Wizard: Starting with Dealing with Magical Plants

Chapter 219 Dangerous Information

During this time, Blake, Liana, Kruger, and others came to visit him one after another, and they exchanged information about the latest developments at the base and their respective recovery progress.

Lehman's injury is recovering more slowly than expected, and his right arm requires more time and precious materials to heal, so he will be unable to return to the team for the time being.

Ella would often come over, bringing food and sharing rumors and anecdotes about the various monsters and dangerous places in the Scorching Hell that she had heard from the research department or veterans, so that Rolin wouldn't be too bored during his recovery.

The peaceful period of recuperation lasted about five days.

Luo Lin's mental strength had recovered to about 70%, his star power was almost fully restored, and his physical injuries had almost healed.

However, the spell model for [Disruption of Order] is still weak and needs more time to recover before it can be used again.

That afternoon, feeling good, Luo Lin went to the analysis room set up by the research department at the base.

In the analysis room, the Duden researcher who had been brought in was looking at a pile of visitor shell fragments and the wreckage of the damaged device with a headache.

His eyes lit up when he saw Rowling come in.

"Perfect timing! Come and see this!" Duden pulled Rolin to a sophisticated energy deconstruction device, the screen of which displayed a scan of the damaged device's internal structure.

"Look here, and here," Duden said, pointing to several key points.

"The device's internal energy loops are very similar in style to the Observer's Relic, but are more integrated and functional."

"But these places—" He pointed to several areas that showed obvious signs of melting and forced modification.

"It was implanted with completely different energy patterns that bear a strong imprint of death and soul."

"The two energy circuits are crudely spliced ​​together, interfering with each other and are extremely unstable."

"I really don't know how those lunatics in the Pale Hand managed to keep it running."

Luo Lin examined the scanned image carefully.

Indeed, the original structure of the device was exquisite, representing a highly advanced technology of ordered energy.

However, those added, filthy patterns, like a virus, eroded the originally perfect structure, causing overall functional disorder and eventually collapsing under overload.

"We will forcibly modify the device and use its energy amplification properties to drive and strengthen the power of death and corruption," Rolin said.

"But the modifiers clearly do not understand, or do not care about, the harmony of the underlying energy logic of the device."

"This piecemeal approach is destined to fail."

"That's right." Duden nodded.

"However, this also illustrates the Pale Hand's thirst for visitor technology and—to some extent, its short-sightedness."

"They seem to be in a rush, or lack the technical expertise to perfectly replicate or modify it."

Luo Lin then took out the flat black metal box. During his few days of recuperation, he had also tried to study the inner encryption and discovered that it was a very ancient bloodline restriction bound to soul fluctuations.

Forcibly cracking the code could very likely lead to the self-destruction of internal information.

"Has the research department made any progress on the encryption of the inner layer of this flat box?" Luo Lin asked.

Duden shook his head: "It's troublesome. The encryption method is ancient, involving theology of souls and bloodlines, which is not our area of ​​expertise."

"There are no experts in this field at the base."

"It may be necessary to send it back to the Holy Tower headquarters and ask a master of the Contract School or the study of ancient bloodlines to handle it."

Luo Lin carefully put the flat box away.

It seems that it won't be able to be opened anytime soon.

Over the next few days, while continuing his recovery, Luo Lin assisted the research department with some data analysis work.

At the same time, he was also sorting out and reflecting on the gains and losses of this mission, and further improving his spell system and combat strategy.

The atmosphere at the base remained tense.

The number of patrols and reconnaissance teams increased, and the news they brought back was mostly not optimistic.

In the eastern Ash Plains, centered on the fallen Anvil Outpost area, the area contaminated by death and decay appears to be slowly but steadily expanding.

Occasionally, small groups of undead or corrupted creatures would wander to the outskirts of the base, but they were quickly eliminated. Everyone understood that this was just the calm before the storm.

Is the pale hand gathering power, or is it performing some more dangerous ritual?

Regarding visitors, no significant traces of their activity have been detected since the Battle of Anvil Outpost.

It seemed to fall silent suddenly.

But this silence only made people more uneasy.

One week later, as Rowling was in his dormitory practicing his daily meditation, the communication array on the door suddenly began flashing rapidly, and Blake's stern voice came through: "Rolling, come to command center immediately. There's an emergency."

Luo Lin felt a chill run down his spine, ended his meditation, quickly tidied himself up, and left the dormitory.

The command center was brightly lit, and the atmosphere was more solemn than usual. General Hossman stood before the huge tactical sand table in the center, his brow furrowed.

Blake, Ella, Liana, and several senior officers and the head of the research department from the base were present.

On the sand table, the model representing the eastern region of Ash Plains is currently covered by a dark red area representing the ever-spreading high-risk zone of death and corruption.

In the center of that dark red area, at the location of the rift in the throat of the dead, was marked with a glaring, constantly flashing black skull symbol.

"We have just received an urgent report from the Imperial high-altitude reconnaissance griffin riders." General Hossman's voice was low and heavy, carrying a sense of impending doom.

