[Vol. 7] Chapter 62: The Book of Truth and the Great Whirlpool
"Ask a question?"
The golden-haired little dragon girl tilted her head, looking a bit confused. Across from her, Nitila froze for a moment before quickly becoming visibly tense.
"Miss Violet! The [Book of Truth] demands a random and unavoidable price! What if it harms Her Divineness, the Young Dragon Goddess…?"
"Relax, relax~ I know what I’m doing."
Violet waved her hand dismissively, signaling the princess not to panic. She then gently stroked the silky hair of her dragon, who was currently in a childlike form, and smiled reassuringly, as if coaxing a little kid.
"That’s right, just ask a question. Anything you want to know. You can sense that this thing is special, right, Xiao Guang?"
After all, even though she looked like an innocent child, her divine form actually had a higher status than her original dragon body. This form was the key foundation for her future godhood, she had only lost part of her memories and common sense for now, but that didn’t mean she had become dumb.
On the contrary, she was actually smarter.
It was like in cultivation stories where a person undergoes a first and second transformation, or like a legendary weapon that is reforged. Even though she had to start over from scratch, her foundation was already on a completely different level, and her future potential was limitless.
One subtle clue was her ability to now naturally call Violet "sister" instead of "master," something she used to struggle with in the past.
Sure enough, the little dragon girl quickly nodded, not particularly concerned.
"It’s probably a law-bound artifact. The energy feels kinda familiar, but it's just a fragment. So weak it’s barely worth noticing. Too bad, if it were stronger, I could’ve used it as a snack."
"Eh!? Y-Young Dragon Goddess…!"
Seeing Nitila’s shocked and helpless expression, Violet quickly stepped in to stop her.
"Ahem. This belongs to someone else, so you can't take it apart or eat it. Only the wealth dropped by true enemies counts as spoils of war. Other than that, you are not allowed to use your strength to take things from others, understand?"
"I know, Sister! You've said that like five times already!"
The little dragon girl crossed her arms and leaned her head back, her short, adorable dragon horns rubbing against Violet's chin. She kicked her bare feet in protest, as if trying to prove, I'm not a bad kid!
But soon, she turned her gaze back to The [Book of Truth]. After resting her chin on her hand and thinking for a moment, she casually asked her question, while Nitila watched nervously.
"Then… how about a way to make grilled fish taste even better? Those guys' cooking is decent, but after eating the same thing for so long, it's getting a bit boring."
As if responding to her words, the blank pages of the book began to glow.
Lines of light started forming on the white paper, but instead of words, it was pure information. It seemed to be something only the one asking the question, could understand.
Violet had no idea what was appearing on the page, but the golden-haired child sitting on her lap tilted her head thoughtfully.
"Ohhh… so that’s how it works! I totally get it now!"
Nobody knew what exactly she understood.
The process of revealing the truth lasted only a few dozen seconds. Once some unknown condition was met, the glowing, strange symbols faded away, and the book returned to its blank state.
"That's it?"
Xiao Guang nodded slightly.
"Yep! I know exactly how to make grilled fish taste even better now. But… hmm, how do I put it? It's just theory. Actually doing it might still be tricky."
"And the price?”
The little blonde girl poked her lips with a tiny, pale finger, thinking for a moment.
"It took a little bit of my energy, I think. Other than that, nothing else."
"I see..."
Violet more or less understood now.
The price this book required was divine power.
Just like how equipment needs energy to function, The [Book of Truth] wasn’t an unlimited source of knowledge. If laws were its built-in power core, then it made sense that it needed someone to fuel it to keep running.
In rare cases, like Nitila’s situation, the book might be able to consume its own stored energy to help. But under normal circumstances, that wasn’t an option.
In other words, the book seemed to have some level of sentience, but not much. It acted more like an automatic answering machine that strictly followed a set of rules. As long as you paid the price, it would answer your questions.
Since ordinary creatures couldn’t afford the cost of activating laws, the book would have to extract energy in ways that might be harmful. But for a god, who already wielded such power, it seemed almost effortless.
The reason Violet had Xiao Guang test it instead of trying it herself was twofold. First, watching from the sidelines made it easier to observe and intervene if necessary. Second, her little pet’s current body was only barely touching the threshold of godhood in concept, but in reality, she was still quite weak. That made her a better test subject compared to Violet, who already possessed a complete Divinity.
Since even a little dragon girl with only a fledgling Divinity could use it so easily, it confirmed that The [Book of Truth] was just a relatively ordinary artifact. It wasn’t some hidden contingency left behind by the God of Truth. Rather, it seemed to be a naturally formed remnant, created when fragments of the “Law of Truth” converged under certain environmental conditions.
It had some value, but to Violet, it wasn’t particularly useful.
She didn’t even have to think about it. There was no way this book could reveal the kind of high-level information she actually needed. It was better not to bother testing it. If she accidentally broke it, she’d have a hard time explaining that to Nitila...
Pushing The [Book of Truth] back toward the still-slightly-nervous princess, who, like Le Qiaoqiao, seemed to hold a surprising amount of respect (or fear) for the little dragon girl. Violet was just about to say something when, without warning, the thick black-covered book began glowing again, pulsing like a slow, rhythmic breath.
“Hm?”
Violet blinked in surprise, but Nitila reacted even faster, raising a hand and pointing toward the distant ocean.
“It’s the [Great Whirlpool], Miss Violet. The book is probably sensing the ship getting closer to its influence and issuing a warning. But don’t worry, we’re only skimming the edge of its range as part of our planned route. Even if the [Great Whirlpool] is currently active, it won’t have much impact on us from hundreds of kilometers away.”
“…Seriously? This thing even has an automatic danger alert?”
So that reaction was just a simple warning?
Setting the little blonde girl down, allowing her to excitedly dash off toward the kitchen, Violet activated her [Yin-Yang Eyes] to observe the surroundings.
Sure enough, the energy in the air was being pulled in a distinct direction by a powerful force, doubling the usual concentration of magical elements in the area. Even at this distance, hundreds of kilometers from the [Great Whirlpool]’s center, the effects were already so noticeable…
She couldn’t help but wonder, what would the true center of the [Great Whirlpool] look like?