nagpurpolice Chapter 314, Section 313: The Raven That Almost Became Soup
Chapter 314, Section 313: The Raven That Almost Became Soup
Chapter 314, Section 313: The Raven That Almost Became Soup
The stone house was filled with the strange aroma of roasted phoenix eggs.
A strange yet warm aura filled the air. A white flame burned in the stove, its leaping flames radiating a mysterious energy that seemed to exist between magic and technology.
An oddly shaped egg was being slowly roasted over a flame, its shell surface shimmering with flowing runes and occasionally trembling slightly, as if responding to the heat of the flames. The entire room was enveloped in a faint aroma, neither like the scent of ordinary food nor quite like the feeling of incubation.
It smells really good.
Ian smelled a fragrance that made him want to swallow his saliva.
He would glance at the fireplace every now and then; the eggshells inside were cracked with fine lines, and the flowing egg liquid shimmered like molten gold.
The atmosphere was somewhat quiet, but the noise from the female Titan pressing the button was loud. Ian stared at the flickering flames in the fireplace, the firelight casting swaying shadows on his face.
"This is... my exclusive recipe, roasted phoenix eggs. Everyone who's tried it raves about it," the female Titan said softly as she continued operating her game console.
"It is said that those who eat it will dream of the future."
Her words made Ian frown.
"What do you mean by 'it is said'?"
Ian was quite surprised. He felt that if it was the female Titan's exclusive recipe for roasting phoenix eggs, then the female Titan should have known about the effects long ago. Why would she use such uncertain words?
Just as Ian was confused.
The female Titan had somehow altered the terrain of the island again, and a huge rumbling sound came from outside, accompanied by the chaotic running of Pokémon and Digimon.
"Because I am a prophet, I can see the future whenever I want, so of course I don't need to eat phoenix eggs anymore, and I can't tell whether eating phoenix eggs has this effect or not."
"Anyway, I've set it up. Shit Mountain code is still code." The female Titan explained to Ian, and her way of speaking did indeed seem similar to that of a transmigrator.
This response reminded Ian of a boat-driving game he had played before his time travel, a game where there were two different identities: werewolves and villagers.
Because werewolves have eaten human flesh before, they cannot distinguish between human flesh and lean meat—this is roughly the case with the female Titan. The prophet does not know whether the prophet's medicinal diet is effective or not.
Well, how should I put it?
If this female Titan wasn't a time traveler, she was at least someone who had a lot of contact with time travelers—thinking about this, Ian was starting to believe that she really did know him.
of course.
That is, assuming he was actually a raven.
"I really want to know the answer."
Ian suddenly spoke.
The sound was exceptionally clear in the quiet room.
He didn't specify what answer he wanted, but Tank Lyle didn't need to ask either. Her fingers moved rapidly across the game console as she answered without looking up.
No, you don't want to.
The female Titan's tone was firm.
The pixelated world on the screen constantly changes as she operates it.
Ian frowned: "What did you say?"
"I said, you don't want to know." She repeated herself, her tone as calm as if stating a fact, a response on Ian's behalf that left one speechless.
"..."
Ian paused for a few seconds, then emphasized, "No, I want to know. I really do."
"You don't want to."
Claire shifted her posture, her long, silvery-white hair cascading down her shoulders, obscuring half her face. She still didn't glance at Ian, as if the issue was no longer worth discussing.
Ian took a deep breath.
"Don't I know whether I want to or not?"
His tone carried a hint of helplessness, feeling that the other party was really being unreasonable. The other party was just a prophet, not a mind reader, and even if a mind reader could read his mind, they couldn't.
"I have a reason for saying this, I'm not just messing around with you. I'm already quite old, not at the age to be fooling around." Claire finally raised her head, a sly glint in her purple-gold eyes: "If you can't remember, it means you don't want to. I think you should understand that."
After she finished speaking, she looked down and continued playing her game, the pixelated figure on the screen building a strange tower. Hearing this, Ian was momentarily speechless, almost wondering if he had stumbled into a philosophical trap.
