Encirclement

But Paracelsus showed not the slightest fear on his face.

There was not even a trace of wariness.

Instead, it was filled with disdain.

As a master at the pinnacle of contemporary alchemy, how could Paracelsus not know about the Federation's secret research?

But in his view, their painstaking efforts to pour vast manpower and resources into using Life Alchemy as a foundation and the Autumn Grief Parasite—originating from the Blood Sea's Red Whale—as a research subject, attempting to fuse the two so that humans could wield extraordinary power, had been wrong from the very beginning.

Though there had been successful cases, the failure rate was extremely high.

And the power gained was completely disproportionate to the investment.

The cost-effectiveness was abysmal.

Of course, in the Federation's terms, the prospects of "biological modification" were excellent, and the future was promising.

But Paracelsus scoffed at that.

Because even Alpha-level "Golden Officers," with physical capabilities comparable to Tier 5 or even Tier 6, would face only one outcome if they truly encountered a Long-Lived One of the same tier.

They would be instantly killed.

Such enhanced humans possessed only physical strength, lacking both the protection of the Mind Kingdom and primal essence abilities. They had no mystical powers or resistance whatsoever.

Once exposed to radiation from a high-level mystical magnetic field, they would drop to their knees on the spot. Like paper tigers, at most they could rely on brute force to bully low-level Spirit Mystics.

Paracelsus had once left a clear annotation in the Committee's secret documents: "Biological modification is nothing more than a clumsy imitation of the mystical."

At that moment.

More and more members of the Golden Corps poured into the assembly hall, surrounding the raised platform.

Seeing this, the surviving deputy councilors revealed expressions of joy, as though