Chapter 356 Speculation (Part 2)
Afterwards, their investigation on the front lines seemed to have touched upon some invisible boundary.
Despite confirming the intricate connection between the "alien threat" and the entity behind it, it was discovered that the aliens were a deliberately designed hostile race.
But the deeper purpose and the core logic of the "system" remain hidden behind the fog.
After realizing that no breakthrough could be achieved in the short term, Jemin and Rex decided to temporarily evacuate this war-torn starfield.
The investigation has come to a temporary close, and for a while, there seems to be nothing left to do.
Jemin accepted Rex's invitation and followed him back to his "birthplace" planet in this world—a prosperous world renowned for its precision manufacturing and musical arts.
When the spacecraft arrived at the airport, two people were already waiting at the exit.
When Rex saw them, a rare smile appeared on his face.
"I can't believe you actually agreed to come back!" one of them said with a laugh. "Aren't you going to introduce us?"
“Let me introduce you,” Rex said to Jemin, “these two are my childhood friends here…”
"Of course, he's a wizard too."
These words weren't spoken by Rex, but rather rang directly in Jemin's earpiece.
To facilitate better communication, Rex provided Jemin with an earphone before arriving.
He can use his "weaver" ability to convert the thoughts in his mind into voice, allowing him to communicate directly with Jemin without speaking.
In this way, this method can be used to communicate in situations where speaking is not appropriate—like it is now.
Upon hearing this, Jemin subconsciously glanced at the two of them.
One of them was wearing a brightly colored, avant-garde leather jacket, with his hair dyed a dazzling bright blue, and a flamboyant and unrestrained smile on his face, exuding a powerful aura like a stage superstar.
Rexton paused, opened his mouth, and said in a somewhat subtle tone, "This is Calvin, the rock superstar who is famous throughout this galaxy, the lead singer of 'Soundwave'."
In Jemin's ears, Rex's voice came through the earpiece: "'Silent One' Calvin, used to be a genius in the necromancy department at the academy, able to go an entire day without saying a word, only communicating with his skeleton soldiers. Now... well, the change is quite significant."
Calvin shook his head, smiled, and nodded to Jemin before correcting Rex, "You're wrong. I'm not just famous in this galaxy now; I'm going to march on other galaxies!"
The other person appeared much more composed, wearing a well-fitting engineer's jacket, but with sharp, eagle-like eyes and large knuckles, bearing the marks of long-term precision work.
"Barton is a top-notch mecha modification master in the industry. Custom mechas tuned by him can have their performance improved by more than 15%. However, if you want to customize a mecha, I can act as an intermediary for you."
Barton glanced at Jemin: "You flatter me, I still have a lot to learn."
"Barton, the 'Flesh and Blood Craftsman,' used to specialize in the forbidden modification of bio-beasts. Even his mentors were hesitant to enter his laboratory."
After introducing the two men through the earpiece, Rex smiled flawlessly and introduced Jemin to them: "This is Jemin, a... quite outstanding scholar."
Upon hearing Rex's words, Calvin and Barton looked at Jemin with disbelief.
As friends who grew up together in the same orphanage, they knew best just how proud and arrogant their friend was.
Even though Rex didn't provide any further information about Jemin, and Jemin himself didn't seem to hold any special position, Rex's assessment alone was enough to make the two of them take it seriously.
"Nice to meet you."
"Nice to meet you, please take care of me."
"Not at all, Mr. Rex is too kind to me..."
The two sides introduced themselves and exchanged brief greetings.
Calvin warmly put his arm around Rex's shoulder: "You've been off to other planets all these years without a word. Now that you're back, we've got to have a proper get-together!"
Barton nodded to Jemin, his gaze lingering on him briefly before turning to Rex: "How long are you going to stay this time?"
"I don't plan to go out again anytime soon," Rex said with a smile.
"That's great! Let's go! Tonight's on me!"
To welcome Rex and also to greet Jemin, Calvin generously invited them to the hottest interstellar-themed bar in town.
The bar was filled with dazzling lights and deafening noise.
The moment Calvin jumped onto the stage and grabbed the microphone, the atmosphere in the entire venue was instantly ignited.
He was completely unrecognizable as the taciturn necromancer he once was, but a superstar who roared, jumped, and stirred the emotions of thousands under the spotlight.
Standing on the stage, they radiated light, as if they were born to be there.
Rex and Jemin sat in their booth, watching the figure on stage who was completely absorbed in the performance.
Amidst the deafening music, Rex leaned closer to Jemin and whispered, his voice carrying a complex emotion bordering on confusion:
"Sometimes, looking at them... I feel that maybe this world isn't so bad after all."
Jemin raised an eyebrow and looked at him.
