Chapter 526: Scheming

Chapter 526: Scheming

Among the mid to high-level members of The Church, they already had significant influence. Therefore, it was necessary to figure out the relationship between Ti Xiya and the Cursed Witch Loris. If necessary, letting that woman keep thinking about the Cursed Witch’s matters was inevitable. Besides, her strength was sufficient. Even if she couldn’t live as long as a witch, living a good five hundred years was easily within her reach. If her strength improved further during that time, she could live even longer.

She could definitely live until the next Witch Hunt. Even if Loris used some new method to suppress her power during this period, it was only a delay. Not to mention, if the Cursed Witch took large-scale action during this time, it would shorten this period even more.

Her Witch Hunt had just ended, yet she had already taken action several times recently. Loris was dealing with Derivative Witches. Dan Marina already knew about this from Zheng Yichen. After all, those were Derivative Witches. Additionally, Loris’s ability was one of ultimate destruction—theoretically capable of countering any power, but this countering could vary depending on the situation.

For example, abilities related to the Soul. These abilities were more about being intangible and immaterial, not directly attacking. Loris, relying on her Curse of Destruction to disrupt attacks, also had little chance. So, dealing with some Derivative Witches wouldn’t be easy for her.

At the very least, it wouldn’t be something she could easily resolve… She would definitely have to be serious about it. Those deserts were the best proof. All this meant that Loris had used power that exceeded her body’s Seal. A witch—how could she possibly be a child?

Her physique was purely due to excessively suppressing and sealing her own power, causing her body to shrink. Zheng Yichen had once seen her true appearance in the past—definitely not a ten-thousand-year-old loli…

According to Dan Marina’s estimation, clearing those Derivative Witches would shorten Loris’s Witch Hunt interval by at least half a year.

However, based on the last Witch Hunt phenomenon, Dan Marina could also estimate the specific time of Loris’ Witch Hunt: an interval of one hundred and eighty years. If she didn’t excessively suppress her power, this estimated interval would shorten tenfold.

So, Loris really lived up to being one of the existences that others among the witches were most unwilling to provoke. Not only was her ability dangerous, but with such an ultra-short Witch Hunt interval… Dan Marina really wanted to know how she survived those frequent Berserk phases in the past.

To have kept it hidden until now, Loris… Well, that emotionless one shouldn’t be underestimated, either. Dan Marina thought about it and realized that after breaking free from The Church’s control, she had truly become a bit overconfident. She hadn’t thought much about this before. Fine, truly worthy of being her ‘archrival’!

Back to the main point, because witches’ strength levels were so high, their growth was almost linear. This gave the illusion that they could be easily caught up to—like reaching half the strength of a witch in just a few decades, for instance.

To use another analogy—from Tier 1 to Tier 10, then to Legend and Epic levels. The difference from Tier 10 to Legend was just one tier. It didn’t seem like much of a gap, and those who reached Tier 5 or 6 looked like they were only half as strong… But in reality?

The so-called Tier 10 wasn’t even half as strong as the level after crossing that threshold. So, those prodigies who could reach half a witch’s level in a few decades, if they wanted to reach two-thirds or three-quarters of the average witch’s strength later on, the even more monstrous ones might still need a few more decades. For the slightly less talented, it could take centuries.

Witches who lived long didn’t live in vain. Thinking one could reach their level in just a few years or decades—they truly thought they were an arrogant prodigy… Even Zheng Yichen himself didn’t have such extravagant thoughts. In the past few years, with constant strokes of luck, according to Irene’s evaluation, Zheng Yichen’s current level was about one-tenth of a weaker witch.

And this was after Zheng Yichen used many extremely rare items, including quite a bit of Annie’s Life Essence, along with some other rare things. And this one-tenth level didn’t mean ten Zheng Yichens could defeat a witch. In a frontal battle, a witch could handle more than twenty Zheng Yichens head-on and still be assured of victory.

A stalemate?

He wasn’t an existence like the Saintess. A stalemate would be meaningless anyway; he would eventually lose.

Reaching one-tenth of a weaker witch’s strength in a few years—well, that was already quite impressive! He wasn’t some prodigy unseen for centuries. Looking at the time frame, it seemed like ten times the years would be enough to close the gap. In reality, the closer one’s strength grew, the more it approached a steady straight line.

Ti Xiya was stronger than Zheng Yichen. If his true form were brought over, in a one-on-one situation, she could probably beat him with one hand tied behind her back.

