My setting is above yours!

Chapter 59 Ron: I gave you a chance, but you didn't do it right? (6k6)

Damn it... This doesn't make sense. How come there's suddenly someone in this group who has already constructed an [ability formula]?

The magician, who was wearing protective clothing, looked confident when he ran, but now his face showed signs of panic.

It's all over... That magical ritual failed to kill them, and even the poisonous fog didn't affect a single person...

I could only barely control them with "restriction spells" and "gravity magic" to make them escape temporarily—how am I going to explain this to Minister Alder!

He ran frantically, thinking as he went, until he finally escaped the factory area and came to an old shack street. He hid behind a haphazardly placed piece of corrugated iron sheet by the roadside and finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"Huff...huff...we should be about there by now..."

"But what about the minister..."

He muttered to himself, took out his phone, opened the call interface, swallowed hard, and his face turned a little pale.

"Forget it... If I report it, at worst my bonus will be deducted, my performance bonus will be reduced, and I'll be demoted. If I don't report it, I'll lose my head!"

He hesitated for a long time before finally gritting his teeth and making the difficult decision to make a phone call.

“Minister,” he said hoarsely, “I…I failed to take down that squad…”

He said this in an embarrassed tone:
"But I escaped! The experimental materials have been perfectly recovered and are now in my hands..."

But the expected scolding did not occur.

"Oh, I see."

The voice on the other end of the phone was quite calm, except for a "buzzing" propeller sound and some static.
"You can wear them down and lower their guard, that's all you can do... Go back to the Ark."

"Go and quickly clean up the mess, destroy the experimental data, and after I get back, we can go back to headquarters to report..."

The voice that came to his ears was unexpected. He thought Minister Old would be furious and berate him, but he didn't expect that he would just be told to go back and deal with the data.

Does this mean the minister is planning to handle it himself...?

He was thinking when he suddenly paused, realizing the meaning behind the minister's words.

Wait, destroy the experimental data? Report back to headquarters?
The magician immediately realized what had happened.

"The [Ability Modification] experiment is coming to an end? When did Minister Alder complete the [Final Modification] project? I haven't even seen the test subjects..."

"Can this really complete Hera's experiment of seeking knowledge?"

He muttered to himself, but his expression clearly relaxed.

Who cares when it was actually completed!

The field mission assigned by the head office has been successfully completed. Could he possibly have any objections to this?
Anyway, all he has to do is complete the tasks assigned by his superiors. If the sky falls, there will be tall people to hold it up. Running errands is already the simplest task...

After receiving the performance bonus this time, and exchanging it for some points at the association, I should be able to redeem the magic formula for the color position...

If I just run some errands, I can get promoted, I can become a minister!
As he was thinking this, he had just taken a step out of the deserted alley when he suddenly saw a shadow appear above his head.

Is this... a person's shadow?
He was immediately terrified and looked up to see a thin, handsome young man floating in mid-air, smiling at him.
"What? You've finished talking to your boss?"

The moment the magician saw this person, a storm of emotions surged within him.

Damn it, it's that top scorer in the college entrance exam who suddenly joined the inspection bureau! He's been here all along!

How did he do it? How did he break free from the suppression of the "restriction spell"?

And how did he get to hear so much...?

No, with so many secrets, even if he's an investment target of [Tian Ting Media], we absolutely cannot let him go!
The magician's expression changed drastically. He immediately raised his hand, and another pendant fell into his palm, the gemstone pendant beginning to spin...

He murmured those words again, and the muffled, distorted murmurs rose up, immediately causing a subtle ripple in the air to emanate from the sapphire pendant—

He followed the fluctuation and opened his left hand, where circles of magic array patterns lit up in his palm, and the surrounding air seemed to freeze at that moment.

The next moment, the illegally expanded tin sheds around them suddenly began to tremble as if they were under heavy pressure, and then crashed down.

...It's just a mere Lv.2. Even if it has the ability to defeat Lv.3, after losing its superpowers, it's nothing more than a fish on a chopping board, at the mercy of others!
The magician, dressed in protective gear, curled his lips into a ruthless smile.

He first used the "Restriction Spell" to imprison abilities, then used the Priest's gravity magic—

Ron was just a weak high school student. If things really went according to his plan, he would surely die under this pressure!

He silently increased the output of the gravity spell, thinking with a heavy heart:

"If this gets out of hand and [Tian Ting Media] finds out, I'll definitely be fined and demoted. But it's all for the [Knowledge Experiment], so I think the Grand Master will protect me..."

But he had no time to think about anything else.

He looked up in astonishment and saw the unmoving figure in the sky still looking down at him with interest...

Then he heard Ron whisper:
"Hasn't... Yu'an told you that 'gravity' and 'attraction' don't work on me?"

