The Level 8 Wizard's Plan

Seeing that the other party's attitude was not too bad, Benjamin felt somewhat reassured.

He took a deep breath and asked the most crucial question:

"Lord Artorius, may I ask why you personally... projected yourself here to meet me? And what exactly did you mean by 'increasing variables' just now?"

Star-Forged Artorius's gaze fell upon the charts before Benjamin once more, and his amiable smile seemed to deepen slightly.

"'Orders' would be putting it too strongly." His tone was casual, as though discussing the weather. "As for 'variables'... your two questions are actually one and the same."

Without waiting for Benjamin to fully digest those words, he turned to a more fundamental issue, speaking like a mentor guiding a student toward a conclusion:

"After researching this for so many years, based on your current understanding, what is the true nature of this plane's unceasing time reversals?"

Benjamin composed himself, his eyes sweeping over the streams of data on the charts.

The results of fifteen cycles of research rapidly converged within his mind, stripping away the branches and leaves to point toward the most likely conclusion.

"It does not resemble a natural phenomenon." Benjamin spoke, his voice clear in the quiet laboratory. "Its triggering conditions are too quantifiable, its operational scope too strictly confined, and its way of handling 'memory contradictions'... resembles a preset error-correction program more than anything else."

"After considering numerous factors, we believe that this plane—or its core structure—is a strategic war machine. Its time reversals are the core function that allows its internal combat units, the Sickle-Skull Race, to restart endlessly, experiment through trial and error, and wear down powerful enemies."

He was stating the research team's consensus, yet as he spoke, he could feel the excitement behind that conclusion himself.

A world that had forged an