Chapter 443: Deciding the Plan

Inside the control room, the air seemed to have frozen. Only the low hum of operating equipment and the soft rustle of data refreshing across light screens served as background noise.

Beyond the viewport, the green plane tightly wrapped in multiple layers of scarlet spell formations hung silently amid the chaos of the Chaotic Void, resembling a piece of jade bound and ensnared by bloodstained spider webs.

Viola strode quickly to the central main control console. Her fingers danced rapidly across the light screen, pulling up several real-time monitoring windows.

She turned to face Clark and Jie Ming. The last traces of forced composure on her face vanished, replaced by clear gravity and anxiety.

“These are the plane fluctuation data from the past seventy-two standard days.” Her voice was noticeably quicker than usual. “Spiritual intensity, energy activity, planar barrier oscillation frequency… almost every indicator is continuously rising, and the rate of increase is accelerating.”

She pointed to one of the curve graphs, where the line rose almost vertically. “Look here—the spiritual aggregation index. According to the model Starfall shared before, this index should fluctuate and rise gradually within a relatively gentle range until it reaches the critical point and triggers qualitative change. But now… it has already exceeded the safety threshold by forty percent, and it’s still accelerating.”

She switched to another three-dimensional model displaying the energy distribution across the planar barrier. “The stability of the planar barrier is decreasing in sync. There are now seventeen additional points of energy flow disorder, and signs of law conflict have appeared in localized regions. What’s even more troubling is…”

She paused, then pointed toward the core of the model. “The chaos level of internal will fluctuations has surged dramatically. The frequency of aggressive waveform patterns is increasing rapidly.”

Viola raised her head. Her gaze swept across Clark and Jie Ming before finally settling on the intertwined scarlet-and-green scene beyond the viewport. Her voice carried an urgency she could no longer suppress:

“Based on all parameters, the likelihood of this plane’s consciousness completely losing control… is increasing sharply, and at a speed far exceeding any of our previous deductions.”

She took a deep breath and turned to Clark, her tone resolute. “Mentor, I believe we can’t wait any longer. We must immediately activate the outer binding spell formations at full power and lock down the entire plane first! While it hasn’t fully ‘awakened,’ we need to suppress the risk of rampage to the absolute minimum!”

Jie Ming listened from the side, his brows tightly furrowed.

He could understand Viola’s anxiety. The data didn’t lie—those exponential risk curves would make anyone’s scalp tingle.

Yet one crucial question still lingered in his mind.

“Senior Sister,” Jie Ming spoke up, striving to keep his voice steady, “has there still been no contact with Wizard Starfall?”

A deeper shadow passed over Viola’s face at the question.

She shook her head, her tone laced with frustration. “None. Not long after she sent out those invitation letters, the entire ‘Starfall Land’ planar barrier entered an abnormal state of complete lockdown. It’s not an ordinary seclusion barrier—it’s closer to an ‘information black domain’ level of isolation.”

“We suspect that by that time, the living plane had already developed preliminary instincts and began autonomously adjusting the plane’s energy flow. As a result, all conventional communication, positioning, and even high-tier causal probing… everything has been completely blocked. I can’t reach anyone inside, nor can I detect any clear life or soul signals from Starfall herself.”

She bit her lower lip—a rare gesture of near-helplessness that Jie Ming had seldom seen from her.

“This is also what worries me the most. We have no information about the situation inside the plane, and Starfall’s current state is unknown. Even if… even if this plane truly goes out of control and rampages, without confirming whether Starfall is alive or dead, and without attempting a rescue, can we really just activate the extermination protocol directly?”

To personally destroy a plane that might still contain her friend?

This choice was clearly placing an enormous weight on Viola’s shoulders.

At that moment, a broad palm gently rested on Viola’s shoulder.

Mentor Clark had somehow already moved to her side. His face still wore that slightly weary, indifferent expression, but his eyes were calm and deep as an ancient well.

“Viola, you’re too anxious.” Though his voice wasn’t loud, it carried a strange penetrating power that instantly dissolved the tense atmosphere filling the control room.

“As wizards, especially when facing situations far beyond the norm, the first priority is to maintain sufficient calm. Emotion only interferes with judgment and narrows the available options.”

Viola’s body gave a slight tremble, as though she wanted to argue, but under her mentor’s steady gaze, she forcibly suppressed the surging emotions and took several deep breaths.

Clark withdrew his hand and turned his gaze toward the plane beyond the viewport. He spoke slowly:

“Communication cut off, internal situation unknown—this is indeed the most difficult part. Activating binding or extermination directly could cause unpredictable harm to Starfall, and might even become the final trigger that collapses the plane’s balance and causes premature rampage.”

He paused, then proposed a plan that made both Viola and Jie Ming’s hearts leap:

“Since external observation is limited, then we go inside and take a look.”

“I will enter the plane directly and search for Starfall.”

“No!” Viola nearly blurted out the word. The anxiety on her face instantly transformed into shock and opposition. “That’s too dangerous! Old man! The situation inside is now complete chaos—laws in disorder, and a plane consciousness that’s growing wildly! If you go in and get treated as an invader, or get trapped inside…”

Jie Ming also spoke up immediately. “Mentor, please reconsider. The internal environment of a living plane is fundamentally different from that of a conventional plane. Its law rejection and instinctual strangling of ‘foreign objects’ are extremely powerful. The risk factor of you entering now is impossible to estimate.”

Facing the intense objections from both students, Clark’s expression remained completely unchanged—as though they were merely discussing what to have for dinner.

“After receiving Viola’s request and analyzing the initial data, I had already begun making the corresponding preparations.” He explained calmly.

“Combining data from previous studies on living planes, I adjusted the sequences of thirteen protective spells for high-activity, high-chaos environments that may contain nascent conscious intent. I prepared seven sets of emergency extraction plans and conducted more than forty thousand simulation deductions for every conceivable form of conflict.”

He looked at Viola and Jie Ming. Though the figure beneath the gray robe didn’t seem particularly imposing, it radiated an unshakable steadiness.

“With my current knowledge reserve and ability to respond, I won’t be so easily trapped or killed. At the very least, I am confident in withdrawing intact.”

His words carried no impassioned guarantees—only calm, fact-based statements.

And it was precisely this near-indifferent confidence that held the greatest persuasive power.

Viola opened her mouth, staring at her mentor’s tranquil, undisturbed face. The fierce objections lodged in her throat.