My setting is above yours!

Chapter 36 Sector Permissions and Lv.5 (6k)

A wave of dizziness washed over Ron, then dissipated in an instant.

[The "dissolution of fantasy" is being eroded by trace amounts of "mystical influence α" and moderate amounts of "mystical influence β".]

[Performance impairment: 60%]

The cold, robotic voice of the manual reached his ears. Ron blinked, lost in thought.

α and β... are actually two different "mystical influences"?
Recalling that eyeball, not only was there deep blue magic, but also an illusory power that seemed to be protecting it...

It seems that these are different "mystical" forces originating from the "Potion Age" and the "Hollow".

No wonder, despite possessing magical power, it didn't suffer the same fate as Ron's [Potion Sequence], which was worn down by the changing meta of the "Superpower Era"...

However, isn't the level of this "mystical influence" from the "void" too high?

Based on Ron's experience, that surging deep blue magic could at most only reduce about five percent of the [Illusion Dissolved] effect.

The remaining immeasurable power from the "void" was able to wear down to 55 percent?
If the estimate is correct, after a [Superpowered Person] advances to Lv.2, 55% of [Illusion Dissolved] is enough to wipe out a Sequence 8 superhuman being!
For example, the war puppets of the "Potion Age" would probably only need to consume about 50% of their durability with [Illusion Dissolve] to completely turn to ashes...

Could that little bit of influence from the “void” really be greater than that of a Sequence 8 superhuman?

It's definitely not as powerful as it is... Could it be a form of restraint?
Just as [Illusion Dissolve] restrains all the extraordinary in the "Potion Age"...

Does “emptiness” also restrain everything that superpowers bring?
Ron pondered for a moment, then saw Ms. Irina in front of him sit back in her chair, seemingly in a daze, her fingertips tapping rapidly on the armrest, her brows slightly furrowed.

She pondered for a long time, then finally smiled with a sense of relief, her tone full of emotion:

"It seems that I should put the application for that customized investment plan to headquarters on the agenda now."

“No wonder… Deng Yin told me that you are the holder of the strongest ability model he has ever seen.”

She subconsciously rubbed her finger against a hollowed-out gold ring with distinct cloud patterns, like golden auspicious clouds surrounding her finger.
"This power, if there are still gods in this world, is simply a gift from the gods—"

"Just as war gives fire to believers, time grants them eternal life, and death allows them immortality..."

She recited some proverbs from ancient books, from a bygone era, and unconsciously said:
"The Anti-Mystic Formula will probably also affect you..."

She had barely uttered the words when she immediately calmed down and shut her mouth.

[Anti-Mystery Equation]?!

Wait, did Irina just say something very important?
Ron's eyes narrowed as he recalled a tip he had seen in the Dimensional Update Manual.

The Anti-Mystery Formula is the most important version setting of this 4.0 version of "Superpower Era"!
According to the setting description in the Dimensional Update Manual, it was only after a being named "Atina" hacked into the world with the [Anti-Mystic Equation] that those transcendent fantasies fell into the dust.

That was the most important turning point that propelled version 3.0 to version 4.0. Ron's [Illusion Dissolution] was also the basic setting extracted from the manual for [Anti-Mystic Equation].

To be honest, when Ron first learned about the [Anti-Mystic Formula], he did try to find out about its existence...

He spent some time wandering around the busiest shopping mall in District D and secretly created a fake account to search online, but he couldn't find any relevant information on the search engine.

No matter how he searched, the results were blank. Out of caution, he immediately threw away the second-hand phone he had bought online and went home as if nothing had happened.

He knew then that this was definitely a secret that the Ideal City authorities had strictly guarded...

I never expected to hear it from Ms. Irina.

We can't let this important information slip through our fingers...

Without hesitation, Ron immediately seized the opportunity, fearing that Irina would simply remain silent and let the matter slide.

"Ms. Irina, what is the [Anti-Mystic Equation]?"

"This one……"

She opened her mouth, glanced at An Hui and Kevin standing to the side, and hesitated for a moment.

It seems she doesn't want to tell An Hui and Kevin about this.

Kevin, noticing Irina's hesitation, immediately raised his hand and said:

"I'm a little hungry, Ms. Irina. I've heard that our company's meals are quite good?"

"Now that I'm here, even though my mission is just to pick up my junior brother, I should at least have a meal now that I've done it, right?"

As he spoke, he slipped away and stepped directly onto the elevator.
"I'm going to the staff cafeteria downstairs for a bite to eat. Don't forget to call me when you're done chatting!"

