Warlock Apprentice

Chapter 3099: Chapter 3100: Rabbit Town Anomaly

Angel also didn’t expect that after sharing the story of ”The Withering of Wuan” with Laplace, she would decide to recast her body.

Moreover, Laplace’s tone was very firm, as if she had already made up her mind.

”Will recasting your body affect you?” Angel thought for a moment before asking.

Laplace: ”It might cost me decades of cultivation... but that’s not too significant for me.”

Laplace’s true form has lived for at least ten thousand years, so decades of cultivation, in her lifespan, really don’t count for much.

Angel: ”So when do you plan to recast?”

Laplace: ”In a few days. This time around, the time it takes for the recasting might be variable. If I’m quick, it could be over in a day or two; but if I’m slow, I don’t know how long it will take.”

Laplace wasn’t recasting her body for the first time; based on past experience, it usually takes about two days to complete. But this time, she intended to carefully examine the residual spiritual information in her body, which may take longer.

”Weren’t you curious about the Pi Luoxiu Clan’s routine gathering? After this gathering, I’ll find time to recast.”

Although Laplace was concerned about the altered memory impressions, nothing unexpected had occurred over the years, so even if there are issues, they were unlikely to suddenly erupt within these two days.

And the routine multi-clan gathering in the Daylight Mirror Domain is next week, not far from now. Restarting after the gathering won’t delay much.

Angel: ”Is there anything you need my help with?”

”Not at the moment. Besides, getting the story of ’The Withering of Wuan’ from you is already the biggest help for me.”

”Also, my consciousness won’t sleep during the recasting process. If you need to reach me, you can contact Luigi or Glaipnir; they’ll relay the message to me.”

Angel nodded, saying nothing more. Since Laplace had decided to recast her body, as an outsider, he was not in a position to comment. Besides, recasting might truly reveal the contingency left by Wuan.

They then discussed Angel’s speculations about Wuan and his plans for the new residents of the Crystal Origin of Dreams.

Laplace also thought that Crystal Origin of Dreams developing its characteristics was a good idea, and had an in-depth discussion with Angel on the possibilities of placing new residents in Wonderland of Dreams.

By the time they finished chatting, half the day had passed.

Angel planned to go to the Heart Space to check Luigi’s progress and inspect the state of the young Star Servant in the pot.

Meanwhile, Laplace prepared to go to the Buffer Zone of the Indestructible Heart Mirror. As for the reason... it’s the same as before. She planned to return to the Wilderness of Dreams to continue her fishing.

This time, she intended to catch a fish that truly belonged to her through her own power.

Angel gave Laplace a sly smile of commendation for her determination.

However, before Angel and Laplace could leave, Glaipnir went offline and informed them of an unexpected incident.

”Isn’t Rabbit Town just completed? What’s happened?” Angel looked at Glaipnir with some confusion.

Now, it’s only been five hours since Rabbit Town officially started operating. Normally, new residents of Rabbit Town would either be adjusting to their new homes or digging to take over. How did something go wrong?

Could it be that a quarrel broke out among the indigenous people? Or did the Circus’s recruitment scare them, causing a breakdown?

While Angel was speculating, Glaipnir sighed: ”They discovered something unusual while digging. I can’t describe the specifics well; maybe you should take a look.”

Not well described?

Angel and Laplace glanced at each other, both seeing confusion in the other’s eyes.

It wouldn’t take much time to check, so they didn’t refuse and directly used the Log-in Device at Rabbit Mountain to enter the Crystal Origin of Dreams.

Angel located their landing spot in Rabbit Town.

When they opened their eyes, they saw rows of rabbit mansions with diverse shapes.

However, the focus wasn’t the rabbit mansions, but that the windows of these mansions were all opened, allowing Angel to clearly see that new residents were looking down from them.

But they weren’t looking at Angel and the others; they were fixated on a direction surrounded by the rabbit mansions.

”When the anomaly was discovered, I instructed all new residents to return to the Rabbit Mansion and not to come out without my orders.” Glaipnir glanced at the opened windows of the Rabbit Mansion: ”Yet, although they obediently returned to the mansion, they still seem very interested in the anomaly that was dug out.”

