Chapter 1261
Chapter 1261 - 1247 Infinite
1,324 words
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7 min read
From zero to completion, research and development often take years or even decades, but if it’s just assembly or even branding, it becomes much simpler.
"The principle is actually quite simple, drawing life and adding a ’Holy Fire Module’ would do, the former is a universal module, while I hold all the technology for the latter..."
Lu Ping’an’s "Life investment" is a "simplified" cheater for nurturing and grafting Magic Plants.
It turned the difficult and time-consuming "Random Gene Inheritance" into a simple stacking of building blocks; the result of "Biological Modularization" was that he could easily produce the needed Magic Plants based on the actual situation.
Lu Ping’an used it sparingly before, partly because the strength of newborn Magic Plants was indeed average, and also because the consumption of points was too fierce... The consumption of Magic Plants and modules exploded geometrically after the third tier, producing a finished product might need hundreds of attempts, and then speeding up production would require double or triple-digit points, making extensive use unaffordable.
Even so, the strength of such products might not surpass his "Beast Swarm" and "individual combat power," so naturally, he used it less often.
But you get what you pay for, more consumption also means better quality, the strength and traits of high-level Magic Plants are unimaginable to other professional systems.
"....I call it the Burning Life Lantern, which actually directly describes its function, its two major modules first being the ’Drawing Life’ module....."
Drawing life is one of the most basic professional skills in the Death/Life system, and professionals like Lu Ping’an, who engaged in real combat, often learned to use it, typically by "wrapping" it around their arms or limbs, producing effects similar to the "Ghoul’s Touch" or "Vampire’s Claw."
After all, it’s about taking the opponent’s "life force" through contact; this actually is a broad category, ranging from low-level "Drawing Life" and "Aging Touch" to high-level "Touch of Death" and "Devouring Life Technique."
Similar Magic Plants naturally exist in the wild, but many are improved versions, often used on Magic Plants with tentacles or Magical Vines, not only solving the eating issue of Magic Plants but also proving to be quite useful for attack and control modules.
The drawback, however, is that such "Magical Vines" tend to be relatively fragile, as they need to establish a sufficiently wide "life channel"; being too fragile makes them suitable only as traps, not really for storming fortifications, which is somewhat a drawback.
But, as long as the environment is right, there really are no useless traits and abilities...
"....If everything this cycle is made of mist life, then drawing should be effortless."
Reality proved Lu Ping’an’s judgment correct, as a large amount of the mist was devoured by the "Burning Life" Magic Plants.
But, that still wasn’t enough.
"Life forms have a limit; instinct will restrain them from continuing to eat after they are full, so I need to give them a way to massively consume biomatter..."
Thus, there came the ’Burning Life’ flames.
It dispersed the life mist not by using flames to drive away the mist but by constantly drawing the surrounding biomatter and then converting it into flames to burn it off.
This was the countermeasure Lu Ping’an found in his reserve vault after identifying the nature of this "endless mist-like biomatter," and indeed, this judgment proved effective.
"Move quickly, don’t stop."
Lu Ping’an’s small team, consisting of only a few people, was always advancing rapidly.
Mei Yuge, who had mobility issues, sat directly on Zhi Xi’s floating metal plate, while the others also moved forward at high speed, even when increasingly odd-shaped "Corpse Monsters" intercepted them, under Lu Ping’an’s command, they just briefly engaged and then swiftly escaped.
"Ah, so annoying, give me two minutes next time, I’ll clear them out!"
"No, it’s pointless..."
Lu Ping’an casually summoned a Magical Vine, entangled the Corpse Monster in front of him but didn’t "ignite" it, instead quickly bypassing it.
"....The results of the dissection just now, these Corpse Monsters are actually ’dolls’, or rather, vessels..."
Lu Ping’an’s words made Mei Yuge pause, but Meow and Eve, who were also Decree-level Beast Tamers, understood instantly.
"Meow? Are you saying the entire mist is meow??"
"....It’s a bit like me, but can this form really be stable?"
Upon hearing this, Lu Ping’an showed a wry smile.
It did seem like he indeed took out a weapon specifically for his opponent, but the effect seemed a little too potent, the specificity a bit too strong.
"Those Corpse Monsters were actually not living beings at all, nor were they the Undead. They were merely chunks of flesh, merely the ’Fog Life’ wearing clothes. So, what’s the point of destroying their clothes..."
Having encountered this Corpse Monster, Lu Ping’an had clarified the true nature of this city’s fog.
It was not just a simple unconscious biomatter, but a complete "Life."
Thus, these Corpse Monsters... could never be completely eliminated, absolutely never, as long as it was not possible to substantially damage the original form of the fog life, they were almost infinite foes.
Can a puppet kill its many faces, or does it hurt the controller behind?
"...stop using torches recklessly; it might hurt it, but if not deadly, it will only enrage it..."
Lu Ping’an had already minimized the use of the "Burning Life Torch", yet some Corpse Monsters still attempted to intercept him, extinguishing the flames.
Hopefully, those mercenaries won’t act rashly by using too many torches at once, the feeling of a light prick compared to a "slash from a blade" is entirely different.
But, he couldn’t really extinguish it either...
"Get closer, I suspect this fog has assimilating erosive traits..."
With gritted teeth, Lu Ping’an stepped back onto Zhi Xi’s deck and quickly completed full-coverage armor.
At the same time, he had a person hanging on both his shoulder and back and immediately began a desperate charge.
He crashed directly into a small city wall, and many Corpse Monsters appeared around him.
But strangely, they showed no interest in Lu Ping’an; instead, they slowly walked toward the direction from which Lu Ping’an and his companions had come, toward the outskirts of the city.
By then, Lu Ping’an could no longer turn back.
What concerned him more were those unlucky enough to be deeply stuck in this city.
"Xueyi... she’ll be fine, she has strong survival skills, and she’s rational. Realizing they can’t be killed, she probably won’t stubbornly fight to the death."
Now, that was all he could hope for.
A city of over one hundred thousand people, converted into infinite biomatter, and that equally nearly infinite "puppet material."
If it truly came to a fight to the death, it seemed a fight that would exhaust one to death was inevitable.
"Such a thing is too unreasonable..."
This type of "Life" had ground Lu Ping’an’s knowledge of Beast Tamers and the Life system into the ground, completely illogical.
But if what caused all this might be a "fragment of World Authority", it seems that the so-called rules could indeed be rewritten by force.
But if such creatures became adversaries to him and his companions...
"...I hope it’s not too late, I hope she realizes something is wrong soon and just leaves."
Meanwhile, while Lu Ping’an and his companions were anxiously caring for their lost brethren, she herself was encountering some completely incomprehensible things.
Without a torch, her left "traces" were devoured by the fog, and quite naturally, she lost her way, wandering deeper.
But at the center of the city, she witnessed a scene she couldn’t understand...
"That house, there are lights? And kitchen smoke?"
— End of Chapter 1261 —