As he spoke, he slowly descended, raising an eyebrow at the magician in his protective suit:
"What exactly gives you such confidence that you dare to manipulate the power of 'gravity' to deal with me?"

How on earth did this guy manage to remain unaffected?!

Seeing Ron's bizarre and incomprehensible behavior, the magician couldn't help but swallow hard, his back instantly covered in cold sweat.

Are you kidding me... Unaffected by "Restriction Spells"?!

That was a ritual prop created by a Grand Magician using real "magic"...

He, his personal reality, was actually able to isolate himself from the effects of magic?
A wave of panic washed over him; Ron's actions were practically shattering the magician's worldview.

But after a moment's thought, he finally calmed down.

No, no... it must be because this guy's [ability model] is too strong!

Even the old man's youngest son from Moen University lost to him using the formula. If he breaks through to Lv.3, the enhanced personal reality might actually be able to resist the "limiting spell"...

However, there is definitely a limit to that!

It's just that we suffered from a lack of information; we didn't know that this guy might have advanced to Lv.3!

We've weathered one storm in the factory, and we've just weathered another one; it's impossible for us to maintain operational capacity next time...

The magician, realizing this, immediately calmed down and picked up the sapphire pendant from the bright silver chain again, spinning it around—

He repeated that faint, distorted murmur again, and transparent ripples immediately spread out...

But Ron didn't care at all.

"Oh, is this all you're relying on?"

He watched with great interest the pendant in the magician's hand, seeing the ripples emanating from it and shattering in front of him. He shook his head, then reached out and grabbed it...

How...how is this possible?!
The "restriction spell" has clearly been activated again!

The magician's eyes widened slightly as he watched Ron's actions. He subconsciously activated the "Gravity Spell" to press down on Ron, but there was no response.

Ron simply snapped his fingers, and the magician immediately felt a mountain-like pressure bearing down on him.

Under this immense force, he was immediately overwhelmed and forced to the ground, kneeling before Ron.

"Gravity clearly listens to me more, doesn't it?"

Ron chuckled, held the pendant in his hand, and asked the magician in front of him:

"Alright, tell me... what is this pendant?"

Tell me? How could I possibly tell you!
Although the magician in the protective suit was completely pinned to the ground by Ron, he showed no fear whatsoever, only letting out a cold laugh, a distorted voice coming from inside the protective suit:

"I have the right to remain silent..."

He forced himself to stand and slowly said:
"I am a P17 level employee of Noah Pharma. The company will provide me with the most perfect legal defense. Don't even think about getting a single useful word out of me—"

"How come you and all your subordinates are cut from the same mold..."

Ron shook his head helplessly, casually straightened his collar, and took out the small body camera...

Then, with a flick of two fingers, the tiny, dark lens was crushed—

"Now, do you feel that you still have the right to remain silent and willful?"

He looked at the magician in protective gear in front of him, a dangerous smile playing on his lips.

Upon seeing this scene, the magician fell silent.

He seemed to be trying to make a final stand by remaining silent.

Ron narrowed his eyes slightly, a dagger-like sharpness flashing in them:
"So you think I'm just a recent high school graduate, and therefore don't have the guts to do anything underhanded... is that right?"

As he spoke, the magician's fingers suddenly began to twist—

"Crack!"

The fingers snapped and broke off, and the magician couldn't help but cry out in pain, rolling around on the ground frantically, wailing and crying with tears streaming down his face.

But Ron only increased the gravity a little more, and he could no longer roll around on the ground. Even his cries of pain were suppressed by the immense pressure, and he could no longer move.

"That should be enough of a lesson... Now, I'll ask questions, and you answer."

Only then did Ron crouch down, bring the pendant close to his face, and look at him coldly:
"First question—what is this pendant for?"

At this point, realizing he was completely cornered and had no other choice, the magician finally gave up resisting and stammered:
"This is...this is a special [ability formula] that you can't understand..."

Ron narrowed his eyes and immediately realized why he was stammering.

Because this pendant exudes obvious magic.

The reason Ron was able to be the only one in the team to withstand the suppressive power of the pendant without being affected at all was because of his [Illusion Dissolution], which had spread completely into his personal reality after he advanced to Lv.3.

This person used the pendant in the way of releasing the [ability formula], and then released a magical field in which all superpowered individuals were suppressed and eliminated due to the "mystical influence".

In fact, the magic he cast based on his personal reality should have been nullified, but perhaps because he was the caster, his abilities were not affected in any way.

Although he didn't know why this thing could have such an effect under the [Anti-Mystic Equation], Ron knew that no matter how effective magic was, it was still magic...

As long as the mystery and scale do not exceed the upper limit of [Illusion Dissolution], all magic must obediently disappear and be completely erased by [Illusion Dissolution].

And this guy is clearly a magician from the Magicians' Association...

