Chapter 3233: Chapter 3234: The Other Self

Through Hyper Perception, Angel can clearly sense the emotional changes of Bimon.

Emotions drive thoughts, and the flow of thoughts, even if not directly readable, can still determine Bimon’s basic condition through details.

Angel is very certain; Bimon is definitely not a stupid mouse.

However, to determine if Bimon’s intelligence reaches the level of Pifeifei, that is impossible.

However, from Zigua’s words, it can be inferred that Bimon is likely pretending that its brain has been burned out. Having this "disguise" mindset already indicates that Bimon must be hiding a secret.

Perhaps, this secret is its "intelligence"? Or as Luigi said... a reversion?

Just as Angel was observing Bimon, Bimon also used those small black bean-like eyes to secretly glance at Angel.

It always felt that this person’s gaze was very strange, as if... he could see through its thoughts.

Moreover, the energy on him was the most unique presence among the people in the room.

It carried a sense of mystery.

Bimon lowered its head, not daring to look further, as it always felt that if it continued to look, the other party might discover something.

However, what Bimon didn’t know was that although Angel wasn’t constantly staring at it with his eyes, the Hyper Perception was at full force, capturing all of its emotional changes.

Initially, Angel had little interest in Bimon, only considering it as a little hamster with secrets. But when he discovered that, when Bimon looked at him, its emotional changes were extremely intense, more fluctuating than when it saw other people, it instead sparked some interest in Angel.

"Are you afraid of me?"

As Bimon was lowering its head, contemplating the current situation, a voice suddenly sounded in its heart.

It was stunned for a second, subconsciously wanting to turn its head to observe around; but quickly, as if it thought of something, it forcibly restrained its movements, silently lowering its head without speaking.

None of Bimon’s series of changes were revealed, and the others didn’t notice its anomaly.

But its emotions couldn’t be hidden.

That moment of panic, and the emotions forcibly restrained, were all seen clearly by Angel.

Angel secretly shook his head gently, continuing to use spiritual power to communicate with it: "I know you understand... why don’t we have a good talk, why are you afraid of me?"

As Angel spoke, he also squatted down, bringing his face closer to the cage. In the eyes of Pixi and others, Angel seemed to be examining Bimon, but only Bimon itself knew how intimidating his approach was.

He... was threatening it.

Bimon still didn’t speak, silently murmuring in its heart: He is bluffing me... There is a spirit in the Ring Fort, he didn’t use energy, it’s impossible to detect an anomaly... He must be bluffing me.

Angel didn’t know what Bimon was thinking at the moment, but through emotional perception, he could roughly guess that Bimon seemed to be self-hypnotizing.

Forcibly calming the fluctuating emotions.

But the calmer it appears, the more the currents beneath the heart’s sea can be seen.

Angel continued to communicate: "Do you think I’m bluffing you?"

Bimon didn’t make a sound, even slowly lying back in its original small nest, seemingly ready to rest.

Luigi, seeing this, muttered, "This guy seems to have resigned to its fate."

After all, if the Invention Mouse truly had self-awareness, it should know the kind of predicament it’s in now.

Confined in a cage without seeing daylight, yet indifferent; not responding to the outside crowd; nor caring about being bought or sold—this is conceding to fate.

Bimon also heard Luigi’s voice, still lying motionlessly on the ground, but its heart was filled with grievance and indignation.

How could it not care about its situation, how could it resign to fate?

It’s just that it... currently has no power to resist.

Moreover, even if given the chance to leave, it would find a way to stay. It still has things to do, mice to meet...

So, it absolutely cannot let these people become interested in it; it won’t leave, at least not now.

Bimon lowered its head, curled up on its smooth tail, seemingly asleep.

Looking at the Bimon that was completely unresponsive to the outside world, Luigi murmured softly, "Has its brain really been burned out?"

Luigi turned to Angel: "What do you think of this Invention Mouse?"

The implication being whether this Invention Mouse really has a secret? Should we buy this Invention Mouse?

Angel pondered for a moment, then replied: "I’ll observe a bit more."

