Chapter 291 - 281: Changes in the Thought Realm

Chapter 291: Chapter 281: Changes in the Thought Realm

Lloyd let out a hearty, blood-curdling scream, which was immediately followed by a series of surprised shouts from outside:

"What? There’s someone alive in there? And they’re calling for help?"

"Careful! It could be a Demon!"

"Fall back! On guard!"

As it turned out, his shout didn’t bring the reinforcements inside. Instead, they immediately began setting up a defensive perimeter around the area...

Lloyd was speechless. He had no choice but to get up from the floor, hoist an investigator under each arm, and drag them outside.

With his current athlete-level fitness, dragging them wasn’t hard, just a bit slow...

The moment he got outside, he was met with the sight of a dozen gun muzzles pointed right at him...

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Friendly!"

Lloyd said quickly, hastily setting the two investigators down and pulling the Holy Judgment Court’s insignia from his coat.

"I’m Lloyd, an Executioner from the Eighteenth District."

The unfamiliar Knight Commander leading the group opposite him shouted uncompromisingly:

"In the name of Veto!"

Lloyd felt a force instantly seize control of his body. He could only stand frozen in place, his hand still holding the insignia up, unable to move.

But compared to the time he was ’ambushed’ by that other Knight Commander, Wald, his situation was much better this time.

Last time, even breathing had been difficult, and it took him a great deal of effort to break free, ultimately only managing it with the help of the Saint Statue.

This time, however... although he hadn’t actually tried, Lloyd was confident he could use [Twisted Realm] to Twist the effect of the [Veto] within ten seconds and break free.

’Did this Knight Commander hold back? Or is he just not as strong as Wald?’

’Or... have I gotten stronger?’

While he was pondering this, Lloyd saw the Knight Commander approach. The man first took the insignia from his hand to inspect it, then pulled out a flashlight and shone it in his face, dazzling him. Finally, he gripped Lloyd’s wrist and released a faint, weak wisp of inspiration to check his body.

But that inspiration was far too weak. Upon contact with Lloyd’s own inspiration, the Knight Commander’s face contorted in pain. He quickly let go of Lloyd’s wrist and asked, his face full of confusion:

"Such powerful inspiration... Aren’t you afraid of it?"

As he spoke, he dispelled the effect of the [Veto Declaration], handed Lloyd’s insignia back, and apologized.

"Sorry about that, brother. I heard something big went down in here, so I had to be careful."

"I get the reasoning, but did you really have to shine a flashlight in my eyes?"

Lloyd asked, rubbing his eyes.

He could understand being restrained by a [Veto Declaration], that was fine. But he just couldn’t stand having a flashlight shone in his eyes.

"Because if you weren’t human anymore, your eyes wouldn’t react to the light. The fact that it bothers you is a normal sign. Think of it as a small test."

the Knight Commander explained casually.

"Fair enough..."

Lloyd didn’t press the issue. He turned and pointed back toward the warehouse area.

"It’s safe in there now, but there’s still a scholar from the ’Prosperous and Contented’ investigation team inside. You should have your men go take a look."

The Knight Commander nodded, waved his hand, and his Crusaders got busy.

...

「About an hour later.」

Lloyd returned with the three injured individuals to the inn where they had first stayed.

The innkeeper here was already lying silently on the floor, motionless...

The old farmers he had seen in the fields earlier were also gone, probably lying motionless in their own homes.

As for the father who desperately missed his daughter, the one he had been looking for from the beginning, there was no trace of him from start to finish...

’Maybe it was just a story made up by that cult from the very beginning?’

But then Lloyd thought of that mass grave overgrown with weeds, and the single, clean plot within it.

’Was that also specially prepared just to make the story more convincing?’

For a moment, Lloyd didn’t have the energy to think about it.

’Whatever, let it be...’

He stood up, ready to bid farewell to the Knight Commander.

He had expected the man to have a ton of questions, but he seemed to have no curiosity at all. He didn’t ask a thing, merely busying himself with cleaning up the scene and carrying away the villagers who were still breathing and had a pulse.

He didn’t even ask about the cult. When Lloyd offered to tell him, he simply said they would wait for the people from the Saint’s Grace Court to arrive.

He was perfectly adhering to the ’Don’t Ask Too Much’ principle.

’How did he even know something was wrong here, and manage to bring people over so quickly?’

Although Lloyd was a little curious, he didn’t ask. He just said:

"I’ll leave the rest to you. I have to head back."

"Huh? It’s this late and you’re going back to the city?"

The Knight Commander finally asked a question.

