Forge a path to success.

Chapter 120 The Flames of War Reignite
"Beneath the surface of this dusty island lies a 'forbidden' secret."

Writing this word on paper would seem like an exaggeration, like the self-important boasting of a young person, but I really can't think of a more fitting description. I can't study them, I can't find any clues, and I can't even recognize what they look like. I only know that whenever there is conflict on the island, those things will appear from the gray fog to stop the fighting.

Perhaps their presence is related to the island's unusual desolation, or perhaps it's simply a phenomenon caused by some kind of unique local beast... I'll ponder this carefully once the city is completed."

The following pages contained Jin Ye's account of the city's initial construction, his words brimming with a creator's pride. Ji Huaisu, uninterested, ignored Fan De's protests and quickly flipped through the pages until the next chapter contained the relevant information.

"...Even the expensive detection equipment couldn't identify the power of the 'forbidden' beings, and the Flowing Pearl was already stretched thin. I decided to change my approach and observe their impact on the world."

This decision was extremely wise; I noticed many overlooked details. The damage caused by the 'forbidden' elements will disappear without a trace. In the experiment the previous morning, I witnessed a 'forbidden' element cleave through the magical lion puppet and drew the entire process. But by noon today, the abandoned lion puppet appeared perfectly intact in my warehouse, and my sketch had turned into a blank sheet of paper, as if nothing had happened.

While I can still remember it, I'm going to record yesterday's experimental process in a standard format. Yesterday

(The following five lines are blank)

"...I am very glad that I used the ambiguous term 'taboo' to refer to them, otherwise I probably would have forgotten my diary long ago."

Yesterday, a new, large-scale experiment was conducted, witnessed by over a hundred people; the city hall was razed to the ground. This morning, I woke up to find everything peaceful in Golden Leaf City. I went to work as usual, and it took me all morning to deduce my actions from yesterday.

This is insane! How can the impact of a race... a power... be so easily erased? Who is hiding their tracks behind the scenes?

If subjective memories can be freely altered, and objective traces can be erased by that force, how can I obtain 'evidence' to prove its existence? Isn't an existence that is neither verifiable nor falsifiable just idealistic fantasy? Am I supposed to follow the idiots on the path to supreme enlightenment and engage in some kind of subjective judgment?!

I can't write anymore, this is fucking ridiculous.

What followed was a long stretch of Jin Ye's various speculations, and the complaints that arose after refuting those speculations. After eighteen pages of trivial ramblings and drunken chatter, a new conjecture was born.

"...Just think about it simply."

I can't recognize it because the world won't let me see it.

The evidence is gone because the world intervened and erased it.

To put it bluntly, the Submerged Realm doesn't want to see it; it's something that shouldn't exist! Erasure all the evidence, and it will 'no longer' exist!

(New page)
"...Three catties of fruit wine has a significant effect on academic research. Research has progressed significantly even after not drinking it for half a year."

"After a few drinks, I had a brilliant idea. Let's assume that 'taboo' is rejected by the world...forgotten by the world...then it's a species that never existed. Wouldn't that be like that 'non-existent' great war?"

·
As Shakes read the entire page aloud, his interest grew even stronger.

(What is a great war?)

(You didn't know?) Wu He was very surprised.

(War is raging everywhere in the Submerged Realm.)
(That was just a localized conflict. There's only been one major war in the entire Candlelight Era, and it's said that war affected all of Dust Island.) Wu He paused. (I'm afraid of death, so I don't want to say too much. Just think of it as a great battle between good and evil.)
Shakespeare questioned: (Why are there no records of the numerous major battles involved?)

(This is the mystery of the Great War; there are no records, no witnesses, and later generations only know what happened but not why, hence it is called the 'War in the Mist.' Wise men say that the Great War shattered history, and under the influence of fragmented time, even those who experienced it cannot tell the past to future generations.) Wu He seemed to be deep in thought, (This phenomenon in Jinye City is indeed similar to the Great War...)
(That's really interesting.)
(You should retreat.) Wu He ruined the atmosphere with a single sentence. (I don't want to get myself into trouble.)
Shakes considered it carefully, and reason told him that his employer's judgment was correct. He decided to look at it for another three minutes, and then leave no matter what the gold leaf manuscript said.

