Black Earl pondered for a moment: "I don’t know what’s going on in this situation, perhaps it’s related to the talent of the Demons of the Panic Realm. My research on demons is really too limited. If you’re willing to let me study Earl Mi for a while, I might be able to help you unravel this confusion..."
"There’s no need for that, Earl Mi was given to me by Lord Rhein, and if there’s really research to be done, I believe Lord Rhein can also handle it." Angel brought Rhein into the discussion directly.
Black Earl and Rhein are friends, so he couldn’t forcefully take Earl Mi, and faced with Angel’s refusal, Black Earl could only begrudgingly accept it.
However, Black Earl still ’kindly’ reminded Angel: "I don’t know how you make demons listen to you, or even engage in initial communication with you. But I can tell that Earl Mi inherently lacks independent consciousness, which is a good thing; otherwise, Earl Mi would have devoured you by now."
"Though Earl Mi’s independent consciousness has been erased, it doesn’t mean that a new independent consciousness won’t emerge."
"Independent consciousness is like a persona; it needs memory capacity, thinking ability, emotional perception, and behavioral logic. These can all actually be met."
"If you allow Earl Mi to exchange too much information with the Ghosteye Witch, even if the information obtained is low-level and chaotic, there are still many spirit lights within. When these spirit lights accumulate, it’s possible for Earl Mi to develop a nascent form of consciousness."
"You should know how terrifying the power of demons is from spending a lot of time with Earl Mi. To gain strength, they willingly become possessed by fiends to protect their former kind. However, the integration with fiends deepens with the use of power, eventually ’awakening’ to become demons. Demons are no longer protectors of their former kind; they can’t even be called humans anymore, but have reverted to fiends, beginning to enjoy eating humans, especially favoring human brains."
"By consuming human brains, they can partly transform the residual information within."
"And your one directly obtained a large amount of information by intermingling with shadows."
"It may have already developed a nascent form of consciousness. There’s currently no backlash, likely because it’s digesting the acquired information, so you’d better refrain from using it temporarily. When you return, let Rhein conduct a comprehensive examination to ensure no errors, then use it for your safety."
Black Earl’s reminder was timely and sincere, but Angel always felt that Black Earl might be trying to use this opportunity to make him give up using Earl Mi... After all, if a rift appears in the team later, and it truly comes to swords drawn with Black Earl, Earl Mi teaming up with Angel, plus Dox, Black Earl might not necessarily win.
Angel thought about it a lot in his mind, and despite suspecting Black Earl’s intentions, his words were actually not problematic.
Angel himself also felt that Earl Mi had become more lively than before.
However, their minds are still connected, and the Seed of Distortion is also deeply rooted within Earl Mi. Angel believes that even if Earl Mi develops a new consciousness, under the control of the Seed of Distortion, it likely won’t have the ability to devour its master in the short term.
With this in mind, Angel first expressed respect and gratitude for Black Earl’s warning. Then he said, "Currently, there’s no way to let Earl Mi step down; it carries the main axis of the Moving Mirage. However, once everything is over, I will look for Lord Rhein immediately to conduct a comprehensive examination on Earl Mi."
Black Earl also understood that the Moving Mirage couldn’t do without Earl Mi, and within the Mirage, Angel could also cast the Purifying Field, which blocked the stench from the outside.
Therefore, he did not force Angel to put away Earl Mi immediately, but said indifferently: "No worries, if Earl Mi does show a backlash during this process, I believe with your ability and mine, suppressing it shouldn’t be a problem."
Angel nodded in agreement to this proposal. Although he and Earl Mi spend day and night together and have developed some feelings, if an uncontrollable independent consciousness really does arise, Angel won’t hesitate to act.
After Black Earl finished speaking, Dox, who had been waiting for a long time, finally had the opportunity to ask a new question.
"Is the silver pendant and crown as we imagined, capable of being combined together?"
Actually, Dox wasn’t too concerned about this question, just routine curiosity to satisfy his strong gossip instinct.
Angel: "Regarding this question, your guess is actually... huh?"
Angel stopped speaking halfway through.
Everyone looked at Angel with some confusion, and Angel, with a somewhat peculiar expression, pointed ahead.
They had always been in the Moving Mirage previously and hadn’t extended their spiritual power outward—because spiritual power is an omnipotent perception, it makes external perception more sensitive, and it can even mimic smell.
To avoid their spiritual power being tainted by the stench, none of them wanted to extend their spiritual power, even the not-so-afraid-of-stench Kaier and Dox didn’t do it.
So, when they saw Angel pointing ahead, they were momentarily stunned, not reacting to what had happened.
Angel sighed, manipulated the spiritual models in the Mind Space, and quickly constructed the model for the Second-Level Trick "Light Source Technique."
However, this model was modified into a variant Light Source Technique through the computing power of the Holographic Tablet.
It’s recorded in Angel’s self-written "Low-level Tricks. Revised" and named vastly different from the Light Source Technique, called "Flashlight."
The few who received the "Low-level Tricks. Revised" initially did not understand what it meant. However, they became indifferent as the trick names grew increasingly bizarre.
If Jon knew, he might immediately guess why Angel’s revised Light Source Technique is called a flashlight.
Because... it really is a flashlight.
It confines the light source, preventing it from fully emitting light and heat, instead condensing it into a beam of light. Although this weakens the brightness, it increases the visible distance of the illumination.
As Angel used the "Flashlight" trick, a beam of light pierced through the Mirage, broke through the dark maze, like a warrior cutting through thorns, paving the way with light, reaching the maze’s end.
—This is not an exaggeration; it’s because the maze’s end is relatively close, coincidentally within the flashlight’s illumination range.
"Do you see it? Two hundred meters ahead, there’s no more road." Angel whispered.
The group initially was surprised by the "Flashlight" trick; they recognized it as the Light Source Technique but didn’t expect the Light Source Technique could be used this way. However, as Angel pointed out that there was no road ahead, their attention was quickly diverted.
"What do you mean, are you saying we have to turn around and find a new path?" Dox asked puzzled.
Angel looked at Dox with an expression like he was staring at an idiot: "I really miss the you driven by inspiration."
Dox: "...Ah?"
Angel didn’t explain further, just pressed the flashlight’s beam downward, and as the light source descended, the group saw a very familiar hole in the ground at the maze’s end.
"Do you understand now? When I said no road, I meant there’s no fork. There is still a way forward, but we might really have to enter... the sewer."
As Angel’s words fell, the air within the Moving Mirage instantly became tense.