"Shall I call it off?"
Kaier was stunned for a moment, not understanding why Dox suddenly turned to him, but he still nodded instinctively: "Okay."
Immediately, Kaier turned to look at the text flashing in the eye of the human-faced pattern on the banyan tree, intending to call it off.
However, just as Kaier opened his mouth wide, a gust of wind rushed directly into his throat.
Caught off guard, Kaier swallowed a gulp of cold air, and couldn’t help but bend over and start coughing dryly.
While coughing, he looked at Angel with a puzzled expression.
The sudden wind just now was precisely the Speedy pouring into his mouth! After spending so much time with Speedy, Kaier had e to understand Speedy’s temperament quite well. This elemental creature exhibited a rare steadiness and quietness for a wind element and was unlikely to engage in misbehavior.
So, the only one who could have acted on him was Angel, the apparent master of Speedy.
But why would Angel act against him?
In response to Kaier’s inquiring gaze, Angel did not deny it and nodded slightly. However, he didn’t speak but instead created a Mind Ribbon to connect with Kaier.
Just as the Mind Ribbon successfully connected and Kaier was about to ask why, a voice reached his ears first.
"I had Speedy do it," came Dox’s voice through the Mind Ribbon.
Kaier was momentarily dazed: "..." Clearly, you asked me to call it off, yet you ended up hurting me?
Dox continued, "Whatever that tree says, you just go along with it, aren’t you afraid of being sold out?"
Kaier said blankly, "What do you mean?"
At this time, Angel spoke up, "Actually, this is what happened..."
When Kaier discovered the tree with the human-faced pattern, Angel received a "private chat request" from Dox. Although he didn’t know what Dox wanted to say, Angel still constructed a Mind Ribbon.
As soon as the Mind Ribbon connected, Dox said to Angel, "I feel something’s off."
When others said they felt something was off, Angel would likely ignore it, but when Dox said it, it was different. Angel had seen Dox’s inspiration firsthand in the Underground Aqueduct, having repeatedly verified the accuracy of his inspirations.
Therefore, upon hearing Dox say this, Angel immediately put away his casual mindset and solemnly inquired where Dox’s feeling was ing from.
Dox did not conceal anything and recounted the changes in his inspiration throughout the way.
Due to the Transmutation of Talent, Dox’s inspiration hadn’t fully recovered, but his instinctive guidance related to avoiding danger already had a vague perception.
Ever since Angel found Dox, his "danger radar" had been on continuously, yet from start to finish, it hadn’t truly sounded.
Even when they chose to go to the arena, the danger radar didn’t sound. This meant that, at least at that time, Dox’s inspiration didn’t consider the arena to be a danger to them.
Later, when they turned their path to Paradise Land, the danger radar similarly remained silent.
Dox even began to doubt whether his vague danger perception was somehow malfunctioning.
After they entered Paradise Land, at first, Dox didn’t feel there was any problem until the moment Kaier shouted. That’s when Dox’s danger radar suddenly sounded.
Dox, with his rich experience in inspiration, immediately detected something was off; it was a premonition that danger was approaching them.
However, he couldn’t immediately discern where the problem lay, where the danger was ing from, so he held back for the moment, simply pulling Angel into the Mind Ribbon to inform him of the situation.
Concerning Dox’s danger premonition, Angel had... no sense of it at all.
Nonetheless, this didn’t hinder Angel’s trust.
Since Dox activated the danger radar when Kaier called them, it was very likely the danger came from Kaier’s side.
Whether it was Kaier himself posing the danger, or the human-faced pattern being dangerous, still required observation.
Through their observation and exchange, they finally reached a conclusion.
—Both Kaier and the human-faced pattern were problematic.
The problem with the human-faced pattern was apparent. Its mere presence already indicated an issue.
In the original Paradise Land, even if there was a large banyan tree, there certainly wouldn’t be a human-faced pattern on it. From the array of "game projects" displayed by the pattern, it’s sure to be the handiwork of the attacker.
As for Kaier’s problem, it wasn’t too obvious; if they hadn’t started observing early and kept exchanging in the Mind Ribbon, they might not have detected Kaier’s issue.
That Kaier was the first to discover the human-faced pattern was a bit off because two Official Wizards nearby hadn’t noticed it, yet Kaier, as an Apprentice, did first, which was very odd.
However, this wasn’t too big an issue; perhaps Kaier was just lucky, discovering it before them. Especially since, at that time, Angel wasn’t focused on finding an entrance but was instead studying the spatial membrane.
