Apocalyptic Era: Starting from picking up a Bishoujo
Chapter 170: Plan 1 Breakthrough 162

Chapter 170: Plan 1 Breakthrough 162

Summoning flames to mend my own soul seemed a bit like robbing Peter to pay Paul upon closer reflection, but in reality, my regeneration was more of a transformation than true revival. Pressing a fireball into my chest was more about aiding my own imagination than anything else.

The result, however, was pleasing—my regeneration seemed to actually work.

Lu Youxun summoned the stationed agent to test the condition of my soul once more. Perhaps because they had just performed one test, some of the tools hadn’t been put away yet, so the efficiency was much higher this time, and the medical report came out quickly.

After looking at it, Lu Youxun nodded, "... It’s really completely recovered."

Even though he was the one who suggested it, his tone seemed as if he had fallen into a dream, looking at me with eyes that resembled someone who had stumbled upon a panda on a walk. Even Zhu Shi kept sizing me up again and again.

"If Chen Long saw his opponent, who he’d spent so long scraping at, suddenly refill their blood in a blink, he’d probably vomit blood himself," Zhu Shi sighed.

If only my skill could also heal Mazao’s soul wounds. Unfortunately, it seems that only I, who am essentially a Flame Aggregation, can use flames to heal wounds. Stuffing a bunch of flames into someone else’s soul, at most, I can only control myself to avoid injuring the other party, let alone think of regeneration.

Seeing that I was alright, Mazao turned her attention back to the severed arm of Chen Long and continued the retrospective investigation.

I tried to ask about her current progress.

"The information that could be traced back is too chaotic," she said, "The owner of this arm not only has anti-divination measures on himself, but he is also of Great Success Rank, and monks of such level have a powerful natural opposition to superpower forces. Unless they willingly accept it, many spells that directly target their essence automatically become invalidated, and tracking methods based on mana greatly suffer interference."

Perhaps because she referred to demon hunters as monks as well, Lu Youxun couldn’t help but glance at her.

"So even you can’t track him?" I asked.

"... No, I should still be able to, but it will take time," Mazao said after some thought, "But unlike the last two times tracking the Shadow Swapping Monster and the Weirdo Maker, there’s no time limit of ’missing today’s opportunity means possibly never being able to track them again’, so I can’t promise to track them within a few days."

Unaware of the Broom Star Physique, Lu Youxun asked in confusion, "Time limit?"

Zhu Shi changed the subject proactively, "That’s problematic; who knows how those scientists from the Human Bureau would transform my brother’s body in the next few days."

"Chen Long’s reason for abducting Zhu Changan might be orders from Ying Lingyun, whose fate is uncertain," Lu Youxun continued nonchalantly, "If that’s the case, he definitely kidnapped his own son for a special reason and wouldn’t just hand him over to those mad scientists to tinker with."

Speaking of Ying Lingyun’s goals, the only thing that came to mind was "resurrection of Yinyue." However, Mr. Zhu himself had denied this possibility. The method of using direct relatives as living sacrifices for resurrection applied only to ordinary people. Just as two AA batteries could power a toy car but wouldn’t come close to powering a Formula race car, Changan as a living sacrifice for Yinyue’s resurrection was far from adequate.

"I can practice Divination Technique myself, but I can only say I have a superficial grasp of it, and I can’t track Great Success Rank," Lu Youxun lamented as he looked at Chen Long’s severed arm.

"I remember you began studying divination after you escaped from the secret base of the Human Bureau?" Zhu Shi asked curiously, "Is this to continue your investigation into the Human Bureau, to take revenge on them?"

"Yes," Lu Youxun admitted.

"But there are so many Divination Masters in Luo Mountain, and even they can’t trace the Human Bureau’s secret bases. You started learning divination halfway through and expect to be able to track them; it can’t be that simple, can it?" Zhu Shi said diplomatically.

"I am well aware of how difficult this challenge is, but it is the only thing I can do after losing my fighting capability. To let my enemy roam free while I waste my time, you might as well kill me," Lu Youxun said indifferently, "Moreover... I do have some assurance. On the matter of using divination to track the Human Bureau, I have an innate advantage."

"Advantage?" I asked, intrigued, "What is it?"

"Causality," Lu Youxun replied earnestly, "During those eight months, the Human Bureau collected a large amount of blood, bodily fluids, and even soul components from all over my body, inside and out. Using these traces, I can backtrack using divination—that’s one. The deep and intense enmity between me and the Human Bureau is a powerful aid in divination tracking—that’s two.

