MIGHT AS WELL BE OP

Chapter 990: ???’s Thoughts-1

In a boundless void, where no life stirred and where no being, aside from the one who stood beyond the very boundaries of existence, had ever dwelled, there existed a strange, quiet gathering.

Two figures could be seen sitting together, gazing out into the infinite, shapeless nothingness as though their eyes sought something yet found absolutely nothing at all. The first among them was shaped like a man, yet wholly alien in essence. His form resembled that of a living black hole, a humanoid silhouette composed of perfect darkness, devouring even the faintest trace of light and substance that dared to approach him.

Every contour of his being radiated the same absolute blackness, so complete and unyielding that it felt almost like an offense to existence itself. He was the embodiment of absence, a void that had chosen to wear the vague outline of a human form.

To his right sat another being, one who could have passed for human at first glance, were it not for the overwhelming aura of authority and transcendence that clung to him like a second skin. His hair was pure gold, flowing and radiant, resting upon his head like an eternal crown forged from creation itself. His eyes shone gold as well, but not with warmth or kindness. Instead, they gleamed with an intensity so sharp and oppressive that it seemed as though a mere blink from him could slice through the multiverse, rending apart creation and concept alike.

They were ??? and Romulus.

At this moment, both of them sat in absolute silence, but silence alone could not adequately describe what they were experiencing. Speechlessness was too shallow a word for beings of their caliber. In fact, to even begin questioning it, could anything in existence truly surprise these two?

They had been here before anyone else, before any form of existence, before the First Universe had even stirred into being. They had witnessed the birth and collapse of realities as casually as one might observe the passing of seasons. Surprise was a concept long buried beneath infinite familiarity. Even Anthony himself had not surprised ??? nor Romulus since his reincarnation.

Yet a being had managed to shock them profoundly. That being was Lucian Darkheart, and the source of their shock was the ability he had used; LORDTEE’S Personification.

”Are you certain you were the one who granted him that ability?” Romulus could not help but ask, his golden eyes narrowing ever so slightly.

??? remained silent for a long moment, as though even he struggled to reconcile what he had just witnessed. ”If it was not me, then who else?” he finally replied, his voice calm yet threaded with an unfamiliar undertone. ”I simply chose not to examine Lucian’s and Aaaninja’s abilities in detail, in order to keep things interesting. Being all knowing can be quite the burden, after all.”

Under normal circumstances, they would not have been shocked. At most, they would have been mildly amused by the powers Anthony and his companions wielded. To ???, it was all merely entertainment, a grand narrative crafted for his amusement. He had reincarnated Anthony out of sheer boredom and an overabundance of eternity stretching endlessly before him.

What unsettled them now was not the spectacle of power itself, but its origin. They had sensed that the ability Lucian activated had come from an entirely different place, a realm or source that neither ??? nor Romulus could perceive. That alone was an impossibility. ??? predated existence itself; even if all creation were to collapse into absolute nothingness, he would remain untouched, standing outside every law, every structure, every conceivable framework of reality.

Yet to his absolute astonishment, he who stood beyond all laws, beyond creation and existence, had witnessed something he could not trace, could not define, and could not claim dominion over.

’Fourth Wall Breaking: LORDTEE’S Personification,’ ??? thought silently as he replayed the name of the ability Lucian had declared aloud when he used it. That single phrase had provided both ??? and Romulus with a clue, the Fourth Wall.

Lucian was not the first to brush against that so called fourth wall. To ???, Anthony had occasionally spoken about it, often mentioning a being called the Author who supposedly orchestrated everything behind the scenes. Each time, ??? had dismissed those ramblings as nonsense, firmly insisting that no higher power existed beyond himself.

But for the first time since before the dawn of existence, ??? felt doubt. A faint flicker, barely perceptible yet undeniably present, stirred within his infinite mindscape. Perhaps he had been wrong. Yet simultaneously, he could still be correct. Perhaps there was no higher plane of authority, and the Fourth Wall Lucian claimed to have broken was merely another variation of his own ability, misunderstood and mislabeled.

Then a thought occurred to him, one that deepened the mystery rather than resolving it.

Aaaninja had used the River Of Time Personification, and the River Of Time unquestionably existed. Aaaninja had been able to generate and wield that ability from his very soul because he possessed knowledge of the River Of Time and maintained a deep, intrinsic connection with it.

By that logic, shouldn’t Lucian Darkheart possess some awareness of this LORDTEE if he had been capable of personifying such a being?

As though Romulus had read ???’s thoughts, he waved his hand casually, and centuries of Lucian’s life unfolded before them like an open manuscript. His entire existence appeared in flawless clarity, his current life, his previous life before reincarnation, even the moment of his rebirth. His system itself was laid bare before their perception, stripped of secrecy.

Yet neither ??? nor Romulus expressed surprise at these revelations. Reincarnation was not rare; it was a naturally occurring phenomenon throughout the Multiverse. Even the system was not unprecedented, merely a specialized treasure granted form and function.

However, after combing through every fragment of Lucian’s memories from both lifetimes, they found nothing.

No trace of LORDTEE.

No whispered knowledge.

No forgotten encounter.

There was nothing within Lucian’s consciousness that hinted at the existence of such a being. It was as though LORDTEE had erased himself entirely from Lucian’s awareness, or perhaps had never existed within it to begin with.

And yet, paradoxically, ??? himself could do the same. If anyone were to sift through Anthony’s memories, they would find no trace of ??? either. That was merely a passive state of his transcendence, an automatic concealment born from standing beyond conceptual boundaries.

’Who is this LORDTEE?’ both ??? and Romulus could not help but ask themselves, their thoughts converging upon the same singular question.

Their minds returned to the precise moment Lucian had activated the ability, the golden beam that had descended upon him before vanishing into nothingness. They had been unable to track its origin or destination. The mysterious book that had manifested before Lucian had likewise eluded their perception; they had not seen its cover, nor had they perceived what Lucian wrote within its pages. To them, it had appeared blank, void of information, as though an unseen force had deliberately restricted their vision.

For beings who stood beyond omniscience within existence, being obstructed, even momentarily, was not merely unusual. It was unprecedented.