chsdbacks Chapter 631 Capture
Chapter 631 Capture
After receiving the message that the barrier was complete, Jemin stood up from the fountain and withdrew his spreading mental energy.
The half-hour continuous scan did not put much mental strain on him, but the continuous work of sorting out his fate lines exhausted him.
Fortunately, with the help of the destiny system, it's still within an acceptable range.
"Even if life forms have transformed into information beings, controlling fate is still extremely difficult..."
Jemin sighed, stretched his neck, his bones making a soft clicking sound, and then walked toward the meeting point designated by the wizard in the dark blue robe.
The meeting point was set up in a fruit storage room on the north side of the town.
This is a semi-underground stone building that maintains a cool and dry environment year-round, used to store fruits harvested in autumn.
The storage room had been cleaned up; the stacked wooden crates had been moved to the wall, leaving a sizable space in the center.
When Jemin pushed open the door and entered, most of the other eight wizards had already arrived.
The storage room was filled with the faint sweet aroma of fermenting fruit, mixed with the damp smell of the stone walls.
Several luminescent crystals are embedded in the wall, emitting a soft, cool light that illuminates the entire space brightly but not glaringly.
A male wizard in a dark blue robe stood in the center, holding a crystal test tube the size of a palm.
The test tube contained half a tube of blue liquid. The liquid was very dark and almost opaque, with occasional small ripples on its surface, as if some unseen force was stirring it.
"This is..." Jemin approached, his gaze falling on the test tube.
"The core of the decoy." The sorcerer in the deep blue robe held up the test tube, letting the cold light shine through the blue liquid. "I've collected the genetic information of everyone in the entire town and concentrated it in this solution."
"Everyone? Including us wizards?" Jemin raised an eyebrow slightly. "When did you collect this?"
"I've collected the materials from all the other wizards besides you. I did it while setting up the barrier." The wizard smiled, his smile carrying a hint of the composure of a high-ranking wizard.
"My area of expertise is bioinformatics, and collecting genetic material is as natural to me as breathing. The townspeople's samples came from their shed hair, skin flakes, saliva, and various other sources. As for yours..."
He looked at the other wizards present: "I already mentioned this to them when I set up the barrier. I can also draw up a contract to ensure that this genetic information will not be used for other purposes."
The wizards nodded, and none of them showed any displeasure.
Although it is somewhat taboo for wizards to hand over their own body tissues or genetic information to another wizard.
However, since the other party was willing to sign a contract, and it was to collect the teammate's genetic information in order to achieve their goal...
While it crossed some conventional social boundaries, given the value of the target of this hunt, this minor offense was perfectly acceptable.
"These genetic materials are concentrated in this tube of 'information solvent'," the wizard continued to explain. "The blue liquid is a special medium that can maintain the activity of genetic information while simulating the illusion of 'a large family.' In this test tube, the genetic information of the townspeople is woven into a huge family tree, and everyone can find their place on this tree."
"So to that weirdo, this test tube is like a container filled with 'potential victims.'" The cursed witch emerged from the corner, her pale gray eyes under her hood fixed on the test tube, a hint of admiration in her voice. "Once it manifests, it can access the entire town's genetic information at once."
"Exactly," the wizard nodded. "And I even specially arranged various spice jars around here..."
He pointed to the stone platform next to the test tube.
There was a row of pottery jars on the stone platform, more than a dozen of them, of various sizes.
Salt shakers, sugar shakers, pepper shakers... each one was open, and the seasonings inside emitted their own unique aromas.
"Give it a familiar environment to commit its crimes," the wizard said. "The salt shaker is its first choice, but I also put other spice jars in there to see if it would have any other preferences."
After thinking for a moment, Jemin also signed a contract with the other party and then handed over his genetic information.
"Is there anything else I need to do?" Jemin asked.
The sorcerer in the deep blue robe looked at him: "You possess knowledge of fate. We need you to use fate-related methods to connect everyone's fate lines with this crystal test tube as closely as possible, ensuring that this thing has no flaws in terms of fate. Then, search for fate lines related to the supernatural as much as possible, making sure to draw their attention here."
