The Demon King is unfathomable

Chapter 372 To take something, you must first give something.

On the morning of the third day after the news spread, Luo Yan came to Professor Hector's office at his "invitation".

This is the second time he has sat here.

Unlike the relaxed and friendly atmosphere last time, the atmosphere in the office was noticeably more somber this time.

Professor Hector Raine stood before the glass window, silently gazing at the swirling snow and wind outside, not speaking immediately. His thin, upright figure, however, exuded a suppressed anger, making the air in the room seem to freeze.

As for why he didn't vent his anger on Prince Colin—

That's because the opponent is no weaker than him.

Whether it's status or strength.

Luo Yan was not in a hurry. He calmly sat down on the sofa where guests were being entertained and quietly waited for the professor, who held a high position in the academic community, to speak.

The teaching assistant next to him saw this and quickly went over to pour him a cup of black tea.

Public opinion is one thing, personal feelings are another. Regardless of their private opinions, the vast majority of teaching assistants had a very good impression of this generous and benevolent prince... especially when standing in front of him.

Hector didn't dare leave His Highness waiting too long. After silently venting his anger, he slowly turned around.

He looked at Luo Yan with a complex expression of heartbreak on his face, as if he was trying his best to suppress his emotions.

"Your Highness Colin!" he finally spoke, his voice hoarse and heavy, "I think, regarding what happened in Void Realm 440 yesterday, could you... give me a reasonable explanation?"

It was a tone that wanted to criticize but dared not speak too harshly, a style often heard in the court of the Holy City by eunuchs who rarely showed their faces in public; they were masters of this art of language.

Faced with this accusatory question, Luo Yan simply picked up his teacup and gently blew away the rising steam, as if he didn't understand why the other party was so angry.

“Explanation? Professor Hector, I don’t quite understand what you mean.”

Seeing Colin still "playing dumb," Hector's eyebrows twitched involuntarily as he suppressed his resentment and spoke.

"Now the entire Great Sage's Tower knows that you used up all the source energy behind the Void Realm in one experiment! Forgive my bluntness, but you weren't researching the Void Realm; you were clearly playing around—"

“This is clearly just my first experiment,” Luo Yan calmly placed the teacup back on the tray. “Experiments inevitably involve some consumption, so what’s wrong with that?”

Professor Hector was speechless for a moment, his mouth agape but unable to utter a single word.

Seeing that Professor Hector had no rebuttal, Luo Yan paused, then continued in a gentler tone.

"Besides, the virtual realm hasn't disappeared; it's just that its energy has been depleted, causing the connection to be temporarily broken. What if it reconnects on its own someday?"

Upon hearing Luo Yan's confident and assertive statement, Professor Hector's eyes widened, and he almost fainted.

He finally understood that this prince was not interested in the treasures behind the Void Realm at all. This guy was probably just tinkering with the Void Realm out of curiosity about it itself, or perhaps he just wanted to prove something.

He sighed deeply, forcibly suppressing his anger, and decided to try a different approach, beginning to patiently persuade him.

"Your Highness, the research on the Void Realm is really not done this way!"

He strode over to the sofa opposite Colin, sat down, leaned forward, and spoke earnestly in the tone of an elder saying, "I'm doing this for your own good."

“Our exploration of the virtual realm must proceed with extreme caution at every step, requiring extensive observation and data analysis to make even the slightest intervention. Your radical experimental strategy is akin to dancing on the edge of a cliff—it's far too reckless! What if… what if we can never connect again? There are countless examples of this in the history of the Academy!”

Despite Hector's deep concern, Luo Yan remained unusually calm, seemingly unconcerned about the worst-case scenario.

“That won’t happen. The Solipsians’ prayers haven’t stopped, and I’d say they’ll be even more fervent than ever before… Just wait and see, it won’t be long before we see results.”

He has absolute confidence in this.

However, this unfounded confidence caused Hector's blood pressure to spike again.

"That's just what you think!" he almost shouted. "What about your promise to me? You said you'd treat it well!"

“Professor Hector, I’ll reiterate. First of all, the portal to the virtual realm has not collapsed, not even showing any signs of collapse. It has simply run out of energy, which does not violate my promise.”

Luo Yan picked up the perfectly heated black tea, gently blew away the steam, took a sip, and his gaze toward Professor Hector suddenly sharpened.

"Secondly, are you teaching me how to do things?"

If it weren't for Professor Hector helping him get this virtual realm, he wouldn't have come here for tea at all.

