Chapter 83: In Reality, Probability Is Either One Hundred Percent or Zero

“Toru~ Toru~ Why hasn’t Jackie come back yet?” The old man looked at the screen before him, took off his glasses, rubbed his eyes, and shouted aloud.

“Master, Jackie said he won’t be back for a few days. He’s currently in the Middle East doing archaeological research. I heard they’ve discovered a huge ancient tomb over there.” Toru, feeling a bit anxious, ran up to the old man and spoke. It was the first time he’d seen Jackie so excited—clearly, there must have been a major breakthrough in the excavation.

“A few days later?” The old man’s brows knitted together. “What’s the point of him coming back once things are already over? Toru, hand me the phone.”

“Yes, Master.” Toru passed the phone to the old man and dialed Jackie’s cell, but nobody answered.

“Ding-dong~ Welcome~”

Just as the old man was becoming a little irritated, Lam Ching Ying strode in from the doorway, accompanied by a tall, thin man.

“Old man, I have something to discuss with you. Let’s talk inside,” Lam said bluntly.

“Mm, Toru, go back to your work. Don’t forget to keep calling Jackie,” the old man instructed.

“Old man!” Lam Ching Ying winked at him, giving a meaningful look.

The old man paused for a moment. “Toru, hold off on the calls for now. Prepare the materials kit, and bring me a strong cup of tea.”

“Yes, Master.”

In the library of the old man’s antique shop, the three took their seats.

“Old man, let me introduce you. This is Master Tsang Yin from the Hong Kong Sanctuary of Kamar-Taj,” Lam Ching Ying said, gesturing to the man behind him.

“Hello…” Tsang Yin was momentarily at a loss; surely the old man couldn’t actually be surnamed ‘Old’ and named ‘Man’? But it didn’t matter, given the circumstances. “Old man,” he said.

“Call me whatever you like. A name is merely a codename. What’s happened?” the old man waved his hand.

“Well, it’s like this—”

“I’d better explain,” Lam Ching Ying cut in. Tsang Yin’s ability to express himself was lacking; it had taken him half an hour to explain things clearly when Lam first found him, and now they didn’t have that kind of time.

In the next five minutes, Lam Ching Ying concisely laid out the situation, focusing on the personnel distribution within the Hong Kong Sanctuary and the various internal conflicts.

“What do the auguries say?” the old man asked after listening.

“Utterly ominous.”

“What do you mean, utterly ominous? Who is the target?”

“The target is the citizens of Hong Kong.”

Smack!

The old man slapped the table. It was the first time Lam Ching Ying had ever seen him lose his temper.

“And they think themselves fit to be guardians?!” The old man stood up, the force emanating from his thin frame suddenly immense. “Where are they?”

Sizzling, Tsang Yin conjured a map in midair with his magic.

“The monitoring and defense network across Hong Kong still has a few places where we haven’t secured access. If they plan to cause trouble, it’s likely to start in one of these spots.”

“This is the most probable!” Tsang Yin pointed at a spot on the map. “Mephisto invaded here once. Though he was repelled, the hell fissure he left hasn’t been fully closed, and the maintenance rights for the seal are in their hands.”

“It’s also the period for Mephisto’s routine incursion. If they open the fissure, countless evil spirits and demons could flood in.”

The old man closed his eyes and thought for two seconds. “Ching Ying, go find Cheng Xian and Guan Zhen. Have them evacuate the nearby citizens.”

“As for you, report back to your sanctuary if you can. If not, stay with me. Frankly, your order of sorcerers hasn’t been purged in five hundred years, leaving too much filth behind. I’d like to see what these people are really up to!”

“No problem.” Lam Ching Ying readily agreed, but then remembered something. “Old man! Shouldn’t we wait for orders from above?”

“No need.” The old man pushed up his glasses. “New York has already made a move—the first to act was Anne Parker of the Ouroboros. In London, King Arthur is poised to strike. Russian alchemists are mixed in as well. If we wait any longer, we’ll miss the chance.”

“Yes, sir!”

Meanwhile, just as Tsang Yin had anticipated, numerous sorcerers who had left the Hong Kong Sanctuary were hurrying towards the sealing point. There were two main reasons they hadn’t arrived yet.

First, they wanted to avoid detection by the arcane web—they didn’t want anyone to discover their plans prematurely. Second, there were disagreements within the group.

“Master! I don’t agree with breaking the seal. However deep our conflicts, they’re internal. We mustn’t forget our duty.”

Several sorcerers at the back of the group whispered to each other and stepped forward.

The Westerner turned, smiling at them. “Why would I ever do such a thing? This is just a test.”

No sooner had he spoken than several whips lashed out from the ranks.

Swish, swish—opponents drew their weapons, having prepared for this moment.

“You dare rebel against me?” The Westerner’s face darkened.

“Do you remember who you are?! You’re a Kamar-Taj sorcerer tasked with maintaining stability!” the dissenters shouted.

“Maintenance sorcerers? That’s for you rootless drifters. I am a noble sorcerer!” The Westerner waved his hand, and his group pressed forward.

“Go! We’ll hold them off!” the dissenters shouted to the last among them, simultaneously expanding a double-layered mirror realm to temporarily separate everyone present.

The last person didn’t hesitate, darting through a portal they had prepared and rushing back to the Sanctuary.

The rest launched a preemptive attack, intending to delay their opponents and minimize the pursuers going after the messenger.

These dissenters were skilled, but the other side had numbers. Despite their efforts, they managed only a delay of fifteen minutes.

Once the dissenters were bound, a small portal appeared beside the Westerner.

“What? You didn’t catch him?!” the Westerner exclaimed in disbelief—how could a dozen fail to catch one?

“You think you could? When it comes to portals and mirror realms, no one in the Hong Kong Sanctuary is more adept than him,” a dissenter on the ground mocked.

“So what? He’s already too late!”

The Westerner replied coldly. Now that their actions had been exposed, there was no need to hide—they would open a portal and go straight in.

Meanwhile, high above Hong Kong, the Ancient One and Yang Qiu stood side by side, watching the events below.

“How often did this situation arise when you probed the timelines?” Yang Qiu asked icyly, wanting to descend and wipe out those below.

The Ancient One’s expression was grim. “Seventeen times out of every ten thousand timelines—a probability of 0.17 percent.”

“Is that so? I’d say it’s a hundred percent. The other cases just lacked the necessary conditions,” Yang Qiu took a deep breath. “What are their odds of success?”

“One in a billion,” the Ancient One replied. Today, with her standing here, there was no way those below could succeed—unless Dormammu, Mephisto, and Odin all arrived together to stir trouble.

“Not enough. Some things must be zero,” Yang Qiu murmured. As he spoke, several new seals appeared at the sealing point, and above, the arcane web was replaced by the ethereal network of the Heavenly Court.