Chapter 1933: Persuasion Techniques

"Thanks for sharing. I'll take my leave for now."

Setting down his empty cup, Fu Qian stood up, thoroughly satisfied.

Though they hadn't touched on any core secrets, his primary goal here was research and study. This was already a bountiful harvest.

As for turning weapons into peace, Fu Qian wouldn't entertain such pointless fantasies.

They were all pragmatists. Sitting down for tea over a shared interest wouldn't stop them from trying to kill each other the next time they met.

"Do I just walk out through there?"

Offering a casual farewell, Fu Qian gestured toward the doorway.

"No need. I'll be the one leaving."

Nepheli casually waved a hand. The next moment, the tea set disappeared. Everything before his eyes—including her—began to blur.

This special space was rapidly vanishing—and so was the Spire outside.

In these final moments, even though the ship had merely glided past rather than crashing into it, the soaring Tower instantly became unreachable, turning into a flat decal pasted against the horizon.

Ahead, the direction The Ark was advancing toward plunged into a darkness completely devoid of stars.

"Stoss was right. That night was far more than a massacre for this world; even conceptual symbols and reality have become indistinguishably tangled..."

Involuntarily drawn to the sight, Nepheli left behind a final, sighing remark before she vanished.

Her words proved his earlier guess: nothing happening inside the ship could be hidden from her, including his conversation with the Old Man.

Truly a technical expert. Even though she had judged this ship's power to be chaotic and in need of purification, she could still control it to this extent.

"Should we head back?"

Pulling himself from his thoughts as the room rapidly returned to normal, Fu Qian checked in with Su Gao.

"Alright."

She clearly shared the sentiment and nodded decisively.

How they interpreted the changes outside was one thing, but with such a huge commotion, Excellency Stoss was likely growing anxious from the wait.

...

"Any discoveries?"

As it turned out, Excellency Stoss wasn't the only one waiting expectantly.

When they retraced their steps to the bottommost layer of The Ark, all three people looked over almost in unison.

Of course, even the Old Man who asked the question looked slightly relieved.

"The layer above has also been completely repaired. The ship currently appears stable."

"At present, it seems the commotion outside hasn't affected the interior. The source of these strange changes inside should be the ship itself."

Giving a slight nod in greeting, Fu Qian replied naturally.

"Indeed, I feel the same way."

The findings Fu Qian shared weren't completely unexpected. Both Stoss and Aike gave slight nods.

As for Professor Ah Kai, after briefly paying attention to the exchange, he returned to staring at the Items arrayed on the ground, frowning in deep thought.

"Unfortunately, there haven't been any findings on this end either."

The Old Man didn't reprimand him, frankly admitting that progress on both sides was currently less than ideal.

"Because of this, deciding how to proceed is obviously going to be tricky, and the changes outside are drastic—what do you think?"

Gesturing outside the ship, Stoss's expression grew serious.

In just that brief span of time, not even the silhouette of the Spire could be seen anymore. Their surroundings had plunged into almost total darkness, making it difficult to judge if they were still moving forward.

The only slight comfort was the faint humming that had been drifting in and out of hearing since the beginning.

It remained ethereal, yet it never ceased.

"It really doesn't look good."

Watching this increasingly incomprehensible sight, Fu Qian wasn't blindly optimistic.

"So, do you think we should resort to our last option?"

The Old Man's gaze was heavy as he asked, clearly weighing a difficult decision.

"We shouldn't."

However, the operations advisor's choice didn't sound difficult at all; his opinion was crystal clear.

"Why are you so sure? Do you have any basis?"

The reaction was instantly intense. Ah Kai couldn't help but look over, while Demigod Aike didn't even care about being impolite and interrupted directly.

"I'm not sure, actually."

Fu Qian shook his head.

"Because we lack evidence, we can't be certain if continuing to wait will doom us for eternity. But by the same token, we also can't be sure if using brute force won't doom us just the same."

...

Excellency Nepheli must have wondered what reason Professor Fu would use to persuade Excellency Stoss without exposing her.

The Old Man's methods might be a bit overbearing, but he was definitely no brute.

Playing smart and fabricating a story might just trigger his suspicions instead.

Heh... how narrow-minded.

Why did persuasion require a reason? Only an unconvincing advisor needed one.

There was a little thing called credibility.

His stellar performance along the way finally held true meaning at this moment.

In a situation where they were completely in the dark and lacked any basis to judge right from wrong, the opinion of someone with enough weight would serve as the reason.

And there were even two such reasons.

"Su Gao... what do you think?"

This unexpected response clearly took Excellency Stoss by surprise, but after a moment's thought, he had to concede to Fu Qian's little tongue-twister.

With absolutely no basis to judge whether the outcome would be good or bad, resorting to brute force in this situation was purely a roll of the dice. It had nothing to do with being decisive and ruthless.

"I agree with Professor Fu's opinion."

Still concise and to the point, Su Gao gave her view without hesitation.

Although she offered no reason either, her track record throughout the journey was just as proven as Professor Fu's, so her opinion undoubtedly carried enough weight.

...

"So you lean toward continuing to wait until something appears that can support our judgment?"

The extraordinary resolve from the two of them clearly caught the Old Man off guard.

But it had to be said—amid a sea of hesitation, hearing a firm voice sometimes didn't feel too bad.

Stoss calmed down a fraction as he confirmed their thoughts on the next steps.

"Yes."

It was Su Gao who spoke once more. Having set the tone, Professor Fu had already retreated to the side, returning to his low profile.

"Alright."

Waiting without knowing the end point was undoubtedly a torment. But the Old Man had seen his fair share of storms, so he didn't make things too difficult. Foregoing further democratic consultation, he made a direct decision.

"Professor Ah Kai, have you—"

Just as he turned to Ah Kai beside him to check for any new progress, he was cut off by the man suddenly jumping up.

This wasn't the first time something like this had happened. Naturally, everyone immediately looked toward the area Ah Kai had been examining.

But this time, no vicious weapon like a scythe appeared there. Instead—

Fu Qian turned his head to look over his shoulder. Without a single sound, another downward passage had suddenly appeared here on this bottommost layer.