Watching Kevin leave quickly, Ron couldn't help but smile with relief.

This cheap senior brother... he really knows how to read the room.

He knew this was something he shouldn't know, and to avoid interrupting Ron and Irina's conversation, he simply made up such a lame excuse to avoid it...

If you have time, treat him to a meal.

But what should Huihui do?
If I hadn't uncovered this secret through extraordinary means, but instead heard it from a key leader of a large corporation, that wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing...

We can't let An Hui avoid things like Kevin did.

Looking at An Hui, who was clearly nervous when she arrived and now seemed completely at a loss for what to do, Ron was just starting to think about how to persuade Irina when a knocking sound drew his attention away—

"Dong dong dong."

Deng tapped the floor with his walnut cane, breaking the awkward atmosphere between them.

He opened his mouth and said:

“An Hui is a good kid… unlike Kevin, who just lazily drifts through life, she also has the opportunity to build a ‘formula’ during her college years.”

"As long as she can construct the 'formula,' she will be qualified to participate in the experiment... Perhaps, she can also become Ron's assistant in the experiment."

Hearing Deng Yin's words, Irina hesitated for a moment, and finally sighed:
"Since you said so..."

She opened the virtual screen, tapped on it, and a pop-up window immediately appeared on Ron and An Hui's brain-computer interface—

[Moen City Government: Irina requests that you sign a confidentiality agreement.]

"Let's sign this first... This matter concerns an important secret of Ideal City, so we need to at least sign a confidentiality agreement through the municipal government's contract website."

Ron reviewed the terms of the confidentiality agreement and discovered that if the signatory revealed any secrets, the Moen city government would immediately arrest them and sentence them to life imprisonment…

Depending on the magnitude of the impact of revealing the secret, the punishment could quickly escalate to the death penalty.

Please, the death penalty has been abolished in Ideal City for over a hundred years!
It's astonishing that this secretive matter was given special consideration, leading to the reinstatement of legal provisions that the Supreme Court justices considered "disrespectful of human rights"...

It seems I need to be more careful in the future and watch what I say.

Ron and An Hui carefully signed their names on the agreement. After the confidentiality agreement was filed, Irina sighed and explained:

"As you should know, after the cataclysm that burned the planet to the ground, when everything was in ruins, it was the three giant corporations that joined forces to rebuild the entire planet."

"However, I think you don't really know what the cataclysmic event that destroyed the planet truly was..."

She swiped on the screen and pulled up some new pictures.

Above, you can see many somewhat dilapidated metropolises, clearly an outer city of the ideal city.

However, in these images, a large hole is torn open in the sky above these metropolises, from which illusory, translucent streams of fire pour out, completely enveloping the cities...

Then, translucent, grotesque monsters poured out of the "hole" and fell into the city.

"The Anti-Mystic Equation is the main program that the Central Intelligence is fully operational in order to deal with these monsters."

Irina explained, "The so-called cataclysm that burns the planet is these inexplicably opened 'historical voids' that spew out magical monsters from the previous era."

Magical monsters from a bygone era?

Is this what Irina understands as well?

Although Irina did just produce the organ of the hollow monster that contained magic...

But Ron knew perfectly well that this shouldn't be a product of the "Potion Age".

Their illusory nature and the strange power emanating from the "void" are more important components than magic; compared to the "Potion Age," they clearly lean more towards the "void."

Calling them monsters from the "Potion Age" is an understatement; they are more like illusory creations born from the "Hollow"...

It seems that even the president of a giant corporation doesn't know much about the "Potion Era".

Ron was thinking silently when he heard Irina say:

“This year’s college entrance examination simulated a ‘hollow battlefield,’ and I think you should have a certain understanding of the dangers of ‘hollow’.”

"It is said that when the Ideal City was built, the CEOs of the three giant companies jointly built the Central Brain and created the Anti-Mystery Equation, which is the only way to protect the inner city from invasion."

As she spoke, she couldn't help but sigh with a touch of melancholy:

"However, with the progress of the times and the development of technology, the scale and harm of the 'void' have inexplicably begun to become more and more powerful..."

"This college entrance examination reform was also because the threat of 'emptiness' could no longer be concealed, so we had to loosen information control and let the public adapt."

"Then, we'll find an opportunity to tell everyone about this disaster—but that'll probably be a few years from now, so there's no need to worry about it now."

She shook her head, no longer pursuing the topic, and turned her gaze back to Ron:

“And you, Ron… you are the darling of the Anti-Mystic Equation.”

