Warlock Apprentice

Chapter 2432: Chapter 2433: ”Song

When the Observer spoke, Angel finally understood why the Observer suddenly appeared.

Usually, the Observer cannot intervene in the world’s processes, except when executing his duties.

The Observer’s duty is to monitor various domains for the Orderly Guild and seek out disruptive items.

The reason the Orderly Guild can instantly know about disruptive items in various regions and dispatch Mystic Hunters to solve them is largely due to the Observer.

Now, a mysterious object is on the verge of becoming disruptive, so according to the rules, the Observer can naturally make some interference.

”So it’s a mysterious object...” Behind him, Nis and Ferro’s eyes flashed with comprehension. No wonder the attraction surpassed their understanding, even affecting the Shadow Avatar without desire.

If it’s a mysterious object, it makes sense. Angel’s Dream Conch, which can pull stones into dreams, something that completely overturns cognition, can only be a mysterious object.

”Sir, is the effect of that mysterious object attraction?” Angel asked curiously.

The Observer shook his head: ”It has just appeared, so I cannot make an accurate judgment. Perhaps attraction is indeed its effect, but it might also be that attraction is merely its pre-disruptive effect. Its effect might change after it matures.”

”Maturity refers to its continuous absorption of sea beast blood until the fruit undergoes a qualitative change?”

Observer: ”That should be the case.”

Hearing the Observer’s words, Nis murmured lowly: ”So it must be prevented from maturing before it becomes completely disruptive.”

The Observer glanced at Nis and said indifferently: ”If you can prevent it, you may go ahead and do so.”

Nis paused: ”Isn’t the Observer here to prevent the fruit from maturing?”

The Observer shook his head: ”Prevent? No. It hasn’t gone completely disruptive yet; all I can do now is observe and assess. Only after disruption can I take action.”

Nis: ”What if after disruption, you cannot handle it, Sir?”

The Observer: ”Then notify the Orderly Guild, and let professionals handle the containment.”

Back then, it was the Observer who notified the Orderly Guild, and they sent Belos to the Southern Domain to assist in the containment of disruptive items.

The Observer’s straightforwardness caused Nis’s brows to furrow slightly. In his view, the risk of disruption is very high; if the problem can be solved before disruption, why take a bigger risk? The Observer’s actions are too rigid.

Although Nis said nothing more, the Observer understood Nis’s thoughts well.

Surviving in the Origin World requires adhering to rules, even colossal entities like the Orderly Guild face restrictions.

Imagine if the Orderly Guild allowed the Observer to see a mysterious object and snatch it indiscriminately, would other organizations be pleased to see the Observer permanently stationed in the Pan-Dimensional Plane?

Only disruptive items, which are difficult to control and possibly cause significant negative impacts, give the Orderly Guild a way to contain them without crossing the vast majority’s mental limits.

Besides adhering to rules, an important point is that researching disruptive items has been a challenging topic the Orderly Guild wishes to tackle. Moreover, most disruptive items are exceptionally powerful. Containing such items also strengthens the Orderly Guild’s foundation; however, there’s a risk of backlash from disruptive items, which has happened to the Orderly Guild multiple times, causing countless deaths of Mystic Hunters. This accumulation of powerful transcendent lives barely allowed other witcher organizations to acknowledge the Observer’s existence.

This can only be attributed to the differences in perspective, causing Nis to only consider within his own limited view.

The Observer didn’t bother to explain to Nis, as for him, Nis is no different from an ant. Who would care about the thoughts of ants?

The only person present deserving of the Observer’s regard is Angel. Not only because of Frost, but also... the Domain Field.

The Observer said plainly: ”If you have the ability to obstruct and obtain the immature fruit, then it’s yours. I can spare some effort and avoid notifying the Orderly Guild.”

The Observer glanced at Nis: ”But do you possess such capability?”

Nis looked embarrassed; let alone obstruct it, he would be attracted by the fruit once he goes out, likely ending up like his spirit attendant.

