Chapter 2853: Chapter 2854: Beyond Common Sense

Sweet Dreams?

The Wise Sovereign was taken aback upon hearing the answer: Why Sweet Dreams again?

Previously, Angel was interested in Sweet Dreams, and now Adanis brings it up again... Could it be a coincidence?

No, definitely not.

Adanis had known about Sweet Dreams for a long time but never mentioned it. Now that Angel has arrived, she suddenly brings it up; there must be a connection between the two.

Two possibilities: Either Adanis somehow learned of Angel’s interest in Sweet Dreams and is trying to irk him by asking to borrow it first.

Or, Angel and Adanis are conspiring, and Adanis, following Angel’s suggestion, asked to borrow Sweet Dreams.

If it were before, the Wise Sovereign would most likely believe the first possibility, that Adanis wants to annoy Angel.

But now, knowing that Angel is still alive and hasn’t left the Qingkong Poetry Room, the Wise Sovereign had another guess: Perhaps Angel and Adanis reached some reconciliation? To compensate for the previous siege on Angel, Adanis accepted his suggestion to borrow Sweet Dreams?

This guess sounds somewhat outrageous. Would Adanis be someone willing to reconcile? It doesn’t seem like it.

However, perhaps due to inspiration, the Wise Sovereign inexplicably leaned towards this guess.

Moreover, if this guess holds, there might be deeper layers to uncover within.

The Wise Sovereign had previously discussed many things about Sweet Dreams with Angel and had promised to lend Sweet Dreams for him to read.

But there was one condition: Angel had to come out of the Qingkong Poetry Room alive and tell him about the current state inside the room and the events that took place there.

This requirement didn’t seem excessive at the time, and Angel readily agreed.

However, now, if Angel encouraged Adanis to borrow Sweet Dreams, it implies that he doesn’t plan to obtain it through the previous agreement, meaning he is unwilling to disclose the situation and events of the Qingkong Poetry Room.

And this is what the Wise Sovereign cares about.

What happened in the Qingkong Poetry Room that Angel doesn’t want to talk about?

Or is it that there are unexpected incidents inside the room that Angel can’t speak of, and thus has to resort to having Adanis borrow Sweet Dreams?

The reason for ’can’t’ is not limited to the importance of the matter but could also be due to some contract that Angel signed, barring him from discussing it, forcing him into this strategy.

For now, the Wise Sovereign can’t determine which it is.

"Sweet Dreams... if it were a day ago, I wouldn’t hesitate if Her Majesty the Goddess wanted to borrow it. But now, it may not be possible; I’ve already promised someone else to lend it to them," the Wise Sovereign said with a troubled expression.

Adanis: "Who did you promise?"

The Wise Sovereign looked at Adanis’s icy gaze and smiled faintly: "Does Her Majesty truly not know, or is she pretending not to know?"

Adanis snorted coldly, with a disdainful expression, saying nothing.

But in the Wise Sovereign’s eyes, he silently thought: Such thoughts are... too easy to guess.

If Adanis candidly admitted it was Angel and threatened the Wise Sovereign, then without a doubt, she was planning to borrow Sweet Dreams in advance to spite Angel.

But now, Adanis remained silent, which shows she indeed knows who the Wise Sovereign intends to lend Sweet Dreams to. Her feigned ignorance and lack of anger, just a cold demeanor, inadvertently exposed the truth.

She indeed conspired with Angel.

She was urged by Angel to come borrow Sweet Dreams from him.

This also indicates that the Wise Sovereign’s guess wasn’t wrong. The only unknown is whether significant changes occurred in the Qingkong Poetry Room preventing Angel from speaking out, or whether Angel and Adanis signed some contract forbidding him from leaking the situation in the room... or both?

Since Adanis wants to feign ignorance, perhaps he should break the stalemate.

"Whether Her Majesty knows or not, I can’t lend Sweet Dreams to her now. After all, I’ve already promised Angel to lend it to him."

When the Wise Sovereign mentioned Angel’s name, he noticed no change in Adanis’s eyes, which further proved that Adanis already knew Angel’s true name. Angel revealing his true name is, in fact, a sign of cooperation.

