magician in town

Chapter 670 Ancestral Gift (60)

"You'd better not waste your energy," Du Zhengyi coldly warned the clownfish.

He had always known that the clownfish had been following him, and whatever it said or did, its purpose was always extremely clear. He first met the clownfish in Jonlin, where the core secrets of the entire magical world were held. He was certain that the clownfish's intrusion that time had touched upon this core, but the clownfish still returned empty-handed.

The clownfish likened this core to a supercomputer and called him the system administrator, a metaphor that Du Zhengyi could accept.

After all, magicians live among humans; only extreme fundamentalists like the Lotus Burners would go to great lengths to avoid human civilization. Du Zhengzhi was simply busy or lacked energy; he never actively avoided human life, so he certainly knew some basic human common sense.

He knew he resembled a human computer administrator, so he was also acutely aware of the login system rules. These rules strictly defined the administrator's identity. This person must be a descendant of the Du family, possessing their bloodline. But that's not all; those who become administrators from the Du family will recall fragments of memories from ancient times at a certain age.

These fragmented memories are vague scenes. These scenes are scattered, like various types of sealed places, with fragmented memories revealing the structure of these places. Each memory eventually leads to the core control room. These primal memories, written in the mind, repeatedly and vaguely guide them to find such places and perform operations there.

In these scenes, there are several busy figures, as if they had truly existed, been seen, and then entered his mind. When he was young, he tried hard to see these people's faces clearly, but he could never make out those blurry features. He once guessed that this might be to prevent later generations from developing feelings for those who had long since passed away.

These people will demonstrate to him how to operate the magical core of the sealed land.

Perhaps it could be said that these people demonstrated to him various ways to lift the dangerous state of the sealed land, as well as the final method to close it. The images were blurry, but the demonstration was incredibly clear. He knew he needed to have his finger pricked for bloodline authentication. Then, coiled nerve fibers would pierce his skin; he guessed this was the second layer of authentication for the Du family. Their brain activity and neural responses differed slightly from ordinary mages, perhaps also a form of identification. This direct, low-level connection to the brain also ensured that the operation was performed by the administrator's free will, not by a puppet manipulated by a master of willpower. The final step was the chanting and spells imprinted deep in his memory—or, as Roach would say, essentially the machine's operating codes—before the core computer began clearing the sealed land's execution.

When he first encountered the clownfish, it launched a mental attack on him but didn't kill him, all in an attempt to obtain the information he possessed as the system administrator. However, to perform irreversible core operations on a computer, the person executing the operation and the person logging into the system must be the same person—a fundamental rule that cannot be circumvented. Not only could the clownfish not do it, but even the most renowned mental sorcerers of the past all relied on the voluntary cooperation of a Du family member.

"So what do you plan to do?" the clownfish asked somewhat absentmindedly, his mind seemingly scattered.

Du Zhengyi didn't answer. He tried to sense Luo Qi's presence, but he didn't have the ability to actively confirm the existence of a mind-controlling mage. Since they parted ways, Luo Qi hadn't attempted to contact him, which was unusual. He believed that within this range, Luo Qi should be able to track him, and even if he couldn't communicate, he should still be able to maintain his presence.

Perhaps something had happened to Roach. He quickly dismissed the thought; Roach was surrounded by many people now.

Another possibility is that the clownfish, as a more mature master of willpower, could dispel Roach's will, preventing Roach from getting any closer to him in the realm of consciousness. The clownfish was prepared from the beginning; he knew that by telling himself he was also Roach, he could confuse Roach's mind, thus gaining time to observe Roach's manipulation of the sealed land.

He deliberately identified himself as Roach, and deliberately acted as Roach. But if there was any aspect of him that completely matched Roach, it was perhaps his unwavering belief that he could break the ancient sorcerer's magic, and his boundless imagination. The clownfish, in his study of the progenitor sorcerer's magic, explored one desolate sealed land after another. Although those sealed lands were desolate, they hadn't been sealed using the most extreme methods; the shells left behind and the faint remnants of power might indeed have taught the clownfish something.

