Chapter 1364: Cooperation
“Magic power didn’t exist in this world?” Nightingale set down her comics. “Would the world even look the same if it had always been there? Are the two of you overthinking this?”
”…Perhaps.” Anna blinked, coming back from wherever her thoughts had taken her. “The effect of any force is immediately felt. Introducing even a minor component force into a balanced system will alter it — and magic power is hardly minor. It’s everywhere. If it truly appeared from nothing, then the world before its arrival would have been completely different. But from everything you’ve described, that earlier world sounds remarkably like this one — water flowing, snow melting, the sun warming the earth, life growing from soil. Except for magic power itself, it seems identical.”
“Which is why it deserves to be called the most revered force.” Roland pressed his hands together, suppressing the chill that had settled along his spine. “Not gravity, not any of the four fundamentals. Magic power. A force with the ability to enter an established system seamlessly and rewrite everything — as though it stands above the laws that govern everything else.”
“Is that actually possible?” Anna frowned.
“It’s a conjecture.” He turned his own hands over, studying them. “But I think magic power did change something when it appeared — only perhaps not in the way whoever released it intended.” A beat. “That’s why it was called a price.”
“That’s…” Nightingale covered her mouth. “Terrifying.”
“No. It’s actually good news.”
“How?”
“Magic power still exists in our world right now.” Roland looked at both of them in turn. “This means that whatever God is, it cannot retrieve this price — it cannot undo what was done. If that’s true, then magic power is permanent. It will keep existing.” He held Nightingale’s gaze. “Which means none of you disappear out of the blue.”
“Ahem—” Nightingale tilted her head, considering. “That’s… actually reasonable.”
“We’re in the third month of the Months of Demons and there hasn’t been a single new witch awakening,” Anna said, faint amusement in her voice. “Who do we blame for that?”
“Well — about that—” Roland had no answer.
“Enough joking.” Anna’s smile settled. “So: using all of this as a basis, the Battle of Divine Will, the racial upgrades — all of it emerged from magic power’s arrival, and eventually produced the world we know?”
“That seems to follow logically. The legacy shards and the Realm of Mind are clearly connected to magic power, and everything we’ve excavated confirms that civilizations existed here before ours did.” Roland let his voice slow down, the urgency draining into something more measured. “Right now I’m more concerned about two things. First, the red cavity that seems to be taking shape and consuming part of the world. Second, the liberation that Lan spoke of — the Oracle who turned against God.”
“For the first — you think it’s affecting our planet?”
He nodded. “If only we could get high enough to look. Our technology isn’t there yet.” He paused. “As for Lan’s liberation — it has to be tied to stopping the Battle of Divine Will. What it means beyond that, I don’t think we’ll know until we reach the Bottomless Land.”
Roland had expected the Martialist Association to move the way large institutions always moved: slowly, procedurally, with weeks of internal deliberation before producing any concrete result. A preliminary consensus was one thing — turning it into statutes and plans was another matter entirely. Rather than waiting, he had been considering what to ask for himself: technological information channeled to Scroll, specialized training arranged for Saint Miran, Dido, and the other Taquila witches.
Reality had other ideas.
In the span of a single day — returning to the Dream World that same night — he received a call through Garcia.
“Mister Rock’s secretary asked me to inform you that the first support plan has been negotiated and approved by Prism City. Implementation requires your attendance. The meeting is at Clover Group’s modern car dealership, in the projects department. If you have no other arrangements, we can go immediately.”
“We?” Roland was still catching up when the line went dead.
A knock at his door followed within moments.
It was Garcia.
“Why did Rock’s secretary have to contact you to contact me?” Roland asked. “Couldn’t the Defender just call directly? He had to trouble you to come here in person.”
“You still don’t understand how this works.” Her tone carried something dry under its surface. “This is the formal channel. You’ve been given the Association’s official recognition — this is what that looks like. There will be prominent people at this meeting, and showing up alone would embarrass the Association. Going forward, let me handle all formal contacts. If you’re ready, we leave now.”
