Chapter 323: The Environmental Influence

Chapter 323: The Environmental Influence

“This… it’s really fortunate that only I know about this.” Carlin touched his money pouch. After blanking out for a long while, he closed the Magic Weapon Summoning Book directly. If his fellow Infiltrators knew about this, they would definitely laugh their heads off. An Infiltrator actually short on money!?

How ridiculous. For an Infiltrator, wasn’t other people’s money just their own money? If it wasn’t on their person, it just meant others were holding or storing it for them temporarily… Money obtained by skill, why wouldn’t it count as their own?

Being short on money was indeed a rare thing for an Infiltrator.

Forget it, forget it. Looking further was just disheartening. At least the minor physical issues wouldn’t affect his overall condition. He could tough it out. However, Carlin noticed that the students in the combat training squad didn’t seem to be doing well either. Although the night air was cold, it shouldn’t have made them shiver.

Yet he saw one girl in the squad, who had a weaker constitution, get “frozen” awake during sleep. She looked at her classmates, who seemed mostly fine, gritted her teeth, and endured without saying anything, only moving closer to a sleeping student nearby.

Carlin watched the whole process with an expressionless face. He didn’t approve of such behavior. Maybe it was to save face, or to avoid troubling the squad. But if you already had a problem—one that could cause you serious exclusion—then enduring might be understandable, as it was for your own sake. There wasn’t much to say; he couldn’t represent someone else’s stance.

But if it was a clearly non-exclusionary yet potentially dangerous issue, and you still didn’t speak up quickly, that really wasn’t a good habit. They were a squad now, not like Infiltrators teaming up with separate agendas, each watching their own back, ready to scatter like a gang when faced with irresistible danger.

In a squad that relied on each other, every member was important. If there was no crisis, fine. But if one happened, a member with a hidden physical issue could become a weak point. So, in such a squad, if you had a physical problem, you had to speak up immediately. Address it early or adjust combat plans early. Many things really weren’t as simple as “toughing it out.”

Observing was one thing. Carlin didn’t feel charitable enough to go over and give a tip. This experience was something he had figured out himself. The girl he was watching was undergoing the Academy’s combat training course. Experiences others told you about could only be better understood after you personally encountered them, or if you actively gained that experience. Actively gained experience was often more profound than what others told you!

Because you went through it directly.

When dawn broke and the sun shone on him, Carlin felt his body ease up a bit, but his mood grew heavier. This relief was just an illusion from the sun’s warmth. Actually, his condition wasn’t any better—it was worse.

Last night, he thought it might be some accident. But if he still thought it was an accident after dragging on until now, he might as well wash up, go home, and start over from scratch. Being negligent had its limits. And deceiving yourself required a reason that could actually fool you—he couldn’t find one.

After all, with his constitution, getting sick was extremely unlikely unless he suffered some malignant Curse that caused a serious illness. And after observing all night, he found that not only the combat training squad, but even the leading teachers and those Demon Sword Cultists showed related symptoms. Theirs were more severe than his.

Those with greater strength could resist this strange symptom better. What surprised Carlin was that the target he was supposed to protect wasn’t affected at all. After a night’s rest, everyone else seemed somewhat listless due to the symptoms, but Lily was full of energy. Adequate rest left her in good condition… Damn it, he couldn’t even compare to a child!?

No wonder the Boss valued this little girl.

Feeling discouraged, Carlin found a fitting excuse to brush it off internally. He didn’t want to dwell on it. He needed to quickly figure out the current situation. Among those leading teachers, there were definitely moles working with the Demon Sword Cultists. They could be considered one side. The unaffected leading teachers and the student combat training squad could be another side. As for himself… a third party.

But within this seemingly simple situation, there was an additional unknown factor—a possibly existing fourth party! And this bizarre influence made that party even more troublesome. Since even he couldn’t detect this “fourth party,” Carlin couldn’t determine if it was still here, or—something he wanted to admit even less—its strength far surpassed his, making it undetectable to him!

He didn’t want to admit it, not because he couldn’t handle the blow, but because at a time like this, such a problem spelled trouble. If he were alone, encountering such a situation, he would have long since made a clean escape. Why bother with all this hassle? Perhaps he was pitting wits against a powerful entity of unknown strength, or perhaps he was just fighting the air. Either way, when things slipped from his control, it was particularly annoying.

