chsdbacks Chapter 415 Speculation
Chapter 415 Speculation
Chapter 415 Speculation
The dizziness of passing through the spatial rift arrived as expected, but this time, the strangeness that Jemin felt was much clearer.
That's not just a simple "familiarity".
When his teammates behind him asked questions, when he raised his hand to show Artorias's command document, when the sixth-level wizard of the guard force flew in to question him—
Every moment, the scene before my eyes seemed to perfectly overlap with a blurry double image in my mind.
He could even "predict" the tone of the other person's next sentence, the subtle signs of changes in the surrounding energy flow, and the exact time when the insect swarm on the distant horizon would begin to wriggle.
This isn't déjà vu; it's memory.
When he saw the two thousand support wizards behind him, their expressions slightly bewildered, the thought cleaved through the fog like lightning.
The cycle of reincarnation has already occurred many times; this is yet another beginning.
These recurring and increasingly vivid "déjà vu" sensations are his past memories!
"The adaptive evolution of the body tempering method—" Jemin immediately understood what was going on.
Deep within the body, forged through countless trials by the Body Tempering Method, after resisting physical impacts, energy erosion, mental interference, and even time-slowing forces, a more subtle and profound "adaptability" is awakening.
It no longer merely protects the body, but begins to anchor its existence, resisting the total reset of the individual "Jermin" by the reversal of time.
Although the memory cannot be fully preserved yet, the increasingly strong sense of déjà vu is evidence in itself.
His consciousness, his soul, is gradually gaining resistance to the phenomenon of the law of "time loop".
He quickly composed himself and, while waiting for Frost, immersed his consciousness in the inner sanctum of his body.
Four metal plaques stand silently: 1, 2, 3, 4.
The plaque with the number "5" has not yet been made, but the number of crystals recorded on the back of the first four plaques is so large that they need to be stored in separate areas.
Jemin quickly scanned the information recorded on the fourth plaque and the newly added pile of crystals behind it.
That place contains all the data from the previous all-out attack, as well as the monitoring instruments that he "rescued" at the last moment, which were in an overloaded state.
The information still exists.
Knowledge continues to accumulate.
This is the cornerstone of the wizard's fight against reincarnation.
The meeting with Frost was so efficient it was almost procedural.
Jemin handed over the key data summary crystal for the fourth round. After a quick glance, Frost reached the same conclusion as the previous round without any hesitation.
"Slow down the attack, maintain pressure, and extend the research window." Frost's words were concise and powerful, but his gaze lingered on Jemin's face, filled with deeper inquiry. "Your space," he said, "is operating more stably than expected. Three consecutive loops have passed without any data link breakage or confusion."
"The advisor's work is naturally solid," Jemin replied without changing his expression.
"Very good." Frost nodded, not delving into the details, and began to issue detailed tactical adjustment instructions.
The new round of research, building on the massive data accumulated in the previous two rounds—especially the last round of intensive research—has finally begun to break through fragmented observations and move towards a more systematic theoretical framework.
The accuracy of the prediction model for "time ripples" has been significantly improved, and a preliminary framework has been developed for the correlation analysis between the social structure of the Sickle-headed Clan and their tolerance to reincarnation.
However, the peaceful research routine was disrupted on this day.
Frost personally came to the core laboratory where Jemin was located and waved his hand to set up a soundproof barrier.
"Advisor Jemin," his gaze was calm yet penetrating, "what is the current condition of the observation instruments you used at the end of the last cycle?"
A slight thought crossed Jemin's mind, and he answered truthfully, "The instrument itself is basically intact. Although it was overclocked before the time reversal, and some components have slight wear and energy circuit fatigue, it can be put back into use after inspection and recharging."
Frost nodded and continued, "Then, what about the blank crystals that record that data? And the basic materials used to manufacture these instruments and consumables—such as the void-sensing alloy used to build the energy scanning array—and the 'inert crystal shell' that encapsulates the pheromone-capturing core—are you familiar with their origins?"
The questions are becoming more specific and more targeted.
Jemin had a vague idea of what was going on, but remained calm: "Most of the equipment was manufactured or modified using the strategic material reserves brought by our wizard expeditionary force. A small portion of the special materials were synthesized from local resources collected in the occupied territories. Commander, is something wrong?"