For him, revealing the magician's secrets to ordinary people was something more unacceptable than losing his life.
Ron seemed thoughtful, then suddenly asked, "Where did you get this magic from, right?"

The magician's eyes widened immediately:

"How do you know..."

But when he saw Ron raise his hand indifferently, and the weight on his body seemed to increase even more, he knew that this was not what Ron wanted to hear.

"This...this is a solidification ritual created by a Grand Magician..."

The magician finally sensed the approaching death. He trembled with fear, no longer trying to hide it, and stammered:

"It's called a 'Restriction Spell,' a classic spell that uses magic within the spell to suppress the reality of an individual within its range, thus exhibiting the effect of suppressing superpowers..."

"However, this thing is very troublesome to use. Not only do you need to use the corresponding ritual incantations and actions, but you also need to infuse it with 'magic power'—"

As you know, most ordinary magicians don't have magic power at all, so the materials required to use it are very high..."

Upon hearing the magician's words, Ron immediately raised an eyebrow.

He could understand how this "restriction spell" was activated—it was clearly a spell that relied on unpredictable magic to create a "mystical effect," temporarily weakening the personal reality of superpowered individuals within its range.

However, that's not the main point...

The key point is that when this magician uses the "restriction formula," it looks almost exactly like the [ability formula]!

Moreover, he stated that this was a "solidification ritual" performed by a Grand Magician.

This so-called solidification ritual is clearly no different from an "ability formula"!
However, the [ability formula] is only one part of the solidified ability model, while this solidification ritual solidifies a spell...

Ron seemed to be deep in thought when he asked:

“I once met someone from Noah Pharmaceuticals… He was able to unleash an ability formula with only a Lv.1 ability.”

“I think…it’s related to this kind of ‘solidification ritual,’ right?”

After a moment of silence, the magician laboriously extended his hand, and a fluorescent glow appeared inside the gloves of his protective suit:
"Yes... that's a temporary solidification ritual. As long as suitable materials are provided as offerings when using this solidification ritual magic, you can obtain an [ability formula]..."

"However, it's not just a temporary [ability formula], and its essence isn't so-called superpower, but pure magic—"

As he spoke, a rather complex and exquisite projection suddenly appeared on his fingertips, with dense patterns forming a circular array.

He looked up at Ron with a hopeful expression and said:
"Brother... I was truly blind and didn't recognize your greatness. I accidentally offended you. I wonder if this ritual magic can save my life?"

He forced a smile and said in a humble voice:

"This is one of the most expensive items in the Classic Magic category. I'll give you all the data on this thing, along with my own usage records and experience. Just ignore me and let me go..."

"You're letting me leave?"

Ron was silent for a moment, then suddenly smiled gently and said:
"I'll let you go... of course I can let you go."

“I don’t need this ritual magic. I just want to ask you a few questions, and then I’ll let you go… How about that?”

They're not even going to use ritual magic anymore?
The magician was stunned for a moment, then immediately began nodding frantically, banging his head against the floor like a pestle, smearing his face with blood.

"Ask away! Ask away! I will answer to the best of my knowledge!"

But Ron just smiled and said:
"Tell me, what exactly is the purpose of the 'Capability Enhancement Project' that you and [Ark] have been carrying out in Sector D recently?"

"How exactly did you reform those poor people, and how did you manage to create the 'void' they tore open up..."

“I’m very interested in all of these things.”

The magician was not lying.

To save his own life, he was indeed very open and honest.

"The so-called 'ability enhancement plan' is actually just a means to complete Hera's 'knowledge experiment'..."

He explained honestly:
"【Experiment of Knowledge】—Controlling Evolution, this is the experimental project calculated by 【Hera】."

"Among them are several branch experiments, and the [Ability Modification] project was taken over by Minister Old of the Ability Enhancement Department..."

“We used a gene-editing technique obtained from an ‘ascension ritual’ and the ‘knowledge experiment’ to modify ordinary people with magical materials that fell from the ‘void’, giving them superpowers.”

"As for the 'void'... as long as a region is conducting a 'knowledge-seeking experiment' and it reaches a certain stage, it is destined to tear open a 'void'."

As expected... the cause of all this was indeed the [Knowledge Experiment]!
After listening to the magician's words, Ron couldn't help but think.

If I remember correctly, Ron had seen "promotion ceremony" and "Minister Alder" in the diary of the madman director in that abandoned laboratory at Noah's Medicine before...

Unexpectedly, Minister Alder was still trying to use the promotion ceremony and the potion materials from the "Potion Age" to create those inhuman monsters in an attempt to complete a "knowledge experiment".

This explains why they turned into those monsters—

Under normal circumstances, they rely on potion ingredients to advance, and they didn't even take the potion normally. It would be inconceivable if they didn't turn into monsters on the spot.