Just like before, when Angel and his group were still vigilant, they addressed each other as Black, Gold, Red.

Only when they agreed to cooperate did Angel reveal his true name.

Adanis: "You really won’t lend it?"

Wise Sovereign: "I don’t want to break my promise."

Adanis: "If I offer to return part of the Magical Energy Array’s authority as a gift to borrow Sweet Dreams, would you be willing to lend it?"

The Wise Sovereign was silent for a moment before saying, "No."

The condition Adanis proposed was indeed very tempting, but precisely because the condition was so enticing, it made the Wise Sovereign more unwilling to lend.

Based on what he knew about Adanis, she would never voluntarily return the authority of the Magical Energy Array.

She would love to fully control the underground aqueduct’s Magical Energy Array; how could she return the authority she had acquired?

If Adanis indeed conceded on the Magical Energy Array’s authority, it would only mean one thing: A major change really happened in the Qingkong Poetry Room.

Adanis likely gave up on the Qingkong Poetry Room and her hold on the underground aqueduct... This meant she intended to leave.

Only with the decision to leave would she consider surrendering the authority of the Magical Energy Array.

Another thing not to overlook is that she would never leave alone; her departure surely signals that Olao would leave as well.

This discovery astonished the Wise Sovereign greatly.

He had pinned high hopes on Angel, the "anomaly," hoping he could bring a spark of change to the stagnant Qingkong Poetry Room. However, in his mind, such change couldn’t happen overnight; even with a long period of accumulation, a qualitative change would require fermentation over some time.

He never expected Angel to immediately change the Qingkong Poetry Room, but now, the feeling Adanis gave him was that the room had already begun a drastic transformation!

The Wise Sovereign was somewhat bewildered. What exactly did Angel and his group do?

Most importantly, how did Angel and his group convince Olao to leave as well?

Given Adanis’s power, she could have left much earlier. Although Adanis never admitted this, through the words of You Nu and the one-eyed Daba and Erbao, the Wise Sovereign could basically reach this conclusion.

The only reason Adanis chose to stay was Olao.

Adanis was born after Augustine left, so Augustine’s contract did not bind Adanis; the only contract binding her was the one with the Qingkong Poetry Room.

However, Olao was different; he bore the contract of guarding the Qingkong Poetry Room and also the one set by Augustine.

Although the nature of the contracts was the same, their cumulative effect far exceeded that on Adanis.

Even at the peak of his power, the Wise Sovereign could not break these contracts.

Moreover, Olao was so tightly constrained by the contracts that even his room for progress was severely limited. He was even less likely to break free of them.

So, what’s the situation now?

Has Olao’s contract been broken? Is that why Adanis is willing to leave?

Or is Olao’s contract unbreakable, and Adanis plans to leave to find a way to free him? That seems unlikely; if Adanis really had such a determination, would she have stayed here for tens of thousands of years?

The Wise Sovereign leaned more toward the first scenario, that Olao’s contract was broken, and only then was Adanis willing to leave.

Also, because Olao’s contract is broken, Adanis’s attitude toward Angel has softened, and she is even willing to borrow the Sweet Dream for Angel?

Upon speculation, Angel’s role as a variable played a greater impact than he imagined, even finding a way to break Olao’s contract?

The Wise Sovereign had a multitude of thoughts swirling in his mind, yet his face showed no hint of surprise; he maintained his usual demeanor of "I won’t lend, I have to abide by the contract".

Considering the current situation caused by Angel, the Wise Sovereign could actually make it work for Angel by lending the Sweet Dream to Adanis first.

However, the Wise Sovereign was too curious about what Angel had done. Why and how could he break Olao’s contract?

More importantly, the Wise Sovereign was also testing the limits of Adanis and Angel.

If he insisted on not lending the Sweet Dream to Adanis, would Angel be forced to show up? Or would Adanis offer a larger benefit in exchange?

While the Wise Sovereign was pondering this, Adanis was already a bit annoyed: "I must borrow it, name your conditions now."

