Facing an Ancient God for a Year

Chapter 1750: Chapter 1745: Bitter Fruit (39)

Let’s start from the beginning.

The containment conditions are very clear: prevent the growth of the "Bitter Fruit," while ensuring at least one Akons indigenous inhabitant survives.

At the start of the task, I appeared as an outsider seeking healing, and received treatment from Hilary, one of the indigenous people and a benevolent adherent of faith.

Unfortunately, the effect of her intoxicating embrace wasn’t good this time, and she suggested I take a walk to clear my mind and rest a bit before undergoing a second treatment.

Upon reaching the surface, various local residents, in their own unique ways, guided me to stay in the church and avoid entering the night.

But unfortunately, it didn’t work in the end. After spending enough time in the night, I awoke in an unfamiliar clinic and met the true attending physician, Dorian.

Everything I had just experienced was merely a special scenario arranged to cure a psychological illness.

All the characters, including Hilary, were special guests invited by Dorian, the master of this dreamscape, through the use of creating dolls.

After discussing my condition with him, I accepted his advice, took Hilary’s doll, and went to find the real owner to get more suitable materials to upgrade tools and enhance the treatment effect.

Leaving the clinic, I visited four of the five people I encountered in the dreamscape, not rushing to gather materials and easily discovering they each possessed unique skills.

This place, abandoned by the Insight and Wisdom God, seemed to have become a gathering of evil gods, fitting the theme of my mission.

The only issue was that they didn’t remember the healing experiences in the dreamscape, nor did they remember interacting with me in the "real world."

Even after I intentionally took some souvenirs back to the clinic, my attending physician also no longer remembered the previous discussions, as if they had never happened.

Even the Hilary doll I took at the time, he still had one.

At this point, the situation became thoroughly bizarre.

To put it specifically, the entire Akons is indeed operating as a small town.

But my interactions with each indigenous inhabitant only occurred in a temporary backup.

No matter what I did inside—burn, kill, plunder, deceive, or dominate—after leaving, the file was directly deleted, not affecting the town’s operation at all.

Even if I really took something out of it—a doll, a Holy Sword—it didn’t matter.

Because when I interacted with anyone again, it was still in a temporary backup, allowing for free reign.

Truly untouchable, like a fly on glass.

And using various seemingly high-ranking powers, after different methods of development and utilization, there was no sign of breaking through this glass.

...

The current situation is like this; now I attempt to exclude all perception-related things from it.

Firstly, the task hasn’t failed, which means the warehouse still recognizes the possibility of completion.

This requires meeting two conditions: the Bitter Fruit has not yet grown, and I still have a way to influence it.

The first point is almost meaningless because, until now, what the Bitter Fruit represents is still unclear. No further deductions can be made.

But the second point directly negates the idea that the glass cannot be penetrated.

Starting from the result to find a method, the easiest to think of is using the Abandonment King’s ranking to forcibly break the limitation.

However, due to Akons’ operating state having strong unreal characteristics, such violent operations are likely to increase the risk of indigenous inhabitants’ survival. Hence, I didn’t rush to adopt it.

Under the current circumstances, it can be considered as plan A.

Meanwhile, continuing to deduce from the point of despair being disproved, the prime issue is how the conclusion of despair was reached?

Answer: because I didn’t find a way.

The harm to the indigenous inhabitants hasn’t been found to transmit into reality, mapping into the glass side’s upper-level powers, with staggeringly high rankings, but no possibility of helping me "escape" was discovered.

Of course, there are two extreme attempts I haven’t made: one is to give up resistance, allowing these upper-level powers to completely pollute or kill me.

The former should have a reduced chance due to my partial immunity to distortion.

The second is also to give up resistance, letting Hilary and others hold me well, to see if being "healed" may lead to the real Akons in some way.

Neither possibility can be directly negated, but essentially they both resemble the logic of "die to see if there’s a hidden setting," belonging to options of complete surrender.

In expectation evaluation, they even rank behind transforming into the Abandonment King.

But they can still be listed as plan B and plan C.

Next is the further question, what if none of these are valid?

If there is indeed no way to break through that barrier, allowing myself to enter the real Akons.

In such a situation, if the possibility of completing the task still exists, what does that mean?

——The glass cannot be penetrated directly, but can be reversed.

Within these backups I experienced, there are elements that can directly prevent the Bitter Fruit from forming; manipulating it can complete the task without needing to enter the real Akons.

...

Without entering the real Akons, but still able to influence it.

That means there are certain elements mapped from there that can be reverse mapped back.

In fact, this was one of the original purposes of seeking high-level powers.

But just like the conclusion then, nothing stunning was found.

The Holy Sword, clearly a high-level power, can even be easily taken from the backup by me.

But if the reverse penetration is feasible, it means that the conclusion made based on perception was wrong.

Something has deceived me without being discovered, or a change in evaluation criteria is needed.

For example, changing from sufficiently powerful to unique.

And once done this way, something becomes apparent—the White-faced Man.

Not sufficiently strong, but sufficiently weak.

Aside from the diversity, all these evil forces gathered in Akons share one thing in common: their ranking is excessively high, to the point of suppressing my current self.

And this highly hoped-for Night Legend has been directly dwarfed.

Does this mean it’s unique in some way?

And may possibly be used for this reason, affecting the world behind the glass?

——Can’t be sure, but worth trying.

At this point, there’s no intuition, perception, fate guidance left to use, only cold logic remains.

So the only question left is, how to use it?

"Thank you for the explanation. Now take me to see your other collections."

Fu Qian stood up.