Chapter 496: Chapter 484: Return and the New Wilderness

Great Library Plane, Deep Blue Residence E-071.

Beyond the terrace lay the eternal, unchanging azure sea.

The sea breeze rustled his black robes. Allen leaned against the railing, a steaming cup of tea in hand, his calm gaze fixed on the enormous shadows that occasionally churned beneath the distant sea’s surface.

It had been over a month since he left the Aiselan Plane.

There were no more experiments demanding his constant attention, nor the invisible gaze of that Moonlight Level Wizard hanging over his head.

He no longer had to concern himself with the fates of tens of millions of people. His twenty-seven-year career as the "Kingdom’s Guardian" had finally come to a close.

Now, he was just one of the tens of thousands of Wizards on the Great Library Plane.

It was a long-lost tranquility that belonged solely to the individual known as "Allen Wesren."

An indescribable sense of relief.

And an indescribable emptiness.

He didn’t rush back to Hub City to review his ever-expanding enterprise. Instead, he lived like an ordinary White Wizard.

His daily routine was very fixed.

He would meditate in the morning, then head to the Astronomical Observatory or the Sanctuary of Truth to attend academic lectures by Wizards from other schools. In the afternoon, he would return to the Deep Blue Residence to organize data, and by evening, he would be back on the terrace, watching the sea.

He had listened to the Witchcraft School’s debates on the "Decay of Supernatural Flame Particles" and watched the Bloodline School demonstrate new bone-grafting techniques.

A lecture by a Contract School Wizard titled "On the Co-evolution of Life Forms and Planar Environments" had left a deep impression on him.

He would sit in the back, not saying a word, quietly absorbing the most cutting-edge knowledge the Great Library Plane had to offer.

Allen withdrew his gaze and turned back toward the second-floor Meditation Room. The Gold throne had been dismantled and stored away in the Cybertron Workshop, leaving only a simple meditation chair. He sat cross-legged and closed his eyes.

[Humanity Algorithm 2.0 Operational Status: Stable.]

[Current Humanity Value: 75%.]

DSeek reported right on cue.

Ever since engraving the "Humanity Algorithm" into his mind, he could finally appreciate scenery, savor food, and even space out occasionally like a normal person.

He was no longer that cold machine that only calculated costs and benefits.

At least, not on the surface.

He spent most of his time exploring the knowledge of the Morning Star Wizard stage.

The conversation he’d had on the Floating Flesh Island resurfaced in his mind.

"Advancing to Morning Star means a fundamental leap from ’borrowing Magic Power’ to ’understanding Law’..."

"Each Morning Star Wizard can only comprehend three Laws at most..."

"These three Laws will form your ’Authority’ and determine whether you are qualified to glimpse the Moonlight realm..."

A hint of contemplation flashed deep within Allen’s eyes.

’Phase one: touch the Law. Phase two: apply the Law. Phase three: rewrite the Law.’

He had already decided to prioritize the Law of Metal. As for the other two, he would wait until he became a Morning Star Wizard to choose.

He pulled up the Association’s knowledge base.

Under his Level 2 clearance, most of the information related to Morning Star was grayed out and locked. The occasional piece of theoretical knowledge was priced at over a thousand Credit Points.

Allen looked at the few dozen Credit Points remaining in his account, and the corner of his mouth twitched.

For an ordinary Second-level Wizard, the barriers to crossing the threshold to Morning Star were despairingly high.

His mentor, Mercer, had told him long ago that the path beyond Level 2 was a wilderness one had to tame alone.

The reason the Second-level Wizard stage was such a bottleneck was due to the blockade of knowledge and the cost of trial and error.

Subsequent Core Witchcraft had to be developed by oneself.

’But how was one supposed to develop it?’

A brand-new Core Witchcraft, from conceptualization to theoretical development, to building the magic model, and finally to experimentation... Every step was a bottomless pit that devoured time and money.

A single misstep, a failed experiment, and the backlash could leave one severely injured at best, or dead on the spot at worst.

It was common for most Second-level Wizards to spend a century and their entire fortunes trying to develop a single Core Witchcraft.

