RNP Page 36
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Analysis: The characteristics are extremely thin and distorted, with weak effects and absurd side effects (sluggish thinking, impulsive rambling), consistent with the underlying characteristics of Sequence 10. Moreover, its pathway has clearly collapsed to the core, leaving only this laughable "noise." Like a broken tile at the end of a dead-end road, it can only trip someone up and make them laugh.
2. Shadow Gloves (Sequence 9 - Low Tier of the Remnant Path):
The method is referred to as "the invisible person" or "the shadow miasma".
Analysis: This involves distorted fragments related to "weakened presence" and "shadow affinity." The effect is acceptable, but the cost is significant (limb numbness), making it a relatively "usable" low-level representative of the residual path characteristics. The name points to both the appearance (stealth) and essence (shadow miasma) of its ability.
3. Hungry Ghost Bag (Sequence 8 - Intermediate Level of the Remnant):
The pathway is referred to as "starvation foreign matter" or "residue".
Analysis: This is a fragment of distorted rules relating to "concept intake/conversion (food)" and "cost transfer (hunger)". The effect (producing food) and the cost (intense hunger) form a bizarre balance, and the name directly points out its most prominent feature, hunger, and its essence, which is like food scraps (residue).
4. The Unceasing Candlelight (Sequence 8 - Intermediate Stage of the Imperfection):
The pathway is referred to as "slumber" or "soul-severing."
Analysis: Contains a faint fragment of "spiritual comfort/guidance" and "spiritual flame." Its pale, cold flame and hypnotic effect suggest that its source may be related to soothing, dreams, or the soul, but it has been distorted into a dangerous "slumber," like a "broken candle" guiding the soul to eternal sleep.
5. Bloodthirsty Dagger (Sequence 8 - Intermediate Stage):
The pathway is referred to as "thirstiness" or "the urge to absorb."
Analysis: It embodies a broken and thirsty set of rules that "drain life" and "bestow weakness." Its blood-drinking craving, a side effect, perfectly matches its name "blood thirst" and "desire to absorb," highlighting its aggressive and twisted nature.
That concludes the explanation of Yuan Shu.
Five simple, even somewhat rough, names, like five tombstones engraved with blurred runes, mark five broken paths that have long since fractured and sunk into the silt of history.
They have no grand titles, no sacred origins, only nicknames given by later generations based on their distorted appearances, full of helplessness and warning.
Zhang Su's consciousness once again entered the void space, where he saw the four extraordinary items besides the Shadow-Stealing Gloves, silently floating in the void space. What wrapped around them was no longer just extraordinary characteristics, but also the twisted lamentations of the last annihilation paths.
“The madman…the invisible man…the relic of hunger…slumber…blood thirst…the ruined path…the relic of the dead end.” He repeated these names in a low voice, each one like a cold stone, sinking into the deep pool of his mind’s knowledge of the mystical world.
After thinking for a while, Zhang Su said again, "Yuan Shu, does the Foundation have the ability to extract the 'extraordinary characteristics' contained in these extraordinary items? That is, to separate those 'remnant' characteristics from the carrier? Keeping these carriers is useless, so it's better to recycle the resources."
[...] Genshu remained silent for two seconds, a rare occurrence that seemed particularly abrupt in its history of instant replies.
"[Director,]" Yuan Shu's voice rang out, "[Regarding the specific capabilities of the Cornerstone's core functions, and whether it can perform a particular operation, these questions fall under the direct responsibilities between you and the Cornerstone.]"
As your assistant (or secretary), my responsibilities include processing information, analyzing data, providing advice, and performing certain operations under your authorization. However, bypassing me and directly inquiring about the core capabilities of the Cornerstone is a more standard procedure within the 'Curtain Cornerstone Management Bureau's' authority and responsibility structure.
If you indirectly inquire about the cornerstone through me, it might give the cornerstone the impression of being 'ignored' or 'out of step', leading to unnecessary negative emotional reactions. This involves important issues of responsibility allocation and respect for authority. Please understand and keep this in mind.
Zhang Su was stunned by Yuan Shu's earnest and well-organized "education." He subconsciously let out an "Ah," feeling a little embarrassed.
"Good heavens! Did I get scolded by my own secretary?" he muttered to himself. "But thinking about it carefully, what Yuan Shu said actually makes a lot of sense. It's like in a formal organization, the big boss wants to know if the core equipment in his factory can do a certain delicate job. Instead of asking the factory manager or looking at the equipment manual, he runs to ask the secretary? How could the factory manager be happy to know? The secretary is caught in the middle and it's not easy for him either."
"It seems that among all the Curtain Foundation Management Bureau, I am the least professional and least disciplined director..." Zhang Su felt ashamed. "Although the entire 'bureau' only has three 'existences'—me, Yuan Shu, and the Foundation—the basic organizational structure and sense of responsibility are still necessary! Yuan Shu is teaching me how to be a director."
