When it came to the new character she'd pulled this time, Bai Ming felt a bit more than just a passing curiosity.
She'd never managed to pull any of the Chrysos Heirs before, so she hadn't given it much thought.
Cyrene was clearly an exception since they were a Pure Child of Anasrava and didn't rely on a physical body anyway. But the rest of the Chrysos Heirs weren't all Pure Children.
If she used a Character Card for them, she had no idea what would happen.
Logically, she figured it would go to one of two extremes: either divine or disastrous.
They might turn entirely into pure data—the kind that couldn't even exist in reality without heavy upgrades.
The Titan's Authority would also likely fail once severed from the Scepter system.
If that were the case, there wasn't much to say; any Chrysos Heir cards she pulled in the future would basically be duds.
Of course, there was also the possibility that through the system's divine power, the data could be manifested into a physical form in a more special way, allowing them to retain their Titan authority.
But if it were the latter, how on earth would that be implemented?
Especially for a more conceptual ability like 'Cipher's'.
According to Lygus' settings, the Titan of Trickery corresponds to the Path of Elation.
Would it directly tap into the power of Elation to manifest that strength? If so, what would the power scaling look like? And if not, how else would the ability function?
Bai Ming was genuinely intrigued. In fact, she was even secretly hoping the system would turn 'Cipher's' Character Card into a manifestation of power outside the independent Paths.
Naturally, she was just daydreaming; she knew such a thing was likely a long shot.
Still, with those expectations in mind, Bai Ming put away her Saint Graph and chose to use 'Cipher's' Character Card.
A new body appeared. Compared to using a Saint Graph, being in the Character Card state undoubtedly placed a subtle veil between Bai Ming and her perception of the world.
However, that veil seemed much thinner now than it used to be. She could feel a distinct change in how she perceived the world while using a Character Card compared to the past.
"Well, that's odd. Between then and now, the only real difference is that I used a Saint Graph as a temporary body. Why is there such a noticeable shift?"
Or was it that in this world, the act of "existing with one's own body and name" held significant weight in its own right?
Bai Ming found the phenomenon of this before-and-after change quite baffling. She decided to record her feelings and send them to Herta and Ruan Mei later.
Beyond that, there was one more thing worth her attention.
That was 'Cipher's' body...
First, she confirmed one thing: this body was indeed made of data.
But upon a slightly closer inspection, she discovered that while it was a digital entity, its logic was distinctly different from that of a Digimon.
If she had to describe it, it felt a bit like the calculation logic of the Emperor's Scepter.
It relied on data and calculations to interfere with reality, thereby achieving a physical manifestation in the material world.
So, strictly speaking, the body produced by the 'Cipher' Character Card could be viewed as a string of complex equations.
Powered by Bai Ming, the equations calculated and successfully interfered with reality, constructing 'Cipher's' body.
The entire structural logic felt more like an iteration of the Emperor's Scepter, worlds apart from a Digimon.
As for which was superior, she'd only know once she managed to solve the equation.
"I didn't expect the approach to solving this would be so close to my own thoughts—keeping the characteristics of the data itself."
'Cipher' stood in place, getting a feel for this body constructed through reality interference.
On the surface, the physical stats of this body were roughly the same as the original 'Cipher'—her other half—as seen within Amphoreus.
High agility, decent combat power. It felt very much like it had been deliberately designed to "stay in character."
She just didn't know if the powers of the Path had been replicated as well.
Since the Character Card had built the body through "calculated reality interference," then theoretically, the manifestation of the Path's authority could also be achieved through calculation.
But then again, 'Cipher's' ability was Trickery—using lies to achieve the result of warping reality.
If this kind of setting, which required interaction with others to function, was also implemented by the Character Card... well, even though 'Cipher' hadn't started decoding the equation yet, she wondered just how far it could go.
It was quite a tantalizing thought.
Thinking this, 'Cipher' rummaged through her pockets for a moment, pulled out a Cat Gold Coin, and tossed it into the air—
In that exact instant, 'Cipher' felt the entire world begin to slow down. It slowed until it felt as if time itself had frozen. The tossed coin hung suspended in mid-air, motionless.
Seeing this, 'Cipher' didn't rush to run a lap.
Instead, she carefully observed her own state. There were many ways to achieve super-speed.
The real key lay in how this ability was being implemented.
Was it simply relying on calculations to accelerate 'Cipher's' thoughts and movements to the extreme, or had it actually constructed the Authority of Trickery and used that to achieve this unreasonable acceleration?
If it was the former, that was manageable. But if it was the latter... then that was something else entirely.
'Cipher' attempted an analysis. Before the coin could hit the ground, she delved deep into the essence and calculation methods of this body.
Although she couldn't fully decode it due to a lack of equipment, she still discovered a startling fact.
The equation of this body didn't achieve the super-speed effect by accelerating thoughts and actions.
At least, she had searched for a long time and couldn't find any relevant programs. In the logic currently running, there was absolutely nothing related to acceleration or deceleration.
Instead, another set of incredibly complex logic—so dense it made her dizzy just looking at it—was running at high speed.
"...Are you for real??"
Upon realizing this, 'Cipher' was truly stunned.
Could her current 'Cipher' body essentially be the digital equivalent of a miniature Scepter?
She reached out and caught the coin still hovering in the air.
The super-speed ended, the world in her perception returned to normal, and as she toyed with the coin, 'Cipher' decided she needed to conduct deeper experiments.
If it really was calculating the logic of the Titan of Trickery, how wide was the range this equation could interfere with? A continent? A planet? Or perhaps an entire star system?
And there was one more thing to consider.
