Chapter 197 Domain Expansion

Chenlong, who is currently slaughtering the Witcher faction, has become aware of my presence.

Perhaps his previous understanding was distorted to some extent by my false identity inside the secret base. Even if I had generated magical fluctuations here last time, and even killed someone with fire abilities, he might not have been able to tell that I was the one who was secretly causing trouble.

Now that he has witnessed my signature skill, "Firefly," it would be utterly inexcusable if he still couldn't figure out who was behind this massive riot. Perhaps if I were to appear directly in front of him now, he wouldn't mistake me for some "innocent child who unfortunately became a test subject for the Humanitarian Department." His distorted perception has been completely shattered.

However, other distorted perceptions still existed in his mind, namely, the brainwashing he had been subjected to by Ying Lingyun.

If there were a way to break his brainwashing, we wouldn't have to worry about how to defeat the "portal armor," and we could even turn the enemy's forces into our own... This unrealistic thought flashed through my mind.

At this moment, I am in mental synchronization with the young girl Lu Chan. Unlike me, who can only share sensory information, she seems to be more proficient in this regard, able to perceive my mental movements at a deeper level, and even capture the occasional fleeting thoughts.

"You didn't even mean me any harm..." she exclaimed.

“If you’re worried about being burned by my spirit, you shouldn’t connect with my spirit,” I said.

“I’m also planning to take a gamble. Since you can synchronize with that Lu Chan outside, you should be able to synchronize with me too. However, I thought you would at least find me disgusting, since in your mind I should be a man. And you don’t completely believe that I am Lu Chan, do you?” she said. “Maybe I’m actually a weirdo who lies all the time, with unknown intentions—you must have thought that, right?”

I do have these suspicions, and I've even anticipated that she might suddenly become an enemy, but I also enjoy this unpredictable danger. I find it difficult to harbor malice towards someone simply because "the other person might pose a danger to me."

"Also, you seemed to be thinking about 'whether it's possible to break Chenlong's brainwashing,' right?" the girl Lu Chan said. "Although breaking the brainwashing is impossible, I should be able to influence him through my mental magic."

Mental magic, are you referring to spells like the quick-acting hypnosis I mentioned before? I wasn't surprised she knew what I was thinking, but I countered with, "You mean, just like Ying Lingyun can brainwash Chenlong, you can also brainwash Chenlong in the opposite direction? But with your power, can you really influence someone at the Great Completion level?"

“Generally speaking, it’s not possible, but now three special conditions have been met,” she said. “First, I am now in mental synchronization with you. As long as you don’t resist, I can borrow some of your power and unleash my full-power mental interference ability. Second, Chenlong most likely suffers from some kind of mental illness, and his mind has a major flaw…”

"He actually has a mental illness?" I was stunned.

“This is an inevitable aftereffect of brainwashing that drastically changes one’s personality,” she asserted. “Even if he has no doubt about his ‘current self,’ he still retains memories of his past life as a socially conscious witch hunter, and memories are an important cornerstone of personality. Even if he can fabricate countless reasons to rationalize his two completely opposite lives, his unconscious self-identity will still be full of flaws.”

“I see…” I said. “Then, what is the third special condition?”

"Thirdly, I was a comrade-in-arms who fought alongside him when he was normal, and who was betrayed by him after he was brainwashed," she said. "When he realized that I was the one who launched the psychological attack, the unconscious psychological flaws he had were further magnified."

"If I were a master-level mental power user, I might be able to brainwash him back to his original state on the spot; and even if I can only use master-level mental power now, it would still be enough to hinder him."

What does "brainwashing back to its original state" mean? ... I just find this phrase really hard to explain.

However, in actual combat, creating a situation where the young Lu Chan could successfully use mental magic on Chen Long would not be easy. Her speed was too slow; she might be killed by Chen Long before she could even use her magic. She could only proceed cautiously, taking it one step at a time.

As Chenlong unleashed his rapid slaughter, more than half of the demon hunters were quickly killed, with the remaining hunters fighting desperately. Despite the vast difference in strength, a few demon hunters possessed exceptional abilities that Chenlong couldn't instantly kill. He had to resort to different methods, or simply use even greater force to overpower them.

In this process, the secret behind his ability to fight with all his might in this location was gradually revealed to us—

The first to realize the truth was the young girl, Lu Chan, who exclaimed in sudden realization, "...So that's how it is!"

"How did he do it?" I asked immediately.

She didn't answer with words, but rather it was directly revealed to me.

