Chapter 195: Disaster of Intelligent Machinery – Lost Judgment Angel (Two-in-One)
Silver, the Dean, widened his eyes, looking at Rast, and even that large tail stopped wagging.
He hadn’t realized before, but now it seemed to be the truth.
He had been brought into the Night World by Rast as an undocumented immigrant, purely an illegal resident.
And if Rast were to accidentally meet his end in the Night World, then Rast’s illegal resident would have no choice but to stay in the Night World until the end of time.
“d*mn it, why do I feel like I accidentally boarded your pirate ship?”
“And do you really have confidence in me?”
He glared at Rast, “Running away with you in front of an angel…”
“Am I really that impressive? I know myself.”
“Since I’m already on this pirate ship, then I’ll trouble Dean Silver to accompany me down this path.”
Rast smiled, “As the head of the Magical Creatures Research Institute at Starry University, you wouldn’t just stand by and watch your student get killed, would you?”
“Furthermore—”
“I really want to ask Dean Silver about how to break through into the Legendary realm and beyond.”
This was indeed one of the problems Rast was facing at present.
The three-hundred-year time loop in Deep Blue Harbor had forged his extraordinarily resilient mental power.
His “Tower” sequence, unlike the “Chariot” which focused on the physical, was precisely inclined towards the mental and mystical.
Because of this, after leaving Deep Blue Harbor, Rast had faced almost no obstacles while advancing from First Tier to Sixth Tier.
The previous three hundred years spent stagnating in Deep Blue Harbor were not in vain; every little bit accumulated would eventually yield returns, giving him a foundation far superior to others at the same tier during his subsequent promotions—
If not, Rast would never have been able to leap from First Tier to Sixth Tier in just over six months.
However, having reached his current position, Rast’s accumulated knowledge and foundation from Deep Blue Harbor were already nearly exhausted.
Referencing the Legendary Strongmen of the previous civilizations, whether it be Cecil or the Legendary Mages of the Wizard Civilization, or the Legendary Summoners of the Virtual Realm Civilization—they all faced years, if not decades, of painstaking efforts to break through to the Legendary level.
The non-Legendary and Legendary realms were absolute chasms; countless Sixth Tier peak powerhouses had been trapped before this impassable gap, never able to traverse it throughout their lives.
Even the most gifted individuals, without the boost of the Night World, would require nearly a hundred years of arduous cultivation to truly take that step and complete the transformation of their life’s essence.
Because of this, at this moment, Rast was genuinely feeling the pressure—
The pressure from the inability to elevate his tier further, as the path forward became unclear.
If Rast were just an Ordinary Person, he could take his time and learn like other Legendary Strongmen, exploring and accumulating over decades or even a century… waiting until he had laid a solid foundation to naturally complete his promotion.
But clearly.
Whether it was the pressure from the Night World and the Gravekeeper, the desire to uncover the truth of Canaan, or that ideal of “Guardian” which had long been engraved deep within his soul—all of these ensured that Rast could not afford to take that leisurely route of accumulated refinement, waiting for a natural opportunity for promotion.
The “Gravekeeper” did not meet its end during the cataclysm of the Era, but has survived to this day, which is already confirmed fact.
If they were to reappear, then he, who had yet to break through to the Legendary, would have no strength to resist.
Thus, Rast must break through as soon as possible, advancing into the Legendary realm, the sooner, the better.
“I just said that I’m just a Silver Weasel, and I really don’t understand these complicated things; they consume too many brain cells.”
“Why don’t you ask someone else, like Young Tina’s father, that Aaron… I suspect that old cunning one is quite deep and unassuming, at least a Legend, possibly even an Angel.”
“And asking him for help is reasonable, after all, you are his future son-in-law!”
Dean Silver still stared pitifully at Rast, trying to play cute and pass off the request.
But when it confirmed the seriousness in Rast’s eyes, he finally sighed.
Dean Silver knew Rast’s personality; once he truly wanted to do something, he would not be easily diverted from his goal.
“Alright, alright… I understand.”
“Let me think, breaking through into the Legendary realm, and the path to becoming an Angel.”
“It’s all knowledge not used for several hundred years; I don’t know which corner of the memory maze it has been stored in. Let me rummage through…”
Dean Silver showed a look of deep concentration.
After a long while, he finally spoke again: “To ascend to the Legendary realm, it’s from Sixth Tier to Seventh Tier…”
“If I remember correctly, the core of the Legendary path is one’s own sequence length.”
“Each sequence length corresponds to the manifestation of certain rules and authorities in this world… and the process of achieving Legendary status is not just the metamorphosis from human to non-human, but also an elevation of the essence of life.”
“From a user under a certain rule and authority to the master of that rule and authority.”
Dean Silver’s tone became somewhat serious.
“Thus, to break through to Legendary, one must return to the essence of the sequence, finding ways to advance further on one’s own sequence length, and deepen their understanding of their sequence and its corresponding rules and authorities.”
“For example, the moon itself cannot emit light; it shines because it reflects the light of the sun and other celestial bodies—so attempting to follow you all, feeling and absorbing the light of human souls, would be a deeper interpretation of the ‘Moon’ sequence.”
“Take your previous Guardian leader, the old man of ‘Sun’—if I’m not mistaken, he must have constructed a complete stellar model in his mental image with his mental power, projecting a real sun with his mind… that’s why he is so powerful, capable of taking on four without blinking.”
“And if it’s Young Xiya’s ‘God of d*ath’ sequence, the way to advance further might be to establish a realm for the deceased, a land of the dead, truly becoming the master of d*ath and the ‘God of d*ath’.”
“This is also why that ancient God of d*ath would secretly interfere, establishing a paradise on its own corpse and making Young Xiya the queen of the underworld… thus, if it ever used Young Xiya as a vessel to resurrect in human form, it would find breaking through to Legendary exceptionally easy.”
