Chapter 149

Live broadcast.

Hearing these few words, A Zha'er's face changed abruptly; he turned his head to look at his own Void Terminal.

Indeed.

After inputting Ai'ershen's submitted canned knowledge bill, the Void Terminal, which should have been recovering its dim light, instead flickered with an emerald green glow.

A Zha'er's pupils contracted sharply; with movements unbefitting his age, he lunged onto the desk and snatched his Void Terminal, clapping it to his ear.

Seeing the crystal-clear subtitles and hearing the clear sound from his ear, he could no longer stay calm; his whole body trembled violently.

But after shivering for half a day,

Yet he only said: "Has Ai'ershen been bribed by you?"

"Watch your speech."

"Talk of bribery is too unpleasant."

Seeing A Zha'er's performance, Luo De smiled with satisfaction: "You should say Ai'ershen is also my collaborator."

That's exactly the fact.

We've come this far; there's no need to hide it anymore.

This canned knowledge with special functions was modified by Nadixa using Luo De's hands, then Luo De gave it to Ai'ershen to deliver.

As for ensuring A Zha'er would definitely issue this mercenary expulsion decree through Ai'ershen's hands,

A Zha'er, long addicted to the Void Terminal, Nadixa didn't need to input his information into the Void; his words and actions alone could be calculated with perfect precision.

In fact, A Zha'er once boasted that the Void's predictive accuracy reached ninety-eight percent.

This is indeed true.

Such calculations only apply to those who constantly use the Void Terminal and have lost independent thought.

This is also a problem Luo De and Nadixa previously discussed regarding the Void.

The Void has existed in Sumeru for a long time.

From ordinary civilians to erudite scholars, basically everyone has developed an extreme dependence on the Void.

For these people,

Everything that appears in the mind via the Void is truth.

Regarding this,

Ai'ershen also holds the same opinion.

In his view,

Such people, who have completely lost the ability to think, should be called slaves to orders.

A Zha'er trusts the Void's predictions of people so absolutely precisely because such people, already reduced to order slaves, have every move inseparable from the Void, almost every step following its calculations.

However, Ai'ershen, who gained his trust by 'betraying' Luo De,

Not to mention his information hasn't been recorded in the Void; even if it were, the Void couldn't precisely predict his behavior.

Human emotions sway his actions.

This is the consensus reached by Ai'ershen and Luo De when discussing the Void.

In his view,

The Great Sage's claim that the Void can precisely predict a person's actions is pure nonsense.

Thus the actual situation is,

that A Zha'er's actions can be precisely predicted by Nadixa, while Ai'ershen and Luo De's movements fall completely outside his predictive range.

Such an information gap,

is the fundamental reason this special canned knowledge could smoothly reach his hands and let him use it personally.

In fact,

After the plan to forcibly break the Academy's defenses and release Nadixa was rejected long ago,

Luo De originally didn't intend to confront A Zha'er so soon.

According to the previous plan,

He was preparing to expose Hafusai's plagiarism before confronting A Zha'er; then he could present evidence of the Dendro Archon's imprisonment, and before the entire Academy directly reveal the Academy's imprisonment of the Dendro Archon, thereby shattering the Academy's centuries-old lies in one blow, and with greater public opinion pressure safely compel A Zha'er to release Nadixa.

But after unexpectedly obtaining Hermanubis' power at the Blazing Sun Heir, gaining enough ability to overturn the table if the plan failed, he formed a new scheme in his mind.

And now.

Gazing at the unusually angry Azar, Luo De casually recited the six fundamental sins stipulated by the Academy.

"Azar, do you still remember the Academy's six fundamental sins?"

"Let me help you recall."

"First, the matter of human evolution."

"Second, rashly speaking of life and death."

"Third, exploring beyond the universe."

"Fourth, investigating the origins of language."

"Fifth, revering the gods but not making offerings."

"Sixth, speaking slowly of the mysteries while feeling no fear."

Starting from when he heard the first of the six fundamental sins.

Azar's complexion suddenly turned deathly pale.

When the six fundamental sins were all recited, he weakly collapsed onto his desk.

