Waiting is always the hardest part, especially when you’ve just sold a batch of "mental viruses" to a Second-level Wizard.

For two whole days, Allen stayed in his workshop. He appeared to be calibrating the fire control system for "Purgatory," but in reality, he was glued to his communication terminal.

Jarvis had even drafted seven escape plans, including but not limited to "digging a five-hundred-meter-deep hole and burying himself" and "disguising himself as a giant dung beetle to blend in with a swarm of Magical Beasts."

"Sir, a communication request from War Zone 17."

On the morning of the third day, Jarvis broke the dead silence.

Allen paused, the refreshment potion in his hand halfway to his lips. He took a deep breath and adjusted his stiff facial muscles.

"Put it through."

The light screen flickered, then expanded.

However, the Catherine he expected—the one in wizard’s robes with an expression as cold as an iceberg—didn’t appear.

The person on screen was a woman in loose silk pajamas. Her hair was a disheveled mess draped over her shoulders, and the corners of her eyes were even... strangely red and swollen.

She held a steaming cup of some unknown liquid. Her eyes weren’t focused on Allen; instead, she gazed melancholically out the window at a 45-degree angle toward the fiery sky, as if it held some unspeakable sorrow.

Allen’s heart sank. He nervously took a sip of his refreshment potion.

’Oh no, did I break her brain? Better get a quick boost and get ready to run!’

"Your Excellency Catherine?" Allen asked tentatively.

The woman slowly turned her head.

Those eyes, once as cold and hard as rubies, were now filled with a pitiable... heart-wrenching sorrow.

She spoke, her voice hoarse and trembling slightly.

"Allen, tell me... that monkey with the golden circlet, in the moment he turned his back, did he have any regrets?"

"PFFFT—!!!"

The mouthful of refreshment potion Allen had just taken sprayed out in a fine mist all over the holographic projection.

[WARNING! WARNING! TARGET’S LOGICAL CIRCUITRY HAS UNDERGONE UNKNOWN RECOMBINATION. HIGH CONCENTRATIONS OF EMOTIONAL FLUCTUATIONS DETECTED: SADNESS (45%), CONFUSION (30%), PROFOUND REALIZATION (25%).]

The red alerts frantically flashing across the screen from Jarvis made the corners of Allen’s mouth twitch uncontrollably.

He’d considered that she might be angry, disdainful, or even laugh like a maniac. But he never, ever expected that this wizard, a woman with logic etched into her very bones, would open with a question about the plot of *A Chinese Odyssey*!

"Ahem..."

Allen wiped his mouth in embarrassment, struggling to maintain his persona. "That... is the inevitability of fate. In that dimension, such a phenomenon is known as ’the core of tragedy.’"

"’The core of tragedy...’"

Catherine murmured to herself, a fanatical glint in her eyes.

"What an exquisite definition. Logic cannot explain why he would abandon his true love to embark on a pilgrimage. A cost-benefit analysis model shows it to be a net positive. But why... why, when I saw his lonely figure beneath the city walls, did my cardiac pump begin to spasm irregularly?"

She leaned abruptly toward the screen, her exquisite face filled with a thirst for knowledge. "Is this the ’anchor of humanity’ you spoke of? This inefficient physiological reaction called ’heartache’... it actually allows me to feel the weight of my soul."

Allen: "..."

’Lady, you’re just getting way too into the movie.’

"And that other thing..." Catherine’s tone suddenly shifted. Her expression turned peculiar, holding a trace of almost unspeakable... excitement.

"That category called the ’Ghost Remix Zone.’"

"Ahem!" Allen did a tactical lean-back.

"It’s astounding."

Catherine took a deep breath, as if savoring some exquisite delicacy.

"The high-frequency, repetitive editing of completely unrelated syllables and images utterly shatters linguistic logic. While I was observing the artistic performance of that ’Gluten Bro,’ I felt my own logic systems shut down completely. There’s a demonic charm to that strange song that compels repeated viewings."

"In that three-second void, I experienced something I haven’t in a long time—pure, unadulterated absurdity."

Catherine closed her eyes, like a devotee who had just received a divine oracle. In an almost operatic tone, she proclaimed, "If I had never seen the light, I could have endured the darkness. If I had never witnessed that first-level Magical Beast, ’Tom Cat,’ being flattened by a frying pan, I would never have known joy could exist in such defiance of physical law."

Allen stared at her, completely wooden.

’It’s over. She’s a lost cause. She’s completely turned into some kind of Renaissance art-house and meme-remix aficionado.’

"It seems the agreement has taken effect," Allen said dryly.

"Taken effect? No, this is a rebirth."

