OBS Chapter 3997 Life Aberration
Chapter 3997 Life Aberration
Chapter 3997 Life Aberration
Shad had originally thought that if the enemy being chased had left bloodstains in the sewers, his [Echo of Blood] could help track them down, but after seeing the current state of the sewers, he completely abandoned that idea.
Fortunately, the area they came down to was probably the smelliest part of the sewers in the vicinity. After Mr. Bernhardt led everyone for more than ten minutes, although the smell was still there, at least everyone was willing to talk to each other.
“If the ‘Head-Bubble Curse’ hadn’t affected my senses, I would have been worried that an enemy might appear in the darkness, and I would have cast the spell earlier.”
Mr. Finch said that the three of them were now in the center of a "crossroads" in the sewers. Behind them was the direction they had come from, the road to their left stretched downwards into the depths, the road to their right was a dead end that seemed to end in one glance, and the road to their left curved into an unknown place.
The scent Mr. Bernhardt smelled extended forward, but all three of them heard a distinct sound on their right side, and Shad's "Heart of Stone" also heard the sound of a human heartbeat.
After stopping, the three discussed the situation and decided to first check out the "wrong route" on the right. Even the weakest of the three, Mr. Bernhardt, could sense, through his racial talent, that the voice on the right was coming from an ordinary human.
When they found the source of the sound, they indeed saw a family of five. This family lived in a shack built from old tents and discarded building materials; they were clearly refugees from the outer city who had chosen to live underground.
They cleverly found a spot in the sewer just below the manhole cover, ensuring both convenient access and adequate sunlight and ventilation.
However, when they saw three strangers emerging from the depths of the sewers, the family still huddled together in fear. It was only after the youngest and seemingly friendliest member, Shad, intervened and gave the two children candy that he gained their basic trust.
The family consists of two children, parents, and an elderly person. They arrived in the city in the middle of this month. They originally lived on the ground, but because they offended a "gang" among the refugees, they came here to live.
Although the smell is strong, it's at least warmer at night than on the ground, and they can occasionally find some metal scraps in the sewers that they can sell for money. The family is fairly satisfied with their life here.
After Shad asked, "Have you heard any strange noises at night?" the fear on the faces of the five people said it all. They were unwilling to talk about it, and even when Shad offered to pay them for information, they refused to mention it.
The elderly woman, the youngest daughter, and the mother in the family of five are all ill, and the seemingly healthy man and the boy are actually not in good condition either. After mastering the strange spell of the "Spark of Life," Shad is able to clearly perceive this.
So instead of letting Mr. Bernhardt hypnotize him, he asked:
"If I'm willing to treat your illnesses, would you be willing to tell me the news?"
"Sir, are you a doctor?"
The man who was trying to block the family asked, and Shad nodded:
"I have some medicine with me."
The potion he mentioned was actually diluted Holy Water No. 5, which was very effective in treating injuries and illnesses unrelated to physical damage. Moreover, as long as one didn't drink too much at once, even ordinary people could use it.
The man knelt down, intending to kowtow to the outsider, but was stopped by Xia De. He rummaged through his pocket and pulled out cards, dispensing different amounts of holy water according to the family's condition.
Although the liquid looked suspiciously faintly glowing in the dark, the sick people drank it without hesitation. The family then told Shad everything they knew, even giving him a worthless handmade pendant and a hand-drawn map of the nearby sewer system as a token of their gratitude.
Although Shad didn't need a map at all thanks to his "powerful spatial awareness," he still accepted it.
"They said that at night they could sometimes hear hissing, viscous writhing, and footsteps in the empty sewers. Although they dared not investigate what was happening, most of the time when such sounds were heard, traces of blood were found nearby the next day."
They weren't the only family living in the outer city's sewer system; in fact, quite a few people have gone missing recently. This family also plans to leave soon, and we probably won't see them again when we come next time.
