Chapter 489: Subversion

Frankenstein's army had reached its end, yet Du Zhengyi still did not answer Luo Qi's question; he stared silently at that roll of Baby Book. Luo Qi took the opportunity to hand the book to him, but he stood straight as a rod. The situation became somewhat absurd, with a Baby Book separating the two men, the atmosphere solemn and murderous; the Qionglin War God even refused to reach out and touch that book the entire time.

"It's not that dirty, I wiped it," Luo Qi said, patting the cloth book, "and it doesn't bite."

"The symbols inside this can only be studied by Mages who have reached their seventh year of cultivation," Du Zhengyi said.

"That's why I don't recognize more than a few," Luo Qi muttered.

"These characters have always been regarded as the spells of the Progenitor Mages, a sacred existence. You might not care, but most Mages take pride in mastering over a hundred spells. Ancient families all treasure some secret spells that are never passed on, and the smartest Mages, like Liu Ziyu, make discovering new ancient languages their life's pursuit. I never imagined that one day, the spells of the Progenitor Mages would appear on a Baby Book," Du Zhengyi said solemnly, then added, "There might even be drool on it."

"If you put it that way, is this not the secret buried in Gushan?" Luo Qi asked craftily.

Du Zhengyi remained silent, ignoring Luo Qi's opportunistic probing.

"No more jokes, your complexion is very bad," Luo Qi said. "I felt the hurt... perhaps even if I stabbed you in the back, it wouldn't hurt you this deeply."

"Get out of my Mental Space," Du Zhengyi said, though his tone was not particularly harsh. Luo Qi was still lingering at the edge of his barrier, and he could likewise feel Luo Qi's emotions, and he could also perceive the wounds in Luo Qi's mind. Luo Qi's wounds were because Qionglin had nearly destroyed his dignity; Qionglin had dealt him a heavy lash, as if they could strip away his right to exist, as if he were merely a beast. His own wounds, however, were due to a wavering of faith; misty gray fog had begun to drift through his Mental Space, and a faint, spicy bitterness swept across the tip of his tongue—that was the taste of betrayal, yet he did not know what that... that thing... that had betrayed him actually was.

Luo Qi did not move away, as if intending to drive someone to madness; he even closed his eyes, becoming more immersed in another world, pressing against Du Zhengyi's soul, experiencing the joy of his own Mental Space resonating in harmony with it. He had long understood that the only way to keep one's mind healthy was to find a chord that resonated with it. For a Mind Mage, this was especially important; he vaguely guessed whether all Mind Mages actually ended up entwining themselves with the souls of others. Because ordinary human social activities like chatting, eating, playing ball, or watching movies did not seem to satisfy the group activity needs of Mind Mages.

"I'm afraid the Supreme Committee itself cannot explain these things." Du Zhengyi had no heart to push Luo Qi out; he also felt a low melody, like a spirit humming an ancient fragment. This sound was not heard through the ears, but as long as he concentrated, he could feel the melody rising behind his head. He felt as if he were distracted, and the headache was no longer obvious; the entwining melody seemed capable of smoothing out his Mental Space, which had been noisy and restless all along. "Mages are not interested in history; this... is perhaps indeed very ignorant."

"Have you ever thought that we couldn't possibly be the first to discover this?" Luo Qi slowly opened his eyes, looking as exhausted as if he were falling apart; whatever hormone stimulation had been supporting him before was now beginning to fade. He squinted his eyes and hid the Baby Book into his inner pocket. "Look at the scale of this place; whoever did this, they hid a world. This place is a fragment of a world, and this book is a fragment of that fragment. There couldn't just be one fragment, and it couldn't be such a coincidence that we are the first to discover a fragment. The old captain knew quite a few secrets; why did he choose death rather than board the Mages' ship? Why would Shi Xiansheng of the Black Market rather spend his final moments feeding dogs than take a Ship Ticket? Perhaps as long as one is a true Great Mage and lives long enough, one will discover something."

