Chapter 293: New Influence

Chapter 293: New Influence

“It may be a beta version, but the rest can be perfected later.” Zheng Yichen looked at the partitioned section of the Personal Space. Of course, this partition was not a physical separation, but rather an area covered by a special Barrier. Inside the Barrier, it was evenly divided into small squares, each shaped by a Magic Barrier.

The color was a pitch black. This not only blocked prying eyes but also better concealed the defensive mechanisms and power within the Barrier. The core maintaining this Barrier was a black crystal. It was probably a matter of habit, but Irene seemed to make many things in a crystalline form, and this was no exception. The shape didn’t need much consideration; as long as the effect was sufficient, it was fine.

This crystal did not only contain Irene’s power; it also incorporated the power of Dan Marina and Loris. Even in the final stages, Annie, probably finding herself idle, had taken the opportunity to add her own touch. A magical product empowered by four Witches… Even considering certain factors meant their powers wouldn’t manifest in their original forms.

But its potency was not lacking at all. If someone could break through this thing’s protection… Zheng Yichen would have to admit defeat. Moreover, after this crystal was brushed by Zheng Yichen’s own power, while retaining its original properties, it gained traits characteristic of his abilities. Just like the Magic Weapon Summoning Book, anyone attempting to pry into its secrets would inevitably pay a price.

However, this magical product was more stable, and the backlash was even more powerful! At the very least, those who merely peeked at the Magic Weapon Summoning Book without going too far would generally suffer severe damage to their strength and a reduction in Talent. But with this, the backlash was genuinely life-threatening.

Loris’s Power of Annihilation backlash could ensure the target was completely annihilated without leaving a single trace. Dan Marina’s power could additionally increase the target’s certainty of death or, if they survived the first wave of backlash, their likelihood of encountering misfortune afterward. Annie’s power would cause the target’s body to be drained of its last shred of value before being completely destroyed…

When these Witches’ powers were applied, each was utterly ruthless, even the life-affirming abilities. As for Irene? Her power formed the foundational framework of this crystal and the entire Magic Barrier. The strength of those Magic Barriers, while not equaling the ‘pseudo World Barrier’ Irene had created before, was still beyond standard specifications. Finally, after Zheng Yichen personally assimilated the Magic Crystal, the added characteristic could also prevent some particularly coincidental and stringent methods.

The multiple layers of protection meant that within the area covered by the Magic Barrier, it was basically impossible for anyone to pry or take anything… this Pick-up Zone was very stable.

Although it was announced as a beta version now, there was basically little left to perfect. What could be perfected were mostly some transaction rules. The Magic Barrier expanded by the Magic Crystal had modular operations. Those partitioned areas could be finely adjusted to maximize the use of every bit of space.

Moreover, the current scale of this Barrier was in a semi-expanded state. In actual use, the scale of expansion would dynamically adjust based on the goods stored inside. Fewer goods meant a miniaturized Magic Barrier; more goods naturally meant a larger expanded area. After all, expanding such a Barrier did consume power. Even though the mana source was linked to the Magic Weapon Summoning Book after Zheng Yichen’s adjustments, saving a bit here and there was still good, right? Wasting it for no reason was a bad habit.

The opening of the pick-up transaction function caused quite a stir in the outside world in just a single day. After all, the Magic Weapon Summoning Book had already spread very widely. Many factions kept an eye on this book. Combined with its conveniences, even factions that once held serious doubts about it had no choice but to compromise and accept it to a certain degree.

Not accepting? Refusing to accept it meant being outmatched and crushed head-on by weaker rival factions!

Now, with this self-service pick-up transaction function appearing, they truly didn’t know what to say. What was this Creator thinking? What was originally just a special summoning book for Summoned Magic Weapons had now been forcibly developed into something with so many features, like a multi-functional swiss army knife. They didn’t even have much doubt anymore about whether the Magic Weapon Summoning Book would develop any new functions in the future!