As they set off again, Shad concluded that Mr. Finch did not dwell on the many tragedies of the war years:
"This proves we're on the right track. So let's pick up the pace; I think we're not far from the finish line."
Led by Mr. Bernhardt, the group continued onward, venturing deeper into the ancient sewer system. Observing the appearance of the walls along the way, Mr. Finch was able to determine the construction date of almost every section of the sewer.
As he walked, he compared the map to the one he had obtained from the city hall and determined that it was useless, not nearly as good as the detailed sewer system diagram that Shad had drawn using his "powerful spatial perception" as he walked.
At 10:30 a.m., they entered a fairly deep section of the sewer, even jumping into some large pits and opening some iron bars locked with rusted chains. Fortunately, apart from rats, they did not encounter any water ghosts or other creatures that might roam the depths of the sewers.
The three of them originally thought they would see a cruel and bloody scene as they approached their destination, since most of the missing people's bodies were dragged away, making it easy to imagine what would happen.
But in reality, when Mr. Bernhardt led everyone to the end, in the huge room deep underground in the outer city, which Mr. Finch considered a "reservoir," Mr. Finch's lantern illuminated only a person wearing a black robe lying in sewage.
The sewage was almost ankle-deep, and Mr. Bernhardt immediately recognized it as the object of his encounter on Sunday night.
Although the other party was lying motionless, it wasn't dead; it was more like a deep sleep. Even from this distance, Shad could still sense the extremely vigorous life force within it. While it wasn't as strong as his own, Shad had never seen anything with such abundant life force since receiving the curse.
"Is this really a human?"
He blinked suspiciously, then saw a long, dense string of racial markings above the other person's head: humans, vampires, water spirits, and even various animals. But then all the racial markings collapsed and vanished, combining to form a completely new marking that Shad could immediately understand—
【Life Abnormality】
This is not a racial marker, but rather a designation, a conclusion drawn from combining "racial markers" with "real name deciphering".
Slippery moss clung to the walls and ceiling, and a faint fishy smell permeated the air. The creature lying on the ramp leading to the reservoir's entrance showed no reaction to the three people who appeared. The three exchanged a glance, temporarily retreated from the entrance, and cast a silencing spell before beginning their conversation.
"This is it. Don't be fooled by its quiet state now; it moves incredibly fast when it gets going."
Mr. Bernhardt warned, while Shad stated his findings:
"The other party's vitality is extremely strong. Mr. Bernhardt guessed that the other party is immortal, probably for this reason. Moreover, the other party's race is problematic. It is a 'life aberration,' and it is hard to say exactly what that is."
Mr. Finch was the oldest, and his rank was eleven, the highest. Seeing that the younger people were all looking at him, the old man did not hesitate:
"No matter what it is, let's catch it first. If we can't catch it, we'll just kill it. Even if we only have body parts left, we'll still have ways to get useful information later."
He was actually more worried about the Blood Spirit School that Shad had mentioned, wondering if there might be members of that school nearby. So Shad stayed behind to watch over the motionless thing, while Mr. Finch and Mr. Bernhardt went to investigate the surrounding area and confirmed that this was indeed the only monster there.
"Then let's get started."
Since the other side didn't move, this gave the three of them a chance to strike first. They were deep underground, and as long as they didn't destroy the sewers, they didn't need to worry about attracting too much attention. Therefore, Xia De suggested that he launch a probing attack:
"I just recently learned an interesting ability—Bubble Charm: Dragon Breath!"
He popped the bubble pod into his mouth, chewed it a few times, and then suddenly opened his mouth wide. Just as Mr. Bernhardt was about to cover his ears, he saw a blood-red bubble being spat out by Shad.
The bubble seemed to contain viscous, putrid blood plasma. Xia De did not explain this, but instead controlled the bubble to fly towards the figure in the center of the reservoir.
