I, the wizard, the foolish Buddha.

From the two ladies' conversation, Roland could tell that, for some reason, Catherine had lied to her mother, the White Queen, that she, Anna, and Roland were already married.

As for the Thousand-Eyed King's father, he really showed great loyalty by making a fake certificate for his daughter and future son-in-law.

As for why the senior student insisted on telling this lie, Roland's expression became increasingly strange.

It's unclear what he suspected, but Roland only slowly came to his senses after Helena left the study and pulled him inside.

Roland hurriedly opened his eyes and searched for his senior's figure.

It's more accurate to call it a semi-study, combining office work, rest, reading, and receiving guests.

Catherine was sitting on the sofa in front of the fireplace, flipping through a book.

Roland's gaze fell on Catherine's lower abdomen, and upon discovering that it was completely flat and devoid of any signs of life, Roland's expression grew increasingly strange.

Roland shook his head and walked over.

At that moment, Joan came over from not far away with a cup of tea and respectfully poured a cup of tea for Catherine.

At this moment, Catherine rubbed her shoulders, as if they were a little sore.

Joan's eyes lit up, and she immediately began massaging Catherine's shoulders.

At the same time, Roland also saw a figure flash past him—Helena rushed behind Catherine's sofa and eagerly began to massage her shoulders.

This scene left Roland dumbfounded.

In Roland's memory, Joan and Helena had never been so humble towards anyone. Although Joan's family was not large, their status in the Eastern Territory was very special. The Land of the End was a gift that this family gave to the White Council after arriving in the Eastern Territory.

Even the White Queen treated this family as an honored guest, and when Catherine first took power at Black Abyss Academy, it was because Joan's family was helping and supporting her.

Although Helena's status is not as prestigious as Catherine's, who holds the triple identities of Twilight, Black Abyss, and White Chess, she is still the most famous princess in the White Chess Council.

The relationship between her and Catherine is similar to that between a 'granddaughter of a powerful duke' and a 'princess'; she is an important noble whom the princess needs to win over.

Therefore, Roland always thought that although the two of them were always by Catherine's side, they should be neither humble nor arrogant in front of Catherine. Rather than a superior-subordinate relationship, they should be more like friends or relatives.

But I don't know when it started, the two younger girls began to be so filial to their senior, and their actions were so natural, they even seemed to be vying for the senior's favor.

It seems that, in the years that Roland was unaware of, the two proud junior girls had been molded into her likeness by their senior.
Roland's expression became somewhat subtle. He suddenly realized that it seemed that any girl who had even the slightest connection with him had become his senior's follower, sharing the same pants with her.

They should have been on the same side as me.
Upon seeing Roland approach, Catherine's expression gradually turned serious. She seemed to have guessed that Roland intended to discuss some serious matters with her.

Sensing the serious atmosphere, Joan and Helena stopped trying to please him. Joan stood behind the sofa, while Helena made Roland a cup of tea.

Roland noticed that Helena and Joan were not sitting, nor were they sitting on the sofa like their senior.

He picked up the teapot, took several large gulps of water, and then cut to the chase: "Helena told me about the wizards' attitudes regarding the negotiations. What are your thoughts?"

Catherine said, "Roland, we do need some time, but we can't drag it out too long. The hand that the gods have reached into this world must be cut off as soon as possible."

Roland asked, "Does Father (King of a Thousand Eyes) know the contents of today's negotiations?"

Catherine frowned and asked, "What new and important information did you get from Olivia this afternoon?"

Roland sighed and said, "The hand of the gods reaching into this world is probably not so easy to sever."

After a moment's consideration, Roland realized that Joan and Helena might not be able to accept the truth that "we are insects, and after a lifetime of hard work, we are just dogs for God" in a short time. So he began to communicate with Catherine telepathically.

He downplayed the incident and told Catherine about what had happened that afternoon.

After finishing talking about the 'big hand and the balloon', Catherine remained silent for a long time.

