Chapter 350: Except Your Brain, Take a Slap From Me

Emerging from the concealed lift within the central spire, Wang Yu made his way toward the residence his group occupied in the Sky Mechanical City, mentally cataloging the information he had gleaned from that peculiar library.

"I have gained a somewhat systematic understanding of Abyssal creatures, though that portion cannot be fully trusted; one never knows if the information provided contains errors or omissions."

"Still, if that is the case, the threat of the Abyss is perhaps not something I need to be overly wary of. The world left behind after the Morning Star detonated likely left no room for Abyssal creatures to survive."

"And then, that strange machine spirit—its state seems highly unstable. Its emotional fluctuations were quite intense when I mentioned Abyssal creatures, and judging by its performance, it was likely probing me the entire time. Astartes probably had a hand in that, too."

"Fair enough. The nature of Abyssal creatures is somewhat similar to my own. As for what lies beyond the dissociation layer, tsk, a fluctuating existence—I truly dare not gamble on whether this thing would be effective against me..."

Rubbing his chin, Wang Yu felt a flicker of doubt after his reflections; his own form of existence was indeed remarkably close to that of an Abyssal creature, and it was hard to say there was no connection. Much like Astartes’ assessment of the relationship between Wang Yu and the machine spirit, Wang Yu had been keeping his guard up against it.

Astartes had revealed little of its personality and modus operandi to Wang Yu. Given the brief duration of their contact, he could not fully trust this entity he had collaborated with. While their interests aligned, he could grant it trust during the heat of battle.

But after he had butchered the rotting Central Council at its behest, it was hard to say whether Astartes might choose to eliminate this "friend" due to suspicions about his identity or the threat the Chariot’s power posed to the Sky Mechanical City. Thus, he had kept the mark obtained from Sister Ziggy gripped tightly while he was in that library.

"Beyond the spellcraft and alchemical knowledge handed over to Avia and the Professor, this must be the greatest harvest of the trip. With this data, we can finally complete the final piece of the puzzle for the 'operating system' that Avia and Lady Night previously constructed."

Recalling the process of eliminating the Central Council, the dark sword forged from the power of the ancient Goddess of Night had played an exceptionally vital role. That power, which rendered things into non-existence, had been reduced to a mere sliver, but when Wang Yu wielded it in this battle, it had restored itself to the size of a longsword.

The reason for this was that the ancient deity had not been thoroughly eradicated; it existed in a bizarre form within Lady Night’s "Divine Kingdom." Wang Yu and his companions had been at a loss, but after perusing the archives of the Sky Mechanical City, Wang Yu had conceived a brilliant plan.

With this thought, Wang Yu quickened his pace. The sun was beginning to set at the edge of the horizon; he had no intention of wasting time. It would be better to put it into practice immediately. If it succeeded, it would bring about a profound change.

...

Pushing open the door to their residence, he found Avia and the others inside. The Truth Supervisory Council was currently busy confirming the rights they had acquired after securing seats on the Central Council, so there was nothing requiring their assistance. Naturally, Icarus, as the president, had solemnly promised to provide Wang Yu and his group with rewards sufficient to express their gratitude.

"Did you find what you were looking for?"

Avia placed a plate of prepared fried rice in front of Wang Yu and asked casually.

"I obtained a portion of it, though I feel the most important part remains elusive. I recorded all the useful knowledge in the Endless Pages. I’d like to ask you and Lady Darkness to upload this data to the Midnight Library—at the highest security clearance, of course."

"Also, regarding the fragment of the ancient deity in your Divine Kingdom that is vying for your power, Lady Darkness, I have an idea. We shall test it shortly. Although we cannot completely eradicate it for the time being, we should be able to neutralize this annoying thing while putting it to use."

Taking the fried rice from Avia, Wang Yu sat at the table and began to shovel the simple delicacy into his mouth. He had never abandoned the enjoyment of "eating." During the meal, he handed the Endless Pages to the girl and explained his future plans.

Avia flipped through the Endless Pages, scanning the contents with the Perfect Fractal Lens. She then used prayer to upload all the information to the Midnight Library for safekeeping. Data with the highest security clearance was not open to ordinary believers; only their group and true old acquaintances like Edward and Charles could access it.

The figure of Lady Night manifested across from Wang Yu at the table, waiting for him to explain how to deal with the ancient deity’s fragment residing within her Divine Kingdom.

Scraping the plate with his chopsticks to finish the last of the rice, Wang Yu set it down and began to prepare for the task.

At Wang Yu’s request, Lady Night projected an image, revealing the ancient deity within her Divine Kingdom. It was a pitch-black mass, indistinguishable in form, resembling a small mound of earth situated beside the massive Tree of the Night Sky, appearing infinitesimal by comparison.

The protrusion trembled from time to time, growing slightly in size, and then dispersing black, smoke-like matter throughout the space of the Divine Kingdom.

