"You..."

"Why..."

"You’ll die too. This is... insane."

"Oh... I just thought it would feel really good to kill you, that’s all~"

Lu Cang’s voice was filled with delight, as if he never considered the consequences of his actions.

"If I die, I die. I’ve never been one to cherish my life."

’A... a madman.’

’Why did I have to run into a lunatic like this?’

’If it had been someone I could reason with, I... I wouldn’t have had to lose my life.’

The King’s vision went dark. He was dead.

Lu Cang placed a hand on the light panel, and instantly, he began to receive countless streams of information.

All sorts of models for mechanical creations...

All sorts of models for mechanical men...

The manufacturing processes and required materials for a vast number of mechanical creations...

A list of all citizens in the Tengge Kingdom.

’They really did log everything into the server in painstaking detail. Isn’t this just like a database from my past life? How convenient.’

’But there’s still no record of the Forgotten Moon.’

’The Authority of oblivion.’

’It’s not just physical paper and ink, or even words carved into the ground.’

’It can’t even be recorded by this kind of technological creation?’

’It’s truly magical. The more I learn about this world, the more I realize how full of incredible, unimaginable things it is.’

’Still, I did gain quite a bit of knowledge.’

’It’s just that this is all Mechanician knowledge. It’s not very useful to me...’

It was still early.

Only an hour had passed.

There were still 23 hours left.

The first thing Lu Cang did after entering the Future Preview was to complete the main objective.

Tackling the side quests after finishing the main one gave him a sense of relief.

Otherwise, he was a little worried the main objective would take too long, and he wouldn’t be able to finish it within 24 hours, wasting an opportunity.

But it seemed his efficiency was just too high.

With [Divine Level Hidden Origin], he didn’t need to go through a lot of trouble to find clues. With [Divine Level·Complete Restriction Mastery], he didn’t have to rack his brains trying to break a Restriction.

With [Tier Five Root Magic - Spatial Transfer],

he could freely enter and exit all kinds of spaces, treating doors and walls as if they didn’t exist.

He couldn’t help but sigh with emotion.

’Dusk, your Root Magic is really useful.’

’You’d better stay alive... and comprehend an even High Tier Space Root Magic in the future.’

Since he could just copy others’ homework, Lu Cang really didn’t want to waste time on it himself.

After all, there were too many things to do. Just trying to comprehend his own Root Magic was enough to give him a headache; where would he find the time to think about other Root Magics?

If it were just a matter of practicing Magic, that would be one thing.

But he also had to practice Combat Skills and decipher the world’s hidden secrets.

The further he progressed, the more time each of these things would require.

’As for unimportant Root Magics that take up a lot of my time, I’ll just put them on the back burner for now.’

Lu Cang expanded his Perception, covering a radius of six hundred kilometers and enveloping nearly half of the Tengge Kingdom’s Capital.

Right now, they probably had no idea their King was already dead.

"Good..."

’This Ten Thousand Souls Refining Ritual... it’s too evil. I’ve never had a chance to use it.’

’And this Skin Stripping Blood Sacrifice Method... even though I’m not a Skin Taker, I should be able to use it.’

’I haven’t used this Nest Descent Ritual for the Evil’s Nest since I got it either. Well, I’ll give them a try first.’

’Sigh, I really am too kind.’

In truth, many evil Rituals were very useful, and their Effects were quite significant.

It was just a shame that he had a conscience and a sense of humanity.

So he had never used any of these convenient Rituals.

...

「March 2nd—11:55 PM.」

Lu Cang opened his eyes and looked at his pocket watch.

Just as he’d expected, not a single second had passed.

Although he had experienced a long time in the preview, in real Time, it was as if he had simply closed his eyes and then opened them again.

In the blink of an eye, an infinite Future had unfolded.

Unfortunately, a Level 1 Prophet could only perform a Future Preview twice a day.

Once he became a Level 2 Prophet, he would be able to do it four times a day.

’Two times really isn’t quite enough. I need to keep raising my Prophet Level.’

However, raising the Prophet Level required changing Destiny.

