Chapter 481: Chapter 415: Battlefield and Experiment
This opportunity came faster than anyone had anticipated.
Only half a year after the Fifth Cycle began, the Black Tide once again massed at the edge of the horizon, pressing toward the Wizard Camp with decisiveness and resolve far surpassing any previous round.
After hearing the alarm, Jeming and the Logistics Department Wizards, though surprised, quickly made ready and busied themselves on the core observation platform of the legion’s main formation.
Unlike the previous round, most of the observation instruments placed on the platform now were configured in duplicate.
One set consisted of old instruments "rescued" from the previous Cycle, repaired and recalibrated; the other set was newly built in this Cycle using the "reset" supplies.
Jeming’s research team had decided to collect data while also running experiments, so the new machinery was for data collection.
The old machinery, on the other hand, was for observing matter that had once existed, then disappeared, and later reappeared, and for capturing data discrepancies produced in the time reversal, to serve as an important paradox reference experiment.
"Why are they in such a hurry this time?" While adjusting the macroscopic Energy scanner in front of him, Jeming looked toward the black giant wall rising again in the distance, his brows knitting slightly.
According to the experience and records from the previous rounds, the Reaper Race should be more inclined to drag things out and wear them down, using the Cycle to constantly trial-and-error and learn.
Moreover, for unknown reasons, most of the Reaper Race seemed to harbor a strong aversion toward the time Cycle, so they should actually be happy about the Wizards’ stalling behavior.
"Unclear." Frost’s voice came from the communication Rune, calm yet tinged with gravity. "Our advance tempo is a complete copy of the previous round’s ’warm-water strategy,’ but the other side doesn’t seem inclined to cooperate anymore."
"They may have noticed something... for example, the shift in our research focus, or that we’re using the Cycle to conduct some kind of exploration that’s even more dangerous for them."
Jeming fell into thought.
The Reaper Race’s aversion to time reversal was obvious, yet at this moment they had chosen a near-suicidal full-scale assault.
Had they sensed that the Wizards’ research might touch on the very foundation of the Cycle, pushing them into a cornered-dog frenzy?
Or was there, deep within that unknown decision network of theirs, some far older will driving them to fling themselves into the flames?
In any case, this was the perfect opportunity to obtain High Tier samples.
"Commander, during the engagement, please preserve as many High Level samples for me as possible, preferably Seventh Level and Eighth Level individuals." Jeming immediately made his request. "Life or death doesn’t matter; complete corpses or separable intact parts are all acceptable."
"Agreed." Frost replied very straightforwardly. "The spoils will vanish after the Cycle anyway, so we might as well make full use of them. You’d better be prepared yourself; pressure at the front line will be heavy."
As the words fell, war erupted once more.
This time, the Reaper Race army had clearly absorbed the bitter lessons of the first two rounds.
When the Wizards habitually unleashed their targeted "Frequency Contamination Field" and "Crystallization Disintegration Wave," patches of reverse-modulated Energy Shields rapidly lit up within the swarm.
Ripples spread across the black sea, neutralizing and canceling out most of the interference.
They even released specialized "scavenger" variants that sacrificed themselves, actively absorbing and decomposing those nano-clouds aimed specifically at their pheromone receptors.
The Reaper Race was evolving, adapting.
But the Wizards had never stopped moving forward either.
Even before the main Wizard forces began large-scale Casting, the most forward, most brutal slaughter on the battlefield had already been handed over to a new generation of Biochemical Modified Beasts.
These monstrosities were built on the genetic blueprint of captured Low Tier Reaper individuals, fused with the hunting traits of multiple extremophile organisms, and embedded with dozens of lethal weakness codes targeted at the Reaper Race’s physiological structure.
Their forms were grotesque, like massively enlarged armored centipedes whose carapaces bristled with bio-Energy Cannon ports; some variants were writhing flesh masses that oozed highly corrosive mucus and could fire penetrating bone spikes.
Most crucially, these Biochemical Beasts had been endowed with the ability to devour vast amounts of biomass to evolve and undergo rapid fission reproduction.
As soon as the battle began, the first wave of tens of millions of Biochemical Beasts plunged into the swarm like starving wolves into a flock of sheep.
Their claws and fangs could easily tear through reinforced Reaper carapaces, and the digestive fluids they secreted could quickly break down Reaper tissue and convert it into their own Energy.
Whenever a Biochemical Beast devoured enough biomass, its surface would writhe violently, then, in an extremely short time, split into two or even three independent individuals!
The very instant the Black Tide collided head-on with this silver-gray "plague," the battle situation became overwhelmingly one-sided.
The number of Biochemical Beasts grew exponentially in combat, like thick ink dripped into water, rapidly spreading and diffusing.
Soon, the silver-gray in turn devoured and blanketed the black ocean.
In the wake of their passage, the battlefield was left only with weathered fragments of carapace that had been drained of Energy and biomass.
The Wizards at the rear played the roles of "support" and "reaper."
They unleashed large-scale Energy Storms to clear obstacles and create opportunities for the Biochemical Beast swarms.
Or they precisely sniped those High Tier Reaper individuals attempting to organize counterattacks or unleash special abilities.
Under Commander Frost’s orders, many Wizards also controlled invisible Force Fields, stripping relatively intact, valuable Reaper corpses from the chaotic battlefield and transporting them back to the rear platform.
Jeming swiftly entered work mode.
