Facing an Ancient God for a Year

Chapter 1401: Chapter 1399: Calamity Strikes (14)

“What do you mean?”

Fu Qian finally retorted, causing the Interlocutor’s overwhelming momentum to visibly pause.

Ah…

This reaction made Fu Qian sigh again.

“I’ve been looking forward to this meeting for a long time, but unfortunately, my old friend speaks so reservedly, which is truly regrettable!”

He wiped his hand across his face, even revealing his true appearance.

“Just now, I did know I could forcefully keep someone here, but Brother Interlocutor, do you really believe such a suggestion is necessary?”

…

“Just before the person left, I tried to explode his mind again.”

As if touched on some thought, the Interlocutor remained silent, while Fu Qian pointed to his own head.

“As it turns out, there was no apparent reaction. The difficulty of polluting and leaving a mark on someone aware they’re in a dream seems substantially higher. Didn’t you know this before?”

“It’s okay, speak freely. I always prefer candid communication, as it saves time, resources, and patience…”

The final sentence was clearly threatening.

As a top-level Observer, the Interlocutor undoubtedly received this point, even accepting the reality.

“For you, indeed, one cannot be too cautious…”

From Fu Qian’s face to the mask in his hand, when the Interlocutor spoke again, his tone finally held a trace of seeing an old friend.

“What seemed like emotional behavior was actually an opportunity to probe, and not just the dream’s situation; I was one of your targets too…”

“You’re right; the suspicion of the current situation’s authenticity greatly weakens the influence of pollution.”

He then admitted Fu Qian’s guess.

“In my estimation, you might need a few tries to discover this.”

“Yet your performance seemed like you already knew, had you done something similar before?”

Similar things… mental pollution?

After a brief thought, Fu Qian nodded.

“You could say that.”

…

The earlier mention of exploding minds was certainly not nonsense.

After posing the question that day, Fu Qian tried again to replicate the previous operation, which proved to be minimally effective.

The motivation for this attempt wasn’t from the Interlocutor’s imagined rich experiences with the Evil God, but a fundamental life experience—knowing you’re dreaming often makes one fearless.

Thus, realizing that continuing further might just be assisting others, Fu Qian decisively caused a mental rupture, testing it incidentally.

It turns out, though Tyler in an awakened state didn’t immediately attempt to control the dream with the same malevolence, the air of an original stakeholder still shone through.

“…I knew you weren’t simply prepared.”

Fu Qian’s explanation seemed to help the Interlocutor clarify his thoughts, and after a slight hesitation, he readily acknowledged his earlier actions.

“That’s right, as mentioned before, I can somewhat perceive your command over the dream, even joining in more subtly…”

“Noticing your unusually smooth progress earlier, I attempted to delve deeper, observing your gains.”

“And seeing if there’s an opportunity.”

Fu Qian nodded slightly, offering a supplementary remark.

“…Right, although my current state isn’t great, avoiding thoughts of escape is untrue.”

At this point, the Interlocutor candidly admitted his observation intent without pretense.

“Regarding your current situation, I’m not optimistic, but your earlier actions left a deep impression.”

“You’re too kind.”

Fu Qian humbly replied, quite pleased with the shift in conversational mood.

“Moreover, this is how it should be: simple and straightforward exchanges save so much effort and time—so in this case, can I rule out your involvement?”

Fu Qian’s praise for simple exchanges was clearly genuine, instantly demonstrating with the mangled flesh in his hand to the Interlocutor.

The tiny worms were still wriggling.

“Of course not, doing such things genuinely holds no benefit for me.”

Fu Qian’s straightforwardness was somewhat contagious, prompting the Interlocutor to fall into the rhythm and deny candidly.

Of course, he wasn’t naïve enough to completely drop his guard, diving into a round of truth or dare.

The subtle trickery of the person before him left a deep mark on him.

“I think so too—so who did it?”

Satisfied with his reaction, Fu Qian unhesitantly pressed further.

Uh…

The Interlocutor instinctively glanced at his left hand.

“The higher will in the corridor isn’t singular; given your current contamination level, the impact is beyond just your visible form—down to your essence, your skills… until you fully transform into an envoy of Theirs.”

“Is that the origin of your ‘Divine Corrosion’?”

The grim scenario depicted by the Interlocutor didn’t give Fu Qian a moment’s pause, as he brought up his counterpart’s self-introduction from years past.

“Yes, it’s true that the contamination bears distinct transformations, even apparent benefits, which is why I say Divine Corrosion is paradoxical.”

“Its power draws from the corridor, but I need it to break free from it…”

“If you had explained it like this years ago, our communication would have been much smoother.”

Clicking his tongue, Fu Qian looked a picture of learning, then his gaze fell on the Interlocutor’s non-human body.

“So everything beyond your head is also a result of contamination?”

“What do you think?”

The Interlocutor’s communication was much more exuberant, giving a cold laugh and pointing to Fu Qian’s left arm.

“Do you not think that if you continue, your state won’t be much better than mine?”

“Hope is essential. I previously thought you might be a creature from the Different World, naturally looking like this.”

Fu Qian wasn’t shy either, even rolling up his sleeve to display his wormy arm.

He had already tried; even as the master of the dream, he still couldn’t alter its appearance.

“That doesn’t seem related to escaping here?”

The Interlocutor coldly laughed on, refusing to divulge more about his origins.

“You’re right. So, I have a question surely related to escape.”

Nodding slightly, Fu Qian’s wormy arm twitched, gesturing toward the Interlocutor.

“What is this higher entity called?”

“Mysterious and powerful, with a very high ranking; it appears to be the most active among the higher wills here. Currently, anything related to Its power nearly always manifests as a worm.”

“The name.”

Listening intently, Fu Qian coldly interjected.

“…Alarakir.”