Wu Ling hummed softly as he made his way to the control room.
A week had passed since the previous Singularity Belt. During that week, Chaldea's main tasks were still maintenance, continued Servant summoning, and preventing Goetia from finding them.
During the same week, Wu Ling had become familiar with everyone in Chaldea and had seen many Heroic Spirits he had never met before.
He also used that period to study and modify the Throne of Heroic Spirits. Aside from the nine Servants summoned through his Spirit Rings, he had Chaldea summon the other Servants again, then released his contracts with them.
Normally, the same Servant in the same class could not be summoned at the same time. But perhaps because rules from another world had intruded, that impossible situation had become possible.
For example, there were now two Berserker Kiyohimes and two Saber-class Siegfrieds. As time passed, more of the Servants Wu Ling had once summoned might be summoned a second time here. Whenever Wu Ling imagined one Servant seeing another version of themselves, he laughed. Even someone as quiet as Siegfried had shown surprise. That alone proved how absurd this matter was.
Of course, Wu Ling would never cancel contracts and weaken himself just to see surprised expressions.
The main reason he would rather lose part of his strength was the connection between his Throne of Heroic Spirits and the Throne of Heroes.
How should he put it? It felt as if someone had opened a back door.
On the surface, once he connected to the Throne of Heroes, Wu Ling could freely summon other Servants. But from another angle, did that not mean his Throne of Heroic Spirits had been caught by the Throne of Heroes?
It was like his Throne of Heroic Spirits had originally been a USB drive. Through different methods, he could copy information from a main computer into that drive. Now, however, the USB drive was plugged directly into the main computer. Wu Ling could browse the information in that main computer, but could the main computer also wipe the contents of his USB drive?
One should guard against others. That was even more true for Wu Ling, an extreme egoist who would not show his back to enemies and did not like entrusting it even to friends.
The Throne of Heroes had no consciousness. But this world did.
As one summary of the Type Moon world said: one Root, two Counter Forces, three great organizations, four major families, five true magics, and twenty seven Dead Apostle Ancestors.
The Throne of Heroes was said to have been established by Alaya, the collective unconscious of humanity and one of the two Counter Forces. If he kept following that line of thought, even his transmigration might have been caused by Alaya.
After careful consideration, Wu Ling decided to first release the contracts with the Servants summoned from that region. Then he would look for a way to sever the connection. Being observed so completely felt terrible.
"Roman, what are you busy with today? Need any help?"
As soon as Wu Ling entered the control room, he greeted Roman, who was sitting in the main position.
"Wu Ling. Same as usual. Maintaining Chaldea's systems and searching for the mastermind behind the Incineration of Humanity."
Roman valued Wu Ling, Chaldea's strongest current combatant. Since Wu Ling had saved them from crisis a week earlier, Roman's attitude toward him had also become a little warmer than his attitude toward most Servants.
After saying that, Roman's serious air failed to last even a second. His expression and tone collapsed at once. Just looking at his face gave Wu Ling the feeling of, "This is hopeless. We should wait to die, or think about how to escape."
Roman truly was impressive in how instinctively disliked he could be.
As the King of Heroic Spirits, Wu Ling sometimes visited newly summoned Servants out of boredom. Whenever he spoke with those Servants, almost all of them complained about Roman.
They said things like, "The first thing I saw after being summoned was that guy. I do not know why, but it felt unlucky."
Of course, some Servants did not criticize him. But those were usually people with twisted personalities, Berserkers who did not see evil as evil, and similar types.
Wu Ling had felt something similar toward Roman at first, but after spending time with him, his impression improved. Roman reflected on his own weakness. As long as someone nearby told him, "Please do your best," he would force himself to stand up and make surprisingly wise decisions.
Then Roman began complaining.
"Ah. One world's history is already enough work, but now we have to search the histories of parallel worlds too. The workload has multiplied by who knows how many times.
"And if a small organization like Chaldea can still exist, then logically, the Clock Tower, the Wandering Sea, and the Atlas Institute, the three great Magecraft organizations, should also still exist. Their protective Magecraft is far stronger than Chaldea's. But for some reason, we still cannot contact them.
"I keep thinking that once we contact them, I can throw this whole thing at them and quit."
Wu Ling laughed and patted Roman on the shoulder in comfort.
After thinking for a moment, he decided he had played enough for now. It would not hurt to reveal some information and move the main task forward.
"I do not know about the Clock Tower, but as far as I know, the Wandering Sea and Atlas Institute should be fine. As for why they have not contacted you, maybe they simply do not care. After all, the Seven Superweapons of Atlas could end the world by themselves. As for the Wandering Sea, maybe their versions in other worlds are busy saving their own worlds."
After that, Wu Ling lowered his head near Roman and said, "Also, I obtained some information. Apparently, the mastermind behind this Incineration of Humanity is the legendary King of Magecraft, Solomon. But there is also another one called... right, Goetia."
When Wu Ling spoke those two names, his eyes stayed fixed on Roman's face.
Roman's expression did show shock, but there was little falsehood in it.
Looking at Roman muttering to himself, Wu Ling finally remembered something.
"Right. Roman may be the former Grand Caster, the King of Magecraft, but at the beginning, Roman really did not know about Goetia."
Wu Ling thought for a moment, then decided to help properly.
"Before I left that Singularity Belt, I intercepted a trace of aura from its outer edge. After researching it during this period, it seems to be Goetia's magical energy. By reversing the magical energy trail, I have already estimated its location.
"Also, there is one more thing. I discovered a second Singularity Belt heading toward us."
"What!"
After Wu Ling's warning, Roman cried out and looked toward the screen.
Two red points had begun flashing there again, each drawing closer and closer.