Chapter 741: Chapter 629: Preparation

"I think it’s most likely the latter; it completed its mission and then disappeared." Jeming set down the salt grains, turned around, and looked at the other wizards, "I was just about to ask... where exactly is the entity’s main body?"

These words made everyone present pause in silence for a moment.

The warlock in the dark blue robes walked to the stove, lightly tapping the wooden edge with his finger: "Indeed, that finger is merely a terminal."

"Strictly speaking, it’s a one-time medium," the Cursed Witch nodded.

Her earlier analysis was quite spot-on. The finger was responsible for establishing a connection with the genetic material, ’writing the curse into the soul of the victim.’

Once the writing was complete, its task was finished.

"That’s why Carl suddenly reacted earlier; because that finger released its final signal before destruction."

Jeming looked at the burly warlock, who nodded in confirmation.

"And then it disappeared," Jeming concluded, "because it was originally created temporarily by some force. Once the purpose of its creation was achieved, there was no longer a need for its existence."

A low murmur of discussion arose in the kitchen.

The Cursed Witch raised her head, her pale gray eyes under the hood looking at Jeming: "Do you mean that the entity doesn’t have a physical form?"

"At least not that finger," Jeming said, "The finger was just its tool, like how we use witchcraft artifacts for casting. The artifact can be put away after use, but the artifact isn’t our essence."

"Makes sense," the thin warlock pinched the bridge of his nose, "The genetic material of that finger closely resembles that of the Hans Family, indicating it’s likely a one-time use item, created temporarily after reading the corresponding information."

The wizards nodded in agreement.

This chain of reasoning was solid, and everyone verified it with their own knowledge systems, finding it to be the most plausible theory.

"So the question returns to the origin," the dark blue-robed warlock crossed his arms, "Where is that entity’s main body?"

"I suspect it doesn’t have a fixed form," the Cursed Witch said. She walked to the window and pushed it open, the breeze fluttering the edge of her cloak.

Outside the window was the town’s street scene: cobblestone roads, low houses, the distant hospital spire—all appeared peaceful and harmonious.

Yet beneath this peace lay an indescribable sense of discord.

"Do you remember the basic intelligence provided by Wizard Oston?" she continued, "He mentioned in the task description that these bizarre rule phenomena ’seeped through.’ Seepage... that word is crucial."

Jeming pulled up the task description on the Magic Network Terminal and reread Oston’s original words.

"Several special rule phenomena seeped through, infecting my backyard."

Seepage and infection.

"So this entity..." Jeming said slowly, "Or rather, most of the bizarre rules aren’t independent entities. They’re more like... a virus. Without a physical form, they integrate with the surrounding environment, using everything within to propagate themselves."

"Precisely," the Cursed Witch nodded, "Under normal circumstances, they should not have a concrete body but instead directly integrate into the surrounding environment. The range should be centered on this town, with uncertain specific boundaries."

"Only when certain conditions are met does it manifest physically... like that finger," the young witch picked up the conversation, "And then, it follows its own rules to kill."

"So what are the conditions?" the burly warlock asked.

The wizards once again fell into thought.

"Genetic material," Jeming said, "Or rather, the concept of ’family.’ Have you noticed it targets one family at a time? The Hans Family, the previous forty-seven who died, should also have died in batches based on family units. It doesn’t attack the entire town simultaneously but rather one family at a time."

"So it’s not that it likes ’playing,’" the thin warlock recalled Old Herman’s notes, "It’s simply constrained by rules."

"How to find it?" A wizard who had been mostly silent spoke up, "If it doesn’t have a physical form and is integrated with the environment, and since we can’t just overturn the entire village, how do we locate it?"

"Wait for it to appear again," Jeming said, "It must manifest before it kills... that finger. When the finger appears, it’s at its most vulnerable. We can seize that moment to lock onto its main body, or at least its location."

"But at this stage, we don’t know the speed at which the curse is written after the finger appears?" The young witch frowned, "If it completes instantly, by the time we discover the finger, it might already be gone."

"That’s why we must prepare before it appears," Jeming said, "We don’t have to wait for it to appear in the salt jar. We can actively create the conditions for its appearance."

"You mean..." the Cursed Witch’s eyes lit up.

