Chapter 523: Synchronization

Chapter 523: Synchronization

One spoke in broken segments, another simply gave eerie grins, laughing like a yandere, bleeding from all seven orifices at every turn, all kinds of unsettling. The person before him was a huge contrast to those two, so much so that Zheng Yichen did not know what to say.

More importantly, she seemed not to know about Witches?

“That room, the people inside hold no interest for me. There’s nothing there that attracts me. But you…” The woman narrowed her eyes slightly as she stared at Zheng Yichen. “So, was it you calling for me?”

“What kind of calling…?” Zheng Yichen curled his lip slightly. All he had done in this town was release his Mana. He hadn’t done anything else. Thinking of something, Zheng Yichen searched and pulled out the Compass. The madly spinning needle was now pointing straight ahead at him!

This discovery made Zheng Yichen tsk softly. He chose not to act. Acting was impossible, after all. It was a Derivative Witch. Dealing with her would be troublesome. Besides, he did not know what kind of ability this woman before him possessed. Acting rashly was out of the question.

“Hmm, I’m not sure either, but you were definitely calling me, right?” the woman said, looking at Zheng Yichen.

“…Right, you can take it as me calling you.” Zheng Yichen thought for a moment, then nodded and admitted it. He was also very curious about the Witch before him. As he spoke, he secretly contacted Annie and the others. Although Annie and Irene, disturbed in their research, felt a bit uncomfortable, they did not say much seeing that Zheng Yichen had made a discovery.

A new Derivative Witch, and from the perspective of Zheng Yichen’s ‘eyes,’ she appeared so ordinary. This made them curious as well.

Annie was the first to offer her opinion: “If we could observe on-site, we would surely discover more. Watching through the eyes of your Alchemical Avatar like this, it’s just so-so. Tell me, what did you sense from her?”

What did he sense? Because he had to maintain the normal behavior of the Avatar, Zheng Yichen’s true self reacted a beat slower. “I didn’t sense anything. Besides being ordinary, she’s just ordinary.”

“Is that so? Then she might have some form of disguise,” Annie said after some thought.

“Is there any way to probe for something?”

“Probe? Ask Irene.” Annie quite simply yielded the right to speak to Irene.

Irene raised one hand, and a Magic Rune Array appeared on it. “Using this Magic, you can see something. However, it might anger her. You decide what to do.”

“Hey hey hey! What do you mean ‘you decide’? Such irresponsible words don’t sound like you, Irene.” Zheng Yichen was shocked.

Irene looked at Zheng Yichen calmly. “Who do you think she is? That’s a Derivative Witch, not some small fry. Since she is suspected of having a disguise, to expose it you cannot use ordinary means. If you don’t want to use it, then go along with her for now. She seems to lack the memories of the Undying Witch.”

“Seems!?”

“Hmm, the way she acts is very intelligent, not comparable to previous Derivative Witches. Therefore, we cannot rule out the possibility that she knows something special. Be careful yourself.”

Irene’s words made Zheng Yichen feel conflicted. Through the Alchemical Avatar, he looked at the woman before him who seemed utterly ordinary in every way. She was very talkative, and the content of her speech was basically about ordinary people’s affairs, like what happened with the neighbors and such. She was extremely chatty.

Zheng Yichen, intending to use her as bait to find Loris, chose not to use the Magic Rune Array Irene gave him to test her situation. Instead, he responded to the content of her chatter. While chatting, Zheng Yichen became aware of a subtle situation: this woman seemed to be learning about him.

It was a strange feeling, and it made Zheng Yichen very uncomfortable. Even though it was just a Projection controlling the Alchemical Avatar, this uncomfortable feeling was directly fed back to Zheng Yichen’s true self!

“Hmm!?” Irene, seeing Zheng Yichen spacing out, frowned slightly and waved her hand. Zheng Yichen clutched his head and jumped up.

“Ouch, my head!” He rubbed his head. He had felt his spirit being violently stirred just now, making it difficult to maintain the Projection normally. The connection was directly severed. Without the Projection Spell, Zheng Yichen’s full attention was pulled back. He looked at Irene strangely. “What happened? Why did you suddenly hit me with something so harsh?”