Even when the bubble reached directly above the thing's head, it remained completely still. So Shad told Mr. Bernhardt and Mr. Finch to prepare to cast a spell to block out the sound, while he snapped his fingers.
The snap of fingers didn't reach their ears, because the dragon's roar, which seemed to pierce the thick earth and reach the ground, completely drowned out all other sounds.
The power of the "Corruption Blood Mist" was fully released in the enclosed space. If Shad does not use "Earth Power - Healing Aura" to clean it up afterwards, it will probably permanently pollute the land of the outer city.
The eruption of the foul-smelling poisonous fog even affected the three's view of the reservoir's interior, but the ring sorcerers' perception was not entirely based on sight.
"Watch out, they're coming!"
Mr. Bernhardt shouted a warning, and in Shad's perception, the raging flame of life crashed into the three people at the door like a cannonball.
Shad and Mr. Bernhardt scattered like butterflies and bats, leaving Mr. Finch alone in the doorway. The eleventh-ringed old man produced the pre-prepared equipment blueprints, activating the [Creation] rune as they floated automatically, then slammed his palms together in front of his chest:
"Miraculous Technique - The Creation of All Things!"
The equipment blueprints then transformed into a giant shield that existed between a spiritual weapon and a physical object, blocking the attack of the red light amidst a heavy thud.
Mr. Finch's abilities are similar to Dorothy and Lacey's; they specialize in inspiring elements and extracting power from the records of civilization. However, while Dorothy and Lacey use words and fairy tales, Mr. Finch uses lines and drawings.
As for the peculiar art of "Transformation of All Things," Vige mentioned that members of the "Jade Alchemy Association" are also highly skilled in it.
The crimson light that the monster transformed into could not break through the giant shield blocking the entrance. Instead, after the shield's surface glowed, it was bounced back into the reservoir.
It revealed its form in the red light; the black hood was completely corroded by the "corrupting blood mist," exposing the monster's body. It did indeed look like a humanoid creature, even its appearance was that of a normal middle-aged human male.
However, its flesh, which was still being corroded by the blood mist, was slowly recovering. At the same time that Mr. Bernhardt unleashed a beam of bloody light, its entire body seemed to melt, transforming from human form back into a pile of soft flesh and blood.
It lay its entire body flat and hid in the shallow sewage, not to escape through the outlet at the bottom of the reservoir, but to quickly approach Shad underwater, circle around behind Shad, and then suddenly emerge from the water.
At that moment, it transformed its body into a gigantic, blood-red maw, as if it were about to devour Shad whole. But with a crisp snap of its fingers, the maw froze completely, the deformed flesh and the splattered sewage beside it remaining still, like a static, eerie sculpture.
After casting the spell, Shad turned around in surprise:
"This thing doesn't even have the slightest resistance to time?"
Mr. Bernhardt, who had initially thought a major battle was imminent, breathed a sigh of relief, while Mr. Finch, who was blocking the doorway to prevent the other party from escaping, also looked over:
"That time-stopping technique is incredibly powerful."
This thing, which Shad called a "life aberration," was not entirely without time resistance. After careful observation, Shad sensed a strangely familiar power in its essence.
However, the thing Mr. Bernhardt mentioned had a passive "life force devouring" characteristic, which Shad and Mr. Finch clearly felt. Even though it was frozen in mid-air after leaping out of the water, the three of them could still feel the intense life force being absorbed by it.
Of course, everyone has ways to prevent the loss of their vitality.
"So, what exactly is this?"
Mr. Bernhardt walked around the object twice, wading through the sewage, while Mr. Finch methodically took out his glasses case, put on his special monocle, and began to observe it carefully:
"After the time was paused, this was a terrifying yet perfect work of art. The flesh and blood still belonged to pure human beings, but the vitality was too strong, so much so that it could be manipulated to achieve such transformations."
It likely devoured a vast amount of life force and extracted power belonging to other races from the life essence of those it devoured.
