After Jun An was satisfied, he left the room first, leaving the remaining mess for Vita to clean up herself.
Jun An then went up to the rooftop to survey Froth.
Of course, this wasn't simply looking with the naked eye. After all, he had already tried that from the highest point of Froth before and found no new discoveries regarding Sa.
This time, however, after being thoroughly rested within Vita's body, Jun An's mind felt much more inspired. He began trying to use Aponia's ability to see through fate to view the world.
Because Elysia had once cut the threads of fate, Aponia's ability had become almost useless. But ever since arriving here, Jun An had felt something strange.
He often had the uncomfortable feeling of walking into a spiderweb.
And just as Jun An expected, when he closed and opened his eyes, he saw innumerable Threads of Fate descending from the sky, entwining every resident of Froth.
Except for a few places protected by Jun An's authority where causality was ineffective, preventing them from being ensnared by the threads of fate, everyone else looked like Marionettes in Jun An's eyes.
Sa's creation experiment had now evolved to the stage of controlling fate. Jun An could sense that the end of these threads of fate wasn't the Imaginary Tree, but its opposite—the Sea of Quanta.
"Which means, Sa's power level is at least one-tenth of the Cocoon's."
Jun An instantly felt a headache coming on.
One-tenth.
Although it was a familiar number, this wasn't good news for Jun An. After all, against one-tenth of the Cocoon, Jun An's current odds of winning were definitely nine-to-one against him.
And that was just the minimum estimate; Sa's strength might be even greater than one-tenth.
Jun An couldn't help but curse this world view again for randomly buffing bosses.
Honestly, for the first time, Jun An felt that no matter how he played with Vita, it wouldn't be excessive. Having felt a slight bit of pity for her earlier, Jun An, upon seeing the difficulty of his task, instantly felt the urge to go back and Fuck Her Again to Recoup His Costs.
"Forget it. The odds aren't zero, anyway."
Jun An was a transmigrator, after all; he had encountered similarly powerful enemies before. "I'll observe a bit more, then... go back and fuck Vita to recoup my costs."
Jun An gave Vita ample time to tidy up the room. When he climbed back through the window into Vita's room, Jun An felt it was somewhat regrettable; she wasn't alone in her room.
Although he really wanted to treat Vita truly as a slave, a tool, completely disregarding others' gazes and Publicly Breaking Her Down.
But Jun An ultimately still cared about face. "Fu Hua, Little Cyan, Little Orange, and Vita, I'm back. I made some discoveries. What about you?"
Since everyone was present now, they might as well hold a strategy meeting directly. After all, it was already dark outside. Even if their spirits were strong, they still needed rest.
"Welcome back, Captain."
Fu Hua nodded. "Regarding Moriarty, we also found some clues."
"Then I'll go first."
Jun An looked out the window and said, "The current situation is, potentially, the entire population of Froth could be our enemies."
Harmony (Cyan) and Accumulation (Orange) looked incredulous.
"How could that be? Everyone in Froth would never harm us!"
"That's not what I meant. I mean they might become obstacles without even knowing it themselves."
Jun An explained, "In my hometown, there was once a friend who, like your creator god, became the master of a world, thereby controlling fate. She failed, but your creator god Sa succeeded."
Jun An gazed out the window. "Because I possess numerous authorities, my perspective might be different from how you see Froth."
"Innumerable threads descend from the sky, tightly binding every person. What weaves these threads is the inevitable future of each individual, and the end of these threads is the Sea of Quanta."
"?"
The expressions on everyone's faces varied; apart from Fu Hua, no one else understood.
Jun An had to translate it more simply again. "Their fates are all being controlled. Except for those present who currently have my authority's protection, and the seven Little Vitas who inherently possess divinity, no one here can break free from fate."
"Honestly, that's not the only piece of bad news."
Jun An glanced at Vita, feeling like he'd gotten a raw deal. "If she can control fate, it means Sa's current power level is at least one-tenth of the Cocoon of Finality. Listen, that's at least."
Accumulation Vita (Orange) asked puzzledly, "One-tenth... that doesn't sound very powerful."
"Am I powerful then?" Jun An retorted.
Accumulation Vita (Orange) nodded. "Yes, you should be very powerful. You instantly killed monsters that kept even Sister Fu Hua busy for a while."
"Alright, now that you have a basic concept, I'll give you two more pieces of information. Judge for yourself."
Jun An said, "My current strength is only about ten to twenty percent of my peak, and even ten of me at full strength wouldn't be a match for the Cocoon."
Of course, competing with the Cocoon of Finality wasn't really meaningful, as the Cocoon no longer possessed subjective hostile intent. Even the Great Eruption was merely a byproduct of its "embrace" of Earth.
But Sa was different. She retained too much of her human aspects and had even shown hostility.
