Chapter 261: Planting Evidence

Bah, Noe! God that felt horrible!

“This is why I told you that you shouldn’t try to transfer information between your proxy bodies. You have just experienced all of the sensations and experiences that your avatar has in the fraction of a second. It would take some getting used to.”

I shuddered again. Horribly unpleasant. How do the other gods do this so easily?

“A lot of practice, of course,” Noe answered with a snicker, “And most gods do not choose to transfer all of the information at once like you did. It’s generally a more gradual process.”

And I couldn’t do the gradual process there?

“You do not have the time needed at the moment, my Host,” Noe replied, “And speaking of time, I think you should work on planting those clues right about now. Ashwin is making his way toward where his sister’s body was first found, and rather quickly at that.”

Crap! I’ll send some cultists to slow him down.  

“I have already done that, my Host. No need to thank me.”

Well, thanks anyway. How much time do you suppose we bought?

“We’ll have enough time. The cultists will slow him down by at least half an hour, but even without them, we have enough time as long as there are Luck Charges to work with. Now enough chit-chat and please get to work, dear Walter.” 

Right, right. Try your best to obstruct any prying eyes from us. I bet there’ll be a lot of wandering eyes on Ashwin. 

“Not a problem. You are well within your rights to supervise the Anomaly Ashwin, especially when he is making a seemingly random move that does not benefit the Trials. You will be acting in your official capacity, and Xalla has already started to act so that you will not be disturbed in your task. You are free to act, my Host.”

Ah, it’s good to have friends in high places. 

I shook my head and forced any other distracting thoughts out of my mind. I focused my attention back on the ruined battleground where I first inhabited Aisha’s body… and uh… huh, I didn’t think this far. 

“You must be joking, dear Walter…”

I ignored her. Okay, okay, no worries, Walter. We still have a few hours to work with. Now, how do I implicate Ryan without making things incredibly obvious? 

“Would you like some assistance?”

Nope, not this time, Noe. This intoxicated neanderthal brain needs a workout every now and then. I can’t rely on you for everything, best System of mine. 

“If you say so, Walter.”

Anyway, let’s review what I do know about Ryan. He’s some kind of weird temporal anomaly, and uh… he’s the leader of a rival city-state sponsored by the Overseer. Yeah… I knew almost nothing about Ryan. 

Ah, fuck it, screw any subtly. 

I still had some scraps of clothing from when I lobotomized those minions (don’t ask me why I kept them, Awake-Walter must just stuffed some of those stained garbage into the inventory out of habit), and while the uniform they wore was slightly different than the ones that I saw Ryan’s new goons wore, it was close enough. I’m pretty sure that with Ashwin’s resources, he’d be able to trace the origins of the scraps. 

I just scattered a few pieces of the torn clothing into the rubble. They were pretty well hidden, what with it being a small piece of cloth hidden within a ruined building, but a few Luck Charges can easily fix that problem. I was about to call it a day when I thought of something else. There was one other piece of information that I knew about Ryan, and that was from my prior conversation with Claire. Hadn’t she said that Ryan was, at least in part, responsible for the curse that infected her brother? Although she didn’t have concrete proof, it did sound like something that bastard would do. 

Either way, it wouldn’t hurt to assume that he was involved. It wasn’t like there was anything to lose if my assumption was wrong. I spoke to Q quickly over a brief mental channel, and he was able to get me a charm that contained traces of the same curse that had infected Claire’s brother. Heck, it appeared directly in my inventory, directly bypassing any sneaky eyes on the lookout for trouble, how considerate of him. I placed that beside where Aisha’s body had been, and if he recognized the curse, then I’d react accordingly. I’m sure that Noe could simulate the symptoms easily enough with her Perception Shard. 

Once I was satisfied with my work, I retreated and waited for Ashwin to make his way over. Half an hour later and a very angry-looking Anomaly rushed his way to the demolished site and started to conduct his investigation. I’ll give it to him, he was very thorough. I didn’t need Noe’s intervention at all for him to find the small clues that I left. I wasn’t even sure how he found this place in the first place, but I suppose doing things that defied conventional logic was a part of an Anomaly’s job. 

However, there was a glaring problem when I saw him investigate. I didn’t know what the hell he was thinking. Unlike in movies or books, I didn’t have the privilege of knowing how our main character here thought, which left me with a problem: was he actually following the clues that I set out? The man was clearly lost in thought, but damn would it be nice if I could read minds. 

“Unfortunately, that is not an ability that you possess, my Host, even with your elevated divine status,” Noe said, “although you can perhaps do so with your crazed cultists, if you wish.”

Yeah, no thanks on that part. 

“But you should trust in Ashwin’s abilities,” Noe continued, “It does not take a genius to realize that Ryan is hiding things, and while those secrets may not necessarily have to do with Ashwin’s sister, they will most certainly be things that will undermine his authority here. The seeds of discourse will be sewn no matter what happens, dear Walter, so long as there is reasonable doubt in Ashwin’s mind. Wait until your pawn uncovers something first, then plan accordingly.” 

