parentshiftbook Chapter 676 The World of Departure and Continued Progress
Chapter 676 The World of Departure and Continued Progress
Chapter 676 The World of Departure and Continued Progress
Just as the wizards began allocating the Hollow City, the dark purple sky rapidly changed from pale to transparent.
Jemin put away the sealing crystal, raised his head, and looked up at the sky.
The other wizards noticed this as well and quickly divided the spoils.
On the ruins of the Hollow City, wizards floated in twos and threes, no one spoke, all waiting for the final invitation.
Soon, the sky cracked open.
A long, narrow, dark crack stretched from above the clouds into the sky, exceeding several kilometers in length. Its width gradually narrowed from both ends toward the middle, with the widest point exceeding one hundred meters.
It looked as if someone had slashed the sky with an extremely sharp scalpel.
Austin's projection materialized from the light in the crack, and although his gaze seemed unfocused, everyone present felt noticed.
The eighth-level archmage first scanned everyone present, confirming the situation of the plane and the condition of the wizards present, and then nodded.
The gesture was subtle, but every wizard present read undisguised satisfaction in that nod.
"Thank you all for your actions."
Austin's voice wasn't loud, but each word seemed to come from all directions at once: "Next, society in this plane needs stability, the environment needs restoration, and the bizarre production mechanism needs readjustment. These tasks are not suitable for external intervention."
He raised his right hand, palm up, fingers slightly spread.
The enormous crack that stretched across the sky slowly expanded with his movements, and the blackness at its edges became even purer.
"So, please leave with your spoils."
The tone was flat, but the meaning was clear: see the guest out.
Jemin hovered in the air, looking at the crack, but he wasn't surprised at all.
His previous speculation was correct.
Austin's life form transformation cannot be completed in a short time; what has been completed so far is only the most important part—the core step that integrates a large number of bizarre elements from different planes.
What follows is a long process of digestion, absorption, and truly transforming those strange powers into a part of oneself.
In this process, Austin is vulnerable; he has to focus most of his energy internally and cannot attend to external matters.
These wizards were actually "stabilizers" he hired during his period of weakness, helping him suppress the backlash from the plane and ensuring that the civilizations within the plane would not collapse during his breakthrough.
The most dangerous step has now been taken, and he no longer needs a stabilizer.
In order to mitigate the long-term impact of this event on the bizarre ecosystem of this dimension, and to ensure the stability of future bizarre output, this dimension will likely have to enter a closed state for a considerable period of time.
After all, the people here aren't immortal beings.
The passage of time will turn earth-shattering events into legends, and a few generations will be enough to erase the upheaval and the influence that wizards had on human society in this plane.
The door will only be opened again when the level eight wizard deems the time right.
After saying these polite words, Austin's projection began to fade.
The pair of deep blue eyes blinked once in the final moments before fading, and then vanished into the sky along with the entire projection.
Seeing this, the other wizards also obediently stopped what they were doing and flew toward the black crack in the sky.
The wizards on Jemin's side naturally flew into the sky as well, with Jemin at the back.
That wizard Austin probably used some kind of spatial manipulation, because the wizards didn't fly for long before quickly arriving at the edge of the rift.
A black spatial rift unfolded before him, like a door without a door panel.
Before the spatial rift, Jemin paused for a moment.
As if remembering something, he reached his left hand inside his robe and took out a black notebook from his inner cave.
The cover had no text, the edges were worn and white, and there were obvious creases on the spine.
This is the notebook left behind by Professor Vidor.
After studying all the contents of the book, Jemin did not destroy it, but kept it with him.
The black notebook floated up from his hand, like a leaf falling from a tree, twirled a few times in the air, and then spontaneously combusted without fire.
Flames licked at the notebook cover and every page, the paper curling and turning black in the flames.
Jemin watched it burn silently.
Red flames danced in his pupils, casting shifting shadows on his face.
Soon, the last page turned to ashes in the flames. The ashes lingered in the air for a moment before silently scattering like snowflakes.
"This dimension is about to enter a closed state, which is also your opportunity," Jemin thought to himself. "I have already left a seed. Whether you can seize this opportunity depends on yourselves."
He paused, shifting his gaze from the dissipating ashes to the east.
That's the area where the foggy city is located.
From this height, the city appears as a blurry gray spot, shrouded in grayish-white mist, making it difficult to see clearly.
"Professor, I've done what you asked me to do. Rest in peace."
He did not linger.
Turning around, he followed the many wizards into the dark crevice.
As all the wizards left, the crack slowly closed, and the black edges moved from both sides toward the middle.
When the cracks completely disappeared, the sky had returned to its normal blue color.
Foggy city, old town, secondhand bookstore.
The afternoon sun slanted in through the window, casting a warm yellow patch of light on the rocking chair.
Eric moved the last metal box from the underground laboratory to the bookstore on the first floor.
The box contained some of the research materials left behind by Jemin.
He bent over, holding the box in both hands, and carefully passed through the narrow door, placing the box on the open ground next to the bookshelf.
The metal surface of the box reflected the sunlight for a moment, then dimmed again.
He straightened up and dusted off his hands.
If you know him well, you'll notice some subtle changes in his appearance compared to a month ago.
