Chapter 956 - 467: "Wish Machine

In this regard, this Divine Factor was indeed a bit like a bug in the system. It seemed capable of striving to fulfill any unreasonable request. It hardly felt like a power a mortal could possess, especially considering Gauss currently only held a mere 5% of the Divine Factor.

The second approach was to save it for crucial moments that required luck, such as his Racial Talent extraction. Before extracting the Racial Talent of an Extraordinary Demon next time, he could perhaps activate "Wish" to guarantee the best possible outcome, rather than leaving everything to elusive luck. However, considering that "Wish" had a cooldown, it was best not to use it casually before making major decisions. He needed to save the opportunity for when it truly mattered.

The third and more practical approach was to use it in combat. Gauss had already acquired numerous titles targeting a wide variety of monsters. Among these titles, quite a few required a stroke of luck to trigger a critical strike. For instance, during the recent battle where he and Hephaestus fought the four young dragons, his True Dragon Killer title had a small chance of dealing true damage special attacks against the Dragon Race. It was precisely thanks to this special power that he was able to kill those thick-skinned beasts in such a short amount of time.

While those special critical strikes were excellent, their biggest flaw lay in their low probability. In actual combat, he couldn’t gamble on them happening with certainty. Now that he possessed the "Wish" mechanism of the Divine Factor, he could unleash an autonomous, controllable critical strike at the right moment. This critical strike would buff his strongest attack, maximizing its effectiveness. Furthermore, the "Wish" itself might also enhance the power of his Spells.

Thanks to the versatility of the "Wish" mechanism, it could be applied to almost anything. Whether the wish could actually be fulfilled or not was another matter, but using it would undoubtedly yield better results than not using it.

This thought, however, inevitably led Gauss to another question. The Divine Factor was not a power exclusive to him. If other creatures could amass enough of the Divine Factor, would they also gain the "Wish" mechanism, or perhaps other equally unreasonable, cheat-like powers? At the very least, the legendary Hero Roland and the Demon King had definitely mastered similar methods, and theirs could only be stronger. And what about the Gods high above? They would only possess even more unimaginable Power.

He decided to take things one step at a time. At least he was now on the right path.

Gauss took a deep breath to calm himself. Taking advantage of the fact that the surrounding space-time was still locked and the white egg remained in a conscious state, he attempted to communicate with it once more.

"So, what are you?" he asked, sending out a probe of his consciousness.

Faced with his question, the white egg fell into a brief moment of confusion before responding.

"I am******"

However, when its mental fluctuations reached Gauss, they transformed into a message he couldn’t comprehend, manifesting as a garbled mess in his mind. He could sense that the white egg had indeed provided a genuine answer, but at his current level, the knowledge conveyed seemed to be an untouchable and unknowable existence.

"I can’t hear you clearly. Can you describe it in a way I can understand?" Gauss asked again.

The white egg transmitted an even more bewildered and confused emotion before answering once more. This time, however, the garbled content was longer, revealing an indescribable, twisted Power.

"I************"

Gauss’s head buzzed from the sound. If his Intelligence Attribute hadn’t broken through to 21 points, he suspected his head would be splitting with pain right now. Ultimately, he gave up on probing further. It was enough to know that the white egg could currently help him digest and absorb Divine Power.

As the golden chains fully retracted into the white egg’s body, the frozen space-time around them suddenly dissolved, and the white egg returned to its quiet state. Space and time began to flow once again.

The dense, quiet rustling from outside the tent reappeared in Gauss’s ears. Hushed voices, the shuffling of footsteps, the squirming of insects in the air... Countless sounds flooded into his ears, vying for attention. Especially after experiencing the extreme tranquility of frozen space-time, this clamor and vitality felt particularly distinct.

After sorting through the loot from the Dragon’s Nest expedition, there were no other highly valuable items apart from the Dragon Corpses and the mysterious statue. Still, Gauss was satisfied. Having the Divine Factor break through 5% was truly crucial.