Although many people in the Forum grumbled about the Creator being distracted or off-task, few actually boycotted it. After all, the Creator was the ultimate authority-holder. Unless someone was out of their mind, basically no one would offend him. Moreover, the Creator hadn’t done anything requiring condemnation, and these continuously appearing functions genuinely brought them benefits!

Why boycott?

Even some progressive learning Academies had established specialized research courses because of the new functions introduced by the Magic Weapon Summoning Book, specifically studying what impact the book’s current development model might have on future battles or wars!

After all, some people could already see the biggest impact of this transaction and pick-up function on war: the issue of supplies. Even though the use of some Spatial Expansion Pouches made material transport in this world seem quite ‘advanced,’ it still couldn’t prevent supplies from being hijacked. After all, larger Expansion Pouches were more expensive; those things weren’t so common as to be ubiquitous, and couldn’t be used indiscriminately.

Therefore, apart from special circumstances, relying on a large number of Expansion Pouches for transporting supplies wasn’t very frequent. In most cases, normal transport methods were still used.

But now, with the pick-up function, things were different. It was entirely possible to have many Magic Weapon Summoners conduct ‘transactions.’ Not only was it instant, but it also greatly avoided the drawback of supplies being hijacked.

“…” Achille looked at this new function, frowning slightly in thought for a moment before his brow relaxed. From the current perspective, this function couldn’t be said to have more benefits than drawbacks. After all, relying on this function, certain matters could indeed gain great convenience. But things were relative. While convenient, it also provided extra convenience for those who liked to cause trouble.

For example, some Cultists could use this as a basis to transport some evil items into cities, easily bypassing many inspections. Although the Creator dealt with posts made by Cultists by mercilessly banning them, until the Creator explicitly stated a relevant stance regarding the transaction and pick-up function, one couldn’t deny such a possibility.

As for the impact on nations, Achille didn’t pay much attention. Anyway, with the appearance of these functions, any nation wanting to wage war would have to think twice. The impact was too significant. After solving the supply issue, a major factor determining the course of war was missing, as the presence of supplies was an important factor affecting morale.

Of course, if those nations really adopted this method, Achille foresaw another possibility: a war of spies. The drawback of supplies being hijacked was eliminated, true. But if the wrong person was chosen, having all supplies cleared out by the enemy in one go also became easier. Of course, clearing was easier, but the process would likely be more troublesome. However, if successful, it could deal a severe blow to the opponent.

Even though the transaction and pick-up function was in a testing phase now, Achille had also read the transaction rules. They were very comprehensive and novel. Upon seeing them, one might think… well, it seems like nothing much. But before they appeared, they were something few could have thought of! This was also the Creator’s consistent style. He had already produced many such eye-catching things.

Regarding this, Achille said he was quite looking forward to the full version of the transaction and pick-up function. At the very least, with this transaction function for daily necessities, there would be no need to go out of the way to find cities or towns for resupply on many occasions. If it could be truly used, the Sanctuary Church wouldn’t mind establishing an additional supply organization specifically for this purpose!

Many members of the Sanctuary Church, when carrying out certain Quests, operated in remote wilderness areas. In these areas, there often wasn’t any additional supply replenishment for a short time. Moreover, these Quests often involved dealing with Cults or Fiends that had escaped from the Abyss, which were very dangerous. If there was sufficient logistical support during such Quests, their success rate and survival rate would undoubtedly increase greatly.

And general supplies weren’t overly important items… Even if something happened, the Sanctuary Church wouldn’t mind such trivial losses. If nothing went wrong, those supplies would provide great assistance to Church members on external missions!

At the very least, it could help them maintain an energetic state, not needing to deliberately search for food and distract their focus. If consumption of Magic Potions and similar reagents was too high, they could get timely replenishment… Of course, precisely because of such situations, this kind of sustained combat could very likely develop into a battle of logistics. Naturally, against humans it would be like that, but against non-human entities like Fiends, it would be a great advantage.

