Chapter 353: Probing

After that exchange at the technical symposium, Jie Ming and Rex shared a knowing glance, silent and loaded with meaning.

They did not acknowledge each other outright. Instead, when the crowd dispersed, they swapped personal contact codes like any two ordinary tech enthusiasts would.

A few days later, a brief message from Rex appeared on Jie Ming’s communicator, inviting him to his residence “for an in-depth discussion on technical matters.”

“This guy once called me a lunatic. Yet when it comes to gambling with his life, he’s even crazier than I am.”

Staring at the words on the screen, Jie Ming took a deep breath, nerves faintly tingling.

He calmed himself, raised his head, and looked at the luxurious villa before him.

This was Rex’s home, situated in an upscale district on the outskirts of Anvil Star’s capital city.

It was a mansion with its own private courtyard—simple in appearance yet brimming with deliberate design.

Following the directions, Jie Ming stepped inside. The interior was vast and open, but the furnishings were starkly minimalist, almost coldly austere.

“Welcome, Jie Ming.” Rex stood in the center of the living room.

He had shed his work overalls for comfortable casual wear, the same pair of glasses still perched on his nose.

But something in his eyes had changed—an excitement barely contained, sharp and piercing.

“Rex. Long time no see.” Jie Ming nodded, his gaze sweeping across the corners of the room. He could faintly sense weak energy-field fluctuations.

It was not supernatural power, but equipment built from this world’s technology—devices designed to block ordinary surveillance and signal detection, quietly running.

Clearly, this place had been meticulously prepared as a safe house.

No need for pleasantries. The two men sat down at a table covered in metal panels and immediately got to the point.

“How did you wake up?” Jie Ming asked first.

Rex pushed up his glasses; a trace of relief flashed through his eyes. “Thanks to this.” He tapped his temple. “The ‘Weaver’ nano-intelligence brain chip I implanted in myself. This thing… isn’t suppressed by this damned place.”

After his explanation, Jie Ming finally understood. The chip called “Weaver” was Rex’s masterpiece in the field of mechanics.

The instant Rex fell into this world, the Weaver detected massive environmental anomalies and logical conflicts in his memories. It began issuing constant alerts deep within his shrouded consciousness.

Those alerts were like ceaseless background noise. After years of erosion—five years, to be precise—they finally wore through the dam of false memories like water piercing stone, restoring his clarity.

“Your transcendent powers still work?!” Jie Ming’s heart shook.

He instinctively looked inward at his dantian. The Five Aggregates Rainbow Mirror and the Mysterious Astral Mortal Dust Barrier circling his body remained as silent as dead objects, showing no reaction at all.

Why could Rex’s brain chip function?

“For years I’ve been studying this world’s ‘rules,’” Rex continued, as though reading his doubt. “I discovered a crucial point: as long as something—its manufacturing process and final form—can be understood and replicated by the current technological level of this world… that is, given blueprints and materials, a factory or laboratory here could theoretically produce it… then it can operate normally here, unaffected by the ‘rejection of the transcendent.’”

He paused, then emphasized, “My Weaver chip used wizardry for its ultra-precise processing and binding, but its core architecture, computational logic, and even the manufacturing principles of most nanoscale components can be understood—and partially realized—in this world’s top laboratories. Therefore, it was ‘recognized’ by the rules.”

“Recognized by the rules…”

Jie Ming felt as though he’d been struck by lightning; he froze on the spot.

In that instant, everything clicked—this was the truth hidden in plain sight!

Because he came from a purely technological world, and after crossing over had experienced both immortal cultivation and wizardry, whenever he encountered this phenomenon Jie Ming’s mind had instinctively opposed “technology” and “the transcendent,” assuming this world’s suppression targeted all transcendent power.

But in reality, the foundation of wizard civilization is knowledge!

Countless spells, alchemy techniques, and rune systems are nothing more than profound comprehension and application of cosmic laws.

A great portion of that knowledge can be reproduced through purely technological means, albeit in different forms!

Rex’s chip had exploited exactly that loophole—it was, in essence, a condensation of pure mechanical knowledge, its form of existence perfectly compliant with this plane’s physical laws.

“I think… because of the same blind spot, I’ve overlooked something else…” Jie Ming suddenly fell into thought.

A vague intuition told him that this principle of “rule recognition” might point to a far more critical truth he had always ignored.

Yet the inspiration flashed and vanished; for now he couldn’t grasp it.

Still, Jie Ming didn’t dwell on it long. Soon he and Rex began exchanging intelligence.

They already shared understanding of the more basic information. Rex, however, added one point Jie Ming had not discovered:

“After the intelligent beings of this plane die unnaturally, they seem to be reborn with memories wiped. But those who die of natural causes apparently do not revive…”

Rex was an orphan here and had interacted with far more people, encountering more unusual cases. “Though the sample size is too small—I can’t yet confirm whether this is universal or merely exceptional.”

“I see…” Jie Ming truly hadn’t noticed that detail.

At the same time, he shared some of his own findings with Rex: confirmation that the controlling method was neither illusion nor mental domination, but some far more peculiar power; the fact that this world was abnormally vast and real, and other such intelligence.

After the exchange, both fell briefly silent.

Together they possessed more fragments than either alone, yet the puzzle remained incomplete. The most crucial pieces—the true identity of the mastermind, their precise goal, and how to break this cage—remained shrouded in fog.

After a moment, Jie Ming let out a long breath, leaned back in his chair, and revealed a self-mocking smile. “Looks like the one—or the thing—behind the curtain doesn’t particularly mind two slightly more active ants like us.”

Rex nodded as well, the light behind his lenses glinting with cool analytical brilliance. “Ever since I learned the intelligent beings here can be reborn, I suspected the entity running this plane was relatively ‘benevolent.’ Today can be considered confirmation.”

Indeed, both had been perfectly aware from the start: this meeting carried enormous risk.

Rex’s room could block ordinary surveillance, but both men knew full well that such measures were meaningless against the existence behind the scenes.

In truth, their encounter today was also a probe—a test of how that entity viewed awakened individuals like themselves.

That was why Jie Ming had hesitated before coming.

Although he hadn’t previously observed the rebirth phenomenon, he had arrived at the same conclusion as Rex.

After all, just looking at his own false parents and old friends made it clear the mastermind’s goal was not slaughter. That was why he had decided to gamble today.

And from the outcome of their probe—both had won their bet.