After all, that so-called “one-tenth of a witch’s level” for Zheng Yichen was based on his ability-buffed state. Zheng Yichen’s main expertise was in his Secondary Profession. He didn’t know the Dragon Clan’s Combat Techniques. His Magic prowess wasn’t bad either, but it was more about skill. Among the Magic spells Zheng Yichen had mastered, only the Projection Spell and Magic Weapon Forging were suitable for him to fine-tune.

It would be hard to get clarity on the relationship issue from Loris’s side. If she didn’t want to talk, Dan Marina didn’t have much confidence in getting it out of her. Asking too much and annoying her—Dan Marina thought it was more likely Loris would simply attack without a word. Against someone like that, who wouldn’t waste time arguing and just wanted to beat you up, there was simply no reasoning.

Therefore, she felt she needed to continue being a secretary for a while longer. At least Ti Xiya could be reasoned with…

The time within the Containment Zone was enough for her to manage. As for whether Loris would come to the Containment Zone out of boredom, Dan Marina thought it was unlikely. After all, the Derivative Witches she was currently looking for hadn’t been exposed. The one still playing mind games with the Saintess was alive and well. If Loris had any intention, that Soul Perception witch would probably have been finished.

As for the Saintess who could fight witches on equal terms?

Dan Marina needed to explain this “equal terms.” That witch could fight anyone, but no matter what, she couldn’t win—this “equal terms” was from the witch’s perspective! The Saintess could fight witches, but any witch had the ability to kill a single Saintess. It was just a matter of some trouble or having to pay a price.

So, Loris killing that Soul Perception Derivative Witch right in front of Saintess Deya really wouldn’t be a problem. Saintess Deya wouldn’t team up with the Derivative Witch…

Wanting to be the woman behind Zheng Yichen, while also making sure Zheng Yichen knew—so who said the emotionless ones lacked schemes? Anyway, after Dan Marina realized some issues, she saw nothing but scheming in the recent events!

Tsk!

Trying to push me aside wouldn’t be that easy.

After returning to the Quarantine Camp, Zheng Yichen saw Oss and his team. This team was doing quite well. They frequently entered and exited the Stone Forest without any accidents. Instead, each time they had good gains. Their savings were also growing. Even the usually silent Berserker, Fred, had much livelier expressions recently, as if he had regained his youth.

Zheng Yichen had looked into this matter. Remembering the Female Knight Fred had taken a liking to, as a silly Earthling who valued looks above all, he felt deeply uncomfortable…

Anyway, he wished Fred well.

“Oh? Haven’t seen you in a while, Sir Connor.” Seeing Zheng Yichen, Green couldn’t help but come over to greet him. Years of adventure life taught Green that befriending special existences with good tempers was never wrong. Besides, this dragon’s character seemed pretty good, making it even more necessary to build a good relationship.

“I’ve been busy recently.”

“I really envy your freedom to move around.” Green said, sincerely admiring. Inside the Containment Zone, besides the Stone Forest, there were just those endless Human Forms. If this was an adventure, it was a bit too monotonous. He had wanted to change locations long ago. Adventure was about exploring all sorts of novel places, not being stuck in one spot doing what felt like manual labor or mining every day.

Mercenaries cared about money. Not all Adventurers cared only about gold. Many more enjoyed the process of adventure. Green was one of those. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have chosen to be an Adventurer but would have become a Mercenary. With his versatility, he would be highly welcomed in any team.

“You could buy an Alchemical Puppet.”

“How much?”

“One thousand gold coins for the basic version.”

“Forget it, then.” Green said straightforwardly. One thousand gold coins just for a toy? He wasn’t a Noble who treated money as nothing. Even for a Noble of smaller means, taking out that much money in one go would hurt.

“By the way, you seem quite close with The Church people. Um, do you have any concrete estimate for how long it’ll take to resolve things here in the Containment Zone? Does The Church have any specific timeline?”

Zheng Yichen shook his head, glancing toward the Stone Forest. “No specific timeline, but it’s certain the Containment Zone won’t disappear until the issues in the Stone Forest are resolved.”

Resolving the Stone Forest’s problems… Green sighed helplessly, deeply feeling how troublesome this matter was. Exploring the Stone Forest was becoming more difficult. Moreover, he had noticed something: the Human Forms that could appear in the Stone Forest weren’t… fewer in number compared to the outside, but due to the special environment there and the large numbers of Church members going in daily to clear them, the scale wasn’t proportional to the outer area’s infestation.

