novelraw Chapter 448: Entry
Chapter 448: Entry
Viola imagined the scene:
A naive, newborn plane consciousness “waking up” only to immediately “sense” a terrifying, aura-emitting foreign object inside its own body, poking around everywhere…
The anger and agitation on her face gradually gave way to a strange expression.
It actually… made sense?
Especially now, as she looked out the viewport at the green plane that had just destroyed every formation. It showed no intention of pressing the advantage or annihilating everything.
On the contrary, the surface of its planar barrier was undergoing rapid, irregular writhing. The energy flows surged and ebbed unpredictably, bulging outward then contracting inward. Overall, it looked…
“Exactly like a giant cat that’s just had its fur blown up, all tense and twitching…” Viola muttered unconsciously.
She froze for a second herself, feeling the comparison was a bit absurd—yet oddly fitting.
She turned to Jie Ming. Her expression was still unpleasant, but most of the explosive edge had left her tone. “So, according to your judgment, Starfall… succeeded? She created a living plane with an especially timid personality?”
Jie Ming did not answer immediately. His gaze shifted from the light screen to the “fluffed-up” plane outside the window. Far from relaxing, his expression grew even more serious.
He nodded once, then slowly shook his head.
“From the results, the living plane activation experiment was undoubtedly a success. It now possesses an independent soul, can freely manipulate planar energy and matter, and can even respond to external stimuli with such… intensely emotional reactions.” Jie Ming spoke more slowly. “However, whether Wizard Starfall herself is safe and unharmed… that remains a very big question mark.”
Viola’s heart sank heavily.
Jie Ming’s words had struck home.
Yes, Starfall Plane had come alive.
But what about Starfall?
From beginning to end, there had been no word from her.
Mentor Clark had ventured deep inside, and not only had he shown no sign of coming out, he hadn’t even sent any clear signal.
Did that mean Mentor Clark had run into trouble on his end?
The two fell into a brief silence. The atmosphere in the control room shifted from the earlier battle urgency to a heavy, oppressive worry.
Fortunately, Mentor Clark did not keep them waiting long.
Soon after the living plane’s soul fully stabilized, the main console in front of Jie Ming lit up, receiving a message.
The message was short. The sender was naturally Clark.
It contained only two sentences:
【Situation under control. You may enter to observe.】
【Maintain gentle spiritual fluctuations during entry. Do not stimulate the newborn consciousness.】
Viola and Jie Ming exchanged a glance. Both saw profound relief mirrored in the other’s eyes.
“Let’s go!” Viola decided immediately.
To avoid startling the living plane, they no longer relied on the warship.
Viola placed a hand on Jie Ming’s shoulder. The law-solidification power of a sixth-ring wizard gently unfolded, forming a stable protective shroud that enveloped him.
In the next instant, the two left the warship and flew toward the still faintly “writhing,” visibly “nervous” green plane.
Surprisingly, when they approached to a certain distance, a section of the seemingly tense planar barrier rapidly thinned and softened.
Then, like water rippling apart, the barrier parted to both sides, revealing a “gateway” wide enough for both of them to pass through.
“Wow,” Jie Ming couldn’t help but murmur in awe. “That level of control… it really is genuinely ‘alive.’ It manipulates its own body as naturally as instinct.”
Such effortless opening and closing of the planar barrier was far beyond what ordinary plane administrators could achieve with authority and formations—this was a living being’s command over its own “limbs.”
Viola, however, had no mood to admire the marvel. Her face was grave. After quickly determining the direction, she led Jie Ming straight through the gateway.
The moment they crossed the planar barrier, an unprecedented sensation enveloped them.
This was not the usual feeling of energy-environment transition when entering an ordinary plane. It felt more like… entering the interior of an enormous living organism.
The energy medium within the plane was saturated with an almost tangible vitality, accompanied by a clear “gaze” that carried curiosity and a hint of timidity.
Though the presence was trying its best to hide, its overwhelming existence made it unmistakable—without question, this was the gaze of the plane’s own soul.
Viola flew with clear purpose, heading straight toward the location in her memory where Wizard Starfall’s core laboratory had been.
Along the way, the scenery had not suffered too much destruction. Yet the mountains, rivers, and forests all seemed infused with spirituality. The plants grew with unusually vigorous postures, and even the passing breeze carried a certain rhythm.
Soon, a mountain peak that had once been cleverly concealed by illusion appeared in view.
But now the illusion had completely dissipated, revealing the majestic metal tower standing at the summit.
This was the true body of Starfall’s laboratory.
Yet the sight of the tower made their hearts lurch.
In the mid-to-upper section of the silver-gray metal tower, a gigantic hole more than ten meters in diameter gaped wide!
The edges of the hole were extremely irregular. The metal had been torn and melted. Residual energy formed dense sparks that flickered and jumped from time to time, emitting faint crackling sounds.
This was clearly damage inflicted by brute force from the outside, piercing through in an instant.
“It must have been Mentor’s doing,” Jie Ming said in a low voice.
Following the trail of destruction, the two flew into the tower’s interior.
The internal structure was also heavily damaged, but the main passages remained passable.
They followed the direction of the strongest energy fluctuations and quickly arrived at the massive laboratory located in the tower’s core area.
The laboratory was in utter disarray. Many precision instruments lay toppled, energy conduits were severed, and the floor was littered with shattered crystal fragments and twisted metal wreckage.
Yet in the center of the laboratory, in a relatively clean area, two figures hovered silently.
One was their familiar Mentor Clark, clad in his gray robe, expression calm as ever.
He stood with hands behind his back, head tilted upward, observing the laboratory dome.
There, instead of metal, was now a flowing energy light screen resembling a nebula. Countless points of light moved within it along some profound, mysterious trajectory.
And the other figure…
The moment Jie Ming saw it, his pupils contracted sharply.
Viola, upon clearly seeing the person, froze as though struck by lightning. After a second of stunned silence, she rushed forward, her voice sharp and distorted from emotion:
“Starfall! You bastard… how did you end up like this?!!”
Hovering beside Mentor Clark was indeed Wizard Starfall.
She still wore that elegant robe adorned with silver starlight. Her face remained the same intellectually beautiful one from memory, and the corners of her mouth even carried a faint smile that felt very familiar to Jie Ming.
But…
She had no body.
What appeared before them was a soul form—its facial features perfectly clear and solid as crystal, yet utterly translucent!
The robe, the hair, the face… every detail was lifelike, yet the sense of physical substance was completely absent.
Wizard Starfall’s material body had vanished without a trace.
And at this moment, this soul-state Starfall paid no attention to her own condition. She cheerfully waved toward the rushing Viola and the trailing Jie Ming, her voice clear yet carrying a strange, ethereal echo:
“Ah! Viola! Little Jie Ming! You’re here! Welcome, welcome! Oh come on, don’t be so worked up—I’m perfectly fine, aren’t I?”