Her expression shifted slightly several times, as if she had been somewhat shocked, just like Roland had been when he first learned of these things.

Her expression turned serious, and she slowly nodded, seemingly having digested all the information.

Catherine said, "You did manage to get some real work done this afternoon."

Roland's lips twitched slightly, but he remained silent.

After saying that, Senior Catherine slowly took a sip of tea and began to think.

Roland was quite certain that his senior might have vaguely guessed, along with him, that 'we might just be a bunch of insects that have defeated a few beekeepers,' but she probably didn't know that 'balloons can't leave the big hand.'

This event was like a cataclysmic event for all wizards. But Catherine's reaction was much calmer than Roland had expected.

Just as the King of a Thousand Eyes once lamented, his daughter had unknowingly become more mature than before, mature enough to take over his mantle.

Roland didn't know what the 'simple idealist Alexandra' of the past was like, but the current Catherine not only understood deceit and treachery, but also possessed a composure that remained unmoved even when mountains crumbled.

What Roland didn't notice was that when Olivia told him these things, his reaction was the same as Catherine's.

"Roland, in this past thousand years, or rather, since our civilization has grown up, many wizards have pondered the matters of today."

Catherine looked at Roland and said, "And the worst they anticipated was far worse than this news."

Roland suddenly realized that Catherine had already prepared herself mentally. It wasn't that she was calmer than he had imagined, but rather that the wizards behind them were far more resolute than Roland had anticipated.

Everyone has thought about many, many worst-case scenarios and many, many countermeasures.

But he never considered surrendering.

Among these pioneers were not only the King with a Thousand Eyes, but also the White Queen and Alexandra.

Therefore, Roland is not only talking to his senior Catherine, but also to a pioneer.

Catherine continued, "In fact, I don't think this is bad news, because burning down the 'Garden of Sincerity' is already the best way for the Wizarding Empire to deal with the 'Demon Insects'."

Roland said, "We're on the same page. Though perhaps a bit optimistic."

Catherine said, "No, you're being too pessimistic about the future of the 'Demon Insects'."

"Senior."

Helena weakly interjected, "Wasn't that proposal already passed? After in-depth research on the demonic insects, the council felt they were too dangerous and no longer allowed their large-scale cultivation?"

“It is indeed too dangerous.” Catherine shook her head and said, “Not only should we use Aurelie as a negative example, but we should also have the recently formed Abyss Exploration Team thoroughly investigate whether there are any such insects there. Wizards must not act like those high and mighty gods and do such arrogant things.”

Roland frowned and said, "Abyss Exploration Team?"

Catherine said, "We can't have just one plan like 'submarine,' and we can't put all our eggs in one basket. Even if the continent and the ocean are destroyed, people can still survive in the tiny gaps where the abyss and hell overlap with this world."

After all, we are insects, not some majestic god. A tiny crevice is enough for survival, and enough for wisdom and truth to continue.

Roland hadn't expected that the wizards had already considered this worst-case scenario.

He couldn't help but raise a question that Olivia had once mentioned:

"Catherine, if the space for survival is reduced to a tiny crack, then what meaning do truth and wisdom have?"
Compared to the sewers that only allow us to live like rats, why can't the Garden of Eden, carefully tended by the gods, be a better choice?
If wisdom and truth are meaningless for survival.

Why don't we choose ignorance?

Catherine shook her head deeply.

She said the following.

"Roland, the reason we rebel so is not because the gods allow us to devour the fruits of wisdom, nor because of our mad thirst for wisdom and truth."

Our resistance is precisely for survival, for the continuation of our species.

After seeing the latest research reports on the magical insects and visiting Merlin's laboratory, I suddenly realized that we have always had a misconception about our entire magical civilization.”

Catherine looked at Roland: "The survival ability and future possibilities of the demonic insects far exceed our imagination. And their foundation is not 'Turaka'."

The same applies to wizards. Our foundation has never been the Thousand-Eyed King, the former Black Queen, the Red Queen, or the current White Queen, nor is it Alexandra or any of the wizards who have reached higher levels.

