Quadruple split.

Chapter 2658 [Sin Immersion Tower]

Game time AM11:57
Onic City, the Prince's Mansion, first-floor tea room

This is a spacious and luxuriously decorated room that the city lord used as a reception room to entertain important guests for a long time. However, after a small tea party some time ago, the new owner of the mansion... or rather, the new mistress, took it upon herself to turn it into a "tea room".

After Jiawen's second renovation, the originally unstylish room has been elevated. Apart from the dark gold fireplace, which is difficult to move and is favored by Ji Xiaodao, all the original luxurious furnishings and decorations have been thrown out. In their place are various exquisitely crafted or ingenious decorative components that can perfectly create a peaceful and leisurely atmosphere, thus achieving the magical effect of making anyone relax as long as the owner of the mansion is not present.

In addition, on cloudy days, all the lighting fixtures in the tea room were redone. Besides the regular soft lighting set suitable for relaxing and drinking tea, a separate lighting set was also set up specifically for relatively serious but not so serious occasions, making it very suitable for meetings.

Incidentally, the Cloudy mode also has a third hidden mode, which is simply the 'Sinful Light' mode, with black and red as the main colors and an extremely gloomy and oppressive tone. Theoretically, it cannot play any positive role in any situation, but it is very compatible with a certain person's temperament.

Incidentally, after learning about the third option for cloudy days, Jiawen didn't hesitate to give it the evaluation of being a 'flower-crazy' woman, which made the former angry for the entire morning.

At this very moment, neither the King of Sin nor the girl who was always by his side were present. With the sun shining brightly and the sky clear outside the window, a rare and somewhat solemn tea party had quietly begun.

In fact, this little tea party was originally just a way for Gavin and Yintian to keep Wenqiu at the mansion for a drink and a little longer because they were reluctant to let her leave early. However, the nature of the matter immediately changed when Merlin informed Gahrez that he was also coming.

The reason is simple: Merlin, as the only wise man in the King of Sin's forces who can give the King a hard time and is respected by the King, is not the kind and amiable Academician Mu Changchun outside the game, who can happily chat with the cafeteria lady for two hours about the topic of sows having difficult births.

Merlin's time was so precious that even his patron, the man known as the King of Sin, had to pay him a visit in person and be prepared to be left waiting for two or three hours.

Jiawen remembered one time when the King of Sin rarely went online for a long time, but because Merlin was busy with something, he left the ink on the first floor of the workshop to dry for half the night. He only managed to free up the ink a few hours after Merlin went offline for some reason that was not for outsiders to know. After hearing that the King of Sin had gone offline, he immediately went to do other things.

To be honest, Gavin swears that if Merlin were replaced by herself, it probably wouldn't take five minutes for that guy who only knows how to respect the elderly and has no sense of chivalry to drag her out with his hideous and menacing summoned creatures.

Hmm... perhaps we should also add love for children.

Gavin glanced at the girl who was currently dozing in her chair, a few harmless, glowing butterflies perched on her shoulder, and shrugged, silently complaining to herself.

Made entirely of obsidian, but hollowed out so that it becomes translucent when exposed to light, the oval table beside which Jiawen elegantly crossed her legs, playing with a coin between her fingers that had a texture like jade, warm and delicate.

Behind her stood Yin Tian, ​​who had just prepared drinks and refreshments for everyone. He looked respectful, but the unruliness between his brows was not properly hidden, or perhaps he simply did not intend to hide it.

Opposite Gavin was Merlin, who was wearing his usual simple and practical white coat. He was slightly balding, with a kind face but a terrifyingly deep gaze. This old man, who had been randomly assigned to the dwarf race, had several layers of velvet cushions under his buttocks. At this moment, he was manipulating a tool that looked like a screwdriver, which could fly around at his will, and adjusting the mechanical arm that was attached to his left arm.

Behind him, standing respectfully opposite the gloomy sky, was...

"Gahrez".

Merlin casually called out to one of his students, "Sit down."

"Eh?"

