Fantasy Writers 1860

Chapter 109 But I Refusal (Part 2)

"A Little Advice" is a satirical essay published in 1729 by the Britannian writer Jonathan Swift.

The article, presented as a "strategist," offers a small suggestion: that poor people in Ireland sell their children to rich people as food to solve their economic problems and alleviate social conflicts.

Such a suggestion is of course extremely absurd (not to mention what will happen in the future), and the author uses such an extreme narrative to expose and criticize the cruel exploitation and inhumane policies against Ireland.

As Dickins previously stated, a key characteristic of "Britanian style" is satire.

This paperback fantasy book has a "self-manifestation ability" called "the optimal solution of absolute rationality".

It injects the will of "absolute rationality" into the minds of the ten people closest to it. The phantom book will provide a "logically perfect but otherwise extreme solution" and push the person involved to put it into practice.

The power of "A Little Advice" began to distort Lily's mind, and a perfect logic for dealing with the current problem began to operate in her head:

The optimal solution is to abandon cover and use those demi-humans who haven't run away yet as consumables to block the enemy's line of sight and magic.

A chill ran down her spine, causing her to involuntarily turn her gaze to the demi-humans who had just been rescued.

Some of them were still running out through the drainpipe, while others hadn't even had time to stand up.

If we abandon protecting them now, we can devote all our energy to engaging the enemy.

Why should I rescue and protect them when I have no relation to them?

Just now, we could easily take advantage of the chaos, so it didn't matter if we rescued them along the way. But now that a powerful enemy has appeared, taking care of them again would likely slow down the pace of the battle, restrict our movement, and in the worst case, we would become hostages.

Giving them up is the best choice.

They could even use the corpses as cover during the lulls in the enemy's slaughter of them to launch a surprise attack from the flanks.

The world before Lily's eyes transformed into a cold grid of odds and interests. She looked at the demi-human girls with terrified faces, pleading for help. In that instant, these vibrant lives seemed to have turned into a pile of meat that could be disposed of at will.

She could feel the power of the phantom book invading her consciousness, convincing her with an undeniable logic: this was the right decision, this was the rational choice.

Is protecting them a pointless waste of resources and an irrational mistake?

of course not.

"The optimal solution of absolute rationality—" Lily murmured, a beast-like hum emanating from her throat.

First of all, the enemy I am facing now is not a formidable foe at all.

As a seasoned combat librarian, she had seen all sorts of magical books. This one was a magical book born in Britannia, so she was naturally aware of its effects. Moreover, as a paperback magical book, its power was not yet at the level of irreversible manipulation, hypnosis, or brainwashing.

The veiled man noticed that Lily's eyes were glazed over, as if she had been controlled by his illusion book. He then waved for the others behind him to come forward.

But the thugs had only taken a few steps when they were blocked by a transparent barrier that suddenly appeared.

"Don't rush," Roderick's voice came from afar. He knew that this phantom book would only affect no more than 10 people nearby. "The duty of the title page is to control the pace."

He used a paperback fantasy book called "The Book of Styx's Shield".

This book tells the story of an immortal sage and the goddess of the end, Moros, who travel to the underworld and ultimately protect it by transforming themselves into a barrier when the tide of nothingness arrives.

Its manifestation effect is also very simple: it generates a barrier that even a thousand guns cannot penetrate.

Although it is only a paperback fantasy book, the ability to activate the shield is so versatile that it can be used in almost any situation, making it a standard fantasy book for the official librarian.

"The title page?" The veiled man's expression suddenly changed, and his brows furrowed.

He knew what the word meant.

"You are... from the Academy of Literature and Art?!" Although he asked in a questioning tone, his body had already taken a half step back in honesty.

He had a clear understanding of the few magical books he possessed. He could use them to his advantage against ordinary people and could barely display his power against common magical books, but it was hard to say how he would fare against officials with formal systems.

