Fake Professor, Misunderstood As Strong-Chapter 255: The Terrifying emotion that is ’Hope’.

Jareth’s personal underground lab.

"Phew... finally I am back here..."

After returning to the capital, Jareth didn’t bother having meetings with others to announce that he had returned because he would soon leave again anyway.

Thus, he just dropped off the three kids at the academy’s dormitory area and left for his mansion instantly.

He already had a small talk with the new principal on the phone and had already told him that he was returning home, so there was no need to bother with having a welcome party.

’I have already told Mark and the other what to say if someone asks them about the trip so there’s no need to worry...’

Mark and the other two also gained a huge number of insights from this trip, and all three of them have learned a lot.

Now is the time for them to digest all the things they have realized and improve themselves tremendously.

Moreover, their exams are also coming, so three of them have to deal with that too.

’Well, mages are quick learners so I don’t think they will fail even if they have less time to prepare for the exams; they will just have to pull a few all-nighters, and they will pass...’

’It won’t be long before the three of them will become capable enough... Just a bit more time...’

’A year or two should be enough for them to reach at least grade-2...’

Not only are Mark and the two others some of the most talented individuals in this world, but their growth is also being constantly stimulated by Jareth, who himself is basically a ’bug’-like existence.

Jareth’s own improvement is like riding a rocket and soaring directly into the sky; thus, he’s been trying to improve Mark and the others faster than the original.

’I am not sure if the three of them will be able to become strong enough by the time I complete my escape plan... but I will take my chances...’

In a dying world with constant struggle and degradation, it’s better to cling to false hope than do nothing and rot to the core.

*Security Check Complete! Welcome Back, Master!*

The final security door opened as the mana detector recognized Jareth’s unique mana signature, revealing a massive underground hall inside.

In the massive underground hall, hundreds of big and small tubes were connected to a single gigantic device that looked like a sphere.

Jareth took out the leaf of the world tree from his inventory and placed it in a container specially made for it.

The basic structure of the device was created from the alloy made with various precious metals that Jareth bought along with adamantine and mithril that he ripped off from the palace gates in the abyss altar area.

Those two doors were massive in size and had a massive amount of adamantine and mithril in them.

Jareth even used the crystals he got from the hidden cave that Azul and his fellow villagers were living in.

After using most of these items for his wormhole device, Jareth still has a lot of them left.

’I will have to create some equipment for Mark and the two with the remaining metal...’

Jareth himself has no need for equipment, as he can just steal more of the protagonist’s chances to make up for it.

Mark and the other two would need better equipment if they want to take on stronger foes in the future and fight off corruption.

For now, the auxiliary power sources of the device are the purest quality mana stones that Jareth either acquired or bought with his own money from various sources.

Buying such precious items openly would cause trouble for anyone; thus, most of it was bought from the black market or secret sources that Jareth knew from the game.

The half-broken ’sun’ device that Jareth got from the abyss altar can be used as a power source option, but it’s still only half, so there’s no breakthrough in this matter.

Jareth had previously hired a lot of researchers and mages for one singular purpose, which was to figure out the best and most efficient mana circuit for this powerful device.

In terms of spatial technology, this world only has magic, so Jareth doesn’t have the luxury to ask the scientists to just go and make a warp drive engine or something else.

Thus, he decided to combine technology and magic into one.

This teleportation device must have a very powerful magic circuit, which must also have extremely high efficiency and extreme load-tolerating capacity.

If it was just an ordinary space-time wormhole creator, Jareth wouldn’t have to be so adamant about quality, but this device will have to fight against the ’Sea of Endless Miasma’ to teleport a person out.

The Sea of Endless Miasma has already heavily corrupted the ’Law’ of ’Space and Time’; its dominance here is extremely strong.

This wormhole-creating device will not only have to maintain a space-time tunnel big enough to let Jareth travel thousands of light-years away, but it will also have to prevent miasma from corroding the wormhole.

That’s where the leaf of the world tree comes in.

As one of the purest things in this world, it has the ability to resist miasma to the extreme.

Jareth just has to find a few more auxiliary items and combine them with the leaf of the world tree to create a module that can be fitted into the wormhole-creating device.

There are quite a few more components missing, but for the most part, it’s starting to come together.

’From the looks of it, I still need a year or two to complete this device...’

’I will need to delay the plans of the ’False Dome Cult’ for a year or two and I can leave...’

Jareth isn’t worried about anyone stealing his research or something like that.

This place is extremely secretive because Jareth personally dug out this entire underground base under this mansion.

He created all of this area himself.

No one even knows such a place even exists.

Unless something comes and directly obliterates the entire capital city, his underground lab won’t be affected much.

Even the researchers that Jareth hired work on different sites; this one is purely for his own research.

’I also need to start collecting the equipment that can deal with Zion...’

Zion has the other fragment of the ’Sun’ device that he needs for his own plans.

Jareth won’t just sit and wait for time to pass; he will definitely get his hands on it.

’The next time I meet Zion, I will either butcher him on the spot or I will rip apart his coat so that all the items in his inventory spill out...’

Truthfully speaking, Jareth doesn’t really want to fight Zion.

Although it’s much easier to kill Zion compared to Konda, who was near unkillable due to its tanky body, Jareth still wants to solve this matter peacefully.

The Zion in the game was just a hope-deprived, rotten corpse who had no dreams or goals.

A person with no hope or goals to live for is completely different from one who has ’hope.’

’Hope’ is an extremely powerful emotion; even the weakest of people can burst out with surprising tenacity and power for the sake of ’hope.’

Zion in the game didn’t even budge from his boss area; in fact, he purposely let the main character kill him, as he wanted to die in battle rather than being corrupted by Miasma.

The Zion of the current time is different.

Due to Konda’s death, he has hope.

He thinks he can create a new barrier similar to the current False Dome Barrier using the ’Sun’ Device that his father left behind.

He wants to purify the abyss altar area and cast a barrier using the surface of the planet.

The Abyss Alter area is indeed quite big, but it will not be able to accumulate all the races and beings of this planet no matter how vast it is.

’His plan has so many flaws that I feel like laughing thinking about it... how can he be so naïve...’

Jareth shook his head, thinking about how pointless Zion plan was.

Once the population increases, there will be less and less space for people left.

Moreover, the miasma outside might directly shatter the entire planet.

This plan is just leaving the fate of the entire race to a very thin thread of ’hope.’ 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

Zion is hoping that the planet will not instantly disintegrate the moment it’s exposed to the pressure of the sea of miasma.

Jareth, on the other hand, thinks that this is just pure fantasy.

For example, if you put a person directly thousands of meters deep under the ocean, the sea pressure will instantly crush them.

The situation of this planet is even worse.

Once the ’False Dome Seal’ shatters, the entire Sea of Miasma’s pressure will rush towards the interior of the solar system and create massive destruction.

Even if Zion succeeds in creating a new seal, it won’t be stronger than the current ’False Dome Seal’; it won’t last long under the massive pressure and corruption.

Thinking about all this, a look of sadness appeared on Jareth’s face.

He walked up to the teleportation device and placed his hand on it.

"Sigh... Why am I criticizing others’ plans when my own plan is also based on just mere possibility and hope..."

Jareth’s own plan is not any better and has many flaws; he’s in no position to criticize others for having hope.

"Hope... such a powerful yet despair-inducing emotion..."

No matter the problems and difficulties, as long as you have ’Hope,’ you can still move forward.

The ’Laws’ of ’Light,’ ’Love,’ ’Care,’ ’Protection,’ and ’Hope’ are some of the strongest ones in this world after all.