In the just‑finished 'live broadcast'.

He personally admitted the Academy's act of imprisoning the gods, and moreover openly revealed that, if given the chance, he would certainly choose to create a new god, and his contemptuous remarks about the life of the Little Auspicious Grass King.

According to the conviction standards of the six cardinal sins.

Imprisoning a god and declaring oneself ready to slay a god—this violates the fifth tenet, which is to show reverence to the gods by offering sacrifices.

The ambition to create a god violates the first tenet regarding human evolution and the sixth, the silent mystery, by being unafraid.

Such charges are fabricated.

This is enough for the Academy and all of Sumeru's people to condemn him in writing and speech.

The Academy's Great Sage personally admitted to having committed Sumeru's most severe cardinal sin, and this drama is enough to ensure he never has a chance to redeem himself.

In despair.

Azar could no longer maintain his earlier confidence, losing composure as he bellowed.

"No, this is impossible!"

"All control of the Void is in my hands; that weak Little Auspicious Grass King could never possibly interfere with the Void!"

"You must be using false information to deceive me! You're trying to make me believe your words!"

Already desperate, Azar grew more confident the more he spoke, soon shouting: "Guards! Guards! Arrest this madman spouting nonsense!"

However, no matter how he hoarsely shouted, even if his voice gave out, there was no response from outside the door, as if the formerly loyal guards had abandoned him.

The rescue he had hoped for never arrived.

This plunged Azar, who had just regained some confidence, back into despair.

Luo De also seized the moment to continue pressing him: "Azar, the charge of blasphemy has already spread—do you think your words still have any effect on those guards who treat the Void's information as truth?"

That remark was a killing blow.

In the Rainforest Area, especially among the Academy's personnel—including those guards who once swore allegiance to the Red King but later defected to the Academy—just like the rest of the Rainforest Area's people, they have used the Void Terminal since childhood; whenever they need support or help, the Terminal provides everything they require, and over time they have likewise come to believe without doubt everything the Void announces.

In other words.

What Azar just said—anyone who can receive the Void Terminal's information, whether scholar or commoner, including these guards, will not doubt its truthfulness.

And such information qualifies as subversive.

Enough to make those who firmly believe in the Void feel that the Great Sage has deceived them.

Luo De timely added.

"Azar."

"Do you think those guards of yours, if they come in now, would be here to arrest me or to arrest you?"

Azar's office is entirely constructed from the remnants of the Great Merciful Tree King, which strongly shields against Nadixa's consciousness.

Fortunately, when this fellow's defenses are broken, it's easy to discern his mental state.

Luo De directly kept delivering blows that could be called fatal, based on changes in his complexion.

And such successive blows finally stopped Azar from trying to gather people to capture Luo De.

Because Luo De's words were correct.

Having committed such a grave blasphemy, arresting himself would no longer be a serious offense against the Great Sage; instead, it would be a great merit.

"I, I am doing this for Sumeru's sake."

"Little Auspicious Grass King, she cannot save the World Tree, nor can she save Sumeru."

This reasoning is Azar's last straw.

For a scholar.

Reputation and honor are what matter most to him.

And Azar, having fallen into the crime of blasphemy and publicly admitted it, now faces the risk of utter disgrace and ruin before everyone who possesses a Void Terminal; he can only seize this sole opportunity to argue as best he can, hoping to preserve the last shred of hope.

To that end.

He moreover poured out, like spilling beans, the forbidden knowledge that the Academy had concealed from the Sumeru people for centuries—the contamination of the World Tree.

But he evaded the core issue, describing the forbidden knowledge merely as a side effect of absorbing divine knowledge, and refused to mention the truth of the forbidden knowledge.

And he portrayed all of his and the Academy's actions as a glorious undertaking to save Sumeru and the World Tree.

As for imprisoning a god and even attempting to slay the old god to create a new one—

He also used the phrase 'forced to do so' in an attempt to gloss over this defiant act of blasphemy against the gods.

"A Little Auspicious Grass King devoid of any divine power could never resolve the contamination of the World Tree!"

