Chapter 209: 215.Chapter 215 The Human Heart Is a Chasm, Darkness Hard to Fathom

215. Chapter 215 The Human Heart Is a Chasm, Darkness Hard to Fathom

"The little guy seems to have discovered something."

In the headquarters of Riverside Academy, where spacetime coordinates are strictly confidential, the long-secluded Rivo Great Sage and Sosi Great Sage sit opposite each other, having not ventured out for many years.

The Rivo Great Sage, with white hair casually draped behind his head, has lived nearly nineteen hundred years yet appears as a young man in his twenties, and he sighs with a contented smile.

"So what if he discovered something? What can he change now? Isn't everything under your control?"

The Sosi Great Sage casually replied.

She is beautiful in appearance, slender in figure, and outstanding in demeanor.

Looking at her, one would not think she is also an elder who has lived nearly nineteen hundred years.

Her entire being exudes a youthful and lovely aura.

More charming than a maiden, yet more maidenly than a mature woman.

She can be seen as a young married woman or an elder sister type—sweet or salty as desired.

Her appearance, demeanor, and age create a striking contrast.

For wizards, especially high-level wizards, maintaining eternal youth or returning to childhood is simple—there are countless methods.

But demeanor is closely tied to one's spiritual state.

The Sosi Great Sage has lived so long yet still maintains a remarkably youthful spirit—extremely rare, almost miraculous.

"That's what I say, but I really appreciate this little guy."

The Rivo Great Sage and Sosi Great Sage have known, understood, loved, and stayed with each other for nearly nineteen hundred years—how could they not understand each other's personalities and speech habits?

On trivial matters, they may disagree, but it's easily resolved.

She says her piece, he says his—no need to force a response.

Each speaks their own mind, and that's enough.

"Just so-so, not ordinary but not particularly outstanding either."

For some reason, the Sosi Great Sage opposes the Rivo Great Sage at every turn, speaking contrarily.

Clearly thinking otherwise in her heart, she insists on saying the opposite.

Seeing this, the Rivo Great Sage simply drops the topic and says to himself:

"As we draw ever closer to the time point mentioned in the final prophecy of the Nostradamus Saint before his demise, the 'Outsider' who could stabilize that ruined world and thus open a passage to the parallel universe behind it has still not appeared.

This has made many people somewhat anxious.

Even the Supreme Council has issued a joint decree by five Saints: whichever wizard organization discovers the 'Outsider' mentioned in the prophecy will be rewarded with abundant high-level resources.

If we find that 'Outsider,' we will obtain the resources we desperately need.

You've remained a Level 7 Wizard for too long—it's time to advance one level.

Then, both of us will be Level 8 Great Sages.

Our academy will no longer be confined to the Michelle District and can welcome better development."

The Sosi Great Sage replied: "We can slowly accumulate and still gather enough before the prophecy's time arrives—no need to forcefully seek whatever 'Outsider' or not."

"Not seeking forcefully is just a side matter."

The Rivo Great Sage explained the situation: "I noticed this little guy, and it's still because of Rosenthal."

"Rosenthal?"

The Sosi Great Sage exclaimed, "Isn't he utterly disheartened, choosing to return to his homeland to guard those few cultivation secret realms, waiting wholeheartedly to die? How did he get dragged into this?"

The Rivo Great Sage laughed:

"Waters wanted to use that little guy's 'Outsider' soul's special nature to nurture a 'Seed' formed from a broken world origin, as a backup for his ascension to Great Sage. (Chapter 38, Volume 3)

As it happened, Rosenthal stumbled upon this, perhaps on a whim, and ruined Waters' backup plan. (Chapters 54–56, Volume 3)

Waters dare not argue with Rosenthal, who is determined to die, for fear of losing face, so he reported it to me."

"Hmph!"

Upon hearing this, the Sosi Great Sage suddenly lowered her face and snapped, "A useless thing that can't even climb a wall—already a Level 6 Wizard, yet still pulling such disgraceful stunts, scheming against a Level 1 Wizard, truly bringing shame upon the Sages!"

"Back then, the little guy was still a Wizard Apprentice, not yet promoted to Official Wizard."

"Hmph!"

The Rivo Great Sage added a clarification, successfully making the Sosi Great Sage even angrier.

"Hehe..."

The Rivo Great Sage chuckled and said, "Waters likely feels guilty and still wants to save face, so he has no intention of bothering the little guy."

"Even if not utterly shameless, it's still shameless!"

After a while, once her emotions eased, the Sosi Great Sage casually asked: "Since he's not the 'Outsider' you're looking for, how do you plan to deal with him?"

"Deal with him?"

The Rivo Great Sage laughed and said, "Why deal with him? However you put it, the little guy is a rising star of our academy. The better he develops, the greater his help to us—why would I deal with him? Not only will I not deal with him, I will reward him and help him grow faster!"

"Alright, let's leave it at that."

Upon hearing this, the Sosi Great Sage suddenly felt a bit disinterested.

After all this talk, it's still about interests.

