abnormal mutation

Chapter 17 Extraordinary Secret
This world is a strange, complex space. In addition to the main world, Orencia, on which flesh-and-blood creatures depend for survival, there are two other worlds that coexist closely with it: the Shadow Realm and the Spirit Realm.

The Shadowlands are the dark side of the Overworld, considered its shadow. Everything in the Overworld has a projection in the Shadowlands. Shadow creatures, full of malice towards living beings, live there. Fortunately, there is a solid spatial barrier between the two worlds, preventing them from easily entering the Overworld.

The spirit world is even more unique. It is generally believed to be a realm of imagination, emotions, dreams, beliefs, and spirituality that is interwoven and emanated from all sentient beings. It is both illusory and real.

No one knows how large the spirit realm is. It is intertwined with the main world and the shadow realm, without boundaries or barriers. It is omnipresent, yet exists in different dimensions. Countless spiritual beings inhabit the spirit realm, many of whom are figments of human imagination. They are incomprehensible, chaotic, and insane, and extremely dangerous to most living beings.

This place is also known as the Extraordinary Realm, where the spirits of extraordinary individuals can "leap" into. Ordinary people with exceptional inspiration can also enter by chance, but they may never wake up again.

This is also the origin of the legend of nightmares. People believe that those who "die in their sleep" have their souls swallowed by demons in their dreams.

The mystical realm divides the spirit world into five layers. The shallowest layer, closest to the human world, is called the Dream Realm. Above that are the Lost Realm, the Chaotic Realm, the Star Realm, and the Land of the End.

Roland figured it out; the location of the chessboard should be the Dream Realm, where the spiritual concentration is low, the creatures are weak, and it is relatively safe. The time flow rate is 1-5 times that of the real world.

To become an Extraordinary, one must first determine the Extraordinary Path, then perform a specific ritual at the right time, and ingest a potion to awaken one's spirituality. With talent and good luck, one can become a Sequence 9 Extraordinary.

Extraordinary individuals from different pathways possess mysterious abilities with vastly different characteristics. Extraordinary individuals from the same pathway may share similar extraordinary traits, but their abilities can vary considerably.

Whether one can awaken spirituality depends entirely on talent. Potions can only amplify the probability; if one's inherent potential is zero, even the best potion is useless.

However, this world has an extremely long history, and there will always be some once-in-a-millennium geniuses who love to break the rules and take the unconventional path. Olmeida I, the founder of the Sid Empire, was such a person.

He used the empire's territory as its foundation, the judicial system as its neural network, the law as its will, and the hearts, hopes, beliefs, loyalty, and love of millions of his people as his soul, connecting with the spiritual realm to construct an unprecedented spiritual domain of law enforcement.

It is like a huge barrier covering the territory of the Hid Empire, with incredible power, such as searching for and suppressing extraordinary individuals, and training law enforcement officers, judges or prosecutors.

These three professions are both job titles and names of extraordinary pathways. They require absolutely no talent; all that is needed is official imperial authorization to wield extraordinary power. The credentials are tokens that grant access to the great power of the Enforcement Spirit Realm.

Unfortunately, their power is borrowed. It can be used to strengthen their bodies, protect themselves, and fight enemies, but they are still ordinary people, like puppets, completely obeying the emperor's orders. After death, their souls will be swallowed by the law enforcement spirit domain.

"Grandma Mia, don't those who covet the medal know the drawbacks of the Enforcer? Why are they still so eager to get it?" Roland's doubts deepened. Many things are hard to see clearly from the surface, and Grandma Mia's insights might not be entirely correct.

"Ordinary people may not know, but others have ulterior motives. Extraordinary people have power, status, and are not lacking in forbidden methods to strengthen their bodies and prolong their lives. Who wouldn't want that?"

"Taboo methods? Can law enforcement officers also engage in favoritism, corruption, and criminal activities?"

"Roland, what do you think of the Empire's situation these past few years?" Grandma Mia asked, seemingly changing the subject.

"Hmm... not good. Rebel groups and cults are everywhere, making life increasingly difficult for ordinary people."

"The answer is obvious. The Law Enforcement Spirit Realm and the Empire influence each other. When the Empire declines, the Law Enforcement Spirit Realm weakens. And vice versa. The core of the Law Enforcement Spirit Realm is the law."

Roland suddenly realized: "In other words, the cause was the neglect, corruption, and embezzlement of the extraordinary individuals in the judicial system, which led to the deterioration of the rule of law, the weakening of the law enforcement spiritual realm, and ultimately the decline of the empire." "That's a fair understanding."

"His Majesty the Emperor wants to revitalize the judicial system. Do you think he can succeed?"

"Haha... How would an old woman like me know what the future holds?" Grandma Mia chuckled.

The Law Enforcement Spirit Realm is so famous that most extraordinary beings can offer their opinions, but the royal family is undoubtedly the most knowledgeable about it, and outsiders rarely know its true nature.

"Don't worry about those things. The most important thing now is to break the Nightmare Killing Technique. Nightmares are very troublesome. Once they've locked onto a target, they won't give up easily. The best way is to eliminate the mastermind behind it all, and this person shouldn't be the same one who kidnapped you." Grandma Mia said with a worried expression.

Roland nodded, agreeing with this hypothesis. Nightmare was uncontrollable, and the time of death was uncertain; since they were going to kidnap Roland anyway, why bother with this extra step?

"Is there nothing even for extraordinary individuals? Don't we have any other extraordinary individuals in Ice River Town?" Roland felt that only extraordinary individuals could stand up to extraordinary individuals.

“Extraordinary beings are not omnipotent. The abilities they acquire through different paths are biased towards different areas, and they may not necessarily have the ability to deal with Nightmare. Ice River Town is close to the snowfield, and there are quite a few Extraordinary beings there, at least a dozen or twenty, but most of them are hunters, and their abilities are biased towards combat or tracking…”

"Grandma Mia, don't worry, the nightmare can't do anything to me." Roland didn't want Grandma Mia to worry too much.

After a moment of contemplation, Grandma Mia said, "Take your medal to the law enforcement agency to register and report it when you have time. This will cut off any other person's thoughts, and the caster will most likely stop."

"Hmm," Roland responded verbally, but inwardly he sighed. The record could only protect against outsiders; if it really was his relative, whom he'd never met, who did it, then as long as Roland died, they could rightfully take the medal.

"Don't leave Ice River Town for now. There's been a lot of commotion these past few days, and the authorities have taken notice. They won't dare to make any more moves. I'll have Org issue a notice to warn them," Grandma Mia instructed.

"That fat, corrupt mayor who embezzles subsidies from the orphanage...?" Roland asked curiously. "Would he help?"

“You’ve misunderstood him. The special funds for the orphanage stopped a long time ago. Over the years, the orphanage has been able to continue operating entirely thanks to Orger’s grants and donations from the townspeople. He didn’t say anything, and I didn’t dare tell the children either.”

"Stop subsidizing the orphanage. Save your money and think more about yourself. Don't worry, with me here, the orphanage won't go out of business," Grandma Mia advised, words she had repeated countless times.

"So that's how it is." Roland hadn't expected the Sid Empire's finances to be so bad. "Even extraordinary beings are short of money?"

“The extraordinary are all poor,” Grandma Mia joked. “I’m old, and my income depends entirely on that meager salary, but unfortunately, the amount I receive has been decreasing over the years.”

Both of them fell silent.

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(End of this chapter)