Zorro arrived at a secluded corner of the archive.

At that moment, he took out a book, put it back, and touched the bookshelf, but nothing happened.

“Right. I’ve been here several times these past few days. If there were something unusual, it should have shown up by now.”

Zorro recalled the scene where he had felt that strange sensation.

At that time, he was holding Han Mingxiao’s pendant. He later learned that the seemingly real object was actually created by mental power.

He had then thought that the man named Han Mingxiao might know what he was looking for.

If the wood-grain pomegranate pendant was the object that triggered him to find that bookshelf, it was too much of a coincidence.

“What’s wrong?”

Zorro’s thoughts were in a mess. He felt like he was about to touch the answer, but he was always missing it by a little.

So, was it triggered by mental power?

As far as he knew, there was nothing more powerful in terms of mental ability than the “Right of Mental Manifestation.”

He took a deep breath, and a silver ring appeared over his chest.

[I, a small star, begin to communicate with the great “Right of Mental Manifestation.”]

The Star slowly rotated.

Zorro changed a few books in his hands and brushed his fingers over row after row of bookshelves, but nothing happened.

“Was my inference wrong?”

Zorro frowned his somewhat incomplete eyebrows.

An impulse arose within him—he hadn’t gotten it wrong. He firmly believed that what he was doing now was completely correct, and this was a fleeting opportunity for him.

After all, the Demon Hero Hall was about to be completed, and then the abilities would be reclaimed.

“Where exactly is the problem?”

Zorro’s eyes flickered with a contemplative gaze.

He recalled Han Mingxiao’s face, the content of his words, his movements… he questioned himself, and Han Mingxiao handed over the pendant…

He refused and developed a strong suspicion, then began asking the group leader about Han Mingxiao’s identity.

It seemed to be around that time when a hint of strangeness appeared in the book in his hand.

The vast literature archive was desolate and still. Zorro stood tall beside a towering bookshelf, looking up. The ancient bookshelves remained silent, just standing there in silence, like boulders gazing upon comings and goings—both quiet and lively.

“At that time, I was asking the group leader, so does it mean I need to establish a mental link with someone?” Zorro murmured.

He decided to give it another try.

[I wish to communicate with Yang Zicang.]

The fold line on his chest vanished rapidly, and soon Yang Zicang responded.

{Hey? Heading to the literature archive again. Cramming at the last minute?}

[Heh, I’m conducting an experiment and need to communicate with someone.]

{What kind of experiment?}

Zorro pinched the book in his hand, his brows furrowed.

[Maybe it failed. I thought that with the “Right of Mental Manifestation” ability, I might be able to read books more deeply.]

Across from him, Yang Zicang immediately understood what Zorro meant. Indeed, this thing was currently the most powerful “treasure” they could get their hands on, and it didn’t even have a concrete form.

After sensing no expected anomaly, Zorro reflected, could it be that the power of the “Right of Mental Manifestation” was too strong, the rank too high, and thus the “accident” that should have occurred wouldn’t happen?

{That’s quite a unique thought of yours. Why set so many conditions—touching the book, activating the ability, and communicating with someone? Did you pick up some weird summoning step from somewhere?}

Yang Zicang said, and Zorro nodded, explaining in a low voice:

[It might be my illusion, but during a previous communication with someone, some of the books here reacted abnormally.]

Yang Zicang across from him pondered gravely for a moment, then hesitated:

{So you want to communicate with them?}

Communicate…!

In an instant, it was as if a bolt of lightning struck Zorro.

He froze for a moment, then let out a soft sigh.

[Good, Yang Zicang. If my experiment succeeds, you’ll have to share the blame with me.]

The link was broken.

Zorro was instantly filled with motivation.

The zigzag line on his chest flickered and retracted, but the triangle still spun within the halo on his chest.

Zorro maintained its manifestation, looking at the geographical data cover in his hand, “Chronicles of Sea Drilling 150-200 Years, WN009 Area, Detailed Geographical Records 031.”

[I, the tiny triangle, continue to exercise the Right of Mental Manifestation.]

The fold lines flickered around the halo, as if unable to find a target.

[I want to communicate with the “Chronicles of Sea Drilling 150-200 Years, WN009 Area, Detailed Geographical Records 031.”]

As Zorro drove it with effort, suddenly a pure power burst out from within the halo, as if oiling the fold lines to shoot them forth, darting into the book in his hand!

Zorro instantly felt a wave of numbness!

A dark, profound, and unsettling aura diffused into his mind. But it was quickly subdued.

In the face of the Right of Mental Manifestation, this aura dared not make any rash moves.

{Ansi Datu… Skalander…}

Untranslatable language. Moreover, the other side had no spiritual thoughts; these sounds were merely echoes of some ineffable, ethereal will.

Success?!

Zorro suppressed his excitement.

After trying a few more times, he placed the book that yielded no communicative progress back on the shelf.