Harmony Vita nodded. "Calculating that... it means even ten of Brother Captain right now wouldn't be a match for Sa, is that right?"
"Yeah."
Jun An had the System's help, yes. Fighting Honkai Beasts and Paradise Sentinels did symbolically grant quests and attribute points. His potential ceiling was definitely higher than before, but the problem was, he hadn't reached that ceiling yet.
Jun An looked regretfully at Vita. "Honestly, I'm starting to feel that just having your Sister Vita work for me isn't quite worth it anymore."
Vita instantly became alert. "What? You better not get any ideas about Little Harmony."
"Ha, what ideas would I have about him?"
No matter how strange Jun An's XP got, he couldn't possibly go after someone with the combined attributes of a femboy and a little boy. Or rather, Jun An felt it was wrong if they were male.
"Anyway, based on Sa's situation, you need to Improve Your Service Quality."
Jun An said, "With your current service quality, even if you worked it off for ten years, I'd still feel short-changed."
"Alright, alright, I get it."
Vita asked resignedly, "But you don't intend to retreat, right?"
Jun An nodded. "I've said it before. The rewards are substantial enough, after all. And no matter how strong She is, She can't be stronger than Finality. You all don't have to face Sa directly; the pressure ultimately lies on whether I can withstand Her attacks."
"But how do we lure Sa out or find Her?"
"..."
Fu Hua looked at Jun An's slightly serious expression and reminded him with a sigh, "You make that face when you have a method but are unwilling to use it. Captain, there are no outsiders here. When the survival of all of Froth is at stake, you shouldn't hide anything."
"It requires the seven Little Vitas to use their permissions to pave the way, then send us to meet Sa."
Jun An said, "But because the seven little city agents were split from Sa, their permissions are their essence. In other words, they will surely die."
Although there was a method to restore their lives after becoming a creator god, in this world view, it was best to avoid risking lives if possible.
Vita and the two Little Vitas, Cyan and Orange, fell silent. Clearly, they wouldn't accept this outcome.
The attitude of the Little Vitas was undoubtedly that they could die themselves, but the other Little Vitas couldn't be sacrificed together.
Seeing the expressions of the three sisters, Jun An immediately comforted them, "Don't make such faces. It's not like there's only one way. It's just that the other method is less stable."
"What method?!"
Accumulation (Orange) looked excitedly at the Captain. "No matter what method it is, we choose the second one!"
"So decisive."
Jun An commented dryly, then explained helplessly, "So the other method is for me to act as bait. Right now, my power is less than one-tenth its peak; this is the best chance to kill me. But this way, the initiative falls into Her hands. It depends on whether She dares to take the gamble."
Fu Hua frowned instantly but still asked, "Captain, is there no other way? You just came back..."
"Yeah."
Jun An nodded. "I just got back, and I have to deal with this troublesome matter again. But this is one of the few opportunities."
Jun An looked at Fu Hua seriously. "We might have long lifespans, but it's hard to get another two hundred and fifty million years. But Sa does."
"Moriarty incited the other five Little Vitas, deceived them, made them rebel against Sa. See that giant form of Sa in the sky? Moriarty has already caught Sa's attention."
"This time, if we only take the Little Vitas away, Sa, in order to hide Her tracks, will absolutely destroy all of Froth, leaving nothing behind."
In other words, this time, if Sa didn't die, then all of Froth was doomed.
"Anyway, my task is the same—to face Sa. The risks involved won't decrease either."
Jun An said, "So, apart from Vita's service quality needing improvement, everything else remains unchanged."
Vita's face instantly darkened upon hearing this. She knew her technique in that area wasn't great, but did he have to criticize her in public? Just a few days ago, she was still a maiden who hadn't tasted meat.
Any lingering feelings of gratitude for Jun An's self-sacrificing gesture completely vanished.
However, Vita didn't say it out loud. After all, Jun An's actions did indeed merit her improving her service quality.
The threads of fate—this practically proved that without Jun An's arrival, any form of resistance would fail. Her own chances of success, the Little Vitas' survival rate, were almost zero.
Accumulation (Orange) and Harmony (Cyan) thanked Jun An sincerely from the bottom of their hearts.
Harmony: "Thank you, Brother Captain. This isn't even your business, yet you're putting so much thought and effort into it."
Accumulation: "Brother Captain really is a good person."
Jun An couldn't help but stroke the adorable Accumulation's hair. "Of course, I'm a good person. But you should also thank your Sister Vita. After all, the price is being paid by your Sister Vita."
"For my lovely sisters."
Vita also nodded. "So, Fu Hua, what did you discover?"
Fu Hua nodded as well. "We found Moriarty's Challenge Letter. Tomorrow at Noon, he invites us to the Highest Point of Froth to appreciate his meticulous Performance."