Chapter 179: Arcana Master

Master Patelocke!

As soon as those words were uttered, everyone else was sent into a daze.

Shock could be seen in Ilaine Lamburne’s eyes. “Young man, haven’t you gotten something wrong? How could I possibly be Master Patelocke? I’m Ilaine Lamburne, one of his assistants.”

“An assistant knows where the treasure is hidden?” Su Chen countered.

Ilaine Lamburne replied, “That’s because I am Patelocke’s personal assistant. I know all the secrets there are to know about him.”

“But even if that’s the case, why would Patelocke need to place secret treasure stores in his own research lab? After all, this is a research lab; don’t you think that it would be very illogical to hide treasures here of all places? Sorry, but I have performed my own fair share of experiments; I cannot fathom a reason as to why I would take the time to dig out a few rooms to hide my treasure while I’m buried in my research.”

Ilaine Lamburne was stunned and didn’t know how to respond.

Su Chen continued, “Most importantly, if the other researchers banished this lab for safety reasons, why didn’t they take the treasures with them? Look, look at these ingredients: Dragonbird Roots, Crimson Pity Grass, Starmetal, Chillstones…… Whether they’ve lost their value or not, each one is a precious ingredient. Even during the Arcana Kingdom’s reign, when resources were abundant, these items were all quite valuable. And they just gave them up just like that? They didn’t feel reluctant leaving these behind whatsoever? Don’t you think that’s very interesting?”

Ilaine Lamburne was silent.

To abandon the lab but also leave behind such a large pile of valuable resources without taking them – this truly was a big flaw in his logic.

However, he continued, “Young man, if you give me time, I can explain. They didn’t take these resources with them because they left in a hurry. You should know that Patelocke’s Nightmare is incredibly scary. In fact, it is so scary to the point that they left this place as soon as they locked it up. They never even thought about……”

Su Chen interrupted him. “Then how do you explain the fact that as the jailor, you have no way of activating the crystal ball?”

“This……” Ilaine Lamburne was once again at a loss for words. He still wanted to explain himself, but Su Chen said, “Even if you have other ways of carrying out your duties as a jailor, don’t you think it’s strange that they would just leave a dead person in charge and forget about it completely? They aren’t afraid at all that in these thirty thousand years you would for some reason let it out?”

Duan Jiangshan couldn’t resist saying, “Perhaps he never thought that far. All these guys know is how to bury their heads in books and create new inventions without ever thinking about the consequences of those inventions.”

“Trust me, Jiangshan, true scholars are clearer than anybody else what their inventions might do. The thought that scholars only know how to create things and not what the consequences of their creations will be is just something people take for granted. Performing research is, in a sense, very sacred; people who can do it well are more creative than even the most romantic poet and more precise than even the strictest judge,” Su Chen said straightforwardly.

As a scholar overlord, Su Chen was clearer than any of them of how deep this misunderstanding towards people like him extended.

If they didn’t even possess the fundamental capacity of foresight, how could they pierce through the dense fog and discover the profound truths hidden within?

As Su Chen spoke, he glanced back at Ilaine Lamburne. “Let me give you an explanation. The reason why this is happening is because you were lying from the very beginning. You aren’t Ilaine Lamburne nor some jailor. In fact, behind that wall isn’t even a real Patelocke’s Nightmare…… This is one of the reasons why I don’t believe you. What rubbish! Insatiable appetite, unlimited separations, an organism that is invincible and immortal…… No such organism can even exist! That violates the most fundamental laws of life on this planet. There are no treasures, and there is no nightmare; everything is a lie!”

Ilaine Lamburne shook his head. “If I am Patelocke, why do I need to hide my identity? Why would I need to tell such poor-quality lies?”

Su Chen laughed coldly, “Let me answer your last question first. The reason why your lies are of such poor quality is because you were in too much of a hurry. You were in such a hurry that you didn’t have time to think it through or make it more airtight. Coming up with a flawless lie isn’t easy to do. I’m a master liar, so I am very clear about how difficult it is myself.”

