Psychic Parasite

Chapter 266: Humanoid Versus Serpentine
The marble figure of Psychic Ancestor Marble watched everything in silence, a mild frown expressed on its face. It gazed at Minaela Marble, speaking with a muffled voice, ”The moment a scout returns from the Mental Realm, inform me immediately.”

”Yes, Ancestor Marble.” Minaela Marble bowed in return, activating her domain, overlapping it on Limitless Tower. Now, everything that happened within it would be under her watch. Even if a speck of dust were to move around, she would be able to notice it.

Present within each cubicle was a person, resting in various poses—from a sleeping pose to one of sitting—as a weak membrane formed around them. This membrane was a resultant of a faint scent emitted by their bodies as their heart rate sped up.

One by one, everyone began their breakthrough process. Within a cubicle on the first floor sat a man in his early thirties. In the military academy, he was nicknamed a dud by his peers for his abysmal Sync Rate.

He had barely survived the Induction Ceremony, obtaining a Sync Rate of 50 percent. A fraction lower and he would have died. But this Sync Rate also meant that the Nurturing rate he would experience was an absolute zero.

Within a week or two since their Induction Ceremony, most finished Nurturing their Tier 1 Skills. But, thanks to his Sync Rate with zero Nurturing effect, he never managed to Nurture a Tier 1 Skill. Over the course of his stay in the military academy, he worked hard, using the Credits he obtained to exchange for Frenzy Fruits.

He slowly increased his Sync Rate, beginning to experience the Nurturing effect. It took him more than six months to Nurture his Tier 1 Skill, the slowest in his Batch. Even his peers with a Sync Rate of 51 percent managed to Nurture their Tier 1 Skills well within a month.

After all, Frenzy Fruits were expensive while their effect was minimal. Even a Tier 4 Frenzy Fruit only increased the Sync Rate by 0.1 percent. And, it cost 10,000 Credits per each. He was neither smart nor had much talent. So, just accumulating the necessary Credits took him a lot of time.

He graduated from the military academy and took up a job in the Grain Strata. The risks with his job were lower than most jobs, but the pay was also relatively little. He had a hard life. Eventually, he got married and had two kids.

Their living conditions were terrible, due to their low income. His wife worked in the Water Strata; her job wasn’t much different from his; hence, her pay was similar. They had two kids, both were boys.

Despite Central Command giving subsidies to the lower waged citizens, it was only to facilitate the most basic of necessities. Education was mandatory, with most of the costs shouldered by the Central Command for citizens who were unable to afford it.

These details will be recorded and, in the future, once the student graduates and become part of the working populace, he/she would be told to slowly repay the amount.

Normally, they would have been to maintain their livelihood with the amount they earned.

But, one day, he received the news of his wife suffering an injury in work. Even though their jobs were safe, they still posed some risks to people like them who were no different from a normal human. His wife had lost both her hands. To heal such an injury, the money needed was beyond what they could afford.

So, he only had one option to save her: attempt a breakthrough to Tier 2 or die trying. Since it was for a Cleansement Manoeuvre, even if he were to fail his breakthrough, Central Command would still support his family.

His wife would be healed while most of their daily necessities would be shouldered by Central Command. The pay she would receive from her work could either be saved up or used to enrich their lives.

He thought about how the living conditions of his family would improve, bringing a smile to his face. Unfortunately for him, he wasn’t talented enough to finish his breakthrough. If not for that, he would have attempted it long ago.

Despite his accumulations over the years, his Sync Rate was only a measly 53 percent. The Nurturing effect had stopped long ago. He had already obtained all the strength his Sync Rate could give. He no longer had room for growth unless he raised his Sync Rate.

Currently, his attention was focused on his heart, watching the formation of a Heart Crystal that fused with the body of the Wisdom Parasite in him. His strength was lacking to compress the Heart Crystal further while his will wasn’t strong enough to facilitate it. Moreover, he lacked enough energy in his Heart Crystal to maintain the breakthrough process.

Soon, his Heart Crystal exploded, the shattered fragments piercing his heart, with some of them travelling through the arteries, damaging them from within—under the load. The man suffered from a cardiac arrest, while his breakthrough ended.

His Sync Rate fell below 50 percent, causing his body to begin rejecting the Wisdom Parasite. The cells in his body began to wither, breaking down into simpler compounds. His eyes reddened as he coughed up a mouthful of blood.

