Ron stood alone in the laboratory of his new residence.
At this moment, his heart was as calm as a deep pool, only occasionally stirring with an almost imperceptible ripple.
Tomorrow’s academic review would be his first official appearance since returning to the Central Lands.
"I must not repeat the same mistake..." he silently recited in his heart.
At the last academic review, he nearly pushed himself to the brink of danger due to his overly idealistic expression.
The grand vision of the "consciousness sharing network," although revolutionary on a technical level, was undoubtedly an extremely dangerous discussion topic based on the reactions of several reviewers.
"The downfall of the ’Dream Weaving Civilization’..."
The warning of the King of Illusions echoed in his mind, like the whisper of an ancient curse.
The civilization that once mastered virtual world technology was ultimately erased by the "Anomaly Catchers" for violating some indescribable rules.
Along with their history, culture, and even their very existence, they were completely deleted from the timeline.
This terrifying fate made Ron deeply cautious about his research direction.
He took out a heavy ancient book from his spatial bag, which was the "Chronicles of Lost Skills" he had borrowed.
The author was the late historian Marcus Gray.
This scholar spent decades of his life tracing those researchers who mysteriously disappeared from the river of history.
Opening a page, the name of Lance Heivet appeared before his eyes.
"Lance’s death was fraught with suspicions, according to his notes, it seemed like he was cursed by enemies of the King of Illusions due to excessive contact..."
Ron carefully read the book, his brows gradually furrowing.
"Alexander Moss, Lance’s chief assistant, inherited most of the research materials after the master’s death.
He attempted to continue some of Lance’s unfinished research but disappeared on the seventh day after the project started.
The search team found his body on the Abyss Fourth Layer, with the cause of death being ’spirit loss of control.’
"Tessaya Smith, a genius scholar once personally guided by Lance.
She claimed to have discovered an astonishing theory about the ’Key of Harmony’ while studying Lance’s secret notes.
But when she attempted related experiments, the entire laboratory was completely destroyed by an unknown force, and she herself turned to ashes."
"Dmitry Kaufmann, an Alchemy Master from the late Third Era.
He claimed to grasp the core principles of Lance’s consciousness weaving technology and attempted to combine it with his own soul forging skills.
As a result, during a public demonstration, he suddenly started self-slaughtering in front of hundreds of spectators, as if countless different personalities were vying for control of his body..."
Each case pointed to the same terrifying conclusion:
Any scholar attempting to delve deeply into various ideas left behind ultimately met with misfortune.
And the manner of these deaths was exceedingly strange, far beyond the scope of normal experimental failures.
Ron closed the book, activating the "Hermit’s Knowledge" for deep thinking.
In this state, he could analyze the connections between various pieces of information more clearly.
"Lance’s friend... the King of Illusions."
This speculation sent a shiver through his heart.
The King of Illusions had once warned him that the "Anomaly Catchers" would not directly intervene.
Instead, they subtly influence a deviating research to naturally lead to failure.
The brilliance of this method lay in that no one could perceive the intervention’s existence; everything seemed like normal academic risk.
"But Lance’s death, from its description, doesn’t seem like the result of such ’subtle intervention.’
Ron came to this unsettling conclusion in his heart.
Firstly, the experiment hadn’t produced any results yet; acting so hastily did not align with the characteristics of ’subtle intervention.’
Moreover, after Lance’s death, those who inherited his research died before making any significant achievements...
The "Anomaly Catchers" could erase entire civilizations, akin to the manifestation of the universe’s rules.
The likelihood of such a rule-based entity targeting a few minor scholars seemed unlikely.
In Ron’s view, it was more likely to be some hidden enemy of the King of Illusions.
Didn’t Lance’s notes also say he was the target of a ’curse from the Otherworld’?
This also explained why every time the King of Illusions contacted him, it was so inconspicuous and secretive.
But this raised another deeper question.
Why didn’t the King of Illusions explain these possible enemies to Lance and himself?
Each doubt wrapped around the others, forming a thick cloud of mystery shrouding his thoughts.
Ron sighed, gently stroking the silver pocket watch in his possession.
This relic from Clock King Erica was not only a powerful trump card but also a warning to him.
Even someone as powerful as Erica, at the Great Wizard level, capable of opposing a Witch King, ultimately chose to perish together with the enemy.
"The stronger the power, the more attention it attracts..."
He recalled what Uther once said: "The brighter the candlelight, the fiercer the storm."
Ron took a deep breath and pulled out a set of portable divination tools from his spatial bag.
He laid out a simple divination array on the carpet of the living room and then took out several specially made astral dice.
Each face of these dice was engraved with different constellation symbols that could reflect basic fate trends.
"Research on virtual world interaction technology..."