Gahrez, who felt completely unworthy to sit with Gavin and Merlin in this situation, paused for a moment and hesitated, saying, "But mentor, I..."

"sit down."

Merlin repeated himself, his tone somewhat displeased, "Don't make me repeat myself a third time."

"Yes, mentor."

Gahrez immediately stopped talking nonsense, pulled out the chair next to Merlin with trepidation and sat down, his face showing visible tension and apprehension.

"Pfft-"

Suddenly, Gavin covered her mouth, looked at Gahrez with a smile, and said with amusement, "You're really funny. You're so relaxed in front of the boss that it's hard to believe, but now you're inexplicably nervous."

Gahrez blinked, then scratched his head sheepishly and said, "I think... Mr. Mo is quite easy to get along with. Ah, I didn't mean that Ms. Gavin and your mentor are difficult to get along with, it's just... it's just... uh..."

Haha, hahahahaha~

However, Gavin, who was already doubled over with laughter after hearing the first sentence, waved her hand forcefully and interrupted, "Alright, alright, you don't need to say anymore, Gajres, really, you don't need to say anymore, otherwise I might be the one who's all trembling with fear."

Meanwhile, Yin Tian, ​​who was standing behind Gavin, also showed a subtle expression of being both amused and exasperated, as if he had a bad joke stuck in his throat. Only Merlin, who knew Gajeres best, remained calm and continued to fiddle with his mechanical arm.

"anyway……"

Gavin turned her gaze to Merlin's mechanical arm, whose material was unknown and whose seemingly unremarkable metal surface was rippling with waves from time to time. Just looking at it, she knew it was extraordinary, and the more she thought about it, the more unusual it seemed. She asked curiously, "Your external arm looks quite powerful."

"power?"

Merlin frowned, and then, without saying what he did, transformed the seemingly intricate mechanical arm into a dusty bracelet with numerous stitching marks in half a second. He explained calmly, "This thing is just a tool to assist my research. After all, whether in reality or in the [Innocent Realm], my abilities are not outstanding. The biggest difference between humans and other animals is the ability to skillfully master and use tools."

Jiawen shrugged and said very sincerely, "I consider myself to have the mind to master and use tools. Can I have one of these to play with?"

"You can't use it."

Merlin shook his head without hesitation and lazily explained, "Your brain isn't working properly."

This was the first time in her life that someone had told Jiawen to her face that she wasn't very bright: "...Huh?!"

I meant it literally.

Merlin simply took off the bracelet from his wrist and tossed it to Gavin, saying impatiently, "See for yourself."

So Jiawen picked up the bracelet that had just been shaped like a robotic arm, held it up to her face, and carefully examined its properties—

Assistant #1

Manufacturer: Merlin
Equipment Category: Bracers

Quality: Legend

Current form: Portable form

Defense: None

Attributes: Intelligence +100, Intelligence +10%
Additional Skills: Chaos Shield, Chaos Inequality, Chaos Neutralization, Absolute Anti-Magic Domain

Features: Shape transformation, multi-functional auxiliary arm

Equipment Requirements: Possess the talent [Transcendental Sage]

[Note: Great truths require great resources and great sacrifices, and personal value is the sole criterion for determining the priority of such sacrifices.] ...

"Ah ha ha……"

Gavin gave a dry laugh, then tossed the bracelet back to Merlin, asking with a subtle expression, "Could you please explain to me what this talent called 'Transcendental Sage' means?"

"There is no first place in literature. To avoid controversy, I won't give you specific examples directly."

Merlin put his self-made equipment, Assistant No. 1, which was always simple in style, back on his wrist and explained calmly: "You can think of it as a scientist who, given the right opportunity and conditions, can drive the development of the times and trigger social change."

Jiawen hesitated for a moment, then tentatively asked, "For example, Newton, Einstein, or someone like that?"

"As I've already said, there's no first place in literature, and I won't cite specific examples."

Merlin didn't answer, just gave a perfunctory reply, then pulled a plate of snacks in front of him and slowly began to eat them.

