Chapter 177 Madness Threshold

After a deafening roar, the whole world fell silent.

Morris felt his consciousness drifting, as if it had completely detached from his body. He didn't know where he was, what year it was, or even—perhaps for a long period of time—completely forgot his name. He floated aimlessly in a chaotic void, devoid of thought, surrounded by incomprehensible streams of light and shadow, and a deathly silence.

It took Morris a very long time to reassemble his fragmented thoughts and piece together his incomplete humanity.

He remembered that his name was Morris, he lived in the city-state of Pland, and he was a historian. Today, he was visiting an antique shop in the lower city to find out what had almost taken his daughter's life.

He found out... it was the wholesome family from the sub-space.

Countless roars and ear-splitting noises that sounded like the earth tearing apart finally erupted. In this vast, silent chaos, there was once again something he could perceive. His newly formed humanity was almost shattered again by the noise, but just before complete annihilation occurred, he "saw" a cloud of chaotic mist suddenly gather from all directions, enveloping all his senses.

This layer of "mist" protected his mind, shielding him with a protection called "ignorance and dullness," separating him from the surrounding noises and streams of light and shadow. Morris regained the ability to think. He looked around through the mist and found that he could no longer see those maddening knowledge and truths, and in the depths of the endless fog, only a flickering glimmer attracted his attention.

It was a glimmer center formed by many light sources of various sizes, a mass of red light about the size of a human head, surrounded by dozens of small blue, green, and red dots that flickered rapidly like a matrix, seemingly random yet containing some kind of "reason."

In the midst of countless streams of light and shadow, these regularly flashing glimmers became the anchor that completely stabilized Morris's mind, and after a moment of astonishment, he realized what these flickering glimmers were.

He was facing the God of Wisdom, Lahm.

In every university and laboratory of the Academy of Truth, there were depictions of Lahm, and the *Lahm Codex* also contained corresponding words. This god, who simultaneously held the power of wisdom and foolishness, had no human image pool. He was long hidden in the mist, and the outline occasionally revealed was a plane covered with glimmers, with dozens of light spots revolving around a circular light.

"Lord!" Morris was instantly energized, and quickly bowed to the light matrix that had protected him. "Are you going to guide me?"

The flashing "lights" did not respond to the old scholar, but only transmitted a mixed and deep tremor. After a while, Morris heard Lahm's "voice" in the depths of his mind: "Return, contact, understand, transmit."

"You..."

Morris looked at the light in astonishment. He could not understand Lahm's will, but this elusive God of Wisdom did not give him a chance to continue asking questions. A strong sense of rejection came swiftly in the next second, and Morris was "ejected" from this chaotic and terrifying place in an instant.

His body swayed, his brain seemed to boil, and information from the mortal world filled his senses: the sound of traffic on the street, the distant chimes, the cold wind, the crisp sound of bicycle bells.

Then there were rapidly approaching footsteps, a girl's concerned voice—a voice that was familiar, it was his "student."

"Mr. Morris?! Why are you here? Are you alright?"

In a daze, Morris looked up and saw Nina standing in front of him, but in the next second, the girl in front of him turned into a burning arc of flame, surrounded by ashes that seemed to cover the entire city-state, then transformed back into a human form.

He turned his gaze stiffly to the side and saw a giant glittering with starlight overlooking him. Inside the giant's body were maddening lights and shadows, but the giant suddenly transformed into a kind-faced middle-aged man, who looked at him with concern, his eyes filled with the shadows of sub-space.

The distant streets were also trembling, the ground beneath his feet was spiraling, the doors and windows of the shops were sometimes normal and sometimes transformed into empty black holes, and the sky was hanging down crookedly, with flowing flames and undefined limbs looming between the clouds. A passerby riding a bicycle passed by quickly, his body suddenly turning into fragmented cement, but returning to its original state in the next second.

Morris struggled to lower his head and look at his wrist.

He was wearing a bracelet made of colorful stones, with a total of four stones.

But the stones did not continue to shatter, and his mind did not continue to slide towards madness. The world in his eyes was severely distorted, but his own ability to think and judge had recovered, at least partially.

The old scholar quickly judged his current state—a "madness threshold state" that had gained a temporary balance under Lahm's blessing.

He was mad—but God made him mad in the guise of reason.

Perhaps he could recover, but he had to find a way to recover before Lahm's blessing ended, before all the stones shattered. Otherwise, the brief madness, the threshold, could collapse at any time, and no one would be able to save his reason from the chaos.

While Morris was thinking with difficulty and slowly, Nina and Duncan were also looking at the obviously unwell old man with concern.

They were practicing cycling when they suddenly saw Morris standing in the open space next to them. Originally, Nina wanted to run over to say hello, but she noticed that the expression on the old man's face was wrong when she was halfway there.

Stiff, dazed, unresponsive to the outside world, like standing and falling asleep with his eyes open.

"Could it be sudden senile dementia?" Duncan muttered suddenly, waved his hand in front of Morris, and turned to look at Nina, "Has your teacher been zoning out like this at school these days?"

"No." Nina shook her head, while stepping forward to support the old man's arm. "Teacher has always been in good health, how could he suddenly become senile!"

"You can't say for sure with older people." Duncan supported Morris, and then looked up at the sky, "Let's not talk here, it looks like it's going to rain soon, let's help the old man inside first."

Nina nodded, and together with Duncan, helped the dazed Morris into the shop, then trotted to the open space outside to move the bicycle into the house.

Duncan helped Morris to a chair next to the counter. At this time, the old man seemed to have regained a little ability to think. He sat down stiffly, slowly turning his head from side to side, and finally focused his gaze on Duncan.

"Return, contact, understand, transmit." Lahm's voice suddenly echoed in his mind.

Morris's remaining sanity seemed to understand these words slightly.

Was this the will of the God of Wisdom? To let him continue to contact this "being" in front of him?

Duncan in Morris's eyes had temporarily stabilized back into a human appearance, although the surrounding scenery was constantly trembling and writhing, but at least he couldn't see the main body of the star giant for the time being, and reason gradually gained the upper hand.

Morris had realized that this seemingly ordinary "antique shop owner" was definitely not an existence that should appear in the real world.

Even his "student," that girl who always smiled gently and was always sunny and optimistic, was not a normal human being.

Continuing to stay here, continuing to communicate with this "family," he might soon cross the balance point of the madness threshold and slide from temporary madness into the abyss of permanent madness.

But the voice of the God of Wisdom seemed to have taken root in his mind, causing him to sit involuntarily in place. At the same time, another more daring idea gradually spread in his heart.

In the "madness threshold state" blessed by the gods, even if reason tends to be chaotic, it will not completely lose control. As long as he does not cross that threshold, he can even face sub-space and maintain himself and maintain his humanity during this brief period of balance.

It is said that the greatest but also craziest knowledge seekers of the Cretan Kingdom would even take the initiative to use this. After a lifetime of preparation, they would use potions and rituals to actively embrace the "madness threshold," and in the only opportunity in their lives, they would peek into the truth in sub-space, bring valuable knowledge to the world, and then die generously.

Now, he seemed to be standing on the "battlefield" where those wise men of the Cretan era had stood.

Gradually, the old gentleman's blank and rigid face changed. He gradually showed a smile, his cloudy eyes looked at Duncan, and he slowly opened his mouth: "Hello, Mr. Duncan."

Duncan looked at the change in the old man's expression and suddenly felt a little uneasy.

This old man... why is his smile suddenly so scary?