The Interest Came Knocking?

"My lord, the first question I want to ask is—"

Ahab went over what he was about to say in his mind ahead of time.

"What Authorities, specifically, does the Void Ancient God possess?"

"Are there any Authorities related to time, the future, or mental control?"

When Ahab said the second sentence, Instructor Gray, beside him, twitched his brow.

In an instant, fear flashed through Gray's pupils, along with a hint of pleading for help.

But in the end, it was still replaced by a faint blankness.

On the other end of the crystal ball, the old wizard Merlin pondered for a second.

This Ahab Gul was surprisingly greedy.

He had only just seized his first Authority, and he was already setting his sights on an Ancient God?

And time, as well as mental control?

He was overthinking it. This Path was called Void.

"As far as I know, Void has no Authorities related to mental control, or even physical control."

"Nor does it have time or the future. Those are the Authorities of another Ancient God."

Inside the crystal ball, the old wizard Merlin answered with sound reasoning.

After hearing this, Ahab let out a slight breath of relief.

In other words, this fellow countryman of his had no ability to interfere with the Future Diary.

That was assuming this diary truly came from the future.

Ahab made a slight adjustment to the second question he had prepared.

"Second question: which Ancient God, which Path, possesses Authorities related to time and the future?"

Merlin had once said there were many evil gods.

But there were only three who could be called "Ancient Gods" and pioneer a Path.

Inside the crystal ball, the old wizard Merlin suddenly fell silent.

Even though they were separated by the crystal ball, Ahab felt as if someone had suddenly swept their gaze over him from head to toe.

But there was no helping it. This question had to be asked!

"Mm, there is one!"

Merlin, the second-ring wizard, ultimately decided to answer:

"The master of the Path of Pleasure, the Ancient God of Pleasure."

"Legend says it can predict the future, and even return to the past! But the exact principle behind it is still unclear."

Ahab's heart instantly tightened again.

"Of course, my personal speculation is that either this is a rumor,"

"or the ability to return to the past has severe limitations, or enormous aftereffects."

"Otherwise, Pleasure should have unified the entire cosmos long ago."

The old wizard Merlin added a few more words like this.

Maybe next, that old bastard Merlin will set some kind of trap for me again... Ahab sighed helplessly in his heart.

Last time, Merlin had used the general trend to pressure him and force him into Bloodline Transplantation. The memory was still vivid.

"Final question."

"Are all of the Ancient Gods' Ancient God Languages the same?"

Ahab felt that this final question probably would not arouse any suspicion.

"The Ancient God Language of the Ancient God of Pleasure and the Ancient God of Life is the same."

"The Void Ancient God has its own Ancient God Language, and it is fundamentally not the same thing as that of the other two Ancient Gods."

"Only Void's Ancient God Language is pictographic."

After answering, the old wizard Merlin fell into thought again.

Back then, he had deliberately agreed to give Ahab three questions because he had actually intended to probe him.

Void's Authorities were far too powerful, so they could not be allowed to fall into the hands of an overly powerful wizard.

If Ahab's ambition had been too obvious, Merlin would have prepared to increase the pressure on him even further.

But for all three questions to be about Ancient Gods was another kind of abnormal altogether.

At the same time, Ahab turned his head to the side.

In the eyes of Wizard Merlin and Instructor Gray, he was thinking.

But in Ahab's own eyes.

He was looking at his shoulder—at the diary as thick as a computer tower.

"Oh, my friend, I've neglected you lately, but I haven't found some new love."

"You have to believe me. The two of us are the best in the world."

Mm. The problem with the Future Diary had been perfectly ruled out.

This fellow countryman of his, at least as things currently stood, did not have the ability to interfere with the diary.

However, a new problem had appeared.

"The Ancient God of Pleasure, the past and the future... Could the Future Diary be connected to it?"

Ahab sank into thought.

And—

Why would his future self have written so clearly in the diary:

Chinese was a language unique to him?

Wasn't the Void Ancient God's Ancient God Language also this?

"Still, it seems I won't be able to unravel the answer to this question anytime soon."

"I have enough Magic Stones now. I need to buy the materials as soon as possible and make the Corpse Dissolving Powder."

By the time Ahab returned to the dormitory, it was already the latter half of the night.

He slept briefly for three or four hours.

As the sky faintly brightened, he shot upright from the bed with a whoosh.

It was time to buy the materials.

He had to go early.

Although the final results of the newcomers' research would only come out half a year later, during these six months, research results could be submitted at any time.

And there was another situation: if two apprentices both researched the same result, whose counted?

The one submitted first. Anything submitted later simply did not count!

The formula for "Corpse Dissolving Powder" came from the Future Diary. In the original timeline, it was the result Vivian had researched.

And, without any surprises, it had taken first place in the newcomers' research.

Ahab now already knew that Vivian was a Void Cultist.

Before Vivian took her desperate gamble, she had also admitted that the formula had not come from a proper source.

Translated, that meant it most likely came from within the Void.

There was no guarantee someone else might not take it out as well.

West District, General Affairs Hall.

After some thought, Ahab still decided to go to the General Affairs Office to buy the remaining materials needed to make "Corpse Dissolving Powder."

The things he needed to buy this time were different. They were all just auxiliary materials.

Altogether, they were worth only one Magic Stone.

And since he was pressed for time now, if he used other channels, the risk when inspecting the goods would only be higher.

"Hm? Why are there so many apprentices gathered here?"

It was less than a street away from the General Affairs Hall.

From far off, Ahab saw quite a number of apprentices gathered around that big oak tree.

There was also a rope hanging down from the tree.

After drawing closer, Ahab saw it clearly.

Hanging beneath the rope was a female apprentice cosplaying a teru teru bozu!

The female apprentice was completely naked, and her body had been painted all over with humiliating words, especially the line on her back:

"Owes money and refuses to pay!"

No wonder so many people had gathered.

Just then, several members of the Enforcement Squad arrived.

The crowd opened up a gap, and two Enforcement Squad members stepped forward and took the female apprentice's corpse down from the tree.

The other two began driving people away.

"Did you hear? It was the Newcomer Mutual Aid Society again."

"Apparently she couldn't repay her Magic Stones, so that female president called Lola dragged her into the little woods."

"Their interest is way too outrageous. Why doesn't the Academy do something?"

"Didn't you see? The Enforcement Squad isn't investigating the case. They're driving people away instead."

People in the crowd kept muttering under their breath, but then a cough came from nearby.

"Ahem."

The owner of the voice was a female apprentice, with a second-rank badge on her chest.

Her wizard robe clung tightly to her body, with two bulges at her ribs and waist—

An esophagus extending from her stomach, and a hanging urine bag.

It was the female president of the Newcomer Mutual Aid Society, Lola!

She had appeared at the scene just like that, with the Enforcement Squad cleaning up only twenty-some meters away.

In fact, hanging the corpse here was already an extremely bold move.

The next street over was the General Affairs Hall officially established by the Academy in the newcomer district!

The crowd, which had originally split into several small circles and was whispering among themselves, fell silent all at once.

Several apprentices even silently hid behind the people beside them.

It looked as if they had borrowed Magic Stones from the Mutual Aid Society.

"Don't be nervous. Big sis isn't here for you."

Lola licked the tip of her index finger, her gaze landing unerringly on Ahab not far away, who had come to the General Affairs Hall to buy materials.