It's been a long time since Mason got the Black Apple, but he hasn't used this device, which can theoretically answer all difficult questions.

Mason was useless when Plane Fusion was in trouble, he wasn't useful when Mephisto was ghosting and nearly undoing everything, and even now that the decisive battle was approaching, he still hadn't intended to use it.

But what the old man said just now gave him a wake-up call.

Witnessing the impact of the world for the first time in the world of pirates and Gotham, Mason gained insight into his fate when he woke up in this dark age, and he bravely fought all the way to the present, giving himself a near-perfect answer to the problems of the impact, and now he can complete the "main quest" of his journey by killing Mephisto and the Stars.

In a single-player game, this is already the stage of entering the final plot, and it is a pity to hold such an important prop but not use it.

After all, he's not a hardcore party that pursues full trophy achievements, right?

Of course, there is a fairly practical reason why Mason has not used black apples for a long time, not only because the information label of this thing says that it is risky to use it, but also because Black Singular's "live teaching" tells him that using black apples to get answers is indeed a risky thing to do.

Black Strange asked a question about the future, and as a result, the forbidden knowledge was so devoured that he could barely maintain the ring, allowing the appearance of the old gods to be released.

With Mason's small strength at the beginning, it is estimated that he will have to hand over most of his life in the face of such a backlash.

But now it's different.

He has grown effectively and vigorously in all aspects, and after uniting his "Mason family" to defeat the Void Mason, he has received a gift of power, and his ability to manipulate has also increased to a considerable extent.

He felt he should give it a try.

Of course, to be on the safe side, Mason doesn't just ask about an ending of everything like Black Strange, that's crazy and pointless.

The captain is convinced that he can win.

Madeleine's phoenix ruling did not erase his future, and it was clear that he would win, and how much he would win was not something for Mason to consider.

"So, let's just be realistic."

Mason puffed out a puff of smoke and reached for the black apple in front of him, but before he could touch it, the door to the small conference room was suddenly pushed open.

Mason, the alchemist with a wizard's hat, poked his head inside, and he was holding an antique medicine box in his arms, apparently there to deliver something.

Then he saw Mason holding a penguin umbrella and preparing to touch the black apple.

"Hey! You don't want to die? ”

The alchemist exclaimed, stepped forward and removed Mason's hand, and said:

"Is this something you can use casually? And you don't have the answer you desperately want, do you? ”

"I don't think it's a bit respectful to save this obvious 'playthrough item' for the end"

Mason pouted and said:

"So there's no harm in trying, why not increase your chances of winning?"

"It should always be used for important things, right?"

The alchemist thought that there was nothing wrong with this statement, and then he took out his pipe and put it to his mouth, and said to Mason:

"I mean, ask something interesting or something that's exciting, like who the hell got us here?"

"You're expecting me to die, aren't you?"

The captain complained:

"As long as I dare to ask this kind of question that is related to the outside world, and I don't mention whether the black apple can give an answer, I am afraid that I will die on the spot.

I'm going to ask him how it can destroy the hellish 'Mephisto network' of the old devil, and he told me before that the minds of countless planes of Mephisto are connected together means that this 'detachment' is not actually intended for a single Mephisto.

It's a common plan for all of them.

Even if we kill the old devil who dominates the Star Society, sooner or later there will be other devils who will take over this banner, isn't this equivalent to doing it for nothing? ”

"You ask me this question, why are you asking it?"

The alchemist complained:

"Isn't the easiest way to wait for the old devil to complete his detachment?

The space-time xenomorphs of Mephisto in all worlds are fused together, and when a complete existence is achieved, he is smacked out, so that all Mephisto is hung up. ”

"You!"

The subject snorted and said:

"I can't think of raising a big daddy when I still have an advantage, I understand the concept of detachment, although Black Strange has not taken that step, he already has the qualifications, but he is purely hurt by love and is unwilling to take that step.

He's so powerful, and if Mephisto is out of the way, the price I'll pay to kill him will definitely be ten times greater. ”

"Well, that makes sense."

The alchemist nodded, spat out the smoke ring again, and blinked at Mason:

"But I suggest you change the question, you know what I mean? Change to a question that is more valuable and important to you, such as Ciri's perfect resurrection

We don't actually need to kill all Mephisto, that's just an option.

