Chapter 791 - 656: Fusion Concepts and Visitors

In the underground laboratory bathed in the phosphorescent white light, Jeming stood at the workbench, laying out three metal containers sealed with eerie samples in front of him.

Several days had passed since he acquired the Shadow Mysterious.

He had barely left the laboratory since that night.

The fusion process of the Shadow Thief and Fissure Man, merging into the Shadow Mysterious, had given him immense inspiration... Not merely about the strengths and weaknesses of the eerie force itself, but about the "possibilities" inherent in these eerie existences.

In that fleeting moment of fusion, the two Hazard Level eerie beings crossed the Disaster Level boundary, even touching the Catastrophe Level threshold under favorable conditions.

The sudden surge in power was undoubtedly astonishing, yet the fusion of these two eerie beings itself warranted Jeming's attention.

It indicated a fundamental issue: a natural "affinity" exists between certain eerie beings.

Not all eerie beings can fuse, but many certainly share compatible characteristics.

Jeming opened the lids of the three containers one by one.

Inside were fragments of three Dangerous Level eerie beings: one inducing mild fear, another spreading a faint chill in darkness, and the last causing short-lived dizziness.

These three fragments originated from different sources, bearing no relation to each other.

Yet, within the vision of the All-Purpose Eye, their energy waves overlapped subtly like a cascading staircase.

He positioned the fragments of fear and chill closer together.

The energy repelled slightly upon contact, akin to the same-poles repelling of two magnets.

However, when he brought the dizziness fragment closer, the three energies formed a triangular balance.

Fear suppressed the agitation of dizziness, chill tempered the sharpness of fear, while dizziness filled the gaps between chill and fear.

This demonstrated that the fusion of Shadow Thief and Fissure Man was not an isolated case; compatibility exists among eerie beings.

Even if two eerie beings cannot be compatible on their own, they can coexist under specific conditions, facilitated by a third or more eerie beings.

Jeming separated the fragments, rapidly recording a string of data in the Memory Crystal through spiritual power.

Then he placed the crystal aside, leaning back in his chair, eyes fixed on the silver-white metal panel of the ceiling.

The theoretical deductions in his mind continued to evolve.

If the number of eerie beings is substantial, and their characteristics sufficiently complementary, theoretically, all eerie beings could be fused into one terrifying entity.

An entity embodying all eerie traits, unclassifiable, unevaluable, possibly indefinable.

That thought lingered in his consciousness for a fleeting moment before he suppressed it.

Not because it was impossible, but rather unrealistic.

He had far too few materials at hand.

Only dozens of Dangerous Level fragments, and two complete Hazard Level eerie beings: Shadow Thief and Fissure Man.

They had already fused into the Shadow Mysterious, becoming a singular Catastrophe Level sample.

He couldn't dismantle them; that would waste precious research material.

He needed more materials, more eerie fragments, more complete eerie beings, and more research data.

Only then could he continue exploring the eerie fusion mechanism, verifying the hypotheses and conjectures flooding his brain.

Jeming sighed, closed the notebook, and placed it in the corner of the workbench.

Then he blinked his eyes.

His gaze penetrated the ceiling, crossing the bookstore floor on the first floor, glancing over the rain-dampened cobblestone road, landing in an alley less than two hundred meters from the bookstore.

Two people in deep blue uniforms were standing in the shadows of the alley, leaning against the wall, conversing in low voices.

Their uniforms bore the Spirit Communicator Association emblem embroidered on the left chest, with silver edging on the collars.

Jeming was quite "familiar" with these two.

One was Deke, young, with a tense face, appearing anxious.

The other was Harding, in his forties, with a calm expression, hands in his pockets, standing as relaxed as if he were in his own living room.

Jeming's lips curled slightly.

It seemed the issue of insufficient materials would soon be resolved.

In the alley, the faint glow of the gas lamp cast an indistinct halo onto the rain-dampened cobblestones.

Deke and Harding stood on the boundary of light and shadow, half their bodies in light, the other half in darkness.

"Is this the place?" Harding's voice was not loud, carrying a conversational tone.

"This is the place." Deke nodded, sweeping his gaze across the alley entrance to the old house with a wooden sign saying "Old Bookstore," "According to investigations over this period, this shop indeed acquired a substantial amount of eerie materials. Fragments, sealed containers, and some semi-finished genetic potions. Considerable in number, but varied in type, lacking a clear primary focus."

"What about personnel movement?"

"Very few." Deke shook his head, "We've observed for nearly half a month, only occasionally seeing a few people who look like ordinary customers entering... But those people soon came out, not necessarily holding anything. Aside from that, there's hardly any fixed personnel movement, unlike a base for an organization."

Harding nodded.

That's precisely why he didn't directly bring people to close it down.

If this shop were an underground base for that cult, there should have been a large number of suspicious personnel coming and going long ago.

But after more than half a month of tracking and monitoring, no abnormalities were found, suggesting either this isn't a cult base, or the cult members are hiding so deeply... deep enough that even the elite of the association can't find any flaws.

