Chapter 732: The Beginning of the Leak!

Chapter 732: The Dawn of the Leak!

The efficiency of this dormitory was remarkable; after lunch, everyone skipped class—well, except for Ukonga, though his trek to the classroom was hardly driven by a desire for education.

He possessed a staggering confidence in his own charm, a sentiment the other three in the dormitory seemed to tacitly validate.

This made Karen wonder: was it truly a case of the lower the baseline, the higher the ceiling?

Karen had originally intended to follow the Mad Pope and Budalas to gather materials for setting up the altar, but upon reaching the ground floor, just as they were about to step out the dormitory gates, the animals and people outside the railing suddenly froze into complete stillness.

The pupils of every living creature turned an eerie shade of blue, their heads pivoting slowly to fix their gaze upon Karen.

A greasy, suffocating sensation washed over Karen's entire body, akin to that heavy, dragging feeling when one tries to climb out of a swimming pool onto the deck—heavy, yet manageable if one exerted just a bit more force.

Simultaneously, the voice of Teacher Sildorod echoed by his ear:

"Karen, do you feel anything?"

Karen realized then that the boundary of distance lay precisely here.

He could leave his room, but he could not leave this dormitory building.

No, it was not that he physically couldn't leave, but rather that stepping out meant stepping back into reality.

Karen immediately retracted his foot, stepping back inside the dormitory doors.

"Buzz!"

In an instant, all the people and animals outside returned to normal.

Budalas and the Mad Pope turned back, a hint of confusion in their eyes as they looked at Karen.

The Mad Pope asked, "Karen, what is wrong?"

Budalas smiled and teased, "What, thinking of slacking off and staying behind?"

"Ah, yes." Karen offered a sheepish grin. "I think I will wait for you all to return in the dorm."

Budalas said, "You know, Ukonga already called you father. If this doesn't pan out, you better be ready to face his wrath, haha."

The Mad Pope added, "Then rest here and conserve your energy, Karen. We can handle the preparations ourselves."

"Then I shall trouble you both. My apologies."

The Mad Pope waved his hand with a smile. "This is a game we are all playing together, what is there to be troubled about?"

Once the two had walked far into the distance, Karen took a deep breath, looking down at the dormitory building gates and the fissure outside.

Sildorod had mentioned that a leak had occurred here, forcing the students of that era to evacuate in such haste that they could not even pack their belongings.

Therefore, if the "boundary" was located here, it seemed to some extent to detach from any absolute, necessary connection to "Ukonga."

Yet, one still could not deny Ukonga's influence in all this, for Karen clearly remembered that Ukonga had "seen" him in the dormitory first, before he truly stepped into this mental imprint scene to interact with the others.

Regarding the cause and effect, it must have been that some mysterious leak created an unknown "anomaly," after which the students evacuated, and the school handled and sealed the area. Later, Ukonga visited multiple times, relying on his noble status as a temple elder and his vast lifespan to clear the relevant records on several occasions, while deliberately leaving behind a potent mental imprint.

But this causal chain did not seem linear, for what was the root cause of the leak?

Furthermore, this segment of memory was undeniably set before the evacuation, specifically on the day Dicaloste stole the multicolored turkey and everyone had a barbecue in the dorm.

Why did the recording begin from this exact day?

Could it be that this day was dangerously close to the moment of the leak?

After all, if everything he was currently experiencing was a product governed by the leak, it certainly wouldn't rewind far back into the past to select an irrelevant day.

Karen turned back, returned to the room, and sat down at the Mad Pope's desk.

One thing was certain: a massive "chasm" existed between his current spiritual experience and his physical reality.

When he had been on the verge of stepping out of the dormitory building, Sildorod's voice from reality had sounded by his ear; it was not frantic, but carried a trace of mild curiosity as he asked, "Karen, what do you feel?"

Had his physical body been standing motionless for a long time, Sildorod's tone would surely have been laced with anxiety, at least saying something like, "Karen, what on earth is wrong with you?" or "Karen, are you alright? Don't scare me."

He had already spent enough time in this dorm to prepare and eat a whole lunch, yet in reality, it must have been only a brief moment—perhaps just the length of half a cigarette after Sildorod finished his description?

This was not a difference in the flow of time, but rather a trick of his spiritual perception; the speed he currently perceived as normal might actually be fast-forwarding at a staggering rate.

Perhaps a day or two would pass for him here, while outside, it was a mere ten minutes?

