abnormal mutation

Chapter 119 Warlock's Charisma

The most appealing aspect of the Paradox Worm to him was its ability to absorb the negative effects of magical items.

The two have a symbiotic relationship and are theoretically one entity. One enjoys the fruits of success while the other takes the blame, which is perfectly reasonable.

Even the Twin Wolves mercenary beasts cannot do this.

We can consider this issue later. He doesn't have any materials right now, so let's gather them first.

With the spiritual energy in my hand almost exhausted, I couldn't draw cards anymore, so I had no choice but to bring in all the working class members to make a quick buck.

Afterwards, Charles and the others gathered together to discuss their hunting plans.

Roland quietly entered the sea of ​​consciousness, still concerned about the Seventh Apostle. He had tried to sense it multiple times before, but had been unable to ascertain the exact state of the other's consciousness, only sensing a significant decrease in the number of infected memory bacteria.

Clearly, the other party recognizes the seriousness of the problem and is trying to remedy it. But it's obvious that this will be a foolish approach that hurts both sides immensely.

He opened his eyes and found himself once again on the deserted island, surrounded by the vast ocean. The seawater was gloomy, with occasional flashes of chaotic shadows, creating a very oppressive atmosphere.

The Sea of ​​Consciousness is essentially an illusion, a projection created by the intertwining of the subconscious of living beings with the world and the extraordinary. However, since Roland and the Seventh Apostle were able to come here, it proves that this place is different from the illusion and has a realistic aspect.

The red tree on the island grew even taller, with a thicker branch sprouting from its top.

He sat down with his back against the tree trunk, concentrating on sensing. Numerous memory strains crowded in various places like swarms of insects, and the surroundings were hazy, making it impossible to detect the external environment.

The situation is slightly better than before, which should be the Seventh Apostle's countermeasure.

'It must have been a protective barrier that was created; it's not difficult to do within the sea of ​​consciousness.'

He stroked his chin, lost in thought. He could use [Enter the Unknown] to descend into the other person's sea of ​​consciousness, but he didn't know if [Invisibility] would be effective in the sea of ​​consciousness, or if the other person had any ambushes.

After thinking for a long time, he still dared not take the risk, but he came up with a tactic to wear down the enemy.

He quietly ordered all infected memory strains, spores, and mother strains to release their restrictions, infecting everything around them, and then immediately hid away.

A few seconds later, a large wave of new infected people appeared in his senses. The number was stable and did not decrease sharply.

'He's not here!' Roland knew it.

After repeating this process twice more, the accumulated infection was exhausted, and he had to stop.

Compared to the scale of the "gray cloud" and the cap continent, the infected population is too small and requires a long fermentation period.

He tried to remotely transmit the infection he had accumulated. It went smoothly at first, but before he could be happy for more than a few seconds, the infection was blocked by an unknown obstacle and retreated halfway.

'The approach is correct, so could it be environmental factors?'

He was certain that this was possible in the real world, and could only be attributed to the unique nature of the sea of ​​consciousness.

'No rush, it'll happen sooner or later.'

Infectious abnormal mutations are an incurable plague, increasing exponentially and becoming more terrifying the longer it drags on.

…………

The Lord of Order banished his two unruly daughters, Crimson and Moonlit Night, and once again brought light to the earth.

A new day begins in Sogatta.

Compared to yesterday, most shops have reopened and the Central Avenue is bustling with activity, as if nothing had happened.

But whenever a law enforcement officer passed by, the crowd immediately fell silent, and even the playing children deliberately avoided them, and this was just the most inconspicuous scene.

People's hearts have changed!

South City Commercial District, 763 Soroca Street.

This is a cluster of buildings with a serious and unified style. In front are four identical five-story buildings, two in front and two behind. Behind them are dormitories, parking lots, warehouses, training halls and shooting ranges.

Building No. 1 is open to the public, with a huge sign on the roof: Northern Union Chamber of Commerce Security Consulting Company. Next to it, a flag flutters with an image of a fully armed knight holding a sword in both hands.

Building No. 3 was different from others. While the others wore relatively uniform clothing, they were dressed casually with their weapons hidden inside, looking rather relaxed.

"Get your act together! What kind of lazy and sluggish behavior is this..." Isolde was furious when she saw their appearance.

The harsh northern climate, coupled with the slow pace of life, inevitably led to procrastination and extremely poor efficiency. The Intelligence and Countermeasures Department was repeatedly criticized as a prime example.

Intelligence chief Baldwin followed behind him, stroking his unkempt beard with an indifferent expression. After giving instructions to everyone, the two returned to their office on the top floor, where a young man with short silver hair sat looking tense.

After patting him on the shoulder, Isolde sat behind the large desk, casually flipping through a few intelligence reports, but his thoughts kept wandering. He simply put down the documents, got up, went to the window, and stared blankly at the flow of people outside.

