Chapter 328

At three in the afternoon, Luo En arrived at the Emerald Small Building as promised.

The courtyard today was exceptionally quiet, even those crystal songbirds that usually chirped were restraining their voices.

The edges of the petals of those strange flowers that usually bloomed brilliantly were now tinged with a subtle dark color, as if they had been lightly touched by some unspeakable force.

Franka was guarding the door as usual, wearing that heavy long dress that had not changed in any season of the year.

"Lecturer Ralph, Her Highness is waiting for you in the reception hall."

The half-dragon maid's voice was as steady as ever, but Luo En's special perception allowed him to capture the subtle changes within it.

Through "Hermit's Knowledge", he found that Franka's muscles were in a state of slight tension.

Her breathing was slightly rapid, and her left hand was unconsciously clenched and released, which is a typical reaction when facing uncertain threats.

The afternoon sun spilled into the reception hall through the window lattice, casting mottled light and shadow on those floating dust particles.

These dust particles are energy micro-particles naturally formed under high-concentration magic, and their movement trajectories can reflect the emotional fluctuations in the surroundings.

Walking into the reception hall, Yi Fu was sitting at that familiar crystal table, with tea sets and some exquisite snacks placed in front of her.

The black-haired princess was wearing a light-colored long dress today, and those purple crystal-like eyes lit up immediately when she saw Luo En.

"Mentor, you are here."

Yi Fu stood up to greet him with a smile, her voice carrying undisguised joy:

"My condition lately feels much better than ever before."

Her emotions, besides pure joy, were also mixed with a kind of near-pathological dependency.

The girl's cheeks were slightly flushed:

"These days I have hardly felt that tearing pain, and I can even perform some simple magic practice."

Her voice carried irrepressible joy, but soon became worried again:

"It's just... I'm worried that this improvement is only temporary. Magic-eating symptoms are always capricious, maybe they will worsen again in a few days."

Luo En carefully observed Yi Fu's expression and found that she was indeed more energetic than usual.

Her complexion was much rosier, her movements were more flexible, and the fragility caused by magic-eating symptoms was significantly reduced.

"It seems that the grace exchange we had before is indeed producing positive results."

Luo En nodded with satisfaction: "Your improvement in all aspects is obvious, but any treatment needs time to verify."

After observing, he stated his judgment:

"However, from the current data, the improvement trend is stable. We need to continue to observe."

"This is all thanks to your help." Yi Fu's eyes were full of gratitude:

"Mother said that the grace you gave has a special purity, which can penetrate to the soul level for repair."

Mentioning Cassandra, her expression was slightly depressed, but soon recovered.

"According to convention, I want to share some of my recent research results first."

Yi Fu's eyes were full of excitement, like a prisoner seeing a crack in the prison door:

"The relief of magic-eating symptoms during this period allowed me to perform some operations that I couldn't try before."

She extended her right hand, and her fingertips began to emit a faint silver light.

That is a more refined and complex form of energy manipulation.

"I call it 'Spiritual Layered Control'."

Yi Fu's voice carried the focus unique to researchers:

"Traditional spiritual power application is linear, and only one task can be focused on at a time.

But I found that if consciousness is divided into multiple independently running thinking threads, each thread handles different types of information..."

With her explanation, the silver light began to differentiate, forming three independent energy flows.

Each energy flow was performing different tasks:

One was analyzing magic components in the air, one was monitoring her own physiological state, and the third was performing complex mathematical calculations.

"This technique initially came from helpless adaptation to magic-eating symptoms."

Yi Fu smiled bitterly:

"When the main consciousness was occupied by pain, I had to learn to let a part of my thinking continue to run in the background to handle daily affairs.

I didn't expect that as I gradually recovered, this adaptive change actually developed into a brand new spiritual power application technique."

Luo En looked at the demonstration of this spiritual layered control, a bit surprised.

The complexity of this technique, even with his level of spiritual control, would require considerable practice to master.

"Impressive innovation."

He praised sincerely:

"This multi-threaded thinking mode, if applied to spell construction, should be able to maintain the operation of multiple complex spells at the same time.

It is similar to the multi-spell system construction required for formal wizards to promote to the Moon-level."

"I thought so too."

A bright smile bloomed on Yi Fu's face:

"Although magic-eating symptoms prevent me from casting spells normally, in terms of theoretical exploration, I have gained a depth that ordinary people cannot reach."

Just then, the grace link generated between the two began to manifest.

Yi Fu silently felt this change, half-closing her eyes, her eyes full of deep attachment to this short experience.

Franka added tea for the two at the right time.

The half-dragon maid's movements were still capable, but her arms, which were usually as steady as a rock, were actually trembling slightly when pouring tea at this time.

The light sound of the teapot colliding with the cup was exceptionally abrupt in the quiet room.