“I haven’t showered.”
She looked at him. “Then go.”
She showed no intention of leaving. Roland complied.
It was only when they reached the ground floor that they both registered the absence of Garcia’s sports car, demolished in the rescue operation. They ended up taking his familiar SUV out of the neighborhood.
“I’ll pay for your car,” he said from the passenger seat. “But — are you sure this vehicle won’t affect the Association’s image?”
“Shut up.” Garcia stared through the windscreen, jaw set.
Roland kept himself out of her line of sight.
Once they were clear of the city, her expression eased somewhat. “Given that it was to save a life — I can consider it an acceptable loss, for now. I’ll hold to the Association’s confidentiality requirements and not ask what happened there.”
He hadn’t expected that. He sat with it for a moment. ”…Yes. Thank you.”
“This doesn’t settle your debt with me.” Her voice went sharp. “When the secrecy order is lifted, you tell me everything — who Zero is, the true identity of those relatives of yours. Every detail.”
She had noticed. He hadn’t expected her not to — she had stood there while Scroll produced the magical sutures, while the God’s Punishment Witches moved without surprise or confusion. But she had held the observation in reserve, waiting. That restraint, that deliberate willingness to wait, settled something warm in his chest.
There was Fei Yuhan. There was Rock. And there was Garcia, waiting.
With so many people moving around the edges of the Dream World — all of them pushing toward the same uncertain future — the future felt worth protecting precisely because it was uncertain.
“When it’s over,” Roland said, “I’ll tell you everything.”
Driving into the factory district, Roland looked for the eye-catching sign of the modern car dealership and found it gone. In its place, a new board hung over the entrance, its lettering picked out in fresh gold.
His eyes went wide.
Design Bureau of Graycastle.
Chapter 1364 - Cooperation
Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
“Absence of magic power in this world?” Nightingale had her doubts. “Will the world still be the same as it is? Why do I feel that the two of you are overthinking it?”
“… Indeed.” Anna recovered from her daze. “The effect of a force is easily felt, where the simple addition of an unremarkable component force into a balanced system will definitely induce change to the system, let alone magic power that exists everywhere. If magic power truly appeared out of nowhere, then the world before its existence ought to be completely different. But from your description, our world here sounds really similar to that world, where water flows, snow melts, the sun provides warmth and where mother earth provides life. Aside from magic power, it sounds exactly the same.”
“That is why it is worth revering—I think this is what that line was is referring to.” Roland suppressed the slight chill that ran down his back. “It isn’t one of the four fundamental forces, but wields the ability to seamlessly enter the system and bring about a comprehensive change to the world, as though it is above everything else.”
“Is that really possible?” Anna frowned.
“It’s just a conjecture.” Roland grabbed his own hand. “And I believe the appearance of magic power did bring about some change, but it might not be what the other party had anticipated.” Roland paused for a moment. “—That is why he called it a price.”
“That sounds rather… terrifying.” Nightingale covered her mouth.
“No, it is instead a good thing.”
“Huh? Why?”
“Our current world is still filled with magic power. This means that even God is powerless to retrieve this price. If that is the case, magic power can continue existing forever,” Roland explained earnestly. “And if magic power exists forever, none of you will disappear out of the blue.”
“Ahem—” Nightingale tilted her head. “That sounds reasonable.”
“But we are already in the third month of the Months of Demons, and we have yet to see a new Witch appear. Who should we blame for this?” Anna spoke with a faint smile.
“Well, about that—” He was stumped for words.
“Alright, enough joking.” Anna chuckled. “In light of these inferences, the Battle of Divine Will and upgrades of races came about from the appearance of magic power, and ultimately turned into the present world which we are familiar with?”
“We can assume so based on this logic. Since the legacy shards and Realm of Mind are definitely related to magic power and all the evidences we have excavated, it proves that before we appeared, other civilizations used to exist.” Roland relaxed his tone of speech. “I am currently more worried about two things, the first being the red cavity that is gradually taking shape and annexing a part of the world; the second being the pursuit of liberation as spoken by the Oracle that betrayed God.”
