Warlock Apprentice

Chapter 2685: Chapter 2686: Positions

"Sir, should we go there again?"

The one asking was Kaier, referring to a ruin. They had already searched it once before and found no clues.

Typically, places that have been searched shouldn’t be looked into a second time. But since Angel decided not to go to the third layer and was certain the Wood Spirit was in the second layer, Kaier thought perhaps they should meticulously search the second layer again.

However, as they passed through the ruins, Angel showed no intention of searching again, prompting Kaier’s puzzled inquiry.

Angel: "No need, we’ve already searched here, there’s no point returning."

Kaier: "Then aren’t we searching for the Wood Spirit?"

"We are searching, aren’t we?" Angel tried to make his words more credible by glancing around, putting on a look of serious searching.

Yet, the surrounding void felt dismissive.

Kaier saw this and did not ask further. To him, Angel had already decided not to search anymore.

Perhaps, he was tired?

Kaier didn’t say much more, only hoping for the next group, Dox and Vay.

...

"Aren’t you planning to search again?"

Everyone else had stopped trying to convince Angel, and Dox was already gearing up, ready to step in anytime. At this moment, even the Wise Sovereign, who originally wasn’t going to speak, couldn’t help but speak up.

Angel’s response remained unchanged: "I am searching."

"If you got rid of that lazy expression, maybe I’d believe you’re searching," the Wise Sovereign raised an eyebrow.

Angel: "Really? I think that no matter what I do, the Wise Sovereign probably wouldn’t believe me?"

Wise Sovereign: "Muddy waters prevent seeing the bottom and obscure whether the shadow beneath is a crocodile or a stone."

Angel chuckled lightly: "Even if the water is clear, the Wise Sovereign would still suspect if the stone below is real or a trap."

The Wise Sovereign implied that Angel was shrouded in mist, like murky water, only clarity can inspire trust.

Angel meant that conspiracy theorists always see a conspiracy; the overly suspicious Wise Sovereign would never truly trust outsiders, especially them.

Determining who’s right is hard—both expressed from their perspective, naturally leaning towards self-interest.

Achieving consensus on such issues of stance is extremely difficult.

Unless one side completely surrendered to the other, accepting all conditions, which might lead to consensus. But neither Angel nor the Wise Sovereign would do that.

Not to mention the Wise Sovereign, whose status and the advantage of home ground would prevent him from surrendering to Angel.

As for Angel, he actually doesn’t care about surrendering. Just like Jon advised Angel when he left the Old Earth Continent, in a world of survival of the fittest, pride is unnecessary. Pride is easily trampled, and treating pride as sacred only leads to downfall once trampled, inviting death.

Many novels feature a scene where the hero’s unwavering spirit impresses the strong, who lets them go. But such scenarios are hero exclusives; usually, defiance brings not respect but anger, and death alone can calm the fury of the strong.

So Jon advised Angel to have pride but also understand the situation, feign agreement, and reach consensus to prolong life.

Angel is pragmatic. If he had acted defiantly when he encountered Sanders, insisting on going to the White Coral Floating Island Academy, given Sanders’ character, he’d likely end up dead.

So, Angel doesn’t care much about surrendering.

But faced with the Wise Sovereign, he cannot surrender for a simple reason—the Wise Sovereign wouldn’t recognize his submission.

As Angel expressed, conspiracy theorists see only conspiracy.

Cloaked in mist, he’d suspect your identity; reveal your identity, he’d suspect your purpose; disclose your purpose, he’d suspect your motives...

Against such a person, constant yielding only pushes you to extremes; even revealing your soul would invite criticism.

Thus, Angel cannot surrender or be lenient regarding stance or intentions towards the Wise Sovereign.

Yet, endless confrontation is impossible; as Dororo said, "the wise are not foolish," Angel must seek consensus to achieve his goals.

How to reach agreement without surrender?

Calling for outside support, relying on the Barbarian Cave’s power is possible, but that means flipping the table; the worst approach if aiming for peaceful exploration of the ruins.

Besides outside help, Angel has only one thought: common interests.

Common interests might allow both sides to step back, achieving balance on stance issues. Even if they can’t agree on stance, they’d recognize the other’s stance as meaningful.

Just like the Black Earl.

Angel and the Black Earl maintain such balance. Despite many doubts during Angel’s journey, initially the Black Earl questioned him, but later stopped as their shared interests made both beneficiaries, avoiding any need to conflict.

If the Black Earl could agree, so could the Wise Sovereign.

But now, the issue lies in what common interests exist between him and the Wise Sovereign?

Currently, there’s no answer, or it’s unclear.

Yet the vagueness seems to stem from the Wise Sovereign not revealing his "purpose." Once his purpose and his stance towards Noah descendants are clear, Angel is confident common interests will surface.

This conviction stems from the idea that without shared interests, why would the Wise Sovereign bother them for so long?

As for how to uncover the Wise Sovereign’s purpose?

Angel is already on it.

Once he completes his so-called bonus and necessary conditions, the Wise Sovereign will observe enough of their intelligence to naturally disclose his purpose.

Understanding the underlying connections, Angel doesn’t fear confronting the Wise Sovereign now.

Moreover, only by both sides clarifying stances is there reason to talk. Otherwise, if stance is one-sided, discussion is needless, equating to surrender in disguise.

...

Angel’s comment "conspiracy theorists are perpetually blind" was a direct challenge to the Wise Sovereign.

They locked eyes... no, it was a five-eye confrontation.

As the eyes met, the atmosphere became stagnant, and the air began to grow ominous.

Seeing this, the Wise Sovereign’s face grew increasingly somber, and everyone felt a vague unease in their hearts, as if they were on the verge of a showdown.

