A Core Ship From The Start
Chapter 1201 - Chapter 1201 Chapter 816 Soul Projection

Chapter 1201: Chapter 816: Soul Projection Chapter 1201: Chapter 816: Soul Projection As everyone knows, there is a common understanding among players–that all life has soul projections in subspace, and the stronger the spiritual power one has, the larger their projection will be. Demons are drawn to these projections and then seek out the masters of these projections, subsequently transforming them into twisted monsters.

However, the problem arises when one asks what exactly is the projection of a human soul in subspace… Very few can answer this question.

After all, people rarely venture into subspace by default, considering it the territory of demons, but in fact, players who have been to subspace rarely realize which one is the projection of a human soul, or what a human soul’s projection in subspace looks like.

Although Soul Shards can be considered a type of soul projection, they are more like echoes of a lost old world rather than the projection of life in the real world.

And now, Duanmu Ai claims that she has found the answer to this question.

“I never expected to actually have a chance to put this to the test.”

Looking at the projection of Yukiko Amagi’s soul in front of her, Duanmu Ai couldn’t help but mutter to herself. Most people have never seen what a human soul projection looks like, and now, Duanmu Ai says that if this were the Imperial, she could write a paper on this topic.

“On the Demonization of Human Souls in Subspace Demons”

Yes, this is what Duanmu Ai is currently witnessing.

The Princess Xuezi is clearly the projection of the original’s soul, yet the original denies this fact, leaving Duanmu Ai uncertain if there is some kind of connection. But the truth is that the soul projection, which the original denied, has begun to clearly mutate, progressing toward demonization.

So, is this one of the reasons subspace is filled with demons?

Moreover, why does it want to kill Yukiko Amagi?

Is there a connection between these events?

While Duanmu Ai was contemplating, Satonaka Chie and the others had also begun to battle the demonized soul projection. After its demonization, the soul projection became evidently very powerful. By any logic, an average human would have been torn apart by now. What surprised Duanmu Ai was that these young people actually possessed special abilities; they could summon something similar to Electronic Demons to fight!

Could these be their Stands?!

Well, no joke, but from what Duanmu Ai could see, the entities they summoned sure resembled Stands. They were not Electronic Demons, as they lacked self-consciousness; they seemed more like projections of these young people’s consciousness and souls. Moreover, when these entities were harmed, the summoners themselves would get hurt.

This was different from Demon Summoners, who could command Electronic Demons to fight, but the life or death of these Electronic Demons wouldn’t directly affect them. Take Duanmu Ai, for example–if her summoned Yellow Dragon were destroyed, she just needed to summon another Electronic Demon.

Something like “Stand down, Pikachu,” “Come out, Magikarp.” In the entire process, the Demon Summoner themselves would not be harmed.

Yet conversely, if the entities these people summoned were to die… Well, from the current situation, it looks like they would probably die too?

As for Yukiko Amagi’s situation, Duanmu Ai wasn’t very clear on it. From the information gathered along the way, it was obvious that her future had been decided. However, deep down, she was not willing to accept this future, which is why resistance from her soul projection had emerged.

Now, while resisting the demon’s Attack, Satonaka Chie was desperately trying to persuade Yukiko Amagi–right, let’s skip the middle part with all the trivialities; to sum it up in one sentence, the two resolved their issues, and Yukiko Amagi took a brave first step forward.

“No———-!!”

The instant Yukiko Amagi pushed away the prison that bound her, the demonized soul projection let out a tragic scream, and at the same time, its Strength was significantly weakened. Ming Shangyou and Hanamura took this opportunity to knock it down. Following that, Satonaka Chie maneuvered her Stand to deal a fatal blow to the entity, bringing it to the ground and causing it to vanish entirely.

So this was why the soul projection wanted to kill its master?

Watching the demon scream and gradually fade away, Duanmu Ai made a mental note. It seemed that soul projections also possessed a certain self-consciousness, and the less the original recognized it, the more it would absorb power from the surrounding subspace, twisting into a demon. But once the original accepted its presence, it was akin to reaffirming their connection, forcing the soul projection to return under the original’s control?

While Duanmu Ai pondered this, she saw Princess Yukiko reappear, only now she had lost her earlier haughtiness and vigor, standing still like a Puppet, motionless.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t acknowledge you properly before.”

