I'm a villain, not a devil

The birds that were supposed to be responsible for protection have become accomplices of the insects...

Just as Wen Na Ke finished speaking, the sounds of fighting outside became increasingly terrifying, and the unique energy fluctuations of the etheric layer swept across all the surrounding areas like unavoidable ripples.

Wen Nake's figure flickered noticeably.

Sean narrowed his eyes. "According to what you said, you have only just regained some consciousness and memory, and you are still entangled with those parasites. Even your own mother's immune system has been eroded, but you are still sane?"

The green light around the edge of Winnak's outline dimmed a lot. He shook his head and said, "Father, you have always been so suspicious... The black nematode has another name. It is called the Skin Peeler. Even though it is strange and abnormal, it lacks wisdom and often acts only on instinct."

Skinning Messenger... Sean subconsciously recalled the evil gods he knew.

The old acquaintance, the Seducer Gao Zi, the upper-level narrator of the Time Cult, the Time Thief, the Nieqi of the Cult that once kidnapped the Fifth Prince, and the Skinner in the image of a black nematode...

There are quite a few evil gods, but so far, no evil god has appeared in the world in its true form or in its complete appearance... Most of those active in the real world are just shells, remains, or even just their believers.

Of course, whether he is an evil god or not depends mainly on who defines him.

For example, the Wen Na Ke in front of him, others have to use "He" when calling him, but he is now just a powerful existence with partial abilities in the etheric layer. Even whether he is powerful or not is still questionable. Such a Wen Na Ke can also be an evil god in the eyes of the world.

Evil gods or righteous gods, it depends on the need.

Wennak continued to explain: "As I said just now, I was also in a helpless situation - I was born from my mother. Before I had a strong enough self-awareness, I was just a bud. At that time, pigeons would often carry me to see the world."

"My mother didn't tell me the origin of the Skinned Messenger, but the pigeon and the Skinned Messenger appeared at the same time. At the beginning, the pigeon had not yet been corrupted. It fulfilled the responsibility of the 'immune system' and continuously destroyed the Skinned Messengers that tried to gnaw on my mother."

As he spoke, Wen Na Ke sighed deeply: "But it originated from its mother after all. When its mother died, it gradually lost itself and finally merged with the Skinning Messenger. It is also for this reason that I, who have been in contact with pigeons for many years, was also affected. More importantly, I appeared beside the emperor."

Sean frowned: "You mean, your real body is with that emperor?"

Wen Na Ke nodded: "Yes, to be precise, the first emperor of the empire got my body - I don't know if it was due to memory loss or if there was really no reason, how I got there, I don't know myself."

He spread his hands helplessly: "My mother died, the pigeons were eroded, and I fell into a long sleep before I really grew up. I only started to regain some consciousness recently. Speaking of which, maybe you helped me. When I was sleeping, I had a feeling that something that bound me was released."

Sean frowned slightly. I helped him?

The one who bound this guy...

Sean's eyes suddenly lit up. The etheric layer, something that could work in reality and suppress energy and mental power for a long time... he seemed to have seen it before.

Ether walking.

This special creature, which originally only lived in the etheric layer, somehow got into reality and was even kept by the count in a secret room in his study. After Sean got it out, it even tried to attack the mind hall in the etheric layer.

Later, when making the [Pocket], EtherWalking was killed by Sean as a consumable.

Could it be that Winnaku's revival is related to that Ether Walker?

However, if the ether walk was used to restrain Winnak, there was no need for the emperor to hand it over to the count and his wife, and even put the count and his wife in prison, leaving the ether walk in a state where no one knew about it for the time being?

Wait…something else is wrong.

The sudden appearance of Winnak and the various information he brought made Sean realize that some of his inferences in the past needed to be directly overturned.

For example, the Black Pigeon Prison, as the shell of the Skinning Messenger and the pigeon, why did it become the prison of the empire? Moreover, there is a man who can control the Skinning Messenger at the bottom of the prison, and the guard is the Treeman Plague.

At the beginning, when the tree people suddenly landed on this continent, they tried to release the prisoners in the deepest part of the prison. In the end, it was the eldest prince Bai Zhan who accomplished the task.

Facts have proved that many of the things Bai Zhan did were just the emperor secretly pushing for it - but there is a conflicting point here. If the emperor had also been corrupted by the Skinning Messenger, there would be no need for him to do so - if it weren't for Wen Na Ke, even Sean, who knew many secrets, would not be able to deduce the exact truth.

And Winnak's next words directly explained Sean's doubts.

"Father, I probably still have a lot of questions for you, but there is one thing I must tell you in advance. None of the evil gods and high-level beings you have seen, including me, are complete."

He said calmly: "Someone needs to pay for my mother's death."

Sean raised his eyebrows slightly. Does this mean that before the World Tree collapsed, those evil gods paid a price?

But according to the information found before, the World Tree was cut down by the families that were the predecessors of the empire. It seems that it was not just greed and recklessness that were at work. The evil gods probably also contributed a lot...

Wennak continued, "The same is true for the pigeons and the skinning messengers. They are not complete, which gives others some opportunities... I don't know the specific history of the empire, but one thing I noticed is that although the current emperor was corrupted by the skinning messenger, he still retained a part of his consciousness."

"So, you might think that many of the emperor's actions are contradictory - after all, people always want to save themselves."

"Of course, there are still many things that don't make sense, but if you change your perspective, you might understand it better..."

As Winnak spoke, Sean's pupils suddenly contracted.

He involuntarily turned his gaze outside, where the battle between the black pigeons and the branches was still going on.

Sean murmured, "The emperor... has never been in the palace. The one imprisoned in the deepest part of the Black Pigeon Prison is the emperor..."

