Chapter 2388 Mechanism's Core <TOC> Chapter 2390 Nisi’s Goal
Translator: SumTLMan
Nisi noticed that Firo, when mentioning “the person he met,” had an expression of obvious confusion. He would pause to think for a few seconds from time to time, resembling an elderly whose thoughts had begun to slow.
“What did this person look like?” Nisi asked.
Firo pondered for nearly ten seconds before responding, “Well, he should look quite ordinary, I guess? In my memory, there doesn’t seem to be any particularly distinctive physical features…”
Firo’s description was filled with redundancies, causing both Angel and Nisi to frown involuntarily.
“Stop for a moment,” Nisi interrupted Firo.
Under Firo’s puzzled gaze, Nisi raised a finger, and a halo of light flowed at the fingertip: “I think you’re not quite yourself right now. Clear your head first.”
As soon as he finished speaking, the halo of light from Nisi’s fingertip rushed into Firo’s forehead.
A second level spell, Soul’s Chime, capable of washing away and purifying negative effects such as impurity and filth. At the same time, it could calm a restless mind, having a certain effect of clearing the spirit.
The Soul’s Chime, when used by a soul expert, had a remarkable effect. Firo’s eyes, which were filled with sluggish hesitation, visibly cleared up at a speed noticeable to the naked eye.
Only then did Nisi retract the soul power that had been continuously emitted: “How do you feel now?”
Firo took a deep breath and rubbed his temples: “I feel a bit better now.”
Nisi said, “What happened to you just now? You were speaking hesitantly and kept making indecisive statements.”
Firo’s expression was somewhat strange, with a look of confusion and a hint of fear in his eyes: “I don’t know. Every time I try to think about him, it feels like my thoughts are breaking apart.”
“In my memory, he’s like… like…”
Seeing signs of Firo’s thoughts slowing again, Nisi quickly released the Soul’s Chime once more.
Firo waved his hand: “No need now, I’m fine. I was just… searching for the right words.”
After a pause, Firo continued, “In my memory, he’s like a fake image.”
A fake image. Despite being his own memory, the use of “fake” as an adjective made Nisi and Angel feel an indescribable absurdity.
Nisi asked, “Why do you say that?”
Firo explained, “Because it looks real at a glance, but upon closer inspection, it seems fake.”
Firo elaborated on this feeling: when he first recalled the memory, everything seemed normal, with the scenes in his memory being coherent and bright.
But when he began to recount the events after meeting that person, he naturally started to focus all his attention on “that person” in his memory.
That’s when things started to feel increasingly off.
What was clearly a normal memory scene began to distort, becoming more blurred the more it was explored. The more he tried to think about that person and recall their face, the more his thoughts began to dull, as if a force was hindering his deep contemplation of the other.
It was for this reason that when Nisi asked about the person’s appearance, Firo initially described them according to his memory, but the more he described, the stronger the sense of “separation” became…
“It’s like my memory is blocking me from peering at and describing the other’s face,” Firo said, unable to help but question himself: “But this is clearly my own memory.”
It was precisely because of this strange phenomenon that Firo would describe it as a “False Image.”
The image refers to the memory image in his mind.
Now, however, the memory image has been labeled “false,” which suddenly made Firo doubt his life.
He now wondered what in his memory was real. Did he really meet that person, or was it all just his imagination?
After listening to Firo’s description, Nisi pondered for a moment and then said to Angel, “Don’t you think this sounds a bit like the characteristics of soul script?”
Angel replied, “It indeed has the flavor of soul script, but the effect is still somewhat different.”
Soul script causes one’s memory of the soul script’s content to automatically blur and become difficult to recall after shifting their gaze.
But in Firo’s description, everything is normal until he recalls that person. Even the memories in his own mind begin to blur and affect him personally.
It’s as if a silent virus has been placed in Firo’s memory.
But this virus targets only Firo’s memories of “that person.”
Nisi said, “Soul script is encrypted script, and the inability to remember is because it is backed by the Qwest World, which is a set law of the Qwest World. Its status is transcendent, which is why it has such an effect.”
“Following this logic, if Firo was not attacked… then is there a possibility that the person Firo encountered has a transcendent status, capable of blurring or even twisting the rules to some extent?”
Nisi’s speculation did not receive any response from the others, as it was a bit too far-fetched.
Nisi himself understood that his speculation was unfounded: “This is just something that suddenly came to me, kind of… an inspiration? I personally have a strong belief in these baseless intuitions because such intuitions have saved my life before.”
After his words, Nisi didn’t wait for Angel and Firo to react and turned his head to look at Reynolds: “Kid, what do you think? Is my intuition real or not?”
Reynolds, who had been sitting quietly on the side, listening intently, was startled when Nisi suddenly called his name.
“Talking to you.”
Reynolds replied, “I, I don’t know… but when I’m in danger, I also trust my intuition a lot. I think it should be trustworthy?”
Nisi turned his head to look at Angel and said, “Even our lucky mascot agrees with my theory, my speculation seems to have a great chance of being true.”