However, if it's really cultists hiding so deeply, they shouldn't show such a big flaw in resource trading, so there's no need to consider this possibility instead.

"Moreover," Deke added, "in terms of relative quantities, although the materials he purchased were many, they couldn't sustain an entire organization's consumption. It seems more like individual behavior. An individual or a small team is researching something."

Harding withdrew his gaze from the wooden door of the old bookstore and looked at Deke.

"Don't you find this place familiar?"

Deke paused for a moment, re-examining the appearance of that building.

Old, mottled, two stories, with a wooden sign of the old bookstore hanging at the entrance...

"Should I be familiar with it?"

Harding shook his head: "Although I haven't seen any actual photos, we've seen products related to this store in the newspapers."

Deke pondered slightly, then suddenly his pupils shrank: "This is the place mentioned in the newspapers that improved the success rate of Genetic Potions?"

Harding neither nodded nor shook his head, just said, "I asked those black intermediaries. I asked all those who had dealt with the association and were willing to cooperate. Although they spoke hesitantly, most of their testimonies pointed to the same place... right here."

Deke's brow furrowed.

He certainly remembered that piece of information.

Two months ago, a modified Genetic Potion suddenly appeared on the black market, reportedly having a success rate 5% higher than the theoretical value.

The number isn't big, but it's enough to alert the association.

They had done a risk assessment, but because no negative news had emerged, it was temporarily shelved.

Unexpectedly, the source of that Potion was right before them.

"So..." Deke slowly said, "The owner of this old bookstore, openly Doctor Black, is secretly the hidden identity of a high-tech personnel?"

"Most likely." Harding's tone remained calm, but his eyes showed a trace of eagerness, "According to the black intermediaries, this guy only ran to Wudu recently. No one knows what he was doing before. But judging by the modified Potions flowing from his hands, the technical level is quite high, not something someone from a non-traditional background could achieve."

"What's his purpose for hiding here?"

Harding shrugged: "Not clear. But logically, he probably conducted some illegal experiments elsewhere, got wanted, and fled here."

Deke was silent for a few seconds, then nodded, his face showing a "so that's how it is" expression.

Regarding illegal experiments, he and Harding both had an indifferent attitude.

Human rights in this world aren't very high; even within the Spirit Communicator Association, there's a habit of using death row prisoners as test subjects.

Moreover, the so-called "illegal experiments" often infringe on the interests of some big figure.

If a researcher developed a new technology in a city without giving a share to that city's rulers, you're "illegal."

If your research methods are too advanced, some old scholars don't like it, you're "illegal."

Even if you appear at the wrong place at the wrong time and some petty bureaucrat randomly slaps a label on you, you're "illegal."

Conversely, being wanted for illegal experiments indicates that this person has the ability to surpass a whole research team with just their own power.

In other cities, such researchers are highly sought after. Many people are willing to spend money and effort to smooth out the warrants in exchange for their technology.

After Deke realized this, he also became excited.

After all, they're indeed very short of people right now.

The cultist issue had indeed stirred quite a commotion and prompted the Spirit Communicator Association to urgently begin self-checks.

Although many cases of corruption were uncovered, no one was caught.

However, the deeply hidden spy wasn't the reason for their anxiety; although troublesome, it wasn't beyond the Spirit Communicator Association's capability to handle.

The real trouble was the sudden appearance of a terrifying mysterious anomaly a few days ago.

Late at night, near the sea adjacent to the city, a Catastrophe Level anomaly suddenly erupted, which was unbearable for anyone.

Deke clearly remembers how chaotic the association was when calculating the anomaly's energy intensity at that time.

Subsequently, for several consecutive days, the association urgently investigated clues regarding this Catastrophe Level anomaly but found nothing useful.

Because of this result, it instead made the Spirit Communicator Association members increasingly suspicious and paranoid.

After all, hiding anomalies like this was too easy.

If they can't find or handle it now, they risk the city unexpectedly being destroyed if it suddenly erupts.

Moreover, saying this anomaly suddenly appeared when they were reviewing cultists and had nothing to do with the two is an insult to their intelligence.

Therefore, in recent days, the Spirit Communicator Association in Wudu has been trying all possible means to improve combat power to cope with the upcoming crisis.

Aside from requesting reinforcements from other cities' Spirit Communicator Associations, recruiting all useful people in this city as a precaution is also one of the means.

Under current circumstances, the effect of recruiting a powerful technical researcher might even rival a headquarters-dispatched Catastrophe Level Spiritualist.

Moreover, from the intelligence, this researcher is likely very good at improving Genetic Potions.

Even if he can't provide new research results temporarily, just this one point is enough to help the Spirit Communicator Association increase combat power in a short time.

"Let's go in and have a look." Harding stepped out from the roots of the wall, heading towards the old bookstore.

Deke followed, and the two of them walked one after the other across the wet stone pavement, opening the creaky wooden door.