Frost stared at him for a few seconds before slowly saying, "When the logistics department was organizing a new round of supplies allocation, they discovered a small but inexplicable gap in the inventory data. After tracing and comparing, the types and quantities of missing supplies perfectly matched the list of instruments and consumables that you used in your previous report and that were urgently recovered at the last minute."
He paused, his tone devoid of emotion: "Originally, after time reversed, all the consumed resources would have been restored. But those resources you stored in the recorder's 'space'—didn't return. They 'disappeared' from this timeline."
Sure enough.
Jemin understood immediately.
His inner world exists independently of the time flow of this plane, and the items collected within it are essentially cut out from the "time" of the current cycle.
When time reverses and everything is reset, the items within the cave are preserved because of their independent spacetime.
However, their "existence" in the original timeline was thus erased, leading to anomalies in the resource records.
"I understand, Commander. It was my oversight; I didn't consider this beforehand," Jemin readily admitted. "I will list this consumption separately in subsequent records and reports to avoid confusion in logistical statistics."
“No, I’m not assigning blame.” Frost shook his head, a hint of interest flashing in his eyes. “I’m confirming a phenomenon. It now appears that your space is not just an information vault—it itself constitutes a unique generator of time paradoxes. That’s very interesting.”
After seeing Frost off, Jemin fell into deep thought.
It has been confirmed that the cave can preserve foreign supplies.
What if what is preserved is the matter inherent in this plane itself?
An even bolder idea emerged in his mind.
Back in the research group, Jemin didn't hide anything and shared Frost's findings and his own thoughts with several core members.
"You mean," Allison's eyes lit up, quickly grasping the key point, "that your space is a 'safe house' independent of the timeline of the cycle plane. Foreign objects placed inside won't be reset."
"But if they are items from this dimension—theoretically, after time reversal, they should be restored" to their original state in nature or within a living organism. However, they are currently in your space, in a state of "being removed." What will this cause?"
"The paradox of the continuity of spacetime." The elderly wizard, specializing in the theory of the laws of time, adjusted his glasses, his voice trembling slightly with excitement. "An object cannot exist in two states simultaneously. If time were to reverse, forcing it to reset," but your spacetime forbids its disappearance—a contradiction arises. The disappearance of your black giant was a manifestation of this contradiction, and thus it was "cancelled" in the paradox."
"That means we can design a huge number of experiments!" another young wizard excitedly suggested. "For example, in this round, we could cut a small, insignificant tissue sample from a Scythe-Skull Clan member and immediately store it in Jemin's space. Let's see if, in the next round, that Scythe-Skull Clan member develops an unhealable wound. Or will the tissue simply disappear from our storage space and return to the member?"
"Going a step further," someone added, expanding on the idea, "if we store an item from this dimension in this round, and then retrieve it for use in the next round, and then time flows backward again—would that item appear in our hands, or wouldn't appear because it was already stored in this round? Or would it be directly erased by the time paradox?"
The atmosphere in the laboratory instantly became enthusiastic.
For a group of wizards who crave knowledge, there is no more fascinating challenge.
Once the concept was clear in the laboratory, the operation was quickly launched.
As the holder of this special space, Jemin became the most crucial "executor".
Under the guidance of the wizards, he began a series of "marking" and "sampling" by utilizing the unique characteristic of his inner world, which is independent of the cycle of time.
The first step is to test the substances.
He entered the edge of the battlefield, dug out large chunks of dimensional ore, and placed them into his cave. He also cut and harvested a piece of soil marked with energy patterns, along with the vegetation on top.
Next is energy.
With the assistance of several wizards skilled in elemental and psionic transformation, they forcibly extracted and sealed a stable "core pulse energy" from an active ley line node, which was then entrusted to Jemin to store in the cave.
The most complex experiments are those involving living organisms.
They selected several representative organisms from this plane: from the lowest level of the sickle-skull tribe, the "worker bee larva," to the sickle-skull...
Various adult variants of the race.
Some were sealed in whole living organisms and then stored, while others were carefully stored after partial tissue extraction, in order to test the reactions of different organisms under different conditions after time was reversed.
