Chapter 311 — Let's Do Two Big Questions

He glared viciously at Mary, waiting for the moment when the protective measures he had set would hold the outsider wanderer back.

Then his vision lurched, and a boundless world composed of clear sky and endless water unfolded swiftly around him. Countless enormous metal platforms floated up from the surface, and the outsider wanderer stood before him, smiling.

Not one of the protective measures he had set had the slightest effect, and Mary, meant as the decoy, was of no use at all.

"Master… my Lord…"

The old mage's mind, muddled for so long, finally cleared within this virtual world. In an instant he grasped how foolish his actions had been, and sought to make amends.

Yet Gao Yang paid the old mage's bearing no mind at all—he had not even registered that the man had laid any protections beforehand.

Because he had never connected to the old mage by way of "intrusion" in the first place. The last time he had kicked the man off the network, he had left an open port in his mind—and carved a corresponding backdoor into the network besides...

This too was one of the fruits of his time spent studying the mind-network techniques of the Eternals.

He was confident that those Eternals—forever fixated on honing their personal power, still knowing only the traditional mind-protection spells to guard their consciousness—would never detect this new method of operation built upon a network architecture...

The old mage regarded the "Outworld Wanderer" before him with a touch of surprise, and a doubt surfaced in his heart: why was this nonhuman entity not angry? Were his protections and misdirections not an affront and a betrayal to it?

At last Gao Yang noticed the old mage's oddity, and asked offhandedly, "Why are you nervous?"

The old mage froze for a moment, then hastily lowered his head. "I... no, it is only that I feel some trepidation at being summoned by you once more."

Suddenly he understood—understood why the Outworld Wanderer before him had ignored his "little tricks."

Because this mighty being had simply not felt those petty acts of resistance at all...

The dozens of layers of spiritual protective barriers in the mage's tower, the countless warding runes upon his own body, Mary as the bait, the ritual site so deliberately arranged—all of it combined had not produced enough obstruction to even register with the "Outworld Wanderer"...

"There is no need to be nervous. Let us sit down and talk at our leisure." With that ever-gentle smile, Gao Yang waved a hand and conjured a tea table, chairs, tea and refreshments, and gestured for Daniel to sit.

Daniel sat down cautiously; his guilty conscience was such that he did not even dare meet Gao Yang's eyes.

He heard that calm voice come from across the table: "I have some matters for you to do."

"Whatever you command..."

Gao Yang laughed, and casually materialized a heap of scrolls and blueprints. "No hurry. Let us start with two sets of major problems."