"Ahem..." Zhang Su sincerely replied to Yuan Shu in his mind: "I'm sorry, Yuan Shu, it was my oversight and I neglected the process."
Then he apologized to Cornerstone: "I'm sorry, Cornerstone, I was negligent just now. I shouldn't have bypassed you and asked Yuan Shu directly. I'm sorry."
[The responsibilities are clear, and the procedures are straightforward. Please keep this in mind next time, Director.] Yuan Shu's voice remained cold and expressionless, which could be considered as acceptance of the apology.
The cornerstone responded with a huge,憨厚 (honest and simple) smiley face, indicating its approval.
Zhang Su breathed a sigh of relief, then said to Jishi, "So, Jishi, back to the question, can you extract the 'extraordinary characteristics' contained in these extraordinary items?"
Cornerstone responded immediately.
A dynamic image instantly flashed through Zhang Su's mind:
A dark, unremarkable ordinary stone floated in the air, and a pure, condensed blue beam of light fell from above, precisely enveloping the stone.
The beam does not contain destructive energy, but rather a highly precise force of "analysis" and "stripping".
The stone silently disintegrated and shattered at the molecular level under the blue light, turning into countless tiny dust particles that drifted away.
As the dust settled, a faint but fundamentally different core, emitting a murky, dark yellow light, was revealed inside the stone, suspended in the center of the blue light, like a "stone" that had been peeled off.
Image ends.
The meaning is crystal clear: it can be extracted, but the process will completely destroy the original material carrier of the item, making it impossible to remove it without damage.
"As long as it can be retrieved!" Zhang Su said without hesitation. "If the original form were truly of great use, I wouldn't have considered dismantling and recycling it. Let the carrier be destroyed; the key is the 'characteristics' inside."
His gaze once again locked onto the "mask of the fool" in the void.
This Sequence 10 Remnant has pitifully weak positive effects, but its side effects are absurd and annoying.
“Yuan Shu said = [Yi Yi C Qi? 〡 (six) 引3 贰鸸 (nine) 〧2弍,” Zhang Su focused his consciousness on the mask, “I plan to take this ‘Fool’s Mask’ as my starting point and destroy its recycling properties. Because I think it’s useless. What do you think?”
[Recommendation: Recycle.] Yuan Shu quickly provided an analysis: ['The Deceitful Mask' (Sequence 10 - The Foolish/Chatterbox) Core Function: Weak Cognitive Interference. Effectiveness is contingent upon the target individual being mentally weak, exhausted, or having a lax will. Its practical value is extremely low; it can only serve as a secondary, auxiliary tool.]
Its only valuable application is in conjunction with 'Unquenchable Candlelight' (Sleep/Soul Severance): first weaken the target's mental resistance with the candlelight, then use the mask to interfere. However, this combination is cumbersome, the cumulative effect may be unstable, and it carries double the side effects (mental stagnation + risk of sleep). Overall assessment: its value as a retained product is far lower than its inherent extraordinary properties.
“Okay, it’s settled then!” Zhang Su made the decision. “Making use of waste is better than letting it take up space. The properties extracted might come in handy in the future.”
With a thought, the “deceitful mask”—carved from pale, thin wood with an exaggerated, empty expression—appeared in the center of his desk, which was made of dark, wild wood grain and cold gray metal.
"Foundation, extract the extraordinary properties from the Deceitful Mask!"
The moment the command was given, a pure and condensed blue beam of light, exactly the same as in the previous image, silently shone down from the top of the office, precisely enveloping the mask on the desk!
"Sizzle—sizzle..."
A faint sound, like strong acid corrosion or high-frequency vibration, came from inside the beam of light.
Under Zhang Su's gaze, the pale wooden mask melted and disintegrated rapidly, like snowflakes falling under the scorching sun.
The substances that make it up are dismantled and stripped away at the molecular level by that strange blue light, turning into countless tiny, shimmering dust particles that drift and rise disorderly within the beam of light, like ashes from burning paper.
In just two or three seconds, the mask's physical form had completely disappeared.
However, at the center of the beam of light, a murky, dark yellow light stubbornly coalesced!
The scattered dust particles seemed to be attracted by the core, rapidly rotating and converging around that point of yellow light! The light grew brighter and brighter, and its shape quickly stabilized—finally condensing into an irregular, translucent crystal about the size of a little fingernail.
The crystals have a sickly, turbid, dark yellow color, and inside there seem to be extremely tiny, dust-like flocculent particles slowly rising and falling and wriggling.
Upon closer inspection, those fluffy things vaguely resembled... countless tiny, twisted mouths that were opening and closing silently.
The blue light suddenly receded and disappeared without a trace.
Only that irregular, dark yellow crystal remained, lying quietly on the cold metal tabletop.
"It's done!" Zhang Su was overjoyed and reached out to take the strange crystal.
Just as his fingertips were about to touch the crystal—
The cornerstone reacted with lightning speed! An extremely simple two-panel "cartoon" was instantly projected into Zhang Su's consciousness:
First panel: A hand with simple lines reaches excitedly towards a freshly baked stone that is still steaming hot.
