Chapter 448: I… I haven

"You wrote it down?" Negril leaned over to look, glanced once, and sneered: "What the hell is this? How could it be this simple? I glanced at it and saw at least two thousand independent arrays—you don't even have two hundred."

Ang ignored it and continued tinkering, occasionally zooming in, flipping, and inserting.

Du Luo watched in awe; as an alchemist, he knew all too well how terrifying such precise control was. Though he could achieve it too, doing it as effortlessly as Ang was nearly impossible.

This was clearly not Ang's limit—he kept recalling while continuously inserting new arrays, the number of arrays rising steadily, yet his mana signature remained perfectly stable, meaning he wasn't straining at all, leaving everyone baffled about the true extent of his control.

Ang amused himself off to the side while Negril continued describing the situation within the Sorcerer's Ladder, and together they analyzed it.

Anthony said: "Without doubt, the Sorcerer's Alliance's Church of Light is fake—or rather, a cult of false gods. The words these classical priests speak have overturned the entire theological system, creating a paradox of faith—God is omnipotent, yet cannot create a stone He cannot lift."

"Light shines upon the earth, yet cannot reach the realm of the undead, requiring the God of Truth to create a divine realm—this essentially places the God of Truth above the Light. Don't their clerks find this strange when they say it?"

"An ugly handsome man? A fat skinny person? A diligent lazy person? Such logically flawed statements, spoken with absolute conviction by a high cleric—how absurd." Anthony scoffed.

Negril asked curiously: "Does the Prime Plane not have such sayings? Like 'God is omnipotent'?"

Anthony looked at it with a strange expression and said: "Of course we do. If your faith is strong, God is omnipotent. If God fails to manifest power, it's because your faith wavers—God's power cannot reach you."

"Ku Bada, you can explain it like that? I get it—when you fail exams, it's not because I'm inadequate, it's because your belief in knowledge isn't strong enough. You're wavering, distracted, not properly absorbing knowledge, so the God of Knowledge won't protect you. Oh my, why didn't I think of this before? So careless, so careless." Negril slapped its waist muscles, sighing heavily.

No wonder Anthony's expression was so strange—here was a living counterexample.

"Because the doctrine was distorted, this is merely a cult wearing the guise of the Church of Light, so all faith is offered to the God of Truth. But what about this spirit?" Anthony asked, puzzled.

Negril grumbled: "A spirit is a collective of group belief, formed when a large number of people share a common imagined entity—like ancestors, heroes, or totems."

"What's the difference between it and a god?" Anthony asked—he didn't understand spirits well.

Negril paused, hesitating: "If you insist on a difference, both are powered by belief. The distinction might be like the chicken-and-egg problem. Spirits arise from a unified imagined entity first, then the spirit is born. Gods exist first, then unify their followers' thoughts."

Here, Negril fell into deep thought—it had never deeply considered the difference between spirits and gods before, but now, analyzing this way, weren't spirits and gods essentially the same?

The primary god of Light could also be considered a spirit—or a totem.

First came worship of the sun as a totem, then the concept of Light emerged. But the sun is a physical object, hanging in the sky, lacking mystery and distance—unsuitable for divine pretense.

So the Church of Light developed, defining itself based on longing for light, the future, and beauty.

Only after the Church of Light arose did powerful figures emerge, then the later gods of Light—all confirmed by the God of Life.

Now consider Red Star—he's a spirit. But is he a god? First came the person Red Star, then the shared imagination of him, which birthed the spirit.

But is the spirit equal to Red Star? No.

Just as Negril was agonizing over this, Ang suddenly looked up and said: "Stupid."

Those words pierced Negril's thoughts like a flash of insight—it slapped its waist muscles: "Yes, stupid! That's the greatest difference between spirits and gods! Since they're formed from collective thought, they have no wisdom—they only act according to group belief."

"But gods aren't like that. Gods have wisdom, strategy, cunning, selfishness. They can be as adorable as Redemption, or as treacherous as the God of Arbitration."