“That Witch has a big problem. You were tricked. Don’t talk to her anymore,” Irene said seriously. “Remember, don’t interact with her!”

“…Alright, alright. Remember to tell me the reason later.” Zheng Yichen nodded and remotely reactivated the Alchemical Avatar. His perspective restored, the woman before him was still that very ordinary woman. It was as if she hadn’t noticed Zheng Yichen’s disconnection. After he recovered, she continued asking things that sounded like trivial matters.

This time, Zheng Yichen simply remained silent. Irene had already seriously warned him. Why do that again? Just go with ‘I won’t listen, I won’t listen, I won’t listen’!

“Why aren’t you speaking? It was you who called me here, but now you ignore me?”

“Who…” Huh, he was about to say that wasn’t the case, but realizing that would be speaking again, Zheng Yichen forcefully held back the following words.

“Since you don’t want to pay attention to me anymore, I’ll leave then.”

“…” Zheng Yichen remained silent.

“Can I find you tomorrow? I feel especially drawn to you. I really don’t want to leave you.”

“…” Tsk, didn’t she say she was leaving? Why was she still blabbering here? He picked at his ear. Although he couldn’t pick anything out, this action showed that Zheng Yichen was quite impatient now. However, the utterly ordinary woman before him showed no reaction and kept chattering away.

Perhaps because Zheng Yichen remained silent for too long, the woman who seemed ordinary in every way began to appear ‘stiff’ in Zheng Yichen’s eyes, like a marionette, giving him an even more pronounced sense of eeriness. Even… Zheng Yichen had a feeling he was looking at himself?

Feeling a bit disgusted, he curled his lip. Zheng Yichen suddenly stood up and went to the door. He wanted to say if she kept blabbering, he would open the door and call for someone. But he still held back and didn’t speak. Sensing some movement, Zheng Yichen looked back. The woman was gone.

He took out the Compass again. The needle had resumed its previous mad spinning. This gave Zheng Yichen a very uncomfortable feeling. It was as if he was inside the belly of a monster. It wasn’t that he couldn’t find the monster; he was inside the monster’s body, so how could he find the monster?

This feeling was terrible. So, what kind of Derivative Witch had he encountered?

He sighed and closed the half-opened door again. Zheng Yichen’s attention returned to his true self. Irene and Annie still hadn’t resumed work and were discussing something. Zheng Yichen pricked up his ears to listen for a moment. What they were talking about still concerned him. Unfortunately, Zheng Yichen only heard two words before the two Witches stopped their discussion and stared straight at him. Zheng Yichen, who was lying down, couldn’t pretend anymore either. He gave an awkward smile and stood up. “Ahem, I’m back. What exactly happened just now?”

“You were assimilated,” Irene said.

“Huh? What? Assimilation? What assimilation?” Zheng Yichen asked, somewhat confused.

“The literal meaning. Someone was trying to understand your Soul and synchronize with your Soul.”

“Sounds profound but I don’t get it.”

“In other words, if they succeeded, there might be another you!”

“Whoa! Is it that powerful!?” Zheng Yichen wore a dumbfounded expression. Another himself? Could it get any crazier?

“It’s normal. Although you are an Otherworldly Soul, it is still a Soul. In nature, it is no different from the Souls in this world. And that extra you, while also you, is not real and will not have all the memories you possess. However, the personality would be identical!”

“So, the Derivative Witch you encountered probably inherited this part of the Undying Witch’s ability for Soul assimilation,” Irene explained. Zheng Yichen listened, the corner of his mouth twitching.

“Did she succeed?”

“No. I interrupted the process. Afterward, if you didn’t continue speaking with her, then she wouldn’t be able to successfully synchronize with you. Your ability’s characteristics can also protect you to the greatest extent.”

“I thought my ability could make me immune to many things…”

Irene shook her head. Immunity was impossible. There was no such thing as absolute immunity. Even against a Fire Elemental Being, Irene could use Fire Magic, which was almost counter-effective, to burn it to death. “In short, remember, in the town where your second Avatar is located, don’t talk much with anyone. Because anyone you encounter could potentially be someone who can synchronize with you through conversation. For now, aside from talking, other situations won’t be problematic. You don’t need to worry.”