"No, its powerful life force is probably not enough to allow it to transform and seize the power of other races. It probably first seized the power of the higher vampire species before it could utilize this enormous life force to this extent."
Mr. Bernhardt corrected.
Shad closed his eyes and sensed it for a moment, then reached out his hand to the thing he had stopped moving:
"I think I understand what this is now, look."
He cast the spell again:
"Spell: Life Spark"
Mr. Bernhardt and Mr. Finch then saw that Shad's hand seemed to have reached directly into the flesh, but this "deepening" did not occur at the physical level, because there was a ripple at the point where Shad's hand made contact with the flesh.
A moment later, a dark red flame was dug out of the other's flesh by Shad.
The moment they saw that spark, both the Vampire Seed Lord and the old man from the Hermitage felt a strong desire to possess it.
Both of them took a deep breath to suppress the feeling. The amount of "life spark" appearing in Xia De's hand at this moment was much stronger than the fish they had used in the experiment last night. Even Xia De himself felt a desire to accept it as a part of himself, although this feeling was not strong.
Shad didn't speak. As he continued to use his spirit to interfere with the raging fire, the fire gradually changed color until it turned into a bewitching crimson.
What was originally a seemingly normal "spark of life" now appears extremely distorted, just like a seemingly normal little cake whose outer decoration has been cut open, revealing an interior crawling with maggots.
The three of them could no longer feel that intense attraction, while Mr. Finch, who had experienced the mechanical activation with Shad, recognized it at a glance:
"A distorted spark of life?"
Shad had discussed this with Mr. Bernhardt not long ago, so he understood as well:
"Did this strange life form appear because of the spark? The twisted spark of life, combined with our superior vampire species' control over the power of blood, led to the appearance of this thing?"
"That should be the case. Not long ago, I was wondering what would happen if the 'spark of life' appeared on machinery and corpses, since we have already seen it appear on living flesh and blood. Now it seems that the answer has been found."
Shad said in a deep voice, while Mr. Finch frowned:
"Is this an experiment by the Blood Spirit School? Or is it that the life spark has a natural probability of appearing in normal life forms, and the Blood Spirit School simply discovered it and experimented with it?"
As the old man spoke, he looked around warily once again:
"Furthermore, why is it here? Even if those illegal ring sorcerers wanted it to hunt on its own, they couldn't possibly leave it unattended, could they?"
Shad stared at the spark in his palm. All the normal life force absorbed by the aberrant creature had been corrupted by the "Calamity of Creation," which was also a characteristic of calamity:
"I think I know the answer. Guess how many people this spark of life in my hand has absorbed?"
Mr. Finch guessed what Shad meant:
"From the end of last year to now, the number of missing persons is conservatively estimated to be more than 200, most of whom are unidentified refugees."
"But the life force here, in my opinion, is only equivalent to less than twenty people (note). Even if the 'life aberration' loses life force in order to move, and cannot completely extract all the life force when it extracts the life force of living people, the number of lives that this thing has 'fed' is definitely no more than fifty."
Shad said that Mr. Bernhardt looked surprised:
"So, there's more than one 'life aberration variant'?"
"It is precisely because of their large numbers that if these things were truly created by the Blood Spirit School, they would not have kept any individual under guard."
If it were merely a mutated life form, it might have arisen naturally due to a calamity. However, since it involves the abilities of higher vampire species, this matter is likely inextricably linked to the Blood Spirit School.
The technology used to create this thing is perhaps simpler than we think. The Blood Spirit School, like the Church of Creation, probably already knew of the existence of the 'Spark of Life'.
PS: Earlier it was mentioned that the vitality of the "life variant" is not as strong as that of Shad, but it is considered very strong except for Shad. Here it is also said that the variant only has the vitality of 20 people.
The previous statement referred to "the degree of vitality", not the total amount. Therefore, it does not mean that the total vitality of high-ranking witches is less than that of 20 ordinary people.