Chapter 298: A Man Imprisoned by Knowledge
Bai Luo was capable of storing a total of four Void abilities.
After recording the Lover's Veil, he now had three Voids: the Dancer's Shoes, the Mirror of Reversal, and the newly acquired Veil—excluding the Singer's Sword, which didn't count toward the limit.
That meant he still had one empty slot left.
Since all three of his current Voids were support-type abilities, he decided to reserve the final slot for an offensive one.
Thinking carefully… an attack-type Void was most likely to come from the Pyro element, right?
He wondered what kind of Void the Pyro element would grant him.
"Don't move."
Signaling Kokomi to stay still, Bai Luo reached out to test the Lover's Veil that linked the two of them.
He discovered that the Veil became semi-ethereal once the connection formed.
Meaning… as long as the two remained within three meters, the link would persist, even if a wall or other objects stood between them.
The farther apart they moved, the more transparent the Veil became—but its healing did not weaken.
Once the distance exceeded three meters, the Veil would automatically retract back onto his arm and enter cooldown.
During cooldown, the Veil's passive healing effect was also disabled until it fully refreshed.
"Not bad."
Its healing wasn't dramatic, but it was still a legitimate recovery ability, making up for the fact that he previously had no way to heal himself.
Patting the Veil wrapped around his arm, Bai Luo glanced at the utterly bewildered Kokomi.
"Get some rest. I won't bother you anymore. I'll come visit when I have time."
"..."
Bai Luo, having gained a new Void, left in high spirits.
Only the shell-shocked Kokomi remained sitting on the bed, staring blankly at the door as he left.
Her lips parted slightly, as if she wanted to say something—but no words came.
. . .
"Lord Ausbilder."
Just as Bai Luo stepped out feeling refreshed, he ran into Sveta.
She didn't seem surprised to find him here.
In fact, she had deliberately timed her arrival.
"The Divine Priestess might be turning in soon. If you have business with her, save it for tomorrow."
Bai Luo assumed Sveta had come to discuss official matters, so he gave a friendly reminder.
"Your subordinate knows what to do."
Sveta "looked" inside the room—where Kokomi's clothing was slightly disheveled and her expression was dazed—and silently nodded.
. . .
This was a ruin located in Liyue.
But unlike other Liyue ruins, this place was filled with machinery and gears.
The mountain had been brutally hollowed out.
The stone floor had been replaced with cold metal plating.
Though there were still the occasional elemental monuments and crystals, the majority of the room was occupied by all manner of research apparatus.
Now, all those devices were flashing with ominous red lights and blaring harsh alarms.
"Doctor, doing this… doesn't it violate the rules?"
The researcher standing behind the Doctor knew full well this wasn't the right time to say such a thing, because the Doctor absolutely despised people questioning him.
But this kind of illegal operation could easily send the experiment out of control and destroy the entire ruin.
He didn't particularly care about the ruin itself—what he cared about was his recent progress researching the Ruin Guards… and his own safety.
"Rules? If everything in this world were bound by rules, what purpose would researchers like us even serve?"
The Doctor wasn't moved in the slightest by his subordinate's warning.
He was never one to follow conventions.
Otherwise… he wouldn't have been branded a heretic and permanently expelled from the Akademiya.
Liquid in a test tube shouldn't be heated to more than one-third of its volume?
Sorry—such "rules" simply do not apply to him.
Those so-called scholars, in his eyes, were nothing more than decaying creatures imprisoned by their own knowledge.
The so-called Sanctuary of Surasthana—the "Garden of the Seekers"—was nothing but a greenhouse.
They believed they saw and understood the world, but in truth… they were like frogs lying on a dissection table, staring only at the false ceiling of that greenhouse.
Only a flower that truly escapes the greenhouse can understand how vast—and how dangerous—the world actually is.
As the alarms gradually faded and the surroundings returned to calm, everyone finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Everyone except the Doctor.
He looked even more serious than before.
The alarm meant that an experiment had produced unexpected fluctuations.
And the unknown—that was precisely what he wished to see.
But now that the alarm had ceased, that unknown outcome was no longer possible.
Why would he be pleased?
"Lida, check the upper level. I suspect that's where the problem occurred."
Glancing casually across the experiment chamber, the Doctor summoned someone.
It was the same researcher who had questioned him earlier.
"Y-Yes, sir…"
Lida wasn't surprised he was assigned this job.
After all, he had spoken out of turn.
But being sent to a potentially dangerous area still filled him with dread.
Once he finished giving instructions, the Doctor turned and left without looking back.
The unexpected fluctuation had been his last remaining point of interest toward this ruin.
But now that it was stabilizing, his interest was fading.
He had already decided to leave this place and let the others deal with the aftermath.
Picking up a stack of reports his subordinates had prepared, he intended to skim through them as carelessly as before—until a single name caught his attention.
The Ausbilder.
Among the Fatui, the Ausbilder was one of the very few individuals who could genuinely pique his curiosity.
It was mainly because of the subject that man researched—Visions.
Though Visions were merely mass-produced trinkets, he had to admit that Bai Luo's Vision research had saved him quite a bit of effort.
Based on the data returned by the research team stationed on Watatsumi Island, Bai Luo had them studying a certain wildflower that was practically useless, and teaching the island residents basic scientific knowledge.
However… there was one line that caught the Doctor's attention:
[From our observations, the Ausbilder is always accompanied by an ordinary young man. Our private investigation shows he is simply a regular Watatsumi Island resident with nothing special about him.]
The research team did not think much of it, because their Harbinger appeared unpredictably.
Whenever he did appear, he always had someone with him.
Children, adults—there was no discernible pattern.
They had grown used to this and simply recorded it as routine.
But there was one detail only the Doctor noticed:
Every person who appeared near the Ausbilder—aside from fellow Fatui—possessed a Vision.
If they didn't, it was because they had handed it over due to the Vision Hunt Decree.
Only the boy named Teppei was different.
A normal human.
Someone who had never had any contact with Visions.
This made him recall a certain girl now living in Sumeru—Collei.
"It seems… Anatoly's experiment is progressing very smoothly."
All earlier irritation from the failed fluctuation disappeared.
Instead, he felt a growing excitement.
He was now very eager to see what kind of surprise his fellow Harbinger would deliver to him.
. . . . .
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