Do I, Roxie Collin, need to explain things to a professor like you?
The temperature in the office dropped by more than ten degrees, and even the crackling flames in the fireplace became much more docile and docile.

The teaching assistant, standing in the corner of the room, dared not breathe, wanting to sneak out of the room but not daring to make a sound.

This was the first time he had ever seen the usually refined and amiable prince display such a dignified expression.

Hector's Adam's apple bobbed as he stared intently at Prince Colin, his hands gripping the armrests of the sofa tightly.

However, this tense atmosphere did not last long and suddenly stopped when the old professor backed down.

He took a deep breath, calmed himself down, put on a smile again, and spoke in a seemingly very understanding tone.

"You misunderstand, Your Highness. How could I dare to instruct you on how to do things? I'm just... offering advice from a friend's perspective! If you feel that undertaking this project alone is too much for you, we can actually find another way to cooperate."

He leaned forward again and offered a compromise in a persuasive tone.

“You provide the resources and authority granted by the council, and I will provide my experience and technical support. You will take 60% of all project outputs, all outputs obtained from the virtual realm, and I will only take 40%. As for the research results and honors generated, they all belong to you!”

"You don't need to do anything to have all of this... What do you think?"

Luo Yan was not surprised at all by Professor Hector's compromise; on the contrary, he was surprised that Professor Hector had laid the groundwork for so long before revealing his true purpose.

A smile appeared on his handsome face, but his eyes turned cold.

Luo Yan gently placed the teacup back on the tray with a crisp sound, then looked directly into Professor Hector's eyes and spoke righteously.

“Professor Hector, I came to this harsh land not to search for treasure, but to explore unknown truths.”

His voice was calm, yet carried an undeniable air of authority.

"Do you think my research into the Void Realm is just for tinkering with those boring junk and those empty honors and titles? You are insulting a prince of the Empire!"

Professor Hector was taken aback.

He had assumed the other party would either accept it readily or try to negotiate, but he never expected them to veer directly into the topic of aristocratic honor.

This hat is a bit too big!
"No...no, Your Highness, that's not what I meant!" Hector quickly waved his hands, looking somewhat embarrassed, trying to explain, "I just...I was just worried that you're too young and might encounter unexpected bottlenecks in your research..."

Luo Yan raised his hand, interrupting his feeble explanation.

Seeing Professor Hector's face turn pale and then red, Luo Yan suddenly leaned back on the sofa and gently put the old professor down.

"Of course, I understand that you meant well, and that suggestion you just made was probably unintentional."

“Yes…” Hector swallowed the words that were in his mouth and took the opportunity to back down, following the lead offered by Prince Colin.

Luo Yan nodded as he saw him back down.

"So, I hope this is the last time, and that you won't say anything like that again."

"Yes……"

Seeing Professor Hector with his head down, the teaching assistant standing in the corner of the room was completely dumbfounded.

He could never have imagined that this notoriously bad-tempered, stubborn old professor would be as docile as an old dog in front of His Highness Colin.

However, his expression quickly changed.

Especially when he realized he had witnessed a side of Professor Hector that no one else knew. Once the old man came to his senses and realized he had seen something he shouldn't have, he would surely torment him to death until he left the mage tower…

Fortunately, at that moment, a soft "bang" saved him; the door to Professor Hector's office was suddenly pushed open!
Teaching assistant Miller rushed in, disregarding all etiquette. His mage robes were disheveled from running, and his face wore a complex expression of shock, ecstasy, and disbelief.

"Miller! You..." Hector was about to explode, but Miller completely ignored him.

"Mentor! Something terrible has happened... No! It's wonderful! The 440th Virtual Realm... the Virtual Realm passage has opened by itself again! Moreover, the energy behind the passage is even more abundant than before! It's unbelievable!" Ignoring Professor Hector's murderous glare, Miller shouted excitedly.

These words struck Hector Rein like a bolt from the blue.

All the angry rebukes, lecturing, and even threats and inducements he had prepared got stuck in his throat, and he couldn't utter a single word.

Staring dumbfounded at Luo Yan, then at the teaching assistant leaning against the door frame, his mind went completely blank.

How can it be?

How could a illusory realm that has exhausted its source energy possibly reopen itself in such a short time?!
How did this guy do that?!

The 440th virtual realm is no longer important.

What he was now more eager to know was what His Highness the Prince had done to make the reopened Void Realm passage contain even more abundant source energy than before!

