CHAPTER 79: THE BOUNDARY BETWEEN ILLUSION AND REALITY

As Data Craftsman activated, the data stream formed by Ren and his companion flowed along with the magic power. Before long, Ren saw the legendary magic core—a very scorching red orb of light. On its surface, he could vaguely see some unknown things flowing, but before he could see them clearly, they’d already entered Book’s body. It was an endless library with row after row of bookshelves—impossible to tell how many, impossible to tell how tall... Book seemed completely unable to detect these two abnormal data entries.

Betty also seemed to have never seen such a scene and appeared somewhat dazed. Of course, at this moment, the two of them were completely in data form. Ren didn’t even know how he could tell, but he just knew this guy was stunned. "Best part about digital breaking and entering? No fingerprints, no footprints, no late fees."

Before Ren’s joking voice finished, he directly took Betty and disappeared from the spot.

Book still had no awareness whatsoever.

Traversing what seemed like a time tunnel, an endless data passage—when Betty came to her senses again, they’d already appeared in the City of Gold castellan’s manor!

"We came to the mortal realm so easily?" Even now, Betty was still a bit dazed, unable to react for a moment.

Though she called herself a "thing," she actually possessed intelligence. Descending to this mortal realm wasn’t easy—there were many restrictions. Even if the Goddess of Magic’s believers prayed for her descent, it would be extremely difficult. But now, they appeared here without having to pay any price at all!

If other deities knew about this, they’d probably be twisted with envy! So many things would become incredibly convenient.

"What else?" Ren looked around with a smile. "This City of Gold really is wealthy. The castellan’s manor is already comparable to the Kingdom of Dawn’s royal palace."

"After all, it’s the city-state most skilled at trade in this world." Betty nodded noncommittally. "I’ve heard that half the nobles in this world owe their family money. If you could get them to start believing in you, I suspect it’d feel better than having the entire Kingdom of Dawn believe."

"Whether they choose to believe isn’t up to us." Ren shook his head slightly. "I can already clearly feel the existence of the data world, and it seems quite different from our Magic Net."

"Couldn’t you just release a little corruption? According to the information on the Magic Net, their family should be non-believers, right?" Betty said dismissively.

"Believe first, then corrupt—that’s strengthening faith. Corrupt first, then believe—no faith power will be generated. Didn’t the Goddess teach you this?"

"No, She never corrupts anyone. At least, She never actively corrupts." Betty was slightly stunned, then shook her head.

"Same for me. Corruption is bidirectional. Even if it’s a mortal, when I corrupt them, they’ll definitely corrupt me too."

The resplendent castellan’s manor corridor somehow seemed a bit eerie and terrifying now. But this didn’t affect the two of them at all. They completely ignored where they were, just following their senses and moving forward while chatting—no pressure at all.

"Who are you? How did you get in?!"

The Golden Princess had just walked out of the castellan’s room when she found two young people she’d never seen before in front of her. She was stunned at first, then let out a cry of alarm. "Guar—"

But before she could call for guards, light flashed in Betty’s hand and a surge of magic power rushed toward the Golden Princess.

Instant-cast magic?! The Golden Princess’s eyes widened as she looked at Betty in shock, but she couldn’t make any sound. That magic seemed to be restraining her voice.

"We’re here to solve your problem." Ren’s voice was very gentle, actually giving people a feeling like a spring breeze, unconsciously making them want to believe.

This was actually corruption from a deity. Of course, this was a reduced version—the result of Ren suppressing it himself. If he didn’t control it, the effect would be hundreds or thousands of times what it was now!

After a simple explanation, the two directly entered the castellan’s bedroom. As they entered, Betty conveniently removed the magic from her body.

Seeing this situation, the Golden Princess gritted her teeth and followed them in.

Being able to instant-cast silencing magic meant they were at least legendary!

She figured these must be some old folks with rejuvenation spells or something, looking young. But whatever—since they weren’t hurting her, they probably didn’t mean any harm. Otherwise, she’d already be done for. Gritting her teeth, she followed them in.

The castellan, who’d been healed by Wrathwind’s druid divine magic, seemed to have regained his spirits. He was holding that crystal mirror, murmuring in a low voice. Even Ren couldn’t hear clearly what this guy was whispering.

"How can this be? He was clearly sleeping just now." The Golden Princess looked at this scene, her face full of disbelief. "Sir, can you really solve this problem?"

"Of course. There’s nothing I can’t solve." Ren’s voice remained gentle and steady. Though they clearly didn’t know each other, the Golden Princess instinctively felt that the person before her could be trusted... Little did she know, this was actually due to some slight corruption unconsciously emanating from the God of Technology.

No one could doubt when facing a deity, even if this deity had completely imprisoned all his power.

Before she could say anything more, Ren had already placed his hand on the Mirror of Depravity. He could clearly feel that on the Mirror of Depravity, there was actually the aura of rules.

This was actually a divine artifact! A divine artifact that even deities might not necessarily possess!

The moment He touched the Mirror of Depravity, a peculiar fragrance suddenly filled the entire room.

Suddenly, the scene before them instantly switched. They’d actually gone from the bedroom scene to the gate of the City of Gold castellan’s manor. "Prince Ren, I’m delighted to see you. The City of Gold is honored by your arrival."

The City of Gold’s castellan said this loudly to Ren, showing none of that weak feeling from earlier.

Ren simply shook hands with him and said very politely, "Castellan, I’m also very pleased to see you."

Prince... What an unfamiliar title indeed!

He knew He’d already entered the so-called real illusion... Sensing slightly, it really could be called a real illusion... He could clearly feel this wasn’t the real world, nor was it an illusion—it was similar to His virtual divine realm but somewhat different, a virtual reality that could affect the real world.

The Fallen Ones had actually truly created a real illusion, and this real illusion was related to His missing Data Craftsman authority... Perhaps the space between reality and illusion couldn’t fit so many people...

Instinct told Him that as long as He corrupted this space, His Data Craftsman authority would become more complete, and He could also control this illusory world.

He couldn’t help but think—perhaps this Mirror of Depravity could merge with the Magic Net. If so, wouldn’t it be possible to skip the image and video era and go straight to virtual reality? A trace of consciousness could enter and communicate in such a world.

Thinking of this, Ren shook his head slightly. He didn’t believe in reaching heaven in one step, and the signal transmission problem wasn’t so easy to solve! Better to first investigate what kind of existence this place really was!