they had seized their positions through power, the Seven Saints were still national leaders. They weren’t truly fighting—they’d simply been venting until someone with an actual solution stepped forward.

Competent idiots—that’s what they are.

It was absurd, but at the very least, they weren’t clueless enough to speak without an understanding of the situation.

With their cold stares now on him, pressuring for answers, Caden continued calmly. “As far as I can tell, the Heroes Association is still unaware of our plans. So as long as we stay quiet, we might be able to ride the situation out.”

“...”

“But we don’t know what the Three Dogs will do.”

All they knew so far was that Three Dogs were hostile toward them and targeting Earth-Weaving Loom. Nothing beyond that had been uncovered. However, it was that very lack of intel that made it easier for them to decide.

“At first, it might’ve seemed like bad luck. But since it keeps happening, it means there’s an unknown cause we haven’t uncovered.”

“And?” A sharp-eyed woman, Zhang Linsen, stared at Caden. “Excuses aren’t what we need right now. What we need is a solution.”

At those words, the other Seven Saints unanimously nodded in silent agreement, and even Caden returned the nod.

“You’re right. We need a solution. However...” Caden paused, then spoke with firm resolve. “There simply is no solution anymore, unless we all somehow avoid this situation altogether.”

Succeed and live; fail and die. Those two were all that remained for them.

“...”

Feeling the weight of his words, the Seven Saints’ expressions turned grim.

“We’re not in a good situation. But fortunately, we’re not at a complete disadvantage. In fact... this could be a great opportunity.”

Opportunity? While being hunted by the Heroes Association and the rest of the world? Seeing the Seven Saints’ frowns of confusion, Caden smiled softly.

“The Association offered to send us high-quality materials, didn’t they?”

High-quality materials? It took them a moment to understand what he meant. But when they did...

“Well, given how things are going, we might as well make the most of it, don’t you think?”

A cold gleam shone in Caden’s eyes.