Chapter 199: Is This the Influence of the Great Qin?
After listening to Minamoto-no-Raikou explain his understanding of the Heian Capital, Noah sent him back.
He himself sat in the captain's cabin, organizing everything Minamoto-no-Raikou had just said.
"The Heian Capital... so that's what it's like..."
Noah sighed with some emotion. Mary, who had been listening from the beginning, now spoke up in his mind.
"If that's the case, then the Heavenly Fox's purpose is almost clear... First, burn people to death, then use their souls to create puppets. Usually, these puppets show no malice at all. But judging from how they erupt with immense malice once their normal operation is disrupted, it seems they aren't incapable of generating malice under normal circumstances—it's just that the malice is hidden away, or perhaps even extracted."
"Then the next question becomes: what does the Heavenly Fox, or perhaps the god behind her—'that god among the samurai'—need such vast amounts of malice for..."
Hearing Mary's analysis, Noah also began to ponder.
"However, if they really need to collect large amounts of malice, given their power, there should be more efficient methods. Yet for some reason, they chose this approach... both cruel and inefficient."
After becoming the Third Magician, Noah had gained a deeper understanding of souls.
The more he understood, the more he felt that this method—burning others' souls and using the refined souls to create puppets—was exceptionally cruel.
Moreover, if the goal was merely to collect malice, this method, though cruel, was not the most efficient.
And... with their power, there seemed to be no need to confine themselves to the Heian Capital. They could easily encompass all of Japan...
Mary could think of these points as well.
So, regarding these inconsistencies, Mary offered a conjecture.
"Noah, the Heian Capital was established many years ago. At that time, there was still a nation called Great Qin in their region—how powerful this nation became under the leadership of the First Emperor is beyond my imagination, given the differences in their paths."
"But from the fact that they could even drive away two Umbral Star Vanguards and chase them out of the solar system, it's clear that Great Qin's combat prowess must have been formidable."
"In that case, if we interpret the Heian Capital's seemingly covert and underhanded mode as the entity needing malice hiding from Great Qin's might, wouldn't that make more sense?"
Hiding from Great Qin's might...
This made Noah think of the Supernova he had seen in the simulation.
This Supernova had been weighing on Noah's mind ever since that simulation, and he had been thinking about how to deal with such an enemy.
But after hearing Mary's words, the burden in his heart lightened a little.
After all, if it really was as Mary analyzed—whether it was the Heavenly Fox or the Foreign God, both seemed to need to hide from Great Qin's might—then it appeared they weren't so easily capable of unleashing a Supernova.
So the accumulation of malice is preparation for the Supernova?
Thinking this, Noah let out a long sigh.
"Let's set these matters aside for now... Many issues cannot be judged based on a single account. Mary, first use your Clairvoyance to keep an eye on Japan for me. Although we cannot clearly see the Heian Capital, we can still observe whether the situation in Japan truly matches what Minamoto-no-Raikou described. We'll wait until we arrive to decide everything."
Hearing Noah say this, Mary responded.
"Understood."
As it turned out, whether it was Noah or Mary, one of them had particularly good luck in this matter.
Noah asked Mary to monitor the situation in Japan mainly to have her analyze the details of what Minamoto-no-Raikou had said, not expecting Mary to actually see something.
After all, following Noah's Alchemy revolution, their ship would take only about six months to travel from Rome to Japan.
Compared to other famous voyages that often took two or three years, their speed was even comparable to some merchant ships of the Age of Discovery that utilized special ocean currents.
Thus, Noah felt the time given to Mary to find any clues in present-day Japan was far too short.
However, after Mary observed Japan for about three months, she indeed saw something.
A significant number of Japanese people had suddenly disappeared!
This clearly aligned with Minamoto-no-Raikou's claim that the Heavenly Fox periodically drew large numbers of Japanese into the Heian Capital!
Moreover, after witnessing this, Mary also observed the discussions among the Japanese regarding this phenomenon.
It seemed that due to the increasing frequency of such incidents in recent years, the Japanese had even given this phenomenon a name.
They called it—Spirited Away!
After seeing these chaotic pieces of information, Mary reported the changes to Noah.
Although their fleet was carrying a large amount of materials needed to construct the Formula Core upon arrival in Japan, coupled with the fact that Little Kiara's guardian said it wasn't the right time yet, that they weren't prepared, and refused to disclose the Heian Capital's location, they planned to proceed gradually, also taking the opportunity to chart the seas—but if truly necessary, there were methods to directly reach their destination.
Therefore, Mary had to ensure she continuously updated Noah on the situation in Japan so he could make informed decisions.
Upon hearing Mary's report on the so-called 'Spirited Away,' Noah slightly furrowed his brow.
Seeing his expression, Mary analyzed the situation for him.
"While witnessing the specific manifestation of the Heian Capital drawing people in is certainly a discovery, through the method of 'Spirited Away,' we still cannot pinpoint the Heian Capital's location."
"So the enemy is in the shadows while we are exposed. Additionally, Noah, your presence is far too significant. If you go now and fail to accurately capture the enemy, you might alert them..."
Mary offered her suggestion, and it was only then that Noah snapped out of his thoughts, shaking his head immediately.
"I know, I won't act impulsively in such matters... I was just thinking, if it really is as you suspect, then these guys didn't dare to carry out large-scale Spirited Aways so brazenly while Great Qin was still around. Even though that place wasn't even regarded as worthy of attention by Great Qin or included within its territory, they still didn't dare. But after Great Qin left, they've truly grown bold."
"In that case, no matter what, we must make them see that even though Great Qin has left to pursue its enemies, we are still here on the star, aren't we?"