After finishing, the Observer looked at Angel: ”Speaking of which, you’re relatively lucky, as Angel’s... Abnormal Power Domain Field can weaken the mysterious object’s attraction. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have had as much luck as the True Knowledge Wizard above, and would soon become nourishment for the fruit.”

Angel’s eyes lit up: ”Do you mean the True Knowledge Wizard above wasn’t affected by the fruit’s attraction?”

Observer: ”If he wasn’t affected, he’d have returned already. However, his mastery of ’Nightfall’ has partly concealed the fruit, reducing its attraction—though not as much as your Domain Field. It gives him slight cognitive ability, but this merely prevents him from becoming mindless, and allows him some combat instinct to maintain a stalemate with the fruit’s controller.”

”Yet he still lacks clear cognition. He has only a degree of combat ability, and the combat goal is merely seizing the fruit. As the fruit matures, its effect intensifies, and his Nightfall can no longer conceal. Ultimately, he’ll become nourishment for the fruit.”

That is to say, despite Kanter currently stalemating with Number 03, he’s already lost judgment capability, possessing only combat ability. Once his final bit of rationale is lost, he’ll become like the former spirit attendant and shadow avatar, mindlessly approaching the fruit to be devoured.

”Sir, is there a way to save him?” Angel looked at the Observer.

The Observer gave Angel a deep look: ”You should understand the Observer’s rules. My appearance in front of you and conversation is currently my limit.”

Angel understood the Observer’s implication.

The fruit is currently in a half-disruptive state, so the Observer cannot intervene directly. All he can do is converse and offer suggestions.

”What to do now?” Ferro asked through the Mind Ribbon.

Previously, they thought perhaps they could request external aid, as the Night Lord might not die easily. But after hearing the Observer’s explanation, they realized seeking external aid wasn’t reliable—not only is time a constraint, but even if there’s time, it’s uncertain whether the half-disruptive item’s problem can be resolved.

Angel was silent for a moment, then said: ”Currently, there are only two solutions: either accelerate the fruit’s maturity or prevent it from maturing.”

Accelerating the fruit’s maturity means letting it become a fully disruptive item, so the Observer can act.

However, this poses great flaws; no one knows if Kanter can persist until it becomes disruptive. He might falter halfway through the fruit’s maturation.

Moreover, the strength of a disruptive item’s effects is unknown to anyone, and whether the Observer can handle it is uncertain.

Most importantly, is the Observer willing to save Kanter?

The Observer has no obligation to save lives impacted by disruptive items, and they’re meeting the Observer for the first time today, so why assume the Observer will surely save Kanter?

Thus, the option to accelerate the fruit’s maturity has significant drawbacks, and neither Nis nor Ferro feels it’s a wise choice.

As for choosing to prevent the fruit’s maturity, it also has drawbacks.

Preventing the fruit can delay Kanter’s decline into a mindless state, but even with delay, a solution to save Kanter isn’t guaranteed.

But compared to speeding up the fruit’s maturity, preventing the fruit from maturing has significantly fewer variables and falls within a controllable range.

Therefore, they decided to choose to prevent the fruit from maturing.

But how to prevent the fruit from maturing is another dilemma.

While everyone was at a loss, Dangross, perched on Angel’s shoulder, suddenly said: ”Over there, it seems someone is coming?”

Following Dangross’s pointing, everyone looked and, sure enough, in the distant mist, a large group of people appeared.

Because they were within the Domain Field and the Observer’s warped realm, the people coming from behind did not discover them.

Leading this group was Angel’s acquaintance, Wizard No. 02, and behind him was a large group of combat personnel with various numbers.

Ferro said, ”Judging from their route, it seems they’re here to find No. 03.”

Nis: ”Since they haven’t seen us, there’s no need for us to bother with them. Let them scout the way; maybe No. 02 has a way to contact No. 03.”

After all, this bizarre situation was caused by No. 03, and since No. 02 is a colleague of No. 03, he might have a way to deal with this perplexing situation.

Ferro also agreed with Nis’s suggestion, so he opted to stay silent and quietly watched as No. 02 and his group approached.

At this point, Reynolds, who had been silent, suddenly spoke: ”I see... Ge.”