Du Zhengyi looked at him and said in a low voice, "Perhaps your father discovered something too."

A series of complex expressions flashed across Luo Qi's face. "Perhaps." Suddenly he shivered. "Alien!" "You discovered an Alien here?" Du Zhengyi asked.

"No." Luo Qi recoiled, and Du Zhengyi saw it. He avoided Du Zhengyi's gaze; he did not want to say that he had experienced a hallucination here, and in that hallucination, he was the Alien. He had lost himself, lost himself once. He had read in the library of the Society of Mind Mages that failing to recognize one's own self was a great taboo for a Mind Mage; that might be the beginning of schizophrenia. In his brain, the memories of the Alien were the most numerous, so his initial loss of self had plunged into the world of the Alien.

He coughed and focused his attention, not wanting to leak any more information. Du Zhengyi was someone who could see through people without even needing Telepathy. "I remembered, my dad had contact with Aliens."

"Hmm," Du Zhengyi said. "I remembered, the Alien that attacked us was released by your dad, controlled by your dad."

"Then do you still feel you were wrong now, and he was right?" Luo Qi asked.

Du Zhengyi held back, but still smiled. "So... is there any special gain from having contact with Aliens?"

"The Alien Queen has lived from the era of the Progenitor Mages until now. Although they are in a dormant state most of the time, they have been awakened periodically after all." Luo Qi said with some excitement, "They are the true witnesses. I saw the Progenitor Mages in the Queen's memories. At least... I believe they were Progenitor Mages."

"You're only telling me this now?"

"One of the Progenitor Mages looked exactly like an Alien, but taller than all the Aliens. If I tell you this, will you believe me, or will you think I was having a hallucination at the time?" Luo Qi said. "If I told you in such detail, you would only give me medicine to take."

"A Progenitor Mage cannot be an Alien," Du Zhengyi said, almost with disgust.

"There was a humanoid female Mage beside him," Luo Qi said.

Du Zhengyi grasped his meaning. "We really did come into contact with a replica of a Progenitor Mage, and she was indeed a woman."

"Legend says there were three Progenitor Mages, but no one knows their gender," Luo Qi said. "In the Alien Queen's memory, when she was awakened again, the woman was already gone, which also matches the situation of her being imprisoned. Most importantly, the Queen recognized that the Mage who awakened her was the same giant Alien that had captured and imprisoned them back then; that Mage's appearance had already changed into an extremely aged male Mage."

Du Zhengyi pondered for a while. "There is no record showing that Progenitor Mages could transform into other forms. They could condense better inorganic bodies than we can, but even blooming a flower between their fingers is impossible; that violates the basic laws of Magic."

"Then this matter can be left for later; perhaps we can find more fragments to piece the puzzle together in the future. I saw this because it is the deepest memory in the Queen's mind; it has to do with them being imprisoned and enslaved, which was the most profound stimulus for her. Her memories are still in my brain; I haven't gone in to trace them carefully yet, perhaps I can find other important information from within." Luo Qi said.

Du Zhengyi was silent for a while, then said slowly, "I can't say I understand the affairs of you Mind Mages, but I instinctively feel that you storing someone else's brain in your own is very dangerous. If a Battle Mage senses danger, it is often truly dangerous."

"Brother, I am not storing someone else's brain, only memories—static memories, no other person's brain. These things are too important; we cannot trust others, we cannot find other Mind Mages to work with me, and I will not commit this part of the memory into a crystal."

"Highland Mage..."

"Highland Mages are the same; they are all god-bothering guys, they might just delete my memories directly," Luo Qi said.

"I mean, at least you should promise to go and study diligently with the Highland Mages to be a Mind Mage, and wait until your foundation is solid before deciding whether to touch these other people's memories," Du Zhengyi said.

"Oh." Luo Qi breathed a sigh of relief. "I promise."

"Lying," Du Zhengyi said with a cold face.

Luo Qi licked his chapped lips and squinted at Du Zhengyi. "Then it depends on you; if you have time, I can take everything slowly."