Grey waved his hand, and his shapeless ability activated immediately. His sword manifested into his hand.

With the large halo, his nexus overclock–transformed body, and his Saint’s Eyes, he looked no less than a mythical being.

’Hm, how did it change so much?’

He had not expected his nexus overclock to undergo such a drastic change. This was the first time he used Nexus Overclock after reaching 2nd rank and it had changed completely.

He looked like an alien now.

"Oh well. This will do for now." Grey’s voice echoed throughout the province.

"Alright, robot bastard. Come at me." Grey flashed him a chilling smile.

However, Orin looked utterly terrified when he saw Grey.

He could not move his mechanical body as he stared at the being before him.

"Y-You are not human!" Orin shouted loudly enough for everyone to hear. "You... what are you?"

He exclaimed in fear.

Fear had overwhelmed the mind that had already gone mad upon seeing Grey.

Werner stood at the side, staring at the scene in pure disbelief.

However, he quickly calmed down. "How can someone like my master be human in the first place?"

With his talent and qualifications, Grey could no longer be called a normal human, and this absurd transformation only strengthened that belief.

But of course, Grey was still human. Or rather, he was now a saint, which could still be classified as human since nothing had changed in his body except for his eyes.

Sainthood was a power, not a change in race.

The true change would only occur after he perfected the transformation technique for the first level of the second rank.

Perhaps he would even create his own race.

With his comprehension, it was very possible.

"I, as your disciple, am truly grateful to be able to become your disciple, Master." Werner’s telepathic voice came from the side.

Grey simply nodded.

Werner must have been overwhelmed after witnessing the transformation.

Werner was his disciple, and naturally, he would one day stand alongside him at the top.

It would be a blatant insult if he did not.

Grey then turned to Orin, who was still trembling in fear.

"Are you going to attack or not?" Grey’s nexus energy–infused voice echoed throughout the entire province.

"Stay... stay away from me!" Orin exclaimed. "You monster! You are a monster! How can a being like you exist in this world?"

Hearing this, Grey frowned. He did not understand why Orin was reacting like this.

It was just a minor change in appearance. What was so frightening?

Could Orin be seeing something he himself could not?

"What are you?" Orin screamed at Grey. "You are not normal! You are not normal! There is no way something like you can exist!"

He kept repeating himself with a terrified look.

Then Eterna’s voice rang out in Grey’s head.

[Grey, I feel an unusual reading from Orin. This is eerily familiar to the information layer.]

’The information layer?’ Grey’s expression changed.

He was right. Orin was not acting like this without a reason.

[Yes. At the moment, I cannot sense where it is coming from, but he is connected to it. It is a different place within the information layer. He is somehow accessing information from there.]

Eterna paused before continuing. [I believe he might have seen something related to you.]

By now, everyone else had also noticed his unusual behavior.

"What is happening to that guy?" a civilian exclaimed in surprise.

"Has he gone crazy?"

Back at the mansion.

"Master, what is happening to that guy?" Evan asked as he observed his master and noticed she was staring at the screen with a serious expression.

"What is happening to him, Senior?" Lia asked cautiously.

Since Grey knew this so-called esteemed one, that meant she was not an enemy. Her emergence from Evan had already made it obvious, and Grey had called her "Master."

"I’m not sure myself." Xia Qingyue replied with a frown.

She then turned to Evan. "Take your phone out."

"Yes!" Evan complied instantly and handed her his phone as Xia Qingyue, now in physical form, took hold of it.

"Eterna." Xia Qingyue called out.

"Yes, Esteemed One." Eterna’s voice emerged.

"What is happening? That does not seem ordinary. I can sense interference from here."

"Yes." Eterna replied. "Orin Ardent has formed a connection with the information layer."

"What?" Xia Qingyue’s expression turned incredulous. "How is that possible?"

Being from the starry sky, Xia Qingyue naturally knew about the legendary information layer — the layer where data related to reality itself was stored, a different plane of existence.

"I do not know..." Eterna said. "I tried calculating all possibilities, but nothing showed a definite answer for why he was able to connect to that plane. I believe it has something to do with the Law of Machinery and its link to the information layer."

"The Law of Machinery?" Xia Qingyue frowned. "People of this planet know about the Law of Machinery?"

"Yes." Eterna replied. "He failed once at linking himself to the information layer before, which means he should never have had another chance. But now a door has opened somewhere, and Orin’s signal, laced with the Law of Machinery, traced it and reached that place."

Eterna paused again.

"I believe the reason he is going crazy is because he saw something related to Grey Lockhart. His unusualness started the moment Grey unleashed his powers."

"Something related to Grey?" both Alissa and Lia said at the same time.

They quickly fell silent, not wanting to interrupt.

Xia Qingyue glanced at them and continued. "Is he scared of his sainthood? Did he see anything related to that?"

"Negative, Esteemed One." Eterna replied. "Sainthood would not drive someone mad. It would instead strike them with lightning."

"Oh." Xia Qingyue nodded.

That made sense.

Sainthood was not something evil that would corrupt someone upon witnessing it.

"Just what did he see about that kid?" Xia Qingyue muttered.

She knew he possessed a never-before-seen superior energy, something even greater than the aether energy she had created.

Could it be related to that?

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by lotustale.com