"Haven’t you observed enough?" Luigi had noticed earlier that Angel was communicating with Bimon using spiritual power, but there was no spiritual power fluctuation from Bimon’s side, evidently, it was just Angel one-sidedly enthusiastic.

Luigi didn’t know what Angel was still observing, but as a companion, he still trusted and said, "Then if you observe anything, do tell me."

Angel nodded, not paying further attention to Luigi, and continued to communicate with Bimon: "It seems you don’t want to leave?"

Bimon made no movement, burying its head without speaking.

"If you don’t speak, I’ll take it as consent." Angel continued: "Let me guess, why don’t you wish to leave?"

Bimon inwardly sneered, this human seems a bit overconfident? Confidence to the extreme is narcissism.

Does he think that just by talking, he can make it submit?

Bimon only found it laughable.

Angel: "You wish to prove yourself and thus don’t want to leave?"

Bimon: ...As expected, self-righteous.

Angel could feel the scorn in Bimon’s emotions, but he wasn’t offended, chuckling lightly, and continued: "Seems I guessed wrong. Indeed, having started hiding its talent, how could it care about such vanity?"

"Let me continue guessing."

"You wish to stay by the side of the Pi Luoxiu Clan to learn more knowledge?"

Bimon: Knowledge is indeed important to it, but the Pi Luoxiu Clan’s knowledge can’t solve its dilemma... However, there is a Mirror Dragon named Baba Ragon whose research might be slightly useful to it. But how could it possibly obtain Baba Ragon’s research?

Bimon felt a wave of emotion.

Angel still read Bimon’s emotions; although he couldn’t understand Bimon’s convoluted thoughts, he knew Bimon wasn’t staying for the knowledge.

"Regrettably, I seem to have guessed wrong again." Angel continued: "As a human, I find it hard to imagine the wishes of mice."

"The only thing I can think of is that mice have always been striving for food and survival. But I think you shouldn’t be striving for these instinctive goals, right?"

Bimon: Food? Survival? Only unwise mice would pursue physiological instincts. It’s not a mouse; it cares for higher spiritual pursuits.

Angel: "Since food and survival instinct aren’t your goals, I can only judge you based on human basic needs."

"My teacher once said that to find the ’true self’, you must recognize the ’self’ on the basis of the ’other self’."

"Simply put, this means learning more under the guidance of a mentor, ultimately seeing the world clearly."

"The self is the armament of knowledge."

"The other self is the gift of bonds."

"The true self is the interpretation of the unknown."

"Previously, I guessed about the ’self’, and the answer was negative. So only ’other self’ and ’true self’ remain, and the ’true self’ is an interpretation of all the unknowns, which is a difficult false proposition to resolve, or rather, not a conclusion that can be solved now."

"Then, the only possibility I can think of is: the other self."

Angel said a lot of confusing words. If it were Luigi, he would probably be dizzy by now. But Bimon inexplicably understood Angel’s meaning.

The more Bimon understood, the more terrifying Angel seemed.

Originally, he thought Angel was making arrogant guesses, but now, he seemed to be getting closer to the truth...

Angel: "The other self, simply understood, is the bond between people, between lives."

"You don’t want to leave because a bond exists?"

Bimon: "..."

Angel smiled; from Bimon’s suddenly changed mood, he confirmed that he hadn’t guessed wrong this time.

But, whose bond exists here?

For whom does Bimon not want to leave?

After pondering, Angel continued: "Are you concerned about the Pi Luoxiu Clan?"

This was the answer Angel deemed most unlikely, and indeed it was so. You could see from Bimon’s indifferent emotion that it didn’t hold much affection for Pi Luoxiu.

Angel: "Are you concerned about your kind?"

Bimon: "..."

Getting an "affirmative" answer, Angel continued: "Is it Pixi?"

Bimon turned away, continuing to pretend to sleep.

Angel frowned; he had little understanding of the Invention Mouse clan, having only heard of Pixi.

And now, with Bimon denying the Pixi answer, this left Angel hesitant.

If not Pixi, then it’s another mouse, though he was unfamiliar with the specifics of the Invention Mouse...

Originally, Angel intended to break through Bimon’s psychological defenses with a series of questions, but now it seemed he was stuck at the last step.