Shaking his head, Achille placed the Magic Weapon Summoning Book aside. He had already understood this new function. The rest could wait until the full version appeared. His main focus now was on the Demon Sword Sect and that young man he had been paying attention to for a long time. The other possessed the power of a Demon Sword Cultist and was developing very quickly, currently surpassing the growth speed of most Demon Sword Cultists.

At the same time, his maverick nature had also drawn the attention of the Demon Sword Sect. Based on this, Achille additionally analyzed some pattern characteristics of the Demon Sword Sect. As for his rapid increase in strength, Achille was already used to it. What truly caught his attention a bit was the other’s secretly displayed power, which currently exhibited the aura of that Magic Weapon Evil God power still in the testing phase within the Sanctuary Church, and moreover, in a confidential state…

Initially, it was just suspicion. But as the other revealed more and more information, it became almost certain that such a thing was indeed happening… Was there a traitor? Achille quickly dismissed that thought. The test subjects were all highly vetted individuals; such a lapse was impossible. So, the most likely possibility was that certain loopholes existed at the original test site. After all, the other party had found traces that were overlooked at that place back then. It wasn’t impossible for him to have obtained some residual related power from there.

The power of an Evil God had strong contagiousness. Even for that Magic Weapon Evil God whose attributes were ‘positive,’ this characteristic wasn’t very strong, but it still existed.

Since things had already happened, trying to patch the leaks now was somewhat late. Achille wasn’t the type to try and erase black marks because of his own oversight. Since it happened, he would maximize its use. Anyway, it was all internal testing now. Occasionally having a special test subject still under control was acceptable. Moreover, the other party now possessed the power of two different Magic Weapon Evil Gods. This was like the beginning of a Legendary tale about certain beings from some special novels.

“Hmm… looking at it this way, I seem like the villain?” Achille muttered to himself and stopped dwelling on such a nonsensical thought, carefully reading through the intelligence reports.

“Hmm, a three-day test.” Zheng Yichen looked at the posts in the Magic Weapon Summoning Book. Currently, the transaction and pick-up function was only opened to a limited number of Magic Weapon Summoners. After all, this model seemed very popular. However, this world wasn’t Earth; it was an Otherworld. Moreover, the biggest difference between this world’s pick-up and Earth’s was that Earth required logistics transfers, while this world did not!

Based on the Personal Space, this pick-up was instantaneous. If this method were applied on Earth, all those XX express companies would have to step aside!

Therefore, he needed to understand in detail some of the drawbacks of using this model in this world, then patch or perfect the transaction rules as soon as possible, eliminating these drawbacks as much as possible. After that, he could find Dan Marina to refine things. That woman was so good at tricking people; clearly, she was an expert at finding loopholes.

“What are you all doing?” Zheng Yichen asked, seeing Dan Marina had somehow taken out a pile of small trinkets and placed them on the table. He was momentarily dumbfounded. Looking at Irene and Annie too, they had also taken out some small trinkets. Zheng Yichen estimated that if not for the Personal Space not generating dust, these things would all be dust collectors. Loris didn’t seem to have any intention of participating.

“Showing support? You’re not planning to stop us from using this beta version, are you?” Dan Marina raised her eyebrows slightly, staring at Zheng Yichen as she asked, “Others could only dream of such an opportunity!”

“I’m worried you’ll end up overwhelming the whole setup.”

“What’s there to fear? As long as your identity isn’t exposed, others only know you as the ‘Creator,’ not Zheng Yichen, then our actions just add to the Creator’s popularity.” Dan Marina gave Zheng Yichen a slight eye-roll, offering the reminder. She was quite adept at using some terms she had heard from Zheng Yichen.

“Oh, so your name is Zheng Yichen…” Annie nodded beside him.

“…Ahem!” Zheng Yichen coughed lightly. Thinking about it, he probably hadn’t mentioned his name before due to caution. He waved his hand slightly, “Let’s talk serious business… casual conversation can happen later!”