”The direction they’re viewing now is the spot where they were previously digging.”

Under Glaipnir’s guidance, Angel and Laplace moved towards the so-called ”digging” site.

They didn’t conceal their figures along the way, and were seen by the new residents, who were curious about their identities but were currently more concerned about the... pond.

Yes, they had unearthed a small pond.

Angel and Laplace now also saw the pond.

The pond wasn’t large, with both its length and width under three meters. The new residents had only just acquired tools, and digging a large pit would require time. Between assigning rooms and digging within these few hours, managing to dig such a pit was commendable.

”As you see, midway through the digging, water started to seep into the hole.” Glaipnir: ”At that time, the new residents were still enthusiastic, thinking they had uncovered groundwater. But problems quickly arose when there was still a person down in the pit as the water seeped in, and he didn’t come up.”

”When the water kept accumulating, he... drowned.”

Drowned? The more Angel and Laplace listened, the more strange they found it.

Firstly, Angel was quite sure there was no groundwater here. Water resources do only come from the Heavenly Phenomenon Replacement Power, which, while it appears in Crystal Origin of Dreams, doesn’t have strong effects to form water... forming subterranean water is definitely not possible for now.

Moreover, Laplace had previously said that their excavation was under one point five meters deep, so even if there was water seeping in, for an adult’s height, it should just be around chest-to-abdomen level. But now Glaipnir was telling them that an adult drowned in there?

This is too bizarre.

”Where is the drowned person?” Angel looked at Glaipnir.

Glaipnir: ”He was rescued by a new resident adept at swimming and is now resting in a room.”

After a pause, Glaipnir continued: ”According to the drowned person, the pit bottom seemed to vanish. What was originally shallow pond water suddenly turned into a bottomless abyss.”

”And he happened to be a terrible swimmer, so he didn’t notice and drowned.”

”The rescuer also confirmed this saying, she dived several meters down without seeing the pit bottom. Below was all water, and pitch black; she didn’t go further to save the person and could only bring him up first.”

After hearing Glaipnir’s story, Angel felt an oddity too, whether it was the water source or the disappearing pit bottom, all reeked of a strange flavor. It’s no wonder Glaipnir went offline specifically to inform them of the situation here.

He instinctively used his spiritual power to probe into the pond, and, unsurprisingly, the bottom was nowhere in sight.

Angel, through perception, probed downwards for over ten meters in one go, yet still encountered water.

Moreover, as he probed further, Angel experienced a certain illusion: ”No matter how deep I explore, it will always be water.” And the more he probed, the more he felt a slight swelling sensation in the center of his brow.

It wasn’t mental discomfort but an omen.

If he continued to probe further, some unexpected events might occur. Of course, to Angel, any unexpected events in the Crystal Origin of Dreams were inconsequential. What he worried about was that this might be... the external manifestation of Wonderland of Dreams?

If, due to some unexpected event, everyone was dragged into an instance, that would be unfortunate.

The last time at the Circus incident, he remembered it vividly. Even he had no way to bypass the internal rules of the Immortal Realm to save people and could only join everyone in participating in the Circus.

So, Angel was much more cautious this time and did not delve deeper.

”Did you discover anything?” Laplace noticed that Angel closed his eyes earlier, clearly probing the pond’s bottom, so she asked.

Angel shook his head: ”At least within twenty meters below the surface, it’s all water, and I can’t see the situation below. I suspect it might be a special instance entrance.”

”Instance entrance?” Laplace and Glaipnir couldn’t help but furrow their brows upon hearing the term.

Instances, although quite rewarding, can also be quite tricky.

If it’s purely a combat instance or a puzzle-solving instance, they can handle it. But if it’s a performance-based instance like the Circus, they are truly out of their depth.

Moreover, even if they manage to clear the Circus, the embarrassment lingers for quite a while.

Therefore, despite the high rewards, they were somewhat averse to instances at the moment... at least, they weren’t eager to tackle one anytime soon.

”Precisely because I suspect it’s an instance entrance, I didn’t dare to delve too deep, fearing that it might trigger some mechanism and drag you all into the instance.”

Glaipnir nodded in quiet agreement: ”You did the right thing.”

