Death Plague Phase Two Experiment

Standing inside the cage, Harry watched the island drawing closer in the distance.

He knew that would be where he lived for quite a long time to come.

Turning to look at the other imprisoned Yar soldiers beside him, Harry felt an inexpressible sense of humiliation.

Some were grievously wounded and near death; some had been drugged into a listless stupor; others lay half-dead, not knowing what they were thinking. Every one of them looked like a dejected dog that had lost its home, as though someone had snapped their spines.

Gritting his teeth, he still could not accept that they had gone from high-spirited men to this miserable state.

But he also understood that saying anything in front of the nearby Maldon troops would only turn it into a joke for them to laugh at, so he could only silently keep score in his heart.

He secretly swore that one day, he would repay them a hundredfold!

Once the fleet approached a certain range from the island, all the ships stopped under the flag signals of the lead vessel.

Long wooden planks were extended from the sides of the ships.

After tossing every prisoner a large piece of driftwood to keep them from drowning, the Maldon soldiers aboard the ships mercilessly shoved them onto the planks at the ship's sides, then used their weapons to force them, one by one, to jump into the sea.

This was to prevent them from gathering together and seizing the ships, leaving them no chance to escape.

The current direction and distance had both been calculated by veteran sailors to be optimal.

Even those who could not swim would have no trouble reaching Mobius Island as long as they clung tightly to the driftwood and let the waves carry them, so the soldiers were not worried that they would fail to reach shore and make them unable to complete their assignment.

And Harry, the enemy army's supreme commander, became the first vanguard to jump into the water thanks to someone's unnamed backroom maneuvering.

Under the gaze of the crowd, standing on the plank at the side of the lead ship and feeling everyone's eyes on him, he truly wanted to curse, but his good upbringing and the weapons pointed at him forced him to swallow the words back.

He merely sent silent greetings to their ancestors in his heart.

When under another's roof, one had no choice but to bow one's head.

Perhaps he had never heard that saying before, but when faced with a difficult situation, people often comprehended its true meaning on their own!

Standing on the plank, Harry looked down at the sea below and, in a daze, thought he saw a broad fish fin.

After several days of society's savage beatings, Harry, who came from high society, decided to temporarily forget his hatred and first get through the immediate crisis.

Thus, with a grave expression, he asked the Maldon soldiers forcing him to jump into the sea, "You've made sure there aren't any sharp-toothed sharks, sea Magic Beasts, or things like that below, right?"

Seeing the soldiers exchange looks after hearing his question, clearly not knowing the answer themselves, he continued with the same serious expression, "Don't misunderstand. I'm not worried about my own safety. I'm worried about the wounded. If there really are such things below, they definitely won't make it to the island. Then your mission will have failed!"

After hearing this, one ordinary soldier hesitated for a moment and felt that Harry's words made some sense, so he quickly ran toward the ship's cabin conference room.

Presumably, he had gone to report it.

Though Harry's face remained calm, he was quietly delighted inside.

Trash. With brains like yours, you think you can fight me?

Not long afterward, that ordinary soldier ran back out and shouted to the other soldiers, "The general says that during this season, there aren't many Magic Beasts or carnivorous fish in this area. Even if they eat their fill, they can't eat that many people. Just throw these prisoners in. If they die, then they deserved it."

After hearing his words, the soldiers immediately used long poles to shove the stunned Harry down.

Because of the drug, Harry could only watch helplessly as they did it. He could not even try to dodge; his body moved as slowly as an old woman crippled by rheumatism.

Watching the sea surface about to meet him, he glared furiously at the soldiers above and opened his mouth. You bastards, remember this...

Before the words could leave his mouth, seawater flooded in.

Royal Capital.

Orsaga sat in his chair, leisurely crossing one leg over the other.

A pale blue halo floated before him, displaying within it the scene of Harry being carried by the waves onto the beach of Mobius Island.

This was the Far Sight Mirror spell. Its function was to project the image of a certain region, with its range affected by the user's strength. It was a fairly useful scouting spell.

"The first phase of the Death Plague experiment has ended. Next comes the second phase. Since the plague can alter a living being's state of life at the cellular level, can it adjust their bodily structure and genetic state as well? In the memories of my Previous Life, there seemed to be something called zombies that was rather interesting..."

Although Orsaga had not studied much scientific knowledge, and knew even less about cells, magic also possessed quite a bit of similar learning.

Through the power of the Source of Death Plague, the invisible, intangible plague served as his medium, granting him a unique perspective on many microscopic things. He could observe the condition of infected individuals more clearly and, through the plague, exert a certain degree of influence over them.

Things that should have been rigorous and complex to others took on another form in his eyes due to his different perspective, giving him the strange feeling that he could simply reach out and touch them, altering them as he wished.

