parentshiftbook Chapter 630 Preparation
Chapter 630 Preparation
Chapter 630 Preparation
"I think it's more likely the latter. It completed its mission and then disappeared." Jemin put down the salt grains, turned to the other wizards, and said, "I was just about to ask—where exactly is the real thing?"
This statement caused everyone present to fall silent for a moment.
The sorcerer in the dark blue robe walked to the stove and tapped the wooden edge of it lightly with his fingers: "Indeed, that finger was just a terminal."
"Strictly speaking, it's a one-time use medium," the cursed witch nodded.
Her analysis was spot on; the fingers are responsible for establishing the connection in genetic material, writing the curse into the victim's soul.
Once the writing is complete, its task is finished.
"So the reason Karl suddenly had a fit just now was because that finger released a final signal before it was destroyed."
Jemin looked at the burly wizard, who nodded in confirmation.
"Then it disappeared," Jemin concluded, "because it was originally created temporarily by some force. Once the creator of it was satisfied, it no longer had any reason to exist."
A low murmur arose from the kitchen.
The cursed witch looked up, her pale gray eyes beneath her hood meeting Jemin's: "You mean, that monster has no physical form?"
"At least not the finger," Jemin said. "The finger is just its tool, like how we use magical artifacts to cast spells."
The magical artifact can be put away after use, but the magical artifact is not my original body.
"That makes sense." The gaunt wizard pinched the bridge of his nose. "The genetic material of that finger is highly similar to that of the Hans family, which means that this thing is most likely a one-time use item, and was temporarily created after the corresponding information was read."
The wizards all nodded.
This chain of reasoning is very solid. Everyone verified it using their own knowledge system and found that this should be the most likely conjecture.
"So the question has come full circle." The sorcerer in the dark blue robe crossed his arms. "Where is that eerie entity?"
'
"I suspect it doesn't have a fixed form," the cursed witch said. She walked to the window, opened it, and a breeze ruffled the edge of her cloak.
Outside the window is the town's street scene: cobblestone streets, low houses, and the spire of a hospital in the distance—everything looks peaceful and serene.
But beneath this tranquility lies an inexplicable sense of unease.
"Do you remember the basic intelligence that Wizard Austin sent out?" she continued. "In the mission description, he mentioned that these strange phenomena were 'infiltrated.' Infiltration—that word is crucial."
Jemin pulled up the mission description on the Magic Network terminal and read Austin's original words again.
"Several special rule phenomena have infiltrated and infected my backyard."
Infiltration and infection.
"So this weirdness—" Jemin said slowly, "or rather, most weirdnesses aren't independent entities. They're more like—viruses. They don't have their own form, but rather blend into their surroundings, using everything in the environment to spread themselves."
"That's exactly right." The cursed witch nodded. "Normally, they shouldn't have a physical form, but rather blend directly into their surroundings. As for their range, it should be centered around this town, with the exact boundaries unknown."
"It only manifests its physical form—that finger—when certain conditions are met," the young witch continued, "and then it kills according to its own rules."
"So what are the conditions?" the burly wizard asked.
The wizards fell into thought once again.
“Genetic material,” Jemin said, “or rather, the concept of ‘family.’ Have you noticed that it targets only one family at a time? The Hans family, the forty-seven people who died before, must have also died in batches, family by family. It doesn’t attack the entire town at once, but rather one family at a time.”
"So it's not that it likes to play." The skinny wizard recalled old Herman's note, "It's just a simple rule restriction."
"How do we find it?" a wizard who hadn't spoken much asked. "If it doesn't have a physical form and blends into its environment, and since it can't simply blow up the entire village, how do we locate it?"
"Wait until it reappears," Jemin said. "It must manifest itself before it kills—that finger. When the finger appears, that's when it's most vulnerable. We can use that moment to pinpoint its location, or at least its position."
"But at this stage, we don't know how fast the curse will be written after the fingers appear?" The young witch frowned. "If it's completed instantly, by the time we discover the fingers, they might have already escaped."
"So we need to be prepared before it appears," Jemin said. "We don't necessarily have to wait for it to appear in the salt shaker."
We can proactively create the conditions for it to occur.
"You mean—" The cursed witch's eyes lit up.
"Genetic material." Jamin nodded. "It needs to borrow genetic information from the target family each time it manifests. If we use someone's genetic material as bait and set up a closed, controlled environment, we might be able to induce it to manifest voluntarily."
