Chapter 1968: Potential Bargain

"And how would you do that?" Kane raised an eyebrow.

"...We offer him freedom," Rui replied coldly. "...I have a feeling that the Divine Doctor would rather not die in this place."

Rui didn't know if his soul could really transfer to another body if it was trapped in a four-dimensional space-time.

He didn't really know the mechanics of souls at all in the first place. Were they bound by space and time like other material phenomena were?

Considering that his soul had gone to an entirely different world, he could not help but wonder if they truly were. For one, he didn't even know if he was in the same universe as Earth. Even if he was, they clearly weren't anywhere near Earth considering how absurdly enormous Gaia was. The Hubble Telescope and the James Webb Space Telescope would have long spotted Gaia if Gaia was in the intergalactic neighborhood of Earth.

Based on the evidence that he had at hand from his own reincarnation in a different world and the Beggar Sage's words regarding soul transference, souls were clearly some form of astral phenomena that he had yet to come into touch with. Perhaps they were an extra dimension of astral reality that only the highest of Realms, such as the Sage Realm and Transcendent Realm, could access.

It may have even been the source of power for one of the two Realms.

It would make sense why he hadn't learned anything about astral phenomena if it was truly the focus of higher Realms.

"...Even if he can commence the soul transference ritual despite being trapped in a four-dimensional manifold, it's clear he would rather escape physically," Rui quietly remarked. "...Otherwise, he would not have spent so many months here. That gives us leverage. I can offer to free him in return for healing my father."

"That's a good deal," Kane admitted. "Let's go talk to him quickly."

"No," Rui's voice grew frosty.

"Why not?" Kane winced.

"...If he believed we had the ability to free him, then he would have proposed that deal himself," Rui's tone was sharp. "....Yet, he didn't. He just walked away from us when I refused his insane offer to poke around my head. In other words, he doesn't believe that we can help him get out of here by virtue of us being mere Martial Seniors. So what do you think would happen if..."

His dark eyes turned towards Kane. "...if we walked up to him and offered him something he doesn't believe we can give him?"

"...He'd think we're trying to scam him or are just delusional, I guess," Kane admitted.

"Correct." Rui nodded stoically. "...This means that when we approach him, we need to come up with an extremely solid, viable, and effective plan that has a high enough probability of success such that even the Divine Doctor cannot help but admit that it is worth investing in. Only then will I have the capital needed to demand what I seek from him. He may not be sane, but considering that he said the Eternal Dream disease was trivial, it should be a no-brainer to accept my offer then."

Rui's stoic gaze returned to the Mellow Dungeon. "...Until we reach that point, there's no real point in talking to him."

Of course, Rui would be lying if there weren't things that he wanted to ask the man. Things that he wanted to learn and understand. Alas, he didn't think the Divine Doctor would be willing to indulge him all that much, considering he had rudely refused him. He would wait until they had figured out a viable plan.

"So..." Kane turned to Rui. "You think we should jump right into the Mellow Dungeon or...?"

"I'd like to, but..." Rui's dark eyes swept across regions of the island outside of the Mellow Dungeon. "...it's better to get a full and total grasp of all there is to know in the pocket manifold before we investigate the dungeon."

There were plenty of peculiarities within the entire place that Rui wanted to investigate thoroughly. The first one was one that had struck him the very moment he realized that this was a pocket manifold.

His eyes turned to the sky, eying the powerful Sun. Despite the pocket manifold, he could see it. Either it was fake, which he found extremely hard to believe unless a sentient creature created it to replace the Sun or the pocket manifold allowed light to enter.

'Does that mean that someone could communicate to us from the outside?' His eyes narrowed.

"Kane."

"...Yeah?"

"Does this place have day-night cycles that you would normally expect?"

Kane's eyes lit up. "No, actually. Half the place is day, and the other half is night! Isn't that crazy?! It's why I thought this place was a separate planetoid!"

Rui frowned. "...Half the place is day, and the other half is night?"

"Yeah, and it continues in a twenty-four-hour cycle just like we normally experience on Gaia."

"Interesting," Rui muttered quietly. "Does the dungeon also warp space in such a way that its exposure to sunlight is identical to that of a rotating planet like Gaia? It would make sense if it evolved to day-night cycles such that it needs precisely those kinds of cycles to survive."

Flora had an extremely special relationship with the Sun. It could even be said that their lives revolved around the Sun. Just like how drastic changes in diet in humans could cause drastic changes, flora often needed exactly the right amounts of exposure to the Sun.

It was a very strong possible candidate for an explanation as to why the manifold created by the dungeon warped light to ensure that their exposure to sunlight remained unchanged in the long run.

"I probably can't exploit it by depriving it of sunlight as a viable strategy," Rui remarked.

Even ordinary vegetation could last quite some time without sunlight; he couldn't imagine the sheer amount of time it would take to kill something that had absorbed the power of an extraordinary esoteric substance.