Warlock Apprentice

Chapter 3352: Chapter 3353: Crystal Pavilion Interlude

Angel and Laplace left the tent, ready to head to the Hundred-Dragon Divine Kingdom’s station.

But before they could walk out of the stall area, urgent footsteps sounded behind them.

"Sir, please wait a moment." A familiar voice rang in their ears.

Angel turned his head and saw Sipolov chasing out from the tent.

His expression was somewhat awkward, his hands helplessly placed at his pant seams, as he bowed deeply to Angel: "It was my communication failure, I apologize to you, sir."

At this moment, Sipolov did not know what Angel was thinking, nor did he understand the current situation; he just felt that this uncomfortable departure was due to his prior communication failure.

Earlier, when Sipolov met with Oleg, he had tactfully expressed multiple times that Angel and Laplace were of unusual status, and he owed Angel a favor, hoping Oleg could show some leniency.

But in the end, Oleg still revealed his sharp side.

He even "angered away" Angel and the others.

This made Sipolov very remorseful, thinking the mistake was his. His inadequate and poor communication led to this incident.

Thus, he started apologizing as soon as he came forward.

However, from Angel’s perspective, Sipolov had already done quite well; moreover, although Oleg was sharp, his proposal of "qualification theory" was actually a kind of guidance for Angel.

—To enter Heartfire Hall, you must meet these conditions.

Previously, Angel even thought the Yingji clan might not agree to let him enter Heartfire Hall; but after Oleg tore away the surface gentleness and exposed his sharp spirit, he actually pointed out a clear path for him.

And the emergence of this clear path also unexpectedly meant that Angel’s entry into Heartfire Hall was highly likely to succeed.

Under such circumstances, he naturally wouldn’t blame Sipolov.

However, there was no need to reveal these matters to Sipolov now, so Angel just said lightly: "It’s not your fault. I said before, if this side doesn’t work, you can help me find a heart fire to study for a while. So, there’s no need to feel guilty."

Angel’s words made Sipolov feel even more embarrassed, and he scratched his head: "How about I lend you my heart fire right now, sir..."

Angel: "No need now... I wouldn’t want to become the target of everyone."

At this moment, they had no idea how many heart fires of the Yingji clan were watching their every move. If Angel took Sipolov’s heart fire here, he would definitely become the target of everyone.

Besides, Angel didn’t have time to study heart fire now; even if he acquired Sipolov’s heart fire, he would have to wait.

After Sipolov finished speaking, he suddenly realized that many Yingji clan members were undoubtedly watching, perhaps even Senior General Oleg himself.

He then came to his senses and awkwardly said: "I didn’t think it through. Should I come to find you individually later?"

Angel shook his head: "No need, we’ll meet again soon."

Sipolov was stunned, not quite understanding Angel’s meaning.

Angel: "It’s just the literal meaning. My departure this time doesn’t mean I’ve given up, just that the time to meet hasn’t come."

"Since you came running out, represent me and convey a message to Senior General Oleg."

Sipolov nodded, waiting for Angel’s words.

Angel: "Tell Senior General Oleg to not forget... we are Dream Mirror members."

Sipolov: "???" Angel and Laplace being Dream Mirror members, he had already informed Senior General Oleg, hadn’t he? Why emphasize it again?

Angel: "Just let him remember this point, he will soon understand its meaning."

Sipolov was still bewildered, his eyes full of confusion.

Angel didn’t further explain, only whispered to Sipolov: "Later, maybe it will be him coming to find us, not us coming to find him."

"By the way, if he wants to find us, he can go through the log-in device and look for a girl wearing a rabbit doll hat at the Crystal Origin of Dreams... of course, he can also contact Glaipnir through the registry, but by then, Glaipnir is likely very busy and may not have time to deal with you."

After speaking, without waiting for Sipolov to react, Angel and Laplace nodded to him gently and turned to leave.

...

Perhaps everyone was crowded on the 5000th layer of cloud soil; when Angel entered the Ring Fort, the number of people was obviously much fewer than before.