He knew very clearly that his use of his various abilities remained extremely rudimentary. The Source of Death Plague was far more than simply releasing plagues; it should have far broader applications. The same was true of abilities such as the magic power traits—Corrosion and Pain—and the elemental Talent Ability—Bloodflame. The Evolution System had not directly given him a Complete Body when it evolved them. Instead, it had added several branches to his original foundation, granting him more choices. As for how far he could cultivate them, that still depended on himself.

He was now trying to find his own path. After all, even the same road could be traveled in countless ways, and only the most suitable way was the best.

In his eyes, the instant Harry touched the island's soil, he himself became the plague's carrier.

That was the reward he gave to the first person to reach the island. The plague would spread outward with Harry as its center, and he would gain a certain degree of resistance, making him equivalent to a mobile poison gas canister.

One whose cap had not been screwed on.

Under Orsaga's observation, the seed of the plague had already taken root and sprouted inside Harry. Though slow, it was impossible to suppress. Once it fully matured, every breath he exhaled would become poisonous gas, every drop of blood he shed would become a plague carrier, and he himself would become a breeding ground for the plague.

Since Orsaga had descended into this world, the number of living beings that had died directly or indirectly by his hand had become impossible to count. Accordingly, the world's suppressive force upon him grew stronger by the day. Even the air before him seemed to solidify; every step he took and every wave of his hand felt as though he were trapped in mud, hindered by an indescribable force.

After casually helping Jem Woz crush the Yar army, that suppressive force reacted as well. Although Jem Woz had made the decision, the debt was still counted against Orsaga, because he himself was the owner of the power.

He could sense that the world's tolerance for him was gradually approaching its limit. One step further might trigger other reactions—for instance, people everywhere coming to cause him trouble, lightning striking from the heavens, meteors falling from the sky...

The world had always had little tolerance for foreign residents like Demons, and restless ones like Orsaga were especially prime targets!

It could be said that if the Talent Abilities Armament Rune—Scarlet and Disguise—Silence had not done their work, quite a few heroes would already have come knocking under the influence of the world's will. There was no way Orsaga could have stayed hidden so steadily as he was now.

These parasites that burrowed deep inside were treated the same in every world: the moment they appeared, they were besieged from all sides.

Just like the Demons that had appeared in this world before, every one of them took a savage beating before entering the world, with most of their strength suppressed, followed by heroes of every stripe appearing to pick fights.

Either they hacked their way through and cut down every worthless fool, successfully conquering the world, or they died heroically and not particularly peacefully. Otherwise, they returned wherever they had come from. In any case, they were given no time to develop their forces and recover their strength.

Compared with them, Orsaga, who had more choices, chose to develop quietly. Moreover, he did not crave human souls as much as other Demons did. To him, they would all be fed to the Evolution System and converted into nourishment anyway.

Whether they had a unique flavor or tasted delicious did not matter.

Unlike other Demons, he did not need to pick and choose between pure souls, sinful souls, and the like. In his mind, they all belonged in the same category. The only difference was the amount of Evolution Points gained after conversion; there was no essential distinction.

If possible, he would rather harvest souls on a large scale in the Bottomless Abyss. After all, talent was everywhere there, and everyone lived by the rule of either you died or I did.

But compared to crossing into an Outer Plane to stir up trouble, that was truly far more difficult. Without strength at the Demon Lord rank, being too high-profile would get one crushed to death by others if one was not careful.

Moreover, according to his Inheritance Memory, invading Outer Planes was also tied to the favor of the will of the Bottomless Abyss. Only by destroying enough worlds could one qualify to enter the hall of power of an Abyss Lord. Only by proving one's value to the Bottomless Abyss would more resources be directed toward them.

The most basic standard for the strength of every lord in the Bottomless Abyss was that of a Plane Destroyer!

With a single glance, they could corrupt the minds and souls of the weak. With bare hands, they could pluck stars and seize moons; overturning continents and boiling seas dry was mere play to them. They could confront advanced Interstellar Civilizations that fielded fleets across the stars head-on, and drag an entire plane inhabited by hundreds of millions of living beings into the Bottomless Abyss.

For a Demon to advance from an Infant Demon to a Demon Lord, the resources and opportunities required were simply beyond imagination. The only chance was to gain the favor of the will of the Bottomless Abyss through constant slaughter and destruction across planes. Only then could the near-zero probability be raised to one in a trillion trillion, one in a hundred trillion trillion.

Although Orsaga, who possessed the Evolution System, had other paths he could take, the path before him was undoubtedly a shortcut proven to be viable. Thus, he had no reason to abandon the practice of invading Outer Planes.

On the contrary, with his more diverse methods, he possessed advantages on this path that other Abyss Creatures could not match, allowing him to travel farther...

Thanks to Devil Moon Lonely Silence for the 200 book coins!