The lines around his eyes have become lighter, his skin texture has become smoother, and his jawline is slightly more rounded than before.
The most obvious change is in the eyes; the color of the pupils has changed from dark gray to light gray, and in the sunlight, they have a silvery-white luster like moonlight shining on a lake.
The change in his appearance is proof of Eric's increased control over the five strange entities within him.
His appearance has become younger not because he is aging in reverse, but because he has been optimized.
The marks that time left on his face are being gradually erased by the power of his flesh and blood to transform.
His facial features became clearer because those superior traits hidden deep within his genes were activated.
Even his resemblance to Jemin wasn't a deliberate imitation, but rather an unconscious evolution of his life form towards a better direction as his control over the bizarre deepened.
Of all the life forms he had ever seen, the best one was Jemin.
Eric walked to the bookshelf, squatted down, and reached his hand into the gap at the bottom of the shelf.
There was a plank there, which looked no different from the surrounding planks, but he knew that the plank was movable.
His fingers gripped the hidden groove on the edge of the wooden board, and with a gentle pry, the board sprang up.
Beneath the wooden board was a rectangular recess containing a black metal box, roughly the size of two thick dictionaries placed side by side.
Eric took the black box out of the recess and placed it on his lap.
"Teacher—" Eric looked at the black box and couldn't help but whisper.
bell----
The brass bell at the entrance of the bookstore rang out with a clear, long tinkling sound as the door was pushed open.
The sudden ringing of the doorbell interrupted Eric's thoughts.
Eric instinctively placed the black box on the top shelf of the bookshelf, covered it with a large atlas, and then turned around, his face already in business mode.
A woman was standing at the door.
Eric paused for a moment upon seeing the other person.
She wore a well-tailored dark gray trench coat, and her hair was long, straight, and black, hanging down her shoulders.
Standing at approximately 1.7 meters tall, she was bathed in sunlight from behind, which cast a soft golden halo over her silhouette as she stood at the entrance of the bookstore.
Eric has seen many beautiful people.
The receptionist at the association headquarters, the nurses at the hospital, and those powerful psychics who have become strangely eerie due to bizarre forces.
But he had to admit that the woman in front of him was indeed among the most beautiful people he had seen in all these years.
It's no exaggeration to say that this woman's appearance was even close to the superhuman face that Jemin revealed in real life.
"Hello." The woman's voice was softer than Eric had expected.
Her gaze swept around the bookstore, paused for a moment on the rocking chair, and then landed on Eric.
"Is Mr. Jemin here?"
Upon hearing this, Eric shook his head and put away the smile he had put on as a business operator.
"The teacher has left." Eric's voice was calm; he had come to terms with it by now. "I'm afraid he won't be back anytime soon. If there's anything you need, you can tell me, and I'll see if I can help."
Upon hearing this, the woman looked somewhat surprised.
She pursed her lips briefly, then relaxed them.
"That's a real shame." Her voice carried an undisguised disappointment.
Then her gaze fell on Eric's face again, this time lingering longer than before.
Her eyes narrowed slightly, and something flickered in her pupils.
"Since you are Mr. Jemin's apprentice—" The woman took a step forward and entered the bookstore.
The sunlight shifted from behind her to her side, turning her silhouette from golden to silver-gray: "Then your skills must be superb. Can you help? After all, lives are at stake here."
Eric looked at her.
His gaze lingered on her eyes for two seconds before moving to her hands.
Her right hand hung naturally at her side, while her left hand held something that looked like a medical equipment case.
A faint blue glow flickered at the seams of the box, indicating some kind of active energy circuit.
"A psychic skilled in medicine? —"
Eric thought to himself, then turned his gaze from the box back to the woman's face.
"Okay." After thinking for a moment, Eric gave his answer.
Since his teacher was no longer here, there was really no need for him to stay any longer. It would be a good thing for him to go out and see more people and things.
More importantly, Eric remembered the plan his mentor had told him about the fusion of humans and the supernatural.
If he wants to successfully promote this technology, he needs to build up a large network of contacts beforehand.
A psychic skilled in medicine should be able to connect with many useful people.
"Great!" A delighted smile spread across the woman's face. "When do we leave? Is there anything you need to prepare?"
"We can set off now."
Eric walked to the bookshelf and picked up the black box beneath the atlas.
He held the box under his left arm and took the bookstore key out of his pocket with his right hand, handing it to the woman.
"Could you get this for me?"
The woman took the keys, and Eric bent down to rummage through a drawer for a canvas bag, stuffed the black box inside, and slung it over his shoulder.
"Let's go."
He walked to the door, took the key back from the woman, and locked the door.
The copper bell rang once.
Eric turned around and looked at the gray sky over the old town.
The fog had thinned out a bit compared to yesterday, and the outlines of factory chimneys could be vaguely seen in the distance.
The woman stood beside him, carrying the glowing box in her left hand.
Her gaze shifted from Eric's face to the end of the alley: "My driver is waiting there."
"Okay, let's go." Eric stepped down the stairs.
The woman immediately followed up: "Regarding this request, I was thinking—"
The sound gradually faded away, and the two people's shadows stretched long on the stone pavement.