"But the biggest difference should be how their power manifests. Spirits are formed from shared imagination—they only possess power if they conform to that imagination."

"If it's a hero, its power comes from people's image of a hero. If it flees, it loses the hero's image—and thus all power. But gods don't. Gods will tell you, 'I fled because your faith is weak.'"

Everyone listened, nodding in sudden understanding. Silvercoin praised: "No wonder he's the God of Knowledge—his analysis is logical, clear, and convincing."

Anthony also marveled: "Only Great Negril could analyze this distinction from such a height. Doesn't this mean this spirit truly designed the Starburst Array?"

Negril's tail curled up triumphantly: "Absolutely. Otherwise, it couldn't have generated shared imagination."

Anthony said: "We should add this Starburst Spirit to our intelligence targets. We need to figure out the structure of the Starburst Array."

"By the way." Negril suddenly remembered: "When you saw the Skytree seed, why did you shake your head? Is the seed fake?"

Ang didn't look up, just shook his head: "Not pollinated."

"Pfft—Not pollinated? That seed won't sprout?" Negril gasped.

Ang tilted his head: "Different plant—I can."

Negril blinked: "You mean either find a second different Skytree plant to pollinate it, or you'll germinate it yourself?"

Ang shook his head, repeating: "Different plant—I can."

"Uh… even if you find a different plant, you still have to pollinate it yourself?" Negril guessed.

Ang finally nodded.

Negril understood. Ang never boasted. Now he emphasized only he could pollinate—likely similar to grafting a diseased World Tree branch into essence fluid and using the Rapid Death Aura to force fruit. Only Ang could do it.

Negril turned to Silvercoin: "Is there a second Skytree?"

Silvercoin shook his head: "Not even a second seed. Only one seed exists."

Ang looked up: "Fruit."

"Oh? So that's a fruit, not a seed?" Silvercoin realized.

Even the fruit was only one. No need to wonder—it was extinct.

They quickly set aside the Skytree. Anthony said: "Now let's analyze the Sorcerer's Ladder. Du Luo, you're more familiar with this—based on your experience, how would you describe the Sorcerer's Ladder…?"

…

The Sorcerer's Alliance's arrival had an immediate effect on stabilizing the entire plane's order. In some ways, they replaced the Undead Empire, enabling movement across all regions.

They freely distributed convenient rice cakes, stabilized grain prices, deployed airships to clear bandits from roads, reopened trade routes, arbitrated disputes between city factions, and reduced the risk of war.

The Sorcerer's Alliance didn't need to do much—even didn't need to send personnel to manage—the plane rapidly stabilized.

The entire plane was largely in a city-state autonomy state; each city had its own self-governance. Grain was stored, but distribution was uneven due to severed trade routes and hoarding.

Now that trade routes were open and rice cakes stabilized prices, hoarders couldn't profit. Unscrupulous merchants were forced to sell at a loss, dumping stock at rock-bottom prices.

Grain prices fell, trade flowed freely, selling grain became profitable. Honest merchants began transporting and selling grain to earn a living.

With full stomachs, other demands arose. Consumption upgraded. Many factions began organizing agricultural production.

If this continued, the plane's peace would be imminent. But how could the Undead Council allow them to peacefully seize legitimacy?

Silvercoin pulled out an idea from the House of the Departed, face pale as he reported: "The Sorcerer's Ladder that descended on the Dongnai Peninsula has been captured by undead."

"What? The Sorcerer's Ladder? Captured? How is that possible?" Anthony exclaimed.

Previously, Anthony wouldn't have been so shocked. But after Ang infiltrated the Sorcerer's Ladder and understood its structure, he didn't believe it could be so easily overrun.

The Ladder's 'umbrella' was a protective shield, extendable to the ground at any time, fully enclosing the Ladder. To enter, you had to break the shield first.