"Someone like you, favored by the [Anti-Mystic Equation], with your [Personal Reality] enhanced by it, and capable of resisting the 'Void'..." "is the most suitable genius to complete the [Central Intelligence]'s knowledge-seeking experiment and become a Level 5 genius!"

At this point, Irina became visibly agitated, and unusually lost her composure.

It seems that Ron's performance just now has truly convinced Irina of his abilities.

However, although Ron was excited by Irina's talk about becoming a Lv.5 in the future, he was still completely confused:
"Ms. Kelina...why is it that those favored by the [Anti-Mystic Formula] are suitable to complete that knowledge-seeking experiment and become Lv.5?"

He simply doesn't understand the logic behind this!

Upon hearing Ron's question, Irina paused for a moment, then couldn't help but chuckle.

"I forgot you don't even know anything about 'permissions,' so I don't know where to begin..."

She pondered for a moment and said, "Do you remember what we learned in the textbook about the nature of superpowers?"

What is the nature of superpowers?

Ron was taken aback. An Hui, who was standing to the side, thought for a moment and replied with the answer from the formula in the textbook:

"The root cause lies in the [personal reality] that can distort the world, manifesting as a [capability model] unique to oneself—"

"Relying on the [ability model], superpowered individuals can make their [personal reality] manifest the power that their superpowers can embody, thereby distorting reality and releasing it in reality."

“You’re right,” Irina nodded slightly, “but there’s a problem… how do you explain Lv.4 and Lv.5?”

"Have you ever considered that an individual can indeed change the world on a small scale based on their own personal circumstances, demonstrating their abilities..."

"But what happens when this ability expands to a village, a city, or even the entire surface of the planet—"

"How exactly can one sustain such a massive personal reality?"

Yes, how do we explain Lv.4 and Lv.5?

Ron frowned, realizing this blind spot.

Lv.4 might be manageable; Ron once saw a video circulating online of a Lv.4 Patrol Agent chasing down a criminal.

Although that person was powerful enough to smash a building with a single punch, Ron thought about it carefully and realized that once he reached Lv.3, he would probably have that power too.

But... what about Lv.5?
The ability to easily destroy cities and even wash away the earth's surface...

How exactly do their "personal realities" encompass such a wide range?
Ron knew perfectly well that there were limits to how much progress could be made in "personal reality"—

Through his own training, he could sense that his [personal reality] had expanded to a range of several meters, which would probably have reached Lv.3.

Expanding to twenty or thirty meters would probably give it the power level of Lv.4.

But... how do I advance to Lv.5?

The range of influence that a Lv.5 individual can have on their reality is large enough to be measured in terms of the size of a city, or even the surface of a planet!

The difference between them is astronomical!
This difference in personal reality is a gap that cannot be bridged by hard work alone!
Seeing Ron frown, Irina said softly:

"This is actually the second secret I want to tell you..."

"The path to advancement for superpowered individuals is actually almost cut off once they reach Lv.3 and construct their own 'formula'."

"The limit of human beings' [personal reality] improvement is at the peak of Lv.3. It is impossible to reach higher levels by relying solely on one's own training."

"And to climb higher, to gain even greater power..."

As she spoke, she gently waved her hand, and a screen of light opened up in front of everyone, with a circle appearing on it.

It is divided into twelve sectors, each marked with a different color and labeled with a name.

Ron wasn't familiar with these names, but just by looking at the "ability titles" before their names, he could tell that these people were all Lv.5s standing at the top of Ideal City!

"...Only by obtaining sector access to the Ideal City's [Central Intelligence] and wielding that access can one advance to the next level!"

The path of superpowered individuals is abruptly cut off after Lv.3!

All the ability users on it were able to achieve their abilities only through the sector access of the [Central Intelligence]...

Ron was somewhat taken aback, and immediately remembered what Euan had said earlier.

Professor Deng wanted to use the results of "that experiment" to gain sector access to [Prometheus]...

Does that mean he almost became Lv.5?!
No wonder even now, Yu'an's father still values ​​Deng Yin so much, and even Ron, Deng Yin's disciple, is being closely watched...

It's probably because they felt that they were very likely to lose to Ron, who had been taught by Dunn, in the struggle for control of [Prometheus]!

Yuan's father had toiled on Prometheus for so long, finally managing to oust his old rival, Deng Yin, only to have the younger one appear after the old one had defeated him...

Given that Juana already considered the authority of [Prometheus] to be his for the taking, choosing to assassinate Ron was only natural.

He listened thoughtfully to Irina's explanation:

"Unfortunately, apart from some backdoor methods, the only way to obtain sector access to the [Central Intelligence] is to complete the knowledge-seeking experiment issued by the [Central Intelligence]."