On the other side of the window, Vande stared with his big, round eyes.

"What big battle? I don't know."

"The library's top students are a bit too much of a fraud."

“Even if I’m incredibly talented, I still need to read textbooks. How am I supposed to know things that aren’t written in the books or taught by the teachers?” Vande spread his tentacles. “I think Mr. Jin has had too much to drink! What ‘Great War That Never Existed’? He’s even making up his own settings. He’s made a mess of a few natives fighting.”

“This doesn’t seem like a fabrication,” Ji Huaisu muttered. “I remember my father mentioning something before, that their expansion into the city was related to post-war reconstruction… saying that many important figures died back then…”

"If you're curious about this, why don't you wait until you get home and ask about it in detail, or read the manual?"

A series of clanging and banging noises came from upstairs. Chu Heng shouted to everyone that he was dismantling the magic puppet. Fan De eagerly turned the page; his curiosity had been piqued as well.

The following content was irrelevant; after proposing this hypothesis, Jin Ye failed to take any concrete action, unable to find a breakthrough. So he turned to simulating "forbidden" data using battle traces, developing a series of new inventions as a reference, hoping to make a name for himself. However, these things had little practical value, and no one believed in his research. During this time, he became increasingly manic, single-handedly pushing forward a short-sighted, profit-driven large-scale factory project to prove his talent.

What followed was a major dust explosion accident.

"Damn it! How dare they criticize me! I am the mayor of this island. Their houses, their food, even the air they breathe—everything they have is given to them by me!!"

A production accident? A bunch of scum who aren't even Ascendants aren't qualified to criticize my research. They're fucking unworthy! Unworthy!!

I'm going to kill everyone at the newspaper tomorrow! Don't think public opinion will work on me!

In reality, Jin Ye dared not go against public opinion, because his research resources still depended on shipping trade, and Huilong City would not welcome a mayor who disregarded human life.

He grumbled for a long time, but ultimately did nothing and showed no reflection. Afterward, he rallied, wanting to return to pure academic research. He wrote a vague and ambiguous investigative report under the title 'Taboo,' intending to send it back to Dustless Land, but just then, Dragon City fell, and the sea route was cut off; his letter could not reach this small Dustless Island. "Grumbling, complaining, tantrums..." Vande began to lose patience, flipping through pages at an astonishing speed. "Twenty years of doing nothing, truly mediocre."

Ji Huaisu initially felt some sympathy for this man, but after reading his diary, he no longer felt much empathy: "His talent and character are both terrible."

“His temperament is even more mediocre than his talent.” Van Der was merciless. “This has nothing to do with academics. What do you think Chu Hengkong would do if he were here?”

Ji Huaisu replied without hesitation: "Dig a big hole to investigate underground..."

At this point, she suddenly understood and couldn't help but smile bitterly: "Why didn't you do this sooner!"

·
How boring. Shakespeare thought to himself.

The initial deductions were somewhat interesting, but everything that followed was stagnation. This scholar used various excuses to deceive himself, unable to muster the courage to delve into the truth. This person is a reflection of this dull, hellish world, possessing supernatural powers, mysterious paths, and an extremely diverse range of choices. But very few can make good use of these resources; beneath the vast majority of their glamorous exteriors lies a withered, pale core.

"...How could time fly by so quickly? I thought I had plenty of time, but 20 years have passed in the blink of an eye... I can't let this drag on any longer. Tomorrow, I'll order the factory to produce parts; I want to assemble the drilling rig myself. In my lifetime, I must go and explore the depths of the earth..."

Such a decision took twenty years to make, and even such a mediocre fellow could become a mere point 2 wielding staff. Shax missed his homeland more and more, and missed those who could achieve ten times the results with one resource.