The Wise Sovereign pondered for a moment: "When you leave, will you take the You Nu with you?"

"None of your...," Adanis was about to reply when she suddenly realized something, her expression changed drastically: "I don’t know what you’re talking about."

After finishing her words, Adanis waited a long time without hearing a response. She lowered her head and through the mirror saw the Wise Sovereign staring at her with a profound look.

Adanis was all too familiar with that look. Every time the Wise Sovereign saw through someone’s intentions and they refused to admit it, he would stare at them with a "concern for the less fortunate" kind of kindly gaze.

Adanis had been on the receiving end of such a gaze from the Wise Sovereign before, but back then, she would just turn around and leave, too lazy to engage with the self-righteous Wise Sovereign.

But this time, she suppressed her urge to leave, took a deep breath, and said, "How did you know?"

The Wise Sovereign pouted and said nothing.

"Was it something I let slip?" Adanis cursed under her breath; she loathed those who spoke only a few words yet thought tens of thousands of miles ahead. If they were wrong that would be one thing, but the Wise Sovereign was never wrong.

"Since you’ve guessed part of the truth, you should know who sent me here." Adanis decided to let it all go and said frankly.

"So, it was Angel who sent you." The Wise Sovereign revealed a look of realization.

Adanis: "Don’t pretend; how could you not know?"

The Wise Sovereign chuckled, offering no explanation.

He indeed suspected Angel as the root of everything, but whether Angel requested Adanis to come or she came on her own after hearing that Angel promised the Wise Sovereign to relay the information to him, he still didn’t have a clear answer.

Because these were two different concepts.

If Adanis came knowing the situation herself, the Wise Sovereign could largely determine that Angel was bound by contracts and other forces, unable to relay information outside of the Qingkong Poetry Room.

Moreover, Angel was interested in the Sweet Dream, so Adanis came herself to borrow the item to compensate for Angel’s loss.

If Angel requested Adanis to come, it likely meant something happened in the Qingkong Poetry Room, something beyond Angel’s expectation and that he couldn’t share even without contract constraints.

It sounded similar, but there was a huge difference, especially in the process.

If Angel was bound by a contract and couldn’t speak, the changes in the Qingkong Poetry Room were unpredictable and could range from minor to significant.

However, if Angel wasn’t bound by a contract yet chose not to speak, the changes in the Qingkong Poetry Room were enormous, significant enough that Angel couldn’t mention them, or didn’t dare to.

Hence, Adanis’s candid revelation provided the Wise Sovereign with more of the truth.

The Wise Sovereign: "Now I really want to know, is Angel unable to come see me, or does he refuse to?"

Adanis sneered: "So, you think those are the only two options?"

The Wise Sovereign: "Are there other possibilities?"

Adanis: "Of course, he will come to see you. And soon... you will meet."

The Wise Sovereign was taken aback; if Angel was willing to see him, why did he have Adanis come to discuss the Sweet Dream?

While the Wise Sovereign was full of doubt, footsteps echoed from outside the hall.

The Wise Sovereign turned to look and saw Angel and the others, who, unbeknownst to him, had left the Qingkong Poetry Room and returned outside the hall.

Seeing the Wise Sovereign’s gaze, Angel even waved at him with a friendly smile, showing no hint of estrangement.

"When... when did you arrive?"

Before Angel and the others could answer, Adanis’s voice reached the Wise Sovereign’s ears: "When I came here, they had already left the Qingkong Poetry Room. What, didn’t the ’Wise’ Sovereign foresee this?"

Adanis, emphasizing the word ’wise,’ nearly let her sarcasm overflow from the mirror surface.

"What I disliked most in the past was encountering variables, for variables represent uncertainty, and uncertainty is the greatest enemy of order. But ten thousand years of calm has changed my view. Perhaps the Underground Aqueduct needs a variable to break this stagnant pond," the Wise Sovereign said. "So, Angel’s arrival may not be coincidental but rather an inevitability."

"As a variable, his actions and the accompanying influences, perhaps even he couldn’t predict. How could I?"

Having said that, the Wise Sovereign rose from the warm carpet and stepped toward Angel...

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