Moreover, as an official of the Taiwan Creative Content Agency, it's impossible that they were unaware of the seemingly intimidating yet actually quite effective way to resolve the issue presented in "A Small Suggestion."

He initially thought these were just ordinary people from some demi-human liberation organization who wanted to oppose the cult. He used the "optimal solution of absolute rationality" to first implant the consciousness of "absolute rationality" into their minds, and then used some seemingly oppressive illusion books to make them misjudge their strength. Finally, under the consciousness of "absolute rationality," they directly chose the logically perfect but extreme optimal solution: surrender.

Moreover, as a demi-human, the other party might even have a "rational" thought like "using those demi-human slaves who are being auctioned off as human shields," which could also cause them psychological shock.

So the core of this tactic is actually to bluff people.

This approach works quite well for ordinary people who have no concept of magical books, but it's not so effective against magical book users who know about magical books.

Although he had other tactics for this situation, they were only effective against ordinary Book Masters, and now he was facing officials from the Academy of Literature and Strategy.

Oh no, we've really messed up.

How come the Cultural and Creative Industry Academy has werewolves, these demi-human beings?!

"But I refuse."

Just as the veiled man was starting to sweat profusely, Lily's soft voice rang out at the opportune moment. Her golden eyes were fixed on the veiled man, clear and resolute, "I love saying no to those who think they're so strong—"

"Polina! Roderick! Execute Tactic Nine!" Lily shouted the order, and the squad quickly deployed.

As the [Inner Page], Lily conjures a copy of "Meditations" in her hand. Her self-manifested ability, [Inner Fortress], can provide the holder with a gentle mental protection, protecting one's mind from disturbance to a certain extent.

As the [Front Page], Polina moves like a nimble cat along the edge of the battlefield, using ordinary magic to disrupt the enemy. She also carries a "Blank Book of Seals" on her person, ready to seal and contain the opponent's illusionary book at any time.

As the [Title Page], Roderick maintains a defensive barrier, preventing enemy weapons from penetrating it, while also guarding against any new phantom books that might appear.

Although Lily and her group seemed to be working in an orderly manner with a clear division of labor, this was only enough to maintain a balance of power.

To truly defeat the opponent, we must rely on the power of the Phantom Book.

Lily knew that the best way to deal with a satirical fantasy book like "A Little Advice" was to use a similar book, employing its own logic against it, using satire to satirize it, but—

"Not high enough level—" Lily gritted her teeth and temporarily put away the other magical book that had appeared in her hand.

She only had one similar fantasy book at hand, and it was a paperback edition; its power was too weak.

If only I had brought that draft with me before.

Mr. Hakimi's Jokes.

That fantasy manuscript written by Dorian.

When the veiled man saw that the officials from the Academy of Literature and Strategy were not attacking directly but maintaining a passive defensive posture, some unusual thoughts arose in his mind.

Could it be that they don't actually have a good way to deal with their own phantom books right now?

So he took another half step forward.

What kind of official are they? They're nothing special.

"So what if it's the Literary Academy? It's just a lackey of the government. When they come to our cult's territory, even dragons have to crawl and tigers have to lie down! Hahaha!" The veiled man began to laugh wildly, and at the same time, another illusionary book began to appear.

In the past, it was always officials who drove themselves into a corner; now the tables are about to turn!

"Haha, let me show you!"

Before he finished speaking, the space above suddenly began to twist violently. A blinding white light flashed, and several figures appeared out of thin air between the two groups of people!

"Dorian! Quickly use your manuscript, 'Mr. Hakimi's Joke'!" Lily shouted as soon as she recognized Dorian.

She didn't dwell on why Dorian would appear here at this time and in this way; she knew now was not the time to worry about such things.

Dorian had just been teleported over with the people from the Pantheon meeting when he heard Lily's shout. Without much hesitation, he simply followed her instructions.

