Chapter 1145: Which Side Are You On?

Knock, knock, knock—

After a light knock, Chen Ling entered Teacher Ye’s office.

"I really owe you for this one." Teacher Ye stood by the window, as if he had already seen the scene of Chen Ling’s return. He turned around with a smile,

"On behalf of Xiao Bai and the others, and all the other Fusion Faction members, I express my gratitude to you."

"We’re all on the same side, no need to be so polite." Chen Ling sat down in the chair with practiced ease. "Besides, I’ve gained quite a bit this time..."

Teacher Ye was startled. He looked Chen Ling over carefully for a moment, seemingly noticing a subtle change in his temperament, and asked in surprise:

"You’ve slain a calamity again?"

"Yeah, I ran into people from the Jiangtian Sect, so I had no choice but to slay one again..."

Teacher Ye frowned first, then circled around Chen Ling, finding it inconceivable:

"Strange... judging by your aura, this slaying was even more ferocious than the last... but why hasn't the negative emotion of the Calamity of Mockery increased at all? Even the faint murderous intent in your eyes from before is gone."

In Chen Ling’s mind, he recalled the eerie black shadow he had vomited out while on the stage. He only remembered that a large number of audience members had actively crawled into his body, nearly causing his mind to collapse. After that thing he vomited out unconsciously took away one of the promotion conditions, it disappeared into the audience and never appeared again.

Chen Ling hesitated for a moment, then recounted the process, but concealed the situation regarding the stage, only mentioning the part where he fought the Calamity of Mockery.

After listening, Teacher Ye’s expression became visibly ugly.

"Teacher Ye, what exactly is going on?"

"...It’s not good." Teacher Ye pondered for a moment. "Actually, I had concerns before... The Calamity of Mockery is a calamity with severe internal strife. Each individual has a rebellious self-consciousness. As one of them, you control this body, which has already made them jealous. Now that you’ve slain calamities twice in a row, devouring a large number of individuals, you’ve become abnormally powerful...

To them, you are like a variable that has suddenly emerged, potentially capable of devouring all other individuals on your own and completely controlling the Calamity of Mockery, so..."

"You mean, they will unite against me?" Chen Ling immediately understood Teacher Ye’s meaning.

"Exactly."

Teacher Ye spoke slowly, "To the many consciousnesses of the Calamity of Mockery, if the final winner cannot be themselves, then they might as well ensure no one wins, maintaining a state of constant chaos... This is the 'balance' of the Calamity of Mockery.

Now, you are breaking that 'balance' step by step.

When they realize that no one is your match in a one-on-one fight, they will naturally try to create another 'you', an identical monster, to keep you in check."

Chen Ling felt helpless upon hearing this.

These audience members actually united because of him... Controlling the Calamity of Mockery was indeed not that simple.

"Then how should I solve it?"

"That, you can only rely on yourself." Teacher Ye shook his head. "Your situation has no historical precedent... Outsiders cannot help you; you have to figure it out yourself."

"...Alright."

Chen Ling sighed; his academic pressure had increased again.

"There is one more very important thing..." Chen Ling’s expression turned serious again.

He told Teacher Ye the whole process of encountering the Calamity of Thought, including the few images regarding the Red Star.

But to Chen Ling’s surprise, Teacher Ye didn't seem surprised by these. After listening quietly, he nodded slightly:

"During this time, you’ve been studying diligently at the Fusion Faction, so you’re indeed not very aware of the situation outside... In the current Human Domain, the return of the Red Star is no longer a secret. Even Lord Tian Shu, Lu Xun, has calculated the specific time of its arrival."

Chen Ling remembered the rumors that the Tian Shu Domain was a large-scale computing device and immediately asked:

"How much time exactly?"

"About eleven months."

"So soon??"

The scene of destruction after the Red Star passed flashed through Chen Ling’s mind again. Although he had stuffed one of the images into Jian Changsheng’s brain to give him some crisis awareness, the other few images were enough to depict a world-ending scene.

The last time the Red Star arrived, it resulted in the death of 99% of the global population. The remaining survivors eked out an existence under the protection of the Nine Lords for over three hundred years, which led to the current era... If the Red Star really arrived on Earth again in eleven months, could humanity survive this time?

"But what does the return of the Red Star have to do with me? Why would the Calamity of Thought go to such lengths to contact me and make me return to the Abyss of Ghostly Mockery?"

"Do you think humans are the only ones nervous about the return of the Red Star?"

Teacher Ye looked out the window. Under the lead-gray clouds, the figures of some calamities could still be seen running wildly in the depths of the barren land,

"Three hundred years have passed, and the intersection between the Gray World and Earth has become too deep. It’s like a 'gray shell' wrapped around this world. If the Red Star really returns, the first to be impacted won't be Earth... but the Gray World."

Hearing this, a thought flashed through Chen Ling’s mind like lightning. He immediately realized something, and his brows furrowed tighter!

"If that’s the case, doesn't it mean..."

"Before a natural disaster arrives, the first to have a warning are always the beasts... And any clan, upon learning that their home is about to be destroyed, will inevitably choose to migrate."

Teacher Ye looked into Chen Ling’s eyes, his gaze incredibly complex,

"Guess, after these calamities in the Gray World realize the Red Star is coming... where will they choose to migrate?"

"The Human Domain!"

Chen Ling blurted out.

Since the Red Star’s arrival would first strike the Gray World, this "shell," the only choice for the calamities would be to swarm toward the relatively safe "core"... and the only places on Earth not occupied by the Gray World were the few Human Domains.

"So, the Calamity of Thought wanted me to go back to gather all the calamities in the Abyss of Ghostly Mockery and lead them to invade the Human Domain?"

"Not just you; the other five World-Ending Calamities are already preparing for war in their respective territories." Teacher Ye pointed to the barren land outside the Mother Tree,

"Didn't you find it strange when you came back? Except for those World-Ending territory areas, you couldn't see many scattered calamities in other parts of the Gray World..."

Chen Ling then remembered that on his way to the Jiangtian Sect branch, except for the shadow centipedes of the Abyss of Ghostly Mockery, he really hadn't seen a single other calamity...

"Now, the entire Gray World, only the Abyss of Ghostly Mockery is leaderless." Teacher Ye looked into Chen Ling’s eyes, as if wanting to see through his heart,

"Chen Ling, if one day in the future, a decisive battle breaks out between the calamities and humans...

At that time, which side will you stand on?"