Warlock Apprentice

Chapter 3321: Chapter 3322: Miss Gosa

Lady Mei Ye looked over in puzzlement. "You think the Consciousness Space and the Crystal Origin of Dreams are different—how, exactly, are they different?"

The Magic Flute stretched out two fingers that gleamed with an obvious metallic luster. "There are two clear differences."

"First, the beings of the consciousness civilization spend their entire lives within the Consciousness Space, without a Material Realm body that belongs to them alone."

In other words, the vast majority of consciousness beings in the consciousness civilization are actually more like frogs trapped at the bottom of a well. Everything they see and hear is almost entirely shackled by this "well" of the Consciousness Space.

The farthest they can see is the boundary of the Consciousness Space.

They have no idea that beyond the Consciousness Space there is reality, that another world exists, and beyond that world, an endless, boundless Void filled with all manner of splendid and diverse forms of civilization.

They are not bound by the lifespan of mortal flesh, yet they have also abandoned the lofty framework that mortal flesh can perceive.

And the Log-in Device that Glaipnir introduced is more like a medium that connects two worlds.

Even though the Crystal Origin of Dreams sounds somewhat similar to the Consciousness Space, going to the Crystal Origin of Dreams is not like the Consciousness Space, a one-way ticket from which there is no return.

You can go to the Crystal Origin of Dreams at any time, and you can freely choose whether to log out and return to reality.

This nature of "free entry and exit" is utterly different from the Consciousness Space.

Just from this point alone, the Crystal Origin of Dreams is far, far superior to the Consciousness Space.

Lady Mei Ye murmured, "On this point, the two are indeed different. However..."

Lady Mei Ye’s "however" had only just begun; before she could go on, the Magic Flute waved a hand and cut her off.

"Don’t be in such a hurry to refute me. Wait until I finish the second point—if you still have objections, it won’t be too late to raise them then."

"I know what you’re thinking right now: it’s just that you can freely move between reality and the Crystal Origin of Dreams, that’s nothing special. Indeed, if this were the only point of difference, I’d also feel it wasn’t anything remarkable. But if you look at it together with the second point, then it’s different."

He paused, then spoke of the second difference he saw between the Consciousness Space and the Crystal Origin of Dreams: "The Crystal Origin of Dreams has an Energy System that belongs to itself alone, completely different from the consciousness civilization’s ’Consciousness Flow’ system."

The consciousness civilization naturally has its own Energy System as well, called "Consciousness Flow."

Consciousness Flow is a very complex Energy System; it can’t be explained clearly in just a few words. However, without delving into its core and only summarizing, you can think of Consciousness Flow as an assembly-line factory process.

It gathers the power of all the citizens in the Consciousness Space and concentrates it in one person. That person then controls the energy to affect the Material Realm.

This is what is called "Consciousness Flow."

The Magic Flute pointed at the screen and said to Lady Mei Ye, "You might as well listen carefully to what Glaipnir is saying. She’s talking right now about the Energy System of the Crystal Origin of Dreams, which is completely different from a system like ’Consciousness Flow’ that lets only one person become Transcendent alone."

The Magic Flute did not immediately explain the Energy System of the Crystal Origin of Dreams, but instead gestured for Lady Mei Ye to listen first to Glaipnir’s presentation.

At that moment, on the main presentation stage, Glaipnir was introducing a distinctive feature of the Crystal Origin of Dreams.

Its name was—Wonderland of Dreams.

At first Lady Mei Ye listened in a haze: instance, puzzle-solving, breaking through levels, training, cultivation... it seemed to touch on a bit of everything, yet when she tried to sort it out, she couldn’t make sense of the hidden threads or underlying structure.

Only when Glaipnir mentioned that the rewards after clearing an instance were various items and abilities... did Lady Mei Ye gain a rough clarity.

"You mean, the abilities rewarded by clearing Wonderland of Dreams are the Crystal Origin of Dreams’ unique Energy System?" Lady Mei Ye asked.

The Magic Flute nodded. "Yes, although it isn’t me saying that—it’s Glaipnir up there herself."

"According to her, this kind of ability is exclusively possessed by the Crystal Origin of Dreams, an additional art distinct from all Energy Systems."

Lady Mei Ye pondered for a moment. "I admit that the Energy System of Wonderland of Dreams is different from the consciousness civilization’s Consciousness Flow system, but... and then? Is this really something worth paying attention to?"

The Magic Flute said, "The Crystal Origin of Dreams can be entered and exited freely, and you can return to reality. This means that such a unique Energy System as the Crystal Origin of Dreams’ has the potential to be researched and reproduced in reality—does that not merit attention?"

Listening to the Magic Flute’s answer, Lady Mei Ye only felt baffled.

This is way too much of a leap.

How did you even connect those two?

Glaipnir merely mentioned in passing that Fairyland Abilities could form an independent system; how did the Magic Flute leap from that to reproducing them in reality? Are the two really related?