"These experiments are incredibly diverse, each involving unknown knowledge and technology. If we can complete them, we can easily advance the technological level of Ideal City once again."

"However, the experiment itself not only places strict demands on the abilities of the experimenters, but also carries enormous risks—"

"These experiments involving unknown knowledge will cause the 'void' to erupt in the experimental center, attracting attacks from monsters."

As she spoke, she clicked on an extremely blurry video, which showed a large city shrouded in emptiness.

Above this city, a figure wearing a white lab coat stands.

He raised his hands, and all the falling monsters plummeted to the ground as if bearing immense pressure.

They crashed into the city, sticking together with concrete and steel, turning into illusory clumps of corpses mixed with ruins.

"It is said that before the Ideal City was built, the [Gravity Mastery] was the first Lv.5, and his exploration of the [Anti-Gravity Project] caused the 'Great Hollow of London'."

"However, thanks to the improvement of the [Anti-Mystic Equation], such a disaster has never happened again."

She opened several pictures; the people in these pictures didn't have their faces shown, they were almost all silhouettes.

But it's clear that they all seem to be facing a newly opened hole in the picture, and are using their abilities to fight against it...

"In the subsequent experiments on seeking knowledge completed at Lv.5, the power of the [Anti-Mysterious Equation] was used to erase the 'historical void' that had just been opened in the experiments."

"They, like you, are favored by the [Anti-Mystic Equation] and can use their abilities to erase the influence of the 'Void'..."

As Irina spoke, she couldn't help but sigh, glancing at Deng Yin with a somewhat complicated expression:

"Deng's failure back then was because his ability couldn't withstand the 'void'. His experimental calculations had only just begun when he was forced out of the laboratory by the 'void'."

"Then, because he damaged Lab Zero, he was attacked by his old rival and kicked out of Moen University on a number of trumped-up charges..."

Sure enough, Professor Deng left Moen University because of this incident...

However, the "emptiness" actually erupted because of scientific research itself?!

What is this, a disaster brought about by knowledge?
Recalling the power he had just encountered from the “void,” Ron couldn’t help but feel a strange sensation.

Just like the 4.0 version of the [Anti-Mystic Formula], it brings a special power to counter the 3.0 version of the [Potion Sequence]...

This "hollow" power so effectively suppresses superpowers and is also clearly hindering technological progress—

It's like some kind of "anti-science equation" from version 5.0... if this version 5.0 really exists.

Ron frowned in thought, then heard Irina whisper:
"Although the experiments in the pursuit of knowledge are dangerous, the rewards are enough to drive any superpowered individual mad—"

"Accumulating contributions and applying for assigned authority is enough to become a Lv.4. But if you complete the Knowledge Experiment and obtain supervisor authority... you can become a Lv.5 standing at the top of Ideal City!"

She pointed to the only unnamed white sector in the circle:
"The computational hub [Prometheus] - this is currently the only blank sector without a designated administrator and capable of supporting a Level 5 user!"

"Then how do I gain the authority to manage [Prometheus]?"

Ron asked, but this time he received a reply from Deng Yin, his eyes deep and his voice filled with emotion:
"That would, of course, be becoming the top-ranked physics student at Moen University, applying for the right to use Lab 0, completing the experiment of seeking knowledge that I was unable to finish, and gaining the approval of [Prometheus]..."

He then changed the subject, saying, "But you don't need to worry about that right now."

“You have already beaten Euan once. In the data calculation of [Prometheus], ​​you have a higher score coefficient, which is significantly ahead of Euan.”

"Department rankings are only determined during the year-end ranking exams."

Laboratory 0 has been damaged and will not be repaired until at least the middle of next year.

Therefore, during your first year of university, it is impossible for anyone to take away your access to Lab 0.

“In other words,” he said, looking intently at Ron, “you have a full year to prepare for the year-end ranking exams.”

"And after the exam, if you want to gain control of [Prometheus] and become a Level 5 superpowered individual..."

"Then you need to meet the minimum requirements for applying for an upgrade, become Lv.3, and build your own unique [ability formula] —"

"Reaching the pinnacle that ordinary superpowered individuals can reach!"

　This chapter is a scheduled chapter.

　　If you see this chapter but don't see my updated second chapter, it means I've only written half of the second chapter and it's not finished yet. I estimate it will take an hour or two to update, around 2 AM.

　　Don't stay up late, everyone, it's bad for your health. You can watch it during the day.
　　
　
(End of this chapter)