abnormal mutation

Chapter 111 The Ocean of the Collective Unconscious

Assuming the Seventh Authority succeeds, what would be the consequences? They can't simply control crowds to attack cities, can they? How many people can a high-sequence extraordinary individual control?
After racking his brains without success, he decided to take the initiative to contact Bag: "Commissioner Bag, do you need any support?"

“Don’t go anywhere. Guard the pressure regulating station. There’s a lot of gas and fuel stabilizer leaking out. To control the situation, the Chamber of Commerce, the church, the city hall, and the law enforcement agency have been mobilized, and the whole city is under martial law.” Bagg’s voice sounded tired.

"I see."

After saying that, Roland took the walkie-talkie off and handed it to Opa, indicating that Drake should stay with him and never leave his side, and notify him immediately if anything happened.

Ignoring Oppa's gaze, he found an empty room and entered the spirit world chessboard in his physical body.

“Pro, the Seventh Authority has appeared again…” He picked up the Eye of Pro and quickly told it the general process.

Pro pondered, "That thing should be a memory strain. Only the high-sequence Seventh Apostle can cultivate it using the sea of ​​consciousness. It has many uses, such as absorbing negative emotions to prolong its lifespan."

Once inside the human body, under the stimulation of the purple-red double moon, it can amplify specific negative emotions in people's hearts, driving them into madness.

If enough strains of bacteria are implanted in the body, it's possible to alter memories and even control the human body. However, controlling extraordinary individuals requires long-term, large-scale parasitism.

Roland felt a chill run down his spine and complained, "Why didn't you say so before?"

“First, I don’t know much about high-sequence secrets.” Pro glanced at the endless space outside and said calmly, “Second, this can only be said here. Outside, he would definitely sense it. He can even descend into your body through memories and sea of ​​consciousness.”

"The Seventh Apostle is that strong?" Roland felt he lacked knowledge about high sequences.

"What do you mean by 'strong'? Your understanding is flawed. This is their domain and their characteristics. Guess why the Seventh Apostle never confronts his enemies head-on, and why Suleiman doesn't pursue them into his sea of ​​consciousness?" Pro corrected.

Roland understood that high-sequence extraordinary individuals would not easily allow themselves to fall into the domain and rules of others, otherwise they would be courting death.

"How can we find or destroy it? If it has already been infected, how can we purify it?" Dealing with the memory strain is the top priority.

Pro pondered, “This thing has no spiritual response, is difficult to discern with the naked eye, and is extremely difficult to find. Committee member Suleiman has a prophetic ability, so after seeing it, he can use targeted divination to search for it.”

If he's not around, you'll have to try the Golden Eyes. Destroying them is simple: just release them in an empty, windless, and waterless place, and they'll die quickly.

Forget about purification; they're parasitic on memories and harder to clean than curses. You could try using divine metals, but that's very expensive.

However… you can use [Big Mouth] to fight fire with fire, using the memory plague to combat emotional parasites, but you need to find the right approach for it to work.”

“Memory strain…emotional parasitism…entry point…” Roland slowly chewed on these words, and some understanding came to him.

The purpose of the Seventh Authority's actions is probably to incite conflict between the public and the judicial system, and to undermine the spiritual realm of law enforcement; everything else is secondary.

From this perspective, once the memory strain parasitizes, it will definitely amplify the resentment and hatred of those who are dissatisfied with the judicial system, whether it is actively imposed by the controller or implanted in advance.

If Roland had not discovered the memory strain, tonight's gas accident might have sparked public outrage, leading to suppression and sanctions against the highly reputable Northern Merchants, damaging their prestige and escalating conflicts from multiple sides.

The gas dispute between the North and South Chambers of Commerce is just a symptom; Wald Gas Company is also a scapegoat, and in the end, there are no winners.

Influenced by the "strain of memory," public resentment towards the judicial system continues to accumulate, and when it will explode depends entirely on the will of the Seventh Authority.

Therefore, the entry point should be the judicial system, but Roland has no interest in upholding the judicial system.

'Since they want to pin the blame on the Northern Merchant Guild, then I'll reveal the truth, seize the emotional trigger point, and expose everything about the Seventh Authority to divert my emotional outburst.'

The Seventh Authority is the mastermind behind everything; Wald and the Thistle Merchant Guild are just fools being manipulated. As for the judicial system… I won't comment. This way, it forces the judicial system to confront the Seventh Authority; otherwise, what is it if not incompetence?

Roland hurriedly returned to the real world, opened [Big Mouth] and started writing, without having time to draft.

