Chapter 374 - 365: Experimental Victory (Part 2)

Chapter 374: Chapter 365: Experimental Victory (Part 2)

Elias stood by the table. The young Priest could feel the plants exuding a thirst for flesh and blood.

The feeling made him deeply uncomfortable.

"Hold out your hand." Velin’s voice was flat. He was adjusting a brand-new set of glass extraction equipment without looking up.

Elias hesitated.

"My lord Count, this plant... it gives me a very ominous feeling."

He struggled to organize his words.

"It craves life, while my power comes from faith and protection. Its nature is fundamentally opposed to my own."

"Paradoxes are what make research valuable." Velin finally stopped what he was doing. He turned and looked at the Priest with his amber eyes. "Elias, your Holy Light can’t eradicate the plague, only suppress it. This proves that Holy Light and the curse are on the same tier of energy, but with opposing properties."

Velin picked up a young Blood-sucking Vine.

"It is a blank container. I want it to absorb the anti-curse properties in your blood."

He pushed the flowerpot in front of Elias.

"It is merely a tool. Pay no mind to its physical form. Now, give it some blood."

The explanation was cold and utilitarian, but Elias understood. He no longer hesitated and held out his right hand.

Velin took out a small, sharp knife and made a light cut on Elias’s wrist. Beads of blood welled up.

Soon, the previously listless Blood-sucking Vine sprang to "life." A tiny rootlet shot out and pierced Elias’s wound.

Elias trembled slightly but did not pull his hand back.

He could feel his life force being continuously drained away along with his blood. Strangely, the Holy Light within him was also passively activated, flowing with his blood into the Blood-sucking Vine.

The vine began to grow at a visible rate. On the surface of its dark red stem, faint golden patterns gradually appeared.

A few minutes later, Velin severed the vine’s rootlet and treated Elias’s wound.

"How do you feel?"

"A little weak, but I’m alright," Elias replied, his expression complex as he looked at the completely transformed Blood-sucking Vine.

Next was the grafting.

[Paternal ’parent’ detected: Blood-sucking Vine (Holy Light Affinity Variant)]

[Maternal ’parent’ detected: Graveyard Iron Grass]

[Commence Extraordinary Grafting?]

’Begin,’ Velin thought.

An invisible energy enveloped the two plants. The Blood-sucking Vine’s stem withered rapidly, turning to ash. Only the faint golden patterns converged into a point of light and merged into the root of the Graveyard Iron Grass.

A faint golden sheen also appeared on the iron-gray root of the Graveyard Iron Grass.

In the lab, everyone held their breath.

The new extract was quickly prepared and dripped into a sample of the Extraordinary plague.

On the projected Crystal Plate, the activity of the plague germs... merely slowed down a little.

It was no different from the result of direct exposure to Holy Light.

"It failed," Velin announced, his calmness sending a chill through their hearts.

"Why..." Elias muttered to himself. "The power of Holy Light is one of the highest-tier purification energies. It should be the bane of all curses."

"Whatever the reason, the result is failure," Velin sighed.

Experiments and research were like this, always fishing for a single possibility in a pool of chaos.

’It seems I have no choice but to use the "old method."’

The so-called old method was something almost all researchers would try: the "full-factorial test method"—in other words, a brute-force approach.

His eyes snapped open.

"In my name, immediately summon all registered Transcendents in the domain to assemble at the castle. Tell them that to fight the plague, I require a blood sample from each of them."

The assistant’s heart skipped a beat. The order was highly unusual, but he didn’t hesitate for a moment, immediately taking his leave to carry it out.

In less than an hour, the castle’s side hall was filled with people. Knights, Mage apprentices, artisans with special bloodlines... they were the cornerstones of Velin’s domain, yet here they were, gathered with confusion and unease on their faces.

Under the guidance of the registrar, the blood collection proceeded in an orderly fashion. Crystal tubes filled with fresh blood were quickly sealed, labeled, and sent to the underground laboratory.

Velin even retrieved all the existing blood samples from his own collection of experimental materials, which numbered over four hundred.