He moved among the endlessly delivered "samples," sweeping over them with his Spiritual Power and rapidly sorting.
First Level and Second Level specimens were stored in bulk in designated zones as basic research material.
Third Level and Fourth Level specimens were carefully checked for morphology and mutation traits, then categorized accordingly.
Fifth Level and Sixth Level ones were selectively prioritized.
All the samples were handled according to the experimental plan: one portion was taken whole into the Grotto Heaven, while another portion was carefully cut off—maybe a limb, half a skull, or some internal organs. Only the severed part was stored; the remaining body was left outside.
Samples of each Level were divided into multiple batches, segmented by percentage of total volume, and stored in the Inner Grotto Heaven to observe their changes in the next cycle.
Just as the sample collection was in full swing, high above, a sudden mutation erupted!
Five waves of terrifying pressure that made heaven and earth change color descended abruptly, as if an invisible weight had pressed the sky down low.
Five Eighth Level Reaper Race Leaders, their bodies far larger than normal and their carapaces flowing with dark-gold patterns, tore through the clouds, leading over a hundred savage-aura Seventh Level guards straight toward the core of the Wizard Camp!
Their objective was clear—to destroy the command system, and those "researchers" that made them feel a fatal threat!
"You finally decided to come out?" Frost’s icy voice resounded across the sky.
He didn’t hesitate in the slightest. His silver-gray Magic Robe billowed, and his figure turned into a streak of light that ripped open the sky, fearlessly charging at those five Eighth Level auras!
One versus five!
Behind him, dozens of Sixth Level Wizards who had been holding back for too long roared and shot into the sky, each choosing a target and pouncing toward those hundred-plus Seventh Level Reaper Race.
They were obviously at an absolute disadvantage in both numbers and Level, yet there was no fear on the Wizards’ faces, only cold calculation in their eyes.
In an instant, the sky became a vortex of annihilation where Law and Energy collided.
Frost’s figure flickered unpredictably under the joint assault of five Eighth Level powerhouses. Every strike he made was simple and efficient, yet the Law fluctuations he stirred caused space itself to continuously wail.
By himself alone, he firmly pinned down five existences of the same Level, even completely suppressing them!
The battlefield of the Sixth Level Wizards was equally smooth.
Some of them fought several Seventh Level Reaper Race alone, while others formed small battle arrays to use the few against the many.
All kinds of bizarre and powerful Witchcraft bloomed. Local time flow was distorted, space was folded and torn, matter was deconstructed at the molecular level, Souls were assaulted on the spiritual level... The Wizards interpreted the brutality of knowledge to the fullest.
Seventh Level Reaper Race kept falling with shrill screeches, their broken corpses raining down.
Very soon, some Sixth Level Wizards finished off their opponents. They controlled Energy, dragging back several, even more than a dozen, massive Seventh Level Reaper Race corpses to the platform, throwing them in front of Jeming.
"Quick! Before the Energy completely dissipates!" the Wizards urged.
"You guys hit way too hard, the entire sample is almost smashed to pieces!"
Even as he said that, Jeming’s mind was highly focused, his movements as fast as phantoms.
He quickly examined each corpse, focusing on the special carapace on their chests known as the "Glory Armor."
According to the research, this carapace recorded the severe injuries an individual had experienced. Every time it healed, it left behind a unique, unforgeable color imprint.
Because the color generated by each healing changed randomly, within Reaper Race culture, the more scars and colors on this carapace, the richer the battle record, and the higher the social status.
And such a special carapace naturally became the most suitable marker.
With a specially made engraving knife, Jeming precisely cut out standard circular, triangular, or square fragments from the Glory Armor of several of the corpses, then stored those fragments into the Grotto Heaven.
As for the corpses themselves, likewise, half were stored whole, and half were stored only in the parts from which the carapace had been cut.
The fierce battle in the sky was nearing its end.
With a "Star Scar of Annihilation" that ripped open the void, Frost heavily wounded the last two Eighth Level Leaders still struggling in desperation, and locked them in midair with powerful Imprisonment Witchcraft, rendering them immobile.
In his hand, he was already carrying three Eighth Level Reaper Race corpses whose auras had been completely cut off.
He landed on the platform, put down the three corpses, and pointed at the two that were imprisoned in the sky: "The live ones stay for observation; you handle the corpses. Follow your experimental plan."
Jeming nodded and stepped forward to carefully examine the three Eighth Level corpses.
Their Glory Armor was even larger, its mottled, dazzling colors recording countless brutal battles.
Jeming selected one of the corpses in its entirety, and circular fragments cut from the Glory Armor of the other two, then solemnly stored them in the core isolation area of his Inner Grotto Heaven.
With these markers, the next cycle would allow some progress in studying the time-paradox mechanism created by time reversal.
Jeming patted his chest in satisfaction.
On the battlefield, under the joint massacre of Biochemical Beasts and Wizards, the number of the Reaper Race army had already dropped to a certain critical point.
That inexplicably familiar pulling sensation, stemming from the roots of the world itself, once again swept across Jeming’s senses without warning.
The Elements of the whole Plane began to tremble violently, and time began to flow backward.
The fifth cycle was about to end.
In the final instant before his consciousness was stripped away, Jeming used all his Spiritual Power to sweep as many of the new instruments and Record Crystals on the observation platform into his Inner Grotto Heaven as possible.
Darkness swallowed his vision.