Reynolds weakly said, “I have a name, I’m not a luck…”
Before Reynolds could finish his sentence, a roaring sound accompanied by a fluctuation came again, and everyone was once again turned into wooden statues.
When the effect of the fluctuation weakened, Angel frowned deeply and looked in the direction of “the Nest”: “What exactly happened over there?”
Nisi said, “Don’t you think that this kind of fluctuation has a bit of the flavor of the power of laws?”
Angel nodded.
“Could it be the person Firo encountered, the one capable of using the power of laws? Their status must be quite high, right?”
Angel did not comment on Nisi’s speculation. Nisi’s previous speculation might have had some internal logic, qualifying as a “deduction,” but this time, it was really just baseless guessing.
Nisi shrugged, “This is a reasonable assumption made on the premise of believing in intuition.”
Nisi continued, “However, speculation is just speculation, the specific situation still needs evidence. So, let me check Firo first to see if he has been cursed.”
It was confirmed that there was a problem with Firo’s memory, but whether his memory issue stemmed from the influence of that person’s status or Firo was affected by some unknown negative effect was still uncertain. Therefore, Nisi prepared to conduct a comprehensive examination of Firo first.
Although Angel could also perform a similar check, Nisi, as a soul wizard, definitely had a deeper understanding of the human body and soul than Angel.
While Nisi was examining Firo, Angel said to Reynolds, “Where is the entrance to the base laboratory? Take me there to have a look.”
Led by Reynolds, they walked into the depths of the mist.
Soon, Angel saw a semi-circular small laboratory bulging from the ground.
This small laboratory, forged from steel, did not look large, about the same size as a single-person tent stitched together by pastoralists from animal skins.
From the outside, the entire laboratory appeared to be made in one piece, with no visible seams… Of course, it’s also possible that the seams were on the inside.
“We used to enter the laboratory from here,” Reynolds said while walking around the laboratory: “There used to be a light gate here, but it’s gone now… It must have been closed.”
While Reynolds was speaking, Angel walked up to the side of the laboratory and stretched out his hand towards it.
Seeing this, Reynolds quickly said, “Don’t! That will trigger the mechanism…”
Before Reynolds could finish his sentence, Angel’s hand had already touched the metal exterior of the laboratory. Contrary to Reynolds’ expectation, the mechanism he anticipated did not activate.
The laboratory, seemingly tranquil as if merely a piece of broken metal, harbored complexities beyond the naked eye.
“What’s going on here?” Reynolds asked in confusion. “Could it be that the laboratory’s mechanism hasn’t been activated?”
Noticing Reynolds’ eagerness, Angel explained, “The laboratory’s surface is cloaked with an invisibility rune. The mechanism you’re talking about is triggered by this rune. Identifying the non-trigger points of the rune will prevent the mechanism from activating.”
Angel’s explanation was straightforward, yet only those who had truly interacted with runes could comprehend the difficulty of such an operation.
The trigger points of a rune were not singular; they formed a connected triggering surface that shifted with the flow of energy. A rune wizard with profound knowledge could synchronize the trigger points with the entire system, a complexity Angel dared not tamper with lightly.
However, to Angel, the rune before him, despite its complexity and extensive interconnectedness, was ultimately flawed.
With Angel’s mastery over runes, he could easily locate the non-trigger points. Yet, for others, even the alchemy masters of the Research Institute, such a task would not be as effortless.
After explaining the key aspects of the rune to Reynolds, Angel, guided by the flow of energy, began to study the rune more closely.
The silver-white metallic laboratory appeared smooth and flawless from the outside, but through Angel’s eyes, it was covered in shimmering lines.
Although the rune had its flaws, the concept behind its arrangement carried an exotic essence, providing Angel with significant inspiration and immersing him completely in his observations.
As time ticked away, Angel was brought back to reality upon noticing that Nisi and the others had approached.
“When did you all come over?”
Nisi replied, “We’ve been here for a while, but seeing how engrossed you were, we didn’t want to interrupt. Did you find anything?”
Angel nodded, “Wizard Firo was correct. The entrance to the laboratory is indeed marked by a complex magic formation… However, we can only see the part of the laboratory that’s exposed. More runes are hidden underground, or possibly even within, making it difficult to ascertain the full situation.”
“So, it can’t be opened?”
Angel responded, “Not by normal means, but there are ways to enter.”
“What other methods are there?” Nisi asked curiously.
“We just need to decipher part of the rune to find an entry point.” Angel didn’t elaborate on how to decipher the rune but instead inquired, “How about your side? Did Firo find anything unusual after his inspection?”
Nisi shook his head, “There are no signs of curses or other negative effects.”
Firo added, “I’ve checked myself and didn’t feel anything out of the ordinary. Either the negative effect is incredibly powerful, beyond our level, or, as Nisi suggested… it’s not about a curse, but rather an issue with that person.”
Chapter 2388 Mechanism's Core <TOC> Chapter 2390 Nisi’s Goal