I suspect she used some kind of detection spell. Through our mentally synchronized connection, I also received the results of her detection. If we were to compare the "firefly's" perception to a 3D holographic projection in the air, what I saw at that moment was a large number of densely packed lines within that projection.

Those lines were all Chenlong's magical power; with him at the center, countless lines spread throughout the entire stronghold.

“He is expanding his own scale of existence in this way,” the girl Lu Chan explained. “If we compare the space we are in to the surface of water, then he is increasing his own volume so that he can float on the surface of the water.”

I suddenly realized.

It was like a magic trick.

Once the mystery is solved, it seems like nothing is a big deal, and you might even wonder why you didn't think of such a simple approach.

"So, as long as I can do the same thing, that's fine, right?" I asked.

Expanding my own scale of existence is easy for me; I just need to enter the fire element form and then transform my body into a sea of ​​fire.

That being said, I don't think it's that simple to achieve the same effect as Chenlong.

I would be forced to log out if I could only summon a small fireball with my own power. This independent reality space is also unable to support my fire elemental form. I am afraid that I will fail before I can even "unleash a sea of ​​fire".

Ultimately, it's probably because my own existence is too "heavy," even much heavier than Chenlong's, which is why things that are easy for Chenlong are difficult for me.

However, I quickly came up with a solution, then drew the Heretic Impermanence Sword and asked, "You just said 'as expected'... Did you know from the beginning that he was using this method?"

“It was just a suspicion before, but now it’s finally confirmed,” she said. “Although you can’t output power here on your own, you can release flames with the Sword of Impermanence, right? That’s because the Sword of Impermanence is an external object to you. When you use an external object to output power, it will reduce the pressure you exert on this space. To describe it, it might be a bit like a swimming float.”

"At the same time, every time Chenlong attacks, he first releases a powerful wave of magical energy, as if to warn the enemy to run away... This is because he needs to spread out his magical energy before he can unleash his fastest speed."

The second half of her sentence corresponds to my previous experience of hiding from Chenlong. No wonder.

Now that I've found a way to fight with all my might, it's time for me to strike. While listening to Lu Chan's reply, I channeled my power into the Unpredictable Sword of the Heretic Path; the sword's color rapidly changed, resembling a red-hot iron bar just pulled from a forge. Meanwhile, on the distant battlefield, Chenlong's battle with the demon hunters had just ended.

I plunged the Heretical Impermanence Sword into the ground, and with the blade as the center, orange-red flames surged in all directions like a torrent, engulfing the supervisor's office where we were and the corridor outside.

Immediately, I connected my existence with this wave of flames, and using this as a foundation, I further expanded the sea of ​​fire.

Since I would be forced to log out in the early stages of summoning the sea of ​​fire, I could simply use the Outer Path of Impermanence Sword to complete the early stages first. From this moment on, the sea of ​​fire would share the pressure I exerted on this independent reality space. I released my power in one breath, and the wave of flames rapidly expanded, spreading like a flood to Chenlong on the other side of the stronghold.

The entire secret base was instantly engulfed in flames, and all remaining counter-detection barriers were shattered. Not only that, but all the surviving researchers were also caught in the inferno. Since I hadn't included them on my fire-free list, those researchers didn't even have time to feel pain before turning to ashes in the fire. I felt their souls turn into "slag" and enter my flames.

"Zhuang Cheng——!!"

Through countless walls, Chenlong suddenly looked towards the supervisor's office. Without those obstructive anti-detection barriers, it seemed his super hearing had returned to its normal range. Shadows coiled around him, forming armor, and he stomped through a large section of the corridor, transforming into an indestructible black meteor that crashed through the walls and charged straight towards where I was.

The young girl, Lu Chan, immediately hid deep within the supervisor's office, while I first moved at high speed to lure Chen Long to a distance. Then, I activated Flame Teleportation and moved to another location.

After the inferno spread, I located Dr. Silver Mask. He was in one of the cells—or, to put it more accurately, a laboratory—where my perception had returned to normal. He was in one of the heavily guarded labs, where even the flames were momentarily blocked by the protective barriers.

Immediately afterwards, the laboratory door was completely breached by the sea of ​​fire, and I rushed in with the flames, manipulating countless flames to sweep towards the silver-masked doctor.

He stood in front of the lab table, still wearing his white lab coat and white suit stained with blood, and a silver mask on his face. He calmly turned around and looked at me.

“Let’s start over,” he said.

Along with these words, the power of restarting began.

(End of this chapter)