Diary of a Dead Wizard

Chapter 997: Give Him a Wrong Answer

Red worms and bone armies were both defensive measures. They would fight against anchor points and other monsters and pollution emerging from the abyss.

But after speculating about the method of sixth-rank resurrection, Saul and the others had a direction for solving the root problem.

As for whether they could think of exact methods after having a direction, they could only continue exploring.

Unlike Saul's excitement, the others all seemed somewhat silent.

Shaya: [But how difficult it would be to destroy a sixth-rank's understanding of essence? We don't even know what his understanding is, so how can we destroy it?]

After a brief silence, Gorsa somewhat understood Saul's intention.

Gorsa: [Indeed difficult. But we're not trying to destroy a sixth-rank's understanding—we're trying to prevent his resurrection. His understanding of essence should have already been destroyed, which is why he's in his current predicament.]

Floco also became excited.

Floco: [Exactly! So what we need to do isn't destruction, but prevent him from rebuilding his understanding of the world. His constant devouring of the wizard world now should be an attempt to rebuild his understanding of essence by digesting the wizard world.]

Saul thought of Camus again. He could already manipulate the skeletons in the abyss—did this represent that the dead sixth-rank was gradually establishing new understanding?

Shaya was still habitually pessimistic.

Shaya: [But how do we stop it? Not let the abyss continue devouring continents? That's no different from what we're doing now, is it?]

Gorsa: [I suddenly remember something. These past few days I discussed red worms with Douglas, and I found one of his viewpoints very interesting.]

Floco: [What did you say? Who? Douglas?!]

Saul asked puzzledly, "Floco, what's wrong?"

Why so... terrified?

Saul could almost hear Floco's heavy breathing.

Floco: [... I'm somewhat sensitive to this name. I hope it's just a coincidence.]

Saul thought about Douglas's various abnormal and mysterious behaviors, intuitively feeling it wasn't just a coincidence.

That Douglas he couldn't see through and the Douglas that made Floco so frightened were very likely the same person!

"The Douglas we met appears to be a third-rank wizard, but he gives off a very composed, very calm feeling. Even when facing Alick, he showed no emotional changes."

Saul had special experiences, backed by the diary and star-shaped eyes, giving him confidence to fight even fourth-ranks.

But for Douglas to be so composed—though he appeared very polite—gave people an indescribable strange feeling.

Saul also didn't describe Douglas's appearance to Floco. After all, even a third-rank wizard could easily change their appearance.

And mental power fluctuations couldn't be perfectly simulated.

So Saul could only describe his feelings to Floco.

Who would have thought that after hearing this information, Floco was already certain of the other's identity.

Floco: [It can't be wrong, it's him. Douglas, a fifth-rank wizard who left the wizard world even earlier than I did. I heard he was only one step away from sixth rank.]

Saul closed his eyes.

This news was shocking, yet also had a feeling of "as expected."

"Then why would Douglas disguise himself as a third-rank wizard to help us fight the abyss?"

Floco smiled bitterly.

Floco: [I was severely injured by him last time, but I don't know why he suddenly stopped midway and spared my life. However, I think whatever he does, it's definitely for advancing to sixth rank.]

Shaya: [Could his target be the Abyssal Eye? After all, that's a dead sixth-rank.]

"If his target really is the Abyssal Eye, that's not necessarily bad for us."

A fifth-rank wizard wanting to become sixth-rank definitely wouldn't refuse to study a sixth-rank's corpse, right?

Gorsa: [Hehe, if his goal is also sixth rank, then when he discussed red worms with me, he should have been deliberately hinting at me, giving me information on how to fight the Abyssal Eye.]

Everyone finally remembered Gorsa's unfinished words and became curious.

Gorsa: [He told me that the essence of methods to deactivate red worms is actually giving red worms an illusion. Making them think they're already dead. Because red worms are very pure consciousness-based life forms, when they believe they've died, they enter a deactivated state. Very similar to wizards with mental mutation whose bodies still survive.]

Saul nodded repeatedly. Now when he recalled any of Douglas's actions, he believed they all had specific deep meanings.

Shaya: [Does that Douglas want us to hint to the abyss, make him think he's already dead? No wait, the abyss is already dead!]

Floco: [This is just one line of thinking. We can't limit ourselves to life and death.]

Saul thought for a moment and said, "Maybe Douglas is hinting that we should give the abyss a wrong answer, so his resurrection will fail."

The Abyssal Eye wanted to resurrect by rebuilding understanding of essence. But what if this understanding was built incorrectly?

Then he definitely couldn't resurrect!

The Prismatic Channel fell quiet again for a moment.

Shaya: [This, this isn't easy either. False understanding is easy to fabricate, but false understanding that could make a sixth-rank believe it's correct—that's not easy to make!]

Gorsa remained optimistic.

Gorsa: [Deceiving a sixth-rank isn't easy, but deceiving a sixth-rank who's already mad isn't impossible.]

"Yes, and the abyss is desperately wanting to resurrect now. Camus is getting more anxious each time. I seriously suspect that actually the abyss doesn't have much time left either. Once past a certain limit, he'll permanently lose the ability to resurrect. So he'll very likely grasp at every opportunity to try."

Floco: [A drowning person wants to grab any piece of driftwood—he won't care whether that driftwood can bear his weight.]

"So from now on, while everyone defends against the black tide, we also need to find a suitable lie."

Shaya: [I don't need to, right? I'm just a little second-rank.]

Gorsa: [Heh, don't worry. A fool's thinking can sometimes enlighten the wise. It's precisely because you know nothing that you can jump out of limitations and imagine without restraint.]

Shaya: I feel like you're insulting me, but I don't dare insult you back. So annoying!

Saul couldn't help but chuckle lightly, "Good, so none of us can give up. You can also discuss this problem with others without revealing the abyss's secrets."

...

After disconnecting, Gorsa sat up from his pink sofa.

"Interesting communication method." He rubbed his forehead, feeling no discomfort.

This communication method actually exceeded his understanding of consciousness communication.

But since it was something Saul had created, Gorsa could only say: he was used to it.

He touched his bandage-wrapped chin, tilted his head, and began thinking about the assignment Saul had given everyone.

Great, now the master had to complete the apprentice's homework in reverse.

After thinking for a while without any ideas, Gorsa directly teleported to Douglas's side, who was doing experiments at the Star Observatory Tower.

Douglas wore a white wizard robe, holding two beakers, still with his composed expression, "Is there something?"

"How do you think we can prevent the abyss from erupting?"

Gorsa was sometimes very stubborn, but sometimes very good at adaptation.

For example, now he came to find Douglas with the intention of... copying answers.

(End of Chapter)