Laplace also nodded silently beside him.

”But is this really the entrance to the Immortal Realm?” Glaipnir asked.

Angel hesitated a bit but decided to be honest: ”I can’t be sure. The only way to know is to activate it once and see... Should we activate it?”

Glaipnir and Laplace remained silent.

Though no one spoke, the answer was tacitly understood.

After a moment of silence, Angel looked at a Rabbit Mansion closest to the pond, seeing a girl dressed very much like an ”adventurer” standing with goggles at the entrance.

”Who is she?” Angel asked curiously.

The reason he noticed her was that while others were inside the mansion, even if curious about the situation, they merely peeped from the windows. Only this girl stood at the entrance and hadn’t entered the mansion from the beginning nor had Glaipnir any intention of ushering her inside.

Moreover, her expression was always filled with excitement, consistently peering in this direction. Had she not seen anyone here, she might have already come over.

Glaipnir glanced at her, smiled, and said: ”You mean her, she’s called Jeanne, a direct descendant of Charles XIII. Though distantly related, she’s the only female among all of Charles XIII’s descendants to successfully transmute into a mirror entity.”

Prior to this, the people of Charles Palace almost invariably failed in using the Moss Stone Mirror to turn real-world descendants into mirror entities, with success rates close to zero.

Therefore, all successful individuals were held in high regard.

Jeanne was, naturally, no exception.

”Jeanne differs from others in Charles Palace; rather than a princess, she’s more of an adventurer. The only reason she transmuted into a mirror entity was due to an incurable disease in reality, so her father arranged for her to enter the Moss Stone Mirror to attempt transmutation as a last resort.”

”After successfully transmuting into a mirror entity, she didn’t stay long at Charles Palace and embarked on new adventures within the Mirror Domain.”

”Unfortunately, possessing not many extraordinary abilities, her luck wasn’t great. She explored a Mirror Space for too long, which happened to be annihilated, causing her severe injury.”

”She didn’t die, but sustained significant injuries, recovering at Charles Palace for years, yet never fully recovering, remaining in a stupor for three hundred days a year.”

”Since the Mirror Domain has no dreams, and Charles XIII pitied her, he provided a Log-in Device so she could at least go somewhere while unconscious.”

In summary, Jeanne is currently the only one among the new residents who still has a physical body, so as long as her body awakes in reality, she can log off.

A semi-new resident, you could say.

”Oh, by the way, it was Jeanne who rescued the drowning person earlier. She loves adventure and is a skilled swimmer,” mentioned Glaipnir.

The reason Jeanne was outside was also under Glaipnir’s permission.

Given that Charles XIII and Glaipnir were friends, Glaipnir didn’t mind making small exceptions for Jeanne on non-principal matters.

”She seems quite interested in the pond?” Laplace whispered.

Glaipnir nodded: ”I mentioned earlier, she’s an adventurer. She aimed to dive for exploration after the bottom pit mysteriously vanished and became interconnected waters but was delayed due to the rescue.”

”Later, she proposed diving again, and I refused. However, judging by her current demeanor, she probably hasn’t given up on the idea.”

Glaipnir sighed: ”These adventurers, always keen on venturing wherever danger and anomalies lie. I somewhat understand now why merely mentioning Jeanne could cause headaches for Charles XIII.”

Laplace glanced at Jeanne and saw deep desire in her eyes.

She pondered and said, ”If she truly wishes to dive, we could let her try...”

Glaipnir frowned, ready to counter.

Yet at this moment, Angel also spoke: ”The pond is right in Rabbit Town; outright prohibition would be tough. Curiosity isn’t limited to her here.”

Glaipnir surveyed the surrounding Rabbit Mansion, and sure enough, curiosity was evident in the eyes of the new residents.

”Rabbit Town has already been established here; without clear risk, asking them to relocate lacks justification.”

”Ultimately, we do need to assess the situation of this pond.”

”Seeing Jeanne’s eagerness to explore, letting her try wouldn’t be remiss. At least she still has a body in reality, allowing me to eject her promptly from the Crystal Origin of Dreams if there’s an instance entrance below, and it turns dangerous.”