Perhaps due to the success of his plan, Lygus seemed particularly excited now.
"Allow me to introduce you to this cage. This was once the location of the Irontomb's brain, but in order to destroy Nous, I personally removed it. The method was quite simple; I merely detonated a Stellaron right here. See how cleanly it was destroyed? Only the aura of destruction lingers here!"
This statement actually piqued Fu Zhu's curiosity.
"You ripped out its brain, aren't you afraid it'll become an idiot? What can a mindless Emanator do?"
Seeing Fu Zhu's reaction, Lygus wagged his finger in satisfaction.
"Let me tell you a story. A certain sage from the Grove of Epiphany once conducted an experiment: he took a monstrous beast embryo, removed its head before it could mature, and continuously stimulated its body, making the beast believe it still had a brain as it was nurtured in a nutrient fluid tank.
What was fascinating was that the beast actually regrew a skull, but it was completely empty—it had reserved a space for a brain it never possessed. When the experiment ended, the sage assumed the husk would die once the stimulation stopped. But he was regrettably mistaken. Driven by [Instinct], it took the sage's head."
"I see."
Hearing this, Fu Zhu understood everything.
"You mean, you intend for the Irontomb to find Nous, and then make the Aeon become the Irontomb's new brain."
Lygus applauded with great satisfaction.
"Indeed, you are just as astute. Precisely. The Irontomb is a headless giant. To become a true living being, [Instinct] will compel it to take another head—and that is Nous, my absurd creation!"
After hearing this, Fu Zhu also began to applaud Lygus.
"Truly worthy of the number one genius. A fine plan."
But, what if it takes out a different head? What will you do then, my dear sir?
Fu Zhu was already starting to get curious. A Wither Skeleton Skull, a Creeper Head, a Zombie Head, a Player Head, or even Lygus's own head.
What would happen if these heads were placed on the Irontomb's body?
For example, could a Wither Skeleton Skull allow the Irontomb to ascend into a creature like the Wither Storm?
And what about this: some mods have unique Iron Golems. If he were to place a giant carved pumpkin on top, wouldn't he get an Iron Golem on the level of a Destruction Emanator?!
Moreover, if a giant Iron Golem truly appeared, wouldn't the Amber Lord, Qlipoth, also cast its gaze upon it?
A regular Iron Golem is already on the level of a Pathstrider. If the original was already at the level of a Destruction Emanator, wouldn't it be able to gain another identity as an Emanator of Preservation?
If that actually works, this could get really interesting!
Lygus stared at Fu Zhu, sensing something was amiss.
Why couldn't he observe any emotions like worry or fear from Fu Zhu? On the contrary, he seemed to be… excited?!
"Have you figured out a way to counter my plan?"
"Nope."
Fu Zhu waved his hands with a grin. "I'm not part of the Genius Society. How could I possibly figure out a way to counter your perfect plan?"
The more Fu Zhu spoke like this, the stronger the sense of uncertainty in Lygus's heart grew.
However, Fu Zhu was now trapped within this space. As long as he couldn't get out, any plan he came up with would be useless!
Thinking this, Lygus calmed down a bit. It was getting late, and he didn't want to waste any more time with Fu Zhu.
"I hope you can enjoy the time to come."
Lygus gave Fu Zhu a very elegant bow.
"Farewell, my executioner."
With that, Lygus's figure vanished before Fu Zhu. Then, just as he had said, a curtain-like screen unfolded in front of Fu Zhu, displaying the feeds of various Chrysos Heirs, though there was conspicuously no footage of Stelle, Dan Heng, and their group.
"A little interesting."
Fu Zhu genuinely had to admire this number one genius for a moment. If he were to use conventional methods, he would indeed be trapped here by Lygus.
The prerequisite, however, was that he only used conventional methods.
Besides, this was exactly what Fu Zhu wanted.
Tell me, when does a person let down their guard the most? It's precisely at the moment they have successfully taken control of someone!
Before, if Fu Zhu had wanted to do anything, Lygus would have certainly been watching his every move. But now that he was trapped in this cage, Lygus would only spare some attention to check on him. As long as "he" was still in the cage, Lygus would relax his vigilance.
Fu Zhu had originally been thinking of a way to make Lygus lower his guard, but he hadn't expected him to deliver himself right to his door.
"Sigh… Lygus, oh Lygus, sometimes you're really just like me, always thinking about the upper, middle, and lower stratagems!"
Fu Zhu issued a command with a flick of his hand. A fake, identical to him, appeared and stood looking up at the screen. He himself switched directly into spectator mode, becoming a ghost on the timeline.
Fu Zhu had originally planned to just leave, but a new thought occurred to him. Since he was already here, and this place was once the brain of the Irontomb, if he could find any related machinery, he could use redstone to hack the Irontomb and seize control.
At that point, even if Lygus brought Nanook himself over, it would be useless!
"Since I'm already here, might as well look around!"
Fu Zhu casually picked a direction and flew off, planning to explore for a bit. If he didn't find anything, he would just leave.
Fu Zhu flew to the wreckage of some machinery and tried placing redstone on it, but it failed to activate, let alone control the Irontomb. It was clear these were nothing more than ruins.
He had no choice but to change direction and continue his flight.
After an unknown amount of time, Fu Zhu noticed a large cluster of entity markers had appeared on his minimap.
[Cyrene][Cyrene][Cyrene][Cyrene]......
"Hm?"
This anomaly immediately caught Fu Zhu's attention. He flew over at once and found himself in a region composed of data arrays. In one of the large, open areas, lay countless pink-haired girls, or rather, their "corpses." Only their afterimages remained; they showed no signs of activity and were constantly fading away.
"What's going on?"
Fu Zhu deactivated spectator mode and landed. He reached out a hand to touch one of the afterimages, but there was no response.
He thought for a moment, then took out his Yamato and slashed at one. The afterimage vanished, but no items dropped.
"Strange…"
Fu Zhu had intended to try and resurrect these afterimages, but he had already given the Scythe of Death to Castorice.
Just as he was about to summon another Grim Reaper to farm for a new scythe, a mechanical, synthesized voice suddenly echoed throughout the entire data array.
[Warning, unknown visitor detected]
[Identifying... Identification successful. Welcome back, Master.]
"Master? Me?"