Abundant "source energy" means they can extract more matter from behind the virtual realm, and the risk of the passage collapsing will also be reduced!
In other words——

The passage to the No. 440 virtual realm is even more stable now!

Gazing at the stunned expression on that face, Luo Yan revealed a profound smile, as if everything was under his control. To be honest, he hadn't expected the Void Realm Passage to reopen so quickly, but that didn't stop him from claiming the credit for himself.

"It seems... the people of this other world need me, so I must go ahead."

He stood up, calmly straightened his perfectly wrinkle-free collar, and spoke to Hector, who was still petrified, in a slightly apologetic tone.

"...Farewell."

……

Two magnificent white horses drew two graceful arcs in the thin air of the North, carrying Luo Yan and the anxious Miller, and rushed back to Corinta, fifty kilometers away, at top speed.

As soon as Luo Yan stepped into the hall of the mage tower, he saw a group of teaching assistants whispering excitedly and in awe around the huge magic circle.

"Incredible..."

"The timeline behind the virtual realm has actually advanced!"

"What's even more incredible is that our connection with them hasn't weakened over time! Has this ever happened before?"

"So that's how it is... So that's how Source Power is used!"

Even though these scholars of the Source Law School still did not realize that the power behind the virtual realm was not the so-called "Source Force," it did not prevent them from updating the Source Law School's theory on this basis and from finding it incredible that Prince Colin had innovated the theory of Source Force.

At this moment, the illusory lens located in the center of the magic circle not only regained its stable and clear light, but also became even more transparent!
The magicians standing around the lens quickly noticed Prince Colin and bowed respectfully, their faces filled with reverence and devotion.

"tutor!"

Luo Yan nodded in response, then quickly walked through the crowd to the lens.

With just one glance, he saw the earth-shattering changes on the other side of the illusory realm.

The once peaceful and idyllic rural landscape has vanished, replaced by a world constructed of towering gray chimneys and densely packed multi-story buildings!
Thick black smoke rose from the chimneys, tinging the once azure sky with a hazy gray hue. A crisscrossing network of brass pipes meandered through the sunless alleyways, like a dense network of capillaries supplying nutrients to the concrete structure.

The whole world is like a wound-up brass clock, spinning rapidly amidst steam and smog...

Time has clearly leaped forward a great deal!

"Good heavens... how many years has this been accelerated?!" Taf whispered in astonishment as she leaned on Luo Yan's shoulder, her face full of surprise.

Luo Yan did not answer her question, but quietly examined the world behind the virtual realm, searching for clues in the dazzling scenery.

Amidst those earth-shattering changes, the only thing that seemed to remain unchanged was their "viewpoint"—that enormous rock.

It remains the center of the world.

However, at this moment, it is no longer just a spiritual totem in the wilderness, but has become a sacred altar standing in the square!
To prevent it from being corroded by acid rain, the devout Solipus people built a huge dome for it and erected a not-so-high wall around it!
As the evening bells rang, the daily pilgrimage began, and the devout Solipusi people gradually gathered in the square.

Some were dressed in elegant dark suits, while others were in tattered clothes barely covering their bodies. Some wore tall top hats and black veils, holding ornate canes inlaid with jewels, while others walked with faltering steps.

The priest, draped in a long robe, gazed at them; beneath his densely packed tentacles were eyes that looked like ashes.

Instead of offering barren crops, they devoutly tossed gold or copper coins into the "sacred pool" built around the giant rock.

Amidst the crisp, clinking sounds, their prayers were no longer for a bountiful harvest, but for endless wealth.

After completing their prayers, they left satisfied, as if their prayers had been answered and as if they had truly received divine blessings.

Luo Yan knew without guessing that there would always be a few "lucky ones" who would soon succeed in business and return here with more gold coins to fulfill their vows, becoming vivid role models to inspire other believers.

Those unfortunate souls whose prayers went unanswered and who remained penniless naturally disappeared silently into the crowded throng.

Just as Luo Yan was wondering how high the gold coins in the pool would pile up, the Solipus people's pilgrimage finally came to an end.

As another bell rang, people dressed in fine clothes and those in tattered clothes left together. Several clergymen in long robes and tall hats closed the gates of the wall and then quietly retrieved all the gold coins from the sacred pool.

Based on the limited clues, Luo Yan immediately made a preliminary deduction—

This is a steampunk world dominated by the church.

