"How could a sea split itself into two to pave a way for a man with no power?"

A feminine mechanical voice boomed through the white sterile oval-shaped room as Noah and Virgo regained consciousness.

They looked around, trying to get a hold of where they were, but what they saw slowed their minds significantly.

They were in a small white room with no doors or windows to speak of. The walls, the floor, and the ceiling were all painted white in a way that was almost painful to look at.

But not only that — as he pressed his hand on the floor to get up, Noah felt a difference in texture he hadn't expected.

The floor felt like alloy, transformed in a way he had never thought possible back on Earth. Metallic lines ran across the walls, trailing downward like liquid light.

It glowed with a translucent shine.

On the ceiling, in each of the four corners, Noah saw something resembling loudspeakers, entirely white like the room itself. Mechanical insects flew lazily through the air, some crawling on the walls and ceiling, their eyes fixed on them with unnerving precision.

He felt watched. Not the kind his wives would do, the one that spoke volumes about their degeneracy… but the kind when you feel like a rat under the gaze of a mad scientist who had long turned off his emotions.

It was eerie, to be honest.

Virgo pushed herself upright, her eyes clouded with confusion.

"Where are we?" she asked.

Noah didn't respond immediately. His mind was trying to comprehend what he was seeing.

Providence had already warned him about an event he could not escape, an event he needed to go through if he was serious about his dream of Perfection.

But he was already starting to regret it, because he could feel his power suppressed dramatically. He barely had the strength of a Supreme rank being now.

He cursed silently.

He parted his lips to respond to Virgo but—

"How could a sea split itself into two to pave a way for a man with no power?"

The mechanical voice echoed again from everywhere at once.

"What?" Noah blurted instinctively.

"Incorrect. First attempt failed."

Noah went quiet, realization dawning.

He needed to answer the question. But Noah never liked to act without understanding the reason for it.

And he certainly didn't like following orders.

Virgo's eyes darted to the strange mechanical forms surrounding them. She swore she saw electricity coursing through their metallic limbs, their gaze locked onto her and Noah with an eerie intensity.

A sick feeling crawled through her.

She instinctively moved closer to Noah, pressing against his side. Only then did they notice they weren't wearing their usual clothes, but full white blouses that reached only to their knees — thin garments that revealed far too much of their bodies.

She would have normally been happy to feast her eyes on Noah's thick legs, but the place killed any such thoughts.

They looked like mentally deranged patients put in quarantine.

Even though, Virgo didn't know that concept.

"How could a sea split itself into two to pave a way for a man with no power?"

Again, the robotic voice reverberated.

Noah didn't respond. Neither did Virgo.

'Aurelia and Asaemon aren't here. I assume they're in another room like this, probably going through the same trial.'

His jaw tightened. 'Will they be okay?'

'Providence…' he thought, not even bothering to shape the words properly.

Providence understood.

[It is dangerous and not dangerous at the same time. You simply need to answer the questions. You need this, Noah. You need this to understand.]

Noah clicked his tongue in irritation.

"Action of irritation noticed. Participants unable to control basic emotions. Noah, -1 points."

His name?

His eyes widened. He almost cursed aloud, but instead he shut them tight.

'Another thing to torture on my list,' he muttered inwardly, eyes like frosted steel, before the voice repeated once more:

"How could a sea split itself into two to pave a way for a man with no power?"

Again.

This time, Noah thought carefully about the possible response. He didn't want to speak, and whatever the system was, it seemed to register his hesitation and provided an answer.

"Consultation between participants is allowed."

The voice announced coldly.

Noah glanced at Virgo and forced a strained smile.

"Any idea?" he asked.

Virgo shook her head, clearly indicating she had none.

She had never been in this kind of place, and she was still disoriented.

For a moment, Noah wished that Aurelia was with him instead of this red-skinned woman.

At least his sister was knowledgeable in many things.

But that would practically doom his brother Asaemon. That man's head contained nothing except ideas to cause problems.

'Whoever split us certainly has an idea of who we are, or at least our essence.'

Things were getting strange, but first…

Noah focused on the question.

"How could a sea split itself into two to pave a way for a man with no power?"

The cold feminine voice repeated.

Thoughts churned like a raging storm.

A sea could be split in many ways before a man with no power. If he used physical explanations, it could be done with the aid of a massive force pushing away the water and keeping it from rushing back.

It could be storm winds blowing continuously, or simply earthquakes.

That was a viable answer. But strangely, Noah didn't like it.

Something in him resisted, and instead he opened his mouth to say something most people back on Earth would have called bullshit. But now, with the height of power he stood at, and the kind of law he wielded, he knew…

"By belief," he responded.

There was a long sterile silence. Then:

"Argue your response." The mechanical voice echoed once again.

Instantly, the scrutiny of the mechanical insects increased.

And only then did Noah sense something else. The moment he uttered his response, he started to feel a little bit better. As if he was regaining energy — or rather…

He lowered his gaze to his right hand. On his palm, a small whirring device was embedded into his very flesh.

The device pulsed with subtle electrical activity, blinking with a soft green light.

'My power… my power is being absorbed.' The realization hit him like a speeding truck.

He almost staggered in shock.

'How did I not notice that? Is this why I feel weak?'

Now things were making sense, but also becoming more harrowing.

If Noah hadn't taken this place seriously before, now he did.

Because whatever could strip him of his clothes and implant such a device into his body without him noticing… was something far beyond his expectations.

And worse, he didn't know what else might have been implanted that he hadn't discovered yet.

"Argue your answer," the voice repeated.

Noah shook his head and looked at Virgo. The woman had just noticed the device too — she cried out in horror.

"Unable to control basic emotion. Virgo, -1 point."

She slapped her hands over her mouth, terrified to let out another sound.

Noah breathed in and out, steadying himself.

"Belief. It could only be belief that allowed a man with no power to stand before the sea expecting it to part."

"It could only be the belief in something higher than himself. Something… out of order, out of the normal. Something beyond the simple understanding of a man."

"Like Fate. Like Destiny. Or like someone who embodies all of that — a God."

He paused, then finished:

"He simply believed. And the world had no choice but to bend and make his belief reality."

Again, silence.

Virgo, still trembling, almost forgot to breathe. Then…

"Response acknowledged."

"Noah Vaelgrim, +15 points."

"Virginia Ti Raneth, +0 points."

Virgo bit her lip at the voice. She didn't know how this thing knew her full name, but she sensed that if she continued like this… she might face something ghastly.

'I have been useless. I have to gather myself!' she rebuked herself.

Suddenly,

In the far right corner of the oval room, the floor flipped like a switch. A bed began to rise, oval-shaped, white, forged from sublime alloy, and fixed to the ground with heavy vices.

The floor beneath Noah parted, and a metallic hand with multiple electrical wires, shaped like a human's, emerged, holding a switch.

The metallic hand pressed the device into Noah's palm, then retreated into the floor.

He blinked, still confused, but the voice cut through before he could gather his thoughts:

"First reward: Sit. Use the switch. Watch the end of Pharaoh."

—End of Chapter 344—

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