Chapter 561 - 398: Isaac: I’ve Come to Negotiate, Outer God

Chapter 561: Chapter 398: Isaac: I’ve Come to Negotiate, Outer God

Moens fell silent for a moment. After a final suspicious glance at Isaac, he decided to trust him for the time being. He slowly picked up the document and flipped it open. After just one look, Moens jerked his head up, eyes wide, and pointed at the document’s title, roaring, "You call *this* ’no problem’?!"

Moens’s roar piqued everyone’s curiosity. They craned their necks to see, and when they read the document’s title, their pupils contracted. They then stared at Isaac, dumbfounded. ’He really lives up to the name Mad Witch, so damn crazy!’

The document’s title was written in bold: "An Optimization Proposal for the Mad Witch Trading Ritual, Part One—On Using Methods Similar to a Demon Contract to Constrain or Even Bind Outer Gods for Assisted Experimentation, such as Dissection, Analysis of Power Essence, and the Like."

The title was long, the content specific, and at the same time, utterly insane!

"Relax. Weren’t you the one who said the application should be written as clearly as possible to make it easier to approve?" Isaac said nonchalantly.

Though the title was terrifying, the contents were actually quite standard. All experimental procedures complied with the Truth Association’s standards. Even if an experiment were to fail, it wouldn’t result in a major incident—it would simply be a failure.

In truth, a more reliable approach for this research would have been for Isaac to conduct it himself. However, for one, the workload was too great, and he already had plenty of his own research projects. For example, transforming Privilege Magic into Authority required considerable effort.

The research on Authority Crystals was actually similar to the research on Star Creation. Both required accumulating sufficient sample data to find commonalities, ensuring the final results would be applicable to most forms of Authority.

For another, it was simply convenient. He had long intended to cultivate his own Mad Witches and had even chosen the candidates. It was just that...

...the progress wasn’t going very smoothly...

They had successfully become Legendary Mages, but on the path of the Mad Witch, they couldn’t even get their foot in the door. Isaac had increased the margin for error in the trading ritual to a thousand percent, yet the moment they started the ritual, it would plummet directly to zero!

It was absurd. If it weren’t for the fact that this happened with several different Outer Gods, he would have suspected he’d contacted one from Chengdu... It was so damn ridiculous!

So this time, Isaac planned to use the Truth Association’s power to do some initial screening for himself and see what exactly was going wrong.

’Could it be that a so-called aptitude for being a Mad Witch actually exists?’

Although this possibility was one of his earlier guesses, Isaac’s intuition told him there was something else fishy going on. After all, there was the most direct example: Princess Philo.

If such an aptitude really did exist, then what about her approach of just flipping the table and brute-forcing things with her Immunity Token·Emperor’s Decree?

Of course, Philo wasn’t without her successes. If the aptitude theory held true, she certainly possessed it. But if there were no such thing as aptitude, could one rely on the deterrent power of the Emperor’s Decree to forcibly seize it?

Isaac believed it was possible!

However, whether such an act could still be considered the work of a Mad Witch was now, it seemed, up for debate.

But Isaac believed it should count.

Because the world’s definition of a Mad Witch typically refers to a Wizard who trades with an Outer God, the so-called "Mad Witch aptitude" must be related to this. In other words, as long as one fits this Concept, they would be considered to have the aptitude of a Mad Witch.

Simply put, as long as one’s actions align, one will gain the power of the corresponding Concept. This was also a characteristic of a Legendary Mage.

However, to verify this idea, Isaac still needed to find a few Arcanists for a comparative study. He would also need the Truth Association to provide an item similar to the Emperor’s Decree, which he would then combine with his own Virtual Deity.

Only through a multi-faceted comparison could he perhaps grasp the mysteries within.

If he could figure this out, perhaps Isaac could awaken his own Mad Witch Traits without having to commit Godslaying!

In any case, the preparations for awakening his Mad Witch Traits could proceed on both fronts simultaneously.

At the same time, Isaac’s move wasn’t purely about freeloading off the Truth Association. The relevant research data would certainly be shared with them. A project researching the fundamental nature of a Mad Witch was definitely of a high enough Level!

Besides, he could complete Moens’s project along the way. It was a matter of killing two birds with one stone. As long as the review committee had any brains, they wouldn’t refuse.

Moens, who had calmed himself down and forced himself to read the whole thing, thought so too. After reading the proposal, he knew that any review committee with a brain would approve it.

But there was one major prerequisite—the review committee had to have the guts to open a proposal with a title like that!

Moens put down the proposal and rubbed his furrowed brow. Back when he first decided to invite Isaac, he had anticipated that a Legendary Mage like him would bring an unusual sort of excitement to his research.

But he never expected there would be so much excitement, with each jolt being bigger than the last!

First, the proposal was highly feasible, and its research value was immense. It was no exaggeration to say that its value was even higher than his own Star Creation project!

Because it delved into the fundamental nature of the Mad Witch!

In the Arcanists’ theoretical system, no matter the subject, any research that involved a fundamental nature—regardless of what Tier it was—was of extremely high value!

Of course, the research difficulty was also immense. For this type of project, as long as the reviewers saw even a sliver of hope, it would almost certainly be approved and receive substantial funding.

However, that sliver of hope wasn’t easy to come by. In most cases, there wasn’t even that—just pure fantasy.

But Isaac’s proposal was clearly not the case. In Moens’s opinion, its level of completion was remarkably high!

However, if this proposal were to pass review, the title might need a little... polishing...

At this thought, the corner of Moens’s mouth twitched. ’I didn’t think the boomerang would come back this fast...’

He really didn’t want to go against his principles and help Isaac polish the proposal’s title, but...

...this was research into the fundamental nature of the Mad Witch...

In the end, Moens couldn’t resist the temptation of this research. With a sigh, he gently swept his right hand over the document. The title instantly changed to: "Some Musings on the Fundamental Nature of the Mad Witch Trading Ritual."

Isaac might know a fair bit about Arcanists, but his understanding was nothing compared to Moens, who was an Arcanist himself. He knew exactly what kind of proposal title would capture the attention of *those* people.

Moens usually disdained playing such petty tricks. Given his status in the Truth Association, he had no need for them. But that didn’t mean he didn’t know *how*.

’He’d been around the block a few times, after all.’

After changing the title, a flash of Arcane Radiance flared in Moens’s hand, and he instantly teleported the document away, sending it directly into the hands of the review committee. As a Tier Four Grand Arcanist and a recognized candidate for Tier Six, Moens did have a few privileges, such as access to an express review channel.

"Hm?"

But as fast as Moens’s movements were, they didn’t escape Isaac’s notice. He had still keenly spotted the swift little action.

Seeing this, Isaac immediately gave Moens a look of astonishment.

’Didn’t you just talk about being transparent? How could you come up with a title like that so quickly?’

Though surprised, Isaac said nothing. He was self-aware enough to know his own reputation. He understood perfectly well that some rules might be suitable for Arcanists, but when it came to him, they were bound to be bent a little.

Isaac wasn’t too concerned about it. Changing his image was something that had to be done slowly; it couldn’t be rushed.

’As long as the research could proceed smoothly, he didn’t mind a few minor ploys along the way. Who knows, it might even be beneficial to improving his image?’

And in the end, facts proved that Moens’s decision to change the title was the right one. The proposal had been submitted for a mere fifteen minutes before it returned to Moens’s hands.

Stamped with approval!

Furthermore, it had been given the highest priority—the Truth Association had decided to specifically assign a Tier Six Mage to oversee and protect the relevant experiments!