Chapter 151 Another Fragment of the Divine Seal 1
Because of Zhu Shi and Lu Youxun's previous warnings about the space opposite the portal, I was also prepared for "Firefly" to encounter enemies after passing through the portal.
In reality, there were no enemies on the other side of the portal, not even any living creatures.
The space the "fireflies" entered looked like a storage room.
Despite being called a storage room, it was actually quite empty, with hardly any clutter. The only things that gave it that "storage room" impression were a row of shelves and a few empty cardboard boxes. There was a half-open window, letting in the afternoon sun. Outside wasn't a city, but a forest, where I could faintly hear birdsong and the rustling of leaves.
I divided the "firefly" into two, one to explore outdoors and the other to explore indoors.
While Ma Zao was opening the portal, Zhu Shi and Lu Youxun weren't idle. They seized the opportunity to probe the portal itself. Zhu Shi likely used "Mount Buzhou," while Lu Youxun seemed to have used some kind of probe spell. At this moment, they both turned their attention to me.
As I manipulated the "fireflies," I told them what I saw.
"The other side of the portal is an empty room? That's strange." Lu Youxun wondered. "The magical fluctuations emanating from the black mist that Ma Zao reappeared just now were neither her own magical fluctuations nor the kind of magical fluctuations that humans would have. They should be the product of some unknown technology. In other words, there should be some related equipment or magic array on the other side of the portal."
"Could it be hidden inside the wall?" Zhu Shi asked.
"My senses can penetrate walls. The walls are just walls, nothing unusual about them."
While I was replying, "Firefly" had already grasped the general situation of the place.
This must be a large research facility located in a suburban forest. Outside the storage room is a corridor that connects many rooms of different sizes, and notice boards and rules and regulations are posted on the walls.
Based on my perception of the widespread presence of "fireflies," I can also see many places that resemble laboratories and accommodation areas.
However, I still didn't find any living people. This place seemed to have been abandoned, just like a "clinic," with even the experimental equipment and facilities gone. And naturally, the equipment and facilities that had been moved here from the "clinic" were also nowhere to be found.
Something's not right. This place actually matches my imagination of what a secret Humanitarian Division hideout should be. Speaking of the Humanitarian Division, it's an organization that conducts clandestine, heinous experiments, and this place is indeed a research facility, far from any human habitation, fitting the "secret" requirement. Yet, it's been abandoned—why would the creators of these monsters choose this location to transport equipment and supplies?
There must be a ghost here.
I can't let my guard down in this place. The fact that I see nothing in a place where danger and the strange should exist is unsettling. I don't know how to explain this unease—am I wary of unknown dangers, or simply uncomfortable with the situation itself?
Like an abandoned amusement park in a horror game, or a quiet campus late at night, this abandoned research facility gave me the same feeling. This place should have been filled with an orderly working atmosphere, but instead it felt so empty and desolate. I found it hard to believe that "there's really no one here." Instead, I felt that many "people" were wandering around, just unseen by me.
—Is this just my imagination? Or is it my intuition as a superhuman?
I must gain a deeper understanding of this place, which appears calm on the surface but is subtly shrouded in an eeriness.
Suddenly, I remembered what Zhu Shi and Lu Youxun had just said.
“You’ve been talking about ‘magical fluctuations’ before…what exactly are they?” I asked. “I’ve never been able to sense those fluctuations you’ve been talking about. Can you explain them to me?”
“As long as you are a demon hunter, you can sense and manipulate your own magic power, and you will definitely be able to sense magic power fluctuations. Because so-called magic power fluctuations are actually signals of external magic power, which are essentially similar to light signals and sound waves, and they will cause disturbances to your own magic power,” Lu Youxun explained. “The reason why you can’t feel the external magic power fluctuations is because you are too powerful, and the external magic power fluctuations are difficult to disturb your own magic power.”
"To give an example, if a cockroach crawls onto your skin, you will definitely feel itchy, but what if it's just a mosquito that lands on your skin?"
After thinking for a moment, I said, "Even mosquitoes aren't completely undetectable. Although I haven't always been able to feel a mosquito landing on my skin, most people must have had the experience of feeling it a few times."
“Yes, so as long as you grasp the key, you should also be able to sense other magical fluctuations,” he said. “As for the specific methods… I’m sorry, it’s fine if you’re a complete beginner starting from scratch, but I don’t know how to make a strong person like you learn this kind of technique that should be mastered at the most basic stage.”
