Chapter 533: Can You Imagine the Rest?

Chapter 533: Can You Imagine the Rest?

“So you ran back here from Oro’s place for just that reason?” Dan Marina looked at Zheng Yichen, who had hurriedly returned, and tossed the already sorted documents aside, watching Zheng Yichen with great interest.

“Mhm, mhm. If I delayed any longer, I was afraid I’d forget. Who knows how long it would take to think of it again, so I rushed back to ask as soon as possible!”

“Oh~ alright, the issue with the Compass you made and the Stone Forest, right? Actually, these two matters can be seen as one.” Dan Marina took out the Compass Zheng Yichen had made, lightly tossing it in her hand. The needle pointed in one direction—the direction of the Stone Forest.

Zheng Yichen exclaimed softly and waited for Dan Marina to continue. This Derivative Witch was connected to the Stone Forest again? And it could be considered one matter?

“Hmm, the Human Form and the Stone Forest originally had a special complementary effect. No matter how foolish that Derivative Witch is, she could still realize the related issues. The reason there haven’t been any extra changes within the Containment Zone is that she shifted her focus to the Stone Forest. Hmm… You want to ask me why I didn’t mention this earlier?”

“The key breakthrough at the Stone Forest is this Derivative Witch. Your Compass is quite good. I made some slight improvements to more accurately pinpoint her location, so there’s no need to worry about being late.”

“Then give it back.” Zheng Yichen stretched out his hand, wanting to see what Dan Marina had done to the Compass.

Dan Marina had no intention of returning the Compass to Zheng Yichen: “No need to be so hasty. You don’t need it right now.”

“…” Zheng Yichen didn’t think Dan Marina had done anything shady to it… no, no, with her, she definitely made some secret modifications. At a glance, the modifications weren’t finished yet. Otherwise, if she had some scheme in mind, she definitely wouldn’t choose not to give it to him at this moment: “Alright then, you hold onto it for now. If the Derivative Witch within the Containment Zone makes any big moves, you must tell me immediately.”

Zheng Yichen emphasized. The special nature of the Stone Forest made Zheng Yichen determined to secure it. Moreover, if the secrets of this place fell into the hands of the Derivative Witch, Zheng Yichen felt that would be even worse. The special nature of this Stone Forest… after all, it was still a mystery. Dan Marina nodded slightly.

Zheng Yichen still felt somewhat uneasy as he left the place.

Hmm, since Dan Marina had things under control within the Containment Zone, he would first deal with matters outside. He needed to focus!

“So, you came back to trouble us just to focus?” Annie looked at Zheng Yichen. Zheng Yichen observed her; her complexion was good, and she didn’t seem angry even though her experiment was interrupted. He clicked his tongue twice. So, getting some extra sleep was helpful. Saying there’s no problem without sleep—look how, after this sleep, she clearly had an exceptionally good mood.

“How can you call it trouble? These Derivative Witches all have me as their target, so of course, I need to eliminate all these troubles.” Zheng Yichen said with a serious face. Annie didn’t expose Zheng Yichen’s insincere words. She pondered carefully for a while.

“Hmm, the Witch with Soul Synchronization. Although she’s difficult to target, she’s not impossible to deal with… Ah, by ‘difficult to target,’ I mean this Derivative Witch’s growth is incomparable to other Derivative Witches. Currently, I don’t know how many souls she has synchronized with, but she has definitely absorbed enough growth nutrients from many people. Don’t look at her with the same perspective you had for the previous Derivative Witches. This Derivative Witch is very smart.”

“However, precisely because she is very smart, she might act in ways beyond instinctual reactions. After all, being smart can sometimes lead to doing not-so-bright things…”

“You mean I should outsmart her!?” Zheng Yichen was startled in his heart. Had his intelligence grown enough to handle this?

“Wake up, don’t think too much. This isn’t something that can be solved by outsmarting her. She can gather enough information through Soul Synchronization… Hmm, you’re an exception.” Zheng Yichen’s unique trait gave his soul a special protective layer. Synchronization could succeed but couldn’t obtain any information from Zheng Yichen.

