Abyss Prison

Within the deep dreamscape, Bai Wei quietly watched the dejected Ai De Wen.

Yes, he had been here all along, witnessing Ai De Wen unravel the truth bit by bit, only to transition from extreme excitement to his current state of dejection and despair.

It had to be said, it was quite interesting. After all, in the game's storyline, players learned about Visas's birth through Ai De Wen, just as they were now. Back then, Ai De Wen had also slumped powerlessly in his chair, just like he was now. It was almost like a scene replay, a cutscene playing out once more.

And in the game, after suffering such a blow, Ai De Wen had basically exited the stage, with no further plot developments. He was perfectly portrayed as a mad scholar who had sacrificed everything in pursuit of Visas's power, only to discover it was all for naught.

But now, Bai Wei didn't plan on letting Ai De Wen exit just yet, so he snapped his fingers silently.

Beside Ai De Wen, a new Memory Body suddenly appeared on the empty table.

After doing all this, Bai Wei slowly withdrew.

A while later, Ai De Wen, preparing to exit the dream, noticed this Memory Body and couldn't help but freeze.

Why was there an extra one?

Ai De Wen clearly remembered there were only six, and each of his clones had taken one, so there shouldn't be any left.

Could it be...

After a brief moment of stunned silence, Ai De Wen abruptly stood up, his expression tense as he scanned his surroundings.

His deep dreamscape had been invaded!

Who could it be, the Lord of Eternal Nightmare?

No, that was impossible.

If it were the Lord of Eternal Nightmare, he absolutely wouldn't have survived until now. But if even the Lord of Eternal Nightmare couldn't touch his deep dreamscape, who else in this world could?

He would never believe that the extra Memory Body was due to his own mistake.

"Who's there?!" Ai De Wen shouted, "Why hide in the corner? Since you've come, why not come out and speak."

Unfortunately, no one responded. In the empty deep dreamscape, only Ai De Wen's own echo could be heard.

This naturally increased Ai De Wen's pressure. In this world, aside from the Lord of Eternal Nightmare, theoretically, no one could surpass him in dream manipulation.

Yet now, he had been unknowingly invaded in his deepest dreamscape. If the other party hadn't revealed a flaw, he wouldn't have noticed it until now.

No, this couldn't even be called a flaw. The other party had completely allowed him to discover it, yet even so, Ai De Wen couldn't detect any trace of the other party, not even a hint. How could this not fill him with fear and despair? Just moments ago, after learning about Visas... huh?

Ai De Wen suddenly thought of something.

Could it be...

He turned his gaze back to the Memory Body that had appeared out of nowhere. Judging by its composition, this Memory Body was no different from the previous ones.

Is it possible that this Memory Body wasn't given to him by the intruder, but was born after he learned the complete forbidden knowledge?

This wasn't impossible. On the contrary, in the dream world, such methods were quite common. One had to know one, two, and three before four would appear. It was like how Ai De Wen had previously worried whether learning all the forbidden knowledge would trigger some anomalies.

And now, it seemed this was the anomaly.

Otherwise, Ai De Wen couldn't explain who could have invaded his deep dreamscape.

And if the Memory Body before him was indeed extra information, as Ai De Wen suspected, what could it be?

Ai De Wen narrowed his eyes slightly. He tried to calm himself down, but his heart, pounding like a war drum, betrayed his state of mind.

What if, and he was just saying what if, that forbidden knowledge wasn't the end, and this was the true forbidden knowledge?

This thought, once it popped into Ai De Wen's mind, could no longer be suppressed.

And he had no choice, did he?

So, after taking a deep breath, Ai De Wen walked to the table and reached out his hand towards this Memory Body.

As the information contained within the Memory Body spread through his mind, Ai De Wen's pupils gradually dilated, like dying embers suddenly bursting into flame.

"So that's how it is..." he murmured, "So... it's there."

The next second, Ai De Wen left the dream and woke up.

The first thing he saw was He Wei Ni Ya sitting leisurely within the formation. Without even bothering to ask if she had learned anything, he immediately jumped up.

"I know, I know!" Ai De Wen shouted excitedly, "I know where Visas's power is!"