"...The person who delivered the goods today looked familiar. On a whim, I checked and found out he was a survivor of the accident from back then."

God is blind! He let such a useless person live. If he had died back then, there wouldn't be so much trouble!
Let's put this matter aside for now; it's not wise to get angry before important matters. Tomorrow we'll go underground and take a look!

"...Let's make some more preparations and activate the self-sealing device that's been designed, just in case something changes, just to have a backup plan..."

The next page is blank.

Ten pages of blank space.

As the pages were quickly turned, suddenly the ink, penetrating the back of the paper, leaped out and transformed into two pages of wild cursive script.

"Entering a deadly situation, one witnesses supernatural powers and understands the universe."

Leave behind your old body, embrace the Great Way, and you will know your true self!

Taboos are a laughing stock; hell is heaven!

"I was so wrong. How could I have believed the tricks of the Dustless Land and learned such third-rate skills? The sacred ground of scholarship is the Spiral Tower. Without detaching oneself from flesh and blood, one will never be able to attain truth in this life! And what freedom or life can one speak of then!"

It's never too late to mend one's ways! Let's start the experiment now. This afternoon, I'll find a fool to enlighten me, and within a week, I must change my ways and find the right path.

"Supreme One ascends to godhood! Supreme One ascends to godhood! Without becoming Supreme One, how can one ascend—"

Shakes looked away and sighed in annoyance.

Clichés, the same old tune. I've seen countless idiots like this; their sheer boredom is almost a talent. What follows is predictable: an experimental accident, a failed attempt to switch to the path of supreme power, and the unfortunate chosen one becomes a wandering ice statue. The path to godhood to supreme power prides itself on individuality, yet the deaths are always equally ugly. I was tired of killing these things when I was using the Bitter Staff, and even after all this time, it's still the same old story.

Is he at work? How many more monotonous idiots does he have to watch? Is this some kind of hellish office, where devils lurk in the air, amused by his boredom?

He suddenly lost all interest. Boring legends, boring people, boring employers—it was all the same, repeated endlessly. He already knew that this illusory hell held no meaning for him, just as he had always known he would never encounter the snake shadow again. He'd rather spend this time tracking the Ice Man; at least the mastermind guiding him would have some fun, at least some power.

(Retreat, Shakespeare.) Wuhe urged again.

(Ah. The location has changed.)
Before putting away his sniper rifle, he took one last look. The green hem of his coat flowed down the stairs, silver threads intertwining into two tangled snakes. The man in the green coat went to the window.

He saw the assassin's face clearly.

The trigger was pulled, the bullet left the barrel, instantly clearing a circular path through the fallen yellow leaves scattered across the hillside. The self-contained ammunition exploded, unleashing a frenzied roar that echoed through the valley. The impact of the bullet shattered the windows of the entire mayor's mansion, and moments later, the crushed bullet was ejected, ricocheting into the sky along with countless transparent fragments!
"Ha, ha, ahahahahahaha!!"

His nerves trembled. An electric shock-like pain, a burning sensation in his blood, a tension as if death were imminent gripping his very being. The boredom vanished instantly, leaving no room for meaningless thought, only a maniacal laugh echoing within—a frenzied, hoarse, almost hysterical laugh. Within that laughter, a fiery red streak shot back into the void, leaving a burning scar on Shax's cheek.

The assassin didn't move, didn't even think, just kept laughing, shouting out his own delusions only he understood. He was terribly wrong. This damned world still had meaning; you still couldn't predict what would happen next… you still couldn't foresee where the gun would be pointed!
"Farewell in hell, you sacrificial serpent!!!"

Chu Hengkong slowly lowered his right hand, the hastily made qi armor nearly collapsing. He heard maniacal laughter in the distance. No, even if he knew nothing of the person's voice, he would not forget the pain in his memory.

Shock, confusion, and bewilderment mingled among a multitude of emotions, and the name of a former enemy slipped out.

“Shax Ibn Ould…”

"—Chu Hengkong!!"

(End of this chapter)