Chapter 423: Breaking the Stalemate

Soon after, Lord Frost convened all core logistics-system wizards for a special tactical conference.

Inside the command headquarters, the holographic display showed the current enemy and friendly battlefield situation, along with predicted potential Sickle-Skull mobilization directions deduced from Jie Ming’s intelligence.

Frost’s expression was graver than ever:

“Everyone, from the recording crystals and the intelligence Advisor Jie Ming brought back, in the previous loop, our research had just entered deep waters when the Sickle-Skull launched a total assault with unprecedented speed and determination.”

Frost’s voice echoed in the silent room: “They seem intent on compressing our ‘research window.’ In this seventh loop, they have gathered forces even faster. We can expect this trend to continue.”

He surveyed the assembly: “If we cannot break this cycle—if we cannot achieve a decisive breakthrough capable of overturning the situation before they force us into a final battle—then our research will forever remain stuck at the stage of ‘preliminary models’ and ‘unverified hypotheses.’”

“If we allow the situation to develop like this, once the accumulated knowledge reaches a certain limit, every loop will only repeat the cycle of ‘learning existing knowledge—establishing preliminary hypotheses—being forcibly interrupted.’ Truly breakthrough progress, which requires long-term experiments and observation, will remain forever out of reach.”

An elderly wizard nodded heavily: “The Commander is right. Many experiments require continuous, stable, long-term observation and intervention. With our current rhythm of constant interruption, we might go through dozens more loops without being able to confirm or refute anything.”

“We need time—uninterrupted time, and enough of it.” Another wizard specializing in soul and memory laws added: “But the enemy clearly has no intention of granting us any.”

The conference fell into brief silence.

The enemy held the initiative of “save and reload.” They could reset again and again, using frenzied total assaults to interrupt the wizards’ research progress.

Despite their immense power and wisdom, the wizards were, at this moment, like people with their hands and feet bound.

Jie Ming was deep in thought.

He possessed complete memories, and his Inner Cave Heaven preserved all research data, giving him personally the possibility of continuous research.

But this was far from enough.

One person’s wisdom and time are limited. Many large-scale experiments and complex deductions require the collaboration of an entire team and the collision of intellects from different fields.

Personal memory… team collaboration…

A sudden flash of inspiration struck him.

“Since the problem of time reversal cannot be solved for the time being…” Jie Ming spoke slowly. Though his voice was not loud, it drew every gaze in the room. “What if we could enable all participating wizards to retain a degree of memory between loops?”

The conference room fell instantly silent, followed by a wave of low murmurs.

“Let everyone retain memory?” Frost’s sharp gaze fixed on Jie Ming. “Can you achieve that?”

“No.” Jie Ming shook his head, but light gleamed in his eyes. “But don’t we already have a ready-made ‘teacher’ right before us—one that can retain partial memory across loops?”

He pointed to the black light points on the holographic star map representing the Sickle-Skull.

“The Sickle-Skull, especially high-tier individuals, clearly retain portions of combat experience and cognition across loops.”

“Although we speculate there may be assistance from a ‘collective consciousness’ or ‘editing will’ behind it, their individual physiological foundation—especially the mechanisms of information storage and retrieval—must possess unique characteristics.”

“We have studied them for so long. Don’t we already have considerable understanding of their nervous systems, pheromone-based memory encoding, and possible genetic-level information imprinting?”

Several wizards specializing in biology and soul domains immediately lit up.

“Makes sense!” Allison stood up excitedly. “We can completely research and replicate the Sickle-Skull’s physiological or soul mechanisms that resist memory reset, then develop a ‘technology’ that allows wizards to retain key memories across loops as well.”

“Exactly.” Jie Ming affirmed. “We don’t need to replicate their entire system. We only need to extract its core principle—the key mechanism that anchors critical information to the individual’s existence, resisting the erosion of time reversal. Then, combining it with existing wizard technologies such as soul reinforcement, memory solidification, and law imprinting, we can develop a ‘loop memory assistance’ method suited to ourselves.”

“Even if the initial version can only retain key research data, experimental steps, and core ideas—combined with my ability to carry recording crystals from previous loops—it would already represent a qualitative leap in the continuity of our research!”

This idea was like a spark thrown into an oil depot, instantly igniting the enthusiasm of every logistics-system wizard present!

“Feasibility is high…” A grandmaster of soul studies quickly analyzed. “We already have multiple loops’ worth of accumulated high-tier Sickle-Skull samples, with foundational parsing of their soul structures and information storage patterns. If we concentrate all efforts on this…”

“We’ll need massive samples for mechanism verification and principle extraction!” added a biological rune specialist.

“We also need safety and stability testing, since this involves the fundamental aspects of soul and memory…”

The wizards spoke one after another, rapidly outlining the framework of this concept and beginning to discuss technical paths and difficulties.

Frost listened to the discussion, then turned to the leading wizards in biology and soul domains: “If we concentrate all relevant personnel and resources, and provide highest-priority sample support, how long do you estimate it will take to produce a preliminary viable technical plan or prototype?”

The grandmasters quickly conferred, then rapidly reviewed the aggregated summaries of all related research achievements from previous loops stored in the recording crystals.

Finally, a highly respected sixth-tier wizard spoke on behalf of the group: “Commander, based on our current research depth and sample reserves, if we can obtain continuous, stable, and massive supplies of high-tier Sickle-Skull living and corpse samples for deep analysis, and if the research process remains uninterrupted… we estimate at least five years of continuous research time will be required to crack the core principle and develop a preliminary testable ‘memory anchoring’ technical prototype.”

“Five years…” Frost repeated softly. His gaze turned to the continuously gathering black light points on the star map, then became incomparably resolute.

“Very well. I will fight to secure those five years for you.”

He turned to Jie Ming and all present, his voice resolute and unyielding: “Since passive delay and defense cannot secure a sufficiently long stable period, then we change our approach.”

“Effective immediately, full tactical shift. Abandon conservative delay-and-attrition. Disperse into small elite squads and launch high-intensity proactive harassment and destruction-focused offensives into Sickle-Skull controlled zones. The objective is to disrupt their concentration rhythm, delay the timing of their total assault, and at the same time…”

He paused, his tone carrying unshakable determination: “Maximize the hunting and capture of Sickle-Skull—especially mid-to-high-tier individuals—to provide your research with a continuous supply of ‘raw materials’!”

The moment the order was given, the conference room fell briefly silent, then everyone understood its full implications.

This was no longer a conservative war of preservation. It was an active war of extermination.

To obtain samples and research time, the wizard legion would now step voluntarily into a more dangerous, more unpredictable combat environment.

It was foreseeable that under such aggressive tactics, the casualty rate among wizards—especially combat-system wizards—would rise sharply.

Frost’s gaze swept across the assembly, speaking candidly: “This will require sacrifice. But in a plane that allows ‘save and reload,’ sacrifice is not eternal. We trade casualties within a single loop to seize a ‘key’ that may end all loops. I believe this price is worth it.”

No wizard raised objections—not even those from the combat system listening in through their terminals.

Before truth and knowledge, wizards had always made the same choice.