Chapter 4: The Infinite Path

*Ding...*

The elevator doors opened, and Raven and Blueira slowly stepped into the office.

Returning to this familiar place, Raven glanced around, noticing that this woman was fond of novelty. The décor of her office never repeated, neither from eighteen nor fifteen years ago.

Blueira took a deep breath, holding her chest. Raven was as reticent as the dead. The atmosphere inside the elevator had been suffocating. Raven had just stared at her coldly, silent, nearly scaring Blueira out of her wits.

The interior of the office had shifted from Mediterranean to a Chinese aesthetic: official's armchairs, lattice wall decorations, and an incense burner on the desk. The burner emitted a faint purple smoke, filling the room with the scent of sandalwood.

The one-eyed woman gave Raven a once-over. This version of Raven seemed more docile than the last, at least he hadn't gouged out anyone's eyes with his thumb.

"Sit," she said."Though we've hardly spoken, and I've never even heard your voice, we've known each other for eighteen years. That makes us old friends."

The files on the one-eyed woman's desk were neatly organized. Raven knew, having heard from the prison guards, that her three-hundred-year tenure was ending today. This was her last day.

"Eh?"

Blueira was slightly dazed. She had assumed that this terrifying man had only just arrived at this so-called transit station. It was hard to believe he'd been there for eighteen years, as old as she was!

Raven remained silent. To be honest, he didn't wish to be anywhere. All he desired was to listen to the fluid motion inside his brain.

Mozart, Beethoven, undeniable geniuses. Yet, their music paled in comparison to the sounds echoing within Raven's mind.

This resonating sound was like a drug to Raven, causing an addictive yearning. Without it, he felt as if ants were crawling over his skin, like countless needles pierced his brain, like rodents scurried inside his organs. He would even experience bizarre, inexplicable hallucinations. It was excruciating.

Raven had been chasing the source of this sound. With every step closer, the sound became even more enchanting. If he ever reached its origin, Raven believed it would be heaven, a place more wondrous than any other.

If one sought silence, no place was better than the damp, dark dungeon. Raven hoped that once the one-eyed woman left her position, she would imprison him in that dungeon forever, until the universe and all within it came to an end.

The one-eyed woman's eyelid twitched in annoyance. Raven was ignoring her, his eyes closed in apparent ecstasy as if he was deeply immersed in some entrancing music.

"Do you know why you were brought here?" she tried to mask the rising fury in her voice. She had to deal with Raven today, or her handover would be incomplete, trapping her in this hellish place.

"Hmm?"

Raven's voice trailed off, showing a glimmer of interest. The haunting whispers in his mind had eroded his self-awareness over the past eighteen years. He didn't care about the reasons for his confinement here. All he desired was that voice, the demonic murmurs that had corroded his sanity.

Raven took a few steps and then slumped into the official's armchair, saying indifferently,"Go on, enlighten me."

Blueira trembled on the side, questioning who the real authority here was. In her eyes, Raven seemed like the type to bully teachers. He was terrifying.

The one-eyed woman was on the brink of losing her temper. The first words Raven had spoken to her in eighteen years had a commanding tone. She had been demoted to this dismal transfer station, dealing with this tiresome job. Just when she was nearing the end of her 300-year tenure, she had to endure this insolence, making her furious.

She pulled out a file from her desk drawer and, reading its contents, said to Raven:"I had someone investigate you. It's rare for a subject to pique my interest like this. You gathered all your enemies on a plane, and destroyed them all, including yourself... It's no wonder you're so audacious. You're a man of action. The crash site was your parents' residence. Everything went according to your plan. Ending your life in the most grandiose manner, calling you a demon lord might even be an understatement."

"Hey!"

Blueira looked at Raven fearfully. He seemed even more terrifying than he appeared. He was now to the extent of disowning his kin. Was she really supposed to relocate with him?

Click, click...

Raven's two fingers tapped impatiently on the office desk. He nodded at the one-eyed woman, signaling for her to continue.

The one-eyed woman frowned and said,"Do you realize? You almost destroyed the entire planet. At that time, you were rapidly absorbing energy from your surroundings. If it weren't for the special agent who contained you immediately, not just the planet, but a far larger area would've been affected."

Raven pinched his chin, a contemplative expression on his face. When the plane crashed, he had heard the sound of cerebrospinal fluid flowing. Although he had no memory of absorbing energy or nearly destroying the Earth, he was sure it had something to do with that sound.

"All this happened because of resonance... Such a situation is extremely rare, and similar cases in the database are scarce. I had to invest a lot of effort to investigate everything. The moment the plane crashed, you resonated with an unknown entity, acquiring a portion of its power. Although the resonance has ended, the frequencies of your thoughts and will have synchronized. Now, you are in the initial state of that entity, and there will be things guiding you towards its evolution, such as hallucinations and dreams."

After explaining, the one-eyed woman stretched lazily. It felt as if a weight had been lifted, and she could finally leave this dreadful place.

Upon hearing her explanation, Raven finally understood the voice in his brain stem. It was the voice of the entity with which he had resonated.

A sense of elation overtook Raven. If the voice was so melodious, how beautiful would the entity itself be?

The one-eyed woman took a cigarette from a pack and began smoking. She looked at Raven with pitying eyes and said,"I've said everything I needed to. Thirteen years ago, when I submitted your data to my superiors, they were very interested in you. They notified me that you were to participate in this iteration of the 'Path of Infinity,' which happens once every three hundred years. This is the primary reason you were confined for eighteen years. As it requires pairs, you have to participate, and that seemingly clueless woman over there is your partner."

The one-eyed woman's gaze settled on Blueira.

"Hey!?"

Blueira shivered, looking around and finding no other 'clueless' women, she uttered a pitiful cry.

"Why is it like this... Why do I have to go?"

Blueira said sadly. She didn't know what the Path of Infinity was, but it sounded ominous.

Raven remained silent. Truth be told, he had no interest in participating in any 'Path of Infinity' or 'Broadband of Infinity'. He was content just listening to the voice in his brain stem.

"Sorry, young lady, you're out of luck," the one-eyed woman said, enjoying her current fascination with reincarnation stories."You must've been a woman with heavy sins in your past life."

"Hey!?"

Blueira's face twisted in distress.

"However, I refuse," Raven firmly declined. He merely wanted to be imprisoned.

The one-eyed woman took a deep drag from her cigarette and said,"It's not up to you."

Suddenly, she produced an Uzi submachine gun from nowhere and pulled the trigger, unleashing a barrage of bullets at Raven.

In the room, sparks flew, and metal bullet casings littered everywhere. Each bullet hit Raven accurately, leaving him bloody and riddled with holes.

Raven sat still, his body now more holes than flesh. Blood spurted from multiple wounds.

"Hey!?"

Blueira covered her mouth in horror.

Yet, Raven remained silent as the holes in his body healed at a visibly rapid pace.

Click.

The one-eyed woman knew she couldn't kill Raven. She had just taken out her frustration on him. Then she snapped her fingers, and both Raven and Blueira began to fade, turning transparent from the bottom up, as if they were disappearing.

"Huh?"

Raven, intrigued, observed the transformation on his body.

"Wait! What is the Infinite Path?"

Blueira almost sobbingly implored the one-eyed woman.

"The Infinite Path... it's complex to describe, but you can think of it as Hell, more or less. Farewell, Raven, my old friend."

Then, with a snap of her fingers, the one-eyed woman's form began to blur and fade away.

Like that, all three disappeared from the room. The difference being, the one-eyed woman was headed for a vacation paradise, while Raven and Blueira were bound for the Infinite Path - a path written as the Infinite Path, but read as Hell.