"That makes sense, but we need time to design the experimental plan," said the wizard in the dark blue robe. "Before that, we need to do something else."
He looked around, his gaze sweeping across the faces of the other eight wizards.
"To prevent it from escaping."
No one objected.
Although, according to the information provided by the Wizard of Austin, most of the supernatural beings have characteristics similar to earthbound spirits and have a limited range of activity.
But no one can guarantee that this strange phenomenon won't suddenly shift its location.
If it leaves this town and goes to other towns to continue killing, the nine wizards will lose face big time.
"Deploy the barrier." The wizard in the dark blue robe made the decision. "Isolate the entire town and a large surrounding area with a magic circle. The energy level can't be too high, but with our technology, we can make up for the lack of energy level with skill."
"I'll take charge of designing the barrier," the young witch raised her hand. "I'm more familiar with energy barrier-type magic circles."
"I will assist you," said the gaunt wizard. "My microscopic structural analysis abilities can help you optimize the node distribution of the barrier."
"I'll go set up the outer framework of the barrier." The burly wizard flexed his fingers, and several rings on his fingers shimmered with a dark green light.
"I'm going east to work on the details," another wizard said.
"I'm going to the west."
"Leave the south to me."
"I'll come from the north."
In the blink of an eye, the eight wizards had each assigned their own tasks.
Finally, everyone's eyes fell on Jemin.
"You stay here," said the wizard in the dark blue robe. "I noticed earlier that you seemed to have used some techniques related to fate-related knowledge, so you're the most suitable person to set up the bait and monitor the situation."
"However, just in case, don't set up any bait for now. Your current task is to stay in the center of town, use your mental energy to monitor every corner of the town. If that finger reappears, notify us immediately."
Jemin nodded.
This arrangement is reasonable.
Just as the wizard said, he had already grasped the basics of fate-related knowledge, and with the assistance of the destiny system, he could quickly filter out abnormal signals from thousands of information streams.
If that finger appeared anywhere in this town, he should be able to spot it immediately.
"How long will it take to complete the barrier?" Jemin asked.
"If it's slow, it'll take an hour. If it's fast, it should be finished within half an hour," the young witch estimated. "The main thing is to ensure that the energy level doesn't exceed the limit. Many parts require delicate techniques instead of brute force, so it will be slower."
"Then I'll give you an hour." The wizard in the dark blue robe glanced at the sky outside the window.
The amber light still shone evenly on the earth. In this plane, there was no alternation of day and night, and time had no reference point.
"We'll meet in the town center an hour later and begin the trapping plan."
The wizards said nothing more, each transforming into streaks of light and flying off in different directions.
Jemin walked out of the blacksmith Hans's house and came to the square in the center of town.
In the center of the square stands an ancient stone fountain with crystal-clear water, where several red koi carp swim leisurely.
The fountain is surrounded by a square paved with stone slabs, and several stone-paved paths extend in all directions, leading to every corner of the town.
There were hardly any people in the square at that moment.
Occasionally, one or two residents would pass by, see Jemin standing by the fountain, glance at him curiously, and then continue with their own business.
After all, due to that strange reason, the whole town was in a state of panic recently, and there was really no energy to deal with other things.
Jemin sat cross-legged on the stone edge of the fountain.
He closed his eyes, and his spiritual power surged out of his body like a tide, spreading in all directions.
Wherever his spiritual power passed, every house, every street, every tree, and every person appeared in his perception in an image of exquisite detail.
He could sense a housewife chopping vegetables in the kitchen, the blade of the knife slightly curled; he could sense an old man dozing in a rocking chair, his breathing steady; he could sense two children chasing each other in an alley, one of them with a loose shoelace.
His spiritual power continued to spread, covering the entire town and then extending to the fields, forests, and rivers outside the town.
At the same time, the destiny system began to operate.
The information processing network of the incense and deity shrine was operating at high speed deep within his consciousness, incorporating and analyzing every stream of information captured by his spiritual power.
With his knowledge of fate, Jemin seemed to see countless lines of cause and effect intertwining and colliding in the virtual network.
His deep gaze sifted through the numerous lines of cause and effect, marking any anomaly.
Jemin just sat there by the fountain, motionless.
Like a spider weaving its web, waiting for its prey to touch it.