Chapter 161: Infection
"The true mastermind behind the Sea Race truly possesses immense power. Not only can they decrypt nuclear bomb detonation codes, but they can also set up such an array. It seems the old guard's earlier speculation about the mastermind being an alien is quite reasonable; such arrays, clearly bearing traces of other civilizations, could no longer be simply attributed to a Spirit Qi anomaly. The waters here run incredibly deep."
After the avatar launched hundreds of continuous attacks without pause, the barrier that appeared with each strike was already on the verge of collapse. Simultaneously, the orb of light, whose fate was tied to the barrier, flickered like a candle in the wind, with only a faint glow remaining, a far cry from its brightness when Bai Mo first encountered it.
"The other two high-stage Spirit Animation researchers will likely arrive within ten minutes. I need to take this sample during that time, otherwise, it'll be all sorts of complications."
He pondered his strategy. Although the two wouldn't be his match even if they combined their strength, unlike himself who always acted alone, these two had the backing of a group of high-stage Spirit Animation researchers. The accumulated energy they wielded was considerable.
From the information gathered by the avatars dispatched to collect intel, Bai Mo had also learned that the institute was not at all fond of him, their overly young, maverick, and newly appointed deputy director who had parachuted in. If not for groundbreaking inventions like the Xuanhuang Fruit supporting him, someone would have long since jumped out to cause trouble for him. Even so, there was considerable negative evaluation of him in secret.
For example, they commented that he didn't resemble a researcher at all, but rather a lone wolf, a wizard secretly plotting various schemes. Though Bai Mo felt this comment was actually quite accurate.
And the most fundamental issue was that they understood the Contribution Point System's significance and the immense interests it represented. Yet, Bai Mo, in the name of the institute, effectively controlled the vast majority of the Contribution Point System's benefits by himself, severely damaging their interests.
"According to the information gleaned by the roaming avatars, the conflict between the old guard and the young faction is growing sharper. The previous operation to eliminate the Four Young Masters merely suppressed the contradiction forcibly; the next eruption will only be more severe."
"And the institute's director, a typical technocratic official, having gained power, has also started forming factions and meddling in the struggle between the two sides. It seems he intends to align himself with the young faction, and thus finds me, who stands with the old guard, displeasing. And then, there are various layers of mutual infiltration among the three factions... Truly annoying."
Suddenly, the orb of light in the avatar's hand flared intensely, as if in a final, brilliant burst of light, a death throe.
"Under the threat of complete annihilation, it finally couldn't hold back." The strong light didn't affect Bai Mo's perception. He could clearly "see" that in the orb's final brilliant moment, the contents, carrying a blue substance, surged into the avatar's interior.
With his reaction speed, he could naturally control the avatar to perfectly dodge, but he was unwilling to once again only obtain a bit of blue substance whose purpose he completely didn't understand, so he let them act.
After the contents of the orb entered the avatar, he made one last attempt to forcefully attack the barrier. Just as he'd guessed, the target weakened by the attack became the avatar itself.
They immediately began to spread at an extreme speed. In just a few seconds, the avatar was almost entirely tinged with an incredibly faint blue hue.
Then he discovered that his control over the avatar was rapidly diminishing, so he simply decided to abandon this avatar to observe what would happen.
Although regaining full control would be difficult, initiating the avatar's self-destruction was still merely a thought away.
Feeling its "soul-possession" was nearing success, the newly reborn Ghost King began to rapidly absorb the lingering yin qi in the urban area to recover itself, while simultaneously generating a large amount of unknown substance once more to form its protective layer.
Even though its mental issues were severe, possessing a profoundly chaotic nature, physical recovery was almost instinctive. No matter how insane it was, it couldn't hinder its natural restoration.
Perhaps for it, these were just instincts, but for Bai Mo's will, observing and perceiving from within the same entity, this was the most valuable knowledge.
He, who had been constantly pondering how to take the next step, finally, through comparison, made a groundbreaking insight.
"So, the generation of the so-called unknown substance is actually the extension of the concept of 'self' beyond the physical body. The Life Field, representing one's will, breaks through the body's limitations, extending outward and using mental energy to infect surrounding matter, thereby altering its properties."
"And once this substance loses the support of the Life Field, it will return to its original state in a short time. So what I dug out earlier was actually a mass of altered air; no wonder it reverted to its gaseous state so quickly."
"Therefore, to break through the Unmelting Realm, one actually needs to make the Life Field break through the body's limitations and extend outside the body. This is also why breaking through requires a vast amount of mental energy!"
"This seems somewhat similar to the 'domains of law' in novels, but it still feels a bit far off, not even a nascent form."
For him, manifesting another avatar was merely a matter of being weak for half a day. But if this Ghost King, whose life-level surpassed his own, recovered and then located him through the connection between the avatar and his main body, that would be a real big problem.
Having instantly figured this out, Bai Mo looked at the avatar, which had almost completely lost control, and decisively issued the self-destruction command.
"You!" The Ghost King, having forcibly possessed the avatar, detected the anomaly the moment Bai Mo transmitted the self-destruction signal, but it was already too late to reverse its fate.
"This isn't over..." It only managed to hurl this threat before vanishing into nothingness with the self-destructing avatar.
"Klang!" With the complete destruction of the vessel, Bai Mo seemed to hear the sound of a barrier shattering. The array that had shrouded the entirety of Tianzhou began to collapse, and the yin qi that had gathered because of the barrier began to scatter in all directions.
He had a premonition that the Ghost King wasn't entirely annihilated, but it was time to leave now.
Bai Mo swept up the blue powder and began walking towards the southern war zone headquarters.
"Mister Bai, you're the first to arrive at the scene. Did you find anything?" He hadn't gone far when two researchers, both in their thirties and high-stage Spirit Animation, blocked his path.
"No. And I am your deputy director; do not impede my path." As soon as he spoke, Bai Mo realized something was wrong. His voice had transformed into a terrifying, polyphonic chorus of countless voices.
"You're not Bai Mo, he wouldn't speak like that! That Ghost King must have possessed him!" Zhou Jiawen, the lead researcher, quickly fired a warning signal into the sky after saying this, then warned his companion, Li Jia, to brace for battle.
"How tedious." After realizing his voice was problematic, Bai Mo switched to communicating via mental fluctuations. Thanks to his popularization efforts, most ability users possessing a Life Field had learned to utilize mental fluctuations.
However, the Ghost King's final infection didn't seem to be so simple. Even his mental fluctuations, when transmitted into their minds, were distorted, making it seem to them as if numerous individuals were conveying a single message.
Comments