Her secret to maintaining a youthful spirit lies in minimizing scheming.

Whether scheming for gain or for people's hearts, avoid it if possible.

Without even moving, the circular light reflecting the entire scene of the ruined world's Shanghai City vanished.

Along with it disappeared the special Rule Power that veiled and guided the minds of forty-four people.

Immediately, her silhouette turned into a strand of light, unknown where it went.

The Rivo Great Sage remained seated in place for a while, murmuring to himself: "Where exactly are you?"

After all, the Great Sage Rivo still wants to find that special "Outsider" mentioned in the prophecy.

The Great Sage Sosi has been at the peak of Level 7 Wizard for too long.

If he stays any longer, he will completely lose the drive to advance.

Slowly accumulating resources—when will that day come?

Even if he doesn't go searching the ocean for a needle to find that special "Outsider," he must think of other ways to speed up resource accumulation.

Time waits for no one.

Special Ruin World.

Shanghai City, Chongming Island, deep underground.

Flandre's figure appeared in the vast warehouse, patrolling back and forth, checking the situation.

Through Flandre's vision, Lin Ke discovered that these combat robots were in excellent condition.

As long as power is supplied and they are awakened, they can be commanded for battle.

The only regret is that these combat robots use thermal weapons from the technological side.

Lin Ke certainly does not disdain the power of thermal weapons.

In a world with suitable rules, if a wizard does not dodge or avoid and chooses to withstand damage head-on:

A single conventional missile can still take down a Level 1 Wizard;

A single tactical nuclear missile can still take down a Level 2 Wizard;

A single high-yield nuclear missile can still take down a Level 3 Wizard;

The power of sufficiently lethal thermal weapons is still quite considerable.

What makes Lin Ke feel regretful is the incompatibility.

Thermal weapons on the technological side have relatively high requirements for usage environment and conditions.

With Lin Ke's current relatively superficial experience in interworld campaigns, he can see that thermal weapons entering other worlds, such as the Fairy World, would just be useless.

Not to mention the myriad worlds of the heavens, each with different rules.

One must know that even when the Wizard World organizes wizard legions to expedition to other worlds, they often have to rely on the Wizard World's World Will.

Otherwise, wizard tools would malfunction, and wizardry could not be cast—an awkward situation.

After careful consideration, weighing the pros and cons.

Lin Ke suppressed his desire and did not let Flandre open the "Small World" to pack up these combat robots, which could be recycled as materials or simply displayed as exhibits, along with the An-225 and Tu-160m, and move them all away.

Instead, he directly let Flandre go elsewhere to wander.

Out of sight, out of mind.

Some advantages can be taken, such as copying a large amount of knowledge;

Some advantages cannot be taken, such as these combat robots, the An-225, and the Tu-160m stored in the warehouse. Lin Ke, after all, entered this Special Ruin World only in his capacity as Leader and did not receive permission to plunder resources.

Although the Wizard World has no concept of causality and does not believe in fate,

many times, many things still deserve attention.

Lin Ke does not want himself, due to greed for small gains, to be drawn into greater turmoil.

Consciousness withdrew from Flandre's vision and returned to his true body.

Lin Ke then strolled leisurely on the street for a while, continuing to ponder the previous problem.

Suddenly, he noticed that the "cloth" covering his mind had disappeared at some point.

His thoughts no longer had that awkward feeling of restriction.

Recalling, that previous state which made Lin Ke feel very uncomfortable,

was quite similar to the theory mentioned in the sci-fi classic *Three-Body*, where Trisolaris locked Earth's theoretical physics ceiling, preventing renowned physicists from breaking through.

Now feeling physically and mentally relaxed, Lin Ke dares not temporarily ponder why this sudden change occurred.

He chooses to focus on fulfilling his duties as Leader and quickly returns to the underground fifth floor's vault.

The apprentice team is still busy searching for high-value supplies.

Lan Ni. Tai Le frowned tightly, deep in thought, as if sensing something unusual.

Upon seeing Lin Ke, Pex immediately stepped forward and spoke softly: "Leader..."

Just by looking at Pex's expression, Lin Ke guessed what Pex wanted to say.

He was momentarily speechless.

Is this something that can be said casually?

Do you not understand what caution means?

Lin Ke quickly raised his hand to stop Pex's words, using "Mind Communication Technique" to transmit secretly: "Many words lead to loss; think carefully and act prudently."

Pex's eyes suddenly widened, then he realized, corrected his unbalanced mindset after noticing the anomaly.

To make them fall into a confused state unknowingly without realizing it—what kind of person could do that? At the very least, they must be a Sage or above.

The purpose of the other party's action is unknown, their attitude unclear, suddenly withdrawing—moreover, the reason is unknown.

Having noticed it, I might as well pretend I didn't notice, or simply pretend it never happened.

Honestly complete this task, ignore everything else, and return intact—that is the top priority.

Having realized this, Pex looked at Lin Ke with grateful eyes.

The jealousy and resentment in his heart, stemming from his grandfather always praising Lin Ke but never him, have dissipated somewhat.