"And thirdly, although it’s a recent discovery, it’s clear that the Human Bureau’s monster modification technology involves results gained from researching me. Since they have benefited from me, there is inevitably an intricate causal relationship between us. Other divination experts may not be unable to use me to backtrack to the Human Bureau, but definitely, they won’t have as strong an effect as if I were adept in divination tracking myself.

"If I could still summon ’possibility avatars,’ it would be much easier; then I could directly summon ’myself as a divination expert’. But now, I can only start from scratch and learn step by step."

"So that’s how it is." Zhu Shi realized, "Then after you mastered the Divination Technique, did you ever divine any clues?"

"There were some..." Lu Youxun showed a hesitancy, "But they were only some fragmented images."

"Images?" Zhu Shi asked.

"My skills might not be refined enough; only when I’m particularly fortunate can I intermittently envision the scenes inside the secret base of the Human Bureau through my divination," Lu Youxun’s face gradually darkened, "The layout there is very similar to the old Human Bureau base where I used to stay—essentially a slaughterhouse. Some monks with unrecognizable faces were captured and taken there, subjected to inhumane experiments and modifications.

"The researchers in that place used the monks as guinea pigs, caring nothing for the high mortality rate. They seem to have a stable unknown channel to obtain monks; every time a few dozen monks die, a new batch is sent in."

Zhu Shi was dumbfounded, "Demon hunters are not guinea pigs; how could they possibly be captured so easily. A few dozen demon hunters... even if you count all the demon hunters from Luo Mountain and the civilians, there are only about that many in some cities!"

"This is what I witnessed with my own eyes," Lu Youxun said gravely, "I know it’s hard for you to believe if I just tell you directly. In fact, after hearing my account, many people on Luo Mountain thought that my Divination Technique had triggered a false vision, or even that I was attracting attention from the higher-ups of Luo Mountain by sensationalism... But I really didn’t lie. And my vision wasn’t wrong, although that’s just my feeling..."

As he spoke, his voice weakened, seeming to realize his lack of persuasiveness.

Suddenly, I realized another possibility. Connecting my own past experiences with what he was now mentioning caused a chemical reaction in my mind, and I sat bolt upright.

It seemed like I had found a direct way to infiltrate the Human Bureau’s secret base!

Wait, could this method really work? Are there any flaws?

Right, this method relies a lot on luck... No, no, no, it seems like we can solve the luck factor too!

There was one issue that needed to be referred to Lu Youxun, to see if he could overcome it.

"Zhuang Cheng, what’s wrong?"

Because I didn’t hide my expression, both Lu Youxun and Zhu Shi noticed my change, and Mazao lifted her head to look again. Zhu Shi then asked with concern, "Did you think of something?"

"I have a direct approach to pinpointing the enemy’s stronghold, and I need you to help me see if it’s feasible," I said.

Lu Youxun immediately perked up, asking hurriedly, "What approach?"

"Firstly, you all should know that I can summon my own Fireball to any place within my perception, and also teleport myself to where the Fireball is by deconstructing and restructuring myself," I said, "And Lu Youxun mentioned he could envision the interior of the Human Bureau’s secret base through his Divination Technique..."

"Are you suggesting that if you saw that scene as well, you could directly teleport yourself there?" Zhu Shi understood my intention, "But Lu Youxun’s vision depends on his unique causal link with the Human Bureau, which might be visible only to him. Unless there’s a way to forge a connection between him and you so that you can also sync with the images that appear in his consciousness... Ah!"

She had already realized.

Lu Youxun had mastered the Spell to transmit his knowledge into the Spirit of others.

He had used it on both Zhu Shi and me when we were tracking down the Undying Monster before.

"...Yes, I can do that," it was Lu Youxun who calmed down first, "But to my perception, your Spirit is hardly different from the sun. If a monk of my level uses spiritual magic on you, it would be like touching the sun with bare flesh, instantaneously getting burnt to the point of soul destruction..."

"But you weren’t really hurt last time, were you?" I said.

"That’s because the past you held no malice towards me," he said, "But now, you’ve become aware that Zhu Shi and I belong to camps as discordant as water and fire. You lean more towards the Governance Ideology, where Zhu Shi stands, than my Extraordinaryism. I can tell that you often avoid me when you communicate with Zhu Shi and the others. To you, I’m not one of your own, but a potential enemy.

"Zhuang Cheng, please search your heart, do you really hold no animosity towards me?"

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