Chapter 406: The Connection

Chapter 406: The Connection

“Let me tell you, Annie can be quite petty sometimes,” Dan Marina said mysteriously the next day, after hearing Zheng Yichen’s sorrowful story. However, as she spoke, she casually shifted her position to the side, putting a lot more distance between herself and Zheng Yichen. Seeing this, Zheng Yichen couldn’t help but show a pained and indignant expression!

“My real body is still in deep trouble right now, and you dare to move away!!!” Zheng Yichen roared. If he hadn’t found a note in Annie’s research journal stating that the scent would only last three or four days, he wouldn’t be just roaring now—he’d be flipping the table!

“Ah~ ha~ After all, Mana can also carry the scent, so I’m a bit scared,” Dan Marina giggled twice, still showing no intention of moving forward. Thick skin? What was that? Just something that piled up layer by layer the longer you lived. Coincidentally, she had lived a very long time, accumulating who knew how many layers.

“Here!” Zheng Yichen irritably placed several ‘Hand Grenades’ in front of Dan Marina. There were nine in total. Dan Marina had asked for three, but Zheng Yichen gave her three times that amount. After all, what she was doing now wasn’t just for herself but also for Zheng Yichen. So, regarding the resources she needed, Zheng Yichen naturally spared no effort in supporting her.

Directly getting involved? He didn’t have Dan Marina’s skill of entering the game and still being a player. If he got involved now, he’d only be asking for trouble.

“Oh? So many extras?”

“Why don’t you hurry up and thank that petty witch you mentioned?” Zheng Yichen glared at Dan Marina with annoyance. The reason there were so many extras was, of course, because Annie saw how miserable Zheng Yichen was. She not only gave him all the relevant research notes but also plucked two of her own hairs, similar to what Irene had done. However, her hair contained enough Life Energy, allowing Zheng Yichen to rapidly grow several Soul-Loss Fruit trees in a short time.

As for making biochemical weapon s, that was easy. Zheng Yichen said he had been making Earth-style equipment for so long; with raw materials on hand, a specially made poison gas bomb was a trivial matter.

“Be careful when using these. Their power is much greater than you think. Don’t think it’s just gas—it can really suffocate people.”

That wasn’t an exaggeration; it genuinely could suffocate people!

“You’re not planning to develop this kind of thing extensively in the future, are you?”

“Isn’t that good?”

“Very good,” Dan Marina said with a malicious smile, sweeping the poison gas bombs into her Personal Space. Seeing Zheng Yichen revert to his listless state, she couldn’t help but chuckle. She could imagine what kind of torment Zheng Yichen’s real body was enduring. The discomfort caused by the Mana couldn’t be easily avoided simply by shifting all his attention to the Projection.

Since Zheng Yichen was in low spirits, Dan Marina didn’t continue the topic. Instead, she quietly held a cup of tea and watched Zheng Yichen’s lifeless posture. After a while, perhaps feeling it was too quiet, Zheng Yichen looked up at Dan Marina. Come to think of it, this woman was quite charming when sitting quietly… Wait, what was he thinking!

“Can we talk about something else to distract me?” Zheng Yichen asked. He was very uncomfortable now. As soon as it got quiet, he would inevitably start slowly feeling the discomfort caused by the changes in his Mana. Do experiments? Conduct research? Before the scent clinging to his Mana was eliminated, he had no mind for any of that. First of all, he couldn’t concentrate.

“What do you want to talk about?” Dan Marina asked with a light laugh.

“Well, like how did you determine yesterday that the Dark Church was tricked?” Zheng Yichen asked after thinking for a moment. He really wanted to know about this, especially since Dan Marina’s tone had been so certain at the time. The Tracing Ability wasn’t all-powerful; at the very least, Dan Marina couldn’t trace something out of thin air. For example, before she knew of Zheng Yichen’s existence, her Tracing Ability’s effectiveness would be greatly reduced or even ineffective. How could she trace without a target?

