When Li Ban heard there was a recorder at the Recycling Station calling himself the Director, he had actually entertained this exact suspicion.
It explained how the Director remained somewhat detached as the world reloaded its progress again and again, managing to maintain a unified consciousness across multiple resets.
And no matter which iteration of the Director it was, they all held absolute faith in the information passed down by the very first Director.
Even if they harbored doubts, in the exact moment a progress timeline was deleted, they would make the choice to erase themselves, ensuring no other iteration of the Director would enter the Recycling Station!
Li Ban silently digested this information about the Director.
The Director then asked, "Why did he choose you to replace his existence?"
Li Ban had actually just realized when his life had truly gone off the rails.
But he still did not understand the true intentions of that "senior" Director.
Right before he could say "I don't know," however, he remembered something else.
This was supposed to be Li Ban's deepest secret. In reality, the Star River had already appeared back when he faced the Leader. To combat Xiao Suo and the corrupted Du An, he had also channeled the Star River to kill. Shaman Ming, who saved his soul, had likely sensed it as well.
And the Director who sent him in—the one who allowed Li Ban to replace his existence so Li Ban could safely establish a foothold in the Wizard World—most likely knew about it too.
Therefore, facing the very first iteration of the Director, Li Ban no longer hid it.
After witnessing the Sea of Monsters, Li Ban knew full well that even if he could absorb massive amounts of waste elements so he would never lack spiritual rhinoceros, he still could not breach the rift with his own strength alone.
And the Director standing before him was the person with the most knowledge and experience regarding the Sea of Monsters.
Letting the man know his capabilities was the only way to facilitate their upcoming plans.
After speaking, Li Ban looked up, only to see the consistently aloof, calm, and composed Director slowly gaping in shock.
"A cosmic... Star River..."
He took two heavy breaths and shot to his feet. "Can you show me? I apologize, but this is far too important. I have to verify it."
Li Ban stood up as well. "My control over that Star River is limited. Especially since I became a Priest, it hardly ever appears. I can only try."
"No," the Director stopped him instantly. "You don't need to physically manifest the universe. My mind-domain construction platform might not be able to handle the load. You just need to let me see it."
Saying this, he picked up a freshly transfigured remote control from the coffee table.
"This should be a product of the era you're familiar with. Hold it, and project the Star River from your memories onto the screen."
Li Ban gripped the remote, finding it slightly more advanced than the ones from his era. Still, he understood the Director's intent. He recalled the magnificent universe he had witnessed while absorbing spiritual rhinoceros back when he was a spirit practitioner.
The next second, the Laboratory—or rather, the entire scene surrounding him and the Director—plunged into darkness.
Then, light reappeared.
They were standing suspended in a vast universe.
Brilliant nebulas glowed; the Star River swirled around them.
Cosmic dust, colossal planets, and boundless galaxies rapidly rotated right before their eyes.
They embraced time, and they chased after it.
Li Ban only displayed the magnificent Star River for a single second before lowering the remote.
The Star River vanished.
The Laboratory, the coffee table, the sofa, and the floor... all reappeared.
Yet the Director stared blankly at his surroundings, as if his brain was still processing the overwhelming volume of information.
Several seconds passed before he slowly sank back onto the sofa in realization.
"Yes, of course. Only this kind of power has the potential to break the endless cycle of reboots."
"He must have discovered your Star River. That's why he didn't hesitate to make you the variable in this world."
Listening to the usually aloof Director openly and repeatedly praise his power, Li Ban did not feel particularly happy. Instead, he felt a sense of... helplessness.
"Truth be told, I don't know why I have this Star River, and I can only use it slightly after paying a massive price. Before being dragged in by my senior—the Director of my timeline—I was just a very ordinary, average person. In front of someone like you, you could even call me stupid. I don't know what you are all trying to do, and I have no confidence in achieving what you hope for."
So do not look as if the entire future were pinned on him!
"There is no need to be tense." The Director finally regained his composure. He looked at Li Ban, calming the frustration in his heart. "All greatness was once ordinary, and all wisdom was once foolish. Do not fret over a destined past or an uncertain future."
The Director sat back down on the sofa, looking up at Li Ban. "I have a past far more embarrassing than yours, and a goal with almost no hope in sight. If you need comforting, I can list a hundred stupid things I've done."
"Besides, I won't demand you do anything. I imagine his thoughts were the same as mine."
Li Ban let out a small sigh of relief. Under the Director's gaze, he slowly sat back down on the sofa.