Zheng Yichen clicked his tongue. That it only works on talking was also a bit puzzling. “Why only talking?”

“For other beings, generally speaking, talking isn’t necessary. Staying in close proximity to her in a place for a period of time would allow synchronization. Your situation is special. Talking is the breakthrough point. As for any other oversights later, you don’t need to worry either. If there’s a problem, I will interrupt you in advance.”

Interrupt!? Why did this word sound so scary coming from Irene’s mouth? Zheng Yichen twitched the corner of his mouth. “Alright, I understand. Communicating via writing is fine, right?”

“You can try.”

“Then, if another me appeared, what would happen…” Zheng Yichen asked uneasily. Seeing Irene’s serious expression, it definitely wasn’t anything good.

“It’s not about what would happen, but about what that Derivative Witch wants to do. After she synchronizes, it’s not that an extra you appears out of thin air. Rather, she can replace you. Although not completely, the characteristics would be almost identical to yours. Under this near-identical premise, aside from lacking memories, the other aspects of what she can do would be the same as you. The difference is she could also incorporate her own thoughts.”

“These are secondary. The main point is she could use this as a basis to establish a special connection with you to steal your power… You have never known how troublesome the Undying Witch’s Soul ability is.”

These words were a bit hurtful, but since Irene stated it so seriously, Zheng Yichen suddenly felt that Dan Marina paying the price of a long slumber in exchange for the Undying Witch being completely suppressed and sealed was really not unfair!

The strange abilities revealed by the incidents these Derivative Witches caused truly opened Zheng Yichen’s eyes. Zheng Yichen also became a bit curious. He looked at Annie and Irene. “Um, if some of your preparations went out of control, what would happen?”

“Nothing would happen,” Irene said flatly. “We are not the same type of Witches as the Undying Witch. Our abilities cannot be compared. The Undying Witch’s preparations going out of control resulting in Derivative Witches doesn’t mean we can do the same. Her preparations were for her own rebirth.”

“And we lack the characteristic of rebirth, so naturally we wouldn’t have those preparations. So if our other preparations went out of control, it would just be some explosions or mutations of things. Nothing extra would appear… Oh, this is regarding me. As for Annie, the problem wouldn’t be too small either.”

Zheng Yichen looked at Annie. Annie shrugged lightly. “Ah~ You want to know? It’s nothing much. I am the Witch of Life. So, if I were killed, not to mention the residence, if other leftover things went out of control, it would just be a major biological mutation. No need to look so grim. It wouldn’t be like the scenes in those little ‘Biohazard’ movies you made.”

“Although… I am also somewhat interested in that sort of thing. It seems I could create something similar if I tried, but it’s not necessary. That so-called major mutation is nothing more than a massive leak of witchified Life Energy, producing a special radiation effect. All beings that come into contact would have something triggered. After all, Human Bloodlines are very rich. So, most likely, this triggering would cause these people to no longer be Human. As for animals, this world would probably have a considerable period with a large number of powerful beasts or Magical Beasts running rampant.”

“…You all really are harbingers of disaster,” Zheng Yichen said sincerely.

“That’s why The Church is so keen on eliminating us. I don’t know where they learned the method to eliminate us without large-scale remnants… In short, aside from a minority of Witches, most Witches, after death, basically unleash some remnants centered on themselves.”

Annie continued explaining. After some thought, she added for Zheng Yichen: “As for you calling us harbingers of disaster, I can’t refute it. Anyway, what I did after my Awakening… Hmm, forget it, it’s in the past. In short, I told you before, don’t expose the characteristics of your ability. This isn’t just about your influence on Witches; it also involves some other issues. As long as it passes through your hands, you can create an effect similar to The Church’s method of killing Witches, avoiding the residual effects after a Witch is eliminated.”

“…” Zheng Yichen felt he was truly awesome… Or was it that all who survived after crossing over were like this?