"So, in Wizard Nis’s opinion, my soul is actually very vulnerable?" The Authority Eye slowly turned its head and stared at Nis.
Because the Authority Eye obscured Angel’s expression, Nis couldn’t immediately discern whether Angel was being sarcastic or genuinely inquiring.
Nis thought for a moment and said, "Your soul possesses a very special trait, capable of even being immune to a large portion of soul attacks. However, can you truly control this special ability?"
Angel remained silent, the answer was evident.
Nis briefly touched on Angel’s soul specialty and then remained silent, for this matter involved some secrets of Angel and even Illusion Demon Island.
"Your soul has a lot of potential, and might become one of your reserves when confronting enemies in the future. Before that, you need to study it, nurture it, and avoid being breached by those proficient in soul matters when it’s vulnerable." Nis said, "And Soul Arms might be able to escort your soul for a while."
Angel still didn’t speak, but his heart had begun to slightly incline.
"So, when you go to the exhibition room on the third floor later, don’t just focus on studying the Magical Energy Array. Choose one first," Kanter suggested.
Angel pondered, "Soul Arms... still need more in-depth research."
Although Angel didn’t directly agree, his response already conveyed his attitude. Previously, he showed disinterest towards Soul Arms, but now that he wants to delve deeper into it, it indicates he has developed some thoughts.
Nis said, "Of course, it’s necessary to first research if there are any drawbacks, otherwise I wouldn’t easily transplant it. After all, it concerns the soul."
Seeing Angel’s changing attitude towards Soul Arms, Nis and Kanter began to explain some types of transplants that don’t enter the inner cycle and are relatively simple to replace during the journey.
As they traveled, they followed the direction of the Magic Pattern and arrived at a double door.
"Has the sub-control node been laid out openly this time? No need to go through the Death Corridor?" Nis looked at the door and said.
Angel shook his head, "The Magic Pattern pointed here, but inside shouldn’t be the endpoint of the sub-control node yet."
Angel meant that the sub-control node might be elsewhere, but instead of going through the normal corridor, they needed to use this room as a transfer to other places.
Nis nodded in understanding. Instead of pushing the door open immediately, he turned to Reynaud: "Do you know what’s inside?"
Reynaud seemed to recall something, his expression looked bad, and it took a while before he said, "Inside is... a medical center."
"Are there any traps?"
Reynaud: "No, just pull the door open and you can enter."
"No traps, and it’s a medical center, why do you look so grim?" Nis was somewhat puzzled, shook his head, sighed, and directly pulled open the door.
Once the door was opened, like the exhibition room, a large amount of white frost mist spread out.
The cold air entered their nostrils, slightly pricking into their brains.
After a good while, the mist gradually dispersed, and everyone looked inside and was taken aback.
There were many people inside.
But they were not alive; instead, they were dead bodies encased within nearly a hundred transparent glass pillars, immersed in a monochrome cold liquid.
These dead bodies floated in the cold liquid, all maintaining the state of the moment before death. Some had died in human form, but more had mutated into horrifying monsters in certain body parts. For instance, some were coated in green mucus, some entirely covered with tentacles, some had abdomens swollen with blood vessels bulging... Just based on the grotesque appearance, ordinary people might be scared sick at the sight.
These dead bodies immersed in the glass pillars shared a common feature: an X tattoo on the left side of the face, with the numbers on the right side being random—some were in the hundreds, others in the tens, and some in... single digits.
Reynaud was now standing beside a corpse with a single-digit number on the right cheek.
Her number was X7, overall retaining a human form, and had a mature, alluring appearance quite in line with Nis’s taste in women. However, everything below her waist was cut off, gone.
"...She was ’蕥.’ We were on a mission to eliminate defectors, and she perished with the defectors while I... survived. She had also been brainwashed by the laboratory once, but seemed to awaken before she died, telling me how she envied my having a name that many recognized its meaning. She had a wish, to also have a name that could be recognized, even if only for one second."
"So, the moment before she died, I gave her the name ’蕥.’ The meaning of this name is a flower bud that will wither before blooming."
Reynaud lowered his head, as if pouring out his heart, or perhaps whispering to himself: "Because of this event, I’m zealous about naming my companions. Like the ones we met just now, ’牙,’ ’镰,’ ’凛,’ and the ’歌’ I mentioned earlier, I named them based on their traits..."
When Reynaud got to this point, he noticeably paused, possibly wanting to say: But they didn’t seem to recognize it.
Few experimental subjects like ’蕥’ awakened, and perhaps others would awaken before dying, but what use is that?
Everyone listened to Reynaud’s story, which wasn’t particularly dramatic, nor as tragic as imagined, bland like a side character’s tale in a novel that could be passed over with a few strokes. Yet, it made everyone understand some things.
Why was Reynaud determined to eliminate the soul body’s sequence marking, even willing to team up with Nausicaa to infiltrate the laboratory and steal data?
Because he wanted to reclaim himself.
This self wasn’t just a name, but a kind of idealistic "I."
Only by finding "I" could he truly abandon the past, step onto the road of the future, and seek the... freedom he longed for.
For him, it was something much more significant than anything, even exceeding the value of life.
In this world, everyone has their own story; even the little people in grand times have a past, and this is Reynaud’s past. Though others might not empathize with Reynaud, they at least began to understand his conviction.
Reynaud’s account cast a slightly somber mood.
Until a "click" sound brought everyone back to their senses.
When Reynaud lifted his head again, he realized Nis, Kanter, and even the skeletal Knight were gone.
Upon closer look, he found Nis swiftly moving among the glass pillars, while Kanter stood in the distance doing something unknown.
A few seconds later, Nis stood still in front of a glass pillar.
Reynaud considered for a moment and approached.
"Master, what’s happening?" Reynaud asked respectfully.
Nis pointed to the person floating in the glass pillar before him and asked, "Who is he?"