The black sun hangs high

Chapter 247 The experiment begins

For a fleeting moment, Hugh wanted to erase all the guesses he had just formed.

He seriously questioned his previous judgment.

He had never detected any characteristics related to the Dark Abyss offspring in the mage Justina, nor had he sensed any power emanating from the Dark Abyss court. He had also always carried the Black Sun Scepter with him, and according to the scepter's perception, Justina was not a member of the Black Sun Society...

Everything suggests that she was indeed just a legal committee scholar who was targeted by the Black Sun Society because of her research progress.

Hughes lay in bed pondering for a long, long time. During this time, his magic and physical strength had basically recovered. So he drank the remaining water in the cup in one gulp, turned around, and got out of bed.

He had originally intended to ask the Roots whether the illusions of destiny he had witnessed could be erroneous. However, before he could even finish the question, Hugh remembered that while the Roots could use their abilities to foresee the development of so-called destiny, they themselves did not entirely depend on this power. As they said, it was merely a "tool."

"It seems that I still need some time before I can treat these illusions as mere tools and references..."

Hugh shook his head with a self-deprecating smile, then gathered his belongings and turned to leave the ward.

As Justina said, almost all the members of the Dharma Committee within the entire base are now excited, active, and enthusiastic, as if they have drunk an excessive amount of stimulant. Although they had indeed been abandoned by Merlinle for a long time and therefore had developed considerable disappointment and dissatisfaction with the Dharma Committee, they still chose to trust their organization when Merlinle's message and assistance arrived again.

Fortunately, these mages did not revert to the stereotypical image in the eyes of the Vaan residents after the return of the Law Council's orders and aid. Faced with Hugh, whose complexion was still haggard and pale, they still showed a considerable degree of respect. The extremely difficult time had also made them lose their arrogance in front of ordinary people. In the open space of the camp, Hugh could always see spellcasters using magic to help ordinary survivors move supplies.

The Hermit Gent has returned.

That usually stiff and serious face now wore a smile. When he saw Hugh, he even walked over to him, raising his two strong arms slightly. Genet seemed to want to hug Hugh, but as a sword-wielding hermit, his training made him suppress the urge. In the end, Genet just patted Hugh on the shoulder twice.

"Thank you, Mage Ernst, thank you very much."

He didn't use "sir" but instead used the title "mage," and when he said it, Genet emphasized it, which shows that in the eyes of this old-fashioned swordsman hermit, Hugh was already a trustworthy spellcaster colleague. At least in his eyes, Hugh was definitely not a "wild mage," nor was he Merlinle's wanted criminal anymore.

Hughes resisted the urge to pry into Gent's fate. He smiled and nodded at the burly man, then asked, "Is everything alright?"

"Very smooth."

Genet's tone was very relaxed, and his serious face showed an unprecedented ease: "Thanks to your previous arrangements and operations, we have basically controlled the area near the south gate. We can use a large number of people to transport supplies directly. As agreed with General Boots, we have given some of the supplies to Iris Street. They have more soldiers there and need those new weapons more than we do."

"Um……"

Hughes nodded, took a new revolver bearing the emblem of the Kingdom of Walter from Genet's hand, skillfully twirled it twice in his hand, and said, "How has General Butz's attitude and performance been these past few days?"

Genet responded, "It's normal. Everything is proceeding according to plan, and there has been no shortage of manpower and assistance that should have been provided to us."

"Has our mage become his bodyguard and advisor?"

"Of course."

At this point, Genet frowned: "Mage Ernst, isn't this a bit too much? I'm worried that unnecessary pressure might provoke resistance and backlash from Fitz."

Hughes chuckled, “Don’t worry, Gent the Hermit. I’ve spoken with General Boots several times. He’s a smart man, and a very ambitious one at that… Of course, I don’t quite agree with some of his obsessive ideas and beliefs. So, to prevent any accidents, some surveillance and control are still necessary. Besides, he once considered cooperating with the Black Sun Society. We must take this kind of person seriously and not let him become a fatal oversight at a critical moment.”

After that, the two exchanged a few more words. The Hermit Genet showed some concern for Hugh's physical condition, as a sudden and inexplicable coma is always very dangerous for a spellcaster. Hugh continued to use his previous excuse to brush it off. After that, Hugh talked about the mage Justina and the verification experiment she was leading.

"Justine told me that Merlinler and his side are also paying close attention to the results of our experiment... In my opinion, they should be conducting similar experiments themselves, but they have limited experimental samples, so they will probably have to wait and see the results from us in the end."

Hughes frowned slightly: "What is their attitude towards the monsters in the city?"

"They have established an emergency committee specifically to deal with the situation in Seren. Currently, the committee's primary goal is a thorough 'cleanup'... The vast majority of people do not want these magical creatures that defy common sense to spread out."

Hughes immediately grasped the key to the question: "The vast majority?"

"Yes, it is said that the council, the law committee, and some magic scholars with a good reputation among the people do not agree with the complete extinction of a magical creature. Instead, they believe that a considerable number of them should be preserved and artificially bred, like the shapeshifters, to ensure the possibility of long-term research."

Hugh looked up at Genet: "What do you think?"

The sword-wielding hermit was silent for two seconds, then finally squeezed out a sentence through gritted teeth: "A bunch of idiots."