Just gotta trust the process. Yeah, we’ll need more info before we act. 

“Exactly. This part of the work is done, for now,” Noe assured. “Let Ashwin conduct his investigations. However, there are other matters that need your attention.”

What do you mean? I don’t think Aisha’s body needs moving right about now. She’ll be chilling for a bit until Ashwin’s return. Then I thought of something. Oh, I guess I should have her act as if she’s cursed, or at least show some slight symptoms. You know, just in case Claire’s right and Ryan is somehow linked to her brother’s illness. 

“A prudent idea; I’ll relay that information to your proxy body, my Host,” Noe answered, “But that is not what I am talking about.”

What else is there to do?

“Ryan has started to act,” she stated, “He has mobilized his forces to investigate the underground realm, and he will clash with our Regressor before long.”

Fuck, I almost forgot. How’s Jae-Hyun and Claire doing so far?

“They have finished their preparations and will head out to the secret realm when it opens. And before you ask, the entrance is set to appear in 12 hours.”

Do you know where the entrance is gonna pop up?

“According to Q, it is right at the heart of Ryan’s headquarters,” Noe answered matter-of-factly, “I think it goes without saying that the location is heavily fortified and guarded 24/7. Do not expect he same kind of security as the ones that Vadeem sent over for your little play.”

And Jae-Hyun’s planning to infiltrate that all by himself…?

“Claire is there as well, my Host.”

Same difference! Last I checked, Claire’s still getting used to her powers, and stealth’s not exactly Jae-Hyun’s strong suit. Does he even know that Ryan’s in Toronto? I bet the Overseer’s new goon wasn’t in the original world that Jae-Hyun came from.

“It was not, and Jae-Hyun has realized that things have changed. He has spent the last few days scouting the area, and while he and Claire have done an admirable job, they do not know the real dangers involved with Ryan.”

He doesn’t know that those two Anomalies, eh?

“Correct, although we can assume that one of those Anomalies will not pose a problem. With Ashwin busy dealing with his sister and conducting his investigations, we can safely ignore him, at least for now.”

Which just leaves Ryan… 

“While it is safe to say that Jae-Hyun can overcome most adversities, even I do not believe that he is equipped to face Ryan in the heart of his domain.”

Which means we gotta help him out. Think I can manage another Avatar?

“You can create any number of them that you wish, my Host, so long as you do not try to link all of the individual minds together at once. You are not ready for that kind of experience.”

I winced at the thought of just experiencing one clone’s experiences all at once. Yeah, more than that’ll fry my brain. 

Noe continued. “It is best to act now while Xalla can still cover for you. Any additional avatars will cause small disruptions in the dimension that will surely be noticed before long.”

All right, do we have a body we can use close by?

“That won’t be necessary this time,” Noe answered, “With Xalla and Xaz pulling interference, you can directly manifest a body.”

And Jae-Hyun’s not going to notice?

“You are a literal god, Walter. He will not notice this far into the Ascension process.”

I sighed. Yeah, I keep forgetting. I sure as heck don’t feel like one.

“You are interacting with multidimensional monstrosities on a daily basis, my Host, and your girlfriend can destroy dimensions on a whim. It is just a matter of perspectives.”

Fair enough.

“Now, please get ready to separate your mind, dear Walter. Xalla can’t hide you for much longer now that Ashwin has left.”

I’m assuming that we’ll let luck dictate what form we take?

I could feel Noe’s grin. “You know it. Initiating the creation of a new Avatar now.”

And just like that, I felt another section of my mind disperse from my main consciousness, but this time I knew better than to try to focus on that new subconscious. I immediately cut off my connection with the new mind so that I wouldn’t fry my brain, and watched in awe as Noe made a new body for me from scratch. Motes of light condensed and solidified in an empty, half-demolished washroom not too far from where Ashwin was conducting his investigations, and before long, those particles of divine energy congealed into a physical form. 

That was when my Luck Charges - still full since Ashwin didn’t need any help with finding the pieces of clothing - dropped by a whopping 1400. That was the biggest dip I’ve ever experienced, although I suppose making the ideal body to interact with Jae-Hyun would take some insane amount of luck. 

Hold on… why did I use so many charges? 

Jae-Hyun and Yoona both said that they didn’t have any family in the outside world, so the kin route was out of the question. If it wasn’t family, then what kind of connection could this new body have with our elusive Jae-Hyun? Clearly the Absolute Luck Skill considers this body to be highly, highly improbable of showing up naturally, and this person being here will lead to the best possible outcome for me. That means that it had to have a connection with Jae-Hyun… or maybe it was someone Claire knew? No, with this kind of expenditure, it was bound to be related to our anomalous Regressor.

“Blind speculation will get you nowhere, my Host. You will find out in due time.”