Our purpose has always been clear, which is to overthrow the Stars Society, and with the current impact already in the fifth round, the other Mephisto are powerless even if they have the heart to inherit the legacy of the old devil.

That's the trouble of the next era, Mason, didn't you say that you are only responsible for reversing the dark ages, and you are too lazy to participate in the affairs of the next era?

Believe in the wisdom of future generations, saving your little lover's life now is the most important thing. ”

"You are asking me to choose one of the future and love, alas, a problem for the ages."

Mason shook his head, sighed, and said:

"But I only had one chance to ask, and I had to give up the other, which was really difficult."

It was difficult, but Mason didn't hesitate too much and reached for the smooth surface of the black apple.

The moment his fingers touched this thing, a chill from the bottom of his heart rushed all the way to Mason's heart, making his body tremble as if he had drunk a drink with ice in the cold winter moon.

That's cold that can't be waived.

Even the mind was frozen, and that power grew stronger as the time of contact grew, as if it were forcing Mason to ask the questions in his mind.

If he hesitated any longer, the captain had no doubt that his soul would be frozen with this.

It's no wonder that Black Strange was so uncomfortable using the Black Apple at the time, and Mason believes that this power that stems from the mysterious Wall of Origin is not immune to resistance by sheer strength.

It is directly effective at the existential level.

"Ask! Hurry up, your bodies of water are already unstable, they're crystallizing, hell. ”

The alchemist, who set up a small camera next to him to capture the whole process of this important moment as a valuable research material for the cosmic artifact, urged:

"It's hurting you, forcing you to ask questions, not to fight against this power, to make your choices."

"Huh"

A black light lit up, intertwining on Mason's five fingers spread out on the surface of the black apple, those five fingers had been completely frozen from the molecular level into a crystal clear posture, and they were still emitting a cold air, like some kind of cruel ice sculpture.

However, the light turned on seemed to indicate that Mason had completed the standard use of this cosmic artifact and entered the final stage of obtaining the answer.

The ice on his fingers was melting, which made the alchemist quite curious, and he guessed that this was the power recovery of this unique cosmic artifact after completing this "mission".

It's like a tool that has been made and finally used, so that it is "happy" and "satisfied".

After a few seconds, the black streamer wrapped around Mason's fingers dimmed, and the black apple returned to its waveless state, and when the captain opened his eyes, his pupils seemed to have the answer left in his eyeballs, and the complex words and graphics pulsed before his eyes, giving him a standard answer.

"What a thing this thing is!"

Mason let go of his hand and gave his own evaluation.

While he took out his notebook to write and draw, he said to the alchemist who was waiting for an answer without raising his head:

"I kind of figured out how it works, do you see how I was frozen? The power of the backlash when accepting forbidden knowledge is constantly unleashed with the complexity and obscurity of the question you want to ask, and the more complex the question you ask and the more it involves the truth of the universe, the greater the backlash you have to endure.

For example, Black Strange asked about the future of real existence before, which directly caused him to take almost the damage of the upper limit of life, and if I asked who sent us this kind of question as you suggested, my existence would be erased on the spot.

It's not that it's going to hurt me.

It's that I simply can't bear the true answer of that level, symbolic! It's also symbolic, but it actually answers your question from the side.

The guys who sent us here are quite powerful, at least at the level of cosmic gods. But don't worry, this thing doesn't give you an answer right away when a question floats in your mind, there's a confirmation process.

It's pretty smart in that sense.

After all, it's something that can only be used once in a lifetime, and it's good to have a sense of ritual. ”

"Who asked you this!"

The alchemist scratched his ears and gritted:

"What I want to hear is which one you have chosen in the future and in love, you bastard! What I want to hear is gossip, okay? Who the fuck cares about the working principle and manual of the black apple!

Is that something that the average person can use? Hurry up! Say, do you choose to be a cold-blooded bastard who abandons love in the name of the future, or are you willing to abandon the brainless lover of the future for the sake of love? ”

"Trust me, you'll use this knowledge."

Mason glanced at the alchemist meaningfully, then coughed twice and said:

"Of course I made a choice, I asked it how to take down the Mephisto network, and this bastard thing gave me a 'standard answer,' you know what I mean?

