He was imprisoned in Nibelungen for a thousand years, only to find out upon his release that he was

"...How are you?" Seeing his pale face, the two girls assumed that the experimental modification was not progressing well.

"No, in these 8 hours, I successfully created a new personality that simulates Odin."

But Lu Ming sighed inwardly.

It actually took a full 8 hours!

The Nibelungen Project, though the same project, took at least twice as long as yesterday! It's unimaginable how long and agonizing it will be to further optimize and improve the Nibelungen Project! What was thought to be a direct path to defeating Odin has unexpectedly encountered another setback!

Was it because he was lazy and didn't work hard enough, or was he just naturally stupid and had a limited limit?

Ereshkigal and Francesca looked at each other in surprise.

It only took 8 hours!

How could the ancient traditions of the Atlas Academy have been deciphered in such a short time?

Book 1: Chapter 20 Ishtar: I was so stupid, really.

"Hey, you're finally back! I've been waiting for you!"

As soon as I entered the gates of Area 51, I saw Ishtar's gloomy, sour face.

It's clear that she was forced to rush the work while simultaneously consuming countless anecdotes from "Odin's Abyss," and her resentment was overflowing.

—Leaving me here to suffer while you all go out there enjoying yourselves, are you living a very comfortable life?

However, her outburst of resentment went unanswered, as no one paid any attention to her.

Lu Ming and the others did not show any signs of joy.

It could even be said that the atmosphere was visibly heavy among the three returning members, who all silently returned to their seats.

What does that mean? Does it mean you're also having a hard time outside?

Ishtar's curious gaze swept between the three of them, thinking to herself, "Why don't you tell me the inside story of your unhappiness, so I can have a good laugh too?"

"No, go do your thing! It's about things related to the ley lines."

Ereshkigal sighed. She knew perfectly well what kind of mischief her arch-enemy Ishtar was up to. "Even if I told you the truth, you wouldn't be very happy."

Her expression was tense, because the condition of the ley lines was more complicated than she had imagined.

The good news is that, based on her urgent conversation with Francesca, they reached a preliminary conclusion—there is indeed hope that by seizing a sufficient number of ley lines and spiritual lands, they can break free from the constraints of the entire Nibelungen world and establish contact with the outside world.

This is actually a phenomenon of "soul land competition" that often occurs in the Type-Moon world, especially among magicians.

Good spiritual sites are often built on specific points of spiritual veins, which can provide ample source of magical power, making the exploration of magic and research twice as effective with half the effort. They also often attract covetousness and cause conflicts.

The construction of this unreal world is also based on spiritual veins and land.

Eresh pulled Francesca aside and analyzed the situation, conjecturing that the space Odin constructed was a "different space" that resembled reality, overlapped in coordinates, but was hidden in a different dimension, using the spiritual veins of the Snowfield City area as a fulcrum.

Occupying these is equivalent to having access to the entire Nibelungen alternate dimension.

The bad news is that these strategically important locations now clearly belong to Odin's side.

If they make any unusual moves in these areas, it will provoke Odin's hostility and even lead to attacks. This undoubtedly confirms Lu Ming's initial concerns.

"I see! Thank you for your hard work."

Ishtar, unusually, refrained from mocking her arch-enemy. The battle for the spiritual veins was also a matter of vital interest to her, and dwelling on it would be pointless.

"how about you?"

"Hmph, why are you looking at me? It's time to get off work, time for tea!" Francesca pouted, looking aggrieved.

The reason is simple: Ai Lei insisted on dragging her to work overtime together, and it's foreseeable that this will likely continue in the future.

She's been working on ley line projects for decades in real life, and now she's doing it all over again here. Is there anything more boring than this?

More than that, Francesca preferred to stick close to Lu Ming and observe his cultivation and "transformation" of his body.

As for Lu Ming...

This person's level of melancholy is probably even greater than that of the two of them.

"Ah! I am so sad, I want to play Chopin in the rain, I want to draw my sword in the rain."

"The melancholy of that day, grew melancholy. The loneliness of that day, grew loneliness."

Lu Ming sighed as he walked to the other side of the corridor.

Ishtar couldn't help but take a half step back. "...Then what about him?"

Why are you suddenly talking nonsense?

"I don't know," said Ereshkigal. "It seems like there's something wrong with the alchemy."

Francesca nodded, her cheeks puffing out.

In any case, none of them were alchemy professionals. The ancient alchemy of the Atlas Institute, and its technical details, were not accessible even in the Clock Tower; at most, they could only learn some basic information.

"Oh! So that's what it is. You should have said so earlier, and I would have helped you solve it! Why are you always looking so gloomy?"

Suddenly, Ishtar's smile became "warm and sincere," and she followed Lu Ming's retreating figure.

Sure enough, I knew it. How could a beginner alchemist who has only been learning alchemy for two days possibly make smooth and rapid progress on this path?

Looking back now... that was just the illusion created by taking a giant leap forward when one is just starting out and taking a stumbling step.

The problem is, how can someone who has just learned to walk take such big steps?

Hey! Look at that, he's already tripped up.

"Lu Ming! I heard... your alchemy isn't progressing well? Sigh, you're still my student, so I have to say a few words to you!"

Come, come, let Teacher Ishtar tell you that the most important thing is to be down-to-earth and avoid any fancy tricks!

"Indeed! Alchemy is a profound and complex art. Perhaps I was too narrow-minded and underestimated it."

Lu Ming frowned and sighed in a low voice, "My little trick was a complete failure, utterly inadequate."

"Oh, what kind of clever idea is it?"

Ishtar's beautiful eyes narrowed, and her heart skipped a beat.

She recalled Lu Ming's astonishing wisdom on his first day learning alchemy, when he directly created magic circuits from his own blood vessels. Could it be that this time too…?