The core issue is this gas problem. The Northern Merchant Guild discovered the problem and dealt with it promptly, which led to the involvement of the Seventh Authority and the Southern Merchant Guild, led by Wald. They also used a near-prophetic method to predict a possible gas accident, instructing residents to suspend gas use.

The secrets surrounding the extraordinary and memory strains have not been exposed, and it would be of no benefit for the general public to know too much.

After it finished writing, [Big Mouth] opened its mouth wide, eagerly awaiting food. Roland was generous, feeding it two hundred spiritual glimmers in succession.

After a moment of silence, [Big Mouth]'s mouth moved silently, as if he were telling his best friend some shocking gossip; you could even see the afterimages of his two mouths.

"call--"

He breathed a sigh of relief. Putting everything else aside, the propaganda ability of "Big Mouth" was definitely stronger than that of the law enforcement agency and the city hall. Perhaps half the city already knew about it as soon as the city hall's announcement was written.

[Big Mouth] was left in the room, while Roland left alone. If the Seventh Apostle pursued them, he would have [Big Mouth] confuse the enemy to make his escape easier. "Does the Commissioner have any new instructions?" he asked, approaching Oppa.

Oppa shook his head slightly, his eyes filled with worry. He wanted to unplug the walkie-talkie, but Roland stopped him.

“Take it. Drake is with you, so if he knows, I know.” Roland waved his hand.

“Okay, the stabilizers have all been sealed in the warehouse and are being guarded by a combat squad.” Oppa reminded.

"Ah."

The warehouse was built on the outskirts and occupied a considerable area; it was visible as soon as you stepped outside.

Roland entered the warehouse alone. On the left were various tools and miscellaneous items, while the right side was spacious with three metal cans on an iron rack in the middle, one of which had just been removed.

He first looked at the pressure gauges; two were full, and one was almost empty.

To be honest, he felt a little guilty. The memory bacteria could also infect him, and breathing or touching it was very risky.

The next second, golden liquid, like lead and mercury, gushed from his skin, solidifying as it flowed. In just a few seconds, his skin was covered in a layer of gold, making him look like a giant golden statue.

Roland moved his body simply, and the gold remained firmly against his skin without falling off or breaking.

"That should be fine, right?"

His eyes transformed into golden pupils, and then he carefully opened the valve. A hissing sound rang out, and a thin stream of air, colorless and odorless, spewed out from the nozzle.

Roland held his breath, staring intently at a memory strain, and gently touched it with his fingertip.

With a "pop," the strain immediately disintegrated.

'efficient!'

He reached out and patted it, and a layer of golden silk mesh appeared on the small valve outlet, with fine mesh.

All the memory strains that came into contact with the divine metal died without exception, yet the divine metal was also rapidly dimming.

'It really costs a lot of money.'

In just a few seconds, the divine metal turned into gray powder and dissipated into the air.

As the number of memory bacteria in the air increased, the rune seed within his body suddenly trembled.

Before he could even check, his body felt light, and his vision blurred; he found himself in an endless ocean.

Below me was a solitary island with a large red tree growing on it. Above the treetop floated a massive platform, with dangling light and shadow like tassels, firmly enveloping the island.

Roland was sitting under the big tree.

"What a vigorous bloodline tree!" a voice exclaimed.

Roland turned around abruptly, his heart pounding with tension.

As far as the eye can see, beyond the isolated island, an enormous, umbrella-shaped mushroom floats on the dark ocean, with most of its stem submerged in the water, resembling a continent from afar.

But there were no residents on it; countless bacteria grew on its canopy, and the fertilizer was a dark, grotesque mass of "wronged souls," their faces contorted with rage, resentment, anger, and jealousy...

Gray clouds drifted aimlessly in the sky. Upon closer inspection, they were not clouds at all, but rather countless strains of memory bacteria, densely packed together.

Countless mycelium extend from the cap of the continent, drawing numerous islands toward it, and Roland is one of them.

The speaker was an invisible, intangible black mist, floating like smoke on the dark sea, with the shimmering tassels of light hanging from the chessboard firmly blocking him out.

This place should be the ocean of the collective unconscious, overlapping with Orencia, located below the spirit world. It is not the spirit world, but it is generally considered to be part of the spirit world.

After obtaining the [Enter the Unknown] ability, he specifically asked Pro, but under normal circumstances, neither ordinary extraordinary beings nor spirits can enter this place. Compared to the spirit world, this is the true void world.

(End of this chapter)