Warlock Apprentice

Chapter 3265: Chapter 3266: Want It All

If you ask Angel what he thinks, he has no opinion on it.

Or rather, in his mind, neither of these two plans is very viable. The main issue is that there are too many variables; whether it succeeds in the end depends not only on cooperation, but also on luck.

”Then what do you think we should do?” Seeing that Angel wasn’t interested in either plan, Luigi leaned in, asking curiously.

Angel shrugged and spoke his own idea: ”The method that requires the least concern over variables is to change perspective and simply have Lita enter the Crystal Origin of Dreams right from the start.”

Isn’t Tunyta after a young body? Then just give the fleshly body to Tunyta, while Lita becomes an Indigenous People of the Crystal Origin of Dreams; that way there’s no real variable left.

Although Lita would only be able to live in the Crystal Origin of Dreams in the future, his Spiritual Thought would still exist, his memory and consciousness would remain; that, too, counts as a form of ’living’.

And Hiluda’s desired outcome is simply that Lita stays alive, isn’t it?

If Hiluda misses Lita, she can just Enter Dream into the Crystal Origin of Dreams and meet him directly.

After Angel finished speaking, everyone fell silent.

From the standpoint of convenience, they actually rather agreed with Angel’s plan. It’s just that, if emotional factors are taken into account, this plan is a bit too rash for Glaipnir.

Everyone turned to look at Glaipnir, and sure enough, her brows were tightly furrowed; she clearly had many objections to this plan.

”Doesn’t that just mean handing over Lita’s body on a silver platter?”

Angel: ”But in doing so we can preserve Lita’s consciousness.”

Glaipnir choked for a moment. From Angel’s perspective, this is indeed the simplest method. Because Angel is an outsider in this matter, what he values more is efficiency and result.

Whereas Glaipnir has to consider her relationship with Hiluda; she needs not only the result, but also a relatively perfect process.

That naturally makes her disinclined to support this method.

But... if there really were no other way, this could at least serve as a last-resort fallback.

So Glaipnir thought for a bit, didn’t refute Angel, and instead continued asking: ”Aside from this, do you have any other ideas?”

Before Glaipnir’s words had even faded, Luigi added in the Mind Ribbon: ”The kind of method Glaipnir wants to hear is one that can keep Lita’s consciousness intact yet also prevent his body from being seized. Want this and that, tsk tsk, what a huge appetite... But do you actually have such a method?”

Although Luigi was half complaining, Glaipnir understood that he was trying to speak up on her behalf, so she didn’t rebuke him. She simply watched Angel quietly, wanting to see whether he had a more perfect plan.

Angel pondered for a moment, then said: ”Want this and that? That makes the difficulty shoot straight up, and more importantly, it adds a lot of variables that are hard to control.”

”However, I do have an idea. It involves a major variable—in fact, you could say...the biggest variable. But if we can smooth that out, everything afterward becomes very simple.”

Glaipnir: ”What method?”

Angel looked at Glaipnir and spoke in a low voice: ”Lay the cards on the table.”

Lay the cards on the table? At first Glaipnir didn’t understand what he meant. When she realized it, she suddenly lifted her head: ”You mean directly tell the Crystal Eye Clan about the Crystal Origin of Dreams? Let them exile the consciousness in the Holy Corpse Crystal into the Crystal Origin of Dreams?”

Angel smiled and nodded: ”Exactly.”

The matter of the Crystal Origin of Dreams was already meant to be disclosed to every race.

Once the Crystal Eye Clan learns about the Crystal Origin of Dreams, even without Angel’s prompting, they might on their own think to send the consciousness in the Holy Corpse Crystal, or the consciousness of the possessed youth, into the Crystal Origin of Dreams.

Since that’s the case, why not tell them in advance and make a trade with them?

Instead of sneaking around, leaving everything up to luck, it’s better to have a frank, aboveboard showdown.

Lay it out clearly before the Elders Council of the Crystal Eye Clan: if they want a Log-in Device, if they want to secure a seat in the Crystal Origin of Dreams, then they must not touch the power tower.

If the Elders Council insists on the Resurrection of Tunyta? Sure, the Crystal Origin of Dreams welcomes Tunyta.

As for Tunyta personally not wanting to go to the Crystal Origin of Dreams—does he even have any right to refuse? Right now he’s just a strand of consciousness residing in the Holy Corpse Crystal; whether he can even contact the outside world is questionable.

As long as the Elders Council agrees, then even if Tunyta is unwilling, under the current circumstances he can only accept it.

Besides, hasn’t Tunyta been pursuing a long-lived existence to see higher vistas? The Crystal Origin of Dreams is not necessarily incapable of fulfilling his dream.

Don’t be fooled by how the Crystal Origin of Dreams is currently only an appendage of the Daylight Mirror Domain, not very large.

