Wizard: My career panel has no upper limit

Chapter 439 One Billion United
When the light from the portal faded and Ron and Eve reappeared at the Upside-Down Cafe, the sight before them stunned them both.

Right now, a bizarre celebration called the "Upside-Down Day Party" is being held here.

A lady in a long dress is gracefully lifting a steaming cup of coffee with her slender ankles encased in stockings.

Her movements were surprisingly skillful; her toes deftly manipulated the cup handle, precisely delivering the coffee to her upside-down lips.

The lady maintained her elegant and composed demeanor befitting high society, as if drinking coffee in this manner was perfectly normal.

"What a wonderful fragrance!"

She gently stroked the rim of the cup with her toes, letting out a satisfied sigh of admiration:
"Today's coffee is exceptionally rich; you can taste even more layers of flavor by tasting it with your feet."

At the nearby dining table, a middle-aged man who looked like a businessman was "walking" on the floor with his head.

His suit was covered in dust, his hair was completely messed up, but his expression was unusually serious.

This mode of transportation seems to be the most normal mode of transport in the world:
"I'm sorry to have kept you waiting,"

He spoke to his partner sitting opposite him, his tone carrying the seriousness characteristic of business negotiations:
"Walking with your head is indeed slower than walking with your feet, but it allows you to better feel the pulse of the earth and helps you make more informed business decisions."

The strangest thing was the family of three in the corner.

The father crawled on his head, the mother read a newspaper gracefully between her feet, and their little daughter tried to comb a doll's hair with her toes.

The family members all had exceptionally harmonious expressions, filled with the warmth of family happiness.

"Daddy, look at the braids I did for the doll!"

The little girl excitedly held the doll up with her toes; the doll's hair was tied into a strange spiral shape.
"The teacher said that doing crafts with your feet can develop the other half of your brain!"

"Well done, baby."

The father spun his head around on the floor as a gesture of approval.
"In an upside-down world, only those who learn to adapt can survive."

The cafe staff took this reversal to the extreme.

They not only turned themselves upside down, but also performed all sorts of incredible acrobatics in the air.

A waiter "walks" on the ceiling with his head while serving food to guests with a tray held on his feet.

The tray remained firmly in place between his toes, and not a single drop of liquid in the coffee cup spilled.

Welcome back to the real world!

Another waiter, standing upside down, greeted them, his voice carrying a certain cheerfulness:

"Every time the treasure vault is opened, it's like our café's upside-down day party!"

As he spoke, he used his foot to write characters in the air, and surprisingly, the characters he wrote were neat and orderly:

"We believe that only by completely breaking free from conventional thinking can we see the truth of the world!"

At this time, customers continued to stream into the coffee shop.

They even had expressions of enjoyment on their faces, as if this upside-down lifestyle had brought them some kind of relief.

An elderly man with a white beard is skillfully turning the pages of a thick philosophical book with his toes.

His expression was focused and deep, and he would occasionally make a thinking gesture with his toes in the air:

"Indeed, only by looking at the world upside down can we understand the true meaning of the allegory of the cave."

He said to himself:
"We always thought we were seeing the truth from our own perspective, but it was just a shadow."

Only when it's upside down can you see the light source itself.

This absurd philosophical argument sounds both ridiculous and somewhat reasonable, making it difficult to distinguish between madness and wisdom.

"But at least it's over..."

Eve let out a long sigh, her eyes revealing extreme exhaustion:

“Every time I visit my ancestors, I feel like my worldview has been reshuffled.”

She looked at the upside-down people around her, a look of confusion in her eyes:
"Sometimes I really can't tell whether we are normal or they are normal."

"But it's fun, isn't it?"

Ron smiled as he thought about the treasures he had just acquired:

"Although the process was very strange, the gains were real. And..."

His gaze swept over the customers who were drinking their coffee with their feet:
"Sometimes, looking at the world from a different perspective can indeed reveal things that we don't usually notice."

Eve nodded, but then looked somewhat disappointed:

"Mentor...aren't you going to see your mother now?"

"She said she has something important to discuss with you..."

The girl lowered her head, her slender fingers unconsciously stroking the necklace on her chest.

That was the "Mirror of Lies and Truth," which she had just obtained from the treasure trove of the King of Absurdity, and now she wore it as an ornament after shrinking it down.

The mirror still reflects the image of that resentful middle-aged woman, the image she should have become.

This scene constantly reminds her how precious and fragile her life is now.

"Yes, but don't worry."

Ron reached out and gently stroked Eve's hair.

His actions carried a calming power, gradually easing the girl's tension.

"Shall we continue our mutual teaching in a few days? I look forward to your new insights into bloodline studies."

Upon hearing this promise, Eve's face blossomed with a radiant smile, like spring flowers in full bloom.
"Okay! I'll wait for you!"