Catherine opened her eyes, a sliver of clarity returning. But that lofty, icy demeanor was gone, replaced by a kind of... how should one put it? The lucid tranquility of someone freshly discharged from a psychiatric hospital.

She waved her hand.

"DING—"

A pleasant chime sounded from Allen’s terminal.

[MATERIAL TRANSFER REQUEST CONFIRMED. ITEMS: RIFTSKY EAGLE SOUL CRYSTAL ×12, TWO MEMORY CRYSTALS.]

"This is your payment."

Catherine lifted her cup and took a sip, her movements as graceful as an artsy young woman at afternoon tea. "Additionally, to thank you for helping me rediscover ’sentimentality’—and for the inspiration I received from that observation record titled *Neon Genesis Evangelion*..."

Allen’s eyelid twitched. "Wait, where did you see that?"

’I don’t remember putting Evangelion in that folder, did I? Did my hand slip and I accidentally dragged in my ’personal stash’ folder?’

Catherine ignored his surprise, instead sending him a data packet with extremely complex encryption. 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

"In that record, I saw a concept called the ’A.T. Field’—an Absolute Field."

Catherine’s eyes glittered with intellectual brilliance. "The wall of the heart is a physical wall. This theory of converting the emotion of ’rejection’ into a tangible defense... it’s a work of sheer genius."

"Although I can’t fully replicate that kind of Mind School power, I happen to have a similar technology. The principle is to use a repulsive Rune Array to simulate a similar effect."

"I’ve named it the ’Deflection Force Field Generator.’ Of course, to pay homage to that great work of history, you can also call it the ’AT Field.’"

Allen stared at the data packet, his breathing instantly quickening.

’Talk about a surprise! This was a surprise!’

’He’d just wanted to scam her for a few bird souls, but she watched an anime and then just... whipped up the Apostle’s shield technology from scratch?!’

’Is this what the world of geniuses is like? They can watch a cartoon and write a peer-reviewed scientific paper on it?’

"It’s a defensive technology based on ’repulsion.’"

Catherine explained with a hint of pride, "It’s different from traditional elemental shields. It doesn’t just tank the damage; it uses a high-frequency oscillating Force Field to ’slide’ attacks away. It has an excellent deflection effect on both physical projectiles and Energy Beams."

"Its only drawback is high energy consumption, but that isn’t an insurmountable problem."

Allen rapidly scanned the blueprints Jarvis had translated from the Memory Crystal.

’Perfect.’

’It’s absolutely perfect!’

What was the Storm Falcon’s greatest weakness? It was a glass cannon! In its pursuit of ultimate speed and maneuverability, it had sacrificed nearly all of its armor.

A single hit, even just colliding with a rock mid-flight, would turn it into a shower of fireworks.

But with this "AT Field"...

As long as the power holds, the Storm Falcon would be a ghost in the sky, an unkillable housefly!

This technology could even be applied to the Purgatory Magic Missile Golems.

Or on the "Pacifist," giving that big lug another layer of invisible armor—a wall of sighs.

"This gift is too valuable," Allen said with genuine sincerity.

"A bonus gift."

Catherine smiled faintly, a smile that held a surprising touch of human warmth. "Compared to this cold technology, you’ve taught me that the tears of ’Joker’ are more precious than any High-Tier Magic Stone."

"Oh, right, Allen."

Just as the call was about to end, Catherine suddenly leaned close to the camera, her eyes staring at him intently.

"That... observation record for *SpongeBob SquarePants*, are there any follow-ups?"

"...Next month," Allen replied, his face expressionless.

"Excellent. I look forward to it," Catherine said, nodding in satisfaction. "Patrick Star’s philosophy on life is so profound, it’s mesmerizing."

The light screen went dark.

The workshop fell silent once more.

Allen stood there for a long moment, then suddenly covered his face with his hands, his shoulders beginning to tremble violently.

"Haha... HAHAHAHA!"

The laughter, at first suppressed, grew wild and unrestrained, echoing through the empty workshop.

"I hit the jackpot! Jarvis! Quick! Get me those twelve Riftsky Eagle Soul Crystals!"

Allen spun around, a fanatical fire burning in his eyes.

"Create a new project: ’Storm Falcon: AT Field Custom Model’!"

"And also, figure out how to install this tech on the ’Pacifist’! I want those brutish insects to learn the meaning of ’Absolute Defense’!"

[YES, SIR. INITIATING ADAPTABILITY SIMULATION... SIMULATION COMPLETE. THE AT FIELD TECHNOLOGY CAN INCREASE THE STORM FALCON’S SURVIVABILITY BY 400%.]