Era of Magic and Martial Arts

Chapter 620 - 591: Soul Shearing—Listen, Destiny Is Knocking (Double-length)

But you have to kill nine times!

Because a god can resurrect nine times!

Nine is the ultimate number, also the limit of the gods!

In other words, if a person’s soul can be cut nine times, it means he can "resurrect" nine times.

Although this resurrection may differ from the resurrection of gods.

But to some extent, can it be considered that this person is already infinitely close to, or even on par with, a god?

Zuo Bai joined the Calamity Corpse Sect, entered Eternal Life Technology, and immersed himself in various inhumane experiments, fundamentally using the power of the Calamity Corpse Sect to complete his research.

And the subject of his research, no matter what it appears to be on the surface, in essence always points to a most secret core— the soul!

Yes, Zuo Bai tirelessly researches the soul, hoping that one day he can scientifically create a god.

He even doesn’t care if that god is himself or not, he just wants to create a god!

So, it’s impossible for someone like this to have any loyalty to the Calamity Corpse Sect, or even if he does, it would be pitifully little.

This is why, after learning that the second clone was being watched by Destiny, he did not warn the Calamity Corpse Sect at all but immediately activated his hidden forces at Eternal Life Technology to silence the "warriors" who had witnessed the truth.

As for why those warriors didn’t report to the company immediately—Zuo Bai had been marked by Destiny.

The analysis of the answer is complex, but the result is simple, they wanted to live!

Because they wanted to live, they absolutely couldn’t tell the company the truth, especially not a single word about Destiny.

Otherwise, for the sake of safety, the company would certainly initiate isolation procedures, repeatedly interrogate and torture them, and eventually execute them.

You’ve seen Destiny, and you can come back alive?

Why aren’t you dead?

Have you been contaminated by Destiny?

If not contaminated by Destiny, then are you carrying a seed planted by Destiny, or have you been marked by Destiny, leading them to find you?

Don’t know!!!

Such speculations are endless!

And no matter how they answer, it will never dispel the company’s or the Calamity Corpse Sect’s suspicions.

When a cult organization doesn’t trust you, do you even need to guess your outcome?

So, they tacitly kept silent and collectively fabricated a lie, reporting to the company that they encountered an unknown armed assailant, and Professor Zuo Bai "disappeared" amidst the chaos.

The result of the disappearance is quite ingenious, as it retains the possibility of Zuo Bai’s survival while allowing for the possibility of death.

Whether Zuo Bai returns to the company or not, they can continue to cover up the lie.

Even then, they might continue to collude with Zuo Bai, because they are sure that Zuo Bai himself would never dare to confess to the company about his encounter with Destiny.

They guessed correctly, and so... they all got silenced by Zuo Bai.

The only one who survived was Zhao Jingyi.

The reason she was spared was a decision Zuo Bai made after careful consideration.

There are three reasons:

First, Zhao Jingyi is not yet considered an internal member of the Calamity Corpse Sect, and she most likely does not know how terrifying Destiny truly is. In other words, her fear of Destiny is not as strong as her fear of Zuo Bai.

As his personally trained student, Zuo Bai believes he can completely control Zhao Jingyi.

Second, Zuo Bai needs someone to return to the company to manage the laboratory for him. Given that most of his students died at the Eighth Academy, Zhao Jingyi is the only one left who understands the laboratory’s operations, emphasizing her value.

Third, and most importantly, the alert from Destiny has not been lifted yet, and Zuo Bai now does not dare to return to the company at all.

He fears that if Destiny traces back to the company, he can only remain outside to observe before the alert is lifted.

However, he cannot bear to abandon the company’s and the Calamity Corpse Sect’s experimental resources, so he needs someone to act as his clone and continue to shine at the company.

All his clones were wiped out, so it had to be Zhao Jingyi.

In summary, after Zuo Bai remotely orchestrated the silencing, he completed Zhao Jingyi’s remote promotion through an encrypted channel, elevating her to the first assistant at Eternal Life Technology Laboratory.

