Chapter 929: Neural Link Conjecture, Forced Transformation

"I previously obtained some samples of Maihete Lake water grass and conducted some research on them.

"That kind of water grass might be able to utilize the host's original Wisdom through parasitism, but the water grass itself possesses no Wisdom, or rather, its Wisdom is not obvious—at least, it has no desire to attack proactively!

"But I am certain that what attacked me at the time was an independent mass of water grass, not connected to any murlocs!"

Saide's words plunged the group into deep thought, but soon Zhenna continued to ask: "Compared to the outside, what exactly is abnormal about the Magic Net environment inside that green light?"

"It is hard to describe. I can only confirm that the Magic Net there has indeed undergone restructuring and resists my manipulation. As for the difference between it and the external Magic Net, based solely on my observations, there is no difference, though it may be because I spent too little time inside."

……

After several rounds of questioning, the group had a rough understanding of the situation inside the green light at Maihete Lake, but that was as far as it went; there were no further descriptions regarding the details of the Mythallar.

"Since that is the case, I shall go to Maihete Lake myself!"

Seeing that Bailun was preparing to head to Maihete Lake personally to investigate, Xia Duo immediately stepped forward: "Master Bailun, please wait a moment; I have one more piece of information to share."

"Oh? What else does Lord Xia Duo know?" Bailun asked.

"Before you all arrived in Nan Jing, the soldiers of the Savile Territory had been fighting the murlocs for some time. I discovered a strange phenomenon: after the murlocs die, their corpses are dragged back underwater by other murlocs and, combined with that special water grass, form a monster similar to a 'Composite Corpse'!"

"There is such a thing?"

Upon hearing this, Zhenna interrupted and asked Saide: "Consultant Saide, did you discover this phenomenon within the green light?"

To this, Saide immediately shook his head: "No, I did not engage in combat with murlocs inside the green light; I was only attacked by the water grass when I was leaving at the end! However—"

He paused, then continued to add: "Half a year ago, when dealing with the murloc runaway incident at Maihete Lake, there was a type of water grass giant. They had quite a few murlocs connected to their bodies, but those were alive, not corpses. Lord Xia Duo can also testify to this, as he was present at the time!"

Consequently, Zhenna and Bailun turned their gazes toward Xia Duo. Seeing this, Xia Duo nodded with a calm expression, agreeing with Saide's answer, and said:

"I also find it strange. Before it was water grass giants, and now it is a group of Composite Corpses. It seems the former was dominated by water grass, while the latter is dominated by murloc corpses."

In fact, combined with Saide's previous experience, it can roughly be judged that this kind of water grass might be a parasitic organism, and perhaps it even possesses autonomous consciousness!

Of course, it is also possible that it is being controlled in real-time by a mastermind, similar to some kind of neural link, but this speculation is too fantastical. Xia Duo has no evidence and it is hard to explain, so naturally, he cannot speak of it recklessly.

Yet, in his heart, he believes this possibility is not small.

If the mastermind just did it and then completely left it alone, even he himself would not feel at ease, right? There should be monitoring!

This thought flashed through Xia Duo's mind. At this moment, President Zhenna's soft voice reached his ears: "Lord Xia Duo, can you take us to see that kind of water grass?"

"Of course!" Xia Duo said hurriedly.

It was precisely because he wanted them to examine that water grass first that Xia Duo spoke up; otherwise, he was truly worried that Bailun, who did not know much about the situation, would not be able to get out after entering the green light.

If that were to happen, it would be a great pity.

……

Soon, the group, including Bishop Anbulier who should have gone to rest, arrived together at the old site of the Tower of Time.

Xia Duo did not need to act; after learning the situation here, Bailun personally took action and "fished" a huge Composite Corpse out from the river channel to the north.

This deformed monster, composed of dozens of murloc corpses twisted and entangled together, began to struggle frantically when it was brought out of the water.

But those strands of water grass, though not thick, still connected the corpses very tightly, and they did not fall apart because of this.

Of course, Xia Duo also saw that Bailun was using a Transmutation spell similar to 【Mage Hand】, but it was more powerful and complex than 【Mage Hand】.

Being able to drive such a massive Composite Corpse that very likely possesses Wisdom, it was somewhat akin to a forced 【Flight】.

Generally speaking, when the target of a Transmutation spell possesses autonomous consciousness, it will instinctively reject the interference of external spells.

Even 【Flight】 is the same; if one is casting 【Flight】 on someone else, as long as the target harbors resistance, it is very easy to refuse.

Of course, this is also because the state control of 【Flight】 belongs to the target of the spell.

If it is a forced 【Flight】 that ignores the target's will, then it is just like 【Mage Hand】, completely controlled by the Spellcaster.

Currently, Xia Duo does not have much research on such Transmutation spells with forced-driving properties, or rather, in his view, this kind of research is somewhat thankless.

If one wants to force, one can completely use more efficient and direct mental spells; if one wants to kill or control, there are also Creation School spells to accomplish it.

Forced transformation adds mental spell components, becoming inefficient instead. Of course, in certain specific situations, such spells are also very necessary.

For example, when the purpose is to tease or humiliate, forcing someone to transform into a small animal and then feeding them grass or some unspeakable things.

Or like the current situation, when one wants to move a target that might possess autonomous consciousness and is inconvenient to come into contact with, one can also use a Transmutation spell with forced properties.

If it were Xia Duo, he might use a Force Field to wrap the target and then control the Force Field to indirectly bring it out of the water; after all, what he is most accustomed to using normally is Creation School spells.

……

Bailun placed the murloc Composite Corpse he "fished" out of the water onto an open space at the edge of the Central Plaza. Just when Xia Duo thought he would immediately see the Great Arcanist's inspection and analysis methods, Bailun called Saide over instead:

"Consultant Saide, you said you had researched this kind of water grass before; come and examine it!"

Saide glanced at the President, and seeing she had no objections, he agreed: "Master Bailun, my research is very superficial, I hope it can provide a bit of reference for you, Master!"

Immediately after, Xia Duo saw Saide acting like Doraemon, continuously pulling out experimental tools one by one from his Dimensional Bag.

Among them were bottles and jars that Xia Duo could recognize, as well as mysterious apparatuses he had never seen before. Of course, even for the bottles and jars, Xia Duo did not know what was inside them.

Just like that, at the edge of the Central Plaza, Saide directly began an on-site Magic analysis experiment.