Chapter 88

"Lord, your wisdom and foresight are truly admirable."

Hearing the mage advisor's somewhat flattering response, Luo Zhengdao was at a loss, unable to suppress a sigh as he said dejectedly:

"Now is not the time for such flattery! What do you suggest I do?"

After a brief consultation, the two mage advisors spoke to Luo Zhengdao in turn:

"Lord, regardless of the other party's intentions, delaying will not yield any results. They will eventually make a move. We advise you to wait patiently for them to reveal a weakness. Struggling blindly will only exhaust our energy. What we need now is patience and a bit of good luck."

Just as Luo Zhengdao was about to say something, his body suddenly trembled, his face turning pale and sallow. Sensing the intense pain spreading throughout his body, Luo Zhengdao knew something was wrong. He forced himself to say:

"Ugh... Someone, help me back to the captain's cabin."

In a panic, he stepped into the captain's cabin, struggling to control the dizziness. He instructed his subordinates:

"Ugh, without my orders, no one is to enter. Everyone, stand down!"

Supporting his wobbly body, Luo Zhengdao made his way to the bed and collapsed, losing consciousness. This sudden blow was not entirely unexpected.

The complexity of the Curse of the Wild God far exceeded ordinary imagination. Each time he used the power of a Mage, the intensity and frequency of the curse's attacks would significantly increase, with a worsening trend. This was not a simple matter of avoiding trouble to stay safe. The crux of the issue was that if Luo Zhengdao did not use the power of a Mage to survive one crisis after another, he would have long been chopped into mincemeat by various enemies with different motives. In comparison, the risk of a temporary solution seemed acceptable. However, when the curse struck, the excruciating pain and mental torment were not something that could be endured by gritting one's teeth. It was a severe test, a struggle between life and death.

"Damn it, give me back my body, you thief."

The voice echoing in his mind was not unfamiliar to Luo Zhengdao, as it was his own voice, or more precisely, the voice of the original owner of this body, Will Needham. Although the voice from the spiritual realm sounded very different from the one he normally heard through bone conduction, Luo Zhengdao quickly recognized the difference.

As a穿越者 (穿越者 means "穿越者" in Chinese, which can be translated as "穿越者" in English, but in this context, it means "穿越者" or "穿越者" in a more literal sense, so I will translate it as "穿越者" or "穿越者" based on the context) who had taken the place of another, Luo Zhengdao was very clear about the situation. Since the mysterious ritual, which could be considered either good or bad luck, was established, the soul of the original owner of this body had been annihilated. If his guess was correct, his own body in the old world had also been destroyed at the same time, providing the enormous energy needed to break the crystal barrier. In fact, both participants in the ritual had lost their physical bodies and souls. When their remaining parts combined, they formed the current Luo Zhengdao. It was meaningless to simply say who was the victim.

Since the soul of the original owner of this body had been annihilated, who was this person shouting at Luo Zhengdao in the realm of consciousness?

After a moment of sorting out the logical relationship, Luo Zhengdao's face showed a helpless smile as he said to himself:

"Oh, it's the residual consciousness of Will Needham!"

Without a doubt, for a person, self-awareness and the soul are interrelated elements, but they are not inseparable. The soul is a necessary prerequisite for endowing a physical body with intelligence. To put it simply, a human body is like the hardware of a computer, and the soul is the operating system software. A computer without software has very limited use. What, then, is human consciousness? Consciousness is only produced when the soul and the body combine. Even if the body and soul are destroyed, individual consciousness does not immediately dissipate but continues to exist in some form for a period of time. From this perspective, consciousness is more like data stored in a computer system. Although the data itself may not have practical significance, its existence is a fact.

Now, the call Luo Zhengdao faced was from the residual consciousness of the original owner of this body, Will Needham. If not for the Curse of the Wild God weakening his consciousness to a near-death state, this residual consciousness would not have caused any trouble in Luo Zhengdao's spiritual world. Despite this, his troubled mind did not calm down.

