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    ''Talk to it...''


    That was the request. in and simple.


    It''s not that the lead researcher doubted his abilities, because by now, everyone who works here believes that Cedric could indeed understand thenguage of the Void Creature.


    The lead researcher simply has a different goal for this request. As for what that is, Cedric didn''t ask; he didn''t feel like he was supposed to know, either, since he''s not an official member of this team.


    That said, this request actually stumped Cedric for a bit. Because while he could understand thenguage, it doesn''t mean that he could speak it just as easily.


    The thought never even crossed his mind before, which surprises him as well since he saw himself as a person who likes to be prepared for anything.


    See, the voices of the Void Creatures were bizarre. They could be saying the same thing but soundpletely different from each other. Moreover, each time they speak, it''s as if multiple people with different pitches were saying the same thing at once. One could only imagine how difficult it is to replicate that.


    But it was in the middle of this dilemma that the innate divine ability, All Speak, showed its brilliance.


    Oooooo!!


    This voice didn''te from the trapped Void Creature within the privateb. It came from Cedric himself, and it''s because he''s making this sound, which awfully sounds like a void creature speaking already, that he''s getting strange looks from the people around him.


    Cedric thought that he had to try nheless. Because even though he''s still undecided if he should join this team, the promise ofpensationing directly from the lead researcher himself was too good to pass.


    Surprisingly, it came to him easier than he expected. There''s barely even an effort on his side. He started with focusing on the intent, trying to sound like those void creatures he had heard before. Then he began vocalizing for a bit.


    It was awkward at his first three tries, but after that, he experienced some kind of enlightenment. It''s as if he just suddenly understood how to do it properly, causing his next few attempts to be better and better.


    It''s as if the built-in trantor in his brain kicked into gear. Yet even with this, Cedric still doesn''tpletely understand how he''s doing it because everything was happening subconsciously. He''s just merely following what his mind was telling him to do.


    And so, he suddenly found himself able to speak thenguage of the void. But of course, there are some unique features thate with it.


    Languages are inherently powerful. Thenguage of the void is no different; why else would he bleed and faint after hearing thest message during the summons if that wasn''t the case?


    Using thisnguage costs energy, and the drain depends on how clear or detailed he wanted the message toe out.


    When Cedric felt like he had an urate grasp of the skill, he turned to Willow and Chief ckwood, saying that he''s ready to begin.


    "Everyone, we''re starting. Aside from him and the test subject, I don''t want to hear anyone else speaking. Am I clear?"


    "Sir, yes, sir!" All personnel replied solemnly.


    After that, silence permeated the entire room. Even the sounds of breathing were muted to their barest minimum under the Chief''s orders.


    Seeing this, the Chief looked at Cedric and nodded. He gestured to the podium where a microphone appeared, one that is connected to the tank containing the ''Test Subject.''.


    The request of the chief was simple. He just wanted Cedric to talk to it. If he could provoke some kind of reaction from it, then it''s a job well done. So, it means that Cedric could practically say anything to it. He doesn''t need to be friendly, coaxing, or kind.


    Cedric took a deep breath and held the stand, then a deep and ominous sound flowed out of his lips.


    OooouuuuUuuu!


    The effect was almost immediate. The machines connected to the tank began emitting crisp sounds of alert and notices. Strings of numerical values flowed like a waterfall, so much so that those who were monitoring them almost couldn''t keep up.


    But all of these were drowned by the spectacle before them.


    The previously listless and seemingly docile Void Creature was now ring in Cedric''s direction. Its reptilian body was pressed on its prison, ws embedded in the thick ss container, unable to move even an inch forward.


    It hissed at him, but the sound escaping from it wasn''t any less deep and ominous than the sounds that Cedric emitted just now.


    And even though most of the employees here didn''t have an ''All Speak'' that is as sharp as Cedric''s, they could still feel the raging intent behind the sounds emitted by the ''Test Subject.''.


