Chapter 1640: Angel's Eyes
First pushing the tank containing the J13 gene agent onto the shore, Xu Huo then turned back to search for the object at the bottom of the pool.
The pool was deep, and it took him some time to swim down. Following the direction of the ray fluctuations, he searched and found a milky white round stone under an overturned concave rock.
Judging solely from its appearance and the form of the rays, it seemed more like a natural ore. But unexpectedly, when he picked it up, he discovered that a black ring was fastened to the other side of the stone. It seemed that because of this ring, the energy released by the stone could radiate over a larger area.
Xu Huo suddenly sensed something and immediately stored the stone in his personal panel.
[Angel's Eyes: A component of a super item. Because it is made from a whole piece of primordial stone, it can be used as an independent item. It has the ability to intercept a portion of time. Those who do not understand time power often mistake it for an illusion.]
Angel's Eyes... Xu Huo's first thought was of the legendary Field Battle Angel. His connection with this super item was quite deep.
Initially, in Block Fairy Tale City, he had been gifted a tooth of the Battle Angel by chance. Although it couldn't be used as an ordinary item, it had still helped him several times. Because of the material's high grade, ordinary items simply couldn't leave any mark on it.
Later, the super item incident in District 014 was alleviated when the Field Clan made the battle site public. Then, encountering the Paper Servant Master by chance in Clown City, and because of what he said about the super item's "destiny," the two of them had forged a friendship. Now, in this instance modified by Dr. Wu, he had obtained another part of the Battle Angel.
It was uncertain whether this component had been modified by Dr. Wu, but it was itself an extremely valuable primordial stone—primordial stones can permeate and alter the structure of surrounding ores, causing qualitative changes in them. The part that evolves into subclass stone is one of the important raw materials for items and weapons in the game today. However, only the primordial stone known as "Time Origin" can give ores special attributes like time and space.
Xu Huo had never seen "Time Origin" and wasn't sure if the stone in his hand was the legendary one that could be exchanged for an entire district. But given the special state of its rays, combined with the characteristics of this instance, it undoubtedly possessed time power.
Moreover, this was the eye of the "Field Battle Angel."
Even though he had heard and seen things about the Field Battle Angel, it was only at this moment that Xu Huo truly began to understand why this super item could drive so many super players crazy.
Just a single part might possess the effect of a super item—anyone would be moved.
Of course, Dr. Wu wouldn't casually place it at the bottom of the pool for players to take away easily. The instance "Midsummer Night Star River" actually tested endurance more than anything else. The instance environment affected every entering player equally. Personal mentality directly influenced the dream process, meaning the degree of spiritual interference. This entire process was a screening process. Those who met Dr. Wu's requirements could enter this river space, and how far they could go depended on the player's quality.
Finally, seeing the J13 gene agent was the real test. Some would surely ignore the importance of the gene agent to the people of District 013 and directly break the tank to take the perfect potion—of course, whether they could take it was another matter. Some might want both, but the gene agent couldn't be taken, and the pool bottom was affected by time power, so what was seen and heard might not be real.
Only by realizing the importance of the gene agent and thus giving up the perfect potion could one trigger the image left by Dr. Wu.
Dr. Wu's ultimate goal in teaching lessons to inform players about the uncontrollability of evolution and the game was likely the same as his widespread distribution of perfect potions. Unlike the Holy Sword Society, which hated the game, or some players who were fanatical and dependent on it, Dr. Wu wanted to use the game. Therefore, his thinking was inclined towards coexistence with the game.
To some extent, he was promoting his own philosophy, seeking like-minded individuals.
Xu Huo couldn't guess his ultimate goal, but Dr. Wu had clearly set up more than one contingency in this instance. The phrase "time power" was obviously another trigger point, causing Dr. Wu's image to fluctuate and directly giving him both the primordial stone with time power and the J13 gene agent.
Naturally, the primordial stone placed here wasn't just for use with the instance; its very existence was full of implication.
Dr. Wu first mentioned that humans couldn't control genes, let alone fully master evolution, then led into the game. After Xu Huo's question, he further stated that the game was not only a man-made product but also a natural product.
These two seemingly ordinary sentences actually revealed two very important pieces of information.
Back during the Eerie Sound Knights attack in District 011, Bai Kou had mentioned that "Time Origin" was a multi-dimensional product and the cornerstone of the game. This primordial stone, "Time Origin," had not been thoroughly studied and could not be artificially created. If the game's operation depended on it, then it proved Dr. Wu's point—that humans could not fully control the game, not even its developers.
This lack of control might not just mean an inability to use the game itself one hundred percent. More likely, like genetic modification, through some kind of related superposition, unknown and uncontrollable unexpected changes had occurred... Did this mean that the game itself possessed a certain degree of autonomy?
For a moment, guesses like "machines developing self-awareness" and "intelligent self-evolution" flashed through Xu Huo's mind, but they all eventually subsided, turning into another question:
If even those who created the dimensional rifts couldn't fully control the game itself, could it still be destroyed?
Undoubtedly, the game was constantly improving and evolving. But this unpredictable, unimaginable future was like the vast and desolate universe—any thought cast into it would only leave a sense of emptiness, because in the face of the universe, individual thoughts were insignificant.
At this point, Xu Huo reined in his thoughts and refocused his attention on Dr. Wu. Even giving away a component of a super item so casually made him feel that Dr. Wu might no longer be seeking like-minded people but rather cultivating them.
As he had thought before, players' dependence on the game far exceeded what they themselves believed. If the game were to close all players' personal panels, what would be left for the players?
Only themselves.
Whether it was evolution or super evolution, it was clearly a part that humans themselves couldn't control, and the game couldn't control either.
Not to mention that time-space power itself was the cornerstone of the game.
(End of Chapter)