He closed his eyes, watching a serpentine organism drill out from his stomach and wriggle its way to his head. He instantly died.

A psychic arm appeared and froze the bloody Wisdom Parasite, bringing it out of the cubicle and storing it in a room. The room was underground the Limitless Tower. Racks covered its walls, transparent, covered by a glass. Shimmering within was a viscous fluid. The bloody Wisdom Parasite was dropped into it; the shimmering fluid caused its resistance to slowly come to a halt.

It first slammed its body into the glass walls, trying to break its way out. It slammed repeatedly, watching the blood and other body flesh covering it slowly come off, eventually revealing its body underneath.

Its body was segmented into six, with the first segment a shade of red, possessing small feelers. The remaining segments were white, the same as the ones in the Induction Ceremony. The shimmering fluid seeped into its body and caused its motions to slow down. Soon, it entered a state of lethargy, its consciousness no longer lucid enough for self-thought.

Soon, Wisdom Parasites were dropped one after another into many racks. Most of them had the first segment of their bodies different from the rest. They were Tier 1 Wisdom Parasites.

Time passed in such a manner; soon, the Wisdom Parasites being dropped off had the first two segments of their body different from the rest.

Seated in the tower’s ground floor, Minaela Marble frowned, ”Many have failed phase 1 of their breakthrough. This is not looking good. The percentage of people succeeding in phase 1 is around 1.6 percent lower than the previous Cleansement Manoeuvre.”

”It is to be expected,” The magenta figure sighed, ”The duration is shorter. So, the quality of people we could bring has decreased. This would only continue to decrease in the future.”

Minaela Marble clenched her teeth a little, observing the conditions of everyone through her domain. She couldn’t help them during their breakthroughs. The moment she interfered, their breakthroughs would naturally fail. So, all she could do was just helplessly watch.

On floor 88, an Amplifier opened his eyes, having made a successful breakthrough to Tier 3. From now on, he was a Developer. He was one of the scouts taking part in the operation. His job was to scout the condition of the Mental Realm and relay it to Minaela Marble.

Not everyone had begun to breakthrough; a significant portion still sat in silence within their respective cubicles. They would act depending on the scene in the Mental Realm.

The scout on floor 88 muttered with a respectful tone, ”Madam Marble, in our immediate vicinity, there exist 21,348 Cogent Phrenics. Most of them have mental strengths similar to Tier 1 and Tier 2. I didn’t spot any Cogent Phrenics equivalent to Tier 5.”

Minaela Marble’s voice resounded within the cubicle, ”Good work out there. You’ll be rewarded accordingly.”

”Thank you, Madam Marble.” He bowed respectfully, his expression one of joy and relief. He then closed his eyes, meditating within the cubicle. His work was done. But, until the operation ended, he wasn’t allowed to exit the Limitless Tower. So, he remained in his spot, inspecting the changes in his body.

Mental Realm; the image of the Limitless Tower became corporeal as more and more humanoid figures appeared within it. Accompanying each humanoid figure was a serpentine figure, displaying enmity against their respective humanoid foe.

The moment they appeared, and in such huge numbers to boot, the surrounding Cogent Phrenics rushed over, fuelled by their desire for better experience fragments. Any variety of experience fragment they desired now existed within the corporeal tower.

Within the 100th floor, Gerude Eagle appeared, taking the lead by commanding everyone. Smell, sound, and the sense of touch didn’t exist within the Mental Realm. They only had their sight to rely on.

Thankfully, their sight was amplified in the mental realm, allowing them to also sense their body. This made them capable of defending themselves and plan their attacks in response to their foes.

Appearing before Gerude was the form of his Wisdom Parasite, a serpentine figure that resembled him. Within its fourth segment was a sphere, a crystal that upon intake would fuse with the crystal in him, allowing him to return to reality.

He motioned using his hands, commanding the others around him. They surrounded all the serpentine figures, intending to get rid of them first before enacting their operation.

He glanced above him once, noticing that the experience-figures of the 10 Shifters have yet to arrive in the Mental Realm. The Cogent Phrenics had formed a barrier around the tower, unanimously waiting for the time being.

’Alright,’ He thought, motioning his hand forward. Upon his signal, a war between the humanoid and the serpentine figures erupted.