Although the essence shown by this equation was achieving reality interference through calculation—which seemed unrelated to the power of a Path—the logic being calculated still originated from the logic of Elation.
Could those dizzying calculation loops she just saw be the decoded logic of the Path of Elation itself?
Considering 'Cipher's' own thinking capacity was on par with a Genius, and she had skimmed the source code left by Zandar inside the Emperor's Scepter... if the logic of this equation had been taken directly from Zandar's work or followed the Scepter's framework, it wouldn't look like gibberish to her.
In other words... even having seen the original program, she still couldn't understand what kind of logic this program was looping under. That in itself said a lot. This thing was nothing like the Scepter System!
"Haha... no, it couldn't be..."
Thinking this, 'Cipher' gave a dry laugh. It felt like this Character Card had manifested something truly extraordinary.
While 'Cipher' was still immersed in the secrets of the card, Ruan Mei finally found her. Seeing 'Cipher's' new appearance, she tilted her head in confusion.
"A little cat from Amphoreus this time?"
Seeing Ruan Mei approach, 'Cipher' had an idea.
She nodded and said, "Yeah, I've become a Digimon this time. But I'm a bit different from the original; I've got some special data in me. Want to take a look?"
The moment she spoke, 'Cipher' felt a certain power begin to act upon her current body.
On the other side, hearing 'Cipher' say this, Ruan Mei grew curious. How special could it be? Had she turned into a little Scepter?
With that thought, Ruan Mei walked over and pressed her hand against 'Cipher's' neck to get a sense of her.
In her perception, while it was a bit strange, it was indeed the logical core of a Digimon.
However, outside that logical core, there was indeed a very strange and complex piece of data.
The sheer volume of data brought by this complex program made the strength of this 'Cipher' Digimon somewhat exaggerated.
After sensing this, Ruan Mei wore a slightly startled expression. "In the Digimon core, I found a complex program running that I can't understand at all. What is it?"
While listening to Ruan Mei's conclusion, 'Cipher' was also carefully observing her own body.
In her recent lie, she could feel that when the Authority of Trickery was in effect, the running logical program showed a clear reaction.
Which meant... this clump of stuff she couldn't understand really did represent the Authority of Trickery.
Confirming this, 'Cipher' reached out to grab Ruan Mei's wrist and added, "I was just using the power of Trickery to trick you. Actually, the state of this body is completely different from a Digimon. Try sensing it again?"
"Hmm?"
The moment 'Cipher' proactively exposed her own 'Trickery', the information Ruan Mei perceived changed instantly.
The structure belonging to a Digimon collapsed and analyzed itself, finally turning into a unique digital entity structure.
However, that clump of weird program data could still be sensed by her.
"The power of Trickery? But wasn't that a result of the calculations within Amphoreus? And what exactly is this data in your body?"
Ruan Mei didn't press the issue of being lied to; instead, she was more interested in the so-called power of Trickery and the program she couldn't decipher.
Ruan Mei didn't do much research in this specific area, so she didn't mind that she couldn't understand it.
However, she felt the complexity of this thing seemed even more convoluted than the programs of the Simulated Universe. Perhaps it was related to the Emperor's Scepter or Nous.
But it didn't matter. Even if she didn't understand it, 'Cipher' was right here. 'Cipher' got along well with Screwllum, so her accumulated knowledge in this field was clearly not low.
To Ruan Mei's surprise, 'Cipher' shook her head helplessly. "I don't know either. But from what I've observed, that is the source of the power of Trickery."
"...?"
Ruan Mei was initially puzzled by how this digital entity had implemented the internal settings of Amphoreus. But soon, she realized something else.
The Titan of Trickery corresponds to the Path of Elation.
So, if this Titan of Trickery, built with Elation as a template, was effective inside Amphoreus, that was one thing.
But now, outside of Amphoreus, it had also achieved the effect of Trickery. At least from the lie just now, the effect of Trickery had successfully bypassed her detection.
If it could work in the real world... then it was essentially equivalent to using that unknown program to simulate the effects of the Path of Elation.
Seeing Ruan Mei's expression gradually shift, 'Cipher' knew they were on the same page.
"You've realized it too, haven't you? If the equation in this body is calculating 'Elation', then the value of this thing is... hard to estimate."
Hearing this, Ruan Mei gave her a nuanced look. Yeah, "hard to estimate" was an understatement. If Screwllum found out about this, he'd probably be dying of curiosity.
"Is there a way to copy a version of what's in your body?"
"I don't know. We might have to try using the Simulated Universe, and even then, there's no guarantee we'll find anything."
'Cipher' couldn't be certain that the incomprehensible thing she saw was exactly what they suspected. Ruan Mei nodded, then asked, "Are you still going over to the Xianzhou Fanghu?"
At this, 'Cipher' blinked. "Of course. The stuff in this body is an accident, and a half-baked person like me is no match for Screwllum."
Though she was curious, 'Cipher' didn't think she could handle everything on her own.
For instance, when it came to a problem like this, she only knew a bit because she was using the Hertatomb Character Card; it would be better to leave it to Screwllum and see what he thought.
'Cipher' could totally wait until after the trip to the Fanghu to come back and study this.
Besides, she wanted to see just how far this power of Trickery could go.
Going to the Fanghu was for researching Permanence anyway; she could use the power of Trickery to test its boundaries.
For example... if she made a Vidyadhara believe that she and Ruan Mei had solved their race's reproductive issues, would that Vidyadhara actually be able to conceive a child?
And if that child was born and the Character Card expired, would the child remain or vanish?
Of course, that latter experiment would definitely have to be done in secret—certainly not in front of the Vidyadhara.
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T/N: If you want advance chapters, you can find it at [email protected]/AspenTL