Chapter 338: Demon King? Non-existent.

Chapter 338: Demon King? Non-existent.

After the vehicle-related matters were put on the right track, causing many people to abandon their previous ideas of gaining extra benefits from this area, there was finally a result regarding the matter of the Forest. That place was indeed related to a Witch, and it had a significant connection to the recently resurfaced and then disappeared Undying Witch.

Upon learning about this, some well-informed individuals decisively gave up on going to the Forest. A place related to the Undying Witch? If they accidentally died there, even their Souls would not find release. Truly, once dead, they would never be let go. Some people could be provoked, but this kind of person was absolutely not to be messed with. Falling into her hands meant that death was just the beginning.

The Sanctuary Church had now fully taken over this matter, making those who had hesitated earlier in collecting the unknown beasts feel deeply regretful. Even though they could not afford to provoke the Undying Witch, being able to come into contact with things she created here was still a huge opportunity. If they could just decipher even a hint about the Undying Witch’s Power, it would be a massive gain.

Unfortunately, after part of this matter was made public, the value of the unknown beast corpses skyrocketed, reaching dozens of times their original price… and even at that price, no one wanted to sell them. After learning about this, Zheng Yichen stared blankly at the dozens of unknown beast corpses he had tossed into his Personal Space. So these things, which he originally collected just to gather more materials through wide netting, had now inexplicably increased in value dozens of times?

And that was just for ordinary sales. If someone could later study something from them and leak some information, they could sell for an even higher price. So, without realizing it, he had accumulated such a huge fortune? Thinking back, the Adventurer Teams that took his Quests were quite diligent back then. He would post one, and they would accept it, eventually piling up such a large number…

Well, never mind. Some of the matters at hand had been resolved, so now the main focus was to study these unknown beasts. Their condition made Zheng Yichen quite curious.

In the Workshop, Zheng Yichen placed an unknown beast corpse on the experimental table. The table was additionally enchanted with preservation Magic to prevent the beast from automatically weathering away. However, using Magic for preservation was a bit inconvenient. In the end, Zheng Yichen created a liquid Magic Potion, soaked the beast in it for a while, and after cutting off one leg and confirming it would not disappear, he finally began new experiments on it.

The best way to study such things was dissection. After that came some research methods unique to this world, studying the beast’s own magical reactions and analyzing related data through these reactions. However, Zheng Yichen’s research method was somewhat special. Although he also needed to study some magical reactions, more of his research focused on other aspects. To study living organisms, shouldn’t one start from the cellular level?

Things like microscopes—Zheng Yichen couldn’t make them before. After much effort, he managed to create some rough microscopes. Once he succeeded and had the relevant parameters, subsequent production became much easier. Based on the initial data, careful work yielded fine results, and gradually increasing the magnification was achievable. After all, with Magic, as long as one’s control was precise enough, the lenses ground out could be more accurate than those ground by precision machine tools. Issues like lighting were not a problem either; Magic enhancements could easily solve them.

Observation at the microscopic level, combined with the power of Magic, allowed Zheng Yichen to easily uncover more useful information than other researchers. Annie nearly made off with this high-magnification microscope that Zheng Yichen had put great effort into creating after she learned about it. She even tried to tempt him with some good stuff, hoping to exchange for this thing.

Fortunately, Zheng Yichen claimed he was strong-willed and not so easily swayed, so he resisted such temptations. He obtained some of the good stuff, but Annie got the rental rights for this device. Although one could sense microscopic things with Magic, directly seeing them with the naked eye was a whole new experience. Back then, Annie spent several days immersed in this thing.

After all, for some magical experimental reactions, observing directly by sight could provide more understanding than just sensing.

“Huh? What on earth is this thing? Zombies?” Zheng Yichen narrowed his eyes slightly as he observed the cellular reactions of the unknown beast. Even though they were dead, as long as the power that maintained them had not dissipated, some visible aspects could still be discerned. The beast’s cells, due to preservation, were kept in a state as close as possible to the moment before death.

The more information Zheng Yichen could see, the more astonished he felt. Based on the state of those cells and some magical reactions, these beasts had ‘returned from death.’ The cells were in a dead state, yet they were forcibly activated by another power, somewhat similar to the reaction where extreme Yin gives birth to Yang—after being thoroughly dead to the extreme, they became alive again.

