The eccentric doctor never makes a misdiagnosis!

Page 292

Looking at Detricka, who was panting heavily and whose face was full of relief, Fran raised the corners of his lips and smiled slightly.

For a cult follower of Detrick's caliber, the Bonestone Sanctuary was far too dangerous. Fran's willingness to allow her to lurk and spy from the sidelines, and his willingness to offer her protection... also confirmed a hypothesis.

Previously, both Haida and Xi Yio Tia had sensed a faint Hail aura on Detrika.

This means she was also a "guest" invited by the Star Abyss Society's experiments and the [Feast of the Vanishers]. However, she was never captured by the Listeners, and those researchers could not have spread the blood of Heil through such an inefficient method as one-on-one injection.

Based on his observations in Modway and Foy during this period, as well as the information he obtained at the Institute's facilities, Fran has drawn his conclusions.

The blood of Heir is the raw material that facilitates the formation of the living skeleton, and in addition, the Tide Listeners use trace amounts of Abyssal materials as accelerators and catalysts. Its material form is difficult to fathom, almost equivalent to ethereal substances like spirits and souls.

Like the "bacteriolytic disease" that ravaged Norrington, it cannot be observed by even the most sophisticated conventional methods until it ends its incubation period.

At the same time, this trait is contagious.

If the effects of the Abyss Well material could spread through aerosols or even mentally, like bacteriosis, it's highly unlikely that there would still be anyone uninfected in Gormouth. After all, it doesn't cause any symptoms and has been spreading covertly for millennia.

In reality, only about one-fifth of humans possess the Heir trait.

Based on this, it can be inferred that it probably relies on bloodline inheritance as a ligament for relatively inefficient vertical transmission.

"Devouring the remains of a deity will inevitably trigger an extraordinary backlash, and the basic logic of the Listeners in solving problems is 'sharing'. The reason they capture ordinary people for experiments is to further expand the number of subjects in the ritual."

Fran extended his index finger and lightly touched his lower lip, a unique sense of ease appearing in his amber-colored eyes.

Thus, the "motives" and "purposes" behind Xingyuan Society's actions have been explained. This doctor is quite fascinated by puzzles like the Sun Chaser, and unraveling the fog-like threads of events brings her genuine satisfaction.

As the massive number of living corpses marked as "the Bone Ones" devoured the site, the entire Bone Sanctuary was collapsing and eroding at a visible speed, and the illusory image of the Abyss enveloping Melvis vanished without a trace at that moment.

He lost all protection, his mind had sunk into oblivion, and his heart had been removed... He had been almost completely stripped of everything.

But now its aura is stronger than ever before, even surpassing the limits that an Apostle can reach.

"Boom, boom."

A deep, muffled heartbeat, like the beating of a drum, resounded.

No one knows what is beating in Melvis's chest at this moment, but it is indeed emitting a rhythmic tremor. Like the tides rising with the moon, it carries a sense of power that inspires awe.

At the end of the ceremony, his Adam's apple moved up and down with difficulty and solemnity, as if he had swallowed something completely.

This body was no longer Melvis, but it was not the same as the Abyss either. It had become something neither human nor god, a "monstrous thing" that existed outside the boundaries of ordinary rules and the hidden hierarchy.

"It seems to be an unstable, unfinished product, but it has indeed achieved a delicate balance between divinity and mortality."

Fran blinked lightly, her long, pale white eyelashes fluttering slightly.

This action was to check the current condition of her eyes. If Melvis had truly usurped all the power and divinity from the corpse of the Abyss through the [Feast of the Undead], then her eyes should be stinging now.

As for Heda, Detrica, and Laura standing to the side, they should shed tears of blood.

However, the predicted scene did not occur.

Unlike the true gods shrouded in secret, Melvis's image can be seen normally. In fact, his presence at this moment is so strong that it cannot be ignored, and it can evoke a kind of instinctive disgust in humans.

Disharmony, error, disorder – these are the most direct impressions from visual observation.

"call--"

As a wisp of stale air was exhaled from Melvis's lungs, he immediately opened his eyes. However, there were no pupils in his eye sockets, only a constantly surging, pitch-black depth.

As it gradually awakened, an indescribable, invisible influence suddenly spread, enveloping the completely collapsed Bone Stone Sanctuary.

While Fran's [Dust Removal] can eliminate microscopic dust and even block secret rituals to some extent, it is only highly versatile and not omnipotent. At least, this technique is generally ineffective against such intangible and intangible "influences." 9

No, it's less of an influence and more of a distorted set of rules.

Just as Fran was still assessing the effects of Melvis's actions, Detricia suddenly looked at Heida with surprise, seemingly noticing something amiss.

"Sister Heda, your ears..."

"Ears?"