Concurrently, a thought sprouted in Karen's mind, a notion so amusingly absurd that he couldn't help but chuckle at himself.

He actually found himself thinking: if this was possible, could he find a way to simulate this environment to create a perfect study space?

A single day in reality could be stretched out for ages here; using it for learning would be nothing short of cheating.

To dream even more naively, if he were to stay here until Rasma's return, just how much time would he have to cultivate and prepare?

"Am I being infected by that model student aura just by sitting at the Mad Pope's desk?"

Karen could not help but mock himself, picking up the fountain pen on the desk and spinning it out of habit.

"However, can I sense the Sealed Space from here?"

Calculating by the timeline of this "illusion," Loya did not exist in the Order of Justice's Sealed Space at all; rather, Loya had not even been born yet.

Yet Karen felt no panic, because this place merely held a somewhat illusory uniqueness. He had not truly traveled back in time; even if he sensed anything here, it would undoubtedly be the Loya of reality.

"Clack!"

Suddenly, the fountain pen dropped from Karen's hand—not slipping, but phasing right through his fingers.

Karen raised his hands, watching in astonishment as they gradually became translucent, a transparency that was steadily spreading upward.

What was happening?

Karen closed his eyes and began to look inward. When he had been helping Budalas wash the dishes earlier, he had deliberately adjusted himself, lowering his spiritual power to match this environment.

Now, that sense of alignment, which had once been so clear to perceive, was gone.

No, it wasn't gone... it was above him!

Before, he had needed to suppress his instincts and bend down just to match the required level, but now, he actually had to reach up to grasp it.

Why was this happening?

Was it because Ukonga was no longer present?

Originally, the "scene" of this dormitory building was sustained by Ukonga, and Karen's active participation had merely helped share a bit of the burden. Now that Ukonga had left, did the responsibility of maintaining the "operation of the scene" within this building fall entirely on him?

So, what should he do now?

Karen noticed his arms had already become semi-transparent; before long, he would become a phantom before vanishing completely.

Spiritual power surged, and soul energy poured forth. Karen clenched his fists and lifted his head; after a moment, he re-established a clear sensation of physical grip.

His arms returned to normal, but it had cost him a significant amount of extra soul energy.

At this rate of consumption, Karen felt that even if he managed to wait until their return in the evening, he would be left utterly drained and weak.

Yet, he could not leave this building, and those four were unlikely to return anytime soon.

He had to devise a way to conserve his energy.

Karen climbed onto the Mad Pope's bed, but after getting up there, he hesitated, climbed back down, and scrambled onto Budalas's bed instead.

Though this was a scene of mental imprints and everything was illusory, Karen still felt averse to "soiling" someone else's bed.

Therefore, it was better to use Budalas's bed; after all, he was his own Grand Priest and a fellow believer of Order, so he surely wouldn't mind.

Lying down and pulling the blanket over himself, wrapping his form tight, Karen began to lower his "cost of existence." His hands and feet quickly faded into transparency, until his entire body reached a translucent state.

He stopped there, carefully managing the "heat," neither lowering nor raising it, maintaining his existence in a low-consumption state until their return.

He had been naive after all, thinking he could study here... What could anyone study in a state like this? It was only because the resilience of his soul far surpassed that of ordinary people that he managed; had anyone else come here, they might have been worn away to nothing long ago.

Then again, that was not quite right either. Teacher Cidrod had investigated and researched this place for so many years and had never been able to enter this memory vignette. This meant that ordinary people... no, even those who were highly exceptional, would find it impossible to enter this place if they did not meet the required criteria.

Karen's consciousness grew somewhat hazy, leaving him in a state between sleep and waking.

"Time" flowed "slowly."

Outside, the sky turned dark.

Suddenly, the previously drowsy Karen instantly became exceedingly alert—so alert that the air around his bunk felt as if it were beginning to warp, threatening to collapse the bed itself!

Though he was clearly already in a low-consumption state, his original low-frequency energy suddenly spiked into a high frequency.

Could Ukonga be back?

Had the primary heavy-duty battery returned to shoulder the burden?

"Creak..."

The dormitory door was pushed open, followed by a sharp click as it was locked from the inside. Immediately after, Karen heard Ukonga’s voice:

"Come, right here. No one is in the dorm right now."

Karen was just about to get down from his bed when he heard a woman's voice follow: "I haven't even finished taking off my clothes yet, oh my, why are you in such a hurry?"