Rex's gaze remained fixed on the stage: "You know what? Calvin and Barton, we're good friends. Back in the academy, we'd sometimes have heart-to-heart talks."
"They actually...didn't really like the wizarding life. Calvin found dealing with corpses and souls too cold and oppressive; he longed to infect the living with his voice and passion. Barton, on the other hand, loathed the bloody flesh and twisted limbs; he dreamed of creating his ideal 'perfect machine' without restraint..."
Rex didn't continue, but Jemin already knew what he wanted to say.
It is clear that there is a considerable gap between dreams and reality.
They had no choice but to advance to the third level of wizards.
People like Rex, who love alchemy and mechanics and whose talents lie in these fields, are rare. Most wizards, in order to continue their careers, can only choose to delve into the one skill they are best at.
Rexton paused, his voice even lower: "Look at them now... one has become a rock star in the public eye, and the other has become a highly respected top mech pilot, able to fully unleash their talent and passion..."
"They might be living more like themselves and more comfortably now than they were in the wizarding world."
Jemin understood the implication in his words: "You're not planning to continue the investigation?"
"There's no other way, there's just not enough time."
Rex shook his head expressionlessly: "There's less than a year left until the deadline set by command. To be honest, given the current situation, I don't think we can find the truth in such a short time."
“No wonder you said you weren’t planning to leave anytime soon…” Jemin understood.
"It seems they plan to retreat after the level eight wizard makes a move?"
Rex nodded silently.
Jemin had to admit that his idea was actually more appropriate.
Now that they have awakened, when the level eight wizards make their move, they can gather as many wizards as they recognize as possible and find a way to send out signals.
With the immense power of an eighth-level wizard, even in a universe of this vast size, he could absolutely rescue the two who sent the signal in an instant.
In this way, even without doing anything else, the act of rescuing other wizards alone would have earned them enough credit.
Moreover, as awakened beings, the two have been frantically learning all sorts of knowledge over the years.
It's safe to say that even if they do nothing more, they'll still make a fortune.
“There’s not much time left. Seeing how they are, I think I can enjoy myself too. After all, it’s rare to find such a peaceful plane…maybe I can even fulfill my dream.” Rex suddenly laughed.
Jemin listened quietly.
But after hearing Rex's last words, a chilling thought slithered into his mind like a venomous snake, sending a shiver down his spine.
Something's not right!
Logically, everyone's memories were overwritten, and their upbringing and experiences were reset.
A person's desires and hobbies can be completely changed by the environment they live in and the education they receive from childhood!
It makes no sense that, under the cover of false memories, their final "ideal state" would so closely match their true inner desires that were once concealed!
He immediately thought of Viola.
That vile personality that revels in the suffering of others has not only failed to subside in this world.
On the contrary, under the cover of being a "company executive" and a "gentle elder," they are even more at ease and can more easily and "legally" appreciate the embarrassment and pain of others.
It's fair to say that Viola's living environment was a stage tailor-made for her!
He and Rex had already confirmed during their previous probing that there was an unexpected "kindness" behind the scenes.
Thinking back to his "parents" and "old friends," Jemin couldn't help but wonder if it was possible that the kindness behind the scenes was far beyond his imagination.
What if... the other party's purpose in doing this is to enable everyone to realize their dreams?
Rex noticed Jemin's sudden change in expression and asked in a low voice, "What's wrong?"
Jemin took a deep breath and explained what Viola had to say and his deductions.
The confusion and emotion on Rex's face vanished instantly, replaced by extreme seriousness and solemnity.
He pushed up his glasses, revealing a sharp, piercing gaze behind the lenses.
“You mean…not just the few people we know…” Rex’s voice was hoarse, “but all the wizards trapped here…and even other humans, may be living the life they subconsciously dreamed of, the life they once dreamed of, under the guise of false identities?”
Jemin nodded heavily: "Although it sounds incredible, Calvin, Barton, Viola... these samples point to this possibility."
"And do you remember what we saw on the front lines?"
Which aspect are you referring to?
“Regarding the extremely small number of soldiers on the front lines,” Jemin said, looking at Rex.
Rex paused for a moment, then narrowed his eyes.
There are some things I don't really know unless I've seen them with my own eyes, such as... the fact that there are very few soldiers on the front lines.
It could even be said to be excessively low.
Although the human side has the advantage, they rely more on autonomous machines to fight. Of course, this does not mean that soldiers are useless.
On the contrary, in the chaotic environment of the battlefield, the addition of an intelligent being capable of making independent judgments and manipulating more autonomous machinery would greatly enhance the combat effectiveness of the human side.
However, in reality, even though the fighting on the front lines was very difficult, there was still no intention to send reinforcements from the rear.