"You won't demand anything? If that's really the case, why did he go out of his way to send me here, and why are you sharing so many truths with me without any hesitation?"
The Director leaned back, relaxing against the sofa. "Then what do you want to do right now?"
"Leave the Recycling Station, taking my friend with me."
The Director smiled. "And what I want to do right now is use everything to help you leave the Recycling Station, taking your friend with you."
Li Ban sharply raised his head. He looked at the Director, seeing nothing but sincerity and certainty in the man's eyes.
"Why?"
"Because similar circumstances breed the same desires and fears. They push us in the exact same direction. I call it the hand of fate."
"Fate?" Li Ban's lips curled slightly. "I thought you were a scientist."
"The end of science is theology, and the end of theology is science. I've read my fair share of literature too," the Director said very seriously.
"Alright, that's enough about the Star River. I won't ask about it again, and you shouldn't mention it either."
"Next, let's bring Chen Dong in. You can brief me on the situation and developments in the outside world, and I will do my best to answer the intelligence you want to know. Except, of course, for matters directly related to my survival."
Li Ban immediately understood that the Director did not plan on letting Chen Dong know anything about the Star River.
In truth, he had not planned on telling Chen Dong either.
For one, it would be useless for him to know. For another, if Du An discovered Chen Dong's existence, he would undoubtedly come after him again.
So there was no need to let Chen Dong know even deeper secrets.
With the Director's permission, Li Ban briefly returned to the metal room from earlier. Once he retrieved the reader and the chip containing Chen Dong from his Cubic Space, the Director pulled Li Ban back into his mind-domain platform.
Meanwhile, the metal space outside automatically connected to the reader.
And so, Chen Dong, unseen for a long time, materialized in the Laboratory.
"This—" Chen Dong looked down, realizing he had a body once again. He looked up, taking in the familiar Laboratory and a face he had almost forgotten. "Director? You're the Director?"
The Director transfigured another sofa for Chen Dong. "I am the Director. Though I'm not the Director you know, you can treat me exactly as if I were him."
Chen Dong turned his head toward Li Ban. "What? What does that mean?"
Li Ban brought Chen Dong up to speed on their current situation.
Having spent so long in a dark place, only to be bombarded with so much information the moment he came out, Chen Dong gripped the armrests of the sofa, his eyes wide as he desperately tried to calm his brain.
Meanwhile, Li Ban was already asking about the Director's abilities. "Your mind-domain construction platform and the technology to convert spiritual rhinoceros into other energy sources are incredible. Are the people in the Experimental Capsules all calculating how to leave the Recycling Station?"
"Yes. I record the abilities, statuses, and even personalities of the people here, along with their progress in exploring the rift. I input all of it into the system for simulation experiments."
"So far, there isn't a single successful plan that gets within a hundred meters of the rift. That's why I'll need to record your abilities and statuses next."
Thinking of the utterly terrifying Sea of Monsters, Li Ban's voice grew heavy. "You can record me—I have a massive amount of spiritual rhinoceros to use."
The Director was not surprised in the slightest.
It seemed that after witnessing the Star River, absolutely no ability Li Ban possessed could shock him anymore.
"That is a good ability."
"I also have the capacity to supply thirty Priests for one all-out battle. Any more than that, and I cannot guarantee sustained combat capability."
Chen Dong, who had just begun to grasp their current predicament, stared at Li Ban in astonishment. "You saved up a lot of Spiritual Rhinoceros Fruits?"
Li Ban deflected the question. "Over here, they're generally called White Seeds. They are also items that can store spiritual rhinoceros."
The Director rested his chin in his hand, seemingly running rapid calculations. "We don't need everyone to be capable of sustained combat. And it's impossible for everyone to charge right up to the rift anyway."
"Even in the Wizard World, I've never seen so many Priests fighting together. And even with all that, they still can't breach the rift?"
Chen Dong grew increasingly shocked.
The Director didn't elaborate. Instead, he directly projected a holographic image of the Sea of Monsters for Chen Dong and Li Ban within the mind-domain platform.
"This is an image I constructed based on information from those who returned alive from the Sea of Monsters. Although a long time has passed, the distribution of monsters inside shouldn't have changed much."
Having recorded at Wanghai Cliff for many years, the Director was undoubtedly the person with the most comprehensive intelligence on the Sea of Monsters.
Yet Li Ban was somewhat puzzled. "When I first arrived at the Recycling Station, Zhu Yao told me there were three ways to leave.