Those smoke-like substances were, in fact, the power that composed the dark sword Wang Yu had wielded. It was the power belonging to the ancient Goddess of Night. Although Lady Night could call upon a portion of it, the rest was used by the fragment to strengthen itself and grow.

This fragment of the ancient deity’s power was currently exceptionally small, incomparable to the Tree of the Night Sky, but as time passed, it would continue to grow, remaining an underlying threat.

Lady Night could not harm it, for in a sense, it was viewed as a part of her, and Wang Yu and his companions had no particularly effective way to damage a fragment of an ancient deity.

Thus, having obtained some information, Wang Yu intended to change his approach. Since the entity wanted Lady Night’s authority, he would give it to them—but exactly which part to give would require some careful negotiation.

Above the branches of the Tree of the Night Sky, vines composed of darkness clung to the tree, encircling it. Power was exchanged between the vines and the giant tree from time to time; that was the "operating system" Avia and Lady Night had completed together.

It utilized the nature of the Void to help Lady Night automatically respond to believers, distribute her own power more clearly, and, under extreme conditions, allow the power of the Tree of the Night Sky to be wielded by entities approved by the deity.

"Based on the fact that we cannot completely destroy this thing, and the fact that it keeps trying to seize authority, I intend to change my approach—I’ll make it give up on thinking..."

Wang Yu laid out the plan he had devised based on his new knowledge.

He had found a book in the library that resembled a collection of anecdotes, recording the issue of authority distribution between two machine spirits. It roughly detailed the conflict between Astartes and another machine spirit over authority.

The other machine spirit would constantly disobey orders and seize the authority of Astartes, a creation of Merlin. Later, Merlin, the creator of Astartes, came up with a solution: split the authority in half. But as Wang Yu had seen, Astartes was the tower spirit of the city, while the machine spirit calling itself Malfurion could only cower in that room.

Merlin had been clever; the authority was indeed split in half, but he gave Astartes the authority to command the mechanical legions and operate various facilities, while the other machine spirit was assigned the authority over alchemical boilers, magic circle maintenance, and other tasks requiring massive calculations. The ratio was the same, but the manifestations were entirely different.

Inspired by this, Wang Yu conceived a devastatingly cruel trick to deal with the ancient deity’s fragment: he would stuff a pile of "useless" divine power into the fragment, causing it to lose its ability to think entirely.

It had been confirmed previously that Lady Night’s intelligence—or rather, the deity’s—was not high. She couldn't even beat Wang Yu at Go and often appeared dazed, yet she could manage the information flow of millions of believers. That "automatic" information processing ability was also a part of divine power, but it required no thought; it was akin to instinct.

How much of the deity’s power did this portion account for? In Lady Night’s own estimation, "Quite a lot." After all, it was the processing of such massive amounts of information.

So, since the reviving fragment of the ancient deity wanted authority, he would give it all the authority that required no divine thought at all. The entity would never have to use its useless brain again.

Unlike the machine spirit’s authority, where a machine spirit remains a machine spirit even without it, a deity’s authority is the embodiment of all its power. If it truly possessed only that portion of authority, the reviving ancient Goddess of Night would effectively be lobotomized.

"Perhaps... this could actually work?"

Lady Night herself was unsure if it was feasible. Once successful, the reviving ancient Goddess of Night would become free labor, working for her unconditionally from then on.

The final conclusion was to give it a try. Rather than keeping this bane, it was better to use Wang Yu’s underhanded trick.

Lady Night immediately began the attempt. Her projection remained in the material world, while her true power manifested fully within the Divine Kingdom. The Tree of the Night Sky swayed, and thin threads of darkness extended downward, linking with the small mound representing the ancient Goddess of Night, beginning the transfer of authority.

At first, it went smoothly. The Tree of the Night Sky slowly shrank, and the power representing that portion of authority flowed smoothly to the fragment, which had been craving it. But as time passed, the small mound, which had shown no signs of intelligence, suddenly began to shake violently, exhibiting clear signs of resistance.

"It seems to have vaguely realized something and is refusing to exchange its remaining authority for this portion. However, I still hold the dominant position; it cannot interrupt this process for now."

Lady Night’s projection in the outside world said to Wang Yu and Avia.

The girl glanced at Wang Yu. Wang Yu nodded. Since the thing seemed to realize something was wrong and had begun to resist, it was time to apply some "physical" means.

The girl utilized her wizarding power, and with Lady Night’s assistance, a Void rift pointing toward the Divine Kingdom was opened in the air, the aura of Void energy seeping out into the world.

Wang Yu stepped forward and thrust his arm into the rift. The power of the Chariot surged, traversing the Void rift and arriving within Lady Night’s Divine Kingdom.

He could not destroy the fragment of the ancient Goddess of Night, true—that was because if he tore apart this mass, which was inherently weak but possessed a unique nature and a special connection to Lady Night, it would simply re-aggregate.

But that did not mean Wang Yu couldn't reach through the Void rift and slap it, perhaps giving it a temporary concussion.