Second, all Sorcerer's Alliance airships, vehicles, and constructs were designed specifically against undead. Their materials were immune to soul penetration.

Meaning, the undead's most potent soul and mental attacks couldn't harm the airships, vehicles, or anyone inside the Ladder.

Third, they had the Annihilation Sphere and similar tools—undead waves relying on numbers had no advantage.

Moreover, they landed in strategically defensible locations. Dongnai Peninsula? A peninsula—three sides surrounded by sea. The undead couldn't leverage their numerical superiority.

Even if they lost, they could flee. Just raise the Ladder. If the Ladder couldn't rise in time, the three rings and chains were independent chambers—each could detach and escape independently. How could it be captured?

Silvercoin said: "Last night, a cold wave hit the Dongnai Peninsula. The Undead Council deployed twenty Lich Kings and Undead Saints, amplifying the cold wave's power, freezing the Sorcerer's Ladder solid—and the sea too."

"Once the cold wave ceased, millions of undead surged onto the Dongnai Peninsula across the frozen sea. The Sorcerer's Alliance exhausted all Annihilation Spheres, then was overwhelmed."

"The three rings disintegrated to escape, but most were shot down by Spirit Dragon Knights. The Ladder's main pillar was seized by the undead."

Du Luo gasped: "Spirit Dragon Knights? The Neiwen Knights?"

Silvercoin spread his hands. The information he gathered from the House of the Departed contained no details about those Spirit Dragon Knights' identities.

Anthony muttered: "Looks like the Undead Empire isn't to be underestimated. Though most of their high-ups are trapped with Your Majesty in the Annihilation Barrier, those left behind are no pushovers. Using weather to launch an attack—brilliant strategy."

At that moment, light suddenly flared outside. Everyone stepped out and saw several beams of light flashing erratically from the Sorcerer's Ladder beyond the city.

Instantly, airships and vehicles from all over the city launched toward the Ladder.

"They're recalling personnel. Are they leaving?" Silvercoin asked.

"Probably," Anthony said. Just then, Du Luo swept his hand forward—a 'mirror' appeared before him.

In the mirror: a street outside the Governor's Mansion. That was the fake address assigned to Ang's 'farmer father-daughter' household.

Ang spent all day at the Governor's Mansion—his behavior didn't match his cover identity. So Anthony carefully arranged a false address: a simple house connected by a secret tunnel to the mansion.

Surveillance was assigned to Du Luo. He'd clearly spotted something.

In the mirror, a cloaked figure entered the alley leading to the 'farmer father-daughter' home. The figure's curvaceous silhouette, even through the loose cloak, was unmistakable.

"Mo Nika?" Negril gasped. "Ang, hurry, hurry, go back!"

Ang led the little angel through the secret tunnel back to the fake address. Mo Nika was already knocking.

Opening the door, Mo Nika saw them and smiled: "Perfect—I didn't get the wrong place. Sorry to visit so late, but I have no choice—we're leaving, right now. Oh, little one, would you like to come with me?"

The little angel stared, utterly bewildered.

Mo Nika laughed again: "I knew you'd act like this. Keep pretending. I'm not asking you to leave anyone. Mr. Ang, would you and the little one join the Sorcerer's Alliance?"

Ang shook his head.

Mo Nika wasn't disappointed—she'd expected this. She smiled: "I knew you'd refuse. I won't press you. Take this—care for the little one. Take care of yourself. Hope we meet again."

As she spoke, she slipped a small pouch into Ang's hand. The texture was unmistakable—magic crystal.

She'd come all this way at night just to say goodbye and give money. After handing it over, she stepped back two paces, waving at the little angel: "Little one, I'm off. See you sometime!"

Ang stared at the birthmark on her face, restless.

The beams outside the city suddenly cut off. The night sky darkened. Then, the Sorcerer's Ladder glowed faintly and slowly rose…

Mo Nika's eyes widened. She looked from the rising Ladder to Ang, panicked: "I… I haven't boarded yet."