"I’m picky about my bed. I can’t sleep anywhere else."

Lloyd explained casually as he pushed the door open and walked out.

"Wait!"

The Knight Commander seemed to want to stop him and quickly followed him out, but Lloyd was already nowhere to be seen.

Not even five seconds had passed, and a whole person had just vanished?

The Knight Commander stood outside the door, stunned for a moment, before murmuring to himself in awe:

"Lloyd... What a strange young man. I’ve heard quite a few people mention him, especially those two, Korall and Wald. Their assessment of him was extremely high, but meeting him in person, he just feels so mysterious..."

"As expected of the one the Saint ordered me to come and help..."

With that, he went back to dealing with the aftermath.

...

As for Lloyd, he had naturally used the Mizkakotok University brooch, tapping out the first frequency he’d figured out yesterday, and returned directly to his home.

With the help of his new skill, [Spatial Domination], the process was incredibly smooth. And after tapping it out once, he had a rough understanding of the specific meaning behind that frequency.

It was similar to coordinates like latitude and longitude, but more complex, involving more positional coefficients.

If these coordinate coefficients could be summarized or generalized, that frequency represented a location like ’by my sister’s side’.

So, after passing through the black wooden door in the rift, Lloyd returned directly to his own living room, where he saw Evelor curled up on the sofa, wrapped in a blanket like a cute little caterpillar.

It was already past midnight, and Evelor was asleep, tightly hugging the Hammerhead Shark Puppet.

But the moment Lloyd landed, the dazed hair on top of her head suddenly shot straight up, and she groggily opened her eyes.

"Huh? Yi, you’re back? You must be tired..."

"Why are you sleeping on the sofa?"

Lloyd asked, his heart aching for her.

"Mmm... I wanted to wait for Yi to come back, but I fell asleep without realizing it."

Evelor said with a lazy yet gentle smile, then continued:

"Yi, are you hungry? There’s still food on the table."

"I’m okay."

A warm feeling spread through Lloyd’s chest. He quickly lifted his sister’s petite body, carried her back to her room, and tucked her into bed until she was bundled up like a silkworm cocoon.

"Go to sleep."

"Mm, good night, Yi."

"Good night, sis."

Lloyd said, gently nuzzling his forehead against his sister’s before leaving her room and closing the door properly.

Then he took a quick shower and flopped onto his bed.

The little kitten had been left with Weiya to be spoiled rotten, so he had the bed all to himself.

Lloyd was exhausted, but he forced himself to enter the [Thought Realm], preparing to go to Elolo’s side.

But as soon as he entered, he noticed the scene before him was different.

The double-helix Spiral Tower from before had, at some point, become a quadruple-helix structure?

In addition to the original pure white and deathly gray, there was now a very, very faint bluish-white and a deep, dark, pitch-black.

’When did this turn into a barber shop?’

However, the two new colors looked rather ethereal, seeming to be just simple hues rather than having the tangible, material quality of the first two colors.

If he wasn’t mistaken, the bluish-white one should represent [Manifestation]. Once he completed his [Enlightenment] and officially entered the system, it too would become tangible.

But as for the deep, pitch-black color, he couldn’t tell what it was for now...

’Judging by the shade and tone, it looks a bit like the blackness within a spatial rift. If I’m not mistaken, it’s probably related to space?’

Along with the change in the Spiral Tower, the surrounding circle of green grass was also different. It had expanded by several rings, but now its outermost edge was bordered by a deep chasm, so deep he couldn’t see the bottom, as if it connected to the endless Abyss.

Lloyd only glanced at it briefly, not daring to look too closely, and had no idea what was down there.

And there was no way he was going down to explore, even if this was, in theory, his own personal [Thought Realm].

Then again, according to the Chief Judge’s notes, every person’s [Thought Realm] is a manifestation of their subconscious. Once it solidifies at the beginning, it almost never changes, and it shouldn’t contain things that are unfamiliar or disliked by the person.

And yet, look at his [Thought Realm]...

Not only did it have a desolate, dead atmosphere that he disliked, but strange things also kept popping up for no reason...

However, the Chief Judge hadn’t mentioned what it meant if incomprehensible sights appeared in one’s [Thought Realm], or what one should do about it.

In other words, this didn’t necessarily mean there was something wrong with his mind or subconscious. It could just be that because he was so outstanding and talented, his [Thought Realm] was different from others’.

’Yes! That must be it. After all, I have the persona of a unique and independent young man, so of course my [Thought Realm] has to be unique too!’

Lloyd comforted himself.