Chapter 1145: Standing on Which Side?

Knock, knock, knock—

After a soft knock, Chen Ling entered Teacher Ye's office.

“We really owe you a lot this time.” Teacher Ye stood by the window, as if he had just witnessed Chen Ling's return. He smiled as he turned around. “On behalf of Xiao Bai and all other members of the Integration Faction, I want to express our gratitude.”

“There’s no need to be so polite among ourselves,” Chen Ling said, settling comfortably into a chair. “Besides, I gained quite a bit this time too…”

Teacher Ye paused, scrutinizing Chen Ling for a moment. Noticing a subtle shift in his demeanor, he asked in surprise, “Did you sever your curse again?”

“Yes, I encountered people from the Crimson Sky Cult this time, so I had no choice but to sever it again…”

Teacher Ye first frowned, then walked around Chen Ling, bewildered. “Strange… judging by your aura, this severance was even more forceful than the last… But why haven’t the negative emotions from the Calamity of Mockery increased at all this time? Even the faint maliciousness that was subtly present in your eyes before is gone.”

Chen Ling's mind immediately recalled the bizarre black shadow he had vomited on stage. He only remembered a large number of audience members willingly burrowing into his body, nearly causing his mind to collapse. The substance he unconsciously expelled, after adhering to and taking away a promotion condition, vanished into the audience and never reappeared.

After a moment of hesitation, Chen Ling recounted the process, omitting details about the stage and only describing his struggle with the Calamity of Mockery.

After listening, Teacher Ye's expression visibly soured.

“Teacher Ye, what exactly is going on?”

“...It’s not good,” Teacher Ye mused for a moment. “I’ve had concerns about this before… The Calamity of Mockery is an affliction prone to severe internal strife, with each individual possessing a rebellious self-awareness. As one of them, you control this body, which already makes them envious. Now you’ve severed your curse twice in a row, consuming many individuals and becoming exceptionally powerful…

To them, you’re like a sudden anomaly, potentially capable of devouring all other individuals and completely controlling the Calamity of Mockery by yourself. So…”

“Are you saying they’ll band together against me?” Chen Ling immediately understood Teacher Ye’s implication.

“Exactly.”

Teacher Ye slowly explained, “To the many consciousnesses within the Calamity of Mockery, if they can’t be the ultimate winner, then they’d rather no one win, choosing to maintain a state of chaos… This is the ‘balance’ of the Calamity of Mockery.

Now, you are gradually disrupting that ‘balance.’

When they realize no one can defeat you in a one-on-one fight, they will naturally try to create another ‘you,’ an identical monster, to counterbalance you.”

Chen Ling’s expression grew somewhat helpless upon hearing this.

These audience members are actually uniting because of me… Controlling the Calamity of Mockery certainly isn’t as simple as I thought.

“So how do I resolve this?”

“That, you’ll have to figure out on your own,” Teacher Ye shook his head. “There are no historical precedents for your situation… outsiders can’t help you; you’ll have to explore it yourself.”

“...Alright.”

Chen Ling sighed. His responsibilities had just grown heavier.

“There’s one more very important matter…” Chen Ling’s expression turned serious again.

He recounted his entire encounter with the Calamity of Thought to Teacher Ye, including the visions of the Red Star.

To Chen Ling’s surprise, Teacher Ye didn’t seem surprised by any of it. After listening quietly, he nodded slightly:

“You’ve been diligently studying with the Integration Faction lately, so you’re naturally not very informed about external affairs… In the human domains today, the Red Star’s return is no longer a secret. Lord Tianshu, Lu Xun, has even calculated its exact arrival time.”

Chen Ling recalled the rumors about the Tianshu Domain being a large-scale computational device and immediately asked, “When exactly is it?”

“Approximately eleven months.”

“That fast?!”

The destructive scene of the Red Star passing by resurfaced in Chen Ling’s mind. Although he had planted one of those visions into Jian Changsheng's mind to give him a sense of crisis, the remaining few were still enough to paint a picture of world-shattering devastation.

The last time the Red Star descended, it caused the death of 99% of the global population. The remaining survivors clung to life for over three hundred years under the protection of the Nine Lords, leading to the current era… If the Red Star truly descends on Earth again in eleven months, can humanity survive this time?

“But what does the Red Star’s return have to do with me? Why did the Calamity of Thought go to such lengths to contact me and tell me to return to the Abyssal Laughter?”

“Do you think only humans are anxious about the Red Star’s return?”

Teacher Ye gazed out the window. Beneath the lead-gray clouds, faint figures of calamities could be vaguely seen sprinting across the depths of the barren land.

“Three hundred years have passed, and the Gray Realm has intertwined too deeply with Earth. It’s like a ‘gray shell’ enveloping this world. If the Red Star truly returns, the first to be impacted won’t be Earth… but the Gray Realm.”

Upon hearing this, a thought flashed through Chen Ling’s mind like lightning. He immediately grasped something, his brows furrowing tighter and tighter!

“If that’s the case, doesn’t that mean…”

“Before a natural disaster strikes, it’s always the beasts who get the first warning… And when any species learns their homeland is about to be destroyed, their first choice will inevitably be migration.”

Teacher Ye looked into Chen Ling’s eyes, his gaze incredibly complex.

“Where do you think these calamities from the Gray Realm will choose to migrate once they realize the Red Star is coming?”

“The human domains!”

Chen Ling blurted out.

Since the Red Star’s descent will first impact the Gray Realm, this “shell,” the calamities’ only option is to desperately move towards the relatively safe “core”… and on Earth, the only places not occupied by the Gray Realm are the few human domains.

“So, the Calamity of Thought wants me to return to gather all the calamities in the Abyssal Laughter and lead them to invade the human domains?”

“It’s not just you. The other five Calamities of Annihilation are already preparing for battle in their respective territories,” Teacher Ye said, pointing to the barren land beyond the Mother Tree.

“Didn’t you find it strange when you returned? Aside from the areas of those Calamities of Annihilation’s territories, there aren't many scattered calamities visible in other parts of the Gray Realm anymore…”

Chen Ling then recalled that on his trip to the Crimson Sky Cult's branch, he hadn't seen any calamities other than the Shadow Centipedes from the Abyssal Laughter…

“Right now, the entire Gray Realm has only the Abyssal Laughter without a leader,” Teacher Ye said, looking into Chen Ling’s eyes as if trying to read his mind.

“Chen Ling, if one day in the future, the calamities and humanity engage in a decisive battle…

Whose side will you be on?”