Each sample is carefully selected to ensure that the wizards can confirm the situation as soon as possible after reincarnation.
Wizards need to know what will happen to the parts that have been "cut" out of the current timeline after time reversal occurs.
The basic preparations were completed, but the most important experimental subjects were still nowhere to be found.
"We need high-level Scythe-Skull Clan samples, preferably level eight." In the tactical conference room, Jemin reported the research team's request to Frost and explained in detail the comparative experimental design of "whole storage" and "partial storage".
"Whether they are alive or dead is irrelevant. In fact, considering the difficulty of capture and the convenience of subsequent processing, two complete level-eight individual corpses would be more ideal."
Frost stood with his hands behind his back in front of a tactical map displaying the overall battlefield situation.
He understood the necessity of these experiments, but at this moment, a rare hint of helplessness appeared on his resolute face.
"I understand your needs, Wizard Jemin. High-level samples, especially data from level eight individuals, are crucial for analyzing the reincarnation mechanism." Frost's voice remained calm, yet revealed the truth. "But the problem is—this time, we're afraid we'll have a hard time obtaining such samples."
He turned around, his gaze sweeping over Jemin and the two level-six logistics wizards who had come with him.
"In the last round, I was able to successfully lure and capture two level-eight Scythe-Skull Clan leaders by taking advantage of their initial discomfort with our 'maximum pressure' tactical mode, as well as their own 'confidence' in anticipating the critical point of reincarnation. I set up a targeted law trap, catching them off guard."
"But clearly," Frost pointed to the large shadows on the star map representing the "dormant areas of Scythe-Skull activity," "they have learned their lesson from that failure. Not just Level 8 individuals, but all the advanced individuals have undergone a fundamental change in their activity patterns this round."
"They have completely abandoned any confrontation with me on the main battlefield or the pre-arranged battlefield, no longer easily revealing their whereabouts, and the frequency and concealment of their command center relocations are far greater than before. They are avoiding me, or rather, avoiding any risk that could lead to their capture or death."
A research wizard frowned and said, "They're aware of the danger of being captured and studied alive? But time can be reversed—"
"That's the crux of the matter," Frost interrupted him. "Time reversal can restore matter, but it can't completely erase cognition from the Scythe-Skull Clan. Especially for Level 8 beings, they may have retained more lessons from their cycles of reincarnation. Right now, they're more like playing an extremely conservative survival game, prioritizing everything to avoid triggering reincarnation and avoiding significant losses."
A brief silence fell over the meeting room.
"Is there really no other way?" another wizard asked, unwilling to give up. "Should we concentrate our forces and forcibly sweep away a few suspected nests?"
"The cost is too high, and the success rate cannot be guaranteed." Frost shook his head. "Level 8 beings are eager to hide. In this plane where they have operated for countless cycles, there are too many blind spots that we cannot monitor. A forced large-scale extermination will only disrupt our overall strategy of 'extending the research window,' and may even force them to launch extreme actions that we cannot predict prematurely."
He looked at Jemin: "The sample issue can only be put on hold for now. We need to wait for the right opportunity, or—create a new one. Perhaps when the war progresses to a certain stage, they will be forced to make a choice. In the meantime, you can continue to refine the paradox experiments at other levels and accumulate data."
Jemin nodded in understanding.
The ideals of scientific research often encounter the barriers of reality; this is a common occurrence in any world.
"I understand, Commander. We will focus on monitoring the samples we have already acquired and refine the experimental plans for higher-level samples." He paused for a moment, then proposed a compromise, "In addition, could we increase our efforts to capture level 6 or even level 7 Scythe-Skull individuals who may be seriously injured or dying on the battlefield? Although their levels are insufficient, we might still be able to observe some paradoxical effects and accumulate experience for subsequent experiments."
"That's fine," Frost agreed. "I'll inform the frontline units to be on the lookout and allocate some rapid reaction teams to assist you."
(This is the only chapter today. I've been feeling a bit dizzy and feverish these past couple of days, and today my headache is really bad. I need to rest and recuperate. Everyone, please be careful of the flu this winter.)