The second panel: The hand suddenly retracted, its fingers spread wide and trembling exaggeratedly, with several jagged symbols representing "hot!" and a few splattered "beads of sweat" drawn next to it.
The meaning couldn't be clearer: Warning! The newly extracted crystal of extraordinary properties is in a high-energy unstable state and is extremely hot! Even if you are in a conscious form at this moment, you will feel intense burning pain upon contact with it!
Zhang Su's finger stopped abruptly less than a centimeter from the crystal.
"Thank you, Cornerstone. I was too hasty!" he said sincerely, withdrawing his hand with lingering fear. "How long will it take for this temperature to dissipate?"
The cornerstone's response was concise: an image that read "30s".
It means: at least thirty seconds.
Zhang Su patiently looked at the murky, dark yellow crystal on the table.
Thirty seconds felt like an eternity in the quiet office.
Finally, thirty seconds passed.
Zhang Su was much more cautious this time. He extended his right index finger and thumb, and with extreme care, as if he were holding a piece of charcoal that had just been extinguished but might still have embers, he gently pinched the dark yellow crystal.
It felt slightly warm to the touch, and the burning sensation had subsided.
He brought the crystal close to his eyes and examined it carefully.
Inside the turbid, dark yellow crystals, tiny flocculent particles, like ancient microorganisms trapped in amber, are still slowly rising, falling, and wriggling.
Even more bizarrely, when he focused his mind on it, an extremely faint auditory hallucination directly entered his consciousness:
"...Hahaha...You know what...that bartender...he actually said...sold out...only 'loss of reason' was left...hahaha...how hilarious...don't you think...Hey...why aren't you saying anything...pay attention to me...say something...anything, just say something...this is so boring..."
That incessant, aimless, boring, and compulsive whispering is the very essence of the irritating side effect of the "mask of fools"!
At this moment, it is condensed and imprisoned in this tiny crystal, becoming a faint yet persistent mental noise.
"Tsk..." Zhang Su frowned in disgust, but his fingers steadily held the turbid crystal containing the characteristics of the "madman's" path of delusion.
"Although it's a bit noisy... at least it's a 'resource'."
With a thought, he carefully retrieved the faintly noisy, dark yellow crystal back into the void space that connected countless secrets.
On the desk, only a barely visible trace of energy remained after the blue light had burned it, and it was slowly recovering.
“Alright, now for another new problem,” Zhang Su thought to himself. “Foundation Stone, can you fuse that crystal onto the new carrier? I want to create a new extraordinary item, and I want the positive and negative effects to be as controllable as possible. I have a very important matter that requires its power.”
Volume 1: Chapter 34: Substitute Creation
Cornerstone thought for a few seconds and answered with a two-panel cartoon.
The first figure is a person with outstretched arms, signifying helplessness.
The second slot features a locked skill icon with the text: "Missing the extraordinary trait of 'crafting extraordinary items'. This skill is currently unavailable."
After receiving the information, Zhang Su was not disappointed and expressed his understanding: "It's okay, Cornerstone. It's great that you can acquire this ability later. Let's take it one step at a time, there's no rush."
Having solved the problem of characteristic fusion, his attention turned to another batch of "collections" in the void space.
With a slight thought, eight "Black Tai Sui" of different shapes were taken out one by one and floated above the desk.
First was the mature body that had been separated from Dongyuan Qiu's body: it was the largest, about the size of a basketball, and it floated in the air, undulating slightly.
Its main body is a deep, thick black, like a midnight abyss, with a texture somewhere between solidified tar and semi-melted slime, radiating a cold, slippery sheen. The surface is not completely smooth, but is covered with an extremely viscous, slowly flowing gel, like living crude oil.
On this deep black base, faintly visible are some extremely dark red veins, like congealed blood scabs, and some even smaller, ghostly blue specks of light, like stardust, flickering and shifting extremely slowly deep within.
It is like a dormant, dark heart, containing filth and some kind of distorted starlight.
Next are the growing Tai Sui within Yuan Hao, Yuan Feng, Yuan Hai, Yuan Ping, and Yuan Zhi: these are noticeably smaller, roughly the size of an adult's fist.
Their black color is not as deep and heavy as that of mature specimens, appearing slightly lighter. The gelatinous layer is also thinner and more fluid, with more subtle, bubble-like protrusions and depressions visible on the surface. The dark red veins are clearer, spreading like a spider web, but the pale blue spots are much fewer and dimmer. Overall, they give a more "active" but also more "unstable" impression.
Finally, there are the juvenile forms inside Mingyuan and Yuanyuan's bodies: these two are the smallest, only the size of an egg. Their color is an almost translucent grayish-black, like ink diluted many times over, and you can even vaguely see a concentrated darkness at the core inside.
The texture is like the softest jelly or semi-solid egg white, with almost no stickiness, and it must be extremely soft