"It feels better with clothes on, sweetheart. I was captivated by you at first sight because of this."

"To the bed..."

"No, the desk height is just right."

Immediately following, a rhythmic sort of sound drifted over, accompanied by the background noises of a man and a woman.

Karen: "..."

Karen had clearly not delayed for even a second. When Ukonga returned, he had adjusted his state and prepared to go down, but who could have foreseen that Ukonga's speed would be so absurdly fast!

Moreover, they were actually doing it at the desk beneath his own bunk.

This was simply too preposterous. Who could have imagined that a temple elder of the Church of Order would bring a woman to do that kind of thing right on the desk of the Church of Order's Grand Priest!

Karen could only remain silent, continuing to lie there muttering to himself, doing his best to recall the paragraphs of the formation notes he had read last time.

He had no idea how much time passed before a high-pitched, simultaneous sigh echoed from the two below.

Karen pulled his thoughts back. Well, it was finally over.

Next came the sound of rustling clothes.

"I have to leave first. I need to return to the department with them tonight. I'll come find you again in a few days."

"Alright, sweetheart, I'll wait for you."

The woman left.

Ukonga sat down in the chair, and with a sharp flick, lit an after-sex cigarette.

Karen sat up from the bed. Ukonga saw him, but merely smiled and said, "How does it feel?"

At this moment, he was wearing only trousers, his upper body bare, revealing exceptionally balanced and well-toned lines.

Karen asked, "What kind of quirk is this?"

Clearly, Ukonga had known he was in the dormitory.

"Hey, you don't understand." Ukonga used his other hand to pull out a scroll. "The altar schematics, I got them."

The honey trap had succeeded.

Karen got off the bed and moved to sit before the Mad Pope's desk.

"I'm going to take a shower. They should be back soon too." Ukonga walked into the washroom. "Oh, damn it, this smell of turkey blood still hasn't dissipated. Forget it, I'll go wash outside."

Ukonga took a basin and a towel and headed for the floor's communal washroom.

After a while, the Mad Pope and Budalas returned.

The moment the Mad Pope walked in, he looked somewhat perplexed. "Why is there a smell of seafood?"

Budalas, on the other hand, asked, "Who knocked over the water cup on my desk?"

Karen sat there, offering no answer.

Just then, Ukonga returned whistling from his shower, saying with a smile, "Brothers, I have successfully accomplished the mission."

The Mad Pope shook his head and smiled.

Budalas's face instantly darkened.

Ukonga swayed his hips, dancing a rhythmic style of dance that had been popular over a thousand years ago:

"Alright, the rest is up to you all."

Karen asked, "So, are we setting it up in this dormitory?"

Ukonga countered, "Where else?"

This dormitory could not only host barbecues but could also be used to set up an altar.

Ukonga said with a smile, "It's fine. The three of them are all highly adept at formations. Dicalost is skilled at breaking formations, Budalas is skilled at deploying formations, and Philias is skilled at controlling formations.

The monitoring formations of this dormitory building, the maintenance formations of the living quarters, and the defensive formations of the school—they have broken into all of them, opening a back door specifically for our dormitory.

Therefore, this room you are currently in is the safest and most secretive place in our entire school.

As long as the dormitory door is locked from the inside, unless you bring a magic crystal cannon to blast it, it cannot be opened at all."

"So that's how it is..."

Karen could not help but think of himself and Neo. They, too, had left a back door in the defensive formations of the Whiplash of Order's headquarters building. As it turned out, over a thousand years ago, the Church of Order already had this tradition.

The Mad Pope and Budalas began to set up the altar, while Ukonga lay down on his bed to rest and recuperate.

Karen proactively stepped forward to help. At first, they only let Karen do some odd jobs, but as they worked, Budalas was the first to ask with some suspicion:

"You understand formations?"

"I've learned a bit."

"This is not just a bit. I can perceive that you understand the modular aspects of this, and the recognition of it in your mind is very clear."

"I've seen similar things in books."

"In books?" Budalas smiled. "Formation books of this level are not easy to find."

At this moment, Ukonga, who was lying on the bed, spoke up: "See, I just don't believe he comes from some family of inquisitors. The guy is intentionally concealing his identity; only someone with water in their brain would believe what he says."

"Secrecy doesn't matter." The Mad Pope proactively defended Karen. "Everyone has their own purposes that are inconvenient to make public. As long as we are genuinely hanging out together right now, that is enough."

