Chapter 513: Chapter 514 Invisible Person’s Communication_1
"Pleased to meet you, Professor Dodge," Aiden said, confirming the other person’s identity upon hearing the response. "This is our first meeting... though that might not be entirely accurate."
This was the exchange of two invisible people; in this seemingly empty room, only their voices resounded out of thin air, conversing with each other.
"Are you the leader of the Resurrection Society?" Professor Dodge asked. An officer who had greeted him earlier had mentioned that the Resurrection Society had been causing trouble at this base, so he naturally assumed the invaders were from the Resurrection Society.
"I am not. However, the person who indirectly revealed the Resurrection Society’s intentions to you was indeed me. The leader of the Resurrection Society intends to take your Hand of Oblivion, and my goal is to stop him. As for you, I can assure you there is no direct hostility," Aiden responded.
"State your identity, stranger," Professor Dodge demanded with a hint of malice. He clearly had no fondness for this uninvited intruder who had interfered with his son’s operation.
"You do not know me, but I know you. I have done extensive research to find you. I could give you any false identity, but that would be pointless," Aiden answered, "Even if I told the truth, you might not believe me."
"Then how am I to believe you bear no malice?" Professor Dodge inquired.
"Not interfering with your son’s surgery is my sincerity," Aiden said.
The threat was actually not viable, firstly because personally, he really did not wish to involve Mr. Dodge’s son. Secondly, even if he could use The Codex to do something, he did not want to waste The Codex’s power on such a matter at this critical juncture.
Yesterday, for the interrogation of that female officer, he had used a use of The Codex’s power. Today, for infiltrating this forbidden zone, he had scribed a rule once more, which meant he now had only one opportunity left to amend the rules, which should be reserved for saving his life in case he faced Mister Bloodcoat.
If The Codex were to be written by someone else, the number of usable times would double.
Lamia and Qiqimora had both sworn not to harm him, but if the right of amendment for The Codex fell into their hands, they only needed to delete the first rule to claim ownership of The Codex. Of course, it was also possible that due to the ongoing effect of the rules, they might not be able to do this, but Aiden was not certain of the outcome.
Unless absolutely necessary, Aiden still wanted to avoid taking this risk. After all, finding someone as trustworthy as Veronica who would carry out his orders without faltering was not easy.
But Professor Dodge was unaware of Aiden’s situation. The unknown led to suspicion, but could also impose caution on the other party.
The only definite information Professor Dodge had was that Aiden possessed the ability to infiltrate the restricted area and use the "Concealment" ability, making it highly possible to threaten his son. Professor Dodge would not gamble on this matter.
"What exactly do you plan to do? Or rather, what do you want me to do?" Professor Dodge bluntly asked for the purpose.
At the same time, he glanced behind him.
A statue of a goddess about two meters tall with a blindfold stood there. On each hand of the statue was a scale.
This was a Divine Artifact that the Kingdom Intelligence Bureau currently held, unearthed from ruins and possessed the power of "Balance." One could borrow the strength of the goddess to adjust a designated concept by simply touching the statue and praying to it while balancing the scales.
The interior of the statue was made of bronze and weighed several tons, not something that could be moved easily. The personnel carrying out the "Infection" plan had fixed it firmly to the foundation. Instead of hiding its existence, they had camouflaged it by covering it with plaster and paint, turning it into a decorative piece.
No one could easily steal this Divine Artifact; the only way to take it was to conquer the base and extract its divinity. In fact, Aiden and the two Great Witches’ plan to steal it was doomed from the start.
In return, the base couldn’t easily transfer it. To use this Divine Artifact, it had to be in this room.
Tony’s mobile surgical bed was placed next to the statue, and the power he deployed, along with the statue, was concealed.
The true nature of the "Infection" plan was actually to create demonspawn of random degrees of demonization using the "Chaos" artifact and then stabilizing the degree of demonization using the statue. It sounds simple, but the actual operation was fraught with difficulties. Ordinary people found it hard to control the power of the artifact precisely, and the forces of two artifacts acting on the same individual interfered with each other, affecting the precision of the result. The hardest part was that the human body is very fragile, and the slightest mishap during this process could result in irreversible damage.
Tony’s body was even more complicated. Congenital physical defects made his life as fragile as a candle in the wind, demonization had filled these defects and held onto his life, but it had also turned him into a state where he had to parasitize and absorb magic power to survive. Now, due to the backlash of a host’s death, Tony’s condition was worse than usual.
To rudely adjust his demonization directly with the artifact was akin to conducting surgery on a seriously ill patient without any preparation. It was necessary to supply magic power using the demonic contract while delicately using the artifact for adjustment. Countless sacrifices on steel beds led to a relatively reliable treatment plan.
Only half was left... At least another hour was needed.
At this stage, no other help was needed for the operation, but he needed time to complete it!
"Leave with me, and I can provide a way to cure your child," Aiden proposed, "As for the conditions, we can discuss them once we’re outside."
He didn’t mention taking the Divine Artifact or his hope of obtaining the Hand of Oblivion for the moment, as the pressing issue was to avoid Mister Bloodcoat; the rest could be negotiated later.
"You have a way?" Professor Dodge asked skeptically.
"Yes!" Aiden answered with certainty; he could not hesitate here.
Even without Abigail’s power, they could extract divine words from the base’s artifact. The divine words of the "Balance" authority could be learned by both he and Lamia, according to the rules.
However, Professor Dodge’s answer was disappointing: "I can’t just hand my son’s life over to a stranger."
The suspicion did not dissipate; after all, it was normal not to immediately agree to a person whose face one had never seen.
"But you have no other choice! The leader of the Resurrection Society will arrive here soon. He has deeply infiltrated this base, and your treatment is supposed to last a while, right? Believe me, he has the capacity to find you. You might manage to escape on your own, but with your son, you can’t slip away from under his watch unharmed," Aiden earnestly persuaded.