It seems that the so-called "ability needle" must be a special creation that suppressed their complete fusion with the potion ingredients and caused them to begin to mutate.

That's why some people turn into hollow monsters before they can even get the "power injection".

However, since that's the case...

What level of enemy is Minister Old, who is about to complete the "Experiment of Seeking Knowledge"?

You should know that these branch experiments of the "Knowledge-Seeking Experiments" are the necessary steps to obtaining "management authority"!

If Minister Alder were to complete the branch experiment, obtain the authority over [Hera], and become a Level 4...

Does that mean Ron will be facing off against a Level 4 with authority over a specific area in the future?
Thinking of this, Ron couldn't help but frown.

This person is clearly the absolute mastermind behind this incident. If we don't kill him now to prevent future troubles, there will definitely be a lot of problems in the future.

After all… the magician mentioned on the phone that this person was sent by Minister Alder to silence them, specifically to deal with their C-112 team…

Even if he couldn't stop Minister Alder, Ron could have relied on the protection of [Sky Listening Media] to get through school and enjoy peace and quiet at Moen University, where no one would dare to cause him any trouble.

But... what about the rest of C-112?
They don't have the same background as Ron, who comes from one of the three giant corporations...

We must kill him.

Thinking of this, a hint of murderous intent flashed between Ron's brows and eyes.

As the culprit who killed so many people, and also an obstacle to Ron's future peaceful life, even if he is now definitely a top-level Lv.3 and has already awakened the formula, Ron must not let him go!
In any case, we must nip the danger in the bud!

Ron thought to himself, while the magician, watching Ron's ever-changing expression, felt his heart sink deeper and deeper.

He swallowed hard and said dryly:
"Big, big brother..."

He smiled awkwardly, a last glimmer of hope still flickering in his eyes:
"I've told you everything I know. I wonder if you could be so kind as to let me off the hook?"

At this moment, Ron finally snapped out of his daze:

"Oh, right, and you too."

He composed himself, looked at the magician before him, remained silent for a moment, and then said:

"I promised you I would let you go... but not now."

"I have one last, one very last little question I want to ask you—"

Ron looked at the magician in front of him, suddenly became serious, and said:
"When your so-called 'capacity building program' was launched, did you feel even the slightest bit of pity for those poor people or any remorse for yourself?"

What is the problem?
It's just consumables in Zone D, who would care about this biological waste?
But seeing Ron's serious expression, the magician immediately realized something.

So she was a saint?

Dear Holy Mother...

He immediately burst into tears, delivering the best performance of his life:

"Of course! Brother, I'm just a lowly laborer. Who would want to kill those poor people?"

"But it's really not my fault. I have elderly parents to support and young children to raise. If I don't work and get fired, I won't even have the money to live in the inner city of Ideal City..."

"I was also oppressed by life... The fault wasn't mine, it was Noah Pharma!"

Hearing this, Ron looked touched and sighed deeply.
"Then you go."

He turned his head, as if he had made up his mind:
"I'll let you off this time... but remember, don't let me see you again!"

Haha! This idiot is such a saint, he just let me go like that!

The magician felt the pressure on him vanish instantly, and he was overjoyed. He immediately ran out of the alley.

As he ran, feeling the excruciating pain from his broken finger, he couldn't help but grit his teeth in resentment.

Who cares about this time or next time... The next time we meet will be in court!

Once I get to the company... when I return to headquarters, I'll expose this little bastard from [Tian Ting Media]!
Daring to obstruct the "Seeking Knowledge Experiment"? To do something so unethical is practically an attempt to start another corporate war...

TianTing Media cannot afford this responsibility!
By then, even a prodigy like him, whose investment plan was created by a branch office, will definitely be thrown out by [Tian Ting Media] to take responsibility, and there will be no way he can save his own life...

With his revenge plot in mind, the magician fled at top speed, making his way down a narrow alley to an even more secluded place.

Soon, he would cross the alley and reach the main road, where he could haile a hovercar and leave.

But he no longer had the chance to leave.

Ron, who had been standing silently at the alley entrance without him noticing, looked at him calmly and said softly:
"Didn't I tell you not to let me see you again?"

The wind in the air stopped, and then started blowing again at an extremely strong speed.

An immense pressure crashed down, slamming the magician, who was wearing a protective suit, to the ground. He tried his best to move, but found that the pressure was far heavier than when he had been interrogated.

He strained to lift his head and looked at Ron's figure. Everything in front of him was blurry, and an overwhelming sense of despair welled up in his heart.

What's going on... this guy...

Was this guy already waiting here?

He never intended to let me go!
Ron walked over calmly, grabbed the magician's head, lifted him up, and sneered:
"I clearly let you go..."

"What, you can't even use your chance?"

(End of this chapter)