Originally, when Angel was preparing to honor the five-year agreement with Jon and return to the Old Earth Continent from the Barbarian Cave, White Bear had come to find him on Illusion Demon Island.
At that time, White Bear said, "He sent me here to give you the most precious thing I have."
The 'He' in his words referred to Dororo.
White Bear didn't know what Dororo had foreseen, but it was undeniable that, with Dororo's talent and potential, his premonitions would never err. After much contemplation, White Bear sought out Angel and handed over a White Bear stuffed animal that he had cherished for many years.
Now, as Angel took out the White Bear stuffed animal, he was clearly responding to Dororo's "Prophecy" from back then.
White Bear's heart skipped a beat. He remembered the Prophecy he had once cast for himself: to climb out of the dark mire and walk further on the path of the Transcendent, to find his true home, he needed to meet someone.
At the time, the Prophecy had revealed that this person was Angel.
The Prophecy was divided into two parts: the first was his desire to go further on the Wizard's path, and the second was to find his true home. The core element of both parts was related to Angel.
This was also why White Bear had gone to great lengths to build a rapport with Angel in the past.
Recalling the previous inquiry by Angel about his clan's surname, White Bear already had a hunch, "Could it be that what Angel is about to reveal has to do with himself, his true home... his kinship?"
So many years had passed that White Bear had forgotten much about "home."
He had no recollection of his parents. His childhood memories began at his aunt's house where he was fostered. He had once asked his aunt about his direct relatives. White Bear still remembered the complex expression on his aunt's face when she heard the question—anger mixed with nostalgia and deep helplessness.
In the end, his aunt didn't tell him his true origin, only saying that the White Bear stuffed animal always at his side was the last remnant of his family. It was for this reason that White Bear treasured the stuffed animal so much that later on, his fondness for dressing up as a White Bear was also a manifestation of that deep-rooted cherishment.
The longer he lived at his aunt's, the more White Bear's sense of identity began to blur because his aunt's family was very kind to him; he thought his life would probably continue this way.
However, this carefree life was disrupted when he was seventeen. No one knew what had happened, but suddenly, King Gumman ordered the extermination of his aunt's family. On that chaotic night, White Bear couldn't remember much, only the vast amounts of blood and the mountainous piles of corpses... White Bear was completely stupefied, only remembering that in the end, it was his cousin, his aunt's daughter, who took his hand and led him to sneak out.
But his cousin was injured while fleeing with him. After a long escape from the city to the wilderness without proper medical treatment, she soon slipped into a dying state.
Before she passed away, she took out the White Bear stuffed animal that had been taken in the chaos and pointed to it, telling White Bear: Only by finding her could the suffering of their family end.
This "her," though his cousin did not make it clear, White Bear understood whom she meant.
Late on, White Bear accidentally awakened his talent for Prophecy and vaguely saw some future, realizing that to break free from his current plight and to find his kin, he had to become a Transcendent! Thus, it became his obsession and goal. It took him thirteen years from the Gumman Kingdom to reach the Barbarian Cave and become a Wizard Apprentice.
White Bear's memories stopped there, as he saw Angel's movement.
Angel took out the White Bear stuffed animal and removed a pendant from it, then extracted a postage stamp-sized portrait from the opened pendant.
The portrait depicted a little boy holding a White Bear stuffed animal, his eyes crinkled in laughter. Behind him was a woman, her hand on his waist, her face pressed close to the boy's shoulder, looking very intimate. However, the woman's face in the portrait was blurred.
Angel pointed at the portrait, "This boy should be you, right?"
White Bear nodded, "It's me."
"What is your relationship with this woman in the picture?"
White Bear shook his head, "I don't remember who she is, but I'm certain that she must be related to my direct lineage."
As White Bear said this, he also thought to himself: This is also the person the cousin referred to.
Angel: "Do you have no information about this woman at all? Although you were very young in the portrait, you should have had some memories, right?"
After pondering for a moment, White Bear seemed to recall something, "After I became Maya's apprentice, I once begged my mentor to help me find my past memories. Later, Lady Maya told me that my memories from before the age of eight had been deliberately erased, and they could not be restored. Since eight, I have always lived with my aunt's family."
White Bear's memories before the age of eight were erased? One thing was certain, this must involve the Transcendents. And the act of erasing memories that couldn't be restored was not something an Apprentice could do.
An image flashed through Angel's mind.
"You once said that your kin all died thirteen years ago, right?"
White Bear nodded, "I was referring to my aunt's family; as for the woman in the picture, I do not know."