Now, Du Zhengyi had considered some possibilities. If the Ancestral Mage was truly considered an alien race, and all this "magic" as future science, then the sooner this was considered, the closer one was to the "truth." Du Zhengyi was the administrator, inheriting login privileges and the ability to use scientific equipment. Liu Ziyu was one of the few truly intelligent mages, but she still couldn't understand the true scientific principles; she relied on observing phenomena to summarize usage patterns. Just as primitive humans might not understand modern computers, televisions, air conditioners, or even electrical and water systems. However, with roughly the same level of intelligence, primitive humans could still discover usage patterns through observation and even deduce some methods of modification. But these were not the correct perspectives for understanding "magic."

What about Roach? Roach can find the right angle to understand magic.

If it weren't for Du Zhengyi acting as a shackle in the magical world, allowing him to maintain constant contact, where would Luo Qi have gone? Perhaps he would have left this world altogether. Given Luo Qi's thought process, he would likely have immediately integrated into the human world after discovering the truth, disappearing from the wizards' sight. He would have "commanded" the "magicians" in the human world, ostensibly scientists, to solve the puzzles and help him understand magic. Those true scientists, possessing the "correct" way of thinking, wouldn't they conduct genuine reverse engineering on these future sciences called "magic"? Completely different from Liu Ziyu's so-called "reverse engineering," this would be true reverse scientific research. How far would they go? Would they possibly touch upon the core technology of the Primordial Wizard? Or would they make foolish mistakes, leading things to another point of utter ruin?
From this perspective, what was the Du family truly protecting? And what were they preventing?
He couldn't think anymore. He forced himself to recall how to completely end this out-of-control base. Perhaps the clownfish was right; there were anomalous creatures here, causing a bug in the base's computers that prevented them from executing commands that simply destroyed living organisms. Or perhaps the way to completely end the base was precisely for this particular moment—completely destroying the base would ensure that all living organisms wouldn't leak out. But…

The prerequisite is that he must find Roach quickly after activating the final command and get him out of there. Once outside, if possible, it would be best to buy a rope and tie him up, and then they should have a real talk. He can no longer let Roach evade the issue with empty promises.

But what if he couldn't find Roach within the limited time? What would happen then? The torn seal would devour everything, and Roach wouldn't be spared. He couldn't kill Roach the same way he killed the sealed beasts and the out-of-control mage. For the first time in his life, he hesitated.

Just as the thought of hesitation arose, something he had never experienced before happened: the back of his head began to tighten, an uncomfortable numbness arose in his brain, he could not maintain his breathing rate, his usual low heart rate began to speed up, physiological anxiety began to rise to his forehead, and his head felt like it was being squeezed into a box.

The clownfish, oblivious to what was happening, turned its attention to him. "You have anxiety? You're having an anxiety attack?"

"I..." Du Zhengyi wanted to speak, but pain gripped his throat, and he couldn't speak steadily.

This feeling was indeed anxiety, an anxiety that gripped and coerced him. He was as emotionally vulnerable as a toddler, having lost his basic self-control, and as desperate as an addict. The overwhelming, clueless craving drove him to slam his hand back into the groove of the control panel. The dark needle in the Sky Drive position pierced his hand once again, and the nerve fiber beam sank deep into his arm.

An ancient incantation flowed through his consciousness, and he longed to recite it aloud; his entire physiological need was to chant this incantation. His free will was suppressed by his body's instincts. Du Zhengyi's will resided in the distant clouds, while his body's instincts, driven by desire, uttered the incantation. His will dulled as he discerned that it was the command to utterly destroy this sealed land.

The entanglement of the Lonely Mountain Guardian took effect passively on him for the first time. He gasped for breath, staring blankly at the image that had appeared out of thin air—the three dazzling stars of Orion. The starlight reflected in his eyes, and his pupils dilated slightly. Around him, the runes on the bronze tree flickered. The air trembled, as if some ancient being had been awakened, emitting a silent roar.

"This is...you activated the final destruction?" the clownfish exclaimed in astonishment. "Did you know this place would collapse?"

Du Zhengyi couldn't answer. His pride in his control vanished in the instant of his hesitation. He was like a helpless child, pinned to the control panel by an unseen giant hand, the residual power of the Primordial Mage still enough to dominate him, so insignificant. He hadn't even considered betrayal, only a fleeting thought of hesitation. A tear slid down the corner of his eye… His dulled visual senses caught a faint blue trace, so faint it seemed nonexistent, as if merely an unusual disturbance in the air.