A... fragmented Rule.
Everyone gathered around, looking at the red-glowing light in Lucas Reeve's hand.
"This Rule isn't yours from the past, is it?"
Laurentina thought of this possibility and asked.
After all.
Everyone knew Lucas Reeve had amnesia, and had lost quite a lot of memories. Who knew what kind of romantic debts he'd racked up in the past without even knowing it.
"It's not."
Lucas Reeve shook his head. He could clearly sense that this Rule had no relationship or connection to him. And... this Rule was so weak... His past self couldn't have been *this* weak, right?
"Why don't you... try absorbing it?"
Nian was joking. Having been a god for so many years, she naturally knew that Rules are unique. A god can only have one. Even one as mighty as Sui only has one Rule. It's just that Sui's Rule is incredibly powerful, theoretically divisible into countless smaller rules, but overall, it's still just one.
Lucas Reeve already possessed a Rule.
How could he possibly absorb a second one...
Suddenly.
The system's voice, unheard for a long time, rang in Lucas Reeve's mind.
[Ownerless fragmented Rule detected. Can spend 100,000 Prayer Power to absorb and homogenize.]
"?"
There's such a good deal?
100,000 wishes would have been a lot for the old Lucas Reeve, but for the current him, it really wasn't much. He had over 500,000 Prayer Power on hand.
"Absorb."
The moment Lucas Reeve agreed.
A flash of golden light emerged from his body, enveloped the red energy in his hand, and then swallowed it directly into his body. This sudden development startled everyone.
Nian's eyes went wide.
"I was kidding!! You really ate it?!! Quick! Spit it out!!"
You can't just eat that stuff!
For a god, the most core part, aside from their divine power which differs from mortals, is their control over a 'Rule.' And Rules repel each other. Two Rules cannot coexist peacefully in one body. Just like one mountain cannot house two tigers, they will inevitably fight.
To the god's own Rule, this foreign Rule is like a virus or bacteria, and their own Rule is the immune system. It will immediately attack, trying to kill this 'virus.' In the process of killing it, the body will inevitably suffer severe damage. It's like when humans get sick; sometimes they don't die from the virus, but from their own immune system's response.
However.
Lucas Reeve felt no discomfort at all.
The moment the red energy sphere entered Lucas Reeve's body, it had already broken down into countless chains of Rules, like meridians connecting to his soul.
[Homogenization complete. Subsequent repair to full completion will require an additional 600,000 Prayer Power.]
Er...
Only 600,000...
Lucas Reeve paused.
This Rule...
It's so cheap.
But "cheap" just means this Rule really isn't that strong.
"You're okay?"
Seeing Lucas Reeve remain still for a while, but showing no signs of discomfort, Nian asked worriedly.
"Of course I'm fine."
Lucas Reeve waved his hand.
Crimson runic chains, representing that fragmented Rule, spread from Lucas Reeve's arm. Instantly, the original world changed again, turning back into the world they were just in.
Nian: "???"
"You!! You!! You absorbed it?!!"
Nian stared wide-eyed.
She couldn't remember the last time she'd been this agitated. Not even when she won an award at the Columbia Film Festival, or when she obliterated that old geezer's phantom, had she been this excited.
Ah, this...
Nian couldn't help but poke and prod Lucas Reeve's body.
"You're sure you're okay??"
"I'm fine."
Lucas Reeve shrugged.
"Look, I can already use this Rule's ability."
Lucas Reeve snapped his fingers, and the surroundings turned back into the real world. He snapped again, and it became the special world. Another snap, back to the real world.
Anyway.
From Nian and the others' perspective.
The lights on the distant buildings were flickering on and off.
"F***!! How is this so ridiculous?"
Nian finally lost her composure.
"This shouldn't be! It shouldn't! What kind of constitution do you have? Why... This isn't scientific!!"
Magallan, beside them, muttered, "Is it possible that... your very existence... isn't scientific?"
Magallan had no idea how awesome it was that Lucas Reeve absorbed that red thing. From her perspective, this entire group was pretty unscientific.
And hearing Nian say *Lucas Reeve* was unscientific...
It was like watching one cultivator say to another:
"Holy shit!
You can fly that fast! That's not scientific!!" ...and then flying away on their own sword.
In short...
It was very abstract.
Magallan, Angelina, and Miss Kirara stood in a row, watching silently from the side.
Their minds were already numb.
They didn't quite fit in with this group.
Like a bunch of slackers who had stumbled into a top-tier academic seminar.
The difference between people is greater than the difference between a person and a pig. I speak, a pig doesn't understand. You speak, I also don't understand.
Because the Rule was fragmented.
The only extended ability it manifested was this one.
It creates a special mirror world, and this special world can absorb various legends circulating in the real world, and then manifest the individuals from those legends.
This Rule means that...
...the more hyped-up an individual is in the real world, the stronger their manifestation in this special world. The more outlandish the legend, the more outlandish the manifestation. Of course, this ability isn't *just* "the more hype, the stronger." The upper limit of this strength is directly proportional to the power of the Rule's wielder.
For example.
If the wielder of this Rule isn't very strong.
Then the manifested legendary creature or person, no matter how hyped the legend is—even if they're hyped to be stronger than Sui—it's useless.