A stack of manuscript papers, still emitting golden particles of light, appeared before Dorian. He took a deep breath and began to recite: "A man casually remarked on the street, 'The king is a fool,' and was arrested and sentenced to life imprisonment. The man argued, 'I didn't say which king.' The judge laughed, 'I've lived in Britannia for decades; do you think I don't know which king is a fool?'"

The moment Dorian finished reading, the air in the entire hall seemed to freeze.

[False Consensus]

As a fictional work, "Mr. Hakimi's Jokes" has the ability to expose and resolve the contradictions that form this "false consensus" when there are logical contradictions, a disconnect between slogans and reality, or the self-deception of power.

For satirical fantasy books, this is a truly targeted force.

Compared to typical satire, "Mr. Hakimi's Jokes" contains a layer of deconstructionist thought. While it is itself a form of satire, it uses jokes to a certain extent to satirize satire itself.

This is meta-irony.

Normally, satire is directed outward and has clear boundaries, but Soviet jokes are not always like that. They are reflexive and often confuse the satirist and the satirized, undermining the satirist's moral high ground and making the satirist realize that he is also part of the absurdity.

Perhaps it is precisely this characteristic that gives it such longevity.

"What, what is this?" The veiled man was unfamiliar with the name of this magical book, as if he had never heard of it before.

This shouldn't be happening. It's been almost a hundred years since a new magical book was created; the old ones have been almost completely figured out. Even if people don't know their powers, they've usually heard of their names, unless it's an extremely secretive magical book that has rarely been shown to anyone in the past—

The Phantom Book, which was only recently created.

A faint "crackling" sound suddenly rang out in the air, like glass shattering.

The veiled man realized that the voice was coming from himself, and immediately looked down at the phantom book in his hand. He saw several fine cracks on the cover of the phantom book, extending from the spine to the corner, as if it had been torn apart from the inside by something.

"You must be kidding me—" The veiled man's eyes widened, almost unable to believe what he was seeing. "That illusion book, it can actually—"

The next second, Lily's fair face was pressed against his eyes without warning, her expression indifferent, her golden pupils devoid of any warmth, sharp as the midday sun, yet so cold.

Using her werewolf agility, she quickly caught up with the man during a brief moment of weakness in his magical power. With her other hand, she picked up a cane from the ground, which belonged to some runaway gentleman, and struck the veiled man's arm, causing him to drop the cracked book "A Little Advice" from his hand.

"Ah—" As the veiled man let out a scream, Polina's long-awaited opportunity finally arrived.

Seizing the moment, she pounced like a ghost, swiftly using the blank sealing book to collect "A Small Suggestion," which had just slipped from the veiled man's grasp and hadn't even hit the ground yet. She then delivered a roundhouse kick, sending the veiled man flying.

The illusory book, "A Little Suggestion," shattered completely, its pages fluttering and transforming into countless tiny specks of light, which were absorbed entirely by Polina's blank sealed book.

"Hey, can we make peace?" The veiled man, who had been kicked away, supported himself with one hand on the ground, while the other hand hung limply down as he knelt on the ground.

"Sure," Lily replied indifferently, surprising him. "We weren't here to wreak havoc."

"Let's go, no one's blocking the way." Roderick, who had been silent all along, temporarily put away "The Book of Styx's Shield".

Seeing that even their leader, who wielded the power of the Illusionary Book, was being thoroughly defeated, the numerous men in black trench coats who had been brandishing various weapons and looking menacing instantly scattered like birds and beasts, disappearing from sight.

It seems that it wasn't the veiled man using them to bolster his own position, but rather they using the veiled man to bolster their own position.

"An earthquake has occurred in this area, and Scotland Yard is on its way." Dorian didn't waste time on pleasantries but instead shared the intelligence he had gathered outside.

Lily nodded. "Let's go out first."

Just as the group was about to set off, a violent tremor suddenly erupted throughout the underground space.

"Boom—"

—

In an instant, rubble rained down from above, the floor beneath their feet shook violently, and the entire underground space emitted ominous sounds.