    That, and its bodynguage, all point to shock, surprise, and anger...mostly anger, actually.@@novelbin@@


    "Wow, I never saw it so active. It usually just floats in there, listlessly. It never showed such strong emotions before. At least, not that I know of."


    Willowmented through thems, making sure that his voice wouldn''t be caught by the mic connected to the tank.


    "What did you tell it, anyway? I didn''t quite understand it, but I can tell that it''s offended."


    Cedric smiled wryly under his visor. He felt hesitant but still said it anyway.


    "I called it ''Puny Thing,''." Cedric replied, filtering his words through thems and seamlessly switching to the alliance''smonnguage subconsciously.


    "I guess it never expected someone to call it that. Especially not in anguage it could understand. Now, it''s challenging me. It''s telling me to get in there and fight it to the death so that we can decide who''s the true puny one."


    Willow chuckled at that; he then looked at Chief ckwood and said, "Well, there''s the reaction you want. It looks alive and well to me, but of course you''d trust actual data rather than obvious clues, so knock yourself out, I guess."


    Chief ckwood doesn''t seem offended by Willow''s casual words to him; it''s as if he''s been long used to it. He did release an audible sigh of relief, though. Saying:


    "Good, that''s good. It''s ''alive,'' I suppose. I thought we''d made it retarded after so many experiments." Chief ckwood doesn''t seem to need any hard data to tell this much.


    He then faced Cedric and said, "Thank you. Your skills truly are a blessing. You''ve saved us so much time and effort for this. Don''t worry; you can expect a generouspensation for this. I won''t go back on my promise."


    "Thank you, Sir," Cedric replied politely.


    "And while we''re on this topic, I hope you can seriously consider joining our team. Your skills are highly valuable to us, and here you can freely explore the full extent of your innate divine ability while beingpensated generously."


    "If you join us, you''d never have to worry about earning sufficient merit points to meet your yearly quota. If you want to, you can bepletely exempted from that. You can also gain ess to more valuable resources by relying on our connections. Furthermore, since your work here already touches the existence of the Void Creatures, you will never be forced to Void Walk again."


    Both Master and Student joined powers to tempt Cedric into joining the ult Decoding Team.


    Hearing about it and seeing it in action were twopletely different things. They still had reservations before meeting Cedric in person, and honestly, the impact of his divine skill showcase wasn''t as ster as seeing it in person.


    But just now, they bore witness to Cedric''s actual skill level. And he managed to do something that would take an immense effort for all of them to do, and he did it in mere minutes after his first encounter with the test subject.


    It wouldn''t be wrong to say that Cedric was born to be a member of this team. And it would be such a shame if he were to reject their heartfelt invitation.


    Cedric heard them, but his focus wasn''t entirely on them. It''s not that he''s trying to ignore them or anything; it''s just hard to focus when the creature he provoked just now was still screeching at him angrily.


    If it was just that, Cedric could''ve simply ignored it too. But since he''s got a built-in trantor in his brain in the form of ''All Speak,'' he was hearing words that are simply too difficult to ignore.


    And it would seem that both Willow and Chief ckwood noticed that his focus wasn''t entirely on them, and they immediately deduced that Cedric must be listening intently to whatever the ''Test Subject'' was saying.


    Then, Cedric held onto the mic and emitted a deep, long, and harrowing tune that reverberated at each corner of theb.


    And to everyone''s surprise, the ''Test Subject'' suddenly shrieked and swam deeper into its cell. Seemingly frightened out of its wits. It hid within the waters, shaking and refusing to make any sound, acting like a frightened rabbit.


    This caused everybody to look at Cedric with varying expressions, but most of them were just awe.


    "Yeah, sorry about that. It''s too noisy, so I told it to shut up."


    Find your next adventure on empire


    "However, it kept yelling something called the ''Abyssal Death Valley.''. Any idea about what that is?"


    Crash!


    ckwood dropped whatever it was he was holding. He instantly grabbed Cedric by the shoulders and got up real close to his face, saying:


    "Tell me everything."


    Cedric instantly realized that that''s not a request; it''s amand that he couldn''t defy, no matter what.