"No."
Eva gave him a deadpan stare hearing his blunt reply, her expression not changing even slightly as she continued to look straight at him, clearly waiting for something more than just a single word. But Ash had a very thick skin, he did not say anything else and continued the staring competition.
{Why no?}
At the she had no choice but to ask him the reason, her voice filled with defeat and suspicion, she already have a feeling that he was holding something back.
"I don’t want you guys to take unnecessary stress over something unknown."
Ash replied as his fingers moved again, and the miniaturized form of Eclipse started to spin among them once more, the motion smooth and absent-minded, as if his focus was elsewhere.
{And who are you to decide that? You are not my dad, and if you think you are protecting us by hiding things from us, you are wrong. Instead of protecting us, this will put us in more danger if we don’t even know about this unknown you spoke of.}
Eva raised her voice slightly, though it was still soft enough that it did not feel threatening, her tone carrying more frustration than anger, as if she genuinely found his reasoning flawed.
Ash heard her words and looked at the ceiling once again, his gaze drifting away as if he was thinking about something else entirely.
Is she going through her rebellious phase...? Do souls even have a rebellious phase?
Ash thought in quiet amusement, though he did not show it on his face, keeping his expression neutral.
From what Ash had observed, when a child goes through his/her rebellious phase, as long as they were not doing anything that might harm them in the future, it was better to handle them calmly and not oppose them directly, letting them do what they want rather than shutting them down is the best solution.
Atleast that’s what Ash thinks.
In fact, Ash already wanted to share some things with them, and it felt more reasonable to reveal things slowly rather than all at once, so that they could process everything properly.
"If that’s what you want, sure. I will tell you what I was thinking about. If you have any ideas, do tell me."
Saying so, he transferred all his thoughts regarding the creation of an information network that would provide them information from all over Eden.
The transfer process was smooth and without delay because of their connection, the flow of thoughts passing naturally between them without any resistance.
After a few minutes of processing and thinking, Eva spoke up.
Unknown to him, a projection of glasses suddenly appeared over her eyes, and her clothes shifted into something that made her look like she belonged to some hidden organization, her posture straightening slightly as if she had taken the matter seriously.
Ash was left speechless for a moment, his hand stopped spinning Eclipse without him realizing it.
This combination of both brother and sister are really weird.
But Ash had no right to say this, because this was nothing but the result of all the novels he had read back on Earth. Though he never acted like this himself due to maturing early, a long period of isolation had clearly affected both brother and sister in different ways.
If Eva and Eric knew what Ash was thinking about them, they would have definitely started a fighting against him because of his weird thinking.
{Tsk! Tsk!! Tsk!! I can’t believe you can’t even think of a solution for such a simple problem.}
Ash raised his eyebrows as he saw the haughty expression on Eva’s cute face, her small chin lifted slightly as if she had already won the argument.
He suddenly had the urge to pull her cheeks, but touching those chubby cheeks was not possible because she was nothing but a projection, and his hand would pass through her without resistance, thus Snow, who was sleeping peacefully on his chest, became his victim.
He started to pull her chubby cheeks, lightly at first and then a bit more, as if venting that sudden urge without thinking much about it.
Poor Snow!!
"Tell me what you have in mind!!"
{Not like this, you have to promise me something.}
"What?"
{Promise me that if you like my idea, you will not hide any more things from me and Eric. We both want to help you, so you should also consider our feelings, rather than sticking with your stone mentality.}
Ash’s lips twitched as he heard her words, his expression stiffening slightly.
Stone mentality? Does she have to be so blunt? Does she not realize I have feelings too? How can feelings exist if I am a stone.....and how can someone as handsome as me have stone mentality? I call bullshit over it....
Still, he did not speak his thoughts aloud, choosing to keep them to himself, as he did not want to start another argument with her over something like this.
"Fine, but your solution better be good!!"
Eva clasped her hands happily hearing his reply, her mood lifting instantly as she began to float slightly above the counter, unable to hide her excitement.
{Your idea of using souls for gathering information is quite innovative, but you lack the power to implement this right now. So, let’s not talk about that for now. The main problem you are facing with your second plan is that it is too slow. The time it would take to spread people throughout Eden will be too long to be practical.}
Ash nodded his head, giving her a silent confirmation, as he had already realized that much himself.
{The solution for this is very simple, why create something from scratch when it already exists.}
Hearing those words, it was as if lightning flashed through his thoughts, instantly clearing away the unnecessary clutter that had been holding him back.
Why didn’t I think of this...?
Ash was genuinely surprised, but he could already guess why his thinking had become so rigid, it was because he had been focused only on creating something new, rather than considering how to use what was already present.
Eva smiled seeing the slight change in Ash’s eyes, noticing how his gaze sharpened with realization. She knew her words had reached him, and with a hint of pride, she continued, ready to explain her thoughts further.
{As you told, there exist three major factions in Eden, the Church of Light, the Church of Darkness, and the Transcendent Circle. How do you think they keep track of all the information across Eden? They must have their own information networks spread throughout the entire realm. Even if it was not fully established during the early stages of the Realm formation, more than a decade has already passed in Eden, and if that much time was enough for them to spread their influence, then it is also enough for them to build a network that reaches almost everywhere.}
{You don’t need to target everyone within those factions, that would only waste time and effort. Just focus on the main information gathering hub where all the information eventually gathers, and manipulate the memory of someone who has direct access to all information there.}
{As long as you do this for all three factions, you will gain access to most of the information about all happenings across Eden without needing to build everything from scratch. And after that, if you are still not satisfied, you can slowly plant your own people within different branches of their network to strengthen your control.}
{And if you are still not satisfied, you can use the existing information networks of these three factions to locate smaller and independent information gatherers, such as those connected to various guilds, the Adventurer’s Guild, and other minor organizations.}
{So, what do you think? Isn’t my idea the best? Aren’t I a genius?}
Eva leaned forward slightly as she finished, her eyes shining with expectation, clearly waiting for his reaction as if she had already decided what his answer should be.
Ash looked at those shining eyes and that face filled with expectation, there was clearly a loud ’Praise me’ written all over her expression, as if she was already waiting for the words to come out of his mouth.
Ash gave her a small smile as he spoke, "And how will we find where the secret hiding spot is, where these three factions gather their information?"
Eva’s smile stiffened hearing that, her confident expression faltering for a brief moment as the flaw in her plan surfaced.
She really had not thought about that part.
But she also had very thick skin after staying with Ash for so long, and it did not take her much time to recover, her expression quickly returning to normal as if nothing had happened.
{Hmph!! You wanted a solution, I gave it. You should do some effort to get that information yourself.}
Ash chuckled softly hearing her reply, a faint amusement appearing in his eyes, as he did not press her any further and simply accepted it for what it was.
But it was fine, he was not that worried about finding the location.
At most, it would take him some effort, but as long as he knew what to search for and where to search for, half of the battle was already won, and the rest would only depend on how he moved from here.
"Good!! You did well breaking my rigid thinking."
Eva smiled from the depth of her heart hearing his praise, her expression brightening instantly as if those words alone were enough to satisfy her.
But suddenly, she exclaimed.
{Eric just told me that the Special Guest that Saskia spoke of has arrived in the City, and it’s someone from the Transcendent Circle!!!}
Ash’s eyes gleamed the moment he heard her words, a faint sharpness appearing in his gaze. Even if she had not told him, he had already learned about it, as Eric had sent him the same information just moments ago.
His vision shifted at the same time as he activated his ability.
[Clairvoyance]
"Looks like luck’s on my side, the fat sheep has already walked over by itself."
A faint smile appeared on his face as he spoke those words.
***