"Genetic material," Jeming nodded, "For each manifestation, it needs to borrow the genetic information of the target family. If we use someone’s genetic material as bait and set up a closed, controllable environment, we might lure it to reveal itself."

"It makes sense, but we need time to design an experimental plan," the dark blue-robed warlock said, "Before that, we need to do one more thing."

He glanced around, his gaze sweeping over the faces of the other eight wizards.

"Prevent it from escaping."

No one objected.

Though from Wizard Oston’s intelligence, most bizarre entities have characteristics similar to earth-bound spirits, with limited areas of activity.

But no one can guarantee that this anomaly won’t suddenly change its base.

If it leaves this town and continues killing in another, the reputation of the nine wizards would be greatly damaged.

"Deploy the barrier." The warlock in the deep blue robe made a decision, "Use the array to block off the entire town and the surrounding large area. The energy level shouldn’t be too high, but with our skills, technique can sufficiently compensate for the lack of energy level."

"I’ll be responsible for the design of the barrier." The young witch raised her hand, "I’m more familiar with arrays related to energy barriers."

"I’ll assist you." Said the thin warlock, "My microstructure analysis ability can help you optimize the distribution of the barrier’s nodes."

"I’ll handle the outer framework of the barrier." The sturdy warlock moved his fingers, and several rings flashed with dark green light between them.

"I’ll go to the east to build the details." Said another wizard.

"I’ll be heading west."

"Leave the south to me."

"I’ll take the north."

In an instant, the eight wizards had their tasks divided.

Finally, all eyes fell on Jeming.

"You stay here." Said the warlock in the deep blue robe, "I noticed earlier that you seemed to use some techniques related to the destiny element, so arranging the bait and surveillance would be most suitable for you."

"However, for safety’s sake, don’t arrange the bait just yet. Your current task is to stay in the town center, extend your spiritual power, and monitor every corner of the town constantly. If that finger reappears, notify us immediately."

Jeming nodded.

This arrangement was quite reasonable.

As the wizard mentioned, he had already become proficient in destiny-type knowledge, and with the aid of the fate system, he could quickly sift out abnormal signals among countless streams of information.

If that finger appears in any corner of the town, he should be able to capture it immediately.

"How long will it take to complete the barrier?" Jeming asked.

"Slowly, an hour. Quickly, it should be done within half an hour." The young witch estimated, "Mainly to ensure the energy level does not exceed limits, many areas need to replace brutal output with delicate methods, which will be slower."

"Then allocate an hour." The warlock in the deep blue robe glanced at the sky outside the window.

The amber light was still evenly spreading over the ground; there was no day-night alternation on this plane, and time had lost its reference here.

"One hour later, gather at the town center, and we’ll start the trapping plan."

The wizards said no more, each transforming into streams of light and flying off in different directions.

Jeming walked out of Hans the blacksmith’s house and went to the town center square.

In the center of the square was an ancient stone fountain, with water so clear you could see the bottom and several red koi swimming leisurely.

Surrounding the fountain was a plaza paved with stone slabs, with several stone paths extending in all directions, leading to various corners of the town.

At this moment, there were few people in the square.

Occasionally, one or two residents passed by and, upon seeing Jeming by the fountain, merely glanced curiously before continuing their business.

After all, due to the recent anomaly, the entire town was on edge and hardly had the energy to care about other matters.

Jeming sat cross-legged on the stone edge of the fountain.

He closed his eyes, and his spiritual power surged out like a tide, spreading in all directions.

Wherever the spiritual power passed, every house, every street, every tree, every person, was depicted in his perception with extreme detail.

He could sense a housewife in the kitchen slicing vegetables, noticing a slight edge curl on the knife; he sensed an old man dozing in a rocking chair with a steady breathing rhythm; he sensed two children chasing each other in an alley, with one of their shoelaces untied.

His spiritual power continued to spread, covering the entire town, then extending into the fields, forests, and rivers outside the town.

Simultaneously, the fate system began to operate.

The incense fire divine dao’s information processing network was running at high speed in his consciousness, incorporating every stream of information captured by the spiritual power into the analysis.

Using his familiar destiny element knowledge, Jeming seemed to see countless threads of causality interweaving and colliding in the virtual network.

With deep eyes, he constantly screened through the myriad causal threads, marking any slight anomaly.

Jeming sat by the fountain, motionless.

Like a spider weaving its web, waiting for prey to touch the net.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.