Warlock Apprentice

Chapter 3095: Chapter 3096: No Thought, No Mind

The shimmering waves under the starlight, the lively fish, the cold-faced Laplace, and the lip-pressed Angel together formed the silent waters of this moment.

The still atmosphere persisted for a full minute before Laplace slowly lowered her eyes: ”This fish doesn’t count as one I caught.”

After speaking, Laplace picked up the fishing basket and placed it on the water’s surface. With a flip of her hand, the basket tilted downwards, and the fish inside rolled and flapped out, followed by a ”plunk” as the serene water surface blossomed with moon-white splashes.

Angel watched as the fish swam into the shallow bottom, waving its tail as it disappeared into the distance.

It wasn’t until the fish completely vanished underwater that Laplace’s expression returned to calm, as if nothing had happened before.

Laplace glanced at Angel without speaking, but the look in her eyes was clear: Aren’t you leaving?

Angel coughed lightly: ”Actually, there’s something else I wanted to tell you.”

As Angel spoke, his eyes unconsciously glanced at the stack of Books of Fishing beside him, and Laplace seemed to understand: ”Are you reminding me to return the books after reading them?”

Angel paused for a moment and shook his head: ”That’s not it.”

Laplace: ...Then why are you looking at those books?

Angel: ”It’s like this, I recently heard some news, some rumors about the truth of the Abyssal Hollow.”

Abyssal Hollow? Laplace looked at Angel suspiciously.

If she remembered correctly, Angel had only been to the Heart Space these past days and hadn’t visited other parts of the Mirror Domain; meaning, the supposed truth about the Abyssal Hollow was found in the Material Realm.

It should be known that the Abyssal Hollow was a secret in the Mirror Domain, so how could there be truth about it in the Material Realm?

Angel also noticed the disbelief in Laplace’s eyes and thought for a moment before saying: ”I got the news through a special channel. Although I’m unsure of its authenticity, but...”

Before Angel finished his sentence, a low hum suddenly resonated.

Laplace’s gaze slowly moved to Angel’s chest, from where the humming sound emanated.

Angel felt the vibration in his chest as well: ”Someone’s sent me a message.”

As Angel spoke, he took out a Mother Tree Interlinker from his inner pocket. Sure enough, it was emitting a low humming sound—a notification for an important message.

Ordinary messages wouldn’t have alerts. Only those marked by Angel would have notification alerts.

Among those marked as important in the tree group by Angel were only two people: Nami Midori and the Observer.

Angel had not specially marked others such as Mentor Sanders, Jon, his brother Lyon, or even the Tree Spirit and Ironclad Granny, because if they wanted to reach him, they had their ways.

In fact, they could directly contact Tullas or Mandhela, communicating messages in a timely manner through them.

Thus, these individuals didn’t require special marking.

The ones truly marked are those significant individuals Angel wouldn’t dare to neglect, such as Nami Midori and the Observer.

So when the humming sound was heard, Angel took out the Interlinker without hesitation.

Sender: Observer.

Angel didn’t dare to take the Observer’s message lightly, promptly opening the tree group for a look.

The message wasn’t very long; Angel skimmed to the end at a glance.

The Observer, clearly familiar with the tree group for some time, had sent a formally typed message. In summary, it meant: Have something to discuss, please private chat if available.

Though unsure what the Observer wanted, the tone suggested it wasn’t particularly urgent... perhaps the Observer was curious about some rules of the Wilderness of Dreams?

Angel pondered over it, deciding to set it aside temporarily and handle the matter at hand first.

Moreover, he needed to consider how to respond if the Observer truly inquired about the secrets of the Wilderness of Dreams.

Angel put away the Interlinker, showing a look of apology toward Laplace: ”Sorry about that, shall we continue?”

Laplace nodded indifferently. She knew about the Mother Tree Interlinker as Angel had mentioned it before, even guiding her where to obtain one. However, she opted not to fetch it while battling with these tricky fish.

