Chapter 2629: Chapter 2630: Proto-Consciousness

Faced with Dox’s bombardment of questions, Angel’s response was: silence and then impatiently picking his ear.

Dox felt suffocated by Angel’s ear-picking action, holding his breath.

Taking advantage of Dox’s pause, Angel leisurely said, "Finally done? Now, it’s my turn to speak."

Angel wasn’t deliberately playing coy; Dox’s questions weren’t core issues, and he could answer them. Moreover, he noticed others were curious too. He was definitely going to answer them, but Dox’s recitation-like, nagging, bombardment style of questioning annoyed Angel, so he let him talk until he was suffocated with frustration before finally speaking.

"The previous questions can basically be summarized into one question," Angel said, snapping his fingers.

As the sound faded, the nearby Illusion Nodes quickly gathered and formed four identical books.

"If you’re interested, take a look. Especially note the author’s annotation on the sixth-to-last page; it contains the answers you’re looking for."

After speaking, Angel placed the books on the Hand of Magic, signaling the crowd to take one.

Dox, unsurprisingly, snatched the first book. The Black Earl used spiritual power to take the second book.

They showed different reactions upon receiving the books.

The Black Earl sneered with a "snort," showing disdain.

In contrast, Dox buried his head in reading. When he saw the book’s title, his eyes lit up instantly, and as he flipped through the pages, a series of sly laughs and savory sounds followed.

The two Lords’ contrasting behaviors piqued the curiosity of the two apprentices toward the book.

There were still two books on the Hand of Magic; surely Chaowei prepared them for the apprentices? They hesitated to step forward, though their hearts were filled with anticipation.

Seeing this, Angel immediately saw through their thoughts: "If you’re not interested, I’ll put them away."

This resolved Vay and Kaier’s hesitation; they exchanged a glance, quickly went to the Hand of Magic, each taking a book, and started reading.

Compared to the Black Earl and Dox, the two apprentices’ reactions were much more normal, quietly browsing through the book pages, occasionally displaying minor expressions but not exaggerated ones.

While seemingly normal, Angel felt their restrained behavior was somewhat intentional.

Because the book title alone suggests its content, certainly warranting a puzzled look.

This book is precisely the research material: "Record of the Varied Postures of Witch Eye and Ghost Intermingling."

Though the material is unusual, combined with the author’s description, it might invoke thoughts of hominid reproductive behavior. Yet, strictly speaking, the author doesn’t overly dramatize it; as the research topic suggests, it’s a serious record of the postures in which Ghosteye Witch intermingles.

In simple terms, it’s the "Diary of Ghosteye Witch Observation."

Although Angel also wondered why the author would observe Ghosteye Witch, the material is still fairly rigorous data.

Everyone had varying expressions while reading the book, aside from acting, purely due to different perspectives in reading.

Some viewed it as standard data material, while others saw it as a "360 Styles of Bedroom Postures," the interpretation varied greatly. Dox’s response was undoubtedly the latter.

The Black Earl’s disdain was understandable; Angel had felt puzzled while flipping through the material beforehand.

Until recently, when it proved useful, did he gain a new perspective of the book.

It resembles the magazine "Wizard’s Little Tricks," filled with bizarre "life hacks," tedious and dull, initially perceived as playful jokes by readers.

It’s only those who’ve experienced tough situations and need these tricks to survive who value it highly.

You might deem such tricks useless, merely humorous, but during life-saving situations, you realize why "Wizard’s Little Tricks" has loyal readers.

Even Sanders is an avid reader of this magazine.

"Record of the Varied Postures of Witch Eye and Ghost Intermingling" is similar to "Wizard’s Little Tricks," seemingly useless at first, but becomes invaluable when needed.

At this moment, Angel has drastically revised his view of this material.

Everyone read quickly, especially with Angel’s guidance, directing most straight to the highlighted sections. Only Dox examined it page by page... though he used Reading Art, so his speed was about the same as the others.

Once everyone finished reading, Angel spoke, "Now you should be clear on what’s happening, right?"

Dox was still the first to speak, but instead of responding to Angel, he shared his reading thoughts: "Brilliant, truly brilliant! I never thought someone would share my interests, really want to meet this book’s author. Oh, I forgot to check the author’s name... Blue Fatty?"