The journey wasn’t too crowded.

Soon, Angel and Laplace ascended the step ladder, which resembled a crystal pavilion.

As soon as they entered, the crystalline walls around began to emit streams of aggregation energy. These streams of energy transformed into a flowing light, appearing out of nowhere with a virtual number: "5000"

This meant they were currently on the 5000th layer.

The station of the Hundred-Dragon Divine Kingdom was at the 4000th layer, requiring only to move the first "5" to "4" using the aggregation energy to reach the destination.

Just as Laplace was about to adjust the number, a small incident occurred.

A boy, covered entirely in a crystalline shell, suddenly intruded into the pavilion without any caution.

This sudden appearance of the boy made their brows furrow.

There’s a corresponding etiquette for using the step ladder; Angel and Laplace had already entered here, and being intruded upon was a kind of impolite behavior.

Moreover, once they began operating the step ladder, space would start transmuting; and if the other party bothered to barge in unexpectedly, it might cause space perturbations, leading to death.

This is also being irresponsible for one’s own life safety.

Looking at this boy, Angel was about to speak, but the other party raised his head, revealing a face full of tears and fear: "Sorry, I didn’t mean to, please, let me go to negative one layer first, I’m begging you..."

As he spoke, the boy disregarded everything, beginning to operate the numbers in mid-air.

He kept adjusting the numbers, attempting to change the number from the 5000th layer to the negative one layer. But the number couldn’t go down past the 100th layer, seemingly locked.

Seeing this, the boy began to tremble all over.

"No, it’s not like this... Before, I could clearly..." The frightened boy raised his head, looking skyward.

It seemed as if he wasn’t looking at the ceiling of the crystal pavilion but through the pavilion, at a higher and more distant void: "It’s the Giant City Spirit, yes, it must be the Giant City Spirit, he’s discovered me... No, they’re coming, I must go to negative one layer, I must go..."

The boy seemed maddened, desperately adjusting the numbers in the air. But even if he poured out all the aggregation energy, he couldn’t change the 100th layer number.

Watching the other’s frantic actions, Angel and Laplace exchanged glances, both seeing doubt in each other’s eyes: What’s going on?

As they were bewildered, wondering if they should intervene, a uniform sound of footsteps came from outside the Crystal Pavilion.

Looking up, they saw the pavilion surrounded by guards from the Crystal Eye Clan clad in crystal armor.

The guards held their weapons, staring fiercely at the tearful youth.

The captain of the Crystal Eye Clan guards stepped forward, deeply bowing to Angel and Laplace to express his apology: "Sorry for disturbing our esteemed guests, he is a fugitive from our clan and we need to take him back for punishment."

Angel remained silent, merely turning to look at the youth on the ground.

He did not argue but softly murmured: "It’s over..."

The youth raised his head, trying to find familiar faces among the crowd, but all he saw were the fierce faces of the Crystal Eye Clan guards. The only outsiders were Angel and Laplace.

He looked despairingly at Angel and Laplace, and finally was tied and taken away by the Crystal Eye Clan guards.

As the youth was taken away, the guard captain once again offered an apology to Angel and Laplace.

Additionally, he presented a red oval crystal the size of a baby’s palm.

This was a gift prepared due to the disturbance caused to the guests.

After Angel accepted the crystal, the guard captain smiled and turned to leave...

When the surroundings were completely empty, Angel turned to Laplace: "Did you hear it just now?"

Laplace didn’t immediately reply, but threw a glance at Angel, indicating that they should talk later.

Angel nodded and didn’t speak further.

Laplace gently adjusted the numbers in the air to 4000 layers, and with a shift of the Crystal Pavilion, space began to transmute.

In the blink of an eye, they reached a new floor.

After stepping out of the Crystal Pavilion, Laplace summoned a barrier first thing, and once complete, she spoke in the Mind Ribbon: "It’s okay now."

According to the youth’s prior words, his failure to adjust layers was due to the Giant City Spirit’s interference. This means the youth was constantly monitored by the Giant City Spirit, so if they were to talk, it would likely be overheard.