"Is it necessary?" Baldwin lay half-reclined on the sofa, pouring himself a cup of tea. "He's just a young director; he's not necessarily going to interfere in departmental affairs. You weren't this nervous when Patrick came."

“You don’t understand.” Isolde shook her head slightly, but offered no explanation.

Patrick, the eldest son of Safawi, came here for training, but seeing the results were unsatisfactory, he was called back to focus on the extraordinary. The new board members, however, are different; they rose through the ranks, consistently achieving merit, and even emerged unscathed from confrontations with the three major organizations.

He was trembling with fear just looking at the information and past achievements of those organizations, let alone confronting them face to face.

The door was ajar, and a subordinate rushed in, saying urgently, "They're here; they just came out of Building Number One."

Isolde's expression turned serious, and the wrinkles on his rugged face softened: "We'll go to the door to greet him."

"it is good……"

The three had barely come downstairs when they saw two young men walking towards them, one after the other.

The group ignored Leongard, who was leading the way, and looked at the man in the trench coat beside them.

Tall, young, and handsome, with deep-set eyes, he exudes a profound sense of pressure, as if a storm is about to break.

His aura was unique; he approached against the cold wind, appearing and disappearing in the senses of the crowd, as if he had traveled from an ancient era, giving people a mysterious sense of temporal displacement.

"Good morning, Councilor Otto. I am Isolde, Director of Intelligence and Countermeasures, and this is Baldwin, the Intelligence Chief." Isolde bowed slightly, his attitude respectful.

"Good morning, Councilor Otto." Baldwin quickly bowed, his eyes filled with shock.

In this world, temperament is not just a feeling; it is the interaction between spirituality and extraordinary qualities and the world. It can be eliminated or disguised, but it can also reflect strength to a certain extent.

"Greetings, Director. I am your assistant, Marta." The silver-haired young man dared not lag behind, his expression somewhat apprehensive.

Roland glanced around, taking in their expressions and actions, and smiled faintly:

"No need to be so polite. I just went to the management office to take care of some formalities and met with a few committee members. I hope I didn't keep you waiting too long."

"No, no..." the group quickly waved their hands.

"Let's go inside and talk then." With that, Roland stepped into the building.

Isolde was a beat slow to react, not expecting the new director to be so assertive, so she could only hurry up and follow along, introducing him to the general situation of the department.

Early this morning, Leongard was waiting in the hotel lobby. After hearing that Roland had become a director, he had volunteered to transfer from the guard team to the security consulting firm as a director's assistant.

Such cross-departmental job transfers are theoretically not easy to get approved, but he followed the new board member for several days in a row, so he was not made to make things difficult for him.

The security consulting firm is headquartered in Sogattak, and Roland, as the new director, certainly cannot go to Almosid to rejoin the company.

Several committee members who were still at headquarters wanted to meet him, so they went to headquarters early in the morning for a brief meeting to meet a group of senior executives. The atmosphere was relatively harmonious, at least on the surface.

All thirteen members of the Northern Union Chamber of Commerce are mid-tier Extraordinary Individuals. Including affiliated units, the number of mid-tier Extraordinary Individuals is close to twenty.

It looks good on the surface, but the downside of the system of rising to power based on merit is that the committee system is in name only. Most of these people are not very good at management, and it is only thanks to the Hussein and Safawi families that the committee is being held together.

The security consulting firm also has two mid-level executive directors, one in charge of the security consulting department and the other in the operations department, but neither of them are in Sogatok. I was unable to meet them when I was handling the formalities at the management office of Building 1.

In the top-floor office, several people sat around a tea table.

Amidst the bubbling of boiling water and the rising aroma of tea, Isolde explained the situation of the company in detail. As the intelligence director, he was very familiar with his own company's situation.

The security consulting firm has only a little over a thousand employees, with nearly two hundred of them being extraordinary individuals. They are located in major cities in the north-central part of the empire, primarily serving the Northern Union Chamber of Commerce, and also undertaking some external business. They have been doing very well in recent years.

Of the four functional departments, the Security Consulting Department and the Operations Department are the core, while the Intelligence and Countermeasures Department and the Logistics and Equipment Center undertake auxiliary work.

Security consultants can be understood as professionals who understand detective work, security, training, and security design. There are only a little over one hundred of them, scattered across various branch offices, mainly in major cities.

The Operations Division primarily carries out high-risk missions, including armed escort, combat, and crisis response, and currently has thirty-two combat teams.

The Logistics and Equipment Center mainly provides material support, technology research and development, equipment maintenance, and medical rescue. It has more than 300 employees, two research and development bases and a small arms factory, and sometimes supplies weapons and equipment to the headquarters.

(End of this chapter)