"Xi Lai, it's the surname of your clan, as you mentioned before," Angel paused, "Coincidentally, during my last return to the Old Earth Continent, I encountered a woman."
The White Bear's throat tightened nervously, awaiting the next part of Angel's story.
"I don't know the true identity of that woman, but I do know she once ordered some Demonic Materials under the name 'Xi Lai'."
"Moreover, this person indeed has significant connections with the Gumman Kingdom."
Angel stopped there. The White Bear's eyes bulged round with disbelief as he trembled, "Do you mean to say she is my kin? The woman in the painting?"
Angel: "I cannot be sure, but there are not that many coincidences in the world."
The White Bear's gaze held a trace of bewilderment: "Indeed, there are not so many coincidences in the world, Prophecy guided me to find you, Dororo instructed me to give you the White Bear doll; these are all preconditions of an established fact... Dororo's prophecies have never been wrong, Xi Lai, Xi Lai, Lady Xi Lai of whom you speak, she must be greatly related to me."
"Can I know who she is? And can I... meet her?" The White Bear looked at Angel with pleading eyes.
Angel didn't immediately respond; naturally, he was referring to Eulica. Madeline had once mentioned some matters about 'Tainted Blood Shadow Stab' Eulica. It was said that Eulica stole treasures from King Gumman because her kin had been entirely captured by King Gumman. And clearly, the White Bear's experiences seemed to match Eulica's.
Facing the White Bear's plea, Angel was not prepared to make any promises lightly.
Firstly, Eulica's identity was too special, and Suise had already advised Angel not to disclose anything about Eulica. Secondly, if the White Bear sought out Eulica, he would inevitably be drawn into the vortex surrounding Gumman's treasures, which wouldn't be a good choice for the White Bear.
But for Angel to outright refuse the White Bear's request would be unreasonable.
"Let me think about it." Angel paced back and forth on the terrace. The White Bear didn't know the intricacies involved but understood that if Angel was this conflicted, the matter at hand was certainly not simple.
As the atmosphere remained heavy with silence, Angel decided to seek advice outside of the situation.
Since this matter concerned the great affair of Gumman's treasures, and Angel found it beyond his capacity to decide, he considered listening to his Mentor's thoughts.
Angel shared the White Bear's story with Sanders. After listening, Sanders was somewhat surprised by the White Bear's identity, likely not having expected someone from the Barbarian Cave to be related to the notorious Tainted Blood Shadow Stab.
After pondering for a moment, Sanders said, "It's hard to say. With Eulica's capabilities, if she is blood kin to the White Bear, she undoubtedly knows about the White Bear. Considering that Eulica knows the White Bear's identity yet has never sought him out, it clearly indicates a decision she made after careful consideration and judgement. Of course, that's from Eulica's perspective; she might not want to involve the White Bear in this matter."
"But there are two sides to it. From the White Bear's perspective, he clearly wants to meet Eulica. As for what decision to make, outsiders cannot decide." Sanders said, pausing suddenly, "However, I think you can. In the White Bear's prophecy, your role cannot be overlooked. And you are the link between the White Bear and Eulica; you have already become a variable in this matter. From this angle, you are not an outsider but are indeed qualified to make this decision."
With that, the decision seemed to fall back into Angel's hands.
But Angel was also undecided.
As he hesitated, a faint ripple of energy suddenly emanated from behind.
With a puzzled look, Angel turned to see the White Bear took out a short wand and placed it on the ground. The wand didn't fall over but swirled back and forth under the White Bear's influence of energy.
Angel recognized this trick—it was Fate Guidance.
Clearly, unable to get a definitive answer from Angel, the White Bear began to prophesize based on the information he had.
However, judging by the White Bear's sweaty and troubled expression, it was apparent that his prophecy had likely failed.
"Prophecy... Trick?" Seeing this scene unfold before him, Angel suddenly realized something. If Dororo had instructed the White Bear to hand over the doll to him in the past, it was clear Dororo must have foreseen something, so perhaps, Dororo could provide the answer!
With that thought, Angel's mind became clearer.
He strode from the terrace back into the hall.
By this time, the atmosphere in the hall was even more eerie than before. Dororo and Popota were settled on opposite sides, Dororo appeared to be pondering something, while Popota was muttering something under his breath. Although Angel couldn't hear what was being said, he could tell Popota was very agitated.
Introducing Popota to Dororo was something he had promised Popota before.
Now that they had met, the atmosphere seemed a bit delicate.
What exactly had happened?