Unexpectedly, Linke Grande is actually quite nice.

At this moment, Lin Ke turned his attention to Lan Ni. Tai Le, wanting to see what reaction she would have now that she clearly sensed something.

After cultivating the "Great Universe Meditation Method," Lin Ke's originally continuously enhanced perception ability has further greatly increased.

Especially in intuition and foresight.

There was a faint sense of the completion of the sixth consciousness, "consciousness," in the Buddhist tradition of his past life.

Upon returning to the underground vault and seeing Lanny for the first time, Lin Ke intuitively felt that she had already perceived the changes in the mental realm.

Therefore, Lin Ke wanted to see how this intelligent peer of his age would react.

Lanny's reaction was simply no reaction.

She ended her contemplation, relaxed her brow, and continued to focus on directing the looting of the vault.

The only somewhat noticeable action was her taking out the Smart Brain, pulling up the previously filmed map of Shanghai City from Team Two, and glancing at it as if casually.

"This place."

Seeing this, Lin Ke was quite satisfied and decided to lend a hand to the Academy's team.

As the proper Leader, with his team failing to win in the exchange learning with Shadow City, Lin Ke also felt embarrassed.

Thus, using "Mind Communication," he transmitted sound secretly, whispering softly into Lanny's ear.

At the same time, he marked the location of that underground factory on the map.

That place is about 38 kilometers in a straight line from the Shanghai Center Tower, quite far.

Getting there would take some time.

However, according to the rules of this exchange learning, the Academy team had taken those combat robots, the An-225, and the Tu-160m bombers, so while not guaranteeing a sure win, at least the odds of winning would increase significantly.

Lanny's hand holding the Smart Brain trembled slightly, then quickly returned to calm.

She carefully examined the route between the two points, deciding to first scour the vault for high-value supplies, then head straight to the place Grande Wizard had told her.

For the Grande Wizard to personally inform her, this place must certainly not be simple.

It is likely to determine the outcome of this exchange learning.

Just as Lanny made this decision, Luna approached: "Captain, Team Two has spotted the Shadow City team leaving that building, heading our way at high speed, in combat formation."

Lanny decisively ordered: "You and Gillian gather the team members and prepare for defensive counterattack."

"Yes."

Luna loudly responded, immediately turning to carry out the order.

Under Luna's call, Teams One and Two quickly stopped their actions, ready for reconnaissance and also for attack.

Under Gillian's command, especially Team Three, they shifted duties, changing from search to defensive counterattack, and on the spot used the vault's terrain and buildings to quickly establish a solid defensive line.

Through the real-time imagery scouted by Team Two, Lanny discovered that the Shadow City team's target was extremely clear: they were heading straight for the Underground Fifth Floor.

What's going on?

How did the other side suddenly become so reckless?

Do they think the supplies they've gathered are already enough, so they don't intend to keep gathering, but instead switch to filming to disrupt the rhythm?

Or do they intend to launch a full-scale team wipeout directly?

Lanny bit her lip, and since that was the case, she decided not to worry about it and just fight directly.

Finish the fight early, finish work early.

Lin Ke gave Pex a glance, signaling him to keep watch.

He then floated out of the underground structure, arrived at the surface, and intercepted Christina.

Using "Mind Communication," he transmitted sound secretly and asked: "What's going on over there? Are you not planning to gather supplies, but preparing to fight directly?"

Black smoke in the shape of a snake appeared, outlining a sentence: "Someone detected a change, interpreting it as a hint that the mission had entered the second phase—from limited gathering to unlimited melee—and thus..."

After reading it, Lin Ke felt as if three black lines had appeared on his forehead.

A staged change notification for the mission's focus?

Can changes in the mental realm really be understood this way?

What kind of neural circuitry would allow one to think like this?

After thinking, Lin Ke still asked directly: "Isn't there anyone with another opinion?"

Christina shook her head, her snake eyes looking puzzled at Lin Ke, the black smoke outlining the characters: "What other opinion could there be?"

emmm……

Lin Ke fell silent.

It turns out that on Shadow City's side, it's not just the Wizard Apprentices who think this way; even Christina, the proper Leader and Level 1 Wizard, views this sudden mental realm change in the same manner.

Are the neural circuits of Shadow System Wizards all this peculiar?

Lin Ke didn't understand and was greatly shocked.

"Forget it, as long as you're happy."

Similarly shaking his head, Lin Ke sighed with a hint of helplessness.

Starting the fight early, deciding the outcome early, finishing this exchange learning early—also acceptable, can be accepted.

It's just a pity for this rare opportunity.

Flandre is still wandering around Shanghai City, hoping to find the historical records she hasn't found yet.

Lin Ke intuitively believes that this Special Ruin World is basically impossible to be his past life's homeland.

Even if there are too many similar places, even identical ones.

For various reasons, he wants to learn about the history of this Special Ruin World.

Not for anything else, just to satisfy curiosity.

It's a pity that Flandre previously copied so much knowledge, but lacked history alone.

It seems to have been erased, as if wiped clean.