The Human Forms greatly increased the difficulty of exploring the Stone Forest.

Green guessed that once the Stone Forest’s problems were resolved, there would definitely be a massive Human Form crisis erupting from the Stone Forest. Solving the Stone Forest wouldn’t be the end of the event, but the start of a new crisis. Those who survived now had gained relevant experience dealing with the Human Forms. The casualty rate decreased every day, but that didn’t mean there were absolutely no sacrifices. After toiling for over half a year…

If the Human Forms maintained their current state and the crisis didn’t worsen further, there would still be hundreds of deaths… As exploration of the Stone Forest deepened, the casualty rate would increase further.

Green had spent a lot of effort on this matter recently, as it concerned the survival of himself and his team. Green wouldn’t be careless about this. As for Dan Marina working temporarily for The Church, he supported that. Doing so could obtain more useful information. Even a slight heads-up could help avoid later crises.

“Oh, and the campsite will have some changes soon. If you have certain small items, be more careful when carrying them.” Zheng Yichen briefly mentioned the Filtration Net. The Filtration Net plan would be officially implemented tomorrow. By then, there would definitely be new changes to the campsite layout. These Quarantine Camps would need to be reorganized. For example, the current Quarantine Camp’s usable period was almost reaching its limit.

The patrols within the campsite were no longer surprised by the sudden appearance of Human Forms. These Human Forms were often killed the moment they appeared. The Quarantine Camp already had many Flesh Seeds. Even without the Filtration Net, this place would undergo a major disinfection in a couple of days.

The disinfection method? Simple. Have Spellcasters dig up all the soil down to a depth of over ten meters. During this process, they would also need a Spellcaster proficient in Fire Magic for high-temperature disinfection, then wet and compress the extremely high-temperature-treated soil back into place.

A simple disinfection procedure, consuming only Mana, was much faster than spreading chemicals. Flesh Seeds had strong adaptability. For non-Elemental Power corrosive damage, even if some were eliminated, the survivors could quickly adapt.

“That sounds like a good thing.” Green nodded. “I’ve been a bit stressed sleeping these days, worried if a Human Form might come knocking in the middle of the night… Speaking of which, the major campsites seem to have introduced quite a few good items.”

Green said, looking at the many ‘poles’ erected in the Quarantine Camp. The poles were orderly scattered in various places, each without exception hanging a… high-powered light bulb! The power source? That wasn’t an issue. Zheng Yichen made batteries. Those batteries used Inferior Enchanted Material and could hold a certain amount of Thunder Element.

The source of the Thunder Element? The battery interior had a thunder Magic Rune Array. When out of power, a Spellcaster could inject Mana to activate the Magic Rune Array for charging. Generally, one charge could keep these bulbs lit all night. As for making the bulbs, the shell was somewhat difficult, but the bulb itself wasn’t too hard. Many materials could glow due to resistance heating.

Zheng Yichen selected materials that were brighter, more energy-efficient, and more durable, processed them into filaments, and that was it. The materials’ special properties made these bulbs’ lifespans far exceed Earth’s incandescent bulbs, including luminous efficacy. Energy consumption was also much lower.

As for fluorescent lamps… Zheng Yichen could make those, but incandescent bulbs were enough. No need to bring out the rest. Patents? Zheng Yichen believed that as long as his fist was big enough, he held the patents. If others wanted to infringe on his ‘design’ patents—first, Zheng Yichen had a Contract with The Church. If he provided such designs now, and outsiders secretly took them, The Church wouldn’t ignore it. Then there was his partner, the Purple Vine Guild.

Therefore… even though these things had great profit potential, anyone wanting a share would need to discuss it with Zheng Yichen first. Otherwise, for those who believed in reasoning, there were The Church and the Purple Vine Guild. For those who didn’t… wasn’t Zheng Yichen himself someone who could be unreasonable?

He was a dragon now. If he really didn’t want to follow Human rules, he could simply ignore them.

The importance of strength and connections…

“Hmm… alright, I’m heading back.” Zheng Yichen, remembering something, bid farewell to Oss and the others and returned to his private room. Dan Marina had taken the Compass she could use in the Containment Zone. Was she planning to take action against the Derivative Witch here now?

Zheng Yichen planned to ask her when she returned.