Apocalyptic Era: Starting from picking up a Bishoujo
Chapter 256: Inspiration Descends on Day 239

Chapter 256: Inspiration Descends on Day 239

I didn’t expect the turn of events to appear just like this.

Fu Feng’s expression underwent a noticeable change.

"Why do you know the command for the Spiritual Restriction?" he asked.

I was extremely curious about this as well. Even if Mazao’s "misfortune" could attract clues related to bizarre events to herself, there should be a reason for it. Just as an event with zero probability cannot occur, Mazao should not have known the command for the Spiritual Restriction out of nowhere.

Could it be information excavated from the skulls of past monster creators? Or maybe...

Several possible answers had already surfaced in my mind, and she then said it aloud: "It was obtained through investigation from Chen Long’s arm."

"Chen Long should only be a combat member of the Human Bureau, why would he know the command for the Spiritual Restriction?" I asked.

"Ying Lingyun seemed to trust him deeply in his loyalty, often having him by his side, and in his presence, he once said words to a senior researcher that seemed like the Spiritual Restriction command... Actually, I’m not sure, when I looked back on that scene in my investigation, I just saw Ying Lingyun saying a sentence, and then the senior researcher showed a strange change in his attitude; I didn’t pay much attention to it at first..." Mazao said with a lack of confidence.

"It’s alright, let’s give it a try," I encouraged, "Do you still remember the content of the command?"

"I kind of forgot... No worries, I’ll know once I take another look."

As she spoke, she reached into the air and grabbed something, and then a bloody and mangled arm with pits and scorched marks appeared out of thin air—it was indeed Chen Long’s arm.

This was the arm left behind by Chen Long after our first fight; it should have rotted away by now, but it still looked fresh. I guess the Power of Return had a preserving effect. Additionally, this arm was originally supposed to be in Saltwater City, the fact that it appeared here clearly was another wonderful use of the Power of Return.

Mazao closed her eyes and meditated briefly, seemingly retrieving the information she needed from the arm very quickly. Then she approached the senior researcher and recited the command for the Spiritual Restriction.

"Raising my cup I invite the bright moon, my shadow makes us three. Since the moon does not drink, my shadow only follows me."

What she recited seemed to be a verse from an ancient poem.

Hearing these words, the senior researcher’s eyes fogged over for a moment, and in a trance, he said, "I... remember everything now..."

Dong Che also observed the researcher carefully, then, with a look of amazement, turned to Mazao and said, "The Spiritual Restriction has really been lifted!"

Mazao nodded and tossed the arm to the side. The arm disappeared again into thin air, apparently being sent back to its original place.

The more I observed, the more multifunctional the Power of Return seemed, being able to "return" things by summoning them to oneself, and "returning" them to their original place, as if she owned a personal space. Moreover, unlike my skill of transforming personal items into flames for storage, her restrictions on the "volume" of "storage objects" seemed quite lax, with seemingly no upper limit. And it seemed that as long as the items had passed through her hands, she could likely summon them back at any time.

This summoning is not limited to inanimate objects; even living beings can be summoned back. In fact, a long time ago, she had forcibly retrieved the Shadow Swapping Monster—a live person—from an unknowably distant place.

My Flame Ability now also has quite a few functions, but compared to Mazao’s, it pales in comparison. The only thing restraining Mazao now is the issue of exertion.

Fu Feng seemed lost in thought, while Dong Che turned to him and asked, "Should we call back the interrogation team now?"

"There’s no need."

As I spoke, I raised my left hand. With a flash of fire, the Black Rope Heart-locking Ring appeared on my left middle finger.

The senior researcher, seeing this familiar setup, immediately showed a look of not knowing what to say. He could have never dreamed that even after escaping to a place at least a thousand kilometers away, he would still be caught by me and subjected to interrogation with the Black Rope Heart-locking Ring.

It’s worth mentioning that although the Black Rope Heart-locking Ring was given to me by Lu Youxun, it didn’t have any backdoors. Out of caution, I took it to the Zhu family for a thorough inspection during the two days I stayed in a city hotel, and Zhu Shi had checked it thoroughly inside and out at Buzhou Mountain, confirming it was safe. Moreover, when Lu Youxun gave it to me, he was sincerely trying to win me over, so it was unlikely he would have left any sort of means that could offend me in the gift.

My left hand turned into an illusion form, and then I thrust it into the chest of the senior researcher, grabbing his heart. As always, the Black Rope Heart-locking Ring gave me a clear feedback—he was now incapable of silence or lies.

Why do I emphasize the feedback from the Black Rope Heart-locking Ring here? It’s because of this feedback that a moment of inspiration struck me.

This inspiration came out of the blue and wasn’t related to the current situation, but it was of utmost importance to me.

I had always been troubled by how to make Mazao believe my heartfelt words, and the solution to this problem was both unimaginably far and within reach—the Black Rope Heart-locking Ring was the answer, wasn’t it? Even though using the Black Rope Heart-locking Ring to grab my own heart wouldn’t have an effect, if I had Mazao wear this ring and then let her grab my heart with her own hands, then from her perspective, wouldn’t I be in a state where I absolutely can’t lie?

If I tried to break free and force a lie, my heart would explode. Even if I wouldn’t die, the fact of whether my heart would explode is itself enough to judge whether I am lying.

Of course, the effects of the Black Rope Heart-locking Ring can be forcefully invalidated by overly powerful Mana, or to say, the effects of any Spell or superpower, in principle, can be resisted by too strong a force. Lu Youxun had explained this point to me when giving me the ring. However, in reverse, as long as I am willing to cooperate, or as a last resort, by adjusting the Mana density around my heart area, I can allow the Black Rope Heart-locking Ring to take effect on me.

The Black Rope Heart-locking Ring can convert my left hand into an illusion form, and this is evidence that, under my willingness, I can be affected by the Black Rope Heart-locking Ring.

If we must talk about the costs of this method, then it would be what Lu Youxun once emphasized: the Black Rope Heart-locking Ring could be scrapped after use on subjects with too powerful Mana, even if they were willing. However, in comparison to my objectives, such a cost is trivial.

This method seems truly feasible!

Search the lightnovelworld.cc website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.