Zhu Shi suggested: "The most direct way is to find a demon hunter of the Great Completion level or above to emit mana fluctuations in front of you, so that you can actually feel what mana fluctuations are, and then you will learn it."
Although I know she has a point, what I need is to master this skill now so that I can sense whether there are other magical fluctuations lurking in this abandoned research facility.
I had no choice but to try anything, so I closed my eyes, entered a meditative state, and tried to see if I could do it on the spot.
I've had meditation experience before, before I awakened my superpowers. Back then, I was fascinated by mystical spiritual practices and even tried to study how to enter a meditative state by gazing at an extinguished candle wick. Although I never succeeded, I didn't come away empty-handed.
I slowly recalled my past experiences, and then gradually eliminated distracting thoughts, imagining myself gradually blocking out my five senses as if turning off a light switch, focusing all my attention on the mysterious and special perception of "fireflies".
Then, I even blocked out the perception of the "firefly" itself, trying to capture external signals that I had never captured before.
The world seemed to have turned dark.
Immersed in this focused darkness, I lost track of time, or perhaps I deliberately chose not to. I felt as if I were aboard a small boat, sailing on a dark sea. I wasn't even sure if I was moving within the sea, which itself was calm and still, without a single ripple.
No, strictly speaking, there are still fluctuations, which are fluctuations emitted by myself. Since I am on the surface of the sea, it is impossible not to generate any ripples.
Is this what is called "magic fluctuation"?
I actually figured out the trick to sensing magical energy fluctuations on my very first try? Could it be that I have some kind of talent for this?
Wait a minute, I think I've overlooked something.
Zhu Shi just said that if he wanted me to sense the fluctuations of magical power, it would be best to find a demon hunter of the Great Completion level or above, implying that it would be best to have me face an opponent of equal strength. However, there is already someone of equal strength here—that is myself.
I am a demon hunter of the Great Completion rank or higher, and I also possess mana fluctuations. The knack for sensing mana fluctuations has been within me from the very beginning. It's just that I used to be so accustomed to my own mana fluctuations, just as someone who is used to their own scent cannot smell their own body odor. The more familiar something is, the harder it is to recognize.
Where do I find the talent in this area? If I truly possessed such talent, how could I have waited until now to realize it? This only serves to prove my slowness.
Put aside the self-deprecating thoughts for now; the most important thing is to get a feel for this abandoned research facility.
Unfortunately, even though I should now have a basic understanding of the concept of "mana fluctuations," I still cannot perceive fluctuations outside of myself in this place.
Is there really nothing unusual about this place? Or is it that even in this state, I can't detect any magical fluctuations outside of myself?
Or perhaps I misunderstood, and what I grasped just now was not the fluctuation of my own magical power, but merely an illusion that arose during my meditation.
Just then, I seemed to finally sense something unusual.
Something seems to be stirring, not far away, but nearby. No, not even nearby, but inside me—within my consciousness?
I quickly figured out the source of my restlessness and then exited the meditative state.
Upon seeing me suddenly open my eyes, Lu Youxun was even more concerned about me than Zhu Shi and Ma Zao. He immediately asked, "Did you discover something?"
"...No, it's nothing."
I couldn't tell him the truth to his face, so I put my right hand into my pocket and then summoned the Divine Seal Fragment.
The fragment of the divine seal was vibrating in my palm. It wasn't a vibration loud enough to make a sound, but rather a very subtle, almost imperceptible vibration that one would easily miss if not paying close attention.
The Lord of the Divine Seals said that if other fragments of the Divine Seals appear near us, the Divine Seal fragment bound to us will vibrate.
This situation undoubtedly indicates that fragments of a divine seal have appeared near me.
But where is it in the vicinity?
Is it a "clinic" or an abandoned research facility?
My "Firefly" is essentially an extension of myself. If a fragment of a divine seal appears near the "Firefly," causing the divine seal fragment bound to me to vibrate, that would be perfectly plausible.
I immediately manipulated the "firefly" inside the abandoned research facility to leave the facility. After it was about several hundred meters away, the tremors stopped. However, when I sent the "firefly" back into the facility, the tremors reappeared.
There won't be any mistakes now.
Another fragment of the divine seal is located in this abandoned research facility!
(End of this chapter)
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