Life Game In Other World
Chapter 1215: The Guidance of Fate and ’Encounter’ (Long - Plea for Monthly Tickets)

Chapter 1215: Chapter 1215: The Guidance of Fate and ’Encounter’ (Long Chapter Plea for Monthly Tickets)

Silver Mallow Grass... Fire Wolf Flower...

Standing silently in the snowfield, He Ao quietly flipped through the ’Materials Catalog’ in his hands.

Xiya had gone ahead to arrange patrols and sentries, while He Ao returned to the rearward position near the Northern Gate.

The catalog he held now contained items he had seized earlier from the small warehouse managed by the Order Church within the West Iron and Steel Mercenary Corps.

Although the warehouse didn’t contain anything as advanced as C-level materials, nor even Half-Person’s Blood, there were basic auxiliary materials related to Order, such as Silver Mallow Grass and Fire Wolf Flower.

The description of both materials was included in the warehouse’s inventory.

Silver Mallow Grass, when ground into powder and mixed into water, produced a calming and focusing effect. Ronald’s memories also contained references to this plant, which was commonly found in the eastern plains of the Federation and favored by Wilderness Wanderers as a tranquilizing substance.

Fire Wolf Flower, on the other hand, was quite different. Native to the Northern Ice Field in the Federation’s northern region, its consumption could briefly ignite a person’s emotions, granting a temporary boost in strength. However, it subsequently led to a prolonged emotional downturn, which could drive those with poor self-control toward suicidal tendencies.

Both items carried inherent alignments to Order but had been severely tainted with Order-related pollution by the Order Church.

He Ao raised his head, his gaze settling on the silver cargo truck ahead, and began to walk forward.

The truck was left behind by a Nolanka Group caravan.

Because of its spacious and sturdy structure, Orey had repurposed it to store these materials tainted with Order pollution.

As He Ao approached the truck, he could already faintly sense his emotions being influenced by an unknown force, rapidly bringing him a calmness he hadn’t expected.

The truck itself wasn’t imbued with any sealing mechanisms; its heavy build couldn’t entirely isolate the contamination emanating from the Order-related materials inside.

Thus, there were no sentinels near it—just a single intelligent robot.

The robot detected He Ao’s approach and, after a simple facial scan, raised its mechanical arm and unlocked the truck’s door.

A seemingly gentle force of ’pollution’ immediately surged out from the open cargo bay, brushing against He Ao’s face.

At that moment, just as He Ao was about to step forward into the truck, he seemed to sense something and instinctively looked upward.

Through the faint power emanating from the Eye of Truth, he could vaguely see that high above him, certain violently intertwining rays of light fluctuated slightly in response to the surge of Order-related pollution, causing faint ripples in the bottom layer of the world.

The snow-covered plain beneath the night’s curtain remained eerily serene. Machines churned in the distance, and people carried out their tasks swiftly and unperturbed, as if nothing unusual had occurred.

The ripple was extraordinarily subtle and confined to the world’s bottom layer, akin to a whisper carried by the wind in the realm of Mysticism. It was undetectable to ordinary people or even B-level Extraordinary individuals—perhaps only Angels could perceive such a shift.

Had it not been for the penetrative ability of the Eye of Truth, coupled with He Ao’s extensive experience in unearthing mystical secrets, even he wouldn’t have noticed the fleeting ripple.

As the ripple dissipated, the twisted forces coiled around the sky above quickly faded into obscurity.

He Ao lowered his gaze, his eyes sweeping across the silent night and the snow-laden forest that stretched before him.

The deeper one ventured into the woods, the stronger the inexplicable pull became—emanating from the pollution of Order, an allure birthed by its influence.

Conversely, the area surrounding the Northern Gate, where He Ao now stood, felt pristine and untainted, devoid of any ’pull’ or pollution.

In that moment, fragments of visions he had seen within an almost time-transcendent ’Illusion Realm’ naturally emerged in his mind.

A mountain forest saturated with pollution, peaks cleaved by flashes of sword light, and slopes piled with shattered stones.

And then—

He lifted his gaze once more to the heavens above.

Sword light intertwined with Order-related pollution in the sky, forming near-surface blank zones safe for ordinary individuals to traverse without contamination.

Before leaving Minte City, He Ao had tasked Eve with gathering information about the Northern Gate.

At present, the Federation’s academic circles had yet to draw a definitive conclusion on how the Northern Gate had come into existence—each school of thought claiming its own interpretation.

But one point intrigued nearly all scholars: how could such a ’safe passage’ exist amidst the perilous mountains north of Minte City?

Academia had proposed numerous theories attempting to explain why the Northern Gate could be considered ’safe,’ yet none came close to uncovering the truth.

Because the fact was—the channel through the Northern Gate wasn’t truly secure.

In the fleeting ripple just now, He Ao could clearly feel the terror and distortion of the forces suspended above the sky.