"Allowing such a useless god who cannot solve any problem to occupy the divine throne will only worsen the World Tree's withering symptoms and plunge Sumeru's academic atmosphere into boundless chaos; therefore, only by personally crafting a god of our own can we hope to completely free Sumeru from the crisis of the World Tree's withering."

As soon as Azar finished speaking.

Luo De then bluntly rebuked him: "Absurd—you know full well that the problem with the World Tree stems from the contaminated remnant consciousness of the Great Merciful Tree King, yet you still quibble here!"

"Has the Little Auspicious Grass King never warned you?"

"Hmph, not even you—"

"Even your predecessors at the Academy never knew how many warnings the Little Auspicious Grass King had given."

"The Great Merciful Tree King's consciousness within the World Tree is contaminated; once linked with it, one goes mad—have you heard that?"

Azar fell utterly speechless.

Just as he was thinking it over, preparing to keep looking for excuses to defend himself.

Luo De's mouth twisted, and he immediately cut him off: "You clearly know where the problem lies, and you also know that, aside from the Little Auspicious Grass King, human strength alone could never solve this."

"And what was your choice?"

"You stripped the Little Auspicious Grass King of her Gnosis, imprisoned her, and did everything possible to weaken her influence—even refusing to let her exist as a deity."

"All this was to prevent the grass god's followers from discovering the truth of her imprisonment."

"Concealing the truth of the World Tree's contamination, imprisoning your own god, and manufacturing conflict between the rainforest and the desert."

"All of this is because you wanted to plunder the Little Auspicious Grass King's status as a god, intending to use this defiant method to seize divine power for yourselves."

"Hah, it's been hundreds of years."

Do you have results?

Is the World Tree saved? Has Sumeru's wisdom become more complete than before? Or have the lives of the Sumeru people gotten better than before?

After saying that, Luo De stepped forward, grabbed Azhaer's throat with one hand, dragged the helpless him to his face, and said coldly: "Stop the nonsense. Where is the control console? Where is the key? Release Nadixa now; she is magnanimous, you can still spare your life. Otherwise, I will let you know what it means to suffer the consequences of defying the gods."

While speaking.

Luo De deliberately loosened his grip, so as not to accidentally crush this pampered scholar Azhaer.

When faced with utter disgrace and his life under serious threat, the despairing Azhaer finally stopped making excuses for himself.

The barely conscious Azhaer weakly pointed to a spot, and Luo De, like carrying a chick, grabbed him and brought him to a device resembling a safe.

This device was also left behind by the Great Merciful Tree King; without the correct command, unless one's power reaches the level of a god, it cannot be opened by external force.

To save his life.

Azhaer, who had no thought of stubborn resistance, without hesitation quickly entered the command to retrieve the key, then honestly led Luo De to what seemed an ordinary control console; a few simple operations unlocked the cage imprisoning Nadixa.

After doing all that.

Neither did any divine apparition appear, nor any earth-shaking change occur; only a voice came from Luo De's nearby void terminal saying, "I'm out."

However, although Nadixa had already escaped her confinement, Luo De did not release Azhaer; instead, he tightened his grip even more.

You said you wouldn't kill me.

Azhaer's face instantly turned purplish as he struggled desperately; after barely uttering a few words, he could only make hoarse gurgling sounds.

I certainly won't kill you.

Such a great sin of defying the gods, you haven't yet received adequate judgment and punishment; how could I possibly let you die so easily?

Luo De loosened his grip slightly; Azhaer, whose eyes had rolled white, finally got a chance to breathe, and then he weakly watched himself being dragged out of the office like a dead dog.

Except there were no guards.

Outside the door, everything remained as tranquil as ever; scholars coming and going moved about quietly in their studies.

There was no scene of crowds gathering here as imagined, demanding an explanation; even in this state, being dragged out of the office, no one gave so much as a glance.

Azhaer, who had imagined countless possibilities for his fate, suddenly had his eyes burst with rage; his breathing grew ragged, and his bloodshot eyes stared fixedly at Luo De without letting go.

That look seemed as if he wanted to devour someone.

Luo De leaned in close to his ear with a smug smile and whispered softly: "Sorry, I lied to you."

(End of chapter)