Chapter 268 - 267: Substantive Change of Tier Advancement

Chapter 268: Chapter 267: Substantive Change of Tier Advancement

No matter how you looked at it, there was something strange about the Wasteland District. It was so close to the New City District and should have had high real estate and geographical advantages, yet it had been completely abandoned, left to become a gray zone, one of the Three Non-Management Areas.

Why was that?

’Could it be that they dug up something they shouldn’t have back when they were building the sewers? Is that why they abandoned it?’

’Then why are they so actively developing the New City District right next door, while completely ignoring the people here?’

A series of questions flooded Lloyd’s mind. He really couldn’t grasp the logic behind the higher-ups’ development strategy.

But one thing was certain: the reason this place was abandoned definitely wasn’t that paper-thin Ghost Soul from earlier. The creature was far too fragile and its nature too peculiar. It wouldn’t take much effort to deal with it.

Besides, reports of sightings had only started surfacing recently, which didn’t match the Wasteland District’s ’long history’ at all.

’Maybe it was just because of various costs? Or some unresolved historical issues? Is that why the higher-ups gave up on this place?’

After letting his thoughts wander, Lloyd suddenly recalled another detail regarding the fate of the previous victims.

According to the information he’d gathered at the bar, not many victims had actually died at the hands of this unique Bizarre Derivative—just a few ordinary people and one Tier Four Extraordinary Being.

Considering the population density here and the residents’ routine of leaving early and returning late, such a low casualty count was nothing short of a Miracle.

Of course, the bartender and his people’s efforts played a part in this, but the Ghost Soul was also, to some extent, a bit of a pushover...

It wasn’t surprising that an Extraordinary Being would die at its hands; this creature was actually more dangerous to higher-Tier Extraordinary Beings.

But it wasn’t as effective against ordinary people, even less so than a typical danger level 3 Demon Ghost. If an ordinary person with no exposure to the mystical or extraordinary were to look directly at it, they would at most see no specific form and suffer no harm.

You would have to get quite close to be affected by the Spiritual Contamination it radiated.

’But isn’t this thing always floating in the sky? The victims had no inspiration, so how did they manage to ’get close’ to it? They couldn’t have just stood below and poked it with a bamboo pole, right?’

’Also, those few victims all fell into madness and then committed suicide?’

’If all humans who fall into madness commit suicide, then there would be no such category of Demon as the ’Out of Control’...’

’So, how exactly did those ordinary people die at this thing’s hands?’

’Could it be... that the Bizarre Derivative those ordinary people saw wasn’t a harmless rag, a woman in white, or a large white bird, but something much more specific?’

’Something bizarre that makes people commit suicide just by looking at it?’

’But that presents a paradox. Setting aside how an ordinary person could even encounter something so dangerous, if looking at it once makes you commit suicide, how could you possibly look at it a second time?’

The deeper Lloyd thought about it, the more he felt that something was very wrong, riddled with suspicious points and problems.

A strange Wasteland District, a strange Demon...

However, he had no time or inclination to play detective right now. He had far more important things to focus on. So, he set aside the matter of the suspicious, rare Demon for the time being and continued to take stock of the new knowledge that had appeared in his mind.

Setting aside the new knowledge gained from his skill upgrades, a lot of new information on the [Manifestation] system had also appeared in his mind.

This new knowledge must have come from the increased analysis progress of the Unknown Fragment.

Although it still seemed to be basic content related to the [Projection] path, Lloyd suffered a new round of Spiritual Contamination just from giving it a quick once-over...

This completely stumped Lloyd.

’Is there something inherently wrong with this knowledge? Or am I suffering Spiritual Contamination because I haven’t completed the [Manifestation] system’s Enlightenment?’

’If the knowledge itself was the problem, it shouldn’t be, because it looks like perfectly normal knowledge related to [Projection], right?’

’The theory that I’m suffering Spiritual Contamination just because I haven’t completed the Enlightenment is even less plausible. If that were the case, who would ever dare to delve into the [Manifestation] system?’

’You can’t complete the Enlightenment without access to the knowledge, but you can’t safely access the knowledge without the Enlightenment. Talk about a Catch-22, huh?’

However, this new knowledge did allow Lloyd to master a new ability—a special Spiritual Energy Projection technique.

This was an ability not recorded by his panel, more akin to the most basic professional instincts of an Extraordinary Being, like ’Dispersing Inspiration’ or ’Activating Spiritual Vision.’ It involved mobilizing one’s Spiritual Power and releasing it from the body, or infusing it into objects.

Releasing it directly wouldn’t cause any destructive effects; the Spiritual Power would simply vanish upon release. It would only slightly increase the Spiritual Charm in the air, which was meaningless—like an ordinary person just blowing a breath.

Lloyd normally used this technique mainly when activating his Spiritual Blade. He had mastered this professional instinct right after completing his [Enlightenment], and would later use it when setting up Orbits or activating Holy Artifacts.

In any case, ’Spiritual Energy Projection’ was a very basic technique. It still needed to be paired with various Extraordinary Abilities and equipment to become practical.

And this special technique he had just mastered used certain methods from the [Manifestation] system to allow his projected Spiritual Power to no longer be invisible and formless, but to take on some tangible effects.