Chapter 564: Chapter 548: Monsters’ Meeting

[High-intensity unknown radiation force field detected.]

[Microscopic distortion in spatial structure detected.]

[Humanity algorithm logic baseline slightly affected by memetic contamination...]

Before Allen even stepped through the doors of the administrative center’s conference room, the precision sensors built into his alchemy puppet body triggered a red alert in his mind, flooding his consciousness with a frantic stream of data. His expression remained unchanged as he casually cut off the meaningless noise in the background.

Smoothing out his exquisitely tailored, immensely valuable dark blue wizard robe, Allen walked into the Association’s legendary nexus of power with elegant, perfectly measured strides.

The conference room had no windows. It was pitch-black, devoid of any conventional light source. Even the laws of physics seemed to be redefined here. Allen had expected a magnificent, brilliantly illuminated hall, but on second thought, he realized that every single person attending this meeting could see perfectly well without light. Illumination was indeed unnecessary.

The only source of light was a giant star map floating in the center of the room. As it slowly rotated, countless specks of light sparkled like diamonds, casting a profound glimmer that made the entire space look like the depths of the universe. A massive, circular black stone table surrounded the star map. Twenty-eight metal chairs stood silently around it, resembling the thrones of mythical Titans.

Allen’s gaze swept swiftly across the room. Including himself and his immediate superior, Hercules, who was already seated, only twelve of the twenty-eight seats were actually occupied. He walked straight to the seat reserved for the Deputy Minister of the Anomaly Threat Response Department and sat down. The metal backrest was cold and rigid, perfectly embodying the exact opposite of ergonomics. It was incredibly uncomfortable.

"Don’t be nervous, kid," a telepathic thought echoed directly in Allen’s mind. It was Hercules. "Who among those qualified to attend this meeting doesn’t have planes and a pile of experimental projects to manage? Most of these guys are busy doing research in their own planes or out executing missions. Having over half of them show up as projections or avatars is already giving the President face."

Allen gave a slight nod to show he understood. He casually leaned back in his chair and began observing the Association’s higher-ups—his "colleagues"—from the perspective of a bystander.

The figure seated to his left was not a physical entity, but a mass of deep, constantly writhing and shape-shifting shadows. It looked as though a creature from a two-dimensional world had been forcibly projected into three-dimensional space, its every contortion challenging the sanity of anyone watching.

[Target Analysis: High-dimensional shadow lifeform? Threat Level: High. Recommendation: Avoid prolonged observation.]

To his right, a massive crystal container simply rested on the chair. A giant brain, over three meters in diameter, was submerged in a bizarre liquid inside. Countless tentacles flashing with electric arcs connected it to the container’s walls. With every spark, it seemed to be performing billions of high-speed calculations.

[Target Analysis: Brain in a vat. A purely computation-specialized entity? Highly likely not the true body. Threat Level: Unknown.]

Directly across from him was an "ecological park" barely maintaining a humanoid silhouette. The creature’s entire body was composed of colorful fungi and spores. A thick, cloyingly sweet cloud surrounded it, and with every breath it took, visible hyphae frantically bloomed and died in the air.

[Target Analysis: Fungal-like species aggregate. Biochemical pollution source. Threat Level: Low.]

The writhing shadow, the brain in a vat, the fungal-like species aggregate... As Allen’s gaze swept over them one by one, the database in his mind automatically tagged these "colleagues." After advancing to the Morning Star realm, in their pursuit of so-called truth and power, the vast majority of powerful wizards had long since come to view their human bodies as "fragile and inefficient burdens," discarding them without hesitation. Looking around the entire conference room, remarkably, only he and Hercules still maintained standard human appearances. Here, the two of them actually looked like the anomalies.

Allen wasn’t surprised by this at all. In fact, even the contraction of his pupils’ focus was governed by a set pattern. This alchemy shell had no heartbeat and no blood; everything was simulated. His true essence was a massive soul, condensed by the Allen Network, residing deep within the machinery. From the corner of his eye, he glanced at Hercules, who looked perfectly at ease. He had no doubt that beneath his Minister’s seemingly robust human exterior, whatever was surging inside was absolutely not normal flesh and blood.

Just as Allen was quietly building his database, hidden streams of consciousness—like invisible tentacles reaching out from the deep sea—silently crept toward him from various bizarre dimensions. Some of these thoughts carried a pure desire for dissection, while others were laced with condescending scrutiny. Though devoid of direct malice, they exuded an overwhelming sense of oppression.

Fortunately, he had touched the threshold of the Soul Law and was extremely sensitive to microscopic fluctuations on the soul level, otherwise he wouldn’t have noticed this secret snooping at all. As for probes from other dimensions, though he couldn’t detect them, he knew without a doubt that there were plenty. It seemed this was the silent "bullying"—or rather, "greeting"—among Dawn Star Level colleagues upon their first meeting.

Allen remained expressionless, allowing those tentacles to wander and probe over his "shell." His soul actively retracted, turning into a frozen reef, refusing to leak even a single extra bit of information. He just had to play along and act the part. He was merely a "newbie" who had advanced to Morning Star less than ten years ago; he needed to play this harmless role well.

Over the next few minutes, a few more bizarrely shaped ministers entered one after another, bringing the final number of seated attendees to eighteen. Allen quietly activated a sliver of Soul Vision, attempting to further refine the data models of his colleagues. Just as his gaze swept past that patch of deep shadow, an elegant and slightly playful thought was transmitted over:

"Soul Law... How interesting. An alchemist who tinkers with crystals and metals actually managed to touch the Soul Domain. What a rare species.

"I am Mephistopheles, the Director of the Observation and Prophecy Department. Kid, if the opportunity arises, we can explore the mysteries of the soul together. I have quite a few good things here."

Allen lowered his eyes slightly and immediately severed that sliver of Soul Vision. Sure enough, a big shot had seen through his snooping. Trying to collect data in a place swarming with Morning Stars was still a bit too arrogant of him.

Suddenly! The giant star map in the center of the conference room flared with brilliant light for a split second. An indescribable, irresistible will—as if descending from a higher dimension—crashed down upon them!

In that instant, all the hidden probes circling Allen, be they out of curiosity, scrutiny, or testing, vanished entirely like remnant snow exposed to the scorching sun, melting away as if they had never existed. The entire conference room grew even quieter. The frantically writhing shadow instantly froze; the dancing electric arcs of the brain in a vat completely subsided; even the endlessly blooming and dying spore cloud around the fungal aggregate obediently suspended itself in mid-air. At this moment, all the "monsters" displayed absolute submission and reverence.

Enduring the oppressive aura that made his very soul tremble, Allen slowly raised his head and looked toward the head of the long table. Above that ultimate throne, which had previously been empty, space rippled violently like boiling water. A "thing" squeezed into reality out of thin air.

It was a massive head composed of four faces. One face was a solemn elder with eyes tightly shut, as if seeing through all things in eternal slumber. Another was an apathetic young man with hollow eyes that reflected the endless tapestry of universal birth and death. The third was an innocent child wearing an eerie smile, seemingly finding everything before it to be an amusing game. The final face was shrouded in dense shadows, impossible to see clearly, exuding only an aura of endless chaos and madness.

The Moonlight Mage, President of the Plane Exploration and Development Association, Augustus Valentine. He had descended upon this meeting in a form Allen had never seen before. Four faces, eight eyes, slowly opened at the exact same time.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.