One of them, Isadora, wiped the sweat from her forehead. Her whole body looked like she had just been fished out of the water, and her clothes and skirt were almost completely wet.
This shows how much pressure the psychic confrontation just now caused her.
Especially the several veins near the head, without exception, all of them bulged like earthworms and were accompanied by slight stinging pain.
This stinging pain is a manifestation of excessive depletion of spiritual energy.
If they had failed in the confrontation with the new main brain consciousness just now, the heads of all the participants present would have exploded with a bang, or their consciousness would have been wiped out in an instant and they would have turned into zombies, even the Mind Flayer would be no exception.
In fact, the Mastermind closely monitors the entire Mind Flayer community in this way to ensure that there are no traitors or outliers.
It’s a pity that the main brain before him had just developed independent consciousness not long ago and was not aware of the coming crisis at all.
In addition, the mind flayers that control the brain pool room are all summoned creatures by Zuo Si. They have been instilled with a lot of wrong information from the very beginning, so that they did not realize until the ceremony began that the crazy Isadora actually wanted to replace them. By the time they reacted, it was too late, and they could only do their best to make a final desperate resistance.
But unfortunately this resistance is futile.
You must know that after a large amount of self-replication, devouring and fusion, each of the remaining four Isadoras possesses powerful psychic powers comparable to those of the Heartbreaker.
In particular, his unique understanding of the concept of "self" makes him have no weaknesses at all in terms of thought and spirit.
In contrast, every mastermind is extremely afraid of death.
Many masterminds, when seriously injured or their lives are threatened, will even choose to surrender or become prisoners or slaves in exchange for the other party not destroying them.
Back then, Iolum, the greatest arcanist in Netheril, relied on his own powerful magical powers to forcibly capture an elder brain and an entire gathering place of mind flayers.
They even used each other to conduct various cruel experiments.
Eventually, he replaced the will of the Mastermind with his own soul and will, becoming the first Mind Flayer Mastermind Lich in Faerun's history.
During this process, neither the Mastermind nor the Mind Flayers offered any form of resistance.
It was not until the last moment that it realized what the other party wanted to do, and then the main brain burst out with all its mental power, trying to disrupt the magic ceremony.
But unfortunately, it only killed those mind flayers who rebelled and followed Iolum to learn arcane magic, and failed to cause any actual harm to this extremely powerful archmage. Even the extremely complex magic ritual was successfully completed.
"How do you feel now? Have you inherited all the knowledge and memories of the Mastermind?" the Mind Flayer asked, waving its octopus-like tentacles.
Mastermind Isadora answered without hesitation: "I feel great now, as if I have an inexhaustible supply of psychic energy. As for knowledge and memory, they are all preserved intact as planned. As long as Soth brings back the soul from another world, the Fourth Disaster Plan can be launched at any time."
"Very good! You really didn't disappoint me. Remember, the Fourth Calamity Project is the most important project of the Master at this stage. Its fundamental goal is to collect knowledge and talents from different worlds, to create a brand new civilization from scratch, and a powerful army that is always in high spirits and cannot be truly killed."
The Mind Flayer did not hide anything and told all the secrets in front of the four Isadoras.
In his opinion, apart from the summoned creatures and Wilmes who was controlled by the strange object, these girls were the only ones in the entire wizard tower who would never betray Zuo Si.
What's more, one of them, Isadora, has now become the mastermind and the key core of the entire plan.
"If I want to fully realize the grand goal of the Fourth Scourge Plan, I need to constantly strengthen my own strength, especially I need more mind flayers to donate their brains." Isadora, who became the mastermind, made the request.
She inherited an absolutely calm and rational character, and she knew very well that it was almost impossible to rebuild a civilization with only a few thousand connected souls.
At least one must be able to access millions, tens of millions, or even hundreds of millions of souls at one time to be able to do it.
Of course, in addition to this, the cloning magic must be able to keep up and produce enough cloned bodies in a short period of time.
In short, this is an extremely large systematic project, which may require tens of thousands of relevant professionals.
The Mind Flayer responded without hesitation: "Don't worry, I have informed Wilmes to completely relax the birth restrictions on goblin werewolves.
Within three months, you will be provided with at least 50,000 new mind flayers transformed from goblins.
After these mind flayers finish laying eggs, I will arrange for them to donate their brains in batches.
Although their brains are far inferior to those of the mind flayers that have lived for decades, they can win by quantity.
Fifty thousand brains can at least increase the number of people connected to more than one hundred thousand."
When saying this, the Mind Flayer's tone and attitude did not fluctuate at all, and was so cruel and cold that it made people's scalps tingle.
"Remove the birth restrictions on the goblins? Do we have enough food to feed them?" another Isadora questioned.