Rather, it was Merlin and his mentor, and countless other Tower Apprentices.

Our weapons should never be those powerful wizards—on the individual path of cultivation, we can never surpass the gods.

Even if the laws of our world were completely restored, and even if we could produce ninth-tier or even more powerful wizards, we still wouldn't be as good as them.

Because they have so many pastures and gardens... and on this road, we are just insects in a beehive.

Therefore, what truly terrifies the gods about insects is never those that are particularly fat and robust.

Rather, these insects have begun to master tools that even they could not master.

These tools are the foundation of our survival; without them, we would gradually lose our ability to survive.

Roland, I know that perhaps we can choose a way of life that requires no tools, and then live happily in Eden.

But we can't learn it.
If the fire suddenly goes out, how will we survive?
We can no longer adapt to a living environment without fire.

Once we lose fire, once we lose wisdom and truth, we will be like those creatures we once wiped out, slowly eliminated by ourselves or by nature.

Therefore, this is a struggle for survival.

Either the rulers of the old era—the gods who have ruled countless worlds—killed us insects.

Either we kill them and let the lair stand on their bones.

Roland, the gods are our protectors. They may even be our creators.

But they didn't realize that we were not their children, but rather a festering sore on their bodies.

Hearing her senior's words, Roland was deeply moved.

As someone with a 'technological world mindset,' Roland had long considered one thing—that in the future, wizards might be cheap magical creations that could be mass-produced on an assembly line, rather than rare 'wizard gods' that required thousands of years to cultivate.

The appearance of the Forbidden Angels further solidified Roland's belief in this idea. And those Forbidden Wizards, whose magical power was comparable to that of an apprentice but whose methods rivaled those of a creator, further corroborated this path.

Many documents indicate that in the ancient Forbidden Sanctuaries, there were many Forbidden Wizards whose individual strength was comparable to that of gods—such as Heracles, and the Forbidden Great Sages who were regarded by the gods as the same stars and the sun and moon.

But the most formidable, and even the most troublesome for the former master-level mad god (the Mad Goddess of Evil), were those forbidden wizards from the 'research institute' who didn't know a single spell—such as Roland's father and his colleagues.

The gods have been on this track of advancing their realms for countless millennia.

The individual wizard gods among the wizards are indeed incredibly powerful and terrifying. But it's impossible to defeat the gods on this track.

This path has already been proven at least 70,000 years ago, in an era when ninth-tier wizards could be born in this world—people defeated a few beekeepers, and then the world was restarted.

Therefore, to defeat the gods, a new path must be opened.

Strong individuals are essential; they are guardians who enable civilizations to grow successfully even in their most vulnerable times.

But the real main force still comes from the countless scholars, the technology tree, and those forbidden angels and other magical creations that are like gods.

Even if all the wizard gods were dead by then, countless mortals could still destroy the Kingdom of Heaven with their army of forbidden angels.

Once the production line is up and running, the wizards will be even more terrifying than the demonic insects.

Therefore, Roland understood this principle, knew the importance of 'wisdom and truth'—this was the gods' weakness, what they truly feared. It was also the path through which wizards could defeat them.

Therefore, when Olivia said that "wisdom and truth are not necessities for the survival of a species, but rather poison," Roland already knew the answer.

The reason he asked his senior sister this question was to see what these high-level wizards thought.

He worried that these top wizards would lose themselves in their own power. The gods' overt scheme was to use power to lure the wizards onto a different path.

The wizards were more resolute and clear-headed than Roland had imagined.

Especially the senior student, her final words, such as "we are the sores on the bodies of the gods," were more profound than Roland's thoughts.

Roland looked at his senior with great emotion and said, mimicking the tone the Thousand-Eyed King used to speak to his daughter, "Catherine, you've really grown up."

Joan: "."

Helena: "."

Catherine, her veins bulging, stared blankly. (End of Chapter)