Princess Summer was dazed for a moment. She pursed her lips and thought for a long time, before she realized what Theresa meant.

Her face suddenly flushed red.

“How is that the same?”

Princess Summer argued, “The imitations of the natives are not helpful at all, but our spells are!”

“In the beginning, before the magical equipment left by the magical army ran out, the natives’ imitation worked occasionally.

Theresa said, “Any three-year-old can use some simple magical equipment as long as they find the trick. But it does not mean that the three-year-old has truly grasped the mysteries of magic.

“As time went by, the magical power in the magical equipment ran out. Even the magical equipment itself was worn and rusted. No matter how vividly the natives imitated it, it was impossible for it to be of any use.

“In the natives’ understanding, it was as if the gods and devils were gradually leaving them, and the magical power enveloping the entire island was running dry.

“The same thing is happening in the Jadeite Continent, isn’t it? In the tales of the bards, the gods and devils of the primeval era were always the strongest. The ancient heroes seemed to be able to wipe out thousands of soldiers and horses with a single strike of their sword. But as time went by, the magic power of the modern era grew weaker and weaker, leading to the arrival of the Era of Doom. The priests of the Radiance Church all said that the world had committed too many sins and that they had to pray and redeem themselves more sincerely under their leadership. Sister Summer, do you really believe that?”

“Well…” Princess Summer was dazed, deep in thought.

“The federation is lying. Sin, prayer, and devotion have nothing to do with magic.

Theresa said solemnly, “Magic should be the purest, purest, and most direct power in the world. The spell to activate the magic is so simple that it can only be described with one word.

“All the spells… only have one word?” Princess Summer found it hard to believe.

“Yes. All the spells regarding magic are here.”

Theresa snapped her fingers.

A cluster of glamorous flames appeared on his fingertip.

“Look, this is the first word, representing the first state. The burning state can be called ‘1’.”

While talking, Theresa blew out the flames on her fingertips.

“Right now, the fire is extinguished and returns to nothingness. This is the second word, or rather, the second state, which can be called ‘0’.”

Theresa opened her hands. There was nothing in them, but ever-changing ripples seemed to be spreading out.

“One gives birth to two, two gives birth to three, three gives birth to all things. ‘0’ and ‘1’ are the entire language of magic, and the superposition and variations of these two states can give birth to an entire world.

“However, if you are fascinated by the complicated yet glamorous appearance, indulge in the simple and clumsy imitation, and cheer when you trigger a spell by accident, you will never be able to grasp the mysteries of ‘0’ and ‘1’ because you are scared of the horror of deities and devils!

Theresa spoke frankly with her hands behind her back. Her clothes and hair were fluttering even though there was no wind. She really looked like a knowledgeable master.

The rebellious and shocking remarks should have aroused Princess Summer’s suspicion and disgust.

Perhaps, if it were anyone else, Princess Summer would have scoffed.

But it had to be Theresa…

Princess Summer did not know whether or not she should believe Theresa’s words.

She only knew that she was about to be drowned in the soul-stirring strength in Theresa’s beautiful eyes and could not free herself from it.

“Teresa…”

Princess Summer thought for a while and found it hard to believe. “Are you saying that there are no deities in the world? How—how is it possible? What should we do?”

“No means no. What’s ‘impossible’ and ‘what to do’?”

Theresa smiled and recited casually, “There is no god in the sky and no devil king below the ground. I am the god and the devil king. Let the sea of stars open the way. Here I come!”

“Wow…”

Princess Summer was about to pass out in Theresa’s arms. Indescribable emotions were flowing in her eyes. “Teresa, what is this? Is it a poem? How strange. It sounds very different from the sonnets in the court, but it is full of weird power. I didn’t know that you could recite poems!”

“Of course.”

Theresa said, “As… the sister of the Cannon King of the Star Ocean Imperium, reciting poetry is a compulsory course for me. If Sister Summer likes it, I can recite it to you every day. What do you think? Very impressive, even better than Black Jack!”

At the mention of Black Jack, Princess Summer was immediately back to herself.

“What? Theresa, you are so weird. Why do you want to compete with Black Jack all the time? You are totally different. There is no comparison at all!”

Princess Summer narrowed her eyes and looked into the distance. “Speaking of which, we’ve wasted too much time. We should look for Black Jack and the rest of the team. If a bunch of Demonic Halberd Pigs show up, we won’t be able to deal with them alone.”

“Of course not. Black Jack is just a short, small worm. How can it be compared to the Star Ocean Cannon?”

Theresa secretly mumbled in her heart, “Today, I exerted a little bit of my charisma. It was just an appetizer, and I almost conquered you. Hehe. It seems that even this body is not enough to resist the passionate charisma of a man! Just you wait, Black Jack. How dare you seduce me… No, no, no. You will pay the price for seducing me!”

“Alright. Let’s go find Black Jack now.”

Theresa smiled at Princess Summer. Then she suddenly thought of something and ran to the corpse of the Demonic Halberd Pig. “Sister Summer, come and help me. Cut off some of the meat. The Blood Demon Sector might not be able to find any food.”

After hunting the demon beasts, they would butcher the meat and collect the materials. Occasionally, they would find precious demon crystals and beast cores, which were the usual procedures for bounty hunters and adventurers.

It was especially so when a lone soldier was marching into a perilous place such as the Blood Demon Sector. Supplies were hard to come by, and no prey could be spared.

However, when Theresa went down on one of her knees in front of the body of the Demonic Halberd Pig and took out her dagger to cut it open, she found that there seemed to be something on the burnt skull of the animal.

“What is this?” Princess Summer noticed it, too.

The two of them craned their heads at the same time, and their heads almost hit each other. They discovered that a square mark had been neatly carved in the center of the skull of the Demonic Halberd Pig. It was a bunch of stripes that were wide and narrow, like some kind of… barcode.

“Could it be—”

Theresa blinked and touched the barcode on the skull of the boar. She then touched the muscles and bones all over its body carefully. “It is not natural but man-made?”