Good thing he hadn't rushed into acknowledging her as family on impulse just now — otherwise, what awaited him definitely wouldn't have been some heartwarming father-daughter reunion. More like "father declines, daughter laughs."
Vincent said, flat, "Unfortunately, it looks like I can't help answer what you're looking for."
Luna finally lowered her eyes, though her expression showed no real disappointment or sorrow — just quiet acceptance. "I understand. Thank you, Honored Lord of Chaos."
After a moment's silence, Vincent said, "Though, wouldn't it be simpler and more direct to just ask Amenisis about this yourself?"
"She won't tell me. She says she doesn't know either."
"Is that so?"
This has the feel of a couple who split badly, with the daughter siding with the Goddess of the Evernight, banned ever since from asking about Dad.
Vincent rested his chin on a hand, thinking it over for a long moment, then finally offered a suggestion:
"I can think of two other people who might know something. One is the True Creator. The other is the Earth Mother Goddess. Try asking them, if you get the chance."
He suggested the True Creator because his future self had apparently served as the Ancient Sun God's "Angel of Time" back in the past — and with the Ancient Sun God's all-knowing, all-seeing Authority, it likely knew plenty of things.
As for the Earth Mother Goddess, Lilith — she was the Goddess of the Evernight's own "best friend," her most secretive ally, someone from that same era, who might well know something too.
Luna said nothing.
"And of course — since this is connected to the Child of Chaos anyway, if I happen to find out anything, I can pass it along to you."
"What would I owe you for that?"
"Simple. I'll grant you the Broker's ability. All you'd need to do is keep an eye out for opportunities to help me broker deals or arrange cooperation between others."
This time, Vincent didn't have her sign a contract — his contract-binding ability came from his own advancement to Sequence 8, Shadow Trader, and its binding power scaled with his own Sequence. It would be useless against an Angel.
Asking her to sign one would only expose how weak he really was underneath it all.
"All right."
She agreed almost without hesitation, nodding.
Vincent raised a hand, channeling the Sequence 9 Broker's "position" through the hub formed by the scale, granting it to her — and just like that, without ceremony, his own big daughter became his unpaid intern.
Just as Vincent was about to sever the connection with her, the golden mist around the scale suddenly began pulsing, agitated, straining desperately to communicate a single craving toward him: I want that thing!
His first thought was — does this golden mist actually have some kind of consciousness?
Then it clicked — it wasn't that the golden mist itself was conscious. It was some craving of his own, resonating with the Nation of Disorder, expressing itself through the mist.
Vincent focused, and quickly identified "that thing": the ornate jewelry box sitting beside his "daughter."
He rubbed his fingers together, hesitating for a moment, then asked, "What's that box next to you?"
Luna blinked, then picked up the "Box of Old Days." "This is a sealed item. Originally belonged to the Abraham family. Called the Box of Old Days."
That thing again!
Wasn't it supposed to be in the Sage of Secrets's hands? How had it ended up... oh — probably the Goddess of the Evernight had grabbed it after disrupting the descent ritual in the underground hall, then handed it off to her daughter?
Or had it actually been his big daughter who'd disrupted the ritual in the first place?
That Sage of Secrets might not be doing so hot right now.
Vincent grumbled to himself internally, then turned his attention back to the "Box of Old Days," recalling what he knew about it.
If I remember right, this thing was born from some kind of corruption originating beyond the Starry Sky. That kind of corruption can one-shot a demigod, and even Angels — even gods — treat it with real caution.
Weird. Why would I feel this kind of "craving" toward it, then?
Luna asked, "Are you interested in it?"
Vincent smiled faintly. "Not particularly in the item itself. I'm a bit curious about the corruption on its third layer, though. If you ever learn anything more about it, feel free to let me know."
This was, after all, a Sequence 0 sealed item — Vincent had nowhere near the nerve to just ask her to "lend" it to him for a look, so he'd rephrased it instead.
Though, down the line, he figured he could probably leak a bit of "Vincent" intel to her as a bargaining chip — selling out himself to himself was perfectly reasonable, right?
"All right."
"Well then — give my regards to Amenisis."
As the connection between them severed, the golden mist that had spread out around them rapidly drew back into the scale, thinning and vanishing.
Clunk.
A massive chunk of gray crystal materialized out of nowhere, dropping onto the scale's left pan, sending the pan — previously tilted high upward — dropping down until it leveled with the right.
"???"
Vincent froze completely. It actually gave me gray crystal?
That shouldn't be right.
Sure, Vincent had been planning to use his big daughter to help "pad his account," but not like this, not right now.
Because it had been Vincent himself who'd told his daughter Lord of Chaos's honorific and "brokered" the deal between the two of them — by rights, that method shouldn't have generated any gray crystal at all.
Was it because I was inside Bernadette's spirituality-controlled state at the time, and got counted as her instead?
Could it really be that arbitrary?
Vincent rubbed his chin, thinking hard for a good while, but couldn't come up with any better explanation.
Whatever. Either way, it was a good thing overall.
"Well, that means I could advance to Sequence 4 right now."
Instinctively, Vincent reached toward the gray crystal — but stopped himself halfway. Hmm, am I being a little too hasty here? I've already been through the wringer half the day — brushed death multiple times, drained my spirituality dry. Better to rest properly, and advance tomorrow at full strength.
At the thought, Vincent was about to return to reality — but a sudden burst of heat interrupted him. He turned and saw it: the zanpakutō, its blade shattered, only the hilt remaining. Ryūjin Jakka.
The hilt, which should have stayed a dull black, was now wreathed in a faint, flickering flame, pulsing steadily, like a beating heart.
He'd almost forgotten about it.
Vincent reached a hand through the flame and gripped the hilt, a faint burning sensation blooming across his palm.
This zanpakutō, from the world of Bleach, seemed to be communicating a craving of its own — an urgent hunger for gray crystal.
It could use gray crystal to complete its repair faster.
And once fully repaired, it could unleash that terrifying flame again — one capable of making even a Sequence 1 flinch — and if it could absorb an excessive amount of gray crystal, it might even threaten a Sequence 0.
This clearly wasn't just some straightforward zanpakutō pulled from Bleach. Vincent couldn't say for certain whether the original Ryūjin Jakka was stronger than a Sequence 1 — but he was fairly confident it shouldn't rival a true god in raw power.
The problem was, this blade — famed as the "strongest attack" in its own story — was telling him, quite clearly, that it really did come from the world of Bleach.
Vincent stared at it, lost in thought. What exactly is going on here?
The Nation of Disorder was the Lord of Mysteries world's own Source Quality — part of this world. So why would using "Black Box" here pull items from other worlds entirely?
If all of this really was his future self's doing — how had "he" even managed something like that?
This time, Black Box had given him Ryūjin Jakka. What about next time — would he really pull something from yet another world?
"!!!"
Vincent's pupils contracted, and his gaze snapped to the pile of useless junk he'd tossed aside from earlier Black Box attempts: a gun, a knife, an article of clothing, ramen noodles, a pair of shoes...
Maybe — just maybe — those things had all come from other worlds too, all along.
To be continued…
Guys, do support me on Patreon; It helps me a lot!
Advance 100 Chapters are up on my Patreon!
pat reon.com/AlphaSenatus