After a moment's thought, Jemin nodded: "I can give it a try."
A bright light flashed across his forehead, and the Destiny System began to operate at full capacity.
The information processing network constructed by the incense and deity system unfolded deep within his consciousness, with countless threads of fate extending from the virtual network, drifting in the air like spider silk.
Jemin's mental power probed into these lines of fate, beginning to connect them one by one with the genetic information in the crystal test tube.
This is not a simple process, after all, Jemin's knowledge of fate is only at the very beginning.
Fortunately, Jemin has a destiny system.
This information processing network, built by incense and religious deities, excels at handling such matters.
With the help of the destiny system, Jemin meticulously organized the fate of the entire town, categorizing and connecting it to the crystal test tube according to the kinship of genetic information, the closeness or distance of social relationships, and even the distance of residence.
The blue liquid began to change.
The once still liquid surface began to ripple with fine waves, as if something was gently stirring deep within the liquid.
The liquid's color gradually lightened, changing from deep blue to indigo, and then to a fluorescent blue-purple.
That is the outward manifestation of a successful connection of fate lines.
After completing the first step, Jemin let out a long sigh of relief, his expression becoming even more serious.
Now, here comes the important part!
The power of the destiny system began to rise, and the Five Aggregates Transformation Rainbow Mirror also became active, with a continuous stream of computing power surging from the soul.
Jemin began collecting all the strange and unpredictable fluctuations of fate based on the timeline of the events.
Using this as a benchmark, he searched for all similar fates and connected them to the blue liquid.
Finally, Jemin withdrew his mental energy, a fine layer of sweat appearing on his forehead.
The fates of all the characters in a town and the fates of events that occur in that town are not even in the same league.
Even with the assistance of a destiny system, sorting out and connecting tens of millions of fate lines still consumes a considerable amount of mental energy.
"It's done," he said.
The wizard in the dark blue robe glanced at the test tube, then at Jemin, a hint of approval in his eyes: "Impressive. For a fleeting moment, I actually subconsciously felt that this thing had something to do with me."
Other wizards also verified it using their own methods and all nodded in satisfaction. The latest update is now online and awaits your interpretation.
"Then let's begin." The cursed witch walked to the stone platform and sat cross-legged not far from the spice jars. "I'll take charge of the targeting. Once that finger appears, I'll immediately shift the focus of the curse from the test tube to us."
"Don't mess this up." The burly wizard looked at her with some suspicion.
The cursed witch did not answer, but simply raised her right hand, and a complex black rune appeared in her palm.
The runes slowly rotated in her palm, emanating an aura that instinctively made people uncomfortable.
The burly wizard wisely shut his mouth.
The other wizards found their own places to stand or sit in the storage room, forming a loose circle.
Everyone concealed their aura and suppressed energy fluctuations to the minimum, so as not to disturb the strange entity.
Jemin chose a spot where he could see the entire stone platform, and sat cross-legged with his back against the stone wall.
He wasn't good at this part, so he simply didn't participate. Instead, he spread his mental energy over a wide area as before, constantly paying attention to the changes around him.
The storage room fell silent.
The only sounds were the occasional faint ripples from the blue liquid and the whispers of wind seeping through the cracks in the stone walls.
Time passed in silence.
No one spoke. The nine high-ranking wizards stood like nine statues, each in their most suitable stance, waiting for that thing to appear.
About twenty minutes later.
Jemin's mental power detected an extremely subtle anomaly.
That feeling is hard to describe...
It was like something almost invisible suddenly appearing on the surface of a calm lake, causing the entire lake to ripple at once.
Then, he saw it.
There was an extra finger in the salt shaker.
Pale skin, covered with age spots, and wet under his fingernails.
"Here it comes," Jemin said softly.
Without his prompting, almost at the same moment the finger appeared, everyone's eyes focused on the salt shaker.
The finger remained quietly inserted in the salt, motionless.