Ferro glanced at Reynolds but didn’t pay much attention, as Reynolds was from the base laboratory, so recognizing someone there was normal.

However, Angel and Nis frowned, as if they had thought of something.

”The ’Ge’ you mentioned, is it X3?”

Reynolds nodded, his expression filled with obvious hesitation. ’Ge’ was once his best friend, sharing the same philosophy, but later, ’Ge’ was brainwashed by the lab’s people and drifted apart from Reynolds.

But no matter what, ’Ge’ was still his friend, and he hoped ’Ge’ could survive.

To ensure ’Ge’s survival, he could only ask Angel for help.

However, Reynolds also knew very well that he didn’t feel he was in a position to ask Angel to save ’Ge.’ If he spoke up, he might even lose their last bit of friendship. But his past ties with ’Ge’ made it really hard for Reynolds to let go, which is why he looked so hesitant.

”Sir, ’Ge’ was my once closest friend, I, I...” Reynolds hesitated for a long time but couldn’t continue.

Angel, however, didn’t notice Reynolds speaking and was thinking about something else.

”The ability of X3, I remember you saying was controlling sea beasts, right?” Angel looked at Reynolds.

Reynolds numbly nodded.

”Controlling sea beasts, controlling sea beasts...” Nis’s eyes suddenly lit up, raising his head sharply to meet Angel’s gaze.

Angel understood what Nis meant, nodding slightly towards him: ”X3 might be able to stop the fruit from maturing.”

At this point, Ferro kind of got it too.

”It seems, we can’t let them scout ahead anymore.”

...

Dealing with No. 02 and his people isn’t difficult.

Even though Earl Mi’s power was reduced due to the death of his shadow avatar, he could still completely overpower No. 02.

And the others are not Official Wizards. Although their combat strength is decent, comparable to an average Supernova candidate, they are still apprentices. Controlling them is still straightforward.

It took a very short time for Earl Mi to subdue No. 02, and as for the others, apart from X3, they all fell into an illusion created by Angel. Under the illusion’s guidance, they dazedly turned around and flew out towards the Outer Sea.

This actually saved them, letting them avoid the fruit’s disaster.

It’s not that Angel is merciful; he simply felt that since they weren’t planning to use them as scouting cannon fodder, there was no need to send them to their deaths; if they died, they would become nourishment for the fruit, fostering its maturity, which wasn’t worthwhile.

After No. 02 was trapped, he was handed over to Ferro for interrogation, to see if No. 02 knows about the situation with No. 03’s fruit.

As for Angel and Nis, they focused their attention on X3.

X3 was a girl in a green shepherd’s long skirt. At first glance, she looked quite fresh and pretty. But her eyes appeared a bit wooden, like a robot devoid of emotion.

Even when facing several wizards, X3 could maintain a straight face, handling it with calm indifference.

However, the people present were all sharp-minded individuals. X3 seemed composed and cold, but the slight twitch at the corner of her eyes occasionally gave her away; she didn’t dare make direct eye contact with Nis and Angel, indicating her inner turmoil wasn’t as calm as it appeared on the surface.

Nis: ”We have something we need you to do.”

X3 lowered her eyes, acting as if she hadn’t heard anything.

Nis didn’t mind, continuing, ”Complete it, and you can leave alive. As for the specifics, Reynolds will tell you.”

Nis didn’t mention what would happen if she failed; he believed X3 would understand on her own.

Nis stepped back, letting Reynolds talk to X3.

When facing Reynolds, X3 finally raised her eyes and said with a determined tone: ”You’ve taken that step, you’re a traitor.”

Reynolds’ expression was somewhat complicated: ”Ge, you were the one who understood me the most; you should know why I had to do this.”

X3 sneered without responding.

Reynolds wanted to say more, but Nis interrupted: ”Reynolds, whatever sweet words you have, you can save for after this is over to say to her. Don’t dawdle, discuss the business at hand now.”

Reynolds nodded. He had witnessed the changes in the fruit and understood what was most important at the moment. Moreover, this concerned whether ’Ge’ could survive or not, so he didn’t exchange pleasantries and started discussing the critical matters.