“Of course, that fellow is now long gone, so it cheapens Young Xiya… after that, when Young Xiya breaks through to Legendary, it should be rather smooth without encountering any obstacles.”
Dean Silver wagged his tail, “I don’t know much about your ‘Tower’, but to break through to Legendary, it definitely still requires working on the ‘Tower’ sequence.”
“Tower”?
Listening to Dean Silver’s explanation, Rast fell into contemplation.
Unlike the ‘Sun’, ‘Moon’, ‘God of d*ath’, and ‘Chariot’ sequences that have relatively clear symbolic meanings, his ‘Tower’ sequence is undoubtedly more abstract and difficult to determine what kind of authority and rules it corresponds to.
However…
Rast recalled the card he had seen representing himself in the ‘Library of Fools’, the “Tower: Rast” card.
On the back of the card, there was a depiction of a tower struck by lightning, engulfed in flames.
What it corresponds to is the ancient legend known as the “Tower of Babel” — in a distant past, people gathered in the plains of ancient Babylon, starting to build a tower that reached the sky, hoping to reach the heavens where the gods resided.
However, the actions of the people quickly caught the attention of the gods above, who, angered by the ant-like humans trying to equate themselves with the divine, unleashed divine punishment.
Enormous lightning split the Tower of Babel, and the gods forced people to speak different languages, causing them to be unable to communicate and scatter apart.
This is a story that recounts the anger of the gods, the divine punishment of thunder, and the shattered Tower of Babel… symbolizing “destruction”.
The authority and rules governed by the ‘Tower’ is “destruction”?
In that case, it’s no wonder that I awakened the ‘Tower’ sequence, after all, while in Deep Blue Harbor, Rast had faced the edge of destruction countless times — not only the destruction of the body but also the collapse of the mind and extinction of the soul.
Had it not been for the existence of Xiao Ai and Canaan, his mind and soul might have already been on the verge of self-destruction; even if the body still survived, it would merely be a shell of a walking dead.
Thus, to break through to the Legendary in the ‘Tower’ sequence, must one first destroy oneself?
But if I am already dead, what meaningful breakthrough would it have afterwards?
“As for what lies above the Legendary, the characteristics of becoming an Angel…”
“Let me think, I believe it’s ‘Uniqueness of Time’?”
Dean Silver’s words interrupted Rast’s contemplation.
“Uniqueness of Time?”
“Yes, uniqueness of time… no matter where one is in the river of time, upstream or downstream…”
“Regardless of the past, present, or future, there is only the unique self remaining.”
“This is the characteristic of ‘Angels’ and the prerequisite for breaking through to the Seventh Tier and becoming an Angel.”
Past, present, future… all are the unique individual?
Rast paused for a moment; this description sounded somewhat similar to that of his “Fate Nexus” skill.
However, just as he was about to continue questioning, he noticed that Dean Silver had somewhat crazily covered his head.
“Ahhhh, please stop asking, if you keep asking, my brain is going to explode…”
“This isn’t something a Silver Weasel should endure… I desperately need to play a game to alleviate my fraying mental state.”
While speaking, the Little Ferret had already jumped down from Rast’s shoulder and dashed towards the computer desk with the virtual reality game headset.
Seeing this, Rast also did not stop or question him further; the amount of secrets he could extract from Dean Silver this time was already a pleasant surprise and would be enough for him to digest for a while.
Even taking wool needs to focus on sustainable development, right?
“Wow, this game actually has a ‘Rast’ character, hahahaha, the design looks pretty handsome, how much has that little girl Grey beautified him in her memories… no wonder he ranks first in the character popularity votes in the game.”
“What are these threads in the player forum?”
“‘If we provide the Guardian Organization with a thousand giant battle mechas, can we blitzkrieg the Iron Cross?’”
“‘If we give Rast an anti-matter sniper rifle, can he solo the Gravekeeper? Would the battle against the Leader of Cecil in the Battle of the Broken Coast be without casualties?’”
“What even is this!?”
Soon, Dean Silver’s loud voice could be heard from the other side of the room.
Meanwhile, Rast returned his focus to his mind, on that flickering pale blue light curtain.
Before long, Rast’s thoughts shifted slightly.
He realized that the upcoming Night World task was actually related to the virtual reality game that Dean Silver had been obsessing over.
[The Night World Task “Disaster of Intelligent Machinery – Lost Judgment Angel” has been activated]
[Historical Background: After the Battle of the Broken Coast, humanity rose rapidly under the leadership of the “Guardian” Grey, eradicating the remaining Iron Cross and Beast Tide on the continent… and the cultists soon vanished, leading humanity into a new era.]
[For the next two hundred years, under the leadership of the Legendary leader Grey, human civilization developed rapidly, prosperous cities were built, and technology flourished—those dark years gradually faded from memory, becoming topics of casual conversation during tea, even the historical backdrop of popular online games.]
[However, beneath this façade of immense prosperity, alongside the unexplained disappearance of leader Grey ten years ago and the full immersion of virtual reality into the game “The Song of Guardians” coupled with the birth of the “Artificial Angel” plan…]
[There are also surging undercurrents quietly brewing deep within this seemingly thriving civilization.]
…
[Current historical echo category is “Echoes of the Era”, with no tier level restrictions]
[Task Objective: Fully experience the “Disaster of Intelligent Machinery” and survive successfully]
[Optional Task 1: Participate in the limited-time event “Deep Blue Harbor Speed Challenge” of the virtual reality game “The Song of Guardians” and achieve first place in the event]
[Optional Task 2: Deeply investigate the Artificial Angel plan and explore the origins of the “Disaster of Intelligent Machinery” and its underlying truth]
(End of Chapter)