“Don’t worry. The harvest in the Nelanther Islands is pretty good this year.
There are also sufficient food reserves at Am's castle estate, more than enough to feed tens of thousands more goblins.
What's more, the master has already used millions of low-level undead to carry out large-scale reclamation in another world.
The food output in just one year is enough to feed everyone on the west coast of Faerun."
The Mind Flayer gave the assurance with confidence.
Since Zuo Si successfully captured the floating city of Plantia and either cleared out or brought under control most of the undead in the area originally ruled by him, although there are no living people at present, he rules over nearly one million square kilometers of land.
Not only agricultural food output, but also various mineral resources are available.
In addition, undead laborers do not need to eat, drink or rest, and can work 24 hours a day, so the output is quite amazing.
With the help of some "Quarish" magical mechanical devices that draw on modern engineering principles, it can actually compete with the industrial society on Earth in terms of efficiency.
This is also the reason why Zuo Si, knowing clearly that the large-scale use of low-level undead would easily lead to hostility from some gods and their churches, was unwilling to give up.
There is no other reason, it’s simply low cost, high profit, and there is no need to worry about disasters and deaths caused by unexpected situations.
Just as Furen began to frantically push forward the Fourth Disaster Plan, Zuo Si, who was far away in another world, was also not idle.
At this moment, he was standing next to a bed in the intensive care unit of a hospital, looking at the various monitoring instruments, tubes and oxygen cylinders next to him, as well as the middle-aged man lying on the white bed sheet, dying. After a full minute, he asked, "Dr. White, I think you must be very clear now that you are going to die soon, right?"
"You...you can see me?"
A translucent soul slowly floated out of the dying body, its face full of shock and disbelief.
Because he has been in this state for more than ten minutes, it is not difficult to tell from the reactions of the doctors and nurses around him that they can't see his soul at all, let alone feel his own existence.
Zuo Si nodded with a smile on his face: "Of course! In fact, I came all the way from England across the Atlantic Ocean just to talk to you about the topic of death."
"About the topic of death? Are you the god of death?" Dr. White opened his mouth in surprise.
You have to know that he is a genius in the industry who holds a series of titles including biologist, doctor of genetic engineering, virology expert, bacteriology expert, etc. Although he would go to church with his family on certain days, he never believed that there was any God in this world.
If there really is a god, it must be an evil god.
Otherwise, how can we explain that those people, countries and organizations that have committed numerous crimes have not received the punishment they deserve, but still exist today? But now, when a guy who can see his own soul appears out of thin air, the doctors and nurses around him have no reaction at all, as if they can't see it at all. Dr. White's materialistic beliefs and values are rapidly collapsing.
"The God of Death? No, no, no, I'm not a god. I'm just a planeswalker who knows a little bit of magic and wants to make a deal with you." Zuo Si stated his purpose directly.
However, this answer did not disappoint Dr. White. Instead, he became more excited and excited: "Magic? Is there really such an incredible power as magic in the world? How does it work? What is the principle? Can you show it to me?"
“I’m sorry, although I would like to satisfy your request immediately, the problem is that your body full of cancer cells can no longer bear it.
In another three minutes, heartbeat and breathing will stop.
At that time, a force will pull you through the curtain and into a desperate world of death.
In this world, you will slowly lose all your memories over a long hundred years, and eventually your entire soul will dissolve into some kind of energy.
If you don't want to end up like this, the only way is to sign a contract with me."
As he spoke, Zuo Si pulled out a pre-prepared parchment scroll from his pocket, on which were a large number of clauses densely written in English.
"contract……"
Hearing these two words, Dr. White calmed down instantly, his eyes revealed a strong sense of vigilance, and he carefully approached and roughly browsed the contents above, and then couldn't help asking: "Are you a devil who tempts mortals to fall and sell their souls?"
"You worry too much. I just said that I am a planeswalker. Although the way of signing a contract is somewhat similar to that of the devil, the biggest difference is that the devil only wants your soul, but I want your intelligence." Zuo Si explained patiently.
"You want me to serve you after I die?" Dr. White tested cautiously.
"That's right. I hope to make use of your professional ability." Zuo Si gave a positive answer generously.
"What about the purpose? What exactly is your purpose?" Dr. White continued to ask.
"My goal is very simple, which is to create a unique civilization that combines magic and technology from scratch. In addition, you don't have to worry about me posing any threat to this earth. Because the place where I want to create civilization is in another completely different world. By the way, I remind you that you still have 35 seconds to make a decision."
As he spoke, Zuo Si deliberately raised his head and glanced at the instrument next to him that was monitoring his heart rate.
At this moment, the body lying on the hospital bed had entered the final stage of life. Not only was its whole body twitching violently, but its heartbeat had also become very disordered, and the instruments were constantly sounding alarms.