In truth, from He Ao’s periodic sensing along his journey, the region of the Northern Gate might well harbor the densest pollution and distortion amid the mountains north of Minte City.

It was merely that its pollution and distortion were locked in a peculiar equilibrium, suspended in the air and unable to reach the ground, creating an illusion of safety.

Like a treacherous mountain punctuated by razor-sharp blades—a dangerous peak where every step risked lethal cuts. The mountain’s center, however, held a blade-free corridor, enabling safe passage through the heights.

People regarded this as a safe route, but the real reason it lacked blades was simply that the knives lining the pathway were dangling by dense, nearly invisible wires just overhead.

Of course, the wires suspending these blades might not necessarily snap easily.

He Ao withdrew his gaze and refocused on the cargo bay in front of him.

At the camp, Xiya had shared her observations of the ’visions’ she’d seen.

She’d only glimpsed a vague, distorted forest and exotic beasts prowling within.

Based on her description, He Ao estimated that what she had seen was just a small, ambiguous fragment of the Illusion Realm he’d witnessed.

It appeared that not many could perceive the entirety of the vision.

Nonetheless, He Ao didn’t believe he was the sole individual aware of the Northern Gate’s truth.

The Federation had Angels.

Even if those Angels couldn’t fully perceive the vision, they could undoubtedly sense the tremendous forces entangled above their heads. Some Angels might even have been the ’witnesses’ of historical events tied to those truths—they simply hadn’t revealed it.

Judging by the Federation’s longstanding laissez-faire approach towards enhancing Mystical protection for the Northern Gate, the twisted forces suspended above it were likely far more stable than imagined, resistant to collapse.

Still, certain ’external interventions’ could potentially stir ripples within these entangled energies.

Collecting his scattered thoughts, He Ao turned his focus back to the cargo bay, lightly leaping inside.

With the catalog from Eve as his guide, he quickly located the ’Silver Mallow Grass’ and ’Fire Wolf Flower.’

Solid Ice could be created using an ice machine or retrieved from frozen streams deeper within the snowfields—it wasn’t difficult to obtain.

He Ao recalled the ’Collaborator’ recipe etched within his mind.

Up until now, the only material he lacked for the Collaborator formula was water from the River of Eternal Flow.

According to the information left in Denock’s diary, the River of Eternal Flow likely existed within a dimensional space. Discovering this river would require tapping into the power of the Order Church or perhaps that of the God of Order.

He could handle acquiring Pseudo-Wolf himself, but obtaining water from the River of Eternal Flow was beyond his reach.

Therefore, for He Ao to collect all the materials required for the recipe, he’d have no choice but to turn to the Order Church for assistance.

He Ao lowered his head, his gaze riveted on the Silver Mallow Grass and Fire Wolf Flower he’d unearthed.

However, he couldn’t shake his suspicion that the recipe he’d obtained from the Order Church might not be altogether ’accurate.’

Because within the Order Divine Revelation, the hints he’d acquired for the Collaborator formula were: ’Pseudo-Wolf’s Eye... Tree Heart... Half-Person’s Blood... Silver Mallow Grass.’

The materials named in this hint—Pseudo-Wolf’s Eye, Half-Person’s Blood, Silver Mallow Grass—were indeed present in the Church-given recipe.

But ’Tree Heart’ was conspicuously absent.

Right now, He Ao happened to have an ’Eternal Tree’s Tree Heart.’

After a brief silence, he raised a finger, nicking it lightly with a blood-stained blade before using his own blood to draw intricate ritualistic runes on his palm, circular layers overlapping in complex patterns.

Layered runes emerged quickly within He Ao’s field of view, while fleeting disturbances cascaded through the bottom layer of the world—a ripple of some influence emerged, only to promptly subside.

A faint yellow-purple glow spread outward along the traced lines, expanding—this was ’Fate Guiding Rune,’ a technique Levi had previously taught him.

By crafting this rune, he could invite ’fate’s guidance’ to resolve his Mystical uncertainties.

As He Ao etched out the rune, his mind simultaneously flashed with the questions he wanted answered.

’Is my current Collaborator recipe accurate? Is there an alternative to River of Eternal Flow’s water?’

Soon, the rune’s final stroke was finished.

As the last line was drawn, a faint flash of light glimmered across the rune, and in that instant, a vision materialized within He Ao’s mind—a blazing regular dodecahedron diamond.

’The recipe is usable, but the Eternal Tree’s Tree Heart works better and offers greater completeness.’

In that moment, this conclusion surfaced in his consciousness.

This revelation resonated with his prior instincts but also felt ever so slightly foreign—as though it didn’t entirely originate from his own reasoning.

By logic alone, He Ao could plausibly deduce this conclusion himself. Yet he sensed that the thought had sprung forth slightly too ’abruptly.’