He Wei Ni Ya glanced sideways at Ai De Wen and pretended ignorance, saying, "Didn't you say it was hidden within that forbidden knowledge?"

"Yes and no."

"If you don't explain yourself clearly," He Wei Ni Ya said indifferently, "I'll rip your tongue out."

"That forbidden knowledge itself doesn't contain the power!" Ai De Wen said quickly, "But it points in a direction!"

"What direction?"

"Where Visas's power is located!" Ai De Wen didn't beat around the bush anymore, "The Abyss Prison in Contract Land! That's the place, Visas left everything there!"

He Wei Ni Ya looked at Ai De Wen as if he were an idiot.

"You're not going to tell me your next target is Contract Land, are you?"

"It's the Abyss Prison! The most heavily guarded place in Contract Land. They've been guarding it for a thousand years!" Ai De Wen said, "Because Visas's most powerful strength is there! If we obtain it, we can... I'm not lying to you, believe me!"

He Weini Ya's staff was already at Ai De Wen's throat, her tone exceptionally cold: "You clearly told me that once that forbidden seal was broken, you would gain power, and you would share it with me after gaining it. But now you're telling me to go to some Abyss Prison. Do you think I don't know what kind of place that is? If you want to die, just say so, don't drag me down with you."

Ai De Wen had anticipated He Wei Ni Ya's reaction. After all, the Contract Land was an entity that surpassed the Eight Great Churches. For the two of them to attempt to steal something they had guarded for a thousand years from the Contract Land was indeed a fool's errand.

If He Wei Ni Ya had agreed immediately, Ai De Wen would have only thought that she was either plotting against him or was brainless.

Therefore, Ai De Wen was not surprised by He Wei Ni Ya's current reaction, and he had already figured out how to persuade her.

"If it were before, we would indeed have no chance," Ai De Wen said in a low voice. "But now it's different."

"How is it different?"

"The Contract Land and the Eight Great Churches are holding a convention!" Ai De Wen exclaimed. "Do you know what that means?!"

He Wei Ni Ya remained silent, only continuing to channel her magic, preparing to blast Ai De Wen into dust.

"Alright, alright, I won't beat around the bush anymore!" Ai De Wen raised his hands high and shouted, "This means the Abyss Prison's guard is at its lowest in a thousand years!"

He Wei Ni Ya stopped channeling her magic but did not lower her staff.

"Someone is drawing their attention for us!" Ai De Wen lowered his voice. "So this is an opportunity, a truly rare, once-in-a-millennium chance. Don't you want to seize it? You should understand what I'm saying. I know you have corpse fragments on you. No one understands the power of Visas better than you. And the Abyss Prison holds the most powerful one. Don't you really want to obtain it?!"

He Wei Ni Ya didn't speak, only quietly gazed at Ai De Wen. Her pure black eyes put immense pressure on Ai De Wen, as if He Wei Ni Ya would unleash her magic and kill him at any moment.

But Ai De Wen had no way back. He had already paid too much and could not turn back now. Thus, the Abyss Prison was his final promised land. And without He Wei Ni Ya's help, he could achieve nothing alone.

"Trust me, this is the last time," Ai De Wen said word by word. "We are truly only one step away from achieving our great goal."

He Wei Ni Ya continued to stare at Ai De Wen, but after a long moment, she finally lowered her staff.

"Then let's go take a look," He Wei Ni Ya said. "But if we succeed, that power belongs to me."

Ai De Wen smiled. "No problem!"

He Wei Ni Ya nodded, then turned and left.

Watching He Wei Ni Ya's retreating back, Ai De Wen smiled even more broadly.

Idiot, she took the bait.

He thought to himself.

But what he didn't see was that He Wei Ni Ya, who had turned around, also slightly curved her lips.

Idiot, he took the bait.

Contract Land, Abyss Prison.

Diana was sitting in the Warden's seat, listening to her subordinate's report.

"So, the inspection of the prison's seals will be in fifty years?"

"Fifty-two years, to be precise," the subordinate replied respectfully. "The routine inspection of the seals has always been once every hundred years. The last inspection was forty-eight years ago."