But it was different for others. The way to outsmart this Derivative Witch was to avoid any contact with her, but it was already too late. The Derivative Witch had been active in the town for so long that her power had long radiated throughout the entire town. After hearing Annie’s explanation, Zheng Yichen became speechless. What could he say about this…

If that was the case, thinking about Dan Marina’s description of Oro, outsmarting? Forget it.

“Hmm, don’t worry. This ability isn’t without limits. At the very least, this synchronization won’t exceed the wisdom of those being synchronized. As long as the synchronized individuals can perform actions beyond themselves, her synchronization will have a brief gap. If, within this gap, you think of a way to scheme her death, that can also be considered a way to target her.”

“… I want to hear something I can actually use.”

“Oh, it’s simple. Just kill everyone in the town. I remember Irene has a certain magic that can instantly vaporize an entire town, not even leaving souls behind. With your current Mana Capacity, it shouldn’t be difficult to use. Oh, right, before using this magic, you should cast another new magic—the one Dan Marina taught you before. You haven’t forgotten it, right?”

“No, I haven’t…” Zheng Yichen nodded with a troubled expression. When he used that Avatar before, although his appearance was teased by Dan Marina, the information contained in that Avatar was very clear to Zheng Yichen. Especially the information about the Magic Rune Array left in the Avatar at that time. Even after separating from the Avatar and losing that unique ‘familiar’ state, he was still someone who had used that kind of magic. Using it again, even without the same familiarity, shouldn’t result in failure. The power might be reduced somewhat.

But after all, he was dealing with a derivative product, not the Undying Witch herself.

“But vaporizing an entire town like that seems too brutal, doesn’t it?”

Instantly vaporizing a town, including the souls within, well… not long ago, Zheng Yichen was discussing Nuclear Bombs with Dan Marina. Now, Annie and Irene could immediately produce a brutal magic that seemed like a response to Dan Marina’s words. Zheng Yichen didn’t know how this vaporization process worked, but he imagined it should be faster than a nuclear strike.

“Actually, in terms of benefit comparison, doing this would be better. Once that Derivative Witch leaves the town, the harm she causes afterward would be even greater.”

“But it could also be smaller…”

“Oh, don’t forget I’m a Witch. I don’t care much about such things. I just think this method is the safest and most cost-effective.”

“Let’s try another way.”

Annie thought for a moment, then looked at Irene, who had remained silent. Irene lightly traced her finger beside her, reached inside, and tossed a book to Zheng Yichen: “Use this. Before using it, discuss it with Dan Marina.”

Zheng Yichen opened the book and looked. It was a High-Level Magic called “Nightmare Magic.” It could force all beings within a certain range into a deep sleep. In this state, the souls of people within the range would be temporarily pulled into a space constructed by the caster…

In this space, the caster could control those affected… “Dragging an entire town’s worth of people into this all at once could kill me!”

Zheng Yichen couldn’t find this magic in Bona Kaine’s Magic Book search; it was probably a secret magic. After understanding this Nightmare Magic, Zheng Yichen realized its powerful points: it could silently kill enemies, and it was hard to detect its fluctuations. As for side effects, naturally, it involved a contest of soul power. This magic was okay to use on a small number of people. Using it on an entire small town full of ordinary people wouldn’t be a problem.

But it involved several powerful beings and the presence of a Derivative Witch. How could Zheng Yichen handle that… The burden from so many people would be…

“Your soul is special. There’s no problem using this magic. Besides, you also need to use the magic Annie mentioned.”

Really? Then I’ll give it a try. After all, the Nightmare Magic recorded in this book sounded quite amazing. In the constructed special space, Zheng Yichen had great control. Although this control could shift due to the soul contest, since a magic expert like Irene said so, it shouldn’t be a big problem. Steady!

“Also, since you’re taking this magic, remember to give me something of equal value.”

“… I feel like I can only pluck Dragon Scales.” Zheng Yichen said with a troubled expression. Something of equal value? This kind of secret magic wasn’t comparable to ordinary High-Level Magic of the same tier. Its value was at least ten times more.