Only a day had passed.

The "Destiny that has been changed" was calculated based on what actually happened in reality. Merely attempting to make a change didn’t count if the foreseen day hadn’t arrived yet.

Only when that day came,

would the Prophet’s principles be fulfilled, based on the difference between the prediction and what actually occurred.

In other words, a Prophet’s advancement... was very time-consuming.

It was a pity that there wasn’t much knowledge in Tengge that he could use. Lu Cang roughly committed some knowledge of information science, energy science, and mechanical dynamics to memory.

’I’ll let my second brain slowly digest it.’

The final fate of the people of Tengge was truly a bit tragic.

Lu Cang had tried the [Nest Descent Ritual for the Evil’s Nest]. It could summon the total number of Demons from about ten Nests into the world. This type of Summoning ensured the Demons would not attack the summoner.

However, every other living being besides the summoner, as well as all buildings, would be subject to their intense destruction and attacks.

The Skin Stripping Secret Technique.

It allowed him, despite not having the Skin Taker Profession, to temporarily don a person’s skin through this Ritual.

While gaining their appearance, he would also gain a weakened version of their abilities.

It couldn’t be sustained for too long, and after putting on the skin, he could no longer use his own original abilities.

’I can only say it’s useful in specific situations.’

’It would probably come in handy when I need to disguise myself as someone else.’

A Skin Taker’s disguise was extremely difficult to see through. After they put on a skin, it was almost as if they had completely become that person.

This was their Profession’s characteristic.

If one didn’t know in advance who the Skin Taker was, it would be very difficult to identify them.

The most likely telltale sign might just be an inconspicuous scar, and even that scar could be covered up or concealed with makeup.

Lu Cang reflected on what he had just done.

He had indeed gone on a killing spree.

’I still have compassion, goodwill, and humanity...’

’My fundamental nature won’t be corrupted by what I do in a virtual world.’

’The fact that I still feel a sense of pity when I slaughter innocents in the simulation... is proof enough of my true heart.’

Lu Cang reflected only briefly before bringing his mind back to the present.

He had to prevent himself from getting too immersed in the simulation and being unable to tell reality from illusion, and also from becoming numb and callous after killing countless people in the Future Preview.

Powerful strength was important, but the tenacity of the Mind was just as crucial.

Otherwise, if he were to encounter a mental attack one day, someone might exploit his weakness.

Since this world was full of so many strange things, there was no guarantee there wouldn’t be Trials that could create Heart Demons. Doing as he pleased in the Future Preview was one thing,

but back in the real world, Lu Cang’s mindset returned to one of caution.

The entire Secret Sea was going to be destroyed. He wondered if Iz and the others had the ability to stop it...

He felt it was highly unlikely.

No matter how strong Iz and the others were, they weren’t beings who could do whatever they wanted in this world.

The complete destruction of the entire Secret Sea was the prophecy of a Level 3 Doomsday Prophet. If what Teng Gai said about them being comparable to a Divine Spirit was true, then that person was truly a complete Divine Level existence...

Sigh.

But at least knowing about this in advance meant he could make more preparations.

Since the entire Secret Sea was going to be destroyed,

it would be a shame not to take the legacies of the continents in the Secret Sand Archipelago for himself.

’I should probably discuss what to do first.’

’Although I probably can’t completely change the coming Destruction, ensuring my friends survive shouldn’t be a problem.’

There were still 28 days left.

’I’ll weigh the pros and cons carefully before making a decision.’

At the very least, if he could teleport randomly, it would be very difficult for him to die...

The question was what kind of impact it would have on future developments, what advantages it would bring, and what disadvantages it would create.

By cracking so many earth-shattering secrets, he had been consistently following the principles of a Decryption Scholar.

Lu Cang felt his Decryption Scholar score progress soaring.

’Do the decryptions I perform in the Future Preview also add to my Decryption Scholar progress bar?’

Actually, it might not be impossible to save a significant number of people, if he could... Lu Cang looked down at the ground.

"Sigh, am I being a bit too compassionate?"