Her voice was once again filled with energy and anticipation:
"I have prepared many questions to ask you, as well as some research insights I would like to share."

The two slowly walked towards the exit of the coffee shop.

The waiters, who had been turned upside down, waved goodbye in a friendly manner.

Their farewell was equally impressive—they drew graceful curves in the air with their feet.

Welcome back to Upside Down Cafe!

As Ron walked out of the coffee shop, he habitually looked back.

But what he saw made him stop in his tracks.

The shadow of that building is undergoing an incredible change.

What should have been a deep black shadow has now turned pink.

A small hand sprouted from the pink shadow, waving and greeting him.

Ron chuckled and waved to the pink shadow.

………………

The night was as dark as ink, and the lights of thousands of homes in the central area twinkled below, like a spilled galaxy scattered across the earth.

Ron sat in the seat of his private aircraft, his fingers lightly stroking the "Complete Guide to the Extraordinary" that he had just acquired.

The leather of this thick book felt warm and smooth like jade, but the weight of knowledge it contained gave him a profound sense of dread.

The interior decoration of the aircraft showcases the owner's numerous victories in conquering other worlds.

The walls are adorned with various strange creature skull specimens.

A lizardman leader with three eyes, a rock giant with a crystal embedded in his forehead, and a disgusting head with holes all over his face where something had been dug out.

Each piece of spoils represents the destruction of a civilization and the submission of a race.

But the most eye-catching feature is a fist-sized crystal ball displayed in the very center of the bulkhead.

The crystal contains a complete view of a miniature country, and the city's lights can be seen twinkling on the surface.

This is not a model, but a real, miniaturized, and sealed-off conquered civilization.

Hundreds of thousands of intelligent beings once lived there, and now they are all objects of appreciation in Cassandra's private collection.

The magical fluctuations inside the aircraft were unusually intense, and the various anti-spying and anti-detection rune arrays were operating at full power, emitting a low hum.

This level of protection is already capable of blocking the perception of a great wizard.

Clearly, Cassandra was extremely cautious about what was to come.

"What exactly is she trying to tell me?"

Ron analyzed the various possibilities in his mind.

As his thoughts raced, the aircraft slowly descended to the top floor of the main tower of the Crystal Spire.

This is the most heavily guarded place in the entire Central Land.

Layer upon layer of sealing barriers covered the area like a spider web, and even the concentration of magic in the air was several times higher than in other places. Pushing open the hatch, Ron immediately felt a suffocating atmosphere.

Cassandra's private sphere reveals a morbid kind of luxury.

The walls of the room were made of pure abyssal crystal, which emitted an eerie purple light when illuminated by magic.

The ground was covered with hides from various rare giant beasts, which were randomly pieced together and had no aesthetic appeal whatsoever.

Although the room was decorated in an extremely luxurious manner, the details revealed the owner's unstable mental state.

The famous painting on the wall was slightly crooked, as if it had been angrily struck, and there were still traces of magical burning on the frame.

A faint smell of blood and some kind of twisted magical aura filled the air.

Ron carefully observed every detail in the room, mentally sketching out Cassandra's current mental state.

"Intense mood swings, decreased mental control, and signs of violent tendencies..."

He activated his newly restored "Hermit's Insight" in an attempt to gain more information.

Just as Ron was preparing to further analyze the anomaly in the room, ripples began to appear in the air.

Purple light particles rained down from the void, gathering in the center of the room to form a blurry humanoid outline.

Cassandra's ethereal projection slowly appeared, but it was clearly extremely unstable.

Her image is sometimes clear, sometimes blurry.

Occasionally, double images may appear to overlap, as if two different people are overlapping in the same location.

Her beautiful face bore a deep weariness, and her long hair had lost its former luster, draped loosely over her shoulders.

"Ron, I need your help."

Her voice was hoarse:

“I know this sounds ridiculous.”

The leader of the Conquest Faction, the master of the Crystal Spire, sought help from a young man who had just broken through to the Moon-level, but…

She paused for a moment, a self-deprecating bitter smile appearing in her eyes:
"I'm at a loss now."

The amount of information contained in those words gave Ron a jolt.

Aside from those great beings who dwell high in the clouds, detached from worldly affairs, Cassandra is currently the most powerful and influential person in wizarding civilization.

The fact that she would say she was "helpless" shows the extent of her predicament.

What difficulties have you encountered?

Ron's voice remained steady:
"Judging from your condition, it should be more than just a simple military setback."

Upon hearing this analysis, Cassandra couldn't help but shake her head.

"Still so perceptive..."

She sighed softly:

“You’re right, this is indeed more than just a military issue.”

Cassandra waved her hand to activate a projector in the center of the room.

As magic was injected, the entire room instantly transformed into a three-dimensional universe model.