At that moment, Yukiko Amagi approached her soul projection and held its hand.

“The desire to run away, the desire to be saved… This truly is how I felt…”

“……”

Hearing Yukiko Amagi speak, the soul projection gave a slight smile, then a glimmer of light appeared on its body, and then–it transformed into an entity similar to a Stand, emerging behind Yukiko Amagi.

“So, it comes to be in this way.”

Understanding now, Duanmu Ai finally grasped how these things similar to Electronic Demons came to exist beside these seemingly ordinary young men and women. With that, their previous complex expressions also made sense–uh-huh, which meant that these Stands were, in fact, the crystallization of their dark histories.

Well, this is truly interesting, I certainly didn’t expect to stumble upon the existence of Subspace here…

“By the way, Yukiko, how did you end up here?” Satonaka Chie asked, voicing the doubt in her heart to her good friend.

“We were quite shocked when we saw you appear on the TV.”

“Eh? Sorry, I’m not very clear on that myself, I only remember helping out at the inn, then it seemed a guest arrived, I went to receive them… and then I lost consciousness. When I woke up, I was already here. Sorry, I don’t remember much about what happened…”

“Is that so…”

Hearing Yukiko Amagi’s reply, Satonaka Chie furrowed her brows while Ming Shangyou looked around in confusion.

“Where did it go?”

“Eh? Now that you mention it…”

Following their companion’s remark, the others lifted their heads to look around. The mysterious Pink Girl Pig had disappeared without a trace. It seemed that as soon as their attention was captured by Yukiko Amagi, the creature had silently vanished.

“What happened?”

Watching the reactions of the others, a puzzled Yukiko Amagi inquired, and it was then that Satonaka Chie snapped out of it and made a decision.

“Anyway, let’s leave this place first. Yukiko has been missing for quite a while, and she’s very weak, she needs to rest as soon as possible.”

“Right, let’s go.”

With their doubts cast aside, the four of them left the eerie palace and made their way back to the streets, then they crawled into a television set displayed in a storefront window and disappeared from Subspace.

It was only then that Duanmu Ai, dressed in a Pink Girl Pig costume, reappeared.

“So that’s how it is, that’s what’s happening… Hmm… Indeed, it is interesting. But now, this means…”

Arriving at a thought, Duanmu Ai furrowed her brows.

As things stand, the soul projections in Subspace do seem to affect the person itself. So could it be a similar case with those said to have had their desires stolen by the Phantom Thieves of Hearts, leading to their repentance? Could the Thieves, like these young people, possess the ability to enter Subspace, and have they interfered with the soul projections there, causing those individuals to undergo a radical change in behavior and repent?

Indeed, what the Electronic Demon said seemed impossible, but if it involves Subspace and soul projections…

And there’s the information heard from Hanamura and others. According to them, their concern that Yukiko Amagi could be the next victim stemmed from her connection with the previous two cases–Mayu Yamano had stayed at Yukiko Amagi’s inn before her death.

Of course, it appears that the connection between them ends there.

But at least, it’s a clue.

So, who took Yukiko Amagi into Subspace?

Satonaka Chie asked earlier, but Yukiko Amagi had no answer, and both Hanamura and Ming thought it very likely the work of the Phantom Thieves of Hearts.

But whatever the case, they were right about one thing–there must be someone with a special ability, capable of entering Subspace, who could do such a thing.

As for whether it was the work of the Thieves… Duanmu Ai thought it unlikely.

Oh, it’s not that they lack the ability, but rather the intellect.

Especially someone like Sakamoto Longshi, the idiot. It would be surprising if he managed not to leave any evidence after committing the first murder.

This suggests that the priorities in the investigation need to be reevaluated.

With this in mind, Duanmu Ai made a decision.

The Thieves would likely lay low for a while because of the rumors she’d spread, so she might as well focus her energy on this case. After all, the soul projection in Subspace was a significant issue, and Duanmu Ai was also curious to see if the death of a soul projection had any connection to the person themselves. With the murders of Shanye Anchor and Koji Nishi, no useful leads were found at the scenes; could it be they were taken into Subspace like Yukiko Amagi and killed by their own soul projections?

If that was the case, then the situation was considerably more complex.

And perhaps… maybe here lay the opportunity to find the bastard who had been laying low for sixty years!

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