"In the Throat of the Dead rift area, the fluctuations in death energy and corruption have surged exponentially over the past twelve hours!"

"At the same time, we detected a large-scale extraction of ley line energy, which was being channeled into the depths of the fissure!"

"The energy reading—has exceeded the safety threshold by three times! And it's still increasing!"

He pointed to the black skull symbol on the sand table: "The scout knight also observed that large-scale energy vortexes and spatial distortions have appeared in the sky above the crack."

"A large number of high-ranking undead creatures have gathered around the rift, including—at least three giant skeletons similar in size to those encountered at the Anvil Outpost, but slightly smaller!"

"They seem to be guarding the crack, or preparing for some kind of ritual."

"Furthermore," General Hossman paused, his gaze sweeping over the crowd, "the energy monitoring station has captured an extremely brief, but exceptionally clear, fragment of a mental broadcast from the depths of the rift."

"The content cannot be fully deciphered, but words such as awakening, offerings, doors, and return appear repeatedly."

Awakening?

Sacrifice?

Door?

return?

The combination of these words gives one an extremely ominous feeling.

"General, what is your assessment?" Blake asked in a deep voice.

General Hossman took a deep breath and pressed his finger heavily on the black skull symbol on the sand table: "The Pale Hand likely represents a massive, ultimate ritual deep within the throat of the dead, aimed at awakening or guiding some terrifying being!"

"All the previous activities—collecting souls, experimenting with corrupted creations, modifying giant skeletons, and attacking outposts—were likely preparations for this ritual!"

"We must stop them!" an Imperial officer exclaimed urgently.

"How do we stop it?" another Santa Fe officer asked in return.

"Based on current intelligence, the number of undead and corrupted creatures gathered around the rift is difficult to estimate, and there are at least three giant skeletons guarding it."

"With our current base strength, the chances of winning a direct assault are slim."

General Hossman raised his hand to stop the argument: "A direct assault is not advisable. But we absolutely cannot allow the ceremony to be completed."

"If they succeed, the Throat of the Dead could truly become a gateway to an abyss of death and corruption, potentially utterly corrupting and devouring the entire scorched hell fragment, and even the surrounding area!"

He looked at Blake, Rolin, and the others: "The Scorching Flame Patrol Team, you are the most familiar with the Throat of the Dead area."

"The base now needs a small, elite raiding squad to carry out a near-suicidal mission."

"Bypass the main undead army, use every possible means to infiltrate the depths of the rift, find the ritual core, and destroy it at all costs!"

The command center was completely silent.

Venture into the depths of the rift guarded by the Sea of ​​the Dead and giant skeletons to disrupt an unprecedented and terrifying ritual presided over by a high-ranking necromancer.

The chances of surviving this mission are extremely slim.

But as the general said, we cannot sit idly by.

Blake stepped forward, his back ramrod straight: "Scorching Flame Patrol Team, mission accepted!"

Ella and Liana exchanged a glance and silently stood behind Blake.

Rowling did not immediately respond.

His gaze fell on the black skull symbol on the sand table, and the dense red dots around it representing the dead.

The cold, ancient thoughts deep within the crack flashed through my mind: the words of the bone gatherer before his death, the energy direction in the flat box, and that small fragment containing spiritual coordinates.

The key is at the altar —

Perhaps, what they need is more than just a raiding squad.

"General," Roland said slowly, his voice calm.

"To disrupt the ritual, we need more precise intelligence about the exact location of the ritual's core, its energy structure, and—possible keys or weaknesses."

He took out the flat black metal box: "The pale hand is searching for the key."

F

"The bone collector mentioned on his deathbed that the key was on the altar."

"This flat box might point to the key, or be related to the key."

"If we can find the key before the ceremony is completed, we might be able to fundamentally disrupt or even destroy the process of the ceremony."

General Hossman looked sharply at Rollin: "Are you confident you can crack the flat box?"

"No," Rowling said frankly.

"But I know that the Pale Hand may have other strongholds or clues deep within the Bone-Eating Hills."

"The flat box, besides pointing into the depths of the rift, also seems to branch out in several other directions in the Ash Plains."

"Instead of blindly attacking the crack, we should take a two-pronged approach."

"One team attempts to infiltrate the crevice to investigate and sabotage, while another team, based on the direction indicated by the flat box, goes to find the key or related clues."

This suggestion gave everyone pause for thought.

Dividing the troops into two groups disperses the risks, but it also means dispersing resources.

But faced with such a dire situation, trying one more thing might offer one more chance of survival.

"What kind of setup do you think the team searching for the key needs?" General Hossman asked.

"The number of people should not be too large. They need to be proficient in stealth and reconnaissance, as well as have a certain understanding of ancient energy and necromancy," Roland said.

"I can lead the team."

"Captain Ella excels at reconnaissance and long-range support; she can work with me."

"In addition, it would be best to have a team member who has strong resistance to corruption energy and death environments."

His gaze fell on Liana.

The purifying power of the Flamebringers might play an unexpected role in this kind of mission.

Liana nodded slightly, indicating her willingness.