Countless galaxies slowly rotated around them, with one particular area highlighted.

That is the star system where the Vital Republic is located.

"Before we begin formal discussions, I need to give you a real understanding of the enemy we are facing."

Cassandra's voice carried an almost awe-inspiring quality:
"To put it bluntly, I chose the wrong target to conquer."

Currently, we are facing a being that is, in some ways, more...advanced than us.

The projection began to focus, revealing a detailed structural diagram of the Republic of Vital.

“The Vitals are physiologically similar to us, but their brain structure has undergone tens of thousands of years of conscious evolutionary modification.”

Cassandra points to a detailed anatomical diagram of a Vital person in the projection:
“Look here, their pineal glands are extremely enhanced, taking up most of the brain’s volume.”

Ron carefully observed the physical structure of this alien race and discovered many surprising details:

The neural networks of Vitalis are exceptionally dense, with several times more nerve fibers than those of humans.
They also have a completely new organ in their brains—the collective connection gland;

This organ establishes a conscious connection with other Vitals through bioelectric waves.

"This gives them a natural talent for psionic abilities, and..."

Cassandra's voice grew more serious:
"The death of each individual will pass on part of their memories and experiences to the entire group."

This information made Ron frown slightly.

If a civilization can achieve a high degree of knowledge sharing, its development speed will be many times that of a normal civilization.

"So, that's where the real problem lies."

The projected image switched to an aerial view of the capital of the Republic of Vital.

Ron witnessed a sight so awe-inspiring it defied description:

The entire massive city was completely covered by an incredibly complex silver network.

This network is as intricate as a nervous system, with each silver wire emitting a faint glow of bioelectricity.

Each Vital person's brain is connected to this giant network via a semi-transparent biological nerve fiber.

"This is their 'unified thinking matrix'."

Cassandra's voice was filled with awe, fear, and an almost desperate emotion:

"The consciousness of billions of individuals is completely integrated to form a super brain."

Ron was deeply shocked.

The combined mental power of billions of intelligent beings would create an incredibly terrifying computational and analytical capability.

“Our psychological tactics experts once tried to infiltrate this network…”

Cassandra paused, a painful memory flashing in her eyes:
"As a result, the great wizard's consciousness was permanently trapped within it."

Her voice began to tremble:
"His body is still alive, breathing normally, and his heartbeat is stable, but his soul... has become part of the Vital collective consciousness."

“He speaks Vital every day, repeating concepts that we can’t understand at all.”

This detailed description sent a chill down Ron's spine.

The failure of mental tactics means that even in areas where wizard civilizations excel, they are unable to inflict effective damage on the Vitals.

"As for the 'Star Domain Lord'..."

The projection changed again, and a colossal presence, almost too large to look at directly, appeared in the center of the space.

Even though it was just an image, Ron still felt a terrifying sense of oppression emanating from that being.

It was a being the size of a star, its body composed of a mixture of pure energy and matter.

Countless tentacles danced in the void like a galaxy, each radiating the power to destroy everything.

"It is neither the ruler nor the protector of the Vital people."

Cassandra's voice began to tremble, clearly recalling her experience fighting this being:
Rather, it is the external manifestation of their collective consciousness.

The collective will of billions of souls acquired physical form through some ancient ritual beyond our comprehension.

She paused for a moment, then continued in an almost desperate tone:
"This means that we are not facing an individual, but the embodiment of the will of an entire civilization."

"Killing it is equivalent to killing all the Vitals at the same time. And as long as a certain number of Vitals are alive, it can be resurrected."

An enemy that cannot be truly killed, an existence that represents the will of the entire civilization.

This truly goes beyond the scope of traditional wars of conquest.

"Their technical level is also very high."

The projection showed the internal structure of the Vital warship, a design concept completely different from conventional warships:
"Their warships do not require complex alchemical arrays; each Vital is a living spell node in itself."

Cassandra pointed to the streamlined silver warships in the projection:
"Multiple warships can form a tactical matrix."

Ron carefully observed the design features of the Vital warships and discovered that they were completely different from the warships of the wizarding civilization:
Instead of heavy runic armor, it relies on an energy shield constructed from collective psychic power;
Instead of complex weapon launching devices, it directly converts psionic energy into destructive energy beams;
There is no traditional command hierarchy; each warship is a direct extension of the collective will.
They are also capable of real-time tactical coordination, with dozens of warships operating as a single unit.

"Our fleet is not lagging behind in individual technologies; in some aspects, it is even much more advanced."

Cassandra's voice was tinged with frustration:
"But in terms of coordination, we are completely outmatched by them."

Painful memories were revealed in her eyes:
"When dozens of Vital warships simultaneously turn in a localized battle, coordinating perfectly like a single organism..."

(End of this chapter)