Chapter 555: The Pressure Is on Weiser

Sure enough, Silver Lamp, or Weiser, was inside the Uploading Chamber, seated in the front row on the lowest level, as close to the Grand Laws as possible.

The Transcendent headquarters featured an exceptionally sophisticated internal surveillance system, monitoring everything from optics and infrared to temperature. On top of all that, the sensory information of every Transcendent believer was uploaded to the computational core. In theory, every believer functioned as a walking surveillance camera. With such comprehensive security, dismissing Ashe and the others' warning was only natural. No one had ever managed to infiltrate the facility before.

However, Miracles existed precisely to defy common sense.

Every device in the Transcendent headquarters was a relic of the Gray Fox Age. During that glorious age, anything that could be made as a fantasy artifact was made as one. There was simply no reason to make an ordinary counterpart. Take infrared sensors, for example. The Gray Fox Era certainly could have produced pale creations, but since they could make fantasy artifacts that would never break down, ordinary sensors that deteriorated with time and environmental exposure were rendered entirely obsolete.

In every kingdom, pale creations were transitional products that appeared only during the early stages of civilization. They operated purely according to the laws of physics without the involvement of spirits from the Virtual World, meaning even ordinary people could manufacture them.

As the number of sorcerers skyrocketed, fantasy creations naturally rendered pale creations obsolete across the board, offering superior production efficiency, yield, and performance. Because it was the spirits, rather than the creations themselves, that actually powered fantasy creations, maintaining them was remarkably simple. All it took was money.

If a fantasy creation were a factory, its spirit would be the worker. The owner could change at any time, but as long as someone kept paying the worker, the factory would keep running. Even if the factory were destroyed, paying the worker enough would allow it to rebuild the facility itself. Self-repair was one of the traits that allowed fantasy creations to completely outclass their pale counterparts.

Unlocking this particular branch of the technology tree was no easy feat for a kingdom. In Blood Moon and Gospel, only a small number of high-end luxury creations possessed this feature. The Gray Fox Age, however, had made it standard across the board. Otherwise, keeping this building running normally would have been impossible for the Transcendent Temple.

This was also why Weiser could hide inside the building so effortlessly. She was not simply deceiving the optical sensors or temperature monitors individually. Instead, she directly manipulated the spirits connected to those fantasy creations, making them perceive an illusion.

No era had ever been capable of mass-producing spirits belonging to the three mysterious sorcery classes, Truth, Fate, and Prophecy. Gray Fox creations were no exception. No matter how many defensive measures they had been equipped with, a single Truth Class Miracle was all it took to pierce through them.

Right now, both the fantasy creations and the Transcendent believers saw her as nothing more than another Transcendent believer. Besides concealing her identity with an Illusion Class Miracle, she had also dressed exactly like one of them, complete with external implants and the standard blue-and-white uniform. The Crowslaughters were immune to the effects of Miracles and could perceive her true appearance directly. She therefore had to disguise herself completely to avoid any unexpected encounter with them.

As she eyed the two Grand Laws at the center of the chamber, Weiser quietly waited for the Mind Method Session at 7:45 p.m.

Several Gray Fox Mind Methods had survived into the Myriad Continent. Through a few minutes of self-massage and meditation, they could enhance both physical ability and mental acuity. Their effects, however, were so subtle that they never gained widespread popularity.

During the Transcendent worship ceremony, believers were required to engage in prolonged brainstorming, placing tremendous demands on both mental and physical stamina. The Mind Method proved extremely effective for them. Believers would close their eyes, massage specific acupoints on their heads with their fingers, empty their minds of distracting thoughts, and visualize their desired state. In short, they became completely defenseless.

After experiencing the Transcendent worship ceremony once, Weiser immediately realized the Mind Method Session offered the perfect opportunity to steal a Grand Law.

The Sudoku puzzle floating in front of her did nothing to draw her mind into the worship ceremony. Calamity Flame, the Four Pillars, Transcendent. None of their worship ceremonies could shake her soul.

Worship existed for the weak, allowing them to strengthen their faith and ideals. The strong had no need for worship because every action they took was itself an act of worship.