Diana nodded slightly.

The subordinate in front of her was not her personal servant but one of the Warden's subordinates.

The Guardians of the Contract Land were roughly divided into two factions. One faction was the Warden's Guardians, most of whom were seconded from the various churches and their descendants, and they were directly loyal to the Warden. The other faction consisted of the attendants of the successive "Contractors," which included Diana's servants. Of course, in name, they were all subordinates of the Warden, including Diana.

The two factions were also responsible for different tasks. The Guardians' work was straightforward: maintaining and inspecting the various seals of the Abyss Prison. Just like the Warden himself, they did not interfere in any matters unrelated to the seals.

Diana and her attendants, on the other hand, were responsible for matters outside the seals, such as transactions with black merchants and the daily needs of the tens of thousands of people in the Contract Land. In simple terms, they were more like the stewards of the Contract Land.

The two parties did not interfere with each other's affairs. The Warden did not care what the successive Contractors did, and the successive Contractors did not manage the prison's seals.

However, this was an exception. The Warden had taken a large number of Guardians to the Obedience of Heavenly Voice, so all matters concerning the Abyss Prison naturally fell to Diana.

This was why Diana was in the Warden's seat, asking the previous question, and successfully obtaining the answer she already knew.

The routine inspection of the various seals in the Abyss Prison was conducted once every hundred years. Diana had not even been born during the last inspection. This was not because the people of the Contract Land were too lazy but because the inspection consumed an enormous amount of resources, involving over a thousand types of seals. Therefore, even with the combined support of the Eight Great Churches, the inspection frequency could not be too high.

Furthermore, with two of the Eight Great Churches missing, future support would be further reduced, and the inspection frequency might not even be maintained at once every hundred years.

This was also why the Warden wanted to bring the entire Contract Land into the world. He wanted the Contract Land to replace one of the churches and personally maintain the Abyss Prison.

Yes, everything was for the sake of the Abyss Prison. If the Eight Great Churches had always been problem-free, the Warden would not have had the idea of entering the world. Everything he did was to maintain the normal operation of the Abyss Prison. The reason the Contract Land had been able to fulfill its duties for a thousand years was precisely because of a leader as pure and powerful as the Warden.

But not everyone was like him.

Diana rested her cheek on her hand and asked casually, "Since the Warden has taken so many Guardians away, is the current manpower for the seals still sufficient?"

Humanoid seals, as their name suggested, were seals executed by people.

This not only included daily patrols and inspections but also seal formations that were powered by the magic and mental energy within the human body. Generally speaking, such seals consumed a great deal of energy, requiring the Guardians to rotate continuously. This was also why the Contract Land constantly drew personnel from the various churches.

They were like firewood, but firewood that could be burned repeatedly. However, if burned too frequently, it would eventually be completely consumed.

Therefore, the Warden taking away a large number of Guardians this time meant shortening the rotation of the humanoid seals and increasing the consumption of the existing "firewood."

"Barely sufficient," the subordinate replied. "As long as the Warden returns on time, there will be no problems."

"It won't be that fast," Diana said lightly. "This is not a small matter. How about this, let my people help with executing the seals."

The subordinate hesitated. "Is this perhaps..."

Overstepping.

The contractor interfered with the Guardian's duties.

"Times have changed," Diana replied. "The Eight Great Churches suffered heavy losses, and we won't have as many Guardians in the future. If we over-consume our Guardians now, we'll be the ones to suffer the consequences later. Just do as I say. I'll explain to the Warden when he returns... This is an order."

The subordinate immediately placed a hand on his chest. "Understood."

Thus, Diana successfully achieved her objective.

Although she didn't plan to frame Isaiah by destroying the seal of the Abyss Prison, as her informant had suggested.

However, "not planning to" didn't mean "couldn't." She at least needed to ensure she had the means to do so, so she could react quickly if the situation changed in the future.

And now, her objective was achieved.

So, as Diana was about to shift her focus to Obedience of Heavenly Voice to see what was happening over there, she coincidentally received a report from Carter.

"Master, the Right Eye has approached the Thumb."