Elias looked at all the materials, his face a little pale. He couldn’t help but ask in a low voice, "My heavens... Lord Count, are you sure about this? How many attempts will this take?"

"However many it takes," Velin said, ignoring his shock, his eyes filled with nothing but resolve. "This is what research is. No matter how many times, no matter how long it takes, I will eliminate every wrong path."

He turned to his assistant and gave the order: "Begin. Immediately number and group these new samples, and repeat the previous experiment."

A massive screening process began.

The laboratory entered an unprecedented state of frantic operation. Failure, failure, and more failure.

After being fed to the Blood-sucking Vines, the vast majority of blood samples either produced no reaction or simply made the plants grow stronger.

The days passed, one by one.

Outside the research institute, the atmosphere in the domain grew increasingly oppressive.

Although order was maintained, reports of new cases arrived on Velin’s desk every day like clockwork. Each name represented a vibrant life being consumed by its own vitality.

On the afternoon of the fourth day, as a weary Elvin was recording the 231st failure, a sudden cry of alarm from Ryo came from the cultivation room next door.

Everyone immediately rushed over.

On the test bench labeled "G-31," the Blood-sucking Vine that had been fed the new blood was undergoing a bizarre transformation.

Its stem didn’t grow; instead, it curled up, its color turning black as ink. Even stranger, on its dark surface, streaks of dark purple patterns were spontaneously appearing and swirling, their shape bearing a startling resemblance to the curse Runes at the core of the plague seen under the microscope!

"This is..."

Velin strode forward and picked up the data card for sample G-31.

[Source Bloodline: Hand of Shadow]

"This one might be it!" Velin’s voice held a trace of excitement, the thrill of finally grasping a lead.

He immediately performed the procedure himself, grafting this mutated Blood-sucking Vine with a Graveyard Iron Grass.

After this grafting was complete, the root of the Graveyard Iron Grass became jet-black and glossy, as if soaked in oil. The liquid extracted from it was no longer pale yellow, but a viscous, deep brown potion that gave off a faint, acrid smell.

Everyone gathered around the microscope once more.

When Velin dripped the deep brown liquid into the plague sample, an amazing scene unfolded.

The potion rapidly broke down into countless microscopic particles that actively attached themselves to the black plague germs.

In the projected image, the curse Runes at the core of the plague germs—that ominous black light—began to be absorbed and stripped away upon contact with the brown particles!

Deprived of the energy supplied by their cursed core, the germs’ physical shells became incredibly fragile. They stopped dividing, and their structures began to collapse and dissolve, ultimately turning into a puddle of harmless organic matter.

It worked!

And it was more effective than anything before!

"We succeeded!" The assistants hugged each other, nearly weeping with joy.

Elias made the prayer gesture of the True Origin Sect across his chest. He looked at the completely purified area, feeling the power of science, a force that was no less than a miracle.

Amidst the jubilation, only Velin remained motionless.

He just watched the microscope quietly, watching the very last plague germ dissipate.

Velin waited until everyone had celebrated their fill, then clapped his hands.

"Everyone, killing it only proves that our direction is correct. This isn’t success; this is ’proof of concept.’"

He picked up the tiny crystal vial on the table, which held only a few drops of the potion, and showed it to the crowd.

"Our next problem is how to turn this one small vial of potion into the tens of millions of doses needed to supply the entire domain, and perhaps the entire Duchy."

"What are the cultivation requirements for the grafted Graveyard Iron Grass? What is its yield? How long does synthesis take? These are all mountains standing in our way."

His words caused the joy to fade. Yes, between the miracle in the lab and the salvation of countless lives, there was still a chasm named "production volume."

"So," Velin said, his voice steady and powerful as he looked around at everyone, "dry your tears and put away your smiles. The time for celebration has not yet come. Our war has just moved from finding the enemy’s weakness to the stage of figuring out how to crush them completely."

"Now, everyone, return to your posts. Our new mission is to analyze the potion’s components, simplify the production process, and get it out of this laboratory—at any cost!"