The brown-haired boy heard the agreement from God.

"Can. "

The black-haired young man said, "You can borrow one of the book and the scepter."

The brown-haired boy was startled, then quickly asked, "Your Majesty, may I know their functions?"

After he finished speaking, he did not hear the god's reply, but the most essential power of the book and the scepter suddenly appeared in his mind, as if this knowledge had grown out of thin air in his mind.

——The book of time and space that records the past, present and future, and the scepter of law that divides the rules and connects cause and effect.

He vaguely realized that other things on the black-haired god in front of him also had different powers that could manage the world in an orderly manner, but the god only allowed his priests to choose one from his hands.

At the same time, the knowledge in his mind also clearly told him that with his ability, he could not completely drive these two artifacts. In other words, the consequences would be beyond his expectations.

Xia Zuo pursed his lips tightly.

He only has this one chance.

This is the only chance left.

He remembered Zero's warning, as Ursula repeated it:

【Time is the most uncontrollable thing. 】

Has the other party anticipated the current situation?

So, is he going to choose the scepter instead?

He can use the Scepter of Command and try to drive its most superficial effects. He cannot establish new strict rules without any mistakes, completely sever all ties between César and himself, completely disappear from the other's life, and try to make César escape his predetermined fate - will the ending really be what he imagined?

——His intuition told him that after he did this, the most likely result would be that the person "Cesare" would be completely erased from his memory.

【Cesare】 has become 【God】.

Can a mere high priest really dream of using an item borrowed from God for God's own benefit?

The brown-haired boy clenched his fingers, took a deep breath, and tried his best to speak in a calm voice: "I choose books."

Time is the most uncontrollable thing.

And now, the "most uncontrollable thing" can bring that last glimmer of hope.

——He has no way out.

*

Xia Zuo only felt a sudden sharp pain in his brain for a moment. When his eyes could see again, the pure white palace and the black-haired god were no longer in front of him.

He found himself standing among strings of words.

Those words flew past him like swimming fish, so fast that it was impossible to see clearly what was written on them.

...Has he arrived inside the book?

Xia Zuo was confused for two seconds, then quickly came to his senses and tried to move forward.

He was not stopped, but he also did not get any useful information.

The brown-haired boy paused, released the innate power gathered in his palms, and carefully controlled them to spread outwards.

And just as the golden particles in his palm touched the rapidly flowing words, the information that seemed incomplete due to insufficient ability rushed into his brain.

"In the year 1799 of the Federal calendar, ..."

"The Federation is destroyed, and the human leader, Xia Zuo Freeman..."

"The Son of God Christine has appeared..."

Countless streams of information suddenly poured into Xia Zuo's mind. His face turned pale involuntarily. He endured the squeezing feeling that made his head split. Among these countless pieces of information, he forcibly found a pattern -

The flow of words around him was moving forward, while the information he obtained was constantly moving backwards into the past.

From the time he came to Eastwood to the fall of the Federation; from the construction of the temple to the appearance of Christine... he was experiencing a "reverse playback".

Federal Level 1 Prison, Gray Moon District Level 2 Prison, White Elephant District…Level 3 Prison.

Xia Zuo felt his heart skip a beat.

All the clutter in his mind was cleared away, and he knew very clearly what he needed to do.

He could hardly control the trembling of his hands, but at that moment, he firmly and without hesitation poured all his strength into the word represented by that node.

The cell of prisoner Xia Zuo Kaili in Baixiang District Level 3 Prison.

That was the place he could find, the first place in the long river of time where he could change everything.

It’s also where it all began.

…

…

"22:45:25 on September 23, 1797 in the Federal Calendar, in an ordinary cell in the Level 3 Prison in the White Elephant District."

"…By the way, my name is Xia Zuo, what's yours?"

In the darkness that was gradually brightening, Xia Zuo felt that he was saying something. He couldn't control it and didn't act rashly for the time being. Then, at the moment when his vision gradually became clear, he heard a voice that was extremely familiar, so familiar that it almost made his nose sore.

"Crest."

His name is...

"Cesare Crest."

The black-haired, blue-eyed boy appeared in his field of vision, leaning forward, tilting his head slightly, and looking at him with a smile. His misty blue eyes were immersed in darkness, like the sky in the middle of the night, but deep inside they contained an incredible, illusionary tenderness.

He heard himself say happily:

"I remember, Cesar!"