When he is not at the company, Zhao Jingyi can control the laboratory to the greatest extent, continue to apply for funds and experimental materials from the company on his behalf, and secretly transfer the laboratory’s assets.

Indeed, Zuo Bai, out of a scientist’s rigor, had to prepare for the worst.

He thought that in case one day the company or the Calamity Corpse Sect was buried by Destiny, he should transfer, no, rescue and preserve the company’s precious heritage as much as possible beforehand.

He loves the company deeply~

Unfortunately, Zuo Bai prepared for everything, except he didn’t anticipate someone suddenly knocking on the door.

He didn’t know that Destiny loves to toy with those who think they can foresee everything!

"Knock, knock, knock—"

The dull sound of knocking suddenly pierced through the steel wall of the container, exploding inside the enclosed laboratory.

Zuo Bai had just completed a soul cut, and the memory had just been uploaded into the computer when the knocking interrupted him before it could be input into the clone, causing his heart rate to spike!

Terror!

A rush of cold terror, as sudden as a hammer, struck his soul.

Knock! Knock! Knock!

The knocking sounded again.

It wasn’t auditory hallucination!

The knocking was unhurried and evenly spaced, carrying a sense of politeness and patience, as if suggesting that the person outside was a polite and very friendly guest.

"Who is it?"

"Who’s knocking?"

"How did you find this place?"

Zuo Bai’s breath hitched abruptly, his fingers flying over the keyboard, and as the surveillance footage shifted, his pupils contracted sharply.

He had just been wholly absorbed in the thirteen procedures of "soul cutting," and despite his confidence, he dared not afford the slightest distraction given the matter concerned his soul.

And as a top scientist, his concentration naturally exceeded ordinary people. When wholly focused on his work, he naturally overlooked the sudden appearance of a taxi on the surveillance screen.

Returning to his senses, he noticed a taxi parked outside the container at some point.

Inside the taxi sat a person, a man, in the front passenger seat.

The seatbelt was tightly fastened across him, his complexion gray, eyes hollow, like a shell from which the soul had been ripped away.

Zuo Bai didn’t recognize him, but the fear frozen on his face resonated with him.

But when his gaze moved outside the vehicle, a chill instantly shot from the soles of his feet to the skull, nearly cracking his skull on the spot.

Four faces came into view, faces he desperately wanted to erase from memory for life yet dared not forget for even a moment.

Three of them stood on the left, right, and back of the container, and standing at the door, knocking, was a man dressed as a Master of Ceremonies with white eyes.

They were...

Zuo Bai’s mind stalled for a moment.

Tens of thousands of words, thousands of threads, ultimately converged in his mind into two absurd, despairing, and incredulous words:

"Again?!!"

What is the thought process for conducting an experiment?

It’s about forming a hypothesis, designing a plan, and conducting verification.

And he had clearly formed so many hypotheses, simulated so many plans, prepared so many contingencies... so why?! Why did they come knocking anyway, ahhhhh—

This was the ultimate mockery of his pride in his intelligence and meticulous thinking!

Knock! Knock! Knock!

The third knock sounded!

This time, the rhythm was slightly more rushed, the force seemingly a bit stronger.

Zuo Bai’s heart stopped at his throat, sensing that the person outside the door was starting to lose patience.

On the surveillance screen, the Master of Ceremonies at the door slowly raised his head, his gaze precisely aligning with the miniature camera camouflaged amid thick rust on the outer wall of the container.

Even through the screen, Zuo Bai could sense the penetration power and oppressive aura of those sinister white eyes.

"I know you’re inside,"

The Master of Ceremonies’ voice transmitted through the door, carrying a bit of chilling benevolence,

"Could you please open the door? We really don’t wish to harm you; the employer clearly requested that the goods be delivered ’packaged intact.’"

He paused, then courteously added,

"So, would you prefer to pack yourself, or should we professionally help you pack?"