In the name of the true god

The duration of each session in the mysterious space seemed to remain unchanged, basically only allowing them to briefly share current events and plan for the future.

Both of them were so engrossed in thinking about timelines that Jude returned to the real world before he could even say goodbye to Edmund.

The warm, soft bed gently supported his heavy body.

His thoughts were not interrupted by the change of space; he continued to deduce and confirm whether their intervention was already included in the normal timeline.

This matter is of utmost importance.

If this is confirmed, it means that whatever he does next, even if it's just a spur-of-the-moment decision to suddenly run naked in the street, is actually predetermined.

All struggles and resistance against the timeline are things that would inevitably happen in a normal timeline.

Therefore, if we stop intervening and let the existing "effect" lose its "cause", we will fall into a wrong cycle until he obediently replants the "cause" so that we can continue to move forward.

However, this reasoning also has flaws.

For example, why exactly was Vincent Monroe imprisoned?

Was he imprisoned because he needed his help?

But it was precisely because he was in prison that she wanted to get his help.

Which comes first? Which comes later?

In this matter, cause and effect have become blurred.

After thinking for a long time, Jude's thoughts not only failed to become clear, but became increasingly chaotic.

Forget it...

I should just go to sleep...

At least the timeline, though complex, didn't have a negative impact on me...

He recalled how many brilliant scientists had debated the concept of time before he traveled through time, and there was still no definitive conclusion. His mindset became noticeably calmer.

October 15, 448 of the Divine Calendar, Monday, early morning.

Jude went to the temporary rest room for prison guards in the special prison building as usual, changed into his prison guard uniform, and sat down to read the newspaper.

Others also repeat their daily routines.

The poet Anders changed his poetry collection, but his stuttering barely improved: "When, when, when you are old, old, old, and your hair is gray, and you are sleeping, sleeping, sleeping, and drowsy, and sitting by the fire, take, take, take this book, and slowly, slowly, slowly, read, and dream of the eyes you had when you were young..." (Note 1)

The vain Colin was still suffering from a hangover.

Captain Foster and his older brother Killian smoked together and chatted idly.

Fat Allen absentmindedly played with his deck of cards, and hurriedly left after receiving a call from the heretics' cell.

At noon, it was time to distribute food and empty the sewage bins to the prisoners in the heretical prison area.

Jude was preparing to head to the north cell as usual, but to his surprise, Fat Allen beat him to it, carrying a basket of bread and heading north.

"Hey, I'll take this way." He quickly quickened his pace and came to the side of Fatty Allen.

"Isn't it all the same everywhere?" Fat Allen replied nonchalantly, continuing his walk. "The east side is empty; you can go over there."

"I'm just used to it," Jude said, forcing himself to try, while secretly calculating that if Fatty Allen still refused, he would obediently go to the east side to avoid being too unusual and arousing suspicion.

Fortunately, Fatty Allen is indeed someone who doesn't know how to refuse.

Although he didn't quite understand Jude's reasoning, seeing that Jude wanted to go north, he simply turned around and headed east, where there was no one around: "Alright, I'll go that way."

Jude breathed a sigh of relief as he watched the fat man Allen leave.

They only spend one week a month rotating through the heretical prison area, and each day during their shift, they only need to empty the sewage bucket twice.

That means there are only fourteen opportunities to meet Vincent Monroe in a month at most.

Each session cannot exceed thirty seconds, and fourteen sessions can last up to seven minutes.

This was far more pressing than the time allotted for meeting Edmund. Given the opportunity, he naturally didn't want to waste it.

"Do we need to empty the sewage bucket?"

"Do we need to empty the sewage bucket?"

After distributing the food to each prisoner, Jude knelt down in front of the last cell where Vincent Monroe was held, and pulled back the partition: "Do you need the sewage bucket emptied?"

Vincent Monroe took the black bread Jude handed him, and after confirming that no one else was around, quickly answered yesterday's question: "Imitating inanimate objects is safer than imitating living ones, but the essence of imitation is not to become the target, but to master the characteristics of the target. For example, imitating a cat makes your body more flexible. Imitating a horse increases your running speed. So I would suggest you use living objects as your practice targets."

Upon hearing this, Jude immediately realized that he had entered a dead end.

Just as with the law of contact to obtain information, one must first clarify what one wants to know in order to obtain the answer.

The same applies to the law of similarity.

Imitation should not be done for the sake of imitation; one must have a more concrete idea of ​​what one wants to gain from the target being imitated.

From this perspective, imitating living things is indeed clearer and more vivid than imitating inanimate objects.

If you master the law of similarity in the future, you can acquire some offensive and defensive abilities by imitation, which can make up for your own shortcomings and greatly improve your self-protection ability!

At the same time, another question was also answered.

Jude was actually quite puzzled when he learned that the priest Rodney had been killed.

As a wizard involved in the conflict, he knew very well that the "heretics" had extremely limited combat methods. Using the law of contact to fight head-on was not as effective as throwing a few random punches.

But the priest Rodney died.

His entire waist was cut open and severed by an unknown sharp weapon.

Given that the Holy Church considers it the work of "heresy" and knows how useless it is to involve wizards in actual combat, the murderer can only be a resonance sorcerer who imitates an unknown living being.

"Will you help everyone escape from prison?" Seeing that Jude remained silent for several seconds and showed no intention of answering his question, Vincent Monroe had to ask again.

Jude snapped out of his reverie and temporarily put the matter of the similarity law aside: "If there's an opportunity, I'd be happy to help everyone. But the security at the capital's heavy prison is too tight. Unless you already have a feasible plan, even if you and I work together from the inside, it's impossible."

About thirty seconds have passed.

After replying to Vincent Monroe, Jude, still feeling slightly ashamed, had to slowly close the partition.

But just then...

Vincent Monroe reached out and blocked the partition: "You're willing, aren't you?"

"...Yes," Jude replied.

"As long as you're willing," Vincent Monroe said quickly. "Actually, someone is already planning to rescue us. They've even sent one of their own to disguise himself as a prison guard and establish relatively stable contact with us. Although they haven't found a reliable method yet, if you can cooperate with them, I think our chances of escaping from here will definitely increase."

Jude's pupils contracted slightly.

Are there other "heretics" among the prison guards of the Royal Capital Heavy Prison besides myself? And are they also secretly contacting the entangled wizards and resonance sorcerers imprisoned in the heretic ward?

Could the other person be the one following me?

The dormant clue rekindled, and he instinctively asked, "Who is that prison guard?"

Vincent Monroe didn't mince words, revealing the name of the "heretic" with great trust and high expectations for Jude: "His name is Allen Granger. If I remember correctly, he should be on the same shift as you."

Note 1: William Butler Yeats, *When You Are Old*