A doctor and two nurses immediately rushed in from outside and began to try to perform emergency rescue.
As a biologist, Dr. White was obviously very aware that given his current physical condition, rescue would be of no use at all, so after hesitating for a moment, he quickly picked up the feather pen and signed his name on the last line of the parchment scroll.
When the last stroke was completed, the breathing and heartbeat of the body on the hospital bed behind him just stopped.
Then he saw a blurry curtain appear out of thin air in front of him, and at the same time an invisible force was pulling him to the other side.
Such a horrifying scene frightened Dr. White so much that he immediately shouted, "Help me! Help me! We have already signed a contract!"
"Don't be nervous, I've already made all the preparations." Zuo Si calmly took out a small box inlaid with colorful gems.
moment!
Dr. White felt a more powerful force pulling him into the box.
Before he could react to what was happening, he saw that he was not the only one in the box, there were also a dozen men ranging in age from thirty to seventy.
A 70-year-old man responded with a wry smile: "Isn't this nonsense? If there is no contract, we will appear in this box?"
Realizing that all these people had the same experience as himself, Dr. White immediately relaxed and took the initiative to introduce himself: "Hello, my name is White, and I am an expert in biology, genetics, viruses and bacteria."
“Nice to meet you, White.
My name is McCas and I am a PhD in physics.
The guy next to him is David, a mechanical engineer.
In the corner is Camus, the chemistry expert.
Bald Chris is a sociologist.
The youngest, Boll, was a weapons designer.
Monte, who has a beard, is an expert in geology and materials science.
Barefoot Hervé is a researcher in agriculture and animal husbandry...
In short, all those who are selected are, without exception, elites in their respective fields.
I really don’t know whether the choice we made was right or wrong.”
After saying that, the old man who called himself McCas sighed slightly, full of worries about his future.
But it’s no wonder.
Anyone who signs a contract to sell his or her soul will feel a certain degree of nervousness and insecurity.
But Zuo Si obviously didn't care about this. He used the Apparition to move around the world, looking for the next talent he needed who was lying on a hospital bed and about to die.
In just a few days, a total of thirty were gathered.
Looking at the small box in his hand that was specially used to store souls, he couldn't help but sigh slightly: "It really is worthy of being the Earth with billions of people. In other worlds, it would be almost impossible to gather so many high-level talents in a short period of time without using special means."
"With a huge population base and universal education, plus elite training for extremely rare geniuses, we can completely regard this place as a talent pool." The diary suggested.
“I’ve already considered this place as a talent pool.
After all, hundreds of thousands of people die on Earth every day.
Even if we exclude the black uncles from Africa and relatively backward regions such as Southeast Asia, South America, and the Middle East, we can still select at least hundreds or even thousands of talents with certain professional skills.
Since there is not much difference when converting non-wizard souls into energy, it is a huge waste to allow those high-end talents to slowly forget everything and fall into the deep well of souls.
And I can give them new life and a platform to display their talents.
Or, this is my unique way of attracting talent.”
When saying this, Zuo Si did not hide his ambition at all.
You know, cultivating high-end talents is not an easy task.
Not to mention the huge investment in money and material, it takes more than ten or twenty years just to learn the knowledge, and then one has to slowly accumulate experience in the workplace until one stands out and begins to show one's talents.
But what about now?
With just a contract, Zuo Si could recruit this group of experts who had accumulated lifetime experience and knowledge and proven their talents to the world.
No effort!
No cost!
And there is no need to worry about the other party jumping ship or running away if the benefits provided are not good! This kind of talent introduction method that is almost like robbery will undoubtedly give people a strong sense of pleasure.
In order to avoid the accidental death of important talents in related fields when he was away, Zuo Si also specially made a long list of all the important scientists in the world.
If someone on the list dies, the Phoenix will detain their soul first and deal with it after it returns, instead of allowing it to pass through the veil into the world of the dead.
As the only true God in this world, he undoubtedly possesses such power.
"Our next step is to return to Faerun, right?" the diary asked in a low voice.
"Well! The next step is to return to Faerun and take the conch shell ship to the floating city.
I have tested it, and these two worlds are in the same universe, so it should be possible to build a permanent portal with the help of the [Heart of the Earth] and the [Core of Misera].
In this way, within the radiation range of the floating city, two magic systems can be studied and used at the same time."
Zuo Si stroked his chin and expressed his plan.
But the diary questioned: "Are you sure that the unstable [Misera Core] can provide continuous energy output?"
Zuo Si shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly. "It's just to maintain a portal. It's not like it's providing energy for the entire floating city. It shouldn't be a big problem. At worst, I can say hello to the goddess of magic and ask her to help repair this thing when she has time."