“Then pluck them.”

“Don’t be so cruel!”

“Nails will work too.”

“Can I wait for them to fall off naturally?”

“Alright. Scales, teeth, nails—whichever they are, once they fall off, you must give them to me first.”

With a gloomy face, Zheng Yichen took the magical grimoire recording the Nightmare Magic and lay on the ground. Discuss with Dan Marina… Oh, she’s working at Ti Xiya’s place right now. Better study this magic properly first.

Sitting on the chair in the single room, Zheng Yichen pondered over this magic. The more he thought about it, the more he felt it was an incredibly powerful magic. If used well, Zheng Yichen felt he could temporarily act like Freddy. He needed to learn this magic well. Whether he could directly deal with this Derivative Witch depended on this step. Even if it didn’t work, he had to restrain her… Wait a minute!

Zheng Yichen realized another serious problem. Last time when dealing with the Undying Witch, they had used a World Barrier Fragment as a container for the “Magic Seal Wave.” Now Zheng Yichen awkwardly found he didn’t have a suitable container.

Forget it, let’s learn this magic first. High-Level Magic… it would take some time to learn. Well, although he hadn’t excessively studied magic, his strength growth had never lagged behind. His Spiritual Power was strong enough, so learning new magic was faster. By afternoon… just after lunchtime, Dan Marina returned. As soon as she arrived, she saw Zheng Yichen waving at her through the window.

“You’re off work so early? I thought she would overwork you to death because of what happened before.”

“How could that be? I’m very capable.” Dan Marina rolled her eyes. “She even provided lunch.”

“Oh, then I think she might be planning to hit on you.” Zheng Yichen spread his hands. “Like the meaning you used to tease me.”

He meant the “love rival” idea!

“Hey, just a little girl. Although a bit troublesome, let’s talk business.” Dan Marina chuckled lightly, arms crossed, not really minding Zheng Yichen’s words. Zheng Yichen shuddered. This woman… hadn’t she done something similar before? Not other women hitting on her, but her hitting on other women.

Zheng Yichen took out the magical grimoire he got from Irene. Dan Marina looked at the magic recorded in the book: “Oh my, it seems they were also annoyed by you.”

“What does that mean?” Zheng Yichen didn’t understand. Annoyed?

“Originally, the Cursed Witch had already gotten involved in this matter. They didn’t need to participate, as doing so might attract dislike. Now they gave you advice, clearly showing they were annoyed by you.”

“…”

“Joking.” Dan Marina added at the end. Zheng Yichen still kept a straight face without changing expression, continuing to look at her.

“Really joking. They definitely wouldn’t be annoyed; they aren’t that impatient. But regarding matters where other Witches are involved, they generally don’t interfere too much. Hmph.”

Zheng Yichen could clearly see the obvious pettiness on Dan Marina’s face. She continued: “This magic is indeed useful against that Derivative Witch with Soul Synchronization ability. Your ability traits are enough for you to easily use this magic without being burdened. Overall, it’s a magic very suitable for your traits… Let me think.”

“Hmm, first, find Oro. Demand a hundred times the reward.”

“…”

“Then use this magic.”

“… I feel like, apart from your first sentence, the rest isn’t very useful.”

Dan Marina smiled without defending herself. She just opened the door and walked out. Before leaving, she gave Zheng Yichen an extra instruction to not rush into doing other things and to wait for ten minutes.

Ten minutes later, Dan Marina returned and placed two sheets of paper in front of Zheng Yichen. The two sheets were densely filled with content, with beautiful, neat handwriting and rich, substantial information. This was the elaboration between the two sentences she mentioned earlier. Zheng Yichen stared blankly at the two sheets of paper, then looked at Dan Marina.

“You said it so simply just now. Do you think I could imagine all this content from those two sentences?”

Dan Marina’s smile brightened a bit more: “Actually, I wish you really could imagine it.”

“I think so too!”

Zheng Yichen put away the two sheets of paper given by Dan Marina. He would read the content later. Since Dan Marina had already laid out the plan, afterward… he needed to find a container!