“It wasn’t really that difficult. Once I connected some past factors, I could find the most accurate result among many possibilities,” Dan Marina gently pointed to her eyes. “Although the Tracing Ability is very useful, it shouldn’t be used rigidly. Do you remember where you got the Dark Element Heart?”

Zheng Yichen nodded.

“The Undying Witch also wanted the Dark Element Heart, but she failed. However, in the end, she took away all the concentrated Dark Element accumulated in the Canyon.” This wasn’t something seen through the Tracing Ability but could be known with a little analysis. The Dark Element in the Canyon wouldn’t dissipate completely in a short time. It was so dense there that anyone entering would find it hard to move. For it to dissipate would take at least a year or more.

That was a Canyon. A large amount of Dark Element was indeed seeping out, but even more was trapped inside, unable to spread out immediately. It could only gradually dissipate according to environmental factors. Yet when they went there, the place was already empty, without a trace of extra Dark Element.

The Undying Witch originally planned to get the Dark Element Heart to do something, but she failed in that. However, she immediately regained her footing from Zheng Yichen’s side, obtaining something even more useful—Zheng Yichen’s Mana. Therefore, whatever she had created by collecting the immense Dark Element accumulated in the Canyon became useless.

For the Undying Witch, that thing was like a ‘Mana Ball,’ specifically used to recover MP, and it might not even be of much use. With such a special item, plus some disguise, she could pass it off as the Dark Element Heart, and some might even believe it. The item’s significance was enough to make the Dark Church fully assist the Undying Witch to a certain extent. As for other things, why pay a high price when she had a cheap fake to trick the Dark Church?

Even if this method couldn’t deceive them for long, it would suffice for a while. By the time the Dark Church realized they had been tricked, the Undying Witch’s goals would be nearly achieved. Then, after being deceived and paying a considerable price, would the Dark Church just quietly seek revenge on the Undying Witch?

By then, the Undying Witch would likely have already prepared countermeasures, not giving the Dark Church such an opportunity. Even if they could cause trouble, so what?

Could they kill her? The Sanctuary Church failed to do that back then; could the Dark Church do better? Wishful thinking. So the Dark Church was destined to take this loss silently!

“Although that’s true, if an accident happens and it gets exposed, you’ll be the one to take the blame. To reduce trouble, the Undying Witch will definitely tell the Dark Church that you have the Dark Element Heart.”

Zheng Yichen’s face remained expressionless, but inside, he was full of frustration. After hearing Dan Marina’s analysis, Zheng Yichen didn’t know what to say. Many seemingly unrelated things, after her detailed explanation and eliminating most impossibilities, felt so logical.

“That thing really is a hot potato,” Zheng Yichen frowned slightly. When used properly, the Element Heart could unleash power comparable to a Witch’s Power. That was a fact; Irene, Dan Marina, and Loris had all nodded in agreement. However, it wasn’t something that could be used simply by embedding it into a Magic Wand.

To make it work required certain conditions. Zheng Yichen could barely use it himself; most of the time, he could only use it to create a home-field advantage rather than utilize its full power. Right now, the Element Heart felt somewhat useless to Zheng Yichen, yet he couldn’t bear to part with it!

Of course, it was only temporary. Once he found a way to unleash the Element Heart’s true power in the future, its value would fully reveal itself. But how to use it?

Zheng Yichen had few ideas for now. The Element Heart was still in Irene’s hands, so many studies couldn’t be conducted. Speaking of the Element Heart, Irene would be finishing her seclusion soon… Also, the Power Core conceptualized a long time ago was almost assembled and ready for use. Once that thing was done, he would gain a powerful combat accessory.

“A hot potato you can’t get rid of,” Dan Marina thought for a moment. “There’s no need to worry too much about the Element Heart for now. As long as the Undying Witch doesn’t want us interfering too much in her affairs, we don’t need to worry about leaks for the time being… Hmm, this is one of her loopholes.”