Karen felt that the Mad Pope before he went mad truly resembled the "Mr. Philias" whom Neo had first encountered;

Their characters were both very gentle. If one had to describe it concretely, it was a temperament that perfectly accorded with the nature of Light.

The altar did not need to be very large, about two meters in diameter, divided into three tiers.

Yet the smaller the altar, the more exacting the demands, for many a delicate, intricate array pattern had to be compressed within a far narrower compass.

Karen noticed that both the Mad Pope and Budalas had begun closing their eyes to lay down the configurations, so he too closed his eyes, striving as best he could to match their rhythm.

At last, before the stroke of midnight, the altar was fully prepared.

Then, Karen set about arranging a sensory array entirely on his own.

Budalas, watching from the side, asked, "What is it, do you have kin inside the Banished Space?"

"A friend," Karen replied simply.

"Clack..."

Dicalost pushed the door open and stepped in, hoisting a massive crate upon his shoulder; having closed the door, he set the crate down and dismantled it, revealing what was unexpectedly a gargantuan crab claw, vivid red and radiating a rich, savory aroma.

"Come, have a midnight snack. As I was passing by the Demonic Beast Research Institute, I happened to snap this off from their pond on a whim, bringing it back for you all to taste."

"I am starved to death, I desperately need some nourishment now!"

Ukonga leapt down from the bed.

With a crab claw of such immense proportions, the meat within was ample enough to stuff everyone in the dormitory to bursting—no, indeed, even to their absolute limits, it could not be entirely consumed.

"Are you not eating, Dicalost?" Karen inquired.

"I ate the crab roe, I am full."

Ukonga said with profound dissatisfaction, "You feasted on the finest essence yourself, and only brought us back a single claw?"

Dicalost offered a somewhat helpless reply, "I could have brought you far better spoils, but just as I had finished dressing this great crab, people arrived over there. That I still remembered to snap off a claw and bring it back for you under such perilous circumstances should move you to tears."

Once the midnight snack was finished, everyone prepared to begin the endeavor in earnest.

The others stood along the periphery, watching Karen step into the sensory array; Karen touched the ring upon his finger, and a silver mask materialized over his face, while his right hand rested against his pocket, where a sealed Lacus copper coin lay hidden.

The illusory was illusory, yet it would ripple into reality.

With the aid of the sensory array's power, Karen began to call out within his mind:

"Loya... Loya... Loya..."

...

The Banished Space.

Having concluded today's special training and supervised the research progress of those artifact spirits' proposals, Loya returned to her own "dwelling." She was accustomed to sleeping while cradled in the embrace of the artifact spirit of the Goddess Mills' Harp; she adored this embrace, so warm and tender, while the female spirit gently stroked Loya's back.

"Loya... Loya... Loya..."

Loya knitted her brows slightly in her deep slumber; she seemed to hear a dear, familiar voice calling her name, yet it felt entirely ethereal.

Could it be Brother Karen?

Surely not. How could Brother Karen's voice be so faint when calling me? I must be dreaming of Brother Karen. Hehe, what a wonderful dream indeed.

The woman continued to stroke Loya's back with one hand while watching the smile that played upon the young girl's lips.

What manner of thing is she fantasizing about? She must surely be thinking of her Brother Karen again.

How lovely, she still believes herself capable of dreaming.

A maternal, affectionate expression dawned upon the woman's face. Artifact spirits do not dream, for the nature of their existence is exceedingly peculiar; yet, an artifact spirit can fantasize, and within that fantasy, one may well perceive oneself to be "dreaming."

After all, through the endless ages of banishment, any sapient being must find some means to wile away this infinite emptiness and solitude, no matter how absurd—indeed, the more absurd, the better.

Just then, an inexplicable drowsiness washed over her, and the woman felt a sudden blurriness steal across her consciousness; amidst the haze, she felt her awareness slip into an entirely different, illusory realm.

Oh? What is the meaning of this?

Is this what it feels like to dream?

...

In the Banished Space, the Harp of the Goddess Mills stood in place, quiet and serene.

"Loya... Loya... Loya..."

Karen's faint, translucent silhouette materialized there, searching for Loya.

At that moment, the woman emerged from within the harp.

Karen looked toward her and inquired, "Excuse me, where is Loya?"

The woman asked in utter bewilderment:

"Who are you, how did you enter this place, and furthermore, who is Loya?"