The Void would inevitably also influence many of Notch's judgments.

So Rookie had to be clear about the Void's true purpose, only then could he come up with a way to crack it.

'The Void's purpose…'

'Judging from this, I'm afraid it's quite 'grand'…'

Although Rookie could not guess exactly what the Void wanted to do, back when they were in this world before, they stirred up a war involving every single faction of the world.

In the end it ended with the Void's defeat, but now they were making a comeback, and even had part of Notch's help.

What they would stir up this time would surely be a stormy upheaval…

Thinking this, Rookie pondered carefully.

In the end, he deleted the line he had just written under [Necessary Advancement Process Two, Void Entity-Forming] that said [Time Node Two, After the Trial Grounds end].

Then right after [Time Node One, Before the Trial Grounds end], he added a [Must Advance] star mark.

After much consideration, Rookie had already made his decision.

As long as there still existed room to maneuver in the events, he had to choose a path he could at least somewhat control.

If the Void entity-formed before the Trial Grounds ended, then before Notch and the Void met, there would be a vacuum period.

This vacuum period was especially important.

Because everything the Void had done before, actually, for them, all had proper reasons that could convince Notch.

Rookie could even already foresee what the Void's words would be.

'I'm sorry, even though I knew you poured all your effort and love into this world, being trapped in the Void for so long… that loneliness, no one could ever understand.'

'When I sensed you starting to connect with this game world, I just couldn't bear it anymore, I truly wanted to meet you again.'

'Everything I did, was for the sake of meeting you again…'

This was a flawless speech, because everything the Void had done before, was indeed for gathering power to entity-form.

And the reason of wanting to meet an old friend of many years, could surely serve as the best cover for all their actions.

If there were no vacuum period, then after Notch met the Void, Notch's memories restored, facing an old friend thought long dead, one not seen in many years,

Facing an old friend who had been trapped in the Void for so long,

Notch's ears would no longer hear any other voices.

He would only listen to that old friend's one-sided words.

And without a vacuum period, the entire game world also seemed unable to provide any strong evidence to break down the Void's speech.

So, the vacuum period was a necessary existence, the knock on the door toward the truth.

If this vacuum period could be properly used, and within it enough clues about the Void could be found, Rookie could then integrate these clues.

These clues, from Rookie's or others' perspectives, would be strong evidence to crush the Void's one-sided words.

During this time, the more evidence was gathered, the stronger Notch's subjective judgment would become.

After all, when only a single fact is laid before someone, people usually don't think too much.

But when multiple facts are laid out, people then will think, which one is the real fact?

After deleting [Time Node Two], Rookie immediately felt his thoughts much clearer.

'Mm… the direction is right!'

'Next is to resolve the problem caused by choosing Time Node One…'

If he chose to let the Void entity-form before the Trial Grounds ended, a thorny problem would appear.

How to protect the family of Entity 303.

At present Rookie had not found a way to control the subconscious, or rather, right now he simply had no energy to think about it.

Just analyzing the various situations, juggling things inside and outside the game, had already consumed far too much of Rookie's energy.

Ever since logging off up to now, Rookie's nerves had been taut every single moment.

Even Rookie himself knew clearly, in such a state, the subconscious would not even appear, let alone be controlled.

Thinking this, Rookie let out a helpless long sigh, and then also deleted the line under [Time Node One] that said [Solution, Learn to control subconscious before then].

'Got to think of another way…'

He knew very well, in such a short time, under such high pressure, he absolutely could not do it.

Wasting time on something utterly impossible was worse than gambling on another possibility.

Thinking this, Rookie reflected for a moment.

And he had to admit, once he stopped pressuring himself, his thinking opened up a little.

'The spaces Notch created, should all have the function of isolating the consciousnesses spawned by the game…'

'In other words, if I can find a way to slightly modify the space Notch created…'

'It should also be possible to make it so the Void cannot sense it…'

Thinking this, Rookie nodded to himself.

'Mm, this method should have some feasibility…'

'At least it's simpler than controlling the subconscious…'

Thinking this, Rookie was just about to experiment with his idea.

But in the game pod, he received a message from Old Wu.

[Come out.]

Seeing Old Wu's message, Rookie couldn't help but be a little surprised.

Old Wu would send him a message? But then he quickly reacted.