"At least for now, their overall inclination is not problematic... Let's maintain contact with Merlinler and the Emergency Committee. If they make any other unusual moves, we need to respond promptly." Hugh said in a calm tone, "I'm sorry, Hermit Gent, these are extraordinary times. Given the precedents, we cannot completely trust these people outside... In critical moments, we will probably have to rely on ourselves."

If someone had heard such words in the past, they would have thought Hugh had gone mad, daring to slander Merlinle in front of a sword-wielding hermit. But now, the hermit Gent did not show much emotional fluctuation. Reality had already proven many things. Although he was loyal to the Legal Committee and to the faith in the goddess Merlinle, he was not stupid. The truth was right in front of him, and he could naturally draw the corresponding conclusions after taking a look.

……

The vital magical supplies sent by the Seren City Emergency Committee greatly aided the research led by Mage Justina.

After some scarce experimental equipment, safety containers, and important materials arrived, Justina's long-awaited experiment immediately began. Before the experiment officially started, Hugh quickly returned to the Tricolor Brotherhood's territory and issued a series of instructions in his capacity as the mage Berva.

After creating the illusion that the "leader" was busy taking control of Iris Street, Hugh returned to the Legal Committee's headquarters.

The illusions revealed to him by the roots of fate always made him uneasy, which made him dare not let Justina carry out those experiments, for fear that some unexpected developments might occur during the process.

Although Hugh was still trapped inside the city of Seren, he could now constantly sense the changes in the magic in the air. The strange vibration frequency seemed to be increasing at a slow and steady rate. As the sunlight completely disappeared from the horizon, this eerie magical vibration became more obvious and clear. After Hugh removed the usual protective rituals he had set up on himself, he could even feel the metal disc in his mental world resonating with this vibration.

However, right now, there is no one around him who can give him the corresponding answers, and he has no way to communicate with others about it.

The will of the Ernst family is already in full operation. These magical rats, possessing human consciousness and intelligence, have already relieved a considerable portion of the pressure on Hugh. If it weren't for their management and negotiation strategies, Hugh would probably have been overwhelmed long ago.

He entered Justina's laboratory, checked the protective rituals inside, and after confirming that everything was normal, an important magical verification experiment was immediately announced to begin.

In this experiment, Justine's main goal was to "instill" specific thought patterns and ideas into a sample of Dark Abyss offspring and to verify whether this could have a lasting effect on it.

As the only expert in the entire city of Seren who had hunted the most Dark Abyss offspring, Hugh naturally needed to be present.

Soon, a group of Dark Abyss offspring, imprisoned in a magical container, was moved to the center of the laboratory. In the experimental area, a ritual familiar to everyone present had been constructed. This time, the "Intelligent Interrogation" ritual would no longer be used for interrogation, but would be applied to this inhuman and dangerous ancient life form. According to the mages' plan, they would try to artificially stimulate the Dark Abyss offspring's "mimicry state" and seize the moment when its magical energy fluctuations were most intense to launch this modified "Intelligent Interrogation" ritual.

Once the ritual is successfully performed, the mind, intelligence, and memories of the target experimental sample will be forcibly erased. After this goal is achieved, a special mage will attempt to alter the memories of the Dark Abyss offspring who are in a state of "mind blankness".

In other words, they hope to create a Dark Abyss offspring individual that is not hostile to humans and can be controlled through this whole process!

It's a very bold plan, and it's certainly quite feasible.

Because of the magical vibrations in the air, the Dark Abyss offspring inside the magical container became unusually active. In order to reduce its danger, Hugh stood directly next to Justina and the others who were performing the ritual and began to put pressure on the restless Dark Abyss offspring. Soon, under the absolute "oppression of status", the restless Dark Abyss offspring gradually calmed down.

The sealed magical container was slowly opened, and then the Dark Abyss Child was transferred into a magical cage constructed by a group of mages. The one-armed mage Justina walked forward slowly, stood in front of this dangerous mass of chaotic gel, and then began to probe with words.

Hugh stood in a corner where no one paid attention, his eyes beginning to flicker with the shadows of the Dark Abyss Palace. In his perception, the offspring individual used as an experimental sample had completely transformed into a "ball of threads" composed of magic and chaotic life force. Every clumsy thought and every instinctive reaction of its would cause ripples within these threads.

"Can you understand what I'm saying?"

"Would you like to eat?"

"What is your purpose? If you answer me, I can let you leave."

Justina was very bold. She was now standing less than a step away from the Dark Abyss Spawn. To make it easier to communicate with her target, she even squatted down and stared directly ahead to talk to him.

The Dark Abyss offspring clearly resisted this forced communication, but Justina quickly demonstrated her "sincerity."

After receiving her hint, someone immediately left the laboratory. Soon, the mage returned with a thin figure. The moment he saw the figure, Hugh was shocked.

He recognized the girl; it was Malena, who had been following Felix. She clearly knew why she was there, and there wasn't much nervousness on her face. She even winked at Hugh to greet him.

Justine nodded to Malena, then reached out and took her hand.

She pulled Malena to a stop in front of the Dark Abyss Spawn, and said slowly, "Answer my question, and you will receive the food you desire..."

The moment those words were spoken, the Dark Abyss Spawn within the magic cage sprang into action. In the already unstable magical environment, countless sharp claws and mouthparts sprouted from its twisted black gelatinous interior, and numerous eyeballs emerged from the deep darkness. Clearly, Justina's actions and the approach of Marlena, a "suitable prey," had thoroughly aroused its predatory desires.

(End of this chapter)