Born at the end of the 20th century, Merlin, despite being a scientific researcher, still enjoyed snacks and junk food, preferring carbonated drinks to water. As for his health…

To put it simply, although the old man couldn't easily overcome the "amusement disorder" and save Wenqiu, maintaining his own good health, which was already relatively mild, was still relatively easy for him.

Gavin lowered her eyes and began to think. The reason was simple: she suddenly realized that although she had overestimated Merlin's strength to the maximum extent possible, in the end... she seemed to have underestimated the old man's power.

Perhaps because of the saying that every profession is like a mountain, Jia Wen, as an entrepreneur, although her vision is already quite innovative, the limit of her imagination is still only the difference between an "ordinary academician" and a "national treasure academician who can publish high-level papers at will." As for the so-called "ability to promote the development of the times," that is indeed beyond Jia Wen's understanding.

You can't really blame her. After all, no normal person would think that a friend they met in a game is a tough guy who could deduce the law of universal gravitation just by being hit by an apple.

It was at this moment that Gavin suddenly realized that, compared to herself, someone else had probably seen Merlin's true value from the very beginning, which was why they maintained their politeness and composure even after being stood up for several hours.

[Tch, even her taste has been outdone by him...]

Although she was already used to this kind of not-so-frustrating frustration, Gavin still pouted somewhat dejectedly, before Merlin abruptly interrupted her before she could even open her mouth—

"Don't try to curry favor with me."

The old man glanced at the girl across the table who always seemed to overthink things and said calmly, "It's not necessary in the game, and it's not worth it outside of the game."

"Alright, alright, I won't try to flatter you. Anyway, your research is mainly in biology, so I guess you can't help me make any money."

Gavin made a face at Merlin, then paused for a moment before asking seriously, "So, Grandpa, why did you make a special trip here today?"

Merlin, who wasn't used to tea, casually pulled a bottle of soda from his bag (Yintian wrinkled his nose in annoyance), popped the cork off, took a few sips, and laughed, "What? Can't I just come over and rest for a bit if I don't have anything to do?"

Gavin chuckled and turned directly to Gahrez, asking, "Do you believe me?"

"Uh……"

Completely taken aback that he still had a say, Gahrez was slightly surprised, and finally hesitantly asked Merlin, "Should I believe him?"

"Shut up."

Merlin glared at Gahrez, then said crisply to Gavin, "Remember the research and development plan I asked you to pass on to Mo the kid?"

Jiawen smiled slightly and said in a light tone, "Of course I remember, but I haven't seen the contents. After all, it's something you're showing to the boss, so naturally I wouldn't..."

"The prototype of the [Sin Tower] inside has been completed."

Merlin calmly interrupted Gavin, saying in a low voice, "It's the project code 4134B, with the footnote 'a highly versatile, wide-area pollution device'."

"What!?"

Gavin's eyes widened in astonishment. "I remember that was supposed to be a research and development project that would only be initially approved after the Chaos Construct upgrade plan was completed. How come the prototype is already out?"

Merlin took another sip of soda and asked leisurely, "Didn't you say you hadn't seen that R&D plan? How do you remember it so clearly?"

"Of course I looked at it. You handed the package to me, how could I not take a look and live up to your and the boss's trust?"

Gavin quickly glossed over the trivial matter and pressed on, "So what exactly is the [Tower of Sin]? How come you..."

"not me."

Merlin shook his head and pointed to the apprentice sitting next to him: "It was Gajres who did it."

"Eh!?"

Jiawen was immediately startled.

"what!?"

Gahrez was also taken aback.

"no……"

Jiawen looked at the somewhat dull young man with a wry smile and said, "What are you so surprised about? What you made?"

"I do not know?"

"Huh? You don't know what that means?"

"I've been trying my best to complete the assignments given by my supervisor, but I don't know anything about the 'Tower of Sin'."

"Old man?"

"Among them are three interconnected topics, which are the underlying logic of the Tower of Sin."

"so……"

"It's all thanks to Gajres. He's not a genius, but he's better at solving problems in a more human way than I am."

Chapter 2649: The End