Angel’s vision for the Crystal Origin of Dreams has never been confined to this one corner. In the future, he intends to connect the Crystal Origin of Dreams to other Nightmare Illusion dreamlands, first and foremost the Wilderness of Dreams.

If that can truly be done, then the Crystal Origin of Dreams itself will become the highest-level vista.

It can fulfill Tunyta’s wish, and also save the youth trapped in a tragic song—why not?

After listening to Angel’s explanation, Glaipnir lowered her head, slipping into deep thought.

From her perspective, Angel’s idea is a bit too idealistic, but... under the current larger backdrop, it might well be worth a try.

After all, the Calamity Puppet’s disaster could descend upon the Daylight Mirror Domain at any moment.

If that disaster cannot be handled in a short time, then for the vast majority of Mirror Domain creatures, the Crystal Origin of Dreams will be their only paradise.

By then, the Crystal Origin of Dreams will be an absolute necessity.

The elders of the Crystal Eye Clan are not fools. As long as they consider these factors, they will naturally realize that exchanging one Crystal City Ceremony for the chance to obtain a Log-in Device early and claim a seat in the Crystal Origin of Dreams is absolutely a good bargain.

Furthermore, Tunyta and those consciousnesses within the Holy Corpse Crystal can become Indigenous People of the Crystal Origin of Dreams, which is tantamount to indirectly resolving the clan’s greatest internal conflict.

Once that conflict is resolved, it won’t be impossible for the Crystal Eye Clan to usher in a second age of shining Stars.

Looked at from every angle, this is a pretty good proposal.

Glaipnir thought for a moment, then nodded to Angel: ”Your idea is sound. Perhaps, given the current situation, laying everything bare and speaking plainly really is the best choice.”

Angel smiled without saying anything.

The arrival of the Calamity Puppet Hilifa, in a certain sense, isn’t entirely a bad thing. At least, in many matters that require the Crystal Origin of Dreams, they now hold absolute initiative.

If not for the Calamity Puppet’s incident, trying to rely on a frank showdown to negotiate with the upper echelons of the Crystal Eye Clan would be much more difficult.

On the other side, although Gutalace didn’t quite understand their conversation, she could see from Glaipnir’s expression that it was wholly different from before: ”You’ve made your decision?”

Glaipnir nodded: ”Yes. I plan to adopt Angel’s proposal... Once today’s showcase is over, I’ll go and meet with the Elder Council of the Crystal Eye Clan.”

Since she had decided to start with everything in the open, Glaipnir wasn’t planning to drag things out any longer.

The sooner it’s resolved, the sooner Lita will be safe.

Also, once negotiations with the Hundred-Dragon Divine Kingdom are settled, news about the Log-in Device will probably spread completely. By then she won’t have much time to deal with other matters—just handling the inquiries from the catalog page will likely take up the vast majority of her time.

So, the earlier we deal with it, the better.

...

After confirming the general plan, they chatted about some slightly more relaxed topics... of course, that was only relaxed from their point of view. For Gutalace, many of the things they talked about were practically unimaginable.

For example, when Gutalace heard the story of the ”Calamity Puppet,” she completely lost her composure.

She took out the catalog and quickly passed the news on to the Divine Eye Tribe.

After talking for quite a while, the heavy expression on Gutalace’s face finally eased a little.

”I’ve already had my people keep an eye on the Log-in Device page in your catalog. Once there’s stock, remember to prioritize the Divine Eye Tribe.” Gutalace said to Glaipnir.

Glaipnir nodded, neither agreeing nor disagreeing.

Whether there was stock or not wasn’t up to her; it still depended on Angel’s refining speed. Still, she had no objection to helping the Divine Eye Tribe get a few more Log-in Devices.

After all, her relationship with the Divine Eye Tribe was close enough to be called inseparable; helping them was basically helping herself.

”I really don’t know what’s going on in your heads. The apocalypse is almost here and you’re still chatting so casually...” Gutalace muttered under her breath.

”It’s perfectly normal for us to be relaxed.” Luigi replied, ”We don’t have families or baggage. If we want to leave, we leave. Of course we’ll feel relaxed.”

Angel could return outside the mirror at any time, and Laplace and the others in the Sea of Void Mirror had no reason to fear any so-called doomsday... No matter how strong the Calamity Puppet’s abilities were, could it possibly contend against the Sea of Void Mirror, that absolute forbidden zone?

Besides, if it really could affect the Sea of Void Mirror, worst case, Laplace’s true body would dive into the Ghost Phantom and head for another Mirror Domain.

Or she could just go into the Void; in any case, it wouldn’t affect them much.

Luigi looked at Gutalace: ”As long as you don’t care about the rest of the people in Sumer Wetland Castle, you could be just as relaxed.”