'Seems this main-consciousness-dominating thing does have its benefits, at least fewer times my brain gets fried.'

You couldn't blame Rookie for griping.

In the past, whenever Old Wu had something urgent to find him for, if Rookie happened to be in the game pod, he would just directly pull the power.

Now he actually learned to cherish this apprentice of his.

Rookie shut down the game pod and sat up, and saw Old Wu already waiting on the sofa nearby.

Rookie got up, poured a cup of tea for Old Wu, then picked from Notch's drawer the best pack of cigarettes, along with a lighter.

He handed one to Old Wu, and when Old Wu took it and put it in his mouth, Rookie bent down and lit it for him.

After smoothly finishing all this, Rookie himself sipped a mouthful of tea, looked toward Old Wu, seemingly ready to hear Old Wu's answer.

But Old Wu at this moment was a little dazed.

"Clearly this is what a disciple should be like, doing everything so properly, why does it feel so awkward…"

This was the first time Rookie, as the disciple, had voluntarily offered tea to him, the master.

Although serving tea was an old tradition, and Old Wu didn't really care much, as a teacher, occasionally he did think about it.

Of course, having taken Rookie as his disciple, he never expected Rookie would ever serve him tea.

But at least it shouldn't be him, the master, who kept ending up pouring tea for Rookie, right?

Yet such "world-upside-down" things, as the old folks said, had happened too many times.

Old Wu had often cursed and muttered about how he'd taken in such a disciple.

But now, when Rookie did fulfill a disciple's duty, Old Wu instead felt awkward.

Old Wu was about to say something to Rookie, but after thinking, he held back.

He could see Rookie was in a hurry when he ran into him, since the matter was urgent, he wouldn't waste time on small talk.

Old Wu took a drag of the cigarette, and finally spoke.

"One good news and one bad news."

"Bad news first."

"On the matter of refuting the rumors, the higher-ups didn't agree."

Saying this, Old Wu sipped the tea.

"The good news is, the higher-ups agreed to send a batch of programmers into the game, just to show some presence."

After saying this, Old Wu took a deep drag of the cigarette, and his expression toward Rookie carried some guilt.

"I already did my best."

Originally the higher-ups had decided to veto both proposals.

They couldn't figure out the situation inside the game, so they all wanted to wait for Notch's instructions.

But seeing Rookie's look, Old Wu knew the situation was urgent, so he desperately used his glib tongue, persuading the higher-ups to at least agree to one of the proposals.

It was clear Old Wu had already given it his all.

But in his eyes, this matter still wasn't handled satisfactorily.

This disciple of his had never asked him for anything before, this first time he asked, and Old Wu hadn't handled it perfectly, naturally his old face couldn't help but feel ashamed.

But Rookie at this moment didn't see it that way.

"Good! That's great!"

Rookie hadn't expected Old Wu would bring such a result.

The result he gave, for now, was the most favorable to the current situation.

What Rookie had entrusted Old Wu with was back when he hadn't yet gathered so many clues.

At that time, Rookie's only thought was to delay as much as possible, to stop the Void from gathering power too quickly.

So the two plans he proposed were both aimed at slowing the Void's power gathering.

But after gathering so many clues, and sorting through them himself, the situation was no longer the same.

The Void had to gain power to entity-form, but the speed couldn't be too fast, and couldn't be too slow.

Too fast, and Rookie wouldn't have time to help Entity 303's family.

Too slow, and the Trial Grounds would already end.

So it had to be kept within a controllable range.

And the result Old Wu brought, happened to be within that controllable range.

If the higher-ups had agreed to refute the rumors, then players definitely wouldn't keep sending themselves to die, and the Void's power gathering speed would have immediately plummeted.

So not refuting the rumors, but sending some programmers to join in, was the best solution at the moment.

Seeing Rookie wasn't disappointed, but instead looked very happy, Old Wu finally let out a sigh of relief.

"As long as it helped."

Saying this, Old Wu paused, then looked at Rookie and asked. "This time… that kid Mo Jiang, he shouldn't be in any danger, right?…"

Hearing Old Wu's words, Rookie was stunned for a moment, then smiled and said. "He's doing well. Though he also feels pressure and worries, he's happier than before."

"The most important thing is, he's no longer alone, he's found his family."

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