Seeing his parents agree to his suggestion, Dudley winked at Harry to show friendliness. However, to Harry, it seemed like deliberate provocation.
"Damn it, he's definitely going to mess with me at the zoo," Harry thought to himself. But he couldn't refuse the trip; he had no right to object and could only be swept along.
"I'll just try my best to stay away from him. The zoo's so big—if I avoid appearing in front of him, it should be fine, right? Besides, a zoo should be really fun, shouldn't it?" Harry comforted himself, quietly looking forward to a pleasant time at the zoo.
Years of experience had given him ways to cope with Dudley's bullying. Sometimes, he managed things he couldn't even understand himself. Once, when chased and beaten by Dudley and his friends, he inexplicably appeared on the school chimney, escaping a gang-up. Though he was punished afterward, it wasn't worse than before.
Thinking of this, Harry began secretly observing Dudley, who stood not far away. His cousin, who had always bullied him, seemed distracted, sitting on the sofa, neither watching TV nor speaking, as if lost in thought.
"He's not thinking about how to bully me, is he?" Harry muttered to himself.
In fact, Dudley's mind was entirely elsewhere, pondering matters of extraordinary characteristics. After becoming an extraordinary characteristic user again, his mastery of spiritual power hadn't declined much, meaning he could use the abilities of a Sequence 9 Lawyer and Sequence 9 Arbitrator with ease.
The only thing to consider was digesting the extraordinary characteristics. Although these characteristics came from his own body, re-containing them meant he had to redigest and absorb them, essentially like taking a Potion again. If his guess was correct, fully digesting these characteristics would cause Sequence 8 characteristics to reappear, allowing him to continue on the path to godhood.
As for how far he could go, Dudley wasn't sure.
"What Sequence did I ultimately reach in that strange world?" Dudley frowned. He couldn't recall the specific Sequence he'd achieved, only that it was likely a high one. When he tried to remember details, his memory grew chaotic.
"In short, the highest Sequence I can reach in this world should be the highest I reached in that strange world. My body only contains extraordinary characteristics of that level," Dudley thought to himself.
Withdrawing his thoughts, Dudley glanced at his little cousin, who was cautiously observing him from a distance. Dudley narrowed his eyes slightly, activating Spirit Vision.
With this action, Harry's appearance changed in Dudley's eyes. Strange halos appeared—ethereal auras visible under Spirit Vision. Different colors and brightness indicated a person's health and emotional state.
"His health is fine, aside from being a bit thin, but his aura is grayish, his mood isn't good, and he's quite nervous…" Dudley judged Harry's condition with a single glance. As a new extraordinary characteristic user, his spiritual power was limited, so he couldn't see deeper details.
Suddenly, Dudley's brows furrowed slightly. He seemed to glimpse something indescribable in Harry's deeper astral body, hidden beyond his current perception range.
"What is that… spiritual power?" Dudley frowned, uncertain what he'd seen, only that it seemed like peculiar energy. Yet he was certain Harry wasn't an extraordinary characteristic user. In this world, apart from himself, no one else should possess extraordinary characteristics, let alone spiritual power.
A slight throbbing in his brow warned of excessive spiritual power use. Dudley narrowed his eyes, deactivating Spirit Vision.
"Strange, my cousin doesn't seem simple," Dudley mused. He recalled childhood moments when, while bullying Harry, his cousin did things Dudley couldn't understand at the time—things no ordinary person should be able to do.
Ding-dong. The doorbell rang.
"Oh dear, they must be here," Petunia said in a panic, hurrying to the door.
Soon, voices came from the doorway. After a moment, a scrawny boy and a middle-aged woman walked in.
"Happy birthday, Dudley!" the boy shouted. It was Piers Polkiss, Dudley's best friend—or rather, his best helper in bullying Harry.
"Thank you," Dudley replied, memories of past events stirring.
Piers walked toward Dudley, glancing at Harry standing in punishment with a mischievous smile. He was already planning how to help Dudley torment Harry, one of their greatest joys when playing together—chasing and beating him.
But before he reached Dudley, an uneasy feeling washed over him, as if he were being watched by an important figure—an indescribable sense of restraint.
"Dudley, you…" Piers looked at his playmate, sensing something different today.
"From now on, you're not allowed to bully Harry," Dudley said firmly.
"Huh?" Piers was stunned, shocked by Dudley's words. But then he nodded, feeling that Dudley wasn't joking but issuing an order he couldn't disobey.
The others didn't notice the exchange, but Harry saw Piers's face pale, standing stiffly beside Dudley, too intimidated to even sit down.
Half an hour later, Dudley's family, along with Piers and the others, arrived at the zoo. It was exceptionally crowded that day. Vernon went to buy tickets, leaving the group waiting at the entrance.
Harry stayed far away, afraid Dudley would notice him. Piers stood close to his mother, keeping his distance from Dudley. Dudley looked around, enjoying the normalcy of the world, almost letting out a heartfelt sigh.
"Ah, the zoo, so many people…"
Suddenly, a woman appeared beside Dudley from nowhere, her face covered in paint. In a low, hoarse voice, she asked, "Little friend, would you like a fortune reading?"