”Regarding the Abyssal Hollow, although I can’t be sure of the news’s authenticity, I personally believe it to be highly credible due to the unique source of the information.”

”Go ahead, tell me.” Laplace initially thought to ask about Angel’s information source, but at this moment, doubting its truth, she chose to ignore it for now.

”According to the information I received, the Abyssal Hollow should be a different space formed after the withering of a legendary creature who mastered the ’domain of darkness’...”

Angel distilled the core information from ”The Withering of Wuan” and succinctly conveyed it.

Initially, Laplace did not take this information seriously, but when she reconsidered ”The Withering of Wuan”, vague images slowly emerged from the depths of her vast memory.

In the images, she seemed to be floating within a captivity of darkness.

In her mind, spiritual signals continuously rushed in, and these signals appeared to chant a certain slogan fervently like devotees.

Yet in the image, her past self seemed impervious to these transmitted spiritual signals, floating in the darkness, muttering: ”Is this the Abyssal Hollow? Why is there nothing here?”

As a spectator of the scene, Laplace felt a startling surprise within her heart.

She remembered this scene.

To satiate her curiosity, she had once sent a Temporal Body to the Abyssal Hollow. The images now appearing were precisely those from her time within the Abyssal Hollow.

However, in her original memory, the Abyssal Hollow was utterly black, with nothing but endless darkness and eternal tranquility.

In such absolute darkness, Laplace was lost for a long while, eventually muddling her way out of the Abyssal Hollow.

She could assert that within the Abyssal Hollow, she encountered no danger, detected no creatures, nor heard any sounds.

Strangely, the images currently surfacing from her memory depicted her presence in the Abyssal Hollow no longer as silent but filled with chaotic spiritual information.

This spiritual information she’d previously entirely overlooked persistently repeated a slogan: No thought, no desire, no light, no darkness.

In the end, all slogans converged on the absence of darkness. It appeared as if countless voices chanting ”No darkness! No darkness! No darkness!” encircled her, yet... the previous her remained oblivious.

What on earth is happening? Laplace felt a sense of disorientation; she wasn’t sure whether the images emerging in her mind were real or fabricated. The only certainty was that this occurred after hearing ”The Withering of Wuan.”

Could it be that ”The Withering of Wuan” triggered a certain special memory mechanism?

”...That’s the situation.” Angel: ”By the way, the information I got indicates that someone once explored the Abyssal Hollow, but no information was found inside, not even a remnant thought.”

”Could it, who comprehended the Law of Wuan, give up all remnant thoughts so freely, and go to its death whole-heartedly?”

”This doesn’t quite fit the norm of a Legendary Creature’s death.”

”So, there’s speculation in the information that perhaps Wuan left a fallback for itself, just that no one has discovered it yet.”

At this point, Angel ended the discussion.

He told Laplace this information purely as a goodwill gesture; after all, this information was not useful to him, but it might be useful to Laplace.

After all, the Abyssal Hollow itself is located in the Mirror Domain, and Laplace had even explored the Abyssal Hollow before.

After listening, Laplace was silent for a moment then said: ”Where did you learn about this information? Is it from the Barbarian Cave’s intelligence network?”

Angel shook his head: ”No. It was a very special lifeform that told me, but I can’t reveal information about this lifeform.”

Angel wasn’t exactly unable to speak, he just felt that telling Laplace about the Dalmatian and Minister Kings might not be beneficial to Laplace.

The Demon Gods of the Abyss all have the trait of ”the true name cannot be spoken lightly”, and the creatures in the Nightmare Realm, who are stronger and more bizarre, probably have similar abilities. If Laplace knew the identity of the other party, she might get targeted by the Nightmare Realm, which would be an absolutely detrimental matter.

Seeing Angel’s secretive expression, Laplace’s instinct to seek benefits and avoid harm prevented her from continuing to ask questions.

