Chapter 552: The Wine of Eternal Life and the Tears of Time
Hearing Freya's words, Aiwass and Sherlock's expressions suddenly changed.
They looked at each other and confirmed something in their hearts.
"——That's more than broken!"
Master Janice was the most panicked person in the room, as if the sky had fallen. "I have to inform His Holiness the Pope immediately... This is too dangerous! Why didn't you tell me you were doing something this dangerous?"
"I just didn't tell anyone. This is the safest way."
Freya tried to defend herself, "If I tell anyone, there's a chance it will be leaked."
But now, these words seem a little pale and powerless.
After all, if she really didn't tell anyone, then how did this bottle of "Tears of Time" disappear out of thin air?
Trying to precisely steal a drug that a Level 5 Transcendent was currently synthesizing and was deeply concerned about was a huge risk, comparable to stealing a hatching egg from a mother dragon watching over her nest.
Unless the other party has a very clear direction and knows that it has extremely high value, it is possible to get involved in danger.
"No, I have to go find Cardinal Loki."
Master Janice still looked panicked: "You need to explain to him how important it is that you've lost something, and ask him to help you find it! He monitors the entire Theocracy every day, and now is the time to use him!"
Hearing this, Aiwass looked at Sherlock again.
Then Aiwass immediately dissuaded him, "Don't worry, Master Yannis."
"That's right."
Sherlock beside him also nodded in agreement.
Seeing their reactions, Janice immediately reacted: "Can't we talk about this? Or is there something wrong with Cardinal Loki?"
"It's hard to say."
Aiwass shook his head and said seriously, "I can't be absolutely sure yet."
"If you're not 100 percent sure, you have to leave room for maneuver. Even if you're 95 percent sure, the remaining 5 percent could still be reversed."
Sherlock raised his cane and tapped the ground, his expression very serious. "Because it could very well be a trap, targeting those who lack patience."
"—In other words, Cardinal Loki is indeed suspicious?"
Janice keenly grasped the information from the attitudes of Aiwass and Sherlock: "No wonder... Gloria... controlled fire..."
She also immediately thought of Gloria's death, which she had just heard about.
Gloria Blue Rose, whose condition had improved a few months ago, suddenly worsened. She killed someone and committed suicide before Ningpo.
Is there a possibility that the "Tears of Time" have taken effect on her?
If Freya really didn't tell anyone, then Cardinal Loki was probably the only one who knew about this - as Janice just said, Cardinal Loki continued to monitor the entire Theocracy.
If he had the ability to find the thief who stole from Freya's laboratory... then he could also steal without being discovered. As long as he knew what this bottle of medicine was used for.
——It was as if a corpse was quietly stuffed into Aiwass's room.
"How many people can your 'one third' be used for?"
Janice suddenly thought of something and turned around to ask.
Freya's expression was a little grim.
She realized she had gotten into a big mess, and her voice grew weaker and softer. "If it takes effect slowly, it's enough for about a dozen people. It only takes three drops to make a healthy elf's amber crystallize in a short period of time."
"What if," Aiwass suddenly asked, "the other person already has amber syndrome? Can the dosage be reduced as appropriate?"
"That's right." Freya nodded.
She paused and took a breath.
Considering the purpose of Controlled Fire, she suddenly realized what Aiwass was trying to say.
"The number of people who died in this incident may be far more than these dozen."
Aiwass said slowly, "Let's assume—let's just assume. Let's assume that Gloria's death is related to it. Then this matter should at least be related to the controlled fire, and there is a high probability that it is related to Cardinal Loki.
"So, what would happen if the 'Tears of Time' fell into the hands of extreme controlled fire elements?"
"—the catalyst for the situation."
Sherlock on the side answered decisively.
Deep blue flames ignited in his pupils, a sign of his intense contemplation, a resonance with the Path of Wisdom. "Rather than making healthy elves sick, it's more effective to quickly kill already ambered elves. In other words, this is a kind of 'execution drug.' Just like Gloria, it quickly shortens their illness... and in the process, they may develop special mental illnesses, become mentally extreme, or even experience hallucinations—"
Sherlock said, walking quickly to Freya and asking, "How are you sure it can make elves amber?"
"A theoretical analysis... do you want to hear it from the beginning?"
"No need. In other words, you haven't conducted any human experiments yet?"
"...What can I experiment with?"
Freya was also a little helpless.
"Then you should explain the principle."
Sherlock readily agreed: "I don't know much about alchemy, it would be best if you could let me understand it."
Although Freya didn't like this somewhat familiar man, she was obviously aware of Sherlock's reliability and knew that she was in trouble.
So she explained to Sherlock very seriously: "This goes back to the longevity of the elves. Through analysis of elven blood samples and the blood of the giant tree, I found that the long lifespan of the elves is actually unnatural. Once the elf's body tissue leaves the body, the rate of cell aging will increase significantly, causing the parameters of the physiological samples to be seriously inconsistent with expectations-"
"I roughly understand it. But is there a more precise statement?" Sherlock pondered for a moment and asked for confirmation.
Freya answered simply, "Simply put, the lifespan of an elf should be about the same as that of a human. It's definitely longer, but definitely not more than twice as long as a human."
"--What?"
Hearing this, the other three were shocked.
Janice's eyes widened: "In other words...?"
Janice has suffered a series of huge blows in the past few days, with extremely exciting news coming one after another.
"Indeed, as it stands now... the immortality, amber, and lack of desire of the elves are all inherited gifts acquired later in life."
Freya nodded and confirmed, "In essence, it's equivalent to a griffin being promoted from an ordinary supernatural creature to a Silver Crown Dragon, or a Wild Hunt being promoted from the Great Master.
"The elves' physical parameters are definitely not enough to support them living for such a long time and maintaining their youthful state for such a long time.
“And you all understand…when it comes to the abnormal extension of lifespan, that is the realm of the Twilight Path.
"Indeed, this gift comes from Lingbo Tiansi. The popular 'life extension potions' currently on the market are all based on research into this phenomenon—they also originate from the same research as the 'wine of immortality'."
——This is simply a heretical research result.
This means that elves are not actually immortal, which directly denies the nobility of elves.
According to Freya's research, elves are like another kind of human, automatically taking a life-extending potion every year from birth. Therefore, half-elves can only inherit a small portion of the elves' long lifespan, and if their bloodline is further diluted, there is almost no effect on their lifespan.
Even Aiwass had never heard of such outrageous knowledge.
...No, that's not right.
Aiwass opened his eyes slightly.
He seemed to have heard similar statements before.
It was after Janice used the fragments of the Amber God to draw a magic painting and went mad that the amber disease in the Church was lifted. Therefore, they believed that the amber disease was a curse from the Amber God.
However, a strange "abnormal aging phenomenon" later appeared in the Church, suspected to be a sequelae of the Amber Disease after being forcibly removed in this way. However, this part of the plot only has an opening, and there is no follow-up.
But what if...it's not a disease?
As the power of Lingbo Tiansi dissipated, the elves' long lifespan began to decline.
——Gradually turned back into a short-lived species.
Return to their true form.
But the elves have adapted to longevity and are accustomed to unbridled consumption of their lifespans. Their leisurely, peaceful, calm, and fair nature all stem from a lack of urgency.
And if the elves realized that their lifespans were declining, there would be unimaginable chaos...it might even be possible that the entire race would be reversed.
That will no longer be a simple sequelae, but the beginning of the decline of the entire race.
This is the real "Tree and Amber Disaster".
(End of this chapter)
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