Wizard: Starting with Dealing with Magical Plants

Chapter 319 Residual Internal Information

Rowling put on a pair of gloves as thin as cicada wings, made of some kind of transparent insect membrane, and carefully picked up the fragment, placing it into a crystal dish the size of a bowl, the inside of which was etched with multiple layers of concentric circle runes.

This is one of the advanced experimental instruments that Master Evelyn sent last time: the "Energy Field Resonance Imager".

The instrument was activated. The runes at the bottom of the crystal disc lit up with a soft, silvery-white light, rippling upwards like waves and enveloping the fragments.

The miniature, ever-changing three-dimensional light and shadow appearing above the disk is a three-dimensional projection of the energy structure remaining inside the fragment.

Compared to the previous simple energy sensing, the image analyzer can more clearly show the details and damage points of the energy circuit.

Luo Lin leaned closer, his eyes fixed on the light and shadow.

The energy circuits inside the fragment were more complex than he had anticipated.

Most of them were broken, twisted, or even melted and stuck together, forming a tangled mess.

However, amidst these chaotic lines, several relatively complete and standard geometric structures can still be discerned.

That is a typical basic energy node of the observer protocol unit.

The way one of the nodes was connected caught his attention.

It should have been connected to the main control protocol logic unit, but now the connection line is twisted at an unnatural angle, and the end is not broken, but rather—integrated into a charred hole next to it, which is obviously caused by later energy overload ablation.

"Logic instruction output terminal, incorrectly connected to emergency energy relief channel?" Luo Lin muttered to himself, his brows furrowed slightly.

What does this mean?

This means that when this unit was executing a certain protocol instruction, it may have encountered an unmanageable logical contradiction or energy overload, causing the instruction output to be directly directed to the pressure relief channel.

It's like someone trying to speak, but their vocal cords are mistakenly connected to their trachea, causing their commands to become meaningless bursts of energy.

This might explain the ferocity and chaos in the residual energy of the fragments.

That wasn't hostility, but rather a system error causing energy runaway.

Rowling immediately recorded the discovery and highlighted the anomalous connection point.

Continue to observe.

On the other side of the fragment, near the edge, he found several extremely fine marks, different from those caused by energy burning.

It was very shallow, as if it had been grazed at high speed by something sharp.

He set the magnification of the image analyzer to the highest level.

The engraved lines—with fine, jagged edges—remain on the material, carrying a faint, cold, and magical residue that is completely different from the dark golden, orderly energy of the fragment itself.

It was not caused by the observer civilization's own weapons.

It looks more like the traces left by some kind of magical attack with strong death or corrosive properties.

Pale hand?

Luo Lin's eyes narrowed.

Marcus said there were signs of a pale hand moving around the outpost.

The fragment was found near the outpost and bore the marks of what appeared to be an attack by the Pale Hand.

The Pale Hand not only attempted to control the outpost, but also clashed with the observer units.

Moreover, judging from the extent of the damage to the fragments, their attack seems to have been effective?

It caused damage to at least this one unit sufficient to cause its logic to become disordered and its energy to run out of control.

This speculation made Rowling's heart sink slightly.

Does the pale hand possess the means to effectively harm or even contaminate the observer protocol units?

If this is the case, then their exploitation of ancient heritage may be deeper and more dangerous than Parliament anticipates.

He needs more evidence.

Rolin removed the fragment from the image analyzer and replaced it with a traceable water crystal chip specifically designed to detect trace amounts of residual magic.

These crystal pieces are extremely sensitive to non-standard magical fluctuations, and can capture and visualize extremely faint residual features.

He gently rubbed the scratched parts of the fragment onto the crystal a few times.

Wait a moment.

Extremely dim, dark green, moss-like tiny spots of light began to appear on the surface of the crystal.

The irregular edges of the light spots exuded an unsettling, chilling, and sticky magical aura.

It really is the residual magic of death or decay!

Moreover, its distinctive features bear a resemblance to the magical signatures of several typical death spells used in the Pale Hand's past activities.

Luo Lin carefully packaged the traceability crystal along with the fragments into an isolation box.

These all need to be submitted as evidence to Master Evelyn and Deacon Otto of the Security Department.

After finishing all that, most of the morning had passed. A feeling of hunger crept into my stomach.