Its arrival lacked a fully traceable sequence of ’evidence’ or ’deductive reasoning,’ seeming to manifest as a standalone ’guess.’

He Ao lowered his gaze, staring at the rune etched on his palm.

The rune exhibited no supernatural traits—it appeared as an ordinary symbol.

Meanwhile, the faint yellow-purple light emanating from the blood on the rune’s lines had vanished completely.

All Extraordinary Power infused into the blood had been consumed.

At the same time, He Ao keenly felt a tangible sense of physical exhaustion creeping in.

So this was ’fate guiding.’

It appeared smooth and seamless, yet its influence was unmistakable—a direction imparted by fate itself.

Levi had once warned him: ’The more you accept fate’s offerings, the deeper you’ll find yourself entangled in fate’s greater machinations.’

Shortcuts always demanded compensatory effort elsewhere.

Indeed, He Ao had already begun to detect the ’malice of fate.’

The Eternal Tree’s Tree Heart he held was steeped in layers of Order pollution.

The Pseudo-Wolf’s Eye he’d obtained was laden with chaotic corruption.

Combining these two elements to brew a Secret Medicine was a venture fraught with unknown consequences.

Yet for now, He Ao had little alternative at his disposal.

All he could do was hope he could endure what’s to come.

Given a different perspective, these Divine-influenced contaminations might not entirely be harmful.

He Ao took the Silver Mallow Grass and Fire Wolf Flower in his hands and leapt out of the cargo bay.

The robot promptly stepped forward to close the truck’s door.

He Ao raised his eyes towards the distant Northern Gate and the bustling activity within its boundary, when suddenly his wrist communicator buzzed lightly.

——

"Looks like those folks down below are getting closer."

Leaning against a heap of fragmented rocks by the roadside, a broad, overweight man glanced up towards the distant Northern Gate.

The vacancy between the two cliff faces appeared quiet and desolate, scattered with snow and lingering ice fragments that seemed untrodden for ages.

Of course, this wasn’t the true state of the Northern Gate—it was cloaked under the guise of optical camouflage technology.

The disguise wasn’t particularly sophisticated—a closer inspection would reveal the unmistakable presence of ’holographic projection pixelation.’

But fortunately, the equipment’s algorithm seemed decent; it mimicked external light and reflection almost perfectly. With the addition of the hazy night shrouding their position near the ’sentry post’ overlooking the Northern Gate, even the overweight man found it hard to discern reality from illusion.

"You know, this thing might actually be quite useful."

He remarked as he stared at the optical camouflage projection, sighing lightly, "City folk really know how to play their tricks, huh."

"Anyway..."

He cautiously peeked around the edge of the stone, addressing his companion, "I think I hear the sound of armored vehicles approaching. Do you think we can finish building all this stuff before they get here?"

Beside him, a gaunt man leaned silently against the rock, narrowing his eyes without saying a word.

"Honestly, I don’t get why I ended up in a team with you,"

The overweight man muttered, shaking his head. "I’d rather be hauling bricks with those folks over there—it’d beat sticking around with someone like you."

He shifted his gaze to the gaunt man beside him and sighed, "You’re not secretly planning to slip down there and surrender to those corporate lapdogs later, are you?"

At this, the gaunt man finally opened his eyes and shot a glance at his companion. "What, you want to fight?"

"Ha,"

The overweight man chuckled coldly, "You think you’re so tough? Your wife and kid were killed by those corporate lackeys, and back then, you begged the Leader to take you in, claiming you wanted revenge, swearing you harbored hatred for the corporations. And now, just because the Leader’s gone missing, you start acting up like some spineless stray dog, ready to bolt when things go south."

He leaned heavily onto the giant rock. "Honestly, the Leader should’ve never given you shelter in the first place."

The gaunt man raised his gaze briefly, scanning the overweight man’s face before withdrawing his attention and narrowing his eyes once more.

"What’s the matter?"

The overweight man sneered, "Gonna take a swing at me? I dare you—"

Just then, the gaunt man abruptly reached out and gripped the overweight man’s arm.

The suddenness of it froze the overweight man in place, and he instinctively prepared to retaliate.

But at that moment, he noticed the gaunt man shift to his side, gesturing for him to ’keep quiet.’ The gaunt man’s gaze turned sharply to the left.

After a split second of hesitancy, the overweight man followed his line of sight to the left.

In the shadowed darkness ahead, something seemed to slither weakly from behind the large stone.

It appeared to be semi-transparent—though not completely invisible, its form was unmistakably odd, protruding even amidst the obscurity of the night.

The entity raised its head slightly, its attention fixed on the gorge ahead, then extended a hand to unlock something discreetly attached to its form.

A figure clad in snow-white camouflage materialized before the two men.

Trailing behind this figure, one silhouette after another began to emerge.

And then, as if sensing something amiss, the leading figure turned sharply, fixing its gaze directly toward the pair hidden behind the stones.