"Well, it seems you have thought of every aspect."
The diary finally stopped talking and remained silent.
Zuo Si did not waste any time and immediately returned to his home in this world, activated the portal of the Doomsday Bunker, and returned directly to the Mage Tower in Askatla.
As soon as he stepped out of the teleportation room, he saw dozens of eggs piled in the corner of the nest.
To be exact, they are all white dragon eggs.
As for the red dragon Wilmes, he was lifting weights like crazy under the supervision of the strange creature as usual. His sturdy limbs and well-developed chest muscles were intimidating just by looking at them.
There are even several weights hung on the wings, just to make the power of the dragon's wings flapping even more terrifying.
"Are these the eggs you brought back from hunting white dragons in the Far North?" Zuo Si Rao Yu asked with interest.
"Ah! That's right. I killed thirteen white dragons and not only robbed all the treasures in their nests, but also brought back the corpses and dragon eggs as you requested." Wilmes said with a grin and a smug look on his face.
Zuo Si placed his hand on the surface of one of the dragon eggs, feeling the life growing inside, and nodded slightly: "Well done. It happens that I can use these eggs to do a small test."
"test?"
There was a glimmer of curiosity in Wilmes' eyes.
"Yes! Test! I plan to take them to another world with more abundant magical energy to see if I can make these white dragons stronger and smarter there." Zuo Si said meaningfully.
Needless to say, the world he refers to here is Zendikar, where the Eldrazi titans are sealed.
If the experiment is successful, Zuo Si will establish a research, breeding and hatching base on the Zendikar plane to cultivate a legion of dragons and half-dragons, and try to hybridize dragon creatures from different worlds.
Of course, all of the above are based on the premise that time magic can be used to "ripen" things.
After all, he didn't have the patience to wait for hundreds or even thousands of years for these dragons to slowly become more and more powerful.
As the most powerful red dragon among the five colored dragons, Wilmes looked down on the white dragon, which ranked last in overall strength and was known as the "shame of true dragons". He immediately sneered and said sarcastically: "Don't waste your energy! A waste like the white dragon is destined to act like a beast by instinct no matter what world it is placed in."
"How do you know if you don't try? Besides, wild beasts have their own advantages. Their behavior and thinking patterns are simple and pure. They are relatively easy to control and are not easily fooled by sweet talk."
It was rare for Zuo Si to speak up for Bai Long.
Since white dragons often appear as predators, they rarely take the initiative to talk to their prey, and instead choose to launch silent sneak attacks from behind.
Anyone unlucky enough to be targeted by the white dragon will most likely be bitten to death or turned into an ice sculpture by the dragon's frost breath, unless they can discover and tell the dragon what the dragon is interested in in advance.
This can be seen from the adventure stories circulating in the tavern.
The protagonists of many dragon-related stories often do not confront the dragon head-on or engage in fierce battles. Instead, they use their eloquence and intelligence to deceive the opponent, and some even get some benefits from the dragon.
But please note that the evil dragons in these stories are red, black, blue, and green, but never white.
Therefore, the possibility of a weak adventure team being wiped out by the white dragon is much higher than the possibility of being wiped out by the other four types of dragons.
"Humph! A lowly white dragon is only fit to be a livestock and a pet."
Wilmes still maintained an attitude of contempt and disdain.
Just as Zuo Si took out the box with the traceless stretch spell and planned to pack up all the eggs and take them away, the red dragon suddenly put down the equipment he was using to exercise his muscle strength, pulled his huge head closer, and asked in a mysterious tone: "Do you know what the mind flayer hiding deep underground and the four human girls have been doing these days?"
"What did you do?" Zuo Si asked casually without raising his head.
"One of the human girls replaced the consciousness of the main brain with her own. The mind flayer also asked me to relax the population control on the goblins. He wanted to create a large number of mind flayers in a short period of time, let these mind flayers lay eggs, and then donate their brains to strengthen the psychic ability of the main brain..."
Wilmes briefly explained what had happened in recent days.
She was obviously very clear that Zuo Si had absolutely no knowledge of this matter.
"What? What did you say? Repeat it again!"
Zuo Si's pupils suddenly dilated, revealing the unrest in his heart.
"That Isadora who is usually cold to everyone is no longer a human being, but a mind flayer mastermind." Wilmes repeated carefully.
"Damn it! Does she know what she's doing?"
Zuo Si couldn't help but curse under his breath, and stuffed all the dragon eggs into the box at an extremely fast speed. Then he raised his hand and snapped his fingers, and with the help of the power of the Mage Tower, he was instantly teleported to the deep underground where the Snail Shell Ship was located.
(End of this chapter)