Oh, I just heard from Lu Ming that it failed. It seems that's not going to work out! Yesterday's success was just a temporary fluke.

"It's 'fragmented thinking'!"

Lu Ming spoke with great distress, beating his chest and stamping his feet.

"It took me a full eight hours to develop split-thinking on my own, it's such a failure!"

It took him such a long time to even separate out his first personality.

How long will it take to further innovate the Nibelungen Project and research other enhancements? And how long will it take to apply it in actual combat against Odin?

But now, due to the circumstances, especially the impending struggle for the ley lines, they are forced to confront Odin head-on.

Lu Ming once again deeply felt the darkness, despair, and helplessness of this long road, which inevitably made people feel sorrow and utterly hopeless.

Ishtar's face froze, and she stammered, "Only..."

You mean you learned the Atlas Institute's alchemical formulas in 8 hours without any prior knowledge?

I'm so stupid, really.

Why should I believe his nonsense about failing?

"By the way, Ishtar, what were you trying to persuade me about just now?"

Lu Ming suddenly remembered that Ishtar seemed to have come over to say something to him.

"me……"

Ishtar held her breath, feeling her face burning red. "I want to advise you to be down-to-earth and communicate more with your teacher and others about the basics..."

Lu Ming nodded, without suspecting anything.

"I see! Indeed, it's necessary to be down-to-earth and strengthen mutual communication. Even if only one personality is split, there might still be a chance for a turnaround..."

Suddenly, a thought struck him: "Wait! When different personalities of the same person communicate via brainwaves, the connection is almost seamless. Could this be considered as parallel thinking units?"

"When thinking about the same thing, can the information exchanged between different personalities be superimposed at different rates to form high-speed thinking? This is similar to how computers rely on multithreading to improve the processing efficiency of single-process computing!"

"So 'high-speed thinking' is the real wonder of multiple personality disorder!"

"I got it!"

Ishtar: "..."

I shouldn't have come.

I'm so stupid, really.

Volume 1: Chapter 21 Beach, Woman, Frog Jump.gif

"As expected! There are limits to how I can work alone in isolation. There may be all-powerful geniuses, but that's definitely not me."

"But what if more 'me's' come to help me? If one person isn't enough, then two will; if two aren't enough, then three will split up; if that's still not enough, then ten, or even a hundred!"

"One person's plan is short-sighted, but many people's plans are long-sighted! If one of me falls, there are thousands upon thousands of others! ... Any difficulty will surely be overcome!"

“Ishtar, now I’m starting to understand everything. I misjudged you before.”

"I think you're no good at this or that. You're a useless goddess who has no talent, is arrogant, and likes to throw tantrums for no reason."

Overwhelmed with emotion, Lu Ming felt a surge of heroic spirit and a surge of passion within him. He solemnly raised his arm and shook hands with the expressionless Ishtar in a serious and enthusiastic manner.

"But as it turns out, I was wrong! You weren't as bad as I imagined. You successfully persuaded and inspired me with the simplest and most unadorned reasoning... It's clear that you're not entirely useless!"

Ishtar: "..."

Is this the standard humiliation that follows every defeat?

Can I skip this?

She numbly tried to pull her hand away, a slight pain shooting through her wrist. She saw that Lu Ming's large, vise-like hands were gripping her tightly, and she couldn't break free.

I'm numb; it seems I can't skip this.

Lu Ming grabbed the goddess who was questioning her life and strode forward with the wind in his step, "Let's go, Professor Ishtar, let you and everyone else see my latest achievement that I'm about to release."

These words gave Ishtar a headache.

Please stop calling me teacher, I really can't accept that title!

Your clever ideas are more and more amazing than the last. How about we give you the teacher's position?

……

When Francesca, looking anxious, and Ellie, looking exhausted, arrived, Lu Ming had already been in the research institute's testing grounds for quite some time.

According to the completion and acceptance filing materials found by the group, this non-open-air testing ground, located inside Area 51, had a large amount of high-strength alloy added to its surrounding walls to enhance its earthquake and impact resistance.

Although for this group of non-humans, such protective measures were practically useless.

What is Lu Ming doing?

Aileen nudged Ishtar, who was sitting on the bench, her face ashen and full of bitterness: "I don't understand, I don't understand, don't ask me."

"Wasn't it you, his alchemy teacher, who personally went to instruct him before?"

"Guidance?" Ishtar shook her head violently. "I didn't, I didn't. I can't take on the role of a teacher!"

"Huh? You're kidding me, right?"

Ai Lei's eyes widened, filled with suspicion.

Lu Ming had been dejected, but after Ishtar made the trip, he immediately became full of energy, while she herself looked like she had been greatly discouraged.

So the smile doesn't disappear, it just moves away, right?

While the two sisters were bickering with each other, Francesca had already sneaked away and used illusion magic to invade Lu Ming's mental world.

Lu Ming and "Odin"—another self—were locked in a fierce battle, each wielding their weapons, neither gaining the upper hand. The Eternal Spear roared through the air with the speed of thunder, colliding violently with the lightning-wrapped battle blade, instantly illuminating the runes.

As if he had anticipated it, Lu Ming suddenly tilted his head to dodge the crashing white lightning. Then, with a low roar, he activated the Word of Power Domain "Discipline" and simultaneously wielded his battle blade to strike fiercely, unleashing a surging force like a collapsing mountain.

Odin, however, showed no fear. The instant he realized he was weakened by the commandments, he immediately parried with his spear, and dazzling lightning burst forth from the spear...

Since this is in the mental realm and there's no real injury involved, both sides naturally unleashed their full power without any hesitation.

Since the two are from the same person, their thoughts are linked without any time delay, and their thinking can be synchronized at high speed.