As for traces of Magic, Zheng Yichen did not observe a single trace. There were only residual power marks, meaning it was likely the result of some Arcane Arts or Secret Method, not the influence of Magic. This made Zheng Yichen suppress the idea of seeking advice from Irene. Irene mainly researched Magic. Although she also studied Arcane Arts, Zheng Yichen had heard her say that Irene wasn’t actually very interested in Arcane Arts.

“Tsk tsk, better ask a professional.” Zheng Yichen directly took out the Magic Weapon Summoning Book and contacted Annie. Annie already knew about the Underground Base, so no one needed to guide her there. The defense mechanisms of this place were powerful, but stopping a Witch was still somewhat difficult… well, very difficult.

Irene did not have any intention of coming directly. After hearing Zheng Yichen mention the matter of the unknown beasts, she casually mentioned something. Zheng Yichen scratched his head as he looked at the large amount of text in the Forum. He just wanted to ask about the possible reasons for this situation, but she directly gave him her research results. Was it because this thing was too low-level, or was she busy and didn’t want to say much, so she just packaged the related information and sent it over?

After pondering for a moment, Zheng Yichen started looking through these materials. Part of the content was similar to what he had researched: these beasts had indeed died and then revived. It wasn’t a revival like Necromantic Creatures, but a ‘true’ revival. After reviving, these unknown beasts could normally absorb and digest food, and even their diet did not change. More absurdly, they could still maintain the ability to reproduce!!

Even though the probability was reduced to the extreme, what the heck did this mean? Plotlines from certain zombie comics from Earth before he crossed over could happen… ahem, anyway, this issue was quite special. After all, even the ability to reproduce could be restored—this indeed counted as ‘returning from death.’ Zheng Yichen had heard Annie say that the Undying Witch’s main ability direction was the Soul. However, it seemed she had experienced certain events and additionally studied power related to death, achieving great success in it. That power had high compatibility with her, just like how Dan Marina’s true ability was Tracing, yet she had great achievements in Prophecy Art.

Zheng Yichen didn’t know why the Undying Witch wanted to create such things, but then again, these beasts were too weak. The possibility of using them to cause trouble was small. The most likely scenario was that she was also conducting some kind of experiment. Corpse Puppets? Corpse Puppets were different from these unknown beasts. Corpse Puppets simply had no Soul, but their bodies were still alive and had not undergone the process of death, so they couldn’t be considered ‘returned from death.’

“Huh… there’s also the power of Curse?” Zheng Yichen continued flipping through the materials Annie sent over. Her research was quite thorough. “What on earth does this woman want to do? Studying this kind of thing, could it be some clichéd plot?”

Muttering to himself, Zheng Yichen sealed away that unknown beast corpse, left the Laboratory, and came to Loris.

“Hmm? Demon Kings or similar beings from several hundred years ago or even earlier?” Loris looked up puzzled at Zheng Yichen’s pitch-black dragon face. “Why ask about that?”

“Is there such a thing or not?” Zheng Yichen continued to ask. The clichéd scenario he thought of was like this: for example, the Undying Witch had a good relationship with some ‘Demon King’ type being, but that being died due to some circumstances. So, over the years, the Undying Witch had been thinking about reviving them, then bringing new storms to the whole world or something… wasn’t that very possible?

“There were indeed a few.” Loris thought for a moment and said. “But they were all quite unlucky.”

Seeing Zheng Yichen wanted to hear related stories, she continued. Demon Kings… well, there indeed had been some beings from the Abyss who called themselves that in the past. But was such a title easy to bear? Don’t forget, this world had Witches, and Witches weren’t like those in other stories. So, beings daring to call themselves Demon Kings… were they looking for trouble or looking for trouble?

Perhaps some Witches didn’t care much about it, but that didn’t mean all Witches were indifferent to beings who dared call themselves that. Calling themselves like that, did they want to stand above the Witches? Thus, those who called themselves Demon Kings met misfortune. The powerful ones could hold on for a while, but the weaker ones truly died without knowing how. After that, no one with any sense dared call themselves a Demon King.

Some legends about Demon Kings completely ended after a few ‘Demon Kings’ were eliminated. If you said something like Warlock or the like, you might avoid some trouble. But calling yourself a king? Were you qualified?

“Huh… Demon Kings in this world had it pretty rough.” After listening to Loris’s telling of this secret history, Zheng Yichen’s mouth twitched slightly. Originally a domineering title, it ended up becoming a self-cursed title that invited beatings.