Chapter 105: Not Limited to Humans

Chapter 105: Not Limited to Humans

“Damn it!!” In the workshop, Zheng Yichen stared at the monitor, his eyes widening to their limit. The curse slipped out. Why had this place, which should have been completely forgotten, still been found? He was sure he hadn’t left any traces.

At first, Zheng Yichen thought it might be a coincidence. But seeing Dan Marina walking straight toward it, he couldn’t stay seated any longer. After a moment’s thought, he simply stood up and left his workshop, planning to intercept her first. No matter what, Zheng Yichen didn’t want her poking around his workshop.

However…

“What you see isn’t necessarily real. You should know that, right?” Just as he stepped outside the workshop door, he saw the smiling woman before him. Zheng Yichen fell silent.

“What I saw was the scene before you arrived, wasn’t it?” Zheng Yichen asked after thinking for a moment.

“So clever. Mind if I come in for a look?” Even as she said this, Dan Marina had already walked into Zheng Yichen’s workshop on her own. She had seen many alchemy workshops, but one as unique as Zheng Yichen’s was a first. The style here was vastly different from the usual style of this world.

Zheng Yichen had built his workshop following the specifications of an Earth laboratory, making it far more orderly than the workshops of ordinary alchemy Professionals in this world. He didn’t like anyone entering his workshop; it held many materials he had prepared over this period. Since he had previously considered being the only one here, he hadn’t set up things like safes.

Watching Dan Marina move around his workshop like a curious girl gave Zheng Yichen a headache. Even though she was just looking and didn’t touch anything without permission—which spared him from developing any irritation—it didn’t mean he didn’t want to drive her away. He really wanted to get rid of her, but the biggest problem was that he couldn’t beat her in a fight.

Otherwise, Zheng Yichen wouldn’t have minded using force to drive her out.

“How novel. This is my first time seeing a workshop with this style,” Dan Marina said cheerfully, gently touching the workbench in front of her. The workbench wasn’t made of special wooden materials but had a very sturdy metal style.

As for what Dan Marina said, Zheng Yichen didn’t really take it in. His mind was completely occupied with how to get rid of the woman in front of him.

“Listen, there shouldn’t be anything here worth your attention, right?” Zheng Yichen rubbed the tip of his nose, wondering if he should first have his main body relocate elsewhere.

“No, no, no. Your very existence has caught my attention,” Dan Marina said, sitting in the chair in front of the workbench and smiling at Zheng Yichen. “I want to meet you in person.”

“Not happening,” Zheng Yichen said with a dry laugh, the corners of his mouth twitching. Dan Marina shrugged slightly and didn’t press the matter further. Instead, she steered the conversation to another topic. “I know, you… are looking for someone, right?”

“Did Qin tell you?” Zheng Yichen raised an eyebrow slightly. The fact that he was looking for someone was only known to Qin.

“No one told me,” Dan Marina said softly, picking up an Engineering book placed on the workbench. “Do you know the history of this book? It’s a single copy; there aren’t even transcribed versions. Originally a non-circulating book, it completely disappeared three hundred years ago. The last person to possess it was~ Loris.”

Zheng Yichen’s mouth twitched. This book contained the blueprints for making a Mechanical Dragon. This was just a transcribed copy; the original was still stored in the Underground Library. Zheng Yichen wouldn’t casually bring it out. He had transcribed the contents but hadn’t replicated the cover or anything else. The cover was just two sheets of thick, hard paper.

But even so, how could she possibly discern this information from it?

“Don’t be surprised. It has to do with my ability, you know? This year is the hardest year for her to get through.”

“What do you mean?” Zheng Yichen temporarily set aside his thoughts of driving her away, his eyes fixed tightly on her. The hardest year? Loris left temporarily—was it not to handle some matter, but to face something?

“There are still two months,” she said, not answering Zheng Yichen’s question but instead murmuring to herself. “The Sanctuary Church is almost ready for a new round of Witch Hunt.”

“…Hunting who?!” Zheng Yichen exclaimed in shock.

“Who? Who do you think?” Dan Marina looked at Zheng Yichen with a strange smile, her eyes gradually clouding over with a chaotic gray hue. Zheng Yichen felt a chill under her gaze and waved his hand uncomfortably, resisting the eerie stare.

Dan Marina withdrew her ability, looking slightly surprised. “You really are special. I’m starting to take a liking to you.”

Ah, damn! Why did that sound so familiar!

Zheng Yichen thought with a sense of disgust. He wanted to ask more about Loris, but Dan Marina showed no intention of continuing on that topic. Instead, she kept chatting casually. “You know, Witches never care about any particular person. Once a Witch truly cares about someone, it means she is not far from destruction. It’s almost like a Curse.”

“I’m not Human,” Zheng Yichen said irritably, waving his hand.

“When I say ‘person,’ of course it’s not limited to Humans. You understand, don’t you?” Dan Marina still wore a light smile on her face. She could tell Zheng Yichen truly cared about Loris. This situation was… rare. What she had just said wasn’t false. For a Witch, truly caring about someone—after her identity as a Witch is exposed—the more she cares, the more likely she is to be betrayed, unless the other is also a Witch.

In short, it’s a very bizarre phenomenon. It’s not just with Humans; even other intelligent beings are the same. Even if they are powerful, it only lasts a bit longer. The only way to avoid this is to brand them with the Witch’s mark. This mark isn’t something simple; it’s equivalent to a slave or servant Contract. Like those Ghost Maids—they are Loris’s complete possessions, so naturally, betrayal isn’t an issue.

But would a Witch use such a method on someone she cares about? As she said, Witches don’t easily care about someone, but once they truly care about an existence, they become… unable to extricate themselves. Even with many examples as warnings, Witches remain vigilant about this, but it only reduces the frequency; it cannot be completely prevented, as if it were some kind of loophole.

Thus, among Witches, there is a rather cruel, unwritten rule: if one Witch discovers that another Witch truly cares about a certain existence, she can outright kill that other. As for the consequences… the other Witches will help share the burden!