But everyone present could feel an unseen force surging from their fingers and spreading toward the crystal test tube.
That was the process of "writing" the curse.
"Locked." The cursed witch's voice was soft, but every word carried an undeniable certainty.
The black rune in her palm exploded instantly, turning into countless tiny black threads that spread in all directions as if they were alive.
The silk thread precisely wrapped around the finger, while simultaneously shifting the focus of the curse from the crystal test tube to the wizards present.
She deliberately directed the strange creature to target them.
Sure enough, the finger reacted immediately.
"Ugh..." The wizard specializing in life magic suddenly groaned, his body stiffening slightly.
He instinctively reached out and pressed his hand against his waist, his brows furrowing tightly.
"You got infected?" the wizard beside him asked with a hint of envy. "How does it feel?"
"It's a very novel feeling." The life-type wizard's expression was somewhat strange, as if he hadn't felt such discomfort in a long time. "The curse is attacking my kidneys, and I can feel a lot of tissue being replaced by salt."
Does your mouth taste salty?
"Yes..." The life-type wizard took a deep breath, his expression becoming even more peculiar, "It is indeed too salty."
"Even you're finding it hard to stand?" one wizard asked curiously.
The person in front of him was, after all, a level six wizard. Even if he deliberately relaxed his defenses to allow the curse to take effect, he shouldn't be so overwhelmed by the simple smell.
With the physique of a level six life-type wizard, he shouldn't feel any discomfort even if he ate an entire salt lake raw.
"Yes. My mouth is full of salt, so salty it's almost bitter." The life-type wizard licked his lips. "The mechanism of this thing... should be to make the cursed person feel only a saltiness that exceeds their tolerance limit."
As he spoke, a pale green light appeared on his body.
That's the signature ability of a life-type wizard: life form transformation.
A pale green light flowed through his body, and his soul and flesh rapidly changed structure within the light, transforming from flesh and organs into an elemental state composed of pure life energy.
In an instant, the person transformed from a flesh and blood body into an elemental being.
"The elemental creatures I'm transforming into theoretically don't have the sense of 'salty'..." The life-type wizard paused halfway through his sentence, then frowned again.
"But I can still taste the saltiness."
This remark caused a subtle shift in the atmosphere of the storage room.
A level six life-type wizard transforms himself into an elemental state, theoretically freeing him from the influence of conventional sensory curses that affect taste.
But he could still taste the saltiness.
This means that this bizarre curse does not only affect the physical body or the soul, but also some more fundamental level.
"Interesting." A glint flashed in the cursed witch's pale gray eyes, the excitement typical of a researcher facing the unknown. "The level of this curse's effect is higher than I imagined. Since it's not matter, energy, or soul, then it must be..."
"Concept," Jemin interjected, "It directly affects the concept of 'salty.' No matter what form your body takes, as long as your understanding includes the attribute of 'salty,' it can make you taste saltiness."
Because he was quite familiar with the conceptual material, Jemin made a quick judgment.
"This conceptual level..." The dark blue-robed wizard's eyes also revealed excitement. "If we can capture and study it, it will greatly advance our understanding of the theory of laws."
His gaze fell on his fingers in the salt shaker.
The finger was still stuck in the salt, but the cursed witch's black threads had wrapped it tightly around its neck.
One end of the thread was connected to a finger, and the other end was connected to the constantly rotating black rune in the palm of the cursed witch.
"I can seal it away," said the cursed witch. "Although this finger will be useless after the curse is cast, before the curse was cast, it was the embodiment of this eeriness. Sealing the finger is equivalent to sealing away the eeriness."
"Then let's get started," the burly male wizard urged.
The cursed witch nodded and began casting her spell.
Black runes rose from her palm and slowly drifted toward the salt shaker.
The rune expanded continuously as it drifted, growing from the size of a fingernail to the size of a fist, and then to the size of a head.
The surface of the rune was covered with dense incantations, each of which emitted a low hum, the sound of the sealing spell being activated.
Other wizards also stepped in to help the cursed witch strengthen the seal.