Furthermore, this "hype" isn't just mindless bragging; it has to be a kind of consensus that people have subconsciously formed.
Like the evil spirits encountered in that special world earlier.
The headless samurai, the faceless little girl, the umbrella monster, the skeleton monster, the long-neck monster... these are all well-known monsters from Higashi myths and legends. These legends have become a public consensus, so they can be manifested.
In short...
Er...
Lucas Reeve didn't feel this Rule was very useful.
Maybe because it's incomplete. For now, its only use is probably to deploy this "inner world" when a fight breaks out in the city, to avoid causing chaos in the real world.
Still.
A freebie Rule is better than no Rule.
I didn't expect that having Magallan around, besides running into crises, could also change my luck and let me find good stuff. That's rare.
Kirara's experience tonight was quite exciting. She saw the deepest secrets of this world. Lucas Reeve and the others weren't afraid of her spilling the beans. After all, she had no proof. No matter how vividly she described it, no one would believe her. At best, they'd treat her as a netizen telling tall tales, a first-person fictional story, or just clickbait.
Kirara lived in a cheap apartment.
The group was kind enough to escort the young woman back to her apartment before leaving. Lucas Reeve didn't say much, but in his Causality Vision, the causal threads on Kirara were similar to Tsukimiyo's. They would meet again one day, and that day might not be far off—perhaps a month, perhaps half a year.
It was already 1:30 AM when the group returned to the Jinja.
Lisa wasn't asleep. She quickly asked Lucas what he was doing out so late.
Laurentina gave a very vivid account of the night's events.
Basically.
They went to a Host club, ran into a narcissistic host who seemed to fall in love with Lucas. Then Surtr and Laurentina got jealous and started fighting. The shockwave wrecked the club, and they had to bother Jessica to get the Raythean Industries branch manager to bring compensation money. As they were leaving, the host chased after them, launching a love offense at Lucas, begging for his contact info, but Lucas just acted all *tsundere*, said some riddles, and left.
Then they went to a maid cafe and walked around the mall.
On the way back, they inexplicably entered a special "inner world." Inside this world, there were big-headed dolls, a headless tetanus samurai, a long-necked monster with spinal problems, a faceless little girl... They also met a girl named Kirara. After getting out of the inner world, they took Kirara home, and then came back.
After listening to this highly embellished story...
Big question marks appeared over Lisa's head.
"????"
The city you guys were in... is it the same place I'm in?
And!!
Why would a host fall in love with Brother Lucas!!
And...
The host likes Brother Lucas, and you got jealous... shouldn't you have beaten up the host? Why did you fight each other?
And...
What's a headless tetanus samurai? And a faceless little girl?
Lisa didn't understand, but she was deeply shaken.
Another week passed.
Lisa prepared to return to Siracusa.
Lisa's father was reluctant, but there was nothing he could do. Although he wanted Lisa to live the life of an ordinary child, it seemed that ever since he sent her to Siracusa, that life had drifted further and further away. Now, it had completely deviated from the word "ordinary."
After a reluctant farewell to her father.
The group boarded [Stardust] and left Higashi, ending their week-long trip.
Magallan successfully met the god who saved her.
Good news: Magallan's original wish came true. She really did get Lucas Reeve and the others to meet the god who saved her, and also made them believe that gods exist in this world. Her judgment wasn't wrong.
Bad news: They are all gods.
Conclusion: After this whole trip, *she* became the clown.
After returning to Columbia with the group, Lucas Reeve immediately went back to Rhodes Island.
This past week, he had symbolically gone out once a day using the Doctor's body, just to show he was alive. The rest of the time, the body stayed in the room. Amiya and Kal'tsit thought Lucas was holed up in his room studying, cramming to recover his lost knowledge. In reality...
The Doctor's body was lying in the room sleeping, while Lucas Reeve's soul was happily playing in Higashi.
The 'Doctor's' body had an advantage, and a disadvantage.
The advantage was having a body, which was better than being a soul.
The disadvantage... it needed to eat, and it needed to use the toilet...
When Lucas Reeve's soul wasn't in the 'Doctor's' body, the 'Doctor's' body was basically no different from a vegetable. Its physiological functions remained normal, but it would get hungry and need to use the toilet, which was very annoying.
At the very beginning.
Lucas Reeve wasn't used to having a body yet.
He forgot the 'Doctor's' body also needed to eat.
He didn't return to that body for a full two days.
When he suddenly remembered and went back...
He was so hungry he couldn't even walk.
So, Lucas Reeve now had to return to Rhodes Island every single day, without fail, to use the Doctor's body to grab a meal.
"Doctor!!"
As Lucas Reeve walked out of the room, Amiya's happy voice came from behind.
Amiya trotted over happily and took Lucas's hand.
"Doctor, you've been in your room for a week. Were you studying?"
"Er... yes."
Lucas Reeve nodded guiltily.
"Oh, right, Doctor!!"
"It's almost summer, right? Dr. Kal'tsit is planning to give everyone a vacation. We all discussed it and decided to go to the beach together!!"
"The beach?!!!"
Lucas Reeve jumped, his mind flashing to Iberia and those disgusting Seaborn.
"Are you sure, the beach?"
"Mhm!! Siesta!"
"?"