Then, the man’s gaze fell upon these bookshelves.

“Models, Chrono Weapons, artificial things turned into monsters… yes, communication. The communication of models isn’t just with humans.”

His hand touched the bookshelf, the circle on his chest rotating, and he nervously confirmed this thought in his mind.

[I want to communicate with the bookshelf.]

There was no response.

“Hmm?” Zorro glanced nervously at the bookshelf that remained completely still. Then he took a few steps and switched to another shelf.

[I want to communicate with the bookshelf.]

  Still no response. 

“That can’t be right… What are you…”

Zorro looked at the rows of towering creations, thought for a moment, then took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

He silently tested the idea in his mind:

[I want to communicate with the unmanifested, surplus bookshelves in the Records Department.]

As soon as this thought emerged, the man felt a change in the atmosphere around him.

  [The Right of Mental Manifestation has responded to my request.] 

Zorro opened his eyes and lifted his head.

The surrounding library had, at some point, become an endless expanse, but the wide bookshelves were gone.

In front of him stood only a single black bookshelf, towering like a great door, solitary in the vast space that stretched out from the library into the horizon.

Its edges were traced with fine golden patterns, simple yet regal.

In the blink of an eye, the bookshelf appeared right before Zorro.

The man instinctively stepped back, his footsteps echoing hollowly in the empty silence.

“Tic, tic, tic~”

Several books leaped out from the empty shelves, their spines reading:

 “You,” “Look For,” “Want,” “To Do,” “What.”

Zorro swallowed nervously and said with tension:

“I want to obtain the method for making tickets to enter the Third Hub Town.”

The books quickly retracted and vanished. The next second, with a crackling sound, another batch of books popped up, standing upright in a row.

“You” “Spirit” “Pure” “Enough”.

“But” “Request” “Cannot” “Fulfill.”

“This… May I ask why?”

Zorro clenched his fists, staring straight at it.

All books retracted and vanished, then quickly popped back into view.

“Method” “Cannot” “Be Revealed” “Unless” “You” “Answer” “A” “Question.”

“Please, go ahead.”

Zorro seemed to hear footsteps around him, along with the ticking of a clock.

Please, hurry!

No new books appeared on the empty bookshelf for a while. Just as Zorro nervously wondered if he had made a mistake, a book emerged.

“The World”

After a pause, another book popped up right next to it.

“Has an End?”

“……”

Zorro felt sweat streaming down his back.

How should he answer this?

The other party was like a wise sage who had pondered the ultimate questions for countless ages, casually questioning a child who had stumbled into his room.

How should he answer so as not to be dismissed too disgracefully?

What to do? He had finally grasped this chance to see the bookshelf—was he really going to fail and leave?

A few seconds later, Zorro nervously bit his lips and gazed at the bookshelf.

As if aware of his anxiety, the other party produced new books on the lower shelf:

“Has” “Or” “Has Not.”

Phew…

Zorro’s tension suddenly eased. He moved his dry lips and tongue.

“I… don’t know.”

There was a moment of silence between them, then the books slowly retracted and reappeared.

“Between” “Has” “And” “Has Not.”

The books whooshed back.

“You,” “have chosen,” “a new possibility,” “and this is,” “your most sincere,” “inner confession.”

“New possibility” burst forth with a faint golden light.

Crackle pop.

All the books retracted and instantly re-emerged.

“Although,” “you,” “have wasted,” “one of,” “my statistical anchors.”

The book disappeared, then reappeared.

“But this,” “is the standard answer,” “belonging solely to you.”

Zorro was a bit stunned—that he had wasted a statistical anchor? The Standard Answer belonging solely to him… Did this mean that even if he passed on this answer, the next person wouldn’t be able to succeed? Did that imply…!

The first four books “swished” back into the deep black of the backing plate, like a void universe.

Zorro looked up, tense and expectant, watching.

There was still one last book on the shelf.

Upon its spine, the four golden characters shimmered with phantoms of golden light.

Holding his breath, Zorro waited a few seconds. Feeling no mental response, he reached out and took down this solitary book—The Standard Answer.

Upon opening it, the words on the title page caught his eyes.

Page 001 — Table of Contents.

Page 003 — Method for Manufacturing the Sub-ether Tunnel Forgetfulness Engine.

Page 048 — Coordinates of the Somber Plane in the Dark-Gold-Like Hub Town.

Page 050 — Construction Method of the Psychic Field for the Dark-Gold-Like Hub Town.

Page 100 — Words of Counsel.

This is it!

Finally, it’s finally in my hands!

Zorro caressed the soft, dark-covered, gold-lettered book with great affection. Although it contained precious materials, his curiosity led him to first flip to the page of “Admonitions.”

On it, there was only a single line.

——Words are the chisel of history, and history is the lifeblood of words.

This barely qualified as admonitions—he had expected something like a warning, say, “Do not be deceived by mental illusions.”