While the Black Earl wondered what Angel was doing, he heard Angel sigh:
"I wonder how Dox and Vay are doing, I truly envy them for still being able to play. Speaking of Vay, he really looks young, full of youthful vigor; I can’t say the same for myself, not many people call me young anymore. The last time I heard it was from a bastard named Cassini. Sigh..."
Black Earl: "..." Don’t think he doesn’t know who Cassini is, he’s met him too, isn’t he just the Thief of Time!
Black Earl: "I won’t comment on anything else, but Cassini being a bastard, I agree."
Angel smiled and said, "However, he’s the only one who saw me as a young man."
Black Earl: "...Are you never going to stop?"
Angel feigned innocence, and the Black Earl let out a grunt, flying out the window with a distant shout, "I really do dislike people from the Illusion Demon Island line."
It was quite clear who those words were meant for. Angel, however, shrugged indifferently; with the Black Earl gone, he could peacefully prepare.
The mottled shadows of the trees shifted from bright to reddish, finally turning completely dark, leaving only the flickering candlelight in the treehouse.
The candle burned on until dawn, when it was finally extinguished by a puff of breath.
Angel blew out the candle, stretched lazily, and then continued to check the newly refined array plate.
After confirming there were no mistakes, Angel gave a firm step, and Earl Mi slowly emerged from the shadows.
Angel tossed the array plate to Earl Mi. It was a plate designed to forcefully open a Plane Corridor with a certain stability effect, increasing the success rate of starting the Plane Corridor by at least sixty percent and also shortening the time needed to form it, making escape more efficient.
However, if he encountered danger during exploration, he might be a bit slower in activating it himself, so it was better to leave it to Earl Mi.
Earl Mi had never made a mistake in assessing situations, and Angel believed that Earl Mi would use it at the most critical moment.
After handing over the array plate, Earl Mi didn’t immediately retreat into the shadows but slowly grew a flower on top of its head that glowed with a faint blue light, sending waves out from the Blue Lantern Flower.
Angel sensed it and discovered that Earl Mi seemed to be making an inquiry.
The inquiry was simple: it was asking Angel how to handle X0. Back at the Snook Base, Angel had encountered X0, a person who had become semi-mechanical, with significant research value, so he had Earl Mi drag him into the shadows.
Angel had done this many times before; when encountering something interesting that couldn’t fit in his bracelet, he’d leave it to Earl Mi.
Yet, Earl Mi had never questioned this before; this time, it actually asked.
Upon a detailed sense, Angel realized that X0 was continually repeating within Earl Mi, "Program error, current location unknown, initiating navigation."
Then X0 would say again after a circuit, "Navigation error, reinitiating navigation positioning."
Repeating incessantly without pause.
Apparently, Earl Mi had grown weary of it and finally asked Angel how to handle X0.
After understanding the situation, Angel consoled Earl Mi and handed it a Mute Magic Rune Scroll to apply to X0 first.
Subsequently, Angel released a modified scouting puppet capable of recording images for extended periods and tossed it into Earl Mi’s shadow.
More than handling X0, Angel’s curiosity was piqued by Earl Mi’s change.
Logically, under the Seed of Distortion, Earl Mi should have only instinct remaining, with its consciousness having dissolved. But now, emotions had emerged.
This made Angel very curious about what had happened to Earl Mi recently, whether there was an issue with the Seed of Distortion.
Thus, he put the scouting puppet inside to observe the changes in Earl Mi.
Having done all this, Angel sat at the table, pondering momentarily before entering the Wilderness of Dreams, leaving Lord Reine a message via the tree network, briefly describing Earl Mi’s changes.
He didn’t know whether this was good or bad; perhaps Lord Reine could provide some guidance.
Angel only queried about Earl Mi, then went offline. As for the matter of the Seedling Believers, Angel didn’t bring it up; since they didn’t want him to know, he’d pretend not to. After all, it held no downside for him.
After going offline, Angel left the treehouse.
Shortly thereafter, sensing Angel’s presence, Dox, Vay, and others also came over.
Dox was just about to greet Angel when a voice suddenly emerged from the stone tablet on Vay:
"Have you prepared yourself to be a deserter at any moment?"
The Black Earl’s nose actually spoke!
Dox, Kaier, and even Vay looked at the stone tablet with astonished eyes.
While the three froze in statue-like stupor, Angel smiled and said, "If preparing an ace for facing danger counts as being a deserter, then I guess we’re all deserters here."