Chapter 2869: Origin of the Dark Moon

'So you really had a hand in this?'

The moon has its phases, just as it has its colors: white, blood, blue, and red.

Facing a scene that completely contradicted his memory, Fu Qian felt little surprise, only a deep sense of reflection.

Blood Clan Progenitor Annalise had fallen before the Long Night arrived. Yet, when the Long Night descended, another blue moon seemed to have been highly active.

That predecessor was generally known as the First Generation Dark Moon—the Witch's "Mother."

As perhaps the most mysterious of the moons, the Dark Moon's origins lacked any clear consensus even today.

It had left numerous traces in both the Bookstore World and the Witch's domain.

The Nightmare Corridor, the Core of Law—its handiwork was present in all sorts of terrifyingly significant matters.

Even the seemingly invincible Ancient Tyrant had definitively died in an assassination it had helped orchestrate.

The First Generation Dark Moon might have prepared a small courtyard for retirement in the Witch's domain, but that hardly proved it originated from there.

Meanwhile, the shared obsession with dreams held by both the Primordial Moon and Annalise only made the situation more delicate.

If there truly was some hidden force driving Annalise's premature death, or even if the entire event had been orchestrated from the start...

...then after her fall, the question of where this lunar authority ended up would undoubtedly shed some light on the truth.

And yet, here in this fragmented dream tied to Annalise, the Dark Moon had directly appeared.

"Not bad at all. Herbert helped us quite a bit."

Even Excellency Patches's reaction proved this vision wasn't for Fu Qian's eyes alone.

Staring up at the sky in that same moment, the veteran's expression remained as teasing as ever, but his voice dropped low.

"Though you're especially impressive, of course. That was a brilliant application of the Law; you really did your prep work.

"What I can confirm so far is that this scene isn't just buried deep within the dream. It also possesses a very specific attribute: it isn't meant to be seen by anyone."

Oh?

It had to be said, Excellency Patches was truly experienced. He instantly realized that what lay before them wasn't a simple dream-demolition job, but something involving the fundamental principles of a halo.

The resulting harvest left him so satisfied that he didn't mind sharing his insights with Fu Qian—on one hand, confirming that Herbert had indeed squeezed out the last of his residual value, acting as a sort of beacon.

In his final moments, the ignorant Dream Chaser had finally provoked a slight echo.

Furthermore, the Dark Moon before them should have possessed an extreme level of concealment.

"It was intentionally hidden?"

The situation had undoubtedly just gotten even more complicated. Fu Qian clicked his tongue in marvel.

"It seems so. This thing isn't supposed to manifest in this world in any form."

Patches confirmed his suspicion.

"Well, my apologies then."

Fu Qian shook his head. He was directing that apology at the world itself.

It wasn't supposed to manifest in any form—unless, of course, he himself had already warped the world beyond all recognition.

"Besides, it seems a few too many people caught sight of it this time."

His next apology went out to the general public.

There was no need to broadcast a server-wide message across the Archipelago. A single glance was enough to see people pointing up at the sky in shock.

Obviously, Patches wasn't the only one who could see this spectacle; it was terrifying enough to startle even the ordinary people trapped within the Divine Dream.

"Heh heh heh... whoever made this arrangement definitely didn't foresee this day."

Patches found it highly amusing, utterly gloating over their unseen peer's misfortune.

"So the entity hiding things deep in the dream was highly confident in their methods?"

Fu Qian merely offered a reverse interpretation.

"Exactly. In my eyes, this practically proves that the King of Nightmares had a hand in Annalise's death.

"A true higher entity perishes without a sound, the Dark Moon is born from it, and then even this detail is completely concealed—so much so that even now, we still can't definitively answer that earlier question."

Patches not only understood Fu Qian's meaning but was practically applauding the maneuver.

"Between the Primordial Moon and the King of Nightmares, who was the true mastermind?"

Fu Qian sighed softly, filling in the unspoken question himself.

The night sky over the Archipelago was filled with clamor as time rapidly slipped away.

But the joint exploration between the two higher entities had already yielded remarkable results.

Excellency Patches was certainly the type to make bold judgments. Upon recognizing the Dark Moon in the sky, he not only confirmed that Annalise had died in a conspiracy, but firmly believed the Dark Moon had been born from it.

With this, a long-severed thread in the Chronicles of the Moon had suddenly formed a flawless connection.

White, blood, and blue. The lunar authority had seamlessly passed from one hand to another, never once being lost in the transition.

As for the Red Moon, which constantly referred to itself as a "child"?

Sadly, other than looking like a moon, the Red Moon had never displayed any obvious lunar authority.

It seemed to be suffering solely from the curse of the word "moon." As for the method of that curse—[Annalise is Ti Lanqi, Ti Lanqi is Annalise].

A certain line from the True Word Notebook naturally came to Fu Qian's mind.

If that truly was its name, it was a statement strikingly similar to the Red Moon's current symptoms.

Combined with their current discoveries, the cause and effect became easy to parse out. Although Blood Clan Progenitor Annalise had been intoxicated by the dream realm, she had been laying out some incredibly bold plans.

But having been a higher entity for so long, she had inevitably picked up certain bad habits—such as always preparing an escape route.

If the unexpected occurred, a specific contingency would automatically trigger, leaving behind a hope for her eventual return—

Even in 1-013—the box containing the Containment Object "Demon Mountain"—the Rotting Notebook's most legible line was this very one.

And when the Warehouse shamelessly reprinted its contents, it had deliberately omitted that very line.

That detail had been intriguing at the time, and now there seemed to be an explanation for it—the Dark Moon had been covering its tracks.

He hadn't forgotten his earlier deduction that the Dark Moon, much like Blazing Rainbow, could exploit loopholes in the Warehouse, to the point where even his very first task had been tampered with.

In short, it felt as though he could see a massive shadow looming over Annalise's divine existence.

That line in the True Word Notebook looked more and more like an insurance policy she had prepared for herself. It was just a pity it hadn't worked out very well.

But aside from mourning the Progenitor of the Blood Clan, the true key to this matter lay in Patches's final realization.

Even now, it was difficult to determine exactly who had orchestrated Annalise's fall and the subsequent birth of the Dark Moon.

Yes, even with proof of the King of Nightmares' involvement, the question remained difficult to answer.

Just because the King of Nightmares' power was required to pull this off, did that necessarily mean he was the one behind it?

They were all in the same line of work. For people like Patches and himself, planting evidence and framing others was as natural as breathing.

And the Primordial Moon had also once been obsessed with the dream realm. Rather than believing the incompetent King of Nightmares had successfully schemed against two genuine higher entities, was that generous Moon God truly so innocent?

Could it be that it had consecutively schemed against a passive victim, as well as its own loyal follower?