With that, the Dragon’s Nest operation officially came to a close. Having walked away with a massive haul, it was time for Gauss to return to the turbulent border war. Although the bearded Guild Master saw how travel-worn he was and gave him a few days off, telling him to simply rest well without participating in front-line combat, Gauss could sense that this peace would not last long.

Gauss’s intuition was right.

On the afternoon of his return, the Green Dragon Army launched a new wave of massive attacks. Even though the Earl’s Iron Guard Knight Order, having just arrived on the front lines, had achieved significant results, the sheer number of Demons was simply overwhelming. Unless they routed a few core legions and killed the Demon generals, it would be difficult to deal them a truly crippling blow.

Seeing the surrounding soldiers and Adventurers springing into action, how could Gauss, despite being on leave, truly remain a bystander?

"I’ll go with you," Gauss said.

He knew that there must be traitors from the Dragon Worship Sect in the camp keeping an eye on his movements, ready to pass on intel about him through various means. But living in the world of Adventurers, how could one possibly avoid all risks? As long as he continued to operate as an Adventurer, and as long as the coveted true Dragon Power flowed within him, he was destined to stand at the eye of the storm, stirring up the winds of change.

Besides, it was better if they jumped out of hiding so he could catch them all in one fell swoop. He had already handed over the intel on the suspicious targets within the Red Dragon Team to the Guild. He didn’t have the time to investigate their motives. Whether they were human traitors, members of other factions, or spies sent by human nobles, it was best left to the Guild’s professionals to verify. This was also a form of protective benefit the Adventurer’s Guild provided for its prodigies.

"Aren’t you tired? You just got back," Aaliyah asked with concern upon hearing his words. She knew Gauss had been working around the clock; this journey certainly hadn’t been easy for him. To be honest, though, hearing that Gauss would be fighting alongside them filled Aaliyah with a strong sense of security.

"I haven’t had a real fight in days. If I don’t stretch my limbs, my body will rust," Gauss waved his hand dismissively. Over the past half-month, despite rushing across multiple regions, the only decent battle he had experienced was the one against the four dragon whelps. The rest had merely involved killing irrelevant, insignificant monsters.

"Total Monsters Killed: 75,561."

His monster kill count was not far from the 100,000 milestone; he only had a quarter left to go. And the battlefield, serving as a meat grinder, was a treasure trove to him. To him, monsters were the ultimate source of Power.

He silently tallied his progress across the various milestones:

Total monster kills: approaching 100,000.

The goal of 100 Ordinary Monsters species in the Monster Atlas currently sat at 92.

The goal of 50 elite monster species had reached 44.

The goal of 20 Commander Level species was at 15.

The goal of 5 Extraordinary Demon species stood at 4, leaving him just one short.

It was safe to say that he wasn’t far from completing any of his current goals. The final Extraordinary Demon goal, in particular, was right at his fingertips. This was also why he had managed to resist the temptation to test out his "Wish" ability right after awakening it. He was afraid the cooldown would be too long, preventing him from using it for a luck blessing should he encounter a desirable target on the battlefield.

Gauss’s thinking had always been crystal clear. He knew that compared to the momentary thrill of trying out a new toy, the upcoming extraction of the Extraordinary Demon’s Talent was of paramount importance. The stronger the Demons became, the harder it would be to gather enough of their species in the future, making the Talent extraction all the more significant.

For one thing, whether among humans or Demons, the strong were always a minority compared to the tens of thousands of ordinary individuals. For another, constrained by disparities in Racial Talents, it was incredibly difficult for ordinary monster species to break through to higher levels. Thus, it was hard for higher-tier species to display the same abundant variety found among lower-tier monsters. Gauss simply hadn’t felt the need to actively seek them out before; otherwise, his Ordinary Monsters species count would have likely surpassed the 100-mark long ago.