"That’s a pseudonym, right? This pseudonym is so... stylish, I love it!" Dox expressed again, though his facial expression was complex.

Forced preference, perhaps? Or loving everything about a single fondness?

The Black Earl hardly commented on the book, instead questioning the essence of the matter: "The period you left, was it to find a way for Ghosteye Witch to intermingle?"

Angel nodded: "To be precise, how to forcibly engage Ghosteye Witch in intermingling."

"To understand the Ghosteye Witch’s intermingling, at least you have to intermingle once with them to know. But you shouldn’t practice shadow related techniques, right? So, did you have Earl Mi do this?"

The Black Earl hit the nail on the head again, and while Angel was impressed, he didn’t deny it, nodding: "Yes, during the live stream on the Light Screen, Earl Mi was still intermingling with other Ghosteye Witches. Later, the stream cut off because Earl Mi awakened. He told me he could complete the task, so I took him out to try with the Ghosteye Witches... After confirming it, we came to the square."

"That’s the whole process," Angel said, looking at everyone: "So, any more questions?"

The two apprentices shook their heads vehemently.

Dox did have questions, but this time he didn’t speak before being overtaken by the Black Earl.

"Earl Mi intermingles with Ghosteye Witch without rejection?" The Black Earl asked.

By rejection, being unwanted by Ghosteye Witch, receiving an overwhelming information bombardment, ejecting the intermingler. It’s not a joke; most shadow-related wizards have experienced such head-spinning torment from information overload.

"No," Angel said. "I found it strange too, but Earl Mi disguised himself as a Ghosteye Witch before intermingling, perhaps deceiving other Ghosteye Witches."

Black Earl: "The appearance can’t be hidden. When the shadows are intermingled, during the initial exchange of information, the other side can determine whether you are one of them."

"That’s strange, Earl Mi wasn’t rejected at all... Even when leaving, the Ghosteye Witch didn’t notice anything and continued to intermingle." Angel questioned.

Black Earl pondered for a moment: "I don’t know what’s going on in this situation, perhaps it’s related to the talent of the Demons of the Panic Realm. My research on demons is really too limited. If you’re willing to let me study Earl Mi for a while, I might be able to help you unravel this confusion..."

"There’s no need for that, Earl Mi was given to me by Lord Rhein, and if there’s really research to be done, I believe Lord Rhein can also handle it." Angel brought Rhein into the discussion directly.

Black Earl and Rhein are friends, so he couldn’t forcefully take Earl Mi, and faced with Angel’s refusal, Black Earl could only begrudgingly accept it.

However, Black Earl still ’kindly’ reminded Angel: "I don’t know how you make demons listen to you, or even engage in initial communication with you. But I can tell that Earl Mi inherently lacks independent consciousness, which is a good thing; otherwise, Earl Mi would have devoured you by now."

"Though Earl Mi’s independent consciousness has been erased, it doesn’t mean that a new independent consciousness won’t emerge."

"Independent consciousness is like a persona; it needs memory capacity, thinking ability, emotional perception, and behavioral logic. These can all actually be met."

"If you allow Earl Mi to exchange too much information with the Ghosteye Witch, even if the information obtained is low-level and chaotic, there are still many spirit lights within. When these spirit lights accumulate, it’s possible for Earl Mi to develop a nascent form of consciousness."

"You should know how terrifying the power of demons is from spending a lot of time with Earl Mi. To gain strength, they willingly become possessed by fiends to protect their former kind. However, the integration with fiends deepens with the use of power, eventually ’awakening’ to become demons. Demons are no longer protectors of their former kind; they can’t even be called humans anymore, but have reverted to fiends, beginning to enjoy eating humans, especially favoring human brains."

"By consuming human brains, they can partly transform the residual information within."

"And your one directly obtained a large amount of information by intermingling with shadows."

"It may have already developed a nascent form of consciousness. There’s currently no backlash, likely because it’s digesting the acquired information, so you’d better refrain from using it temporarily. When you return, let Rhein conduct a comprehensive examination to ensure no errors, then use it for your safety."

Black Earl’s reminder was timely and sincere, but Angel always felt that Black Earl might be trying to use this opportunity to make him give up using Earl Mi... After all, if a rift appears in the team later, and it truly comes to swords drawn with Black Earl, Earl Mi teaming up with Angel, plus Dox, Black Earl might not necessarily win.