So whether there’s a problem with discovering the human-faced pattern could be set aside for now.
But Kaier’s behavior after discovering the pattern was different from usual.
Firstly, the human-faced pattern was chanting a countdown and displaying various game projects in its eyes, which indeed drew some of Angel and Dox’s attention.
However, under normal circumstances, when a peculiar human-faced pattern game appeared, Kaier, as a Wizard Apprentice, should be thinking about how to cautiously protect himself, instead of acting quite "brave."
Kaier was also the first to express an opinion about the human-faced pattern game.
The remark "if it’s real, you’d find out by checking it out" seemed fine under the current circumstances, provided it came from Angel or Dox.
But this ment happened to e from Kaier, and he said this bold statement before Angel or Dox spoke, which was very strange.
Of course, Angel could not confirm Kaier’s issue with the available evidence.
However, Dox made a direct conclusion.
"Kaier must have a problem." Dox stated confidently to Angel in the Mind Ribbon.
Evidence, none. Reason: intuition.
Dox’s inspiration was the biggest evidence. After Kaier uttered that bold statement, Dox’s inspiration started to warn him.
Judging by the warning severity of the inspiration, Dox could basically confirm one thing: Kaier had a problem, but it wasn’t too significant – likely just influenced by the human-faced pattern. However, the human-faced pattern’s issue was definitely significant.
It used some method to exert an influence on Kaier, making him behave differently from usual.
And the purpose was clear.
Just from Kaier’s brave remark, the human-faced pattern’s goal was evident: to get them to join the game.
As for what the issue with joining the game was, or what risks might arise, it was unclear for now, though Dox had begun speculating.
Afterwards, Dox asked the human-faced pattern how to choose from the game projects displayed in its eyes. The pattern provided an answer, stating that calling it off would suffice.
Following the intuition’s lead, Dox asked Kaier at the time, "Why don’t you call it off?"
This was also a further test of whether Kaier had a problem.
With Kaier’s usual cautious nature, he would definitely not have taken the lead in this obviously problematic matter.
And as it turned out, Kaier was indeed influenced by the human-faced pattern.
He agreed to call it off.
Agreeing to call a halt is nothing significant. But from start to finish, Kaier was only conversing with Dox, pletely ignoring Angel.
Angel is also an Official Wizard, and according to the ranking of voice authority, he is the highest among the three.
Kaier bypassed Angel and directly initiated the "halt," which, from a certain perspective, means—he doesn’t care about Angel’s opinion; or he thinks he can represent Angel and agree to this game.
No matter how you look at it, there is a problem.
Therefore, Dox decisively stopped Kaier’s "halt."
As for why Speedy was sent to pour wind into Kaier’s mouth to stop him from speaking, it actually serves as a kind of check.
The wind that Speedy poured into Kaier’s mouth is the Wind of Purification.
Dox wanted to see if Kaier was affected by some sort of contamination.
The final answer was: Kaier’s body had no contamination, and his spiritual power fluctuations were also normal.
bining the various details previously discovered, it can be basically concluded that Kaier’s situation: he did not encounter invasive contamination, it should just be some kind of psychological guiding.
Once this result was confirmed, Dox pulled Kaier into the Mind Ribbon.
Because this kind of psychological guiding can only interfere with Kaier’s choices within a small range. It can’t truly overturn Kaier’s personality.
Kaier’s Mind Space and Spirit Sea are both normal.
Therefore, as long as the truth is told to Kaier, this kind of psychological guiding can be pletely suppressed.
And indeed, Kaier was quite shocked.
After listening to Dox and Angel’s explanation, when Kaier thought back to what he had said earlier, it was indeed full of dissonance! Under normal circumstances, he would never be so impulsive.
When Kaier had such a thought, it was equivalent to breaking through the confusion cocoon, and the impact of the Pattern of the Human Face failed naturally.
"The things I said without thinking, seemed to be for starting the game? Could it be that the purpose of the Pattern of the Human Face is to start the game?" Kaier asked in the Mind Ribbon.
Dox: "To be precise, the Pattern of the Human Face hopes to conclude some kind of contract."
"A contract?" Not only was Kaier surprised, but even Angel looked at Dox in astonishment.
Angel knew the purpose of the Pattern of the Human Face; it was roughly trying to get Kaier to start the game, and then use Kaier to enter the game, dragging him and Dox into the game as well.
But Angel only figured it out to that extent, not expecting Dox to provide a deeper answer.