Over the past few years, Su Chen had schemed against others many, many times. Those schemes, which seemed simple on the surface, had actually consumed a lot of his time and energy to think it over, looking for any significant holes to prevent them from being discovered.

Because of this, he knew how much thinking a good lie required.

One absolutely needed an abundance of time to think things over.

No one could come up with a perfect lie in such a short period of time. Su Chen couldn’t do it, and neither could this specter.

Behind the seemingly logical lies were a lot of logical potholes and leaks that couldn’t withstand close investigation.

Even so, this lie had already tricked Ji Ruoyu and the others.

After all, not everyone was like him, who could spot the crux of the issue almost immediately. Most of the time, as long as a lie was even somewhat believable, most people would be tricked into believing it.

Ilaine Lamburne still hadn’t given up yet. “Then why do I need to keep my identity hidden?”

“Because of those experimental specimens outside.” Su Chen pointed outside the research lab. “You know you can’t pin those ruthless, inhumane experiments on anyone else. If we found out that you were Patelocke, we definitely wouldn’t be so inclined to believe you or listen to you. That’s why you pretended to be just a helper, so that you could demonstrate your friendliness. But you forgot one thing – no matter who you impersonated, that person would still be of the Arcana Race. During the Arcana Race time period, humans were slaves! How could the assistant of a high-ranking Arcana Master possibly speak courteously with human slaves? Don’t you think that’s the biggest logical fallacy?”

The void image was stunned.

Even Yue Longsha, Duan Jiangshan, and the others all stared at Su Chen, speechless.

Ji Ruoyu’s eyes were filled with small stars. He muttered, “Incredible! Senior Brother Su, you’re too incredible!”

In that instant, “Ilaine Lamburne” lowered his head and laughed.

“Hahahaha, I never would have expected to run into such a formidable youth. Yes, I am Patelocke.”

As he spoke, his appearance changed from that of a young Arcana Race individual to an old, white-haired Arcana Race individual.

Duan Jiangshan stared at him in shock. “Holy crap! This specter can change forms?”

Patelocke said, “I apologize for my lies earlier. I’ve been trapped in this prison for far too long. To stave off the indescribable loneliness, I forced myself into a deep sleep, only waking once every thousand years. At this point, I’ve awakened thirty-six times in total. I originally thought that I would never regain my freedom until I found you all…… Young humans, I express my regret again in lying to you all. My sincerest apologies. I am an old man who has committed many sins, but these past thirty six thousand years have served as penance. At this moment, all I want is to escape the bitterness of such loneliness.”

“So what you were telling us to do before this was just to let you go?” Ji Ruoyu asked.

“Yes,” Patelocke replied. “The mechanism on that stone tablet is the key to helping me out of this spirit tablet. As long as you rotate it, I’ll regain my freedom. I sincerely entreat you, forgive me and release me. If you can give me my freedom, I’m willing to become your loyal slave. Trust me, as one of the chief Arcana Masters during the Arcana Kingdom, I’ll definitely be of great use to you.”

Upon hearing these words, everyone’s eyes lit up.

They all turned around to look at Su Chen.

They evidently still wanted to get Su Chen’s opinion on the matter.

However, Ji Ruoyu couldn’t help but say, “Senior Brother Su, don’t you value knowledge a lot? If this old man follows you, he’s basically a living encyclopedia. All of the knowledge surrounding Ancient Arcana Techniques will be unveiled to you.”

“The prerequisite is that we actually survive,” Su Chen replied.

Everyone was stunned by his words.

Patelocke hurriedly said, “I’m just a specter that has no way of touching physical objects. There’s no way that I could harm any of you.”

Yue Longsha couldn’t help but say, “Yes, he has no way of contacting physical objects. How could he hurt us?”

“Does him not being able to contact physical objects mean that he doesn’t have any abilities?” Su Chen laughed coldly. “Then what was his transformation just then?”

Yue Longsha was stunned. “You mean……”

“He knows a lot more than you might think,” Su Chen said. “Otherwise, how could he communicate with us? Someone like him who can speak our language fluently shouldn’t be underestimated.”

Everyone suddenly realized that they had overlooked something. From the very beginning, Patelocke had been conversing with them using their own language.