Angel thought about it a lot in his mind, and despite suspecting Black Earl’s intentions, his words were actually not problematic.

Angel himself also felt that Earl Mi had become more lively than before.

However, their minds are still connected, and the Seed of Distortion is also deeply rooted within Earl Mi. Angel believes that even if Earl Mi develops a new consciousness, under the control of the Seed of Distortion, it likely won’t have the ability to devour its master in the short term.

With this in mind, Angel first expressed respect and gratitude for Black Earl’s warning. Then he said, "Currently, there’s no way to let Earl Mi step down; it carries the main axis of the Moving Mirage. However, once everything is over, I will look for Lord Rhein immediately to conduct a comprehensive examination on Earl Mi."

Black Earl also understood that the Moving Mirage couldn’t do without Earl Mi, and within the Mirage, Angel could also cast the Purifying Field, which blocked the stench from the outside.

Therefore, he did not force Angel to put away Earl Mi immediately, but said indifferently: "No worries, if Earl Mi does show a backlash during this process, I believe with your ability and mine, suppressing it shouldn’t be a problem."

Angel nodded in agreement to this proposal. Although he and Earl Mi spend day and night together and have developed some feelings, if an uncontrollable independent consciousness really does arise, Angel won’t hesitate to act.

After Black Earl finished speaking, Dox, who had been waiting for a long time, finally had the opportunity to ask a new question.

"Is the silver pendant and crown as we imagined, capable of being combined together?"

Actually, Dox wasn’t too concerned about this question, just routine curiosity to satisfy his strong gossip instinct.

Angel: "Regarding this question, your guess is actually... huh?"

Angel stopped speaking halfway through.

Everyone looked at Angel with some confusion, and Angel, with a somewhat peculiar expression, pointed ahead.

They had always been in the Moving Mirage previously and hadn’t extended their spiritual power outward—because spiritual power is an omnipotent perception, it makes external perception more sensitive, and it can even mimic smell.

To avoid their spiritual power being tainted by the stench, none of them wanted to extend their spiritual power, even the not-so-afraid-of-stench Kaier and Dox didn’t do it.

So, when they saw Angel pointing ahead, they were momentarily stunned, not reacting to what had happened.

Angel sighed, manipulated the spiritual models in the Mind Space, and quickly constructed the model for the Second-Level Trick "Light Source Technique."

However, this model was modified into a variant Light Source Technique through the computing power of the Holographic Tablet.

It’s recorded in Angel’s self-written "Low-level Tricks. Revised" and named vastly different from the Light Source Technique, called "Flashlight."

The few who received the "Low-level Tricks. Revised" initially did not understand what it meant. However, they became indifferent as the trick names grew increasingly bizarre.

If Jon knew, he might immediately guess why Angel’s revised Light Source Technique is called a flashlight.

Because... it really is a flashlight.

It confines the light source, preventing it from fully emitting light and heat, instead condensing it into a beam of light. Although this weakens the brightness, it increases the visible distance of the illumination.

As Angel used the "Flashlight" trick, a beam of light pierced through the Mirage, broke through the dark maze, like a warrior cutting through thorns, paving the way with light, reaching the maze’s end.

—This is not an exaggeration; it’s because the maze’s end is relatively close, coincidentally within the flashlight’s illumination range.

"Do you see it? Two hundred meters ahead, there’s no more road." Angel whispered.

The group initially was surprised by the "Flashlight" trick; they recognized it as the Light Source Technique but didn’t expect the Light Source Technique could be used this way. However, as Angel pointed out that there was no road ahead, their attention was quickly diverted.

"What do you mean, are you saying we have to turn around and find a new path?" Dox asked puzzled.

Angel looked at Dox with an expression like he was staring at an idiot: "I really miss the you driven by inspiration."

Dox: "...Ah?"

Angel didn’t explain further, just pressed the flashlight’s beam downward, and as the light source descended, the group saw a very familiar hole in the ground at the maze’s end.

"Do you understand now? When I said no road, I meant there’s no fork. There is still a way forward, but we might really have to enter... the sewer."

As Angel’s words fell, the air within the Moving Mirage instantly became tense.

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