Wen Na Ke smiled and said, "As expected, as long as I give you some subtle clues, you can always find the most correct answer. Just like what mother said, father, your greatest ability is your innate intuition."

My greatest ability is my intuition? Sean keenly grasped the meaning of the other party's words.

However, Wen Na Ke obviously would not go into details. He just continued, "The emperor is not innocent. This country has been a flower blooming on the land of sin since the beginning. The greed of successive emperors has almost completely eroded their so-called most noble blood."

Wen Na Ke smiled calmly. "As for me, my real body is in the palace. My consciousness is entangled with the pigeon, the skinning messenger, and the emperor. There is one biggest problem."

Sean narrowed his eyes and continued, "The real Skinning Messenger on the throne knew all this, but he allowed the black dove to fly, allowed your consciousness to revive, and even allowed you to find me."

"Father, you are right. So, given your personality, you should be prepared, right?"

Seeing Wen Na's inquiring eyes, Sean didn't say anything, but just smiled indifferently.

A flash of regret flashed across Wen Nake's eyes, and he bowed lightly again.

"Father, your biggest question should still be about your identity and status, but I am not qualified to comment on this. The purpose of doing all this is, on the one hand, to give you a more accurate understanding and to give you some reminders. On the other hand..."

He lowered his head slightly, and even showed some shyness.

"On the other hand, after all, I only knew of your existence from my mother's little consciousness... I really want to meet you."

The atmosphere became a little strange. Winner looked at his shoes and raised his head a little, trying to see Sean's expression with his peripheral vision.

The latter just sat there, and judging by the direction his body was facing, he should be sizing up this cheap kid whom he had never met before.

Suddenly, Winnac felt himself suspended in the air - he was lifted up by Sean.

Reluctantly raising his head, Wen Na Ke said helplessly, "Father, now is the time for you to show your tenderness. In front of you is a child who has never seen his father but longs for his love. Aren't you very good at using those means to win people's hearts? Maybe if you pat my head, I will be moved to tears."

Sean smiled slightly, then slapped Winnak hard on the head.

His slap was so strong that even the surrounding space shook briefly.

Wen Na Ke did not expect that he would be so cruel. He suddenly felt dizzy and his etheric body that had just woken up began to become unstable.

Sean casually threw the Wen Na Ke aside and said lazily, "Everyone, whether human or ghost, is trying to establish connections. There are so many people who want to be my son or daughter. Boy, you deliberately led me here and left a lot of clues for me to grasp, just to lead my etheric body into the etheric layer to find you, right?"

Wen Nake's pupils suddenly contracted.

Sean sneered: "I've used the same old tricks, tsk, no progress... I said a lot of things, there were some truths, but you hid more of them?"

Wen Na Ke raised his head with an innocent expression: "Why did father say that?"

Sean looked him up and down, then hit him hard on the forehead. Sean stood up with a cry of pain.

"The etheric body is solid but pretends to be just consciousness. When I came in, I kept repeating in my mind, 'I left my real body at the bottom of the lake.' The etheric layer is different from reality. Strong consciousness will form fluctuations. Those etheric creatures don't care, but they can definitely read something from my etheric body."

He sneered: "My body at the bottom of the lake should have been found long ago, right?"

Wen Nake showed a look of shock and confusion. After a moment, he finally shook his head calmly.

"As expected of you...ha."

His temperament suddenly changed, as if he had transformed from a harmless little lamb into a sinister and experienced one-eyed wolf.

With a slight smile on his lips, Wen Na Ke stood firmly on the ground and patted his clothes: "Very good, only in this way can you be worthy of being my nominal father."

"Snapped!"

A loud slap was heard, and Wen Na Ke tilted his head with a look of surprise on his face.

Sean wiped his hands, his expression unchanged: "Who are you talking to, you are so disrespectful?"

"Father..." Wen Nake's eyes twitched.

Sean sneered, "I told you not to play tricks on me, but you insisted... Until now, you have never told me how you, who have been dormant, came into contact with the remaining consciousness and memories in those special proliferations and recreated my friend."

Wen Na Ke pursed his lips: "Obviously, father, this is you..."

Halfway through his speech, he closed his mouth again.

Sean said cheerfully, "Are you aware that your logic is wrong? Did I tell you? But no matter which me it is, you have never seen me, so how do you know? Oh, I guess what you want to say next is that your mother told you, such as the branches outside. You have just revived, and you can only rely on the things your mother left behind to make some impact."

He shook his head. "That's not enough. If you were entangled with the pigeon, the skinning messenger, and the emperor's consciousness, you would also be the target of the branches' attack. If you can control the branches alone, it means that you have recovered a lot of strength - at least much stronger than the recovery you just mentioned."

Wen Nake raised his head again, this time with an expression of dissatisfaction and grievance on his face, which was very real.

"The origins of deception, lies, and villains are all on your side. My origin is called the Imitator—" He gritted his teeth, "Until now, I have only imitated the Skinned Messenger and the Pigeon. No one has taught me how to deceive people!"

Sean was amused: "Oh, I'm still feeling wronged by you? Tell me, where did the special proliferation of memory and consciousness come from, and what do you want my body for?"

Wen Na Ke said angrily: "You don't know what I'm talking about. I was born with the ability. I imitated the Skin-Flayer and parasitized the shelter's system. Then I felt that I should trick you into coming here! As for your body, humph, of course I plan to implant another consciousness and then sacrifice you to speed up the process of mother's recovery!"

Sean was surprised and asked, "You are entangled with so many consciousnesses, and you can still make the decision?"

Wen Na Ke yelled, "I am the product of you and mother after all. I can't lie to you, but I can lie to them. Besides, the other consciousnesses are all restrained. Only I am relatively intact, but the control of my body is in their hands... I didn't lie to you about the other things!"