The Pattern of the Human Face not only wanted to use Kaier to drag them into the game, but also wanted to conclude some kind of contract through this?!
"That’s right, a contract," Dox said with certainty.
Angel: "How do you know that?"
Dox: "...I guessed it."
Angel: "..." Sure enough, it shouldn’t place too high expectations on Dox.
However, even if it’s just Dox’s guess, it still needs to be taken seriously. After all, inspiration is different, his guess, even if it’s without reason or basis, is likely the correct answer.
Kaier: "If it’s a contract, signing it directly with you guys might reveal a flaw. So, the Pattern of the Human Face chose me, wanting to use me to force you to sign the contract, too? Does this make sense? You guys aren’t stupid; how could you still go to sign the contract when you notice something wrong?"
Dox: "That’s a typical case of deducing the process from the result. If I hadn’t told you its purpose was to conclude a contract, could you have thought of the contract issue?"
Deducing the process from the result, there are problems everywhere. But in The Real World, only after experiencing the process, the result emerges.
Before knowing the true purpose of the Pattern of the Human Face, when they discovered that Kaier was involved in the game’s turmoil, they would likely actively enter the game.
Once they entered the game, they would enter the contractual trap set by the Pattern of the Human Face.
"A contract... Once entered into the game, the contract is concluded?" Angel: "Can a contract be concluded this way?"
Dox: "Yes, once Kaier even told me about a similar thing."
Kaier? Angel looked at Kaier with curiosity.
"Me?" Kaier was also a little stunned. After thinking for a moment, he seemed to recall something: "Lord Red Sword, are you talking about... the relic laborer incident?"
Dox nodded.
Angel asked with interest: "Relic laborer?"
Kaier did not hold back, and directly said: "Relic laborer is a unique situation I encountered during my relic explorations."
Kaier is very passionate about exploring relics. His life is essentially split in two: one half as a recluse researcher, the other half as a relic explorer.
The relics he explored even surpass many Official Wizards in number.
While exploring various relics, Kaier also encountered many strange events and odd people, including the relic laborer.
Kaier came across the relic laborer years ago on the outermost layer of the Abyss.
The individual was originally a Wizard Apprentice from the Frostmoon Alliance, who was in the Abyss to undertake a mission to search for some Demonic Materials. However, luck was not on his side, and during his quest he inadvertently entered a place called the "Mind-Distorting Castle."
On the surface, this place seemed like a dilapidated castle ruin, but below the castle, it harbored the corpse avatar of a mind-distorting banshee.
The mind-distorting banshee, a Low-level Demon, is quite mon on the surface of the Abyss.
But this mind-distorting banshee was a bit different... she had awakened.
The underground corpse avatar was her body before awakening.
The mind-distorting banshee’s corpse avatar did not have personal will, but it was imposed with a special force field by her awakened form.
When any intelligent creature ventured underground, they would trigger her force field.
After triggering the force field, there would initially be no danger, just a question about the purpose of the visit.
But as long as the visitor answered her, no matter what the answer was, they would be forcibly bound by a slave contract.
The Apprentice from the Frostmoon Alliance had been very cautious, giving answers that were purely fabricated, yet he was still forcibly kept underground.
Ultimately, he became a relic laborer.
Not only was he unable to leave the Mind-Distorting Castle, but he was also pelled to guard the mind-distorting banshee’s corpse avatar.
According to the relic laborer, during that time, many Little Demons and Indigenous People were transformed into relic laborers.
Later, the mind-distorting banshee’s corpse avatar was taken away by her awakened form, and only then were no new relic laborers transformed.
But even though the corpse avatar left, the original relic laborers still couldn’t leave the Mind-Distorting Castle. The only consolation was that they were still alive.
When Kaier explored the Mind-Distorting Castle ruins, he was fortunate that the corpse avatar was gone, so what he encountered was a group of relic laborers who no longer needed to guard the corpse. As they no longer needed to guard the corpse, they didn’t have to fight others, and when facing Kaier, a human, the Frostmoon Apprentice stepped forward to municate with him and ended up protecting him.
Afterward, Kaier left the Mind-Distorting Castle ruins and reported the events there to the Frost Moon Alliance, garnering quite a bit of contribution.
After returning from the Abyss, Kaier shared this incident with Dox.
Because Dox knew about the mind-distorting banshee’s ability to forcibly sign contracts, his inspiration inclined him towards this idea. After all, inspiration is not prophecy; it requires your cognition as a basis for association.
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