She thought for a moment and said, ”I feel like the information you mentioned might be true. Whether it is the Withering of Wuan or that it left a fallback, it’s highly likely to be true.”

Angel: ”You believe it?”

Laplace nodded: ”I believe it because some images suddenly came to my mind just now.”

Laplace didn’t hide anything and told Angel about the images that suddenly surfaced in her mind.

”Altered memory?” Angel was taken aback; he didn’t expect that just telling an unknown story would cause changes in Laplace’s memory.

What’s going on?

”I don’t know the reason either.” Laplace said, frowning, ”Maybe these mental signals exist in my memory all along, but I hadn’t discovered them before. When you told me Wuan’s story, those previously ignored details in the memory started to proliferate and resurface.”

”Perhaps it’s not alteration but a true reflection.”

Angel: ”Then, what use are these hidden mental signals?”

Laplace shook her head: ”I don’t know, but you just mentioned that Wuan’s death might have left a fallback. This could be one of the backups?”

Angel: ”Could it be that, through altered memories, the mental signals are hidden within the beings exploring the Abyssal Hollow, and then... wait for an opportunity to revive?”

Laplace looked at Angel puzzledly: ”You seem quite knowledgeable?”

Angel lowered his head embarrassedly: ”Not really knowledgeable, I just read a novel with a similar plot.”

Angel had read many similar novels on the holographic tablet, where mental parasitism and then backfiring on the host to resurrect were not uncommon at all.

”Novel?” Laplace: ”You mean those stories written in books?”

Angel nodded: ”Yes, when you were ’reading the Book of Fishing,’ you could visit the library in Originheart City. There are many novels with similar plots, such as the ’Reviver’ modeling itself as a system or plugin, seemingly benefiting the protagonist, but actually guiding the protagonist step by step into a parasitic possession abyss.”

Angel recited the storylines he cherished one by one and gave numerous examples, leaving Laplace rather speechless.

So, human novels can arrange Legendary Creatures casually?

Looks like it’s time to find an opportunity to check out these novels.

After that, Angel talked with Laplace for a while, and finally agreed on the time to go to Rabbit Mountain, then Angel left.

After Angel’s departure, Laplace didn’t return to fishing but instead pinched her forehead and fell into contemplation.

When Angel was talking about the novel examples he had read, he mentioned that the Reviver would ”guide” the protagonist according to its own intentions to follow a specifically arranged path.

This is a kind of subtle influence, seemingly the protagonist’s decision, but actually each step is falling into a trap, everything is for someone else’s benefit.

Angel said it unintentionally, but Laplace took it to heart.

Because she suddenly thought of one thing, ever since she had explored the Abyssal Hollow, some changes did occur:

She became curious about the Abyssal Hollow, and this curiosity grew heavier, even Angel could sense her curiosity.

But strangely, despite her curiosity, she didn’t explore the Abyssal Hollow again.

Although she knew there was no danger in Abyssal Hollow after exploring it, she just couldn’t muster the motivation to explore it again.

Is it a change? Or is she just lazy?

Laplace couldn’t be sure.

Another thing, since she returned from exploring the Abyssal Hollow, the Temporal Bodies she created seemed to lean towards ”indifferent”, including her current Temporal Body is also indifferent.

In Laplace’s past view, indifferent personalities were quite similar to her main body.

But now, upon reflection, could it also have been influenced? After all, neither Luigi nor Little Laplace were indifferent personalities.

”No thoughts, no desires.” Laplace muttered softly: ”Could it be the source of the indifference?”

”Maybe these mental signals are subtly influencing me?”

If these speculations are true, then the news Angel brought this time can definitely be considered life-saving.

Even if the speculation is wrong, Angel was able to help her find the hidden mental signals which made her feel very grateful.

Laplace pondered for a while, did not return to fishing, and logged off.

She planned to have a good chat with Glaipnir, whose insight and analytical power is the strongest among all her Temporal Bodies. Perhaps, she could see the problem here?