What they didn’t expect was that the next second, the Wise Sovereign suddenly brightened up.

After looking deeply at Angel, the Wise Sovereign softly said: "For now, let’s set aside the issue of the quality of water and focus on the matter at hand. Are you certain you don’t intend to search for the Wood Spirit?"

"If you decide to abandon the task, then the bonus conditions will be void."

Angel: "Abandoning the task can wait until I leave the Hanging Jail Stairway, right now I am still ’searching.’"

At this point, Dox interjected: "Aren’t you forgetting about me? What do you mean the bonus conditions are void? I haven’t searched yet, perhaps I might find it in the end?"

The Wise Sovereign’s gaze lightly swept over Dox, and then... continued looking at Angel.

"Then I’ll look forward to you ’finding’ the Wood Spirit."

This statement seemed like a response to Dox, but the Wise Sovereign was intently staring at Angel, leaving no doubt that this remark was directed at Angel. Dox, once again, was ignored.

"A wholly insincere expectation." Angel muttered softly before formally responding: "Then I’ll do my best not to disappoint the Wise Sovereign’s expectations."

Of course, the Wise Sovereign could hear Angel’s muttering, but he didn’t mind. Because Angel was speaking the truth, his so-called expectation was merely empty words.

Among those present, only the Black Earl had the best chance of finding the Wood Spirit. But the Black Earl had returned empty-handed, so there’s no hope.

The Wise Sovereign doesn’t believe Angel can find the Wood Spirit.

As for Angel’s previous confident statement that "the Wood Spirit is on the second level," the Wise Sovereign dismissed it as mere bravado from Angel.

...

Continuing to walk back, the scenes along the way were the same as before, only the drifting ruins occasionally moved to the side. Angel had no intention of exploring these ruins any further, not even bothering with perfunctory actions of "searching for the Wood Spirit."

Seeing this scene, the last bits of doubt were extinguished. Everyone had already decided that Angel did not intend to continue searching.

"Young people, always impulsive. Acting on impulse, saying they won’t search and then not searching." Dox sighed: "Seems like your hopes will have to rely on me."

Just as Dox finished speaking, he heard a cold snort from Vay beside him.

Dox turned his head, only to see Vay staring angrily at him, puzzled as to what was wrong with Vay, when the Wise Sovereign’s voice reached his ears.

"Youthful impulsiveness? His age is younger than yours?"

Dox paused for a moment, suddenly realizing he might have inadvertently revealed some information about Angel.

Despite the cry of distress in his heart, Dox calmly replied: "Yes, younger than me."

"Is that so." The Wise Sovereign murmured: "Your age is about eighty, there shouldn’t be many Official Wizards younger than you in the Southern Domain. Additionally, from your tone, one can tell he should be much younger than you, possibly under fifty. Such a young wizard, skilled in Illusion Technique and Alchemy, this information should reveal his identity."

Due to the Nightmare Illusion’s concealment, Earl Mi’s defense, and the Black Earl’s earth barrier added protection, the Wise Sovereign had never been able to ascertain Angel’s age.

Earlier, when the Wise Sovereign left the live broadcast illusionary realm, allowing Dox and the Black Earl to return to reality for precautions, with Angel not presiding over the Illusion Technique from outside, this directly exposed Dox’s true body to the Wise Sovereign.

With the Wise Sovereign’s insight, discerning Dox’s age was quite easy. Hence, the Wise Sovereign learned that Dox was eighty years old, a very young and talented wizard.

Now, Dox inadvertently revealed Angel was even younger than him, naturally also exposing Angel’s age range.

Watching the Wise Sovereign’s appearance of being convinced and seriously analyzing, made Dox slightly embarrassed.

His acknowledgement that Angel was younger was actually a deliberately stated remark, intending to create reverse psychology, making the Wise Sovereign doubt his words, and thereby also casting doubt on Angel’s age.

What he didn’t expect was that the Wise Sovereign actually believed it!!

Previously, Angel had been saying openly and secretly that the Wise Sovereign wouldn’t believe anyone, so why did he believe him now?

It seems there’s no way to sway the Wise Sovereign’s mindset.

Dox turned his head dejectedly towards Angel, intending to express his apology.

Upon closer look, he discovered Angel wasn’t looking their way at all, but instead had stopped and was engaging in perception with closed eyes, seemingly searching for the Wood Spirit.

Is he acting again?

Dox initially presumed Angel was stalling further, but upon closer inspection, realized Angel’s expression was more solemn than ever.

The surrounding energy was also changing incessantly with Angel’s perception.

"What’s going on?" Vay, initially angry at Dox for revealing Angel’s information, was now drawn to the commotion from Angel’s side.

Even the Wise Sovereign, baffled, was also watching Angel, unsure of what he was doing.

As the surrounding energy aura reached an extreme point, it suddenly came to a halt.

At the same time, Angel opened his eyes.

After taking a deep breath, Angel finally noticed everyone’s gaze was fixed on him.

Facing the scrutiny, Angel nonchalantly asked: "What’s wrong?"

"Shouldn’t we be asking you that?" Dox replied.

"Weren’t you discussing my age? Are you not talking about it anymore?"

Mentioning age, Dox’s eyes appeared evasive: "Ahem, age... age isn’t really that important. What we’re interested in now is you, aren’t we asking you, what are you doing?"

Angel shrugged: "Nothing."

Pausing for a moment, Angel continued: "Just thinking about how to make the little fellow hiding in the dark come out on its own."

The little fellow hiding in the dark?

Who is he referring to? The Wood Spirit? Has Angel already discovered the Wood Spirit?

While everyone was still in doubt, Angel turned around and gazed into the dark depths.

"Hey, there are only two people here, are you really not planning to come out?"