Chapter 751 Refusal, Stubborness.
"…"
Seeing the lack of sentient life on the mountain only shook Professor Frances a little, as she thought that the conditions on the mountain's surface was just not conducive for supporting life forms.
Such cases had already been seen on some planets before, so it's not that shocking to see it happening on a mountain, especially one that was this big.
However, something still did not sit right with the lack of living beings in this place, especially given the fact that the whole mountain was releasing immaculate amounts of life force from its body.
"Houm!"
And this life force was not just any paltry kind of life force either. It was richer compared to Queen Mothers, and its quantity was thousands of times greater than the tree woman's!
"Houm!"
If Professor Frances' life force can be compared to a flowing river, then Queen Mother's will be as vast as the sea.
As for the life force from this mountain, it will be comparable to a massive ocean!
"Houm!"
Such amount of life force will be enough to petrify those who can discover it, and Professor Frances was one of these people.
In fact, if it weren't for the presence of Alex on her side, Professor Frances could have started running the hell away from the mountain already.
Just the mountain's size and its samount of life force alone makes it dangerous, and the fact that it doesn't have any living creatures makes it an even more suspicious object!
"I might be not that versed with the mysteries of the Multiverse, but I still know that a mountain is an inert, non-living object."
"That means that a mountain should not have any life force, since it is not alive…"
"But this mountain in front of me is releasing an ungodly amount of life force, and I don't know where it even comes from!"
"Argh!!! Since a non-living object should not have any life force, then the fact that this mountain has life force only means one thing: Which is that living beings should exist on this mountain, and they are the source of this mountain's life force."
"However, my biological scanners had told me that this mountain has no living beings that reside on it at all!"
This was the main issue that Professor Frances had with this mountain.
How could this object, which has no living creatures in it, actually have this massive amounts of life force?
The mountain is not alive at all, and there are no signs of life, so where does this life force come from?
Did this life force come from the mountain itself even if it was not alive? Or was there something nearby that is making this life force come out in this manner?
Or could it be an illusion, and Professor Frances' senses were just being fooled at this point?..
Professor Frances had no answer for this, and the only thing that she knew is that she's facing an anomaly right now.
"Argh! I should have been an expert for these kind of things, but this if the first time I had seen something like this happening!"
"Really, what in the world is this mountain? Is this an anomaly in nature, or is it the next step on the evolution of life?"
"Argh, I don't know what to think of this anymore!"
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Because of the surprise brought to her by this 'living mountain', Professor Frances had temporarily forgotten the threat exuded by Alex and the dangers of staying close to him.
She was instead more engrossed on discovering the mystery about the mountain, and she was dedicating most of the firepower from her improved brain to deduce this mystery.
"…."
"…."
"…."
This did not happen like this this however, as Alex quickly interrupted professor before she could start thinking.
\u003c\u003cProfessor Frances… I know that you are intrigued by the mysterious properties of this mountain. Even I am mystified too, as this is the first time I saw a non-living mountain have this much life force.\u003e\u003e Alex said with a sagely nod, with his eyes also looking intently at the massive mountain.
He looked just as curious as the professor, but unlike Professor Frances who could not stop her mind from theorizing the mountain's origins, Alex did not have the same manic interest to analyze the mountain deeper.
That much was obvious from his gestures, with his hands curling and flexing alternately, as if his interest lies on making an actual physical move against the mountain.
"…"
And he was indeed interested on making a physical move against the mountain, as the next words that he said implied it.
\u003c\u003cHowever, even if both of us are intrigued, that does not give us the luxury to waste our time observing this mountain…\u003e\u003e
\u003c\u003cDid you already forget what we are planning to do here? Professor Frances, we are here to acquire this mountain. We are not here to watch it like it was a TV show.\u003e\u003e
\u003c\u003cI repeat, we are here to obtain this mountain, as this is the only way that our plan could succeed!\u003e\u003e
"…"
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What Alex just said was the same thing that he said during their meeting earlier, so Professor Frances was not surprised after hearing this suggestion.
She already knew that Alex will do something related to acquiring mysterious objects, so his interest on obtaining this weird mountain did not catch her off-guard.
She even somewhat followed Alex's interests, as she immediately stopped her attempts to deduce the mountain's true nature, and she instead focused on how to deal with the possible dangers from this object.
"…."