Not to mention the difficulty of finding suitable testing grounds and vast quantities of experimental materials. In the Wizarding World, every inch of valuable territory had an owner, and most high-tier, universal knowledge was monopolized.

For ordinary Wizards to advance, their only choice was to take on dangerous pioneering missions, trading their lives for the right to purchase knowledge from their organizations, then spending a century developing a Witchcraft that might very well fail.

But Allen was different.

He had used Augustus’s bloodline proving grounds to pull off a "freeloading" of his own.

Under the guise of a long-term mission, he had brazenly used a kingdom of fifty-three million people as his personal laboratory, completing two major Witchcrafts: the "Allen Network" and "Consciousness Upload."

This had saved him far more than a century of time and an astronomical amount of Magic Stones.

The risk had been enormous, of course, but thankfully, this big shot was the big boss of his own organization, which was how he’d managed to get away unscathed.

A faint smile touched Allen’s lips.

’The path forward was clear.’

First, he would use the massive amount of soul data he brought back from Aiselan to thoroughly analyze and perfect the "Consciousness Upload" technology, turning it into his third Core Witchcraft.

Then, he would push his "Machines Resonance Meditation Method" to the peak of Level 2, completing the construction of his eighth Core Matrix and inscribing it.

At that point, he would be able to touch the gateway to Morning Star.

’Only a Morning Star Wizard can lead planar development. Only then can one be considered to have earned a seat at the table in this boundless universe.’

A flame called ambition flickered in Allen’s eyes.

’When that time comes, he should conquer a piece of territory that is truly his own.’

Just then, a faint mental ripple sounded in his consciousness.

It was a communication request from the Weisren Heavy Industry headquarters in Hub City, transmitted through the physically isolated "Lighthouse" network.

A screen of light popped up, and Colin’s projection appeared before him.

"Boss," Colin said, getting straight to the point. "If you don’t come back soon, our new headquarters building is going to have its inauguration ceremony without you."

Allen raised an eyebrow. "New headquarters?"

"Yes, new headquarters." Colin took a deep breath. "It covers an area of three thousand seven hundred acres, with a main building that’s 75 meters tall. Supporting facilities include five large-scale workshops, three independent R&D centers, a residential area for over a thousand employees, and... a transit Star Gate."

"Cost: four hundred and fifty million Low-Level Magic Stones."

"Vera called it a ’strategic investment.’ Lina called it a ’brand upgrade.’ As for me..." Colin rubbed the bridge of his nose. "All I know is that there’s a new number on the financial statements that nearly gave me a heart attack."

Allen was silent for three seconds.

"Four hundred and fifty million?"

"Yes."

"Where did you get that much money?"

Colin gave a wry smile. "Boss, how long has it been since you were last in Hub City?"

"Five years."

"Then do you know what Weisren Heavy Industry’s current annual revenue is?"

Allen shook his head.

Colin held up one finger. "One point two billion Low-Level Magic Stones."

Allen’s pupils contracted slightly.

"The tutoring division has surpassed eighty thousand registered students, with an annual revenue of three hundred and twenty million."

"The environmental protection division handles sixty percent of Hub City’s waste disposal and has secured contracts with seven other wizard cities. Annual revenue: four hundred and ten million."

"The Golem division..." Colin paused.

"Our monthly order backlog is already stretching into the second half of next year. Even with fifteen production lines running at full capacity, there’s still a countless number of clients waiting in line."

Colin’s words came faster and faster. "Vera suggested expanding production, and I agreed. So we built another twenty production lines and recruited nearly a hundred new employees."

"The Golem division’s annual revenue is now four hundred and seventy million."

"And that’s just for the Golems themselves. If you factor in the associated ammunition, maintenance, and upgrade services..."

"Total revenue is one point two billion, with a net profit of over 400 million..."

The air went quiet for a moment.

Allen spoke slowly. "So you spent over four hundred million to build... an industrial park?"

"It’s the new headquarters," Colin corrected. "And Vera says this is just phase one."

"...Phase one?"

"Yes. Phase two is planned for an independent Golem testing ground, and phase three is..."

Colin waved his hand dismissively. "Forget it, you should just come back and see for yourself."

"The boss can’t just attend the inauguration via projection. That would be... far too undignified."

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