--


    ''Fight me! Me not puny!''


    ''You, puny one!''


    ''I, big boss of Abyssal Death Valley!''


    ''I has lots of ves!''


    ''They kill you, puny one!''


    ''Fight me! I stronger than you!''


    ''Fight me in Abyssal Death Valley!''


    ''Abyssal Death Valley, my home!''


    ''Want to go back! To Abyssal Death Valley!''


    ''Fight me, puny one! So I can return home!''


    ''Home to Abyssal Death Valley!''


    Abyssal Death Valley this, Abyssal Death Valley that...


    Anyone would be annoyed listening to it because it sounds like a broken record. It''s like a child throwing tantrums. Nobody would''ve minded it if it was cute, but it''s far from it.


    It''s this reason why Cedric scared it away. Now, the ''Test Subject'' was frightened out of its wits, refusing to show its face and hiding in the depths of the waters it''s trapped in.


    As for how Cedric, a human creature that is for sure way weaker than the ''Test Subject,'' managed to scare it off? He doesn''t know how he did it himself. He''d tell you that he just thought of the most horrifying sound he could make using the tune of the void''snguage and does it just like that. Everything else was taken care of by the mystical divine ability that is the ''All Speak.''.


    His mention of the Abyssal Death Valley provoked a strong reaction from Chief ckwood, though. He went from coaxing him into joining the ut Decoding Team to being all demanding without any room for refusal.


    From the sharp change in his attitude, Cedric immediately understood that the Abyssal Death Valley holds a deep importance in their research.


    Of course, Cedric had no interest in holding any information back. He wouldn''t havee here and participated with their small request if he was unwilling to have anything to do with the void in the first ce.


    That said, it''s not like there was a lot of information contained in the yappings of the ''Test Subject.''.


    It just said that its home was the Abyssal Death Valley. It implied that it apparently was a little tyrant of that ce, having ves and all, and that for some reason, it wanted their battlefield to be in there. Why? As if Cedric would know. But judging by how it called the ce, Cedric could infer that it''s a ce that someone like him should never even venture into.


    And that''s the extent of what he could inform Chief ckwood and his apprentice, Willow.


    It truly wasn''t much, but surprisingly, the two were more than satisfied with the information he gave. They didn''t even doubt him, even for a second.


    "I see..." Chief ckwood muttered as he busily typed away at his tablet. "...so it turns out that the Abyssal Death Valley is its home! No wonder why! It all makes sense now! Why haven''t I made the connection before!? Obviously a creature, especially one that disys sentience, will always long for their home! It seems that this is true, even for Void Creatures as well! This is great! Fantastic, even! What an unexpected discovery!"@@novelbin@@


    The Chief then turned his head to Cedric. And even through the cover of the visor, Cedric could just tell that the chief''s eyes were shining as he stared at him. It''s like he''s looking at a precious treasure.


    "You probably don''t understand why, but this is a bigger deal to us than you think." Willow, the attentive apprentice, exined next to him. "The Abyssal Death Valley has been one of our major points of interest, and it wasn''t until a year ago that we managed to trante what it''s called."


    "The ''Test Subject,'' or Squaler as we call it here, never reacted as strongly as it did just now when we were making attempts at talking to it. Heck, we never even thought that it could feel afraid of something. Not until you can and did all of that."


    "The Abyssal Death Valley was one of the very few words we managed to trante from its usual ramblings with all of our effortsbined, and this has taken us years to do. Yet here you are, hearing it all in one go and solving a mystery that we have been at odds at for a few years now."


    Willow wore a wry smile as he exined it all, and it made Cedric feel apologetic for some reason. Of course, he didn''t feel too guilty; after all, he never could''ve expected that his innate divine ability would be this impressive. Hell, he never even expected to have it in the first ce.


    "But you see... you kinda have to join us now," Willow suddenly stated, making Cedric feel a little surprised.


    He then pointed in the direction of the dark water tank and said, "You scared off Squealer. We still need him for more experiments, you know? But judging from its behavior, it wouldn''t even dare to show its face for quite some time."


    "Since you''re the one who scared it away, you should be responsible for coaxing it back. And you can''t do that if you don''t join the team. You wouldn''t be granted entry to this ce otherwise, so..."


    Willow shrugged, as if letting Cedricplete his words in his head.


    Cedric would''ve been a fool if he fell for such obvious recruitment tactics. It was so obvious that it''s not even funny; he could pick any random person on Prime Earth to do the same thing, and they would be far more convincing than he is. Guilt-tripping isn''t too difficult for humans, after all.


    "Ah, darn! Well, I guess I have no choice, then. Alright, I''ll join."


    Even so, he still decided to y along. It would be rude not to, given how hard he''s trying.


    "Wait, really?" Willow sounded surprised, but he quickly caught his slip-up and cleared his throat. "Ahem, uh, good! Very good! Wee to the team!"


    He then elbowed his master, signaling that he needed his help to deal with this.


    ckwood snorted mirthlessly under his visor and calmly took over the process. Of course, the poor attempts of his apprentice trying to guilt-trip Cedric into joining the team didn''t escape his eyes and ears. ckwood also knew that Cedric was ying along with the bit, but his agreement to join the team was genuine.


    But even if it wasn''t, he wouldn''t be able to escape anyhow. ckwood himself would use his connections to make this guy stay here because they seriously need him more than any other.


    It hasn''t even been a day since Cedric came here, yet he already solved one of the mysteries that''s been guing them for years. He even disyed his unbelievable skill at using ''All Speak,'' which is unmistakably way more advanced than all of theirsbined, even though Cedric himself was mostly just following his instincts to use it.


    With him in the team, they would make great strides in their work. ckwood could already see this happening. Therefore, there''s no way he could''ve let Cedric escape his grasp.


    His ce was here, with the team. And he will undoubtedly shed some light on deeper mysteries of the Void. Enjoy more content from empire


    He made Cedric''s membership official with a few taps on his tablet. He even materialized an ID and special pass to thisb just for him, right then and there.


    Of course, thises with a few additional privileges, such as a new and better home, one that had ess to training environments that could elerate Cedric''s cultivation, and free of charge too. It alsoes with an exemption for the mandatory Void Walk missions, which means that there''s one less factor barring his way to promotion.


    It also included ess to more advanced resources offered by the camp. Of course, they can''t be given for free, but knowing that he could save up to some was already way better than not knowing they''re avable.


    There''s also ess to more advanced training materials and guides. Materials that could make it easier for him to break through to the Transitional Realm. Strength is, after all, the most important thing, wherever one goes.


    Andst but not least, Cedric was also given some level of diplomatic immunity.


    Because while none of what he did was a big deal to him, it''s different for the ult Decoding Team. He''s not even an official member yet, but he has already contributed greatly to their progress, saving them a few more years of arguments, debates, and contradictions by merely utilizing his innate gifts. He will undoubtedly contribute more to them once he begins his work as an official member, so this little bit of privilege was nothing at all.


    Actually, ckwood himself feels that it''s still insufficient. Unfortunately, this was as far as he could go. Any more and it would be an abuse of his authority.


    Just from these alone, one could already tell how much he valued Cedric.


    As for Cedric himself, well, there wasn''t really some grand or exaggerated reason why he joined the team. He wasn''tpelled to agree or anything. Their attempts at coaxing him would''ve never worked since, frankly, they''re bad at it.


    Cedric joined simply because he was invested already. That''s all.


    From the moment he agreed to their invitation and saw the environment of the ce, he had already decided that he would join.


    It would be a waste of his divine gifts if he didn''t.