His initial miracle of "granting a bountiful harvest" led to an explosive increase in the population of this civilization over a sufficiently long timescale.

Sustained abundance solved the problem of survival, but also gave rise to new desires.

They no longer lacked food, but instead began to crave gold.

Unfortunately, perhaps because their world was too small, there wasn't enough land to allow them to escape the old order and give birth to new ideas.

Therefore, instead of entering the Enlightenment normally, they went further and further down the old path, giving birth to a "Leviathan" that lurked in the shadows and dominated everything!
This fate was undoubtedly tragic for the Solipsians, but it was just right for the Academy mages who were observing them from the other side of the illusory realm.

"We succeeded, Your Highness! And as you can see, not only has the Void Realm Passage reopened, but the 'Source Power' behind it is more abundant than ever before! This is simply incredible! How did you manage to do this?!"

Miller looked at Luo Yan with excitement, his eyes filled with the same fervor as the Solipsians behind the Void Realm.

The other researchers standing around had the same expression, as if they were witnessing a miracle personally bestowed by the gods.

This incredible, almost "creational" feat was completely beyond the comprehension of these ordinary magicians.

From this point on, no one doubted that His Highness Colin was right and divinely ordained!
Although Luo Yan couldn't see the eyes hidden beneath the tentacles behind the illusory realm, he could imagine that when he stood before the Solipsians, their faces would surely bear the same expression as when they saw Saint Sith.

“There’s nothing surprising about that, Miller. I simply saw into their deepest desires and bestowed upon them the miracle called harvest. Remember this: to take, one must first give.”

Luo Yan calmly answered Miller's question, while gazing at the scenery behind the virtual realm, and continued with great interest.

"...But to be honest, I was also quite surprised. I didn't expect that when I saw them again, they had already evolved into the industrial age."

not only that--

As he observed carefully, he suddenly noticed that the murals carved on the walls around the boulder depicted gods surrounding it, which corresponded one by one to the teaching assistants inside the mage tower!

Clearly, while they were observing the Solipsians, those within the virtual realm were also observing themselves!

He even saw himself in the mural—a godlike version of himself, holding a magic wand high and bestowing abundant miracles upon the world behind the illusion!
They saw him!

However, they did not seem to fully understand the mysteries of the virtual realm. They simply painted the miracles they had seen or dreamed of on the walls, hoping to please the "gods," just like a child worshipping his father holding up a toy in front of him.

"Youyou, can you draw the power of faith from the other side?" Luo Yan pondered for a moment before silently asking in his mind.

As expected, he heard a regretful voice.

"No, Demon King, I just tried it, but it didn't work at all."

Seemingly worried that the Demon King might think it was useless, it added a sentence in a low voice.

"Youyou thinks... perhaps it's because the other side is a completely different universe from ours? It's not quite the same as Planet Kao. That planet is just farther away from us, but it's still physically reachable. As for the world of the Solipsians, we can probably only observe their existence through the virtual realm."

"I see."

Luo Yan nodded knowingly. In fact, he had already guessed this possibility before, but he still had a sliver of hope that he could absorb the faith power of the other side.

But so be it. Even if he can't obtain the faith power from the other side, he can still get or comprehend other useful things from the virtual realm.

He was very confident about it.

The only problem right now is that they can only get so little information from this level of external observation.

Luo Yan's gaze fell on the "priests" in magnificent robes who were scooping up gold coins from the "Holy Pool" through the illusory lens.

He needs a chess piece.

And here, there just happens to be one.

Turning his gaze to Miller, who was waiting beside him, he said calmly, "It has been proven that our interference with the world behind the virtual realm is effective. Now, we must continue to intensify our interference."

This time, Miller offered no further objections.

After witnessing the miracle in the virtual realm, he had no doubt that no one in the entire Great Sage Tower understood what Source Power was better than this prince!

not only that--

He had no doubt that from this day forward, all the magicians of the Source School would go mad because of their discovery!
He bowed deeply and replied respectfully, almost in a vow-like tone, "Give the order, Master! We will follow you to the death!"

Looking at the respectful Miller and the teaching assistants around him, Luo Yan's lips curled into a meaningful smile.

He's an expert at pretending to be a ghost or a spirit.

Looking through the lens at the bustling yet distorted new world and the furtive priest, he issued new instructions in an unquestionable tone.

“Tell them my last name.”

His voice wasn't loud, but it was like a divine pronouncement, echoing clearly in the silent hall.

"as well as--"

The time has come.

(End of this chapter)