"Let's set aside becoming a Great Wizard for now. But there's also Heaven Beyond Heaven. You don't seem to be considering that route."
Was it because the Director felt the bugs were harder to deal with than the monsters?
"During the preparation period, you can go take a look at Heaven Beyond Heaven. The situation there is rather unique. We aren't just blocked by the Recycling Station's monsters, but also by the Wizard World."
Li Ban voiced his guess. "Are there a lot of bugs there?"
"According to the calculations of many Priests from the Myriad Ancient Pagoda, Heaven Beyond Heaven connects directly to the bug hive beneath the Unreturning Place."
Li Ban remembered something. "So that's how it is. I wasn't fighting in the Unreturning Place for very long, so I hadn't figured out where those bugs were coming from. But at the very bottom of the deep pool there, there didn't seem to be any bugs."
He still remembered being knocked into the pool by Du An. There were bugs in the shallow waters, but further down, near the bottom, there were none. There was only the pool bed, which led into the Dark Side of the World.
In other words, the bugs were actually coming from somewhere else. Li Ban just hadn't had the time to observe the underwater situation back then.
Moreover, Li Ban suspected that the bugs weren't emerging from a single fixed location either.
Otherwise, the forces at the Unreturning Place would only need to guard and blockade the exits. There would be no need for them to restrict their fighting strictly to the surface of the water.
"Maybe there's an issue with the water in the Unreturning Place. Even a Priest can't stay submerged for long."
Li Ban recalled that the water in the Unreturning Place actually originated from the River of Helplessness.
The River of Forgetfulness carries corpses, and the River of Helplessness bears souls.
Back then, to fight against Du An, who had suddenly advanced to become a Star Glow Priest, Li Ban had already channeled the power of his Star River. He hadn't had the time to sense the water's peculiarities.
"It seems the Wizard World still hides many secrets I don't know about."
"I wonder if the Myriad Ancient Pagoda knows that the Unreturning Place is simultaneously connected to the Recycling Station?"
If they knew...
Li Ban took a soft breath, temporarily setting the thought aside. He planned to ask Zhu Yao about it once he returned.
Unfortunately, Zhu Yao usually fought raw souls over by the Nine Heavens Sea. He had no idea if she was clear on the situation at the Unreturning Place.
"Priest Yao."
"Priest Yao."
The Wizard World. The Unreturning Place. The Myriad Ancient Pagoda.
Four Priests simultaneously raised their arms, crossing their palms in front of their chests, palms facing downward, to offer a folded-hand salute to Zhu Yao, who had just arrived.
Zhu Yao, who typically maintained a cold expression and restrained her emotions, now had her delicate brows slightly furrowed, a hidden fury burning in her eyes.
"Priest Jun is dead, Priest Ban has lost his soul, Priest Qian Que was forced to advance, and Priest An has been corrupted—all of this was done by Xiao Suo alone?"
The leading white-robed priest among the four sighed softly, lowering his head in shame. "Yes. We were negligent in our internal security."
Another Priest said indignantly, "And that Xiao Suo seems to have advanced to become a Solar Priest. Otherwise, he couldn't have bypassed our perimeter and emerged directly from the Shattered Eye."
Zhu Yao tilted her head back, gazing off into the distance at the Shattered Eye. "Black Robe Xiao Suo..." A brief flash of confusion flickered in her eyes, but it was replaced by steely resolve in the very next instant. "I let him escape at the Imperial Palace last time. This time, I will catch him and kill him with my own hands."
Just then, a figure suddenly appeared behind Zhu Yao and raised a hand. "Priest Yao, the most important thing right now is stabilizing the Unreturning Place. Restrain your anger and fulfill your duties."
Zhu Yao turned to look at the Priest behind her, struggling to quell the indignation in her heart. Only after a moment did she lower her head.
"Yes, Priest He."
Only then did the other four Myriad Ancient Pagoda Priests of the Unreturning Place notice the newcomer, bowing to offer their greetings once again.
"Priest He."
In truth, they weren't very familiar with this particular Priest.
"I am a Solar Priest, Li He," the man introduced himself to the other Myriad Ancient Pagoda Priests.
He wasn't exceptionally tall, but he had a robust build. He wore gold-and-red armor, and his matching dark red hair was neatly bound atop his head by a golden crown.
Faint glimmers of light flowed through his hair, seemingly harboring some terrifying, hidden power.
His eyes, however, were as hard as ice, appearing entirely untouched by worldly concerns.