Only after the barrier was set did Laplace and Angel communicate to avoid the Giant City Spirit’s watch.

Laplace: "What you meant to say earlier, was it about the words spoken by that Crystal Eye Clan youth at the end?"

Angel nodded.

The Crystal Eye Clan youth, when being taken away, seemed to have fallen into a state of panic, mumbling incoherent words.

On first hearing, these words seemed illogical, but some of them caught Angel’s attention.

For instance — "I don’t want to become someone else."

Others might not find this peculiar, but Angel and Laplace detected a deeper meaning.

"Could he be like Lita, a victim of the Holy Corpse Crystal?" Angel spoke to Laplace in the Mind Ribbon.

Laplace: "It’s possible."

From the Crystal Eye Clan youth’s mumblings, it’s highly likely he would become a victim of the Holy Corpse Crystal. Moreover, even the Giant City Spirit is monitoring him, which is another piece of evidence.

Moreover, there’s another point.

"You heard it earlier; he said he wanted to go to the negative first floor."

Angel nodded, for indeed, the youth was eager to enter the Crystal Pavilion to reach the negative first floor. Ultimately, he didn’t succeed, possibly because the Giant City Spirit was behind it.

"I once heard a rumor that when the Crystal City was constructed, they created many concealed pathways leading outside to prevent being trapped by foreign forces during wartime. These paths are hidden underground."

In other words, the youth’s urgency to reroute to the negative first floor might have been to escape the Crystal City via the underground pathway.

If true, then all the elements align: Crystal Eye Clan youth, leaving Crystal City, monitored by Giant City Spirit, arrested by Crystal Eye Clan guards, muttering about not being himself...

Put together, doesn’t that suggest a victim of the Holy Corpse Crystal?

Laplace turned to Angel, noting he seemed deep in thought before finally snapping back.

"Do you... care about him?" Laplace paused, then rephrased, "Are you empathetic?"

Angel shook his head: "Not really."

After hearing the complete story of Lita from Glaipnir, he might have felt empathy specifically for Lita.

As for the Crystal Eye Clan youth, he barely knew him and was unaware of the truth behind it, so empathy couldn’t arise.

"I’m considering what I discussed with Glaipnir before."

Laplace immediately understood: "Are you considering promoting the Crystal Origin of Dreams among the Crystal Eye Clan?"

The persecution of Lita and other youths by the Crystal Eye Clan was to let those who passed away be reborn in a new form. Previously, Angel had proposed allowing those existing within the Holy Corpse Crystal’s consciousness to log in to the Crystal Origin of Dreams, thus providing them another form of rebirth.

Yet this time it’s not the Crystal Eye Clan but the indigenous people of the Crystal Origin of Dreams.

However, there’s still a question: how to allow the consciousness within the Holy Corpse Crystal to enter the Crystal Origin of Dreams?

Angel had posed this issue to Glaipnir, for Glaipnir was more eager for a solution.

Now that Angel raised it again, perhaps he has found a method?

Angel shook his head: "I haven’t yet. But now that the Crystal Origin of Dreams has been publicly showcased due to prior exhibitions, and since it’s public, maybe we can seize this opportunity to negotiate with the Crystal Eye Clan higher-ups."

Angel believed the appearance of the Mystic Book Dragon would hasten the spread of the Log-in Device.

Since that’s the case, why not resolve the remaining issues during this opportunity?

After Angel finished, Laplace sighed lightly: "You and Glaipnir are on the same page..."

Angel: "Huh?"

Laplace: "Glaipnir also wants to resolve Lita’s situation quickly, so she discussed the Log-in Device and Calamity Puppet with the Mystic Book Dragon, suggesting bring the Crystal Eye Clan elders over. After all, this is the Crystal Kingdom; they are the hosts and can disseminate information faster."

"The Mystic Book Dragon agreed as well."

"If nothing goes wrong, the elders of the Crystal Eye Clan should already be at the Hundred-Dragon Divine Kingdom’s outpost."