Gutalace glared at Luigi, annoyed: ”How could I not care? I’m not that cold-blooded.”

As they muttered back and forth, they drew closer and closer to the Cloud Soil center.

The surrounding space grew wider, but the silhouettes of people became more numerous. Through the curling mist, they could see figures vaguely all around them, and there were several times more people along their route of advance.

The passersby were of all different races—some towering like small mountains, some tiny like mice—every shape and size, too many to count.

Their little group, set against such huge numbers, was nothing at all.

Even so, there were still quite a few people along the way who turned to look in their direction.

However, they weren’t looking at Laplace and the others, nor at Gutalace, their guide, but at... Angel.

A faint mysterious fluctuation swirled around Angel’s body, and even with barriers to cover it, it was hard to completely conceal that mysterious aura.

Among almost all Transcendent races, if they sensed mysterious fluctuations, there was no way they wouldn’t be curious.

Still, most of them only looked and didn’t do anything more.

Though the mysterious fluctuation on Angel was dense, many here understood this kind of aura. In particular, the Crystal Eye Clan guards almost immediately recognized that the mysterious fluctuation on Angel was the same as that on their Elders, both originating from the Evil Witch’s Blessing Magic.

It wasn’t just the Crystal Eye guards; many other races also knew about the Evil Witch’s Eye, so they mainly observed out of curiosity and did not go up to disturb him.

With a heavyweight like Gutalace standing beside them, that alone intimidated quite a number of people.

Of course, not everyone knew how to behave; there were always a few who lacked any sense.

Like right now, two black stick-men of the Changhuo Clan ran up in front of Angel, staring fixedly at the cat ears on top of his head.

Although these two Changhuo clansmen hadn’t done anything yet, their spinning, never-resting eyes made it easy to guess that some scheme or trick was brewing in their minds.

Before anyone could chase them off, a tall, broad-shouldered, black-skinned youth walked up behind them. With one hand, he grabbed one stick-man and flung him hard to the side.

”Starry Eye, Astrologer, and everyone here—I’ll apologize on behalf of my younger brothers. They’re still young and don’t understand the gravity of the situation.”

The black-skinned youth bowed deeply to the group with great respect, and the dark, deep-eyed leopard that followed him also lowered its proud head.

Gutalace looked at the black-skinned youth and snorted coldly: ”I don’t care how old they are. If this were outside, they’d already be dead.”

The black-skinned youth didn’t refute her; he only lowered his head further, looking even more sincere.

Seeing more and more people crowding around to watch the commotion, Gutalace waved her hand: ”Get lost, don’t block the way.”

Though Gutalace’s tone was unpleasant, the black-skinned youth knew they’d gotten off lightly.

He obediently stepped aside, letting Gutalace and the others move away.

Only after their figures were finally swallowed by the mist did the black-skinned youth command the leopard to pick up the two black stick-men he’d thrown aside. From the growing chill in his eyes, it was clear those two were in for a rough time...

On the other side, Angel was curiously asking about the black-skinned youth’s identity: ”That guy with the leopard just now, is he also from the Changhuo Clan?”

He was curious because the youth didn’t match Angel’s impression of the Changhuo Clan at all.

Weren’t the Changhuo Clan just a bunch of long black sticks? But that black-skinned youth, aside from his darker skin, didn’t resemble them in the slightest.

That dazzling silver short hair, paired with a silver-and-black suit ornate enough to feel almost religious, plus that elegant black leopard—it all gave Angel the impression of a new-school noble.

Gutalace: ”He is indeed from the Changhuo Clan.”

”Within the Changhuo Clan there are two major factions, Dark and Ghostly Shadows. The royal family of the Ghostly Shadows branch is called... the Phantom Clan.”

”The Phantom Clan’s appearance is completely different from that of ordinary Changhuo clansmen. Aside from having somewhat dark skin, they’re basically the same as humans.”

”The person just now was from the Phantom Clan. His name is ’Phantom Leopard’ Nahuat.”

’Phantom Leopard’ Nahuat? Angel was stunned for a moment. That name... he’d heard it before. Back at the Hundred-Dragon Divine Kingdom’s outpost, he’d browsed the goods list Aor Shanzhuo provided.

One of the items was ”’Phantom Leopard’ Nahuat’s favor.”

At the time, he’d only skimmed it and hadn’t looked into the details. He hadn’t expected this ’Phantom Leopard’ Nahuat to be from the Changhuo Clan.

While Angel was spacing out, Gutalace continued: ”The ’Phantom Granny’ Narudo we mentioned earlier is also from the Ghostly Shadows branch, and she’s currently the sole leader of the Phantom Clan. Nahuat is Narudo’s Disciple.”