[Half a day Earlier]
Right after Lisa died, Harriet had Charlie use the crystal ball to predict the road ahead.
The result he saw was...
"Everyone dies!"
Looking at the scenes inside the crystal ball, Charlie could hardly believe it.
Because Harriet had offended that man, he killed all of them.
Even after Charlie had told him that the next stage required four people to enter, that man still attacked without hesitation.
He was absolutely ruthless.
"Is there really no other way?"
Charlie stared at the crystal ball.
Using it twice in a row had already taken a heavy toll on him.
But he still had to try one more time.
Rather than saying... the crystal ball predicted the future, it was more accurate to say it simulated the future.
It was actually a special magical calculation tool.
Based on your current thoughts and the choices made under the present circumstances, it calculated the most likely timeline, one that closely matched reality.
But could the timeline not be changed?
Actually, it could.
Because every moment contained endless possibilities.
As long as you made a different choice, the future timeline would also change.
For example... if you chose to walk your dog right now, then the people you would meet and the things you would see afterward would all be fixed for that timeline.
But if you chose to walk your dog half an hour later... then your future timeline would become completely different.
The people you would have met before would no longer appear because you had changed the timeline.
The things you would have seen half an hour earlier would also be different after another thirty minutes had passed.
That was how a change in thought created a different timeline.
The crystal ball worked the same way.
So... Charlie changed his assumption.
Instead of holding a grudge, Harriet would choose to work together with the man in front of them.
Once he changed that condition, he used the crystal ball again.
As expected, the result changed.
But it still wasn't a very good outcome.
However... at least he survived the Second Temple.
But Kaleb, who carried the large shield, died.
The reason was, that man threw the backpack containing the Shadow of Nothingness to Kaleb, then killed him and used that trick to clear the second stage.
When Charlie saw that scene, his eyelids twitched.
'This man is too ruthless.'
'Then what if...'
'We strike first?'
'What would happen then?'
Ignoring the risk of the crystal ball's backlash, Charlie carried out a third prediction.
The result... if they attacked first... everyone died.
'As expected.'
'There really isn't another way.'
Charlie gave a weak smile.
He no longer had the strength to make a fourth prediction.
Then he would have to exchange Kaleb's life for his own chance to survive until the Second Temple.
When the time came, after recovering a little, he could predict another way to stay alive.
So he turned to Harriet.
"The only way is to cooperate with Ethan."
Kaleb immediately flew into a rage and argued with Charlie.
He believed suggesting cooperation with the enemy was a terrible idea.
But... since Charlie knew Kaleb was going to die, he decided to forgive him.
Harriet, however, didn't seem completely convinced by the prediction.
She even asked him, "Charlie, besides cooperating, did the crystal ball show anything else? Anything at all."
Charlie thought for a moment.
Then he decided to give Harriet a hint.
No matter what, he had to make her cooperate with that man.
It was the only way he knew to survive until the Third Temple.
Maybe it wasn't the only way, but he no longer had the strength to predict another possibility.
To be safe, he could only sacrifice Kaleb.
After all, as long as someone else died instead of him.
"The crystal ball also showed two words," Charlie said, "One was 'information,' and the other was 'merchant.' Merchant probably means doing business, but I'm not sure what information means. Does it mean we should tell that man everything we know?"
Kaleb argued again.
He cursed Charlie's prediction ability as useless and said he still had to rely on guessing.
But inside, Charlie could only sigh for the poor man in front of him.
'If you knew what is about to happen to you...'
'Would you still say something like that?'
'Heh!'
After thinking for a while, Harriet said, "I think Charlie's crystal ball is probably telling us that the person in front of us is a merchant who values profit. If we want to convince him to cooperate, we have to give him valuable information so he thinks there's something to gain. Then he'll naturally work with us."
"Sister Harriet is right!", Charlie quickly agreed, "Just now, the mist inside the crystal ball cleared for a moment. I think it was because your analysis was correct. That's why the mist briefly parted and revealed the truth."
After that... with Charlie deliberately guiding her, Harriet finally gave in to Ethan.
She first tried apologizing.
After Ethan mocked her without mercy, she had no choice but to offer a high-grade defensive item, the Golden Silk Soft Armor Vest.
It was the reward her Lord had given her after she found her first golden treasure chest.
Would Harriet really be so generous?
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