Deep down, Luo Zhengdao felt a special sympathy for Will Needham. With mixed emotions, he said:

"Those who have passed on should face their fate honestly. The dead should not trouble the living, shouldn't they?"

The residual consciousness of the deceased, like the echo of a traveler's shout in a vast, empty valley, lacked the ability to think or change. It simply carried the unwillingness and pain that Will Needham felt in the last moment before his soul was extinguished. Therefore, trying to reason with the residual consciousness was a futile effort, and the only solution was to completely annihilate it. However, making this cruel decision was undoubtedly very difficult for Luo Zhengdao, more so than two unscrupulous merchants deciding to battle it out on a consumer's computer.

After a long pause, in this illusory world of self-awareness, Luo Zhengdao said softly:

"Am I to face the darkness and weakness in my heart? Fine, let's give it a try!"

"Why can you continue to live? You should be the same as me. I am not willing..."

Without a doubt, human obsession is hard to break, especially the obsession of the dead. In the spiritual world, where the surroundings flickered between light and dark, Luo Zhengdao listened for a while before responding:

"You are so noisy! I know your death was unfortunate, but am I not a victim too? Although life in the original world was boring, coming to this world, being chased and cut down by green-skinned creatures, and having that bastard Najef cause trouble, I spend more time on the ship than on land. The damn Curse of the Wild God has made my life miserable. Living is hard, and dying is even harder. Since I am here, I will not give up easily. I will live on for both of us. Your life has ended, but I promise that Will Needham's name will be remembered for generations in this world. This is our private agreement. So, please let your obsession dissipate now!"

As he spoke, Luo Zhengdao's mental power suddenly surged, a bright white light rising above the boiling sea of consciousness, creating a powerful hurricane that was unimaginable in the real world.

The residual consciousness of Will Needham appeared as black fragments, struggling in the white mental storm that had almost materialized due to Luo Zhengdao's rage. They burst into countless tiny light points and were quickly annihilated in the whirlwind, vanishing like a dream.

"In my world, someone said that a person with a limited lifespan can achieve three forms of immortality: through deeds, virtue, and words. As an outsider who has inherited your body, I will strive to make your name immortal. This way, we will be even. The blessings of humanity will spread in the name of Will Needham, and future generations will always remember this great savior."

With these words, Luo Zhengdao's eyes glowed with a bright light, a sign of the inner strength felt by those with a sense of purpose. Any power, when combined with belief and ideals, can create miracles. Otherwise, it is merely abused violence. In the unknown realm beyond human senses, his soul was quietly transforming. If the former Luo Zhengdao, who fought to survive for himself, had a soul like a mineral with many impurities, then now his soul was like a crystal, refined and pure, free from useless burdens.

...........................................................................................

"Huff, huff, huff, huff..."

Panting heavily, Luo Zhengdao emerged from the indistinguishable world of day and night, regaining his senses. He did not rush to get up but sat up from the bed, gritting his teeth, and picked up a mirror to look at his face, gently touching the cracked and bleeding skin. Suddenly, a smile appeared on his previously dazed and blank face, looking extremely eerie. Then, Luo Zhengdao closed his eyes, and a ripple spread outward from his brow, a mental power wave so strong that it was almost visible to the naked eye.

Clearing the residual consciousness of Will Needham from his mental world brought Luo Zhengdao many benefits, including a significant improvement in his mental strength.

"I found you, Yasha!"

Seizing the opportunity, he used the sudden surge in mental power to scan everything inside and outside the Yangwei. When he opened his eyes again, they were filled with killing intent. In any world, there were few people who had wronged him to such an extent. Yasha, that plain-looking woman with considerable harmful abilities, was indeed a serious threat.

Without hesitation, Luo Zhengdao called the boatswain Zola and a dozen sailors skilled in close combat, ignoring the lingering effects of the curse. He insisted on leading the team personally to the lower deck.

Stopping in the aisle between two stacks of barrels, Luo Zhengdao turned to the dark corner where the light could not reach and said mockingly:

"Hey, I thought you had already run away! Such impolite behavior is truly regrettable. I didn't expect you to still be on my ship. Don't you have anything to say to me?"

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