Chapter 417: Paradox

The sixth crossing of the spatial rift.

This time, the sensation was entirely different.

The dizziness that had always accompanied the transition was gone. Moreover, the déjà vu from the previous loop had intensified once again. It was no longer merely a vague “sense of familiarity,” but something far more tangible—fragmentary, flickering echoes of memory.

The instant Jie Ming steadied himself, clear snippets of imagery surfaced unbidden in his mind: himself on the observation platform, rapidly collecting crystals; the side profile of Frost descending with eighth-tier Sickle-Skull corpses in hand; and that final moment before the time reversal, when his Inner Cave Heaven hurriedly absorbed every instrument…

These memories were incomplete, broken, incapable of forming a coherent narrative.

In the face of the vast mountain of recording crystals, such fragmentary recollections seemed utterly insignificant.

Yet their very existence carried meaning far beyond their content.

It meant that the “adaptive evolution” of his Body Forging Technique, in resisting the reset of time, was progressing—from vague “sensations of familiarity” toward more solid “memory anchors.”

“Captain?” A voice called from behind.

“I’m fine.” Jie Ming replied with unusual calm. His gaze swept over the two thousand wizards behind him, then forward to the wary allied guard troops and the approaching Frost.

He knew exactly what was happening.

This was the greatest value of these memories: they allowed him not to guess, but to

know

.

To

know

this was the sixth loop.

The process had become thoroughly familiar.

He displayed Altreus’s command document and obtained passage.

Before Frost could speak, Jie Ming stepped forward and handed over the pre-prepared crystal encapsulating the key research progress and battlefield data summary from the previous loop.

“Lord Frost, this contains the research advancements and tactical analysis summary from the previous loop. It includes combat data on the new bio-beasts, as well as… preliminary findings from the ‘paradox experiments.’” His tone was steady.

Frost gave him a deep look, asked no further questions, and accepted the crystal, swiftly reading its contents.

Moments later, orders were issued. The wizard legion deployed with maximum efficiency to meet the anticipated Sickle-Skull ambush force.

The landing battle, fought with complete intelligence superiority, concluded in under half an hour with total wizard victory—faster than any previous engagement.

Only after the battlefield was preliminarily cleared did Jie Ming finally turn his full attention inward.

He first inspected the Inner Cave Heaven.

The mountain of categorized recording crystals remained intact.

The monitoring instruments salvaged from the previous loop, Sickle-Skull specimens of various tiers, and most importantly—that intact eighth-tier corpse along with two fragments of Honor Carapace—lay undisturbed in their designated zones, showing no anomalies.

But this was not his primary concern.

With Frost’s special authorization, Jie Ming and core members of the research group—including Allison—immediately entered the legion’s central logistics warehouse and database.

Their objective was clear: cross-check inventory records and search for traces left by the “paradox.”

The audit proceeded swiftly with the assistance of highly automated rune arrays.

When the final report appeared before them, a wave of subdued yet excited discussion rippled through the laboratory.

“Confirmed!” Allison pointed at the highlighted data columns on the holographic projection. “Base elemental materials, high-purity energy crystals, specific rune substrate models… seventeen major categories in total, showing unexplainable shortages that cannot be attributed to normal consumption. The total shortfall…”

She pulled up another list—the detailed material requisition from the previous loop for manufacturing that batch of “new” observation instruments.

“…matches exactly twice the total material requirement of this list, with deviation within five parts per ten thousand.”

Everyone understood what this meant.

Jie Ming had brought back one set of “new” instruments from the previous loop. They were now present in the camp.

Yet the warehouse shortfall corresponded precisely to the materials needed for

two

full sets.

The only explanation: the set manufactured in the fourth loop and reused in the fifth had, in the process of the fifth loop’s end and the time reversal back to the start of the sixth, been treated as “external” objects—and ultimately could not escape erasure.

Just like those black giants, they had been “canceled” in the conflict of spacetime continuity.

“Excellent. This result aligns perfectly with expectations.” Jie Ming summarized in a low voice, showing little emotional fluctuation.

This outcome validated their hypothesis regarding the “stability of external-object paradoxes” and explained part of the reason for the earlier disappearance of the black giants.

Now came the main event.

Jie Ming distributed the environmental baseline data package from the previous loop—including atmospheric elemental concentrations, energy tide reference values, and inherent fluctuation frequencies of the plane’s laws—to each research subgroup.

Using the repaired “new” instruments (those brought back from the previous loop), the wizards began synchronized measurements of the current loop’s plane environment, establishing a new baseline for comparison against the recorded data.

At first, everything appeared normal.

The instruments operated stably. Data cascaded across the screens like waterfalls.

The wizards processed their respective modules, cross-checking, calibrating, and calculating.

Yet only half a day later, a young wizard specializing in elemental energy spectrum analysis paused, frowning deeply as he stared at his rune stylus.

He repeatedly compared the real-time monitoring data stream with the “previous-loop baseline data” provided by Jie Ming. His expression grew increasingly puzzled.

“Advisor Jie Ming,” he said, looking up with uncertainty, “please confirm once more: this ‘elemental abundance baseline spectrum’ you provided—is it the stable-phase measurement taken before the total assault campaign of the previous loop, correct? Untouched by any post-processing or filtering?”

“Yes, raw data, taken directly from the recording crystals.” Jie Ming affirmed. “What’s wrong?”

“This is strange…” The young wizard pointed to two sets of curves on his display. “Look here. Real-time monitoring shows that the background atmospheric concentrations of seven stable inert elements are, on average… approximately 0.3% lower than the baseline data you provided. The deviation far exceeds both instrument precision and natural fluctuation limits.”

0.3%.

This tiny figure rippled through Jie Ming’s mind like a stone dropped into still water.

Soon, more anomalies were reported.

“Report! Background void energy fluctuation average intensity decreased by approximately 0.28%!”

“Spatial stabilization coefficient shows slight decline, trend consistent with elemental concentration drop!”

“Baseline life-field activity threshold exhibits faint upward shift…”

One after another, minute percentage deviations were aggregated. They pointed in the same direction, were of similar magnitude, and affected the plane’s most fundamental, most stable “constants”!

Jie Ming gazed at these data discrepancies, eyes narrowing slightly as his earlier speculation gradually crystallized.