With the reserves of human civilization in this plane, there is no need for forced conscription; simply sending reinforcements to the front lines would greatly accelerate the progress of the battle.
From both an efficiency and cost-effectiveness perspective, reinforcements are the best idea, but in reality, the number of soldiers fighting on the front lines is still not large.
“This phenomenon is indeed incomprehensible, but if we follow your guess… hiss…” Rex couldn’t help but gasp.
Jemin took a sip of his drink to soothe his throat, which was dry from excessive excitement: "Those people subconsciously like war, so the so-called front line is actually just a 'paradise' arranged for them by someone behind the scenes."
"This also explains why the entity behind the scenes forcibly designated non-humanoid creatures as enemies..." Rex couldn't help but swallow.
“Yes…” Jemin’s eyes glazed over.
He suddenly recalled what he had discovered at his university: the number of students was less than the number of faculty members.
If we take his conjecture as a foundation, we can also explain this reason.
After all, wizards claim to be pursuing knowledge, but in reality, only a minority of individuals are truly willing to pursue knowledge endlessly.
Deep down, they probably still hope to live a "happier" life.
There are certainly more wizards who guide others, or rather, who enjoy the pleasure of guiding others, than wizards who enjoy learning knowledge.
"This dimension is not only suppressing our power and altering our memories, it may also be reading and satisfying our deepest desires..."
Jemin suddenly shook his head again: "No, it should be said that it is precisely because it reads our deepest desires that it wants to tamper with our memories. In a way that we cannot perceive, it 'places' us in the roles that are most 'satisfactory' to us."
Rex paused for a moment, then slowly nodded, but shook his head again: "Logically, this hypothesis can explain the phenomenon we observed. However... the sample size is still too small. We cannot determine whether this is a universally present core mechanism or merely a coincidence."
He sighed helplessly, "And among them, there are special cases like us who cannot be included in the statistics..."
"Wait! What did you say?!" Jemin suddenly became agitated as if struck by lightning.
Rex looked puzzled, but still subconsciously repeated what he had just said: "There are exceptions like us..."
"That's right, this is it!"
This sentence made Jemin suddenly understand many things. Most importantly, he finally knew how to find the person behind the scenes!
Jemin laughed excitedly, completely ignoring the strange looks from those around him.
Fortunately, this was a nightclub, so the commotion didn't attract too much attention.
Jemin realized this too and immediately sat down, but his expression remained full of excitement: "I've figured out how to find the person behind it all..."
Although Rex didn't understand what Jemin was thinking, his expression turned serious upon hearing Jemin's words: "Is it really worth taking such a risk?"
Both of them knew very well that even if Jemin did find a way to communicate directly with the entity behind the scenes, it would most likely not end well.
After all, there were already three unfortunate souls who had died here.
So Rex didn't even ask Jemin what his method was, because he knew very well that no matter how "merciful" the other party was, going to confront them would inevitably result in death.
More importantly, even if you do meet the other person, you can't be sure you'll get an answer.
“Indeed, rationally speaking, waiting quietly for the deadline to arrive is the most cost-effective option.” Jemin did not refute him.
"However... given the opportunity, I would still like to satisfy my curiosity."
A hint of doubt flashed across Rex's face, but he didn't say anything more, simply raising his glass to Jemin: "Well... good luck."
"Thank you for your kind words."
Jemin smiled, and without lingering, or even having time to say goodbye to the other two wizards, he left.
"...Rex?"
Having just stepped back from the side of the stage, Barton looked at his friend with a puzzled expression as he saw Jemin suddenly leave.
He didn't care about Jemin's departure; he was just curious why his friend looked so...lost.
"I'm fine..." Rex smiled.
He looked up in the direction where Jemin had left. Even though he could no longer see Jemin's back, he could still recall the excited look on Jemin's face when he left.
"As a wizard, I'm completely outmatched in terms of curiosity..." Rex murmured to himself.
As a qualified wizard, Rex certainly understood how important it was to rationally assess his current situation.
However, as a seeker of knowledge, he also clearly understands how important a strong thirst for knowledge is for a wizard.
"But... judging from that guy's appearance, he must have some other tricks up his sleeve to dare to do this... Oh dear, in this case, am I completely behind that guy?" Rex sighed.
Barton looked at his friend with concern; the other's expression had been constantly changing since the beginning.
Fortunately, Rex's state didn't last long. He soon opened his eyes, smiled, and raised his glass: "Forget it, there's no point in arguing with a madman like that... Cheers!"
On the other side, Jemin didn't waste any time.
He hurriedly boarded the fastest flight back to his birth planet and returned to his "hometown" in less than three days.
Looking at the empty spaceport before him and the blue planet below, Jemin licked his lips and walked home with an excited expression.
(End of this chapter)
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