"Franka, you really look a bit tired."

Luo En turned to her, his tone carrying concerned probing: "Is work too tiring... how have you been resting lately?"

The half-dragon maid was slightly stunned, then returned to her usual composure:

"No, I have never felt tired serving Her Highness, just some family affairs that distract people, it's nothing serious."

"Family affairs?" Luo En keenly captured this keyword, and at the same time activated "Hermit's Knowledge" to observe her micro-expressions:

"Related to the inheritance of the bacterial strain?"

Franka's pupils contracted slightly, this reaction confirmed Luo En's guess:

"Yes... recently the connections between various bacterial strain families have become frequent, everyone is discussing some... changes."

Speaking of this, the half-dragon maid looked at her master, and only after getting the other party's nodding permission did she continue to say specific details.

"Mainly new demands brought by the conquest war." Franka put the teapot on the table and sighed:

"Tower Master's expedition results have made those superiors begin to re-evaluate our value and use, and some families have received special conscription orders."

This information made the atmosphere in the room instantly become solemn.

"What are the specific contents of the conscription order?"

Seeing that Yi Fu did not exclude revealing specific information, Luo En continued to ask.

He needed to understand whether these changes had a potential impact on him.

"Mainly large-scale collection of bloodline samples and... cooperation in certain special bloodline research."

Franka's voice almost dropped to a whisper: "It is said to be for mass-producing war weapons with bacterial strain characteristics."

War weapons.

This term reminded Luo En of the terrifying erosion characteristics he discovered after analyzing Franka's bloodline earlier.

This might also be one of the plans Cassandra had long prepared.

"Tell me, what is your purpose in using this technology? Is it merely academic research, or is there a deeper plan?"

"Speaking of bloodline research..." Luo En pointedly looked at Franka:

"If possible, I hope to conduct a more detailed bloodline analysis.

Although the last sample had value, the quantity was limited, and many deep characteristics could not be confirmed."

Franka tilted her head to look at Yi Fu, her eyes carrying inquiry.

The girl nodded gently, giving her an encouraging look.

"If it is helpful to your research..." The half-dragon maid certainly wouldn't take the initiative to refuse, but her voice carried obvious unease: "How much blood is needed?"

"The amount needed this time will be three times the dose you gave me last time."

Luo En took out a set of precision blood collection equipment from the space bag, those shining silver needles looked a bit dazzling in the sun:

"I need to conduct more in-depth component analysis and activity testing." The blood collection process was carried out in a suppressed atmosphere.

Surprisingly, this half-dragon maid who was usually cold and arrogant showed extreme fear when facing blood collection.

Her eyes were tightly closed, not daring to look at those medical instruments.

Her body couldn't stop shaking, as if the act of blood collection triggered some shadow buried deep in her heart.

"It's okay, Franka."

Yi Fu gently stroked the maid's shoulder, trying to give her some comfort.

Deep red, even somewhat black blood flowed into the crystal container, presenting a strange dark luster under the illumination of the magic crystal lamp.

Luo En activated "Extraordinary Identification", observing the energy characteristics of the blood in real time.

In his special vision, Franka's blood was simply a miniature ecosystem.

The powerful vitality of the dragon bloodline formed the main energy skeleton in the blood like a burning flame.

But in the gaps of this skeleton, countless tiny shadows lurked.

Those alien factors from the abyss, they attached to the dragon bloodline like parasites, waiting for some specific trigger condition.

These abyss factors were not randomly distributed, they were arranged according to some precise design.

It was as if someone had implanted a complex program into the bloodline, which could be remotely activated at any time.

"Done."

Luo En carefully sealed the blood sample, his tone carrying satisfaction: "Thank you for your cooperation, Franka."

The half-dragon maid nodded, but her face was still pale.

She pressed the needle hole with a trembling hand and operated the bloodline power slightly, and the wound there disappeared.

But judging from her stunned expression, it seemed she hadn't fully recovered from the blood draw just now.

"Regarding the bacterial strain bloodline, I have had some new discoveries recently based on the data you provided before."

Luo En turned to Yi Fu: "Your mother's early theory about bloodline atavism gave me great inspiration."

Yi Fu immediately became energetic, she had always been curious about her mother's early research.

Those materials recorded Cassandra's academic exploration before becoming a Great Wizard, full of immature but innovative viewpoints.

"What did you discover?"

"First, I verified the hypothesis about 'bloodline memory layers' by the Tower Master."

Luo En took out a detailed analysis report:

"Each bloodline does carry fragments of ancestor information, but the way these information is organized is more complex than imagined."

He unfolded the report, which was densely recorded with various data and charts:

"The 'Spiral Coding Theory' proposed by the Tower Master is correct, but I discovered a phenomenon she didn't notice at the time - some bloodlines contain 'artificially inserted' code segments."