Haida quickly reached for her earlobe, but instead of feeling the warmth of skin, she felt something warm against her skin.

She touched the fine, soft, thick downy fur, and it was still growing. 3

Before the nun could ask any questions or react further, Fran had already completed his observation of the changes in her and drawn his conclusion. (Bell)

“Don’t worry, Sister Heda, what’s happening to you isn’t a deformity. The downy hair on your ears has a canine-like feature similar to that of a gray wolf, and the shape is very standard, even cute.”

At the same time, she turned her gaze to Shitia beside her.

Thanks to the Heir nobles' excellent tolerance to curses and contamination, the rate at which Xitia was affected was significantly slower than that of Haida, although the changes still began to gradually appear after a few breaths.

Her bare, slender, white legs began to shimmer with a translucent luster, then gradually split open, blossomed, and finally transformed completely into a tulle skirt-like, curly tassel.

Clearly, this was the ancient state of the Heir people when they lived at the bottom of the deep sea.

A similar change also occurred to Fran.

Although this doctor is able to target and express the genes that make up her body and her own form is quite stable, the new thing she just added to the gene pool last year is obviously more susceptible to disturbance.

That is, the dragon-like creature that provides the skill of "Song of the Shepherd".

"Specifically, feathers grow on the cheeks, sides of the buttocks and arms, and it also seems to affect eyesight."

Fran gently stroked the newly grown downy feathers on the side of his face with his fingertips, seemingly unconcerned. The gradually emerging bird-like features made the smiling doctor appear somewhat eerie, and the amber color of his eyes became even deeper and more profound.

Currently, Fran himself, Heida, and Shitia can be considered as three experimental groups with different factors, while Detrica, as an ordinary person, can be used as a control. Based on this, the nature of the effect can be determined almost without much thought.

—Atavism.

Of course, this is just a somewhat imprecise analogy using a controlled experiment model, since confounding factors cannot be eliminated. For example, although Detrica is no different from ordinary people, she also contains trace amounts of Heil blood, making her less pure than a control group.

If I had to say, Vivian is actually quite suitable for this job...

At this moment, Melvis can cause all living things around him to regress to a more ancient and primitive state at a visible rate. The current level of this influence is still extremely low, but its spread and deepening speed is astonishing.

In just a few breaths, the invisible and intangible black spiritual haze had already enveloped everything in sight. Before Sigrid could ignite her flames, Fran's [Dust Removal] was almost the only source of light.

Meanwhile, Detrica and Laureth, who initially showed no changes, began to grow brown-black hair.

According to Fran's idea, the whole process would probably be from late Homo sapiens to early Homo sapiens, and then degenerate into various forms of ancient apes.

But this is not the end. If we can trace back further, those affected may even transform into some kind of true mammal, ultimately returning to the origin of all things in evolution... namely, the "ancestors of the sea" in the ancient and profound period.

"Although it's a flawed product that didn't quite reach its full potential, it's certainly full of surprises. If I could, I'd even like to award the listeners. It's a real shame that I didn't get to experience this fascinating research earlier."

Fran licked the corner of his lips with the tip of his tongue, his eyes sparkling with a burning interest.

She never hesitates to plagiarize such academic achievements. Oh, or perhaps we can describe it another way: "one-sided academic exchanges conducted without the other party's knowledge."

Whether it's esoteric knowledge or basic science, both are objective laws that exist in themselves. Ignoring humanistic and moral factors, they are essentially ownerless.

Of course, this doctor only cares about the practical application of the technology and has no interest in using it for fame or reputation.

Sensing her primal state intensifying, Haida raised her hand and lifted the "Black Rose" crossbow, pointing it at the blurry figure of Melvis in the deep black haze.

"Should we try to block it?"

Before pulling the trigger, she looked at Fran beside her.

"No need. The current Melvis has transformed into a kind of aberrant being, possessing divinity and resembling a nascent form of aberration. Although it is full of flaws, it is equivalent to a higher-dimensional spiritual being, capable of being exempt from most physical interference..."

"At least, the firepower of 'Black Rose' is not enough to harm him."

As he spoke, Fran took out a brass pocket watch from his sleeve and glanced at the time.

Given Yaheng's efficiency, if he had set off from Attilion towards Gormouth the moment he received the intelligence, he should be arriving soon. After all, the two countries are adjacent, and that guy's ability to step into the shadows allows him to ignore terrain and exceed the speed of most conventional vehicles.

So, is Fran waiting for the chief hunter to arrive?

it's not true.

When Yaheng acts as the hunter of evil creatures, he often leaves behind only a headless corpse devoid of all life and value. He coldly and obsessively implements the most efficient purge plan, even if it means leaving more scars on his own body.

This is clearly very detrimental to a certain doctor's subsequent research on the creation of the "Feast of the Boundless".