Luo Lin tidied up his worktable, locked his important items in a drawer, and got up to go to the communal dining area.

The dining area was a little more crowded than usual, and the air was filled with the aroma of roasted meat and boiled beans.

Rowling received a lunch consisting of soft bean soup, two pieces of rye bread, and a piece of smoked sausage, and found a corner by the window to sit down.

He ate slowly, listening to the faint sounds of conversation around him.

"The northern patrol returned yesterday, and I heard they found new footprints on the eastern side of the Frosthowl Rift, not from monsters—"

"Deacon Otto has deployed more personnel to strengthen the inspection of incoming and outgoing goods, especially those from caravans in the north—"

"The Department of Ancient Relics seems to be quite busy lately. Master Evelyn's assistant has been coming to the library more often these past few days."

The information was fragmented, but it all pointed north.

Tensions are quietly rising within parliament.

After finishing the last bite of bread, Luo Lin drank the soup in the bowl.

Just as he was about to get up, a figure sat down opposite him.

It's Ellie.

She held her lunch plate, a hint of worry on her face.

"Mr. Rowling," Ellie greeted in a low voice, glancing around to make sure no one was paying attention before lowering her voice and saying, "I heard some news—a few apprentices from the Department of Life and Nature have been temporarily transferred away, supposedly to carry out some resource exploration mission, but they left in a hurry and didn't even take all their luggage."

"The team leader is a mentor from the Third Ring Road who rarely appears in public."

Roland paused slightly. "Which direction did you go?"

Ellie shook her head: "I don't know, but someone saw them heading towards the north gate of the council."

"Professor Edna didn't say anything, she just told us not to leave the headquarters area recently, especially not to go north."

The North Gate is one of the main exits leading to the permafrost wasteland.

Parliament has begun sending more people to the north, and doing so discreetly.

The fact that even apprentices were urgently called up suggests that there may be a shortage of manpower, or that the task requires certain specific skills.

After a moment's thought, Rowling said to Ellie, "Try not to go out alone lately. Stay in the apprentice dormitory area or the research department."

"If anything unusual happens, please let me know immediately."

Ellie nodded vigorously. "I understand." She hesitated for a moment, then asked, "Mr. Rowling, is something going to happen up north?"

"It's not clear yet." Rowling didn't hide anything, but he couldn't give a definite answer either. "It's always good to be vigilant."

""

"Focus on your cultivation and improve your strength. No matter what happens, you will have the ability to cope with it."

"Mm," Ellie replied, her eyes still showing worry, but with a hint of determination.

After lunch, Rowling and Ellie parted ways, and Rowling went straight to Master Evelyn's office.

He has made an important discovery that needs to be reported.

The office door was ajar, and the sounds of Master Evelyn talking to another person could be heard from inside; their tone was somewhat hurried.

"Is it confirmed to be their method?" It was Master Evelyn's voice.

"The characteristics of residual magic match more than 80%."

Another male voice answered, and Rowling recognized it as the cold, hard voice of Deacon Otto from the Security Department.

"And not just in one place. Similar traces have been found on the east side of the Howling Rift, by the Ice Dust Lake, and in an ice cave near the Pale Ice Cliff."

"They're looking for something, or rather—setting something up."

97

"Any news from Marcus?"

"The last message was three days ago. They were close to the first spatial disturbance point and did not find the main force of the Pale Hand, but they did find signs of small groups of reconnaissance personnel."

"After the message was sent, silence was maintained. According to the plan, the next contact should be tomorrow or the day after tomorrow."

"Too slow." Master Evelyn's voice carried a rare hint of impatience. "The Pale Hand is moving faster than we expected."

"Any results from the analysis of the fragments Rowling brought back?"

"We have just received a preliminary report confirming that there are remnants of the Pale Hand's death magic attack on the fragments, and that the damage pattern of the unit matches the characteristics of logical inconsistency and energy overload."

"The Pale Hand likely possesses some means of interfering with or even disrupting the Observer Protocol Units."

Outside the door, Luo Lin paused, his raised hand still.

Has Deacon Otto already received the report?

That's really efficient.

It seems the Ministry of Security is taking this matter more seriously than we imagined.

He knocked gently on the door.

The conversation inside abruptly stopped.