“For the former, are you suspecting that it is affecting our planet?”
He nodded. “If we can only fly up there and take a look… a pity that it is still too difficult with Neverwinter’s current technological advancements. As for Lan’s liberation, it is definitely related to stopping the Battle of Divine Will. But as to what it signifies, I am afraid that we can only find out after entering the Bottomless Land.”
…
Roland originally believed that a gargantuan organization like the Martialist Association would take an extremely long time to go through the necessary
procedures, even after achieving a preliminary consensus, and might not even have finalized a set of statutes even after two weeks. Instead of waiting for the higher-ups to produce concrete results, why not raise a few requests himself? For example, focusing on providing Scroll with technological information, as well as carrying out specialized training for Saint Miran, Dido, and the other Taqulia witches.
However, reality went far beyond his expectations.
In just a single day, which meant going back into the Dream world that same night, he received a call from Garcia.
“Mister Rock’s secretary wants me to inform you that the first support plan has been negotiated and passed by Prism City and the implementation of the plan requires your participation. The meeting will be held at Clover Group’s modern car dealership’s projects department. If you have no other arrangements, we can head over there immediately.”
“Wait, us?” Before Roland could even react, the other party hung up.
Knocks were heard immediately from the living room door.
Roland immediately donned his jacket and opened the door.
It was none other than Garcia.
“Why was it necessary for Rock’s secretary to inform you to inform me?” Roland did not understand. “Can’t Mr Defender just call me directly? He even had to trouble you to make your way over.”
“You still don’t get it, do you?” Garcia said sourly, “This means that you have gained the approval of the Martialist Association, and is the standard channel of communications from the higher-ups. Besides, there will be many public figures participating in this coming meet. If you were to go alone, isn’t that throwing the Association’s face? And yes, in the future, let me handle all future contacts for such meetings. If you’re ready, let’s go.”
“Well… I haven’t showered.”
She rolled her eyes. “Then go!”
Seeing that the other party had no intentions of leaving, Roland could only comply. It was only when they reached the ground floor did they both realize that Garcia’s luxurious sports car had been wrecked from the rescue.
In the end, the two boarded a vehicle and drove out of the neighborhood, still in Roland’s familiar SUV.
“About that… I will compensate you for your car.” He sat in the front passenger seat awkwardly. “But are you sure driving this vehicle will not affect the Association’s prestige?”
“Shut up.” Garcia snapped; her expression livid.
Roland tactfully moved away from her line of sight.
After driving out of the city, her expression got better. “About that—since it was to save a person’s life, we can only consider it as a collateral and I can let you off for the time being. As for what exactly went on there, I will comply with the Association’s discipline and hold off asking you about it.”
Roland was startled and did not know what to say. After a moment of silence, he replied, “Yes, thanks.”
“But this doesn’t count as you writing off your debt to me, understand?” Garcia’s tone immediately took a turn as she emphasized. “After this secret order is lifted, you have to tell me everything in its entirety—including who Zero is, and the true background of those relatives of yours.”
Indeed, she had noticed their peculiarities.
But all of that was within expectations. While saving Fei Yuhan, Garcia had stood by the side and naturally witnessed the process of reviving Fei Yuhan. Regardless of it being Scroll who brought the magical sutures, or the unsurprised God Punishment Witches, all of them were obviously not ordinary people.
Even so, she was still willing to wait for his explanation. This trust caused Roland’s heart to feel warmth.
And there was Fei Yuhan and Rock… With the help of so many people, the Dream World was indeed moving towards an unknown future.
But it was this unknown that made it worth protecting.
“When everything is over, I will tell you everything,” Roland replied solemnly.
Roland immediately noticed that the eye-grabbing signboard belonging to the new modern car dealership had disappeared after driving into the factory district. What replaced it was a brand new gold-plated signboard.
His eyes opened wide in surprise.
The words were clear as day. ‘Design Bureau of Graycastle’.