Therefore, she had to finish everything at the Bonestone Sanctuary before that guy arrived, and then leave the cleanup to him.

"Time is limited, so we have to use a special solution that comes at a cost. Let me think about which one to use."

The corrosive effect of the lysozyme is too uncontrollable and will inevitably cause large-scale pollution. The mark of madness will indiscriminately burn flesh and spirit, leaving behind a desolate and dim ashes.

Out of concern for his own health, Fran generally only used these two forbidden powers sparingly and did not prioritize them.

Besides that, she does have other options.

Thoughts vanished in an instant, and in the blink of an eye, Fu Silan's fingertips had already picked up a plump mistletoe fruit, namely [Shadow of the Past].

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soup!

Chapter 195 A Mind Free of Other Things

The ancient banyan tree's fruits are plump, abundant, and bright, with a deep red color that is as clear as jewels.

Even though it has been picked for countless years, it still exudes a sweet, enticing aroma full of vitality. And the secrets and qualities it contains can allow the consumer to briefly rediscover their former "self".

For most people, their past selves often represent ignorance, blindness, confusion, and immaturity. Bound by the slow development of the mind, humans inevitably harbor unrealistic and naive fantasies during their early years.

As the proverb in the ancient banyan prayer states.

The past is a bleak memory, a laughable folly, a naive ignorance. Every moment of growth and development propels life to new heights, like branches sprouting buds and blossoming freely.

[Until withering and aging surface, decay begins, and ultimate decay arrives.]

But Fran had already freed himself from the shackles of "lifespan" in the distant past. For this doctor, picking up the fragments of his old self simply meant returning to "wholeness".

What was she like before?

Is it cold and aloof, harsh and ruthless, or not much different from who you are now?

This is a question that even Fran herself probably finds difficult to answer, after all, she is now a product of her own split. That cold, madness that was almost divine has been stripped away, allowing her to retain pure self-awareness and more of her humanity.

Even some of the memories have faded into the fog of the mind, becoming difficult to glimpse again.

It may be hard to understand, but this unwitting rift also contained Fran's own considerations and choices. "Madness" was indeed a deep-seated nature ingrained in her, but equally, she could not tolerate her out-of-control nature dominating everything.

Id, ego, superego.

The three factors that form "consciousness" are: primal desires formed naturally, the spiritual subject that nurtures thought, and the perfect principle of absolute rationality. An imbalance in any one of these factors can ultimately lead to the alienation of the personality structure through bias and extremism.

The reason for consuming this ancient banyan fruit, known as the "Shadow of the Past," can be seen as an experiment.

A brief attempt to confront the fleeting shadows of the past and accumulate clinical experience in order to rediscover and master one's complete self...

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"Ancient banyan fruit..."

When Fran took out the "Shadow of the Past", Haida's gray-chestnut eyes flashed with a rare hint of surprise.

Although she may be the person who knows the doctor best in the world, she only knows about the Great Plague of Lington through the memories of her house calls.

In short, she was unable to make a threatening assessment of Fran before his self-disintegration.

“Dear Sister Heda, Lady Syldia, oh, and the two little ones… I hope you will step back a certain distance from now on. And whatever you see, please remain calm and quiet as much as possible.”

"It's best not to let 'me' become too interested in you."

As she spoke, Fran pursed her lips and swallowed the ancient banyan fruit that contained the principles of time.

Heda always listened to and obeyed the doctor's instructions and warnings unconditionally. Almost at the same moment, she reached out and lifted Detricia and Lauris up with both hands, then turned her gaze to Sydia.

The meaning conveyed in her eyes needs no further explanation.

Evacuate as quickly as possible.

Infected by her emotions, Xitia bowed slightly, then took steps with her soft, tassel-like limbs and followed closely behind Haida.

At the same time, she could sense that the effects of the monstrous creature that Melvis had transformed into were deepening at an extremely rapid pace.

Even with the Heir nobility's tolerance on a mystical level, they were completely unable to resist its erosion. If they delayed any longer, she might even shed her current human form and transform into the more primitive form of the Abyss Familia.

At this moment, Fran's eyes were slightly closed as he felt the retrospective temporal spiritual element slowly acting on his body and soul, his expression almost serene.

She was no longer interested in anything happening in the outside world.

That fragmented, forgotten, faded, and peeling old self is flooding back into Fran's mind. How intense, how heavy, how vast, this "past" is awakening within her body with an overwhelming force.

Even Melvis, who had already become a nascent form of alienation, raised his head at this moment and looked directly in the direction where Fran was.

Under the catalysis and shaping of the first type of ritual, the "Feast of the Vanishers," he has now become an ominous abomination devoid of self-awareness. He may occupy a unique place within the hidden staircase, but the price is the permanent loss of the possibility of ascension.