Chapter 588 - 557: Redwood Attached Brain Reappears (4/3)

Chapter 588: Chapter 557: Redwood Attached Brain Reappears (4/3)

——This is the truth behind Artificial Souls... Ordinary people do not have obsessions, desires, ambitions, or even sufficient power to condense a soul, so there must be an external ’core’ to form a sufficiently enduring soul before one can become a Phantasm!

——That peculiar Plague is essentially an Attached Brain experiment, and the duke’s medicine is very likely a drug that inhibits the activation and development of the Attached Brain! Or rather, a drug that allows the Attached Brain to focus on shaping the soul!

——I see, I understand now, the Attached Brain must originate from the Redwood Natives, and the parasitic abilities from the Great Shaman’s side are derived from the substances that sublime the transformation of the Attached Brain into Magical Beasts. Fiery Flame Land got the relevant information from the Great Shaman’s side, and since it’s been just the past couple of years, that’s why The Grand Duchy’s experimental progress has accelerated recently!

It’s precisely for this reason that Fiery Flame Land is seeking the Brain-Eating Parasite! Outside of inheriting the Attached Brain from the Redwood Natives, they want even more primitive and powerful forms of the Brain-Eating Parasite!

All the pieces fall into place, as Ian connects all the clues.

In Fiery Flame Land, Spirit Wisdom Institute and the duke have established research facilities in Avak Domain, and their research results are independent, but essentially share commonalities.

And this is undoubtedly Duke Sorin’s aim; he was using the power of The Empire and Fiery Flame Land to complete his plan all along.

And Artificial Souls, or rather, the existence of the ’Attached Brain’ in this plan is definitely an important factor.

"Interesting, it seems that right now the most upset party is probably not the Spirit Wisdom Institute nor Fiery Flame Land, but Duke Sorin himself."

"Out of nowhere, an experiment that was close to success got disrupted by someone unknown, the laboratory was exposed, and the population of a million in his most loyal territory was wiped out... and it’s all his fault."

With these thoughts in mind, Ian, who had calmed down once again, slightly shook his head.

Exiting the store, he couldn’t help but sigh to Hua’an and Frost Butterfly, "I don’t understand why they would place such a dangerous laboratory at the center of the Avak region—aren’t they just harming people?"

"Without being close to a city, where would they get the materials for the experiments?" Hua’an, ever blunt, shook her head and said, "The most dangerous Alchemy Laboratory in The Empire is in the Imperial Capital. It’s unavoidable."

"Indeed. Plenty of materials for experiments."

Ian fell silent for a while, although he was sure the ’materials’ he was thinking of were not the same as those Hua’an was referring to.

At that moment, Ian suddenly looked up.

At the same time.

Azure City.

Underground Spirit Energy Biological Laboratory.

The underground laboratory, constructed entirely from soundproof material and solid cement, its control center filled with several researchers and guards dressed in laboratory attire, were tensely watching several screens.

Azure City, Fishlamp City, Hillson City, Brad River... Nearly all the key regions of Avak Domain appeared on the screens, covering most of the major areas.

But aside from those, there were also many fragmented smaller screens—most of which displayed scenes from within the cities, the key focus of the researchers and guards.

Due to the ’main laboratory out of control’ incident, the Azure City Laboratory, which normally assisted the main Avak laboratory in Spirit Energy and biological research, had lost external communication methods. And the unfolding of the Silent Abyss Ceremony had made Spirit Energy communication impossible as well.

Subsequently, the internal chaos that erupted in the Azure City Laboratory led to numerous uncontrolled Exobeasts entering the city, causing a bloodbath, which indirectly led to the spread of the Mist of Madness, and the increasing overlap rate of the Domain of Void—trapping these surviving laboratory members in this location.

But even so, they yet held several aces in their hands.

Apart from those Exobeasts that had already been modified and could be controlled, some Phantasms could also be controlled, which brought a sigh of relief to many researchers who believed that all Phantasms had gone out of control.

As long as the soul entity still existed, they could utilize the incomplete control system to command a considerable number of powerful Phantasms for their own use, ensuring their safety.

Indeed, that was the case, as they had defeated an entire squad from the Knight Order of Inspectorate, proving the might of the forces at their disposal.

But the problem was... the second squad had arrived.

"This young knight is not normal—he actually went straight to the ’original corpse’ of the Phantasm we were controlling! And what then? Isn’t he going to find our location?!"

A slightly stout researcher with several chins spoke in a sharp voice, "We must eliminate him quickly while he’s acting alone!"

"Don’t be foolish, the Fae by his side is at the Second Energy Level, and even if we used all our forces, the Fae could still get the knight away. This squad is clearly stronger than the last one; we hide!"

And the gray-haired director, who was obviously in charge, spoke impatiently to rebuke, "Moreover, the enemy might not even be able to find us here—our laboratory is very well-hidden, deep within the underground sewers. Nobody outside of our own people could possibly find us."

"What we need to do now is to mobilize some of our forces to distract this bunch of Inspector Knights who are far more capable than the last batch, and then we organize our data and prepare to evacuate as soon as possible."

"Forces from The Empire and Fiery Flame Land, even those from other powers, are all entering; we’re unlikely to wait for reinforcements from the duke."

The director was obviously more rational, and his suggestions were more realistic.

"Ah! What?!"

But at that moment, another guard let out an exclamation of surprise, pointing at the screen and causing the director to scold impatiently, "What are you yelling for? What’s the matter... Wait a minute?"

Looking at the screen, at that very moment, the director’s body also shook slightly and froze in place.

Because on the screen, the young knight they were secretly watching was slowly lifting his head, looking straight into the center of the screen.

A silver-green Spirit Energy Halo shimmered on the screen, and the knight even took off his helmet.

At once, the Spirit Energy Halo brightened, and everyone in the laboratory could see that the almost unrealistically handsome White Folks knight was silently moving his lips.

—You.

He smiled through the camera at the laboratory, speaking to them in lip-reading.

—You’re watching me, aren’t you?

And in the next moment, a razor-sharp ice spike pierced through the air and went through an observation camera hidden at the edge of the building.

The screens in the laboratory shattered, spreading cracks throughout before fading to black.

And everyone fell silent, dumbly staring in the direction of the now darkened screens.

"Go!"

With a whoosh, the gray-haired director was the first to react; he yelled out an order, "He’s found us! Run!"

"He’s watching us, he’s watching us!!"