It was as if she's also raring to have a physical confrontation with the mountain, and that she's willing to use her power in order to have her and Alex succeed in this endeavor.
"…."
But as much as she accepted what Alex said, the professor still did not feel comfortable with her involvement in his operation.
Sure, Professor Frances had agreed with Alex's plan, but she is not happy on performing the plan personally.
After all, their plan involves objects related to extremely powerful beings, which means that there are extreme dangers that might be involved…
"Alex… you don't need to chide me that much. I know what your plan is and I know my role, ok? But can you please stop goading me this much? You are just making me more nervous here…" This hesitation was made obvious by the professor's words, which sounded full of weariness and suspicion towards Alex.
"If you continue prodding me at this point, you don't know what I can do. But don't fret, as I can still understand why you are acting this way…"
This suspicious treatment of the professor to Alex might seem rude, but it eventually got softer as the professor continued giving her argument.
In fact, the professor seemed to actually accept Alex by the end of her tirade.
"Our plan is all about obtaining countless True God Artifacts before the others could get it. The more that we get, the better that it will be for us."
"That is the plan which is the best fit for our situation, so I understand your urgency on obtaining this mountain."
"This mountain after all, is obviously a True God Artifact, so we are supposed to be getting it for ourselves."
Although she looks wary about what they were about to do, Professor Frances still gave Alex a knowing nod this time, as if she was acknowledging his effort to cooperate with her.
She even began gathering her recovered soul energy, as if she was preparing herself for a battle that will involve confronting this mountain.
This made her look somewhat more accepting of what Alex was saying earlier, but this did not mean that she was eager to move together with him.
In actuality, the professor was more inclined on staying behind, and she was doing everything that she can to make this interest of hers clear.
Her following words even expressed this sentiment, to the point that Alex could not ignore it anymore.
"But Alex, even if we are supposed to be obtaining this mountain, it does not mean that we can just swoop in here to get it, right?"
"I might sound paranoid by saying this, but that mountain does not look safe at all."
"No, that mountain doesn't just look unsafe. It looks extremely dangerous, and I can't even explain why."
"So Alex… unless you are 100% sure that our attempt to obtain this mountain is feasible, don't expect me to approach this mountain."
"I will be staying here, but don't worry. I will still help you on obtaining this mountain. Just expect me… to attack from my current position."
\u003c\u003c….\u003e\u003e
"…"
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Needless to say, Alex was enraged by what the professor suggested.
His face was even reddened from rage as he tried to convince the professor to stop whatever she was doing, and he seems to be barely able to stop himself from lashing out on her.
\u003c\u003cProfessor Frances, do you really have to be doing this? Sigh… this is just making me feel disappointed of you.\u003e\u003e
\u003c\u003cWe clearly talked about doing these things together, and that includes approaching these dangerous objects together.\u003e\u003e
\u003c\u003cWe're allies now, so shouldn't we also face dangers together too?\u003e\u003e
\u003c\u003cCome on, don't be such a bi- pus- coward, and just follow my lead.\u003e\u003e
\u003c\u003cI promise it will be safe for you, and even if there are dangers, you can resist them with your powers….\u003e\u003e
"…."
Alex sounded extremely enticing as he gave this offer to the professor, and for a moment, it felt like he will be able to make the woman follow him.
But this did not happen, as the professor did some steps which ensured that she will not be following Alex's tune…
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"Oum…"
Instead of following Alex like the way that she was supposed to be, the professor stopped moving, and she continued channeling her soul magic at this position.
"Oum…"
This action of hers gave the professor the luxury to stop people from disturbing her, as the act of channeling soul magic depends on the stability of the user.
If someone were to disturb Professor Frances this time, all the soul spells that she is channeling will fail, which will just lead to the professor losing the power that she gathered at that time.
Having Professor Frances fail the channeling will be a bad situation for Alex, as he needs all the help that he can get if he wants to obtain many True God Artifacts.
"Oum…"
This naturally leaves Alex with no choice but to let the professor stay still on her spot, and there is nothing that he can do now to make her move.
"What are you looking at me for, Alex? Can't you see that I am channeling my soul magic right now? This means that I am ready to help you out. "
"It's just that I can't be moving from my current position at all, so you can't expect me to follow you."
"But don't worry. My soul magic can still work even from a distance, so be assured that my spells will still be of help to you…"