A standard answer does not mean that it is the correct answer or the most efficient answer.

It tells me that all Mephisto are hellish creatures, and that when they became helllords and possessed hellish divinity, their existence was bound to the hell of their respective planes.

And the best thing is that the principle of the effect of the 'comprehensive concept' of hell is quite complex, to put it simply, all the planes where the legend of hell exists have its concept in effect, so it can be seen that every dimension of hell is connected to each other.

The Black Apple suggests that I completely destroy the infernal dimension where Mephisto is located, and the moment the symbolism it carries is shattered, Mephisto's life will come to an end based on the eternal existence of hell.

And the shattering of the dimension of Lord Destiny will directly affect the other planes where Mephisto is located.

Such a spiritual and existential onslaught of power would not kill them, but would cause the Mephisto network they shared to collapse completely.

In this way, the efforts of the Lord of Destiny for transcendence can no longer be carried on by the other old devils, who will be transformed from a single body into an individual again. ”

"That's it?"

The alchemist's eyes widened and he said:

"Didn't you say you were looking for a way to kill them? This only gives them a way to weaken them. ”

"No, no, no, the essence of the standard answer is here."

Mason shook his head and explained:

"Don't forget that we are in an environment where the fusion process of the Neo-Utopia Project continues to be pushed to the end, and all parallel planes will merge into a complete universe!

And in this independent and complete universe, the concept of hell in each plane will be fused together to form a 'one and only hell'.

Since even Hell is the only one, there must and can only be one individual left between the remaining Mephisto to dominate the Hell dimension in which they are located.

It was not based on their will, but on the basis of the laws of the universe, and whether they wanted it or not, they had to kill each other until the last Mephisto remained.

Although the result is the same, it is the opposite concept of 'detachment' of the unity of all bodies.

The Black Apple's plan is for us to take down the strongest Destiny, and then leave everything to the true and cruel fate, and those bastards will die!

And they will die at the hands of others.

Tsk, I have to say, this scheme is quite interesting in terms of 'punishment'. It seems that the Black Apple read my disgust with the old devil and therefore gave me the most vicious of all the viable solutions.

Blowing up Mephisto's Hell dimension sounds difficult, but with the help of Swallowing Stars, this condition is not difficult to achieve, just make up for it after the big war is over.

How hard can that be? ”

"Hmm, so you ended up choosing the future between love and the future?"

The alchemist looked at Mason with satisfaction and disdain, and he complained:

"I thought you were a pure love party, but I didn't expect you to be a profit creature too, phew, Mason, you really disappointed me."

"Don't be disappointed."

The captain shook his head, stroking the black apple in his hand that no longer responded to him, his "quota" had been used up, and this cosmic artifact would not be open to him.

Mason said to the alchemist:

"The reason why I chose the future over my poor love so simply is not because I don't care about Ciri's life or death, but because I choose to trust the wisdom and means of my family members.

I believe that even without the Black Apple, you can finally give me a perfect solution and use your wisdom to help me, a poor man, solve my problems.

This is the plan I chose for Ciri, not with the help of external objects, but by the unity and potential of the entire Mason family. ”

Speaking of this, Mason reached out and put it on the beautiful medicine box that the alchemist brought this time, he patted the thing, winked at the alchemist, and said:

"Look, you didn't disappoint me either, did you?"

"Okay, okay, I'll admit that what you said makes sense and it touches me, but the truth is, don't be busy rejoicing just yet."

The alchemist snorted rather arrogantly, sighed again, and said:

"I did get the resurrection potion you wanted to get, but to be honest, I don't know how much this thing will work, given that Ciri and the other two mentors are in a very complicated situation

Mephisto's power erosion alone is a problem that is difficult to solve perfectly, and we have a bit less time, and I can only do the best in the limited time.

Maybe it will disappoint you, but I've been"

"That's why I said I would trust your wisdom without reservation!"

Mason interrupted the alchemist's "disclaimer", and as the alchemist stared at him dumbfounded, Mason slipped the penguin umbrella into his hand and grabbed his left hand and placed it on the black apple.

He winked at the alchemist and said:

"Let's get started, what are you waiting for? My love is saved by your wisdom, come, ask it your own questions, Mason McJack Cooper. ”

(End of chapter)