Angel remained silent for a long time, and Bimon instead breathed a sigh of relief, its tense muscles slowly relaxing, as if truly drifting into a deep sleep.

At this moment, in the Mind Ribbon, Luigi spoke, "It didn’t even reply once, and yet you can chat with it for so long?"

Angel was using spiritual power to communicate, not deliberately hiding it. So, Luigi could see Angel talking unilaterally.

Angel: "Sometimes, not answering is also an answer. Like now, if I ask you whether you admit your poetry is actually terrible?"

Luigi was taken aback: "???"

Why suddenly bring this upon himself? How is my poetry terrible? Obviously, the Tooth Fairy kids really like it!

Angel cast a glance at Luigi, saying blandly: "You admitted it."

Luigi: "I didn’t admit it!"

Angel: "You admitted it in your mind."

Luigi retorted without hesitation: "You don’t have Mind Reading Technique; you’re bluffing."

Angel didn’t continue arguing with Luigi but turned to look at Laplace.

Laplace quietly glanced at Luigi, then at Angel, and finally softly spoke: "I won’t get involved."

Though Laplace had guessed that Angel was using an ability similar to emotional perception to guess Luigi’s thoughts... knowing is one thing, she was unwilling to take sides between a close partner and an inseparable Temporal Body.

Angel shrugged, indifferent, continued: "Let’s skip this for now and talk about Bimon’s matter."

Angel didn’t conceal, he shared his one-sided conversation with Bimon and some of his conjectures.

Angel: "In short, right now I also don’t know whom Bimon’s bond is with."

Luigi, who was still pondering about the poetry, wondering where he had made a slip, was pulled back to the matter of the Invention Mouse after hearing Angel’s words.

"You mean Pierdan wasn’t wrong, Bimon didn’t burn out its brain, it’s just pretending to be clueless."

Angel nodded nonchalantly: "Regardless of whom its bond actually is with, just speaking of its wisdom, it’s certainly not as foolish as it presents."

"But whether it reaches Pixi’s level, it can’t be confirmed."

Luigi: "The disguise alone indicates it harbors a secret inside. So, you don’t need to break its psychological defenses, just buy it, and talk about other things after going back."

Angel: "..." I never said I wanted to buy.

He was merely curious, wanting to satisfy his curiosity. But to really consider purchasing, it would be a bit more.

"You don’t buy, I’ll buy. I’ll bring it back and make it write poetry for me every day!" Luigi’s eyes sparkled.

Angel silently looked at Luigi, then turned to look at Laplace.

Laplace hesitated for two seconds before calmly saying: "He admitted the poetry is poor."

Luigi turned around sharply: "I didn’t! I just want to see the inspiration of the Invention Mouse..."

Angel shrugged, didn’t reply to Luigi, but said instead: "To buy or not, we’ll discuss later. Let’s talk about Bimon’s bonds first. What do you think?"

Luigi responded irritably: "I only know Pixi, I don’t recognize any other Invention Mice. Didn’t Pierdan just bring a roster? Why don’t you open it up for Bimon to look? Maybe its treasured bond is in the roster... Wait, right!"

Halfway through speaking, Luigi suddenly thought of something: "There’s also that Invention Mouse with the atavistic appearance! Didn’t you just say there were secrets when we were at the parrot? That atavistic Invention Mouse has secrets, and so does this Bimon invention mouse, doesn’t that make them a pair?!"

Angel smiled faintly: "... somewhat sensible, however, let’s still hear what Laplace has to say."

Angel was reluctant to admit that he was deliberately disguised as a mystery man in front of Luigi; in reality, that atavistic Invention Mouse wasn’t abnormal at all.

Laplace hesitated for two seconds and said: "Its bond might not be with just one Invention Mouse."

"Not specifically referring to one Invention Mouse... I seem to understand." Laplace’s words gave Angel a hint of a possibility: perhaps, Bimon’s concern is not for itself but for the entire clan. It doesn’t want to leave because the whole Invention Mouse clan is controlled by Pi Luoxiu...

Its endurance and burden, perhaps just to liberate all the Invention Mice?

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