That's sophistry.
The phoenix eggs in the fireplace crackled softly, and a wisp of smoke carrying the aroma of caramel rose slowly. Ian rubbed his temples, deciding to stop dwelling on this unsolvable problem.
"Then you can help me remember." He changed his approach.
Claire paused, then shook her head. "I don't know. I'm just a student of Raven—like many of Raven's students, I'm just a pawn in your game."
That makes it sound like they really know ravens.
This reminded Ian of Merlin's encounter with the raven when he was young.
That bird.
It seems like they're plotting something.
So they placed pieces everywhere.
Various secretive operations and talent cultivation practices.
"But aren't you a prophet?"
Ian seemed thoughtful, but still pressed for more information.
"Even prophets have their limits," Claire sighed, her fingers unconsciously tracing the edge of the game console. "I can only see possibilities, not everything."
"Human wizards can only glimpse fragments of the future; all I can do is decipher the incomplete chapters of fate."
She suddenly stopped talking and turned to look out the window. Ian followed her gaze and saw several Pikachu chasing a Gabumon, their shadows stretching long in the moonlight.
This scene.
This rekindled the curiosity that Ian had previously forgotten to ask.
"What's with those alchemical creations outside?"
Ian changed the subject.
He genuinely found this strange island rather absurd, though he figured the Absurd Titan might find it amusing. Mentioning this, Claire's eyes suddenly lit up. She put down her game console, becoming much more lively. "Ah! I can tell you that!"
She excitedly patted the bed next to her.
He gestured for Ian to sit down. Ian hesitated for a moment, then went over and sat down. The bed was softer than he had imagined, filled with down feathers that almost swallowed him whole.
"You know what?" she said softly, "I was a little Titan when I was a child."
That's absolutely nonsense.
However, Ian nodded to signal the other party to continue.
"So, that happened when I was a child."
Claire's voice suddenly softened, tinged with nostalgia, "Back then I was a little Titan, about this tall?" She gestured with her hand to indicate a height of about two meters.
I can tell.
She probably hasn't grown much taller over the years. Even at two meters tall as a child, she would still have been an oddity among her peers, unlike the other Titans.
In this regard.
Ian did not ask.
Because he was also a little wizard with emotional intelligence, he knew that it was not polite to talk about other people's height, and he was once considered one of the shortest among his peers.
of course.
He wasn't as conspicuous as the female Titans among the Titans, but I could still empathize a little with his height. Fortunately, the food at Hogwarts allowed him to grow quickly.
Now he's the height a normal person his age should have.
"One day I sneaked out to play and found an injured raven on the edge of the astral plane. It had black feathers and golden eyes, and looked exceptionally beautiful."
Claire's eyes narrowed slightly, as if she were back in that moment.
"I originally intended to bake it."
She didn't know if she was reminiscing about the past or regretting not having tasted what it was like to eat a crow back then, but the way she licked her lips made Ian feel a chill run down his spine.
Ian couldn't help but raise an eyebrow.
"Do all you Titans like to grill food that much?"
He felt that Titans were like savages.
Claire nodded confidently.
"Of course! Grilled food is the best!"
She pointed to the phoenix eggs in the fireplace as evidence, "But that raven was very clever; it could talk. To avoid being eaten by me, it started telling me stories."
Her voice gradually softened, and her fingers unconsciously drew circles in the air, causing specks of starlight to appear and form a blurry raven shape.
"Back then, I didn't know how to control power or use magic. I was just a little girl who liked to draw." The female Titan's memories seemed somewhat distant.
"The raven looks like an ordinary bird, not the Magic Raven, or rather, it has lost the Magic Raven's abilities. The only special thing about it is that it can talk."
The female Titan's memories made Ian raise an eyebrow.
The latest novel is first published here!
"Ravens don't have any special abilities, but they can still talk?"
Ian is gathering as much information as possible.
The female Titan nodded in agreement.
"She would say every day that she was about to start anew." That was quite interesting, and the female Titan couldn't help but chuckle as she said it.
Upon hearing this...