Annoying as it was, he had to endure it. He had attachments now. What if… he just rushed out and snatched the person? Forget about what came after; getting the person away from this dangerous place was the main thing!

It was a nice idea, but Carlin just thought about it. Often, brute force couldn’t solve things. Since he couldn’t solve the problem by taking out the problem-makers through force now, he had to tread the normal path honestly. Rushing in to snatch someone was a good idea, but the consequence would be getting tangled up with the leading teachers who had passable strength. The lurking Demon Sword Cultists might also seize the chance to jump out and cause trouble amidst the chaos he created and while he was occupied with the teachers.

He really didn’t want to give them that satisfaction right now. More importantly, he wasn’t sure if the hidden fourth party would also act if he made a move.

A three-way standoff made each party cautious, unwilling to truly start trouble, fearing they might weaken and let another party take advantage and swallow up the other two. With four parties present, caution diminished. When two parties fought, another might want to intervene, but that party would also have to consider what the final party would do.

Carlin overestimated the threat of this unknown existence as much as possible. What if it possessed strength surpassing all of theirs combined? Amidst his distress, Carlin couldn’t help but inwardly curse that idiotic leading teacher again. Damn it, choosing a remote place to be a mole was one thing, but not even preparing properly!

Was a remote place definitely the slowest to receive support? One of the four Forests wasn’t too far from Kaja, but the terrain was complex. The overall arrival time was about one-tenth slower than from other places. Why pick this broken spot? And having picked it, to then plunge right into some place an unknown entity was watching? See how that worked out? Everyone got dragged in, and they were still foolishly unaware of the problem.

This was combat training, not some mandatory Quest! Knowing everyone had some minor issues, shouldn’t they use their brains to think about the cause and leave this place first? Yet they actually wanted to continue the combat training… just because it was the last day?

Just because the target wasn’t met?

What a damn idiotic mole! Even if the goal was achieved, what use was it if everyone ended up stuck in this Forest? The most frustrating thing would be getting double-crossed and then devoured by another double-crosser.

“Calm down.”

Just as Carlin’s mentality was about to explode, a cold voice jolted him—a substantial jolt that made his head spin briefly. As soon as he regained clarity from the brief dizziness, his elder sister kicked him aside, and he lost control of his body.

“Uh…” Carlin (in his consciousness) rubbed his head, feeling a headache. After such intense mental stimulation, he became much clearer-headed, yet still somewhat confused. “What happened to me?”

“Your mind was influenced.”

“Huh? No way… Then why aren’t they affected?” Carlin didn’t want to admit it. He was clearly the strongest present; even if there was influence, it shouldn’t happen to him, right?

“You were too anxious, with too many thoughts.”

“Just because of that?” Carlin grew even more puzzled. Anxious? He was indeed a bit anxious at the time. Thinking carefully, it was just a bit anxious. But after that “a bit anxious” thought arose, he seemed unable to control his thoughts. The more he thought, the more anxious he became; the more anxious, the more irritable; and the more irritable, the more negative thoughts affected his mentality.

“Just watch.” Karin didn’t say much more, and certainly didn’t comfort her “hopeless” younger brother. She didn’t have as many distracting thoughts as Carlin, and already aware of the mental influence here, she was on guard and even less likely to fall for it.

As for those leading teachers, perhaps they also sensed something was wrong, but affected by some force here, they failed to make accurate judgments. After all, this was just combat training. If they encountered an unexplainable bizarre situation, they could just give up and return. It wouldn’t have any real impact.

At worst, they could just do it somewhere else. There really was no need to stubbornly conduct combat training in such a strange, unfathomable environment.

“Tsk tsk… Is this also a kind of Talent?” Witnessing Carlin’s change into Karin, Zheng Yichen remarked with surprise, even developing a strong desire to research it. A mental transformation was one thing, but this directly changed the body too. What was the principle? After the mental transformation, did it stimulate certain genes in Carlin’s body, then put the genes maintaining his male identity to sleep, completing this transformation?

“Hmm, a very rare Talent. I’ve seen people with similar Talents before, but theirs were only mental changes. As for this physical type, it seems there’s only this one so far.” Dan Marina watched the scene in the water basin. While Zheng Yichen was focused on Carlin’s transformation, she saw other “things.”