Right now, her mind was occupied with the kind of relationship Silver Lamp, Ashe, Weiser, and the Watcher should maintain from this point onward. An event was but a link in a chain, branching into countless unseen consequences.

After Ashe made his grand entrance using the opportunity she deliberately provided, the Music Day Alliance would inevitably take notice of a man capable of serving as a universal vessel for Divine Possession.

To make use of Ashe, the Music Day Alliance would not let him starve until the Blood Seed drained him dry, nor would they allow him to wander around freely. Every sect wanted a spokesperson capable of perfect Divine Possession.

Supported by a Mind Class sorcerer in reality and her advice in the Virtual World, Ashe did not need to join any sect. Even as a mercenary, he could become an honored guest of the Music Day Alliance.

Then she would deliberately cause trouble, since she needed to steal the other Grand Laws anyway, and give Ashe opportunities to demonstrate his strength. Before long, Ashe would become a major figure renowned throughout the Myriad Continent. He would gain not only fame but also power.

Power resembled sulfuric acid. In an appropriate dose, it reacted beneficially with life. Once it exceeded a certain threshold, however, power could corrode anyone's mind.

In the relatively short time she had spent with Ashe, Weiser had already realized that he had very few weaknesses to exploit. Or perhaps he was simply easily satisfied. Unless someone captured him and subjected him to brutal torture or became one of the people closest to him, stripping away everything he possessed would prove difficult.

People like him were exceptionally rare in the Myriad Continent. Regardless of sect or race, the ideals and desires of the people of the Myriad Continent burned hotter than the sun in the sky and ran deeper than the spirals beneath the earth. Weiser moved freely between sects precisely because everyone harbored vulnerabilities in their minds.

Her first step therefore involved turning Ashe into someone with a vulnerability. Power was the poison she prepared for him. She liked people who were powerful yet imperfect, much like people favored beautiful pets lacking total independence. Since he had no interest in ideals, she would let him taste the sweetness of power, and then—

Hm?

Weiser suddenly raised her head. Knowing Ashe and the others waited in the passageway, she had transformed the Thousand Gears spirit into a Projection spirit, casting the surveillance footage from the passageway cameras onto her pupils. This allowed her to monitor Ashe and the others in real time and coordinate with them more effectively.

She saw Harvey enter his Frost and Flowing Fire state, leave Ashe and the others, and head toward the opposite end of the passageway.

Why?

She saw the Crowslaughter pick Ashe up and assume a running stance.

Why?

She saw even the most rational Mind Class sorcerer preparing a Miracle.

Why?

She had already given them the highest-scoring answer. Why scribble all over the test paper instead?

The necromancer and Crowslaughter were hopeless oversized meat puppets, but why wasn't the Mind Class sorcerer, who understood human hearts and always prioritized his own interests, stopping Ashe?

Even Weiser, the calmest Truth Class sorcerer and an unwavering Night Traveler, could not suppress her helplessness at the absurdity of the situation upon seeing the Wraith Knight spread despair and the Crowslaughter charge forward with Ashe in his arms. Do they think the world is being too kind to them, so they decided to make things harder for themselves?

Then came her fury at these idiots. How could they ruin my perfect plan like this?

No matter how much Weiser screamed inside, the instant Ashe seized the initiative, the pressure fell entirely on her. She had to make a choice.

Weiser nearly ground her silver teeth to dust. She transformed Thousand Gears into the Lightstream spirit, then hastily constructed a Miracle known as Flash of Light from it.

She could, in fact, construct this Miracle using the Insight spirit. However, she absolutely could not use in reality any skill she had already revealed in the Virtual World.

As Ashe descended from above and approached the Grand Law, she too transformed into a streak of light and shot into the chamber.

She could not compete with Ashe directly. Without an overwhelming advantage in strength, she could not guarantee that she could wrest the Grand Law from the one person capable of performing the perfect Divine Possession!

In the blink of an eye, Ashe touched the giant wolf crackling with golden lightning, while Weiser touched the hamster wrapped in blue lightning.