This term made Yi Fu and Franka look up at the same time, both of their expressions becoming solemn.

"What is artificial insertion?" Yi Fu asked.

"Simply put, someone intervened in the natural evolution process of the bloodline, implanting some information segments that should not have existed originally."

Luo En's explanation became more in-depth and professional:

"These inserted code segments usually have specific functionality, such as enhancing a certain characteristic, or adding special trigger mechanisms."

He pointed to a set of data in the report:

"The bacterial strain bloodline is a typical example. According to my analysis, their bloodline structure has at least seventeen obvious artificial insertion segments, which endow the bloodline with extremely strong adaptability and compatibility."

"But at the same time, it also buried potential hidden dangers."

Luo En's tone became full of warnings:

"These insertion segments contain a certain 'switch mechanism', which may be activated under specific conditions, leading to fundamental changes in the behavior and thinking of the bloodline host."

Yi Fu's face turned pale: "You mean... Franka might lose control?"

"It's not just as simple as losing control."

Luo En analyzed calmly:

"According to the analysis, the bacterial strain bloodline has extremely strong erosive power in the activated state. They can forcibly assimilate other bloodlines, transforming targets into existences with the same characteristics."

He took out a sealed container from the space bag, which contained a mass of completely deteriorated slime monster tissue:

"I used my own self-devouring slime monster for testing, and the result almost caused me to lose this precious experimental assistant. The erosive power of the bacterial strain bloodline far exceeded my expectations."

While speaking, Luo En secretly activated "Hermit's Knowledge", carefully observing the micro-expression changes of Yi Fu and Franka.

Yi Fu's reaction was pure surprise and confusion.

Her pupils dilated slightly, her eyebrows raised slightly, and her lips parted slightly.

These are instinctive reactions when facing unexpected information.

Clearly, she knew little about the dangerous characteristics contained in the bacterial strain bloodline, and might even be hearing about it for the first time.

Franka's reaction was more complex, also showing surprise, but the focus of the surprise was clearly different.

She was somewhat incredulous, as if wondering how this young modulator could analyze these deep characteristics in such a short time.

At the same time, her shoulders sank slightly, which is a typical reaction when hearing a truth that she had long foreseen but was unwilling to face.

"This... how is this possible?" Yi Fu's voice carried trembling:

"Franka's bloodline has always been very stable, and no abnormalities have ever appeared."

"Surface stability does not represent deep safety."

Luo En analyzed calmly:

"The design of the bacterial strain bloodline is very clever, usually in a 'locked' state, and the erosive power is strictly controlled. But under specific conditions, this lock might be released."

Hearing this, Franka subconsciously looked at her hands.

The skin there was still smooth and delicate, but she clearly knew that under this layer of epidermis, what was flowing might be something more dangerous than imagined.

"What 'specific conditions' are you referring to?" Yi Fu asked, her voice carrying obvious worry.

"Strong emotional fluctuations, severe injuries, or contact with certain special trigger substances."

Luo En listed possible trigger factors: "The most dangerous thing is that this trigger mechanism might be artificially designed."

This sentence made the reception hall fall into silence.

Yi Fu and Franka both fell into silence, each thinking about the deep meaning of this information.

Luo En observed the reactions of the two, and already had a basic judgment in his heart.

Yi Fu clearly knew little about these inside stories, she was more like a princess protected in an ivory tower, with limited understanding of the family's true secrets.

And although Franka knew the specialty of her bloodline, she only had a vague understanding of the control mechanism behind it.

Just then, the air in the room suddenly became viscous.

That was not just a temperature change, but a distortion of a more fundamental physical property.

Floating dust stopped drifting, and even the passage of time seemed to become slow.

A slender figure condensed into shape in the corner of the room, like a work of art woven from light and shadow.

Cassandra appeared silently.

Her purple eyes scanned the three people in the room, with a meaningful smile on the corner of her mouth.

"No need to interrupt your discussion because of my arrival." Her voice was as smooth as silk, but the edge contained within could not be ignored:

"I'm just interested in your academic exchange, continue as you were."

Yi Fu's body became a bit stiff, and her breathing became rapid.

Her mother's sudden appearance made her feel extremely nervous, and the psychological shadow left by strict control since childhood all surged up at once.

Franka knelt down directly, her whole body prostrate on the ground, her body couldn't stop shaking.

This reaction was not just awe, but more like some fear buried deep in the bone marrow.

Although Luo En's alarm bells were ringing in his heart, he still maintained composure on the surface.

He stood up slowly and performed a standard wizard salute to Cassandra:

"Tower Master, it is an honor for you to take the time to observe our exchange."

"The honor is mine."

Cassandra lay lazily on a sofa on the side, her tone teasing:

"Being able to see the grace exchange process of two geniuses, this kind of opportunity is indeed rare..."

(End of chapter)