Chapter 665: Silence — Silence Again!

Everyone present was dumbstruck.

The scene was so unthinkable that they couldn't help but admire the Tower of Logic's myriad bizarre and ingenious methods for studying deities and Divinity.

"These gossamer threads — that's... Divinity?"

Honestly, this was the first time Cheng Shi had ever seen Divinity in a state beyond pure radiance. Mo Rabic nodded, lifted the Abyss Colorful Crystal slightly higher, and signaled to his companion with his eyes — it was Allendor's turn to operate.

The experiment's true mastermind clearly wasn't Mo Rabic, who had opened the ore's pocket, but the quieter Allendor standing off to the side. His expression was complicated, yet after surveying the scene, he shuffled over with a look of resigned acceptance.

As Mo Rabic said — they had no choice.

With deep gravity, Allendor took Zangier's finger and began channeling the power within it, transforming it into a filament far thinner than the threads of Divinity themselves. He carefully guided it down into the mist to sense, separate, and coax apart the intertwined strands of Divinity.

Allendor's expression was rigidly focused during the operation — not a single word. Mo Rabic, however, seemed more like a Truth scholar than a Folly wise man. Serving as the "experimental stand," he patiently and thoroughly narrated for the audience:

"When the Creation Alchemy Department first discovered the existence of Abyss Colorful Crystal, they attempted every conceivable method to access the Divinity within. But Divinity is holy — it tolerates not the slightest contamination by mortal impurities. The moment any ordinary force entered the mist, the Divinity would shatter instantly, dissipating into mundane dust.

Until the day a scholar learned that Zangier had completed the Stars Dagger experiment and was actively stealing the gods' Authority. That's when a bold idea took root among the team members. They set their sights on Zangier himself. After waiting many years — until the moment Zangier suffered the backlash and transformed into the Doomsday Hanged Man — our fathers made their move.

By then, Zangier was far beyond mortal. Under the tempering and refinement of divine Authority, he had drawn infinitely close to Them. Though the experiment ultimately ended in disaster, what was a catastrophe for the Stars Dagger was a one-in-ten-thousand opportunity for our fathers.

So they circumvented the Erudition Presidium's oversight, opened the Stars Dagger's gate, and sacrificed nearly an entire team's worth of lives to sever a small section of Zangier's finger.

But no one could have imagined — their original plan wasn't for just a small finger segment. They'd wanted Zangier's entire arm..."

Mo Rabic's reminiscence was tinged with wistfulness. He snorted, as if mocking his forefathers' overestimation of their own strength — yet also perhaps mocking himself, for never having the chance to accomplish anything as magnificent.

"They miscalculated. No matter how weakened the Doomsday Hanged Man was, he remained an existence that had transcended mortality. Without any assistance or the Erudition Presidium's support, they couldn't have done much to Zangier. So they grabbed the finger and retreated.

But operating a finger to do what a whole arm was meant to do was immensely difficult. They spent ages learning to harness the finger's power.

During that time, they were exiled to the Underworld with nowhere to go. But the experiment continued — until we took over and repeated it for decades before finally seeing hope.

Allendor may be an imbecile when it comes to interpersonal relations..."

The scalpel in Cheng Shi's hand twitched before Mo Rabic could finish his sentence — he was afraid this badly-timed disdain would disturb the experiment. But Allendor's hands were rock-steady, his state utterly stable. He seemed to have shut out all external noise, his entire being submerged in the work of separating Divinity.

"But when it comes to Divinity research and hands-on experimentation, he's a genius — one no less talented than our fathers!

He successfully devised the method for extracting Divinity, connected every stage of the experiment, and from the last piece of Abyss Colorful Crystal in our possession, separated out a small portion of Divinity. Unfortunately, we had no means of storing it at the time, and that infinitely precious Divinity simply... dissipated into the wind.

Now, we've designed the experimental equipment for storing Divinity. I believe that with your... esteemed support, we'll have sufficient resources and conditions to refine Divinity in large quantities!"

The moment his words ended, Allendor suddenly reacted. His entire body shuddered violently, and then, his face dark as ink, he sighed:

"I failed."

"???" Cheng Shi's mind went blank. 'Wait — your buddy just spent all that time hyping up how incredible you are, and the second he finishes, you fail?'

'Are you deliberately trying to slap him in the face?'

'But wouldn't the slap hurt your own face even more?'

Yet before the explanation came, Cheng Shi already spotted the reason. These two wise men were simply too exhausted. After their long journey and the fright they'd endured, their energy was clearly depleted.

This was his own oversight. Cheng Shi pursed his lips and casually fired a Spirit Spell at both of them.

Allendor's spirit surged. A keen light flashed in his eyes again, and he looked ready to make another attempt — but this time, Cheng Shi refused.

"Forget it. There's no need to waste time right now. Once we deal with A Rad and seize control of the mine, we'll have plenty of time to process the Abyss Colorful Crystal.

What do you say, gentlemen?"

Of course, Cheng Shi's question wasn't directed at the two wise men but at the two Torchbearers present. Qin Xin and the Blind One also felt it was enough for now — they only needed to confirm the extraction was viable. Before more resources were "secured," there was no rush to obtain the first batch of Divinity here and now.

The Blind One nodded, then looked at Allendor's hand.

Though the wise man had failed, that failure wasn't entirely fruitless. He'd clearly extracted a small portion of Divinity — and this Divinity seemed somehow... familiar.

"It's miscellaneous, useless wild god Divinity. I can sense it contains Death, Decay, and Order Divinity — but I was too exhausted to separate them. I only managed to extract this small fragment of wild god Divinity.

But believe me — right now, I'm fully capable of extracting those individual types. I wouldn't need long — just one night."

"..."

"..."

"..."

All three players fell silent once more. Not because they thought the timeframe was too long — but because the so-called "wild god Divinity" he'd described...

It wasn't from any wild god at all!

It was clearly the Divinity of Silence!

Cheng Shi's pupils contracted sharply, his expression transforming. How strange — how, in the middle of the Civilization Era, when even Folly existed only through a handful of Seedling Followers, was Silence's Divinity already... compressed into ore?

What in the world was going on?