Li Ang paused for a moment and slowly said, "However, on this timeline, there are some obvious problems.

First is the time of death."

"Time of death?" Ding Zhensi glanced at Solomon's corpse, his brows knitting together.

Li Ang said, "In most worldbuilding settings, Transcendents, because they possess Supernatural powers, have better physical attributes and longer lifespans than ordinary humans.

If Theresa and Solomon were born in Year 1011 of the Goddess Calendar, then now, in 1086, they should be in their seventies.

Even for ordinary people, that age isn't particularly old,

but judging from the state of their bodies, they clearly died of old age, and the corpses have been here for many years already. The timeline doesn't match."

David couldn't help cutting in, "Wait, you're saying they also developed the premature-aging disease from the Guardian Village?

Wasn't that premature-aging disease something only those with Ghoul Bloodline can get?

Or are you saying they also actually had Ghoul blood?"

"I never said that."

Li Ang spread his hands, speaking casually, "It's also possible the flow of time in this area is messed up,

or that the corpses decay faster after death.

Plenty of possibilities.

What I care more about are the next three questions:

why they had to return to the Sacred Mountain trial ground,

why Ken wasn't there during the second return,

and why Theresa and Solomon remained in the Sacred Mountain trial ground."

Nobody could answer Li Ang's questions, but luckily he didn't dwell on them,

"Oh, right."

Li Ang seemed to think of something and turned to look at Liu Wu Dai. "Can you still use that skill of yours?"

He was naturally referring to Liu Wu Dai's item-repair ability, [Beautify Myself Punch].

Liu Wu Dai nodded. The skill's cooldown was twenty minutes, and it was ready again now. "What do you need me to fix?"

"This."

Li Ang picked up the stack of experiment logs placed on the third floor of the Mage Tower, turned them face down, and handed them to Liu Wu Dai. "The latest entries should be at the back of the logs.

These are pretty Broken—see if you can repair them.

If it works, great. If it doesn't, that's fine too."

"I'll give it a try."

Liu Wu Dai nodded, assumed his stance, and smashed a punch down onto the experiment logs.

Bang!

The stack of charred-black experiment logs began to rapidly mend themselves as though time were flowing backward, gradually changing from scorched black back to the normal white of paper.

By the time the effect of [Beautify Myself Punch] ended, the last few sheets of the experiment logs had already turned white,

and although the writing on them was still blurry, at least some sentences could be made out.

The group crowded around the papers and carefully examined them.

The last few pages of the experiment logs recorded Solomon's Spell research,

the research project being to use Transcendent power to restore the sanity of resurrected corpses.

[124th experiment: The emotion suppressor I produced based on the United Metropolis' slave thought-control device still has no effect on third-stage Corpse Mutants. The Corpse Mutants created are still violent and mindless.]

[125th experiment: The newly developed potion seems to enhance the Corpse Mutant's physical attributes, but it doesn't restore the brain from chaos to normal. The Corpse Mutant broke free of its restraints during the experiment and attacked me. I had no choice but to destroy its brain... The Holy Mountain Gate has already closed, and the number of experimental subjects is dwindling... Heh, sometimes I really wonder what any of this means. Even if I discover a way to restore a Corpse Mutant's sanity, I have no way to send it outside and help him regain his reason...]

[126th experiment: Corpse Mutant self-detonated, experiment terminated.]

[127th experiment: Corpse Mutant's decay accelerated, experiment terminated.]

...

[143rd experiment: With the last two experimental materials, I finally achieved results. With Theresa's help, I used the corpses of former Heroes and successfully created two Corpse Mutant beings that possess reason and can communicate... Although they still haven't reached the level of full sanity I envisioned, I can still proudly declare that I am now the man closest in the world to the Forbidden God Realm of creating life. Hahaha, I really wish that kid Finn were here, so I could see the look on his face... I wonder how they're doing out there. The Magic Power in this area has been eroding my body and sanity for a long time; maybe I don't have much time left.]

Corpse Mutants? Creating life?

A flash of sharp light passed through Li Ang's eyes. Without rushing to talk to his companions, he continued reading.

This was basically the last formal entry in the experiment logs, but beyond the logs themselves, in the margins and corners of the pages, there were also some scrawled sentences,

which seemed to be Solomon's mutterings when he was frustrated.

[Fuck, days without cigarettes are hell. I tried rolling some sawdust into smokes and nearly choked to death.]

[I've started to lose sensation in my arms. So this is what aging feels like... Hehe, this damned Holy Area—the higher the Magic Power concentration in a given zone, the more intense the erosion.]

[When I looked in the mirror today, I couldn't believe that old man in the reflection was me. I, Solomon, the youngest Special-Class Mage in human history, have actually aged to this point... I smashed every mirror in the Mage Tower and curled up hugging my knees like a child and cried my eyes out. Good thing we've already split up and are staying in different places—if Lamont and the others saw me like this, it'd be mortifying.]

[Waiting for death to come is really unbearable. On the one hand, I'm glad Finn kept his promise and closed the Sacred Mountain trial ground. On the other hand, sometimes I wish he'd come rescue us and take us away from here.]

[Fucking goddess, fucking world. Nothing means anything. We are her slaves, livestock she's penned up.]

Similar lines filled the corners of the pages, the handwriting messy and chaotic, some spots even stained with blood.

"So that's how it is..."

Li Ang repeatedly scanned the contents on the pages, then let out a long breath. Under his teammates' puzzled gazes, he smiled slightly and was just about to explain when his expression suddenly changed as he looked toward the doorway on the other side of the room.

Footsteps sounded in the corridor outside the door.

Hoenhem reacted first. The Book of Sand in his hand fluttered open without wind, pages flipping rapidly as hundreds of offensive Spells gathered power.

Liu Wu Dai also drew and nocked an Arrow, the Arrowhead aimed at the doorway.

Creak—

The room door was pushed open, and Amber walked in.

"Don't attack, it's me."

The female Pirate looked at her companions in the room raising their weapons, let out a dry chuckle, waved her hand, and set down the corpse she was carrying.

That corpse, just like Solomon's and Theresa's, was shriveled and desiccated, dressed in a cloak with a quiver at its waist. Judging from its appearance, it was precisely the Elf Archer from that Hero Team.