Ian was slightly taken aback.
The female Titan just said something.
It kept echoing in his mind.
"The raven wants to start over every day."
Think about this sentence carefully.
Ian seemed to be deep in thought.
I can somewhat understand why the female Titan wasn't surprised at all when she saw herself just now, and even said that he had finally achieved his goal—was the Raven's goal to become a human again?
"No, that can't be all of it."
He slowly sat up.
My gaze fell upon the female Titan who was still playing the game after speaking.
"If it were just about starting anew, he wouldn't have needed to leave so many contingency plans, including Merlin, the Titans, and the gods. These were all well-thought-out arrangements."
Ian pondered this in his heart.
"A person who wants to 'start anew' wouldn't be so obsessed with making these kinds of arrangements."
He remembered that the raven had taught Merlin magic and imparted knowledge. It wasn't just a bird fleeing for its life trying to please Merlin; it was sowing the seeds of some profound intention.
"Perhaps, turning over a new leaf is one of the means by which he achieves his goals."
Ian murmured, "Not the ultimate goal."
This is a very good idea. He looked out the window and saw starlight falling on the island. The phoenix hovered in the distance, silent and solemn like a guardian.
"So here's the question..."
Ian asked himself softly.
What is the raven's true purpose?
Even though he desperately wanted to know the answer.
But it still wasn't like the female Titan said, that you could find the answer just by wanting to know it—again, how could he not know what he was thinking?
Just at this time.
The female Titan continued speaking.
"The raven did a lot of things to avoid being caught and made into soup."
"It told me so many stories about amazing creatures from different worlds. There were yellow mice that could generate electricity, digital life forms that could evolve, and talking cars and transforming robots." Claire's eyes sparkled. "It also taught me to draw, saying that this way I could record things I imagined."
As she spoke, she suddenly jumped up, ran to a large box in the corner of the room, and forcefully lifted the lid. Inside were thousands upon thousands of drawings, each one perfectly preserved.
"Look! These are all my drawings from when I was a child!" Claire carefully took out a stack of drawings and handed them to Ian as if they were precious treasures. She didn't expect that this person still had things from his childhood.
Ian can't remember where he threw his things from when he was a child.
This lifetime.
In my past life.
It seems he had no intention of staying.
"They're quite well drawn." Ian took the drawings, a slight magical fluctuation emanating from his fingertips. The first drawing was of Pikachu; the lines were childlike, but the spirit was full of life. The second was MetalGreymon, and the third was Doraemon. Each drawing had a date and a hastily written signature in the corner: Claire.
"This...you drew it?"
Ian saw a Cthulhu.
"yes."
She smiled.
A hint of nostalgia flickered in his eyes.
"That was a work I created before I met Raven."
have to say.
She is indeed very talented at painting, and there's also a sense that this original work might be wandering around somewhere in the universe right now.
It's hard to say.
It's really hard to say.
After all, this female Titan created Pokémon and Digimon, so from a psychological perspective, there's a high probability that she would create her original creation.
If that's really the case.
Who knows if anyone in future generations will actually encounter Cthulhu in the stars? Perhaps those novels that write about the Cthulhu Mythos are more than just novels, like the Wizarding World.
Ian was lost in thought.
The female Titan was still flipping through her paintings. She continued turning the pages; each painting told a story: Bulbasaur rolling in a flowerbed, Gomamon drinking water by a stream, Flying Beasts circling in the air... These creatures did not exist in reality, but they came to life under her brush.
It was already lifelike a long time ago.
now.
She has indeed given birth.
"I swore from a young age that I would bring these little animals to life," Claire said with pride. "And that's how this island came to be, and the human tribe you see here."
have to say.
about this point.
Ian had already guessed it.
He just hadn't guessed where the other party got the information from. He originally thought it was another time traveler traveling with him, but now it seems he's at least certain that the other party is a time traveler's student.
Regardless of whether that raven was actually himself.
Anyway.
I know these things.
The raven's determination that the person was a time traveler is undoubtedly correct.
(End of this chapter)