Besides, do you just believe whatever Glaipnir says? For all you know, Glaipnir might be exaggerating on purpose just to sell the Log-in Device.

You haven’t seen it with your own eyes—how can you be sure what she says is true? For all you know, those so-called Fairyland Abilities are just Joker tricks.

Faced with Lady Mei Ye’s doubts, the Magic Flute seemed to have anticipated them. His eyes flickered; he lowered his voice. "Don’t forget, I’m not alone."

"What do you mean..." Lady Mei Ye was just about to question him when suddenly, as if something had occurred to her, she extended a trembling finger and pointed at the Magic Flute’s chest. "Don’t tell me... it’s woken up?"

The Magic Flute nodded as he reached out a large hand sheathed in a black-gold sheen and gently stroked his chest.

With the Magic Flute’s touch, the previously seamless skin of his chest seemed to press some kind of switch, splitting open from the center and slowly unfolding to either side.

The scene before her eyes was as if there were a miniature automatic Door in the Magic Flute’s chest, and now that Door had been opened.

And as the miniature Door swung open, it revealed a strange space.

Inside, the space was filled with unknown multicolored vapor and various gelatinous blood vessels that gleamed with light. These vessels ultimately converged on a metallic heart that was thumping steadily, thud-thud, thud-thud.

Barring any surprises, this heart was precisely the Magic Flute’s energy core.

Exposing his own heart was in fact a very dangerous act on the Magic Flute’s part.

You could see it from the gazes of the Singer Clan in the surrounding shadows: all of them had fallen silent, their eyes fixed on Lady Mei Ye, afraid she might make a move against the Magic Flute’s energy core.

However, although Lady Mei Ye’s gaze was fixed at this moment on the Magic Flute’s Heart Space, her attention was not on the heart at all, but rather on a small hand at the side of the heart.

This small hand was plump, pure white like porcelain, with distinct wrinkles. At a glance, you could tell it belonged to... a baby.

However, the baby had not yet shown itself. It hid behind the metallic heart, with only one chubby little hand groping about on the Magic Flute’s heart.

This ceaselessly groping hand proved that it was already in a half-awakened state.

And each time it touched the metallic heart, the Magic Flute’s expression revealed a kind of reverie and pleasure, as if he had reached an unprecedented climax.

Only, after every climax, Magic Flute’s face would turn a few shades paler, as if he’d suddenly aged a year in an instant.

Yet even so, Magic Flute’s eyes still revealed a kind of sweetness, as if he were savoring it.

Watching this uncanny scene, a complex look flashed in Lady Mei Ye’s eyes as she said softly, "Close it. It’s just gone through a long journey—compared to replenishing energy... what it needs more right now should be rest."

Magic Flute didn’t make a sound. He only stuck out his tongue to lick the corner of his mouth, indulging one last time in the lingering aftertaste that made his spirit incomparably comfortable, then slowly closed the Door of his heart.

And as the tiny Door on his chest shut, Magic Flute’s expression gradually returned to its cold sternness and silence. As though that previous debauched look had been nothing more than a fleeting illusion.

After the chest Door closed, Lady Mei Ye and Magic Flute both fell into silence, as if trying to use that silence to ease the awkwardness of the eerie atmosphere just now.

Three minutes later, Lady Mei Ye was the first to break the Peaceful air, saying, "You think the Energy System of the Crystal Origin of Dreams can be brought into reality—is that... a hint Miss Gosa gave you?"

Miss Gosa was the baby near Magic Flute’s heart just now.

Lady Mei Ye actually didn’t know exactly who Miss Gosa was, but according to her own speculation, Miss Gosa was highly likely to be the Temporal Body of the ’White Porcelain Singer’.

The reasons were nothing more than three.

First, Gosa’s white porcelain shell was identical to that of the lofty ’White Porcelain Singer’; second, Lady Mei Ye was someone who loved gossip, especially gossip about her rival—the Singer Clan. She often went around collecting little bits of hearsay about the Singer Clan, among which there was one rumor of unknown authenticity, yet it had drifted around for over a thousand years: that the relationship between that ’White Porcelain Singer’ and Magic Flute seemed... ambiguous.

This time Magic Flute traveled far to the Daylight Mirror Domain, having to pass through the extremely dangerous Ghost Phantom along the way. Perhaps the White Porcelain Singer was worried something might happen to Magic Flute, so she sent her Temporal Body to stay by his side.

As for the last reason, the third one, Miss Gosa possessed an ability close to a Classical Rule Level.

Among non-Hollow Heart beings, the only one who could wield such a Classical Rule Level ability was the White Porcelain Singer.

Based on these three points, Lady Mei Ye had basically already become certain that Miss Gosa was the Temporal Body of the White Porcelain Singer.

Back to Miss Gosa.

Her ability was similar to ’Good Luck: Two Choices’, except an upgraded version.

As long as you asked Miss Gosa a question, and that question could be answered with ’good or bad’, then Miss Gosa would give an accurate reply.

For example, when they were lost in the Ghost Phantom, with several unknown paths ahead, they could use a ’good-or-bad judgment’ to eliminate them one by one.

"Taking this road—for us, is it good or bad?"

Miss Gosa’s answer was always one of two options: either ’good’ or ’bad’. Of course, there was a very small possibility that she wouldn’t answer at all, and the meaning of not answering could be manifold.

When something couldn’t be judged as good or bad, or was neither good nor bad, or went beyond the scope of her judgment, Miss Gosa would choose not to answer.

Relying on this uncanny Rule-like Ability of Miss Gosa’s, they were able to find an exit amid the peril-ridden Ghost Phantom where danger lurked at every turn.

Precisely because of this, when Magic Flute hinted that his conjectures about the Crystal Origin of Dreams had Miss Gosa as a safety net behind them, even though Lady Mei Ye felt it was absurd, she had no choice but to believe.

Facing Lady Mei Ye’s question, Magic Flute nodded. "You could say that. I did get some hints."

Lady Mei Ye knew about Miss Gosa’s existence and her ability, so Magic Flute didn’t conceal anything and gave a rough account of the situation.

Originally, regarding the Log-in Device Glaipnir had introduced, Magic Flute’s opinion had been roughly the same as Lady Mei Ye’s. However, while Magic Flute was listening to Glaipnir’s introduction of the Log-in Device, Miss Gosa—who had fallen asleep after long-term use of her ability in the Ghost Phantom—suddenly woke up.

According to Magic Flute’s calculations, Miss Gosa should have needed another ten days to half a month of rest before she could undergo Resurrection. So her sudden Awakening made Magic Flute feel that something was off.

He couldn’t help but speculate that Miss Gosa’s Awakening might not be a coincidence, but a kind of omen.

Thus Magic Flute started searching the surroundings for anything that might respond to Miss Gosa’s Resurrection omen, but no matter how he looked he couldn’t find a thing. And at that moment, Glaipnir happened to mention the Crystal Origin of Dreams.

Magic Flute subconsciously pushed the omen of Miss Gosa’s Resurrection onto the Crystal Origin of Dreams.

So he asked Miss Gosa, "The existence of the Crystal Origin of Dreams—for us, is it good or bad?"

Miss Gosa’s answer was: "Good."

Miss Gosa’s reply greatly surprised Magic Flute. Because when he asked, the ’us’ he referred to wasn’t the races of the Daylight Mirror Domain, but the Singer Clan and the Feather Forest Clan.

Miss Gosa believed that the existence of the Crystal Origin of Dreams was a good thing for the Singer Clan and the Feather Forest Clan, which naturally shocked Magic Flute.

After all, almost everyone present thought poorly of the Log-in Device.

Magic Flute himself hadn’t thought much of it either—if not for Miss Gosa’s sudden Awakening, he wouldn’t have asked the question at all.

It was precisely because of Miss Gosa’s answer that Magic Flute became firmly convinced that the ’omen’ of her Awakening absolutely corresponded to the Crystal Origin of Dreams.

Miss Gosa was using this method to remind him not to miss the Crystal Origin of Dreams.

With that thought in mind, Magic Flute posed a second question, and when he asked, Glaipnir happened to be talking about the unique Energy System of the Crystal Origin of Dreams.

So his second question became: "The Energy System of the Crystal Origin of Dreams—its impact on the Aggregation Energy System I’ve mastered, is it good or bad?"

Miss Gosa once again gave a definite answer: "Good."

There was no third question, because Miss Gosa also needed Restoration; earlier, when Miss Gosa absorbed his lifespan, that had been a means of Restoration.

But just from these two questions alone, Magic Flute had already seen the prospects and dawn of the Crystal Origin of Dreams.

Therefore, when Lady Mei Ye asked, Magic Flute would naturally treat the Log-in Device with such gravity.

After listening to Magic Flute’s account, Lady Mei Ye also fell into contemplation.

Even though she vaguely felt that Magic Flute was interpreting the ’omen’ of Miss Gosa’s Resurrection too one-sidedly, and that perhaps the so-called omen was pointing to something else entirely.

Still, she had to admit that the improvements Miss Gosa attributed to the Crystal Origin of Dreams did, in a way, prove that the Crystal Origin of Dreams was different from the Consciousness Space she had imagined.

The Consciousness Space of the consciousness civilization was not any kind of positive boon for the Singer Clan and the Feather Forest Clan.

Yet the Crystal Origin of Dreams, which was extremely similar to a Consciousness Space, was something Miss Gosa believed to be good for the Singer Clan and the Feather Forest Clan... which meant there must be aspects Lady Mei Ye hadn’t taken into account.

Her previous conviction that the Crystal Origin of Dreams was simply a Consciousness Space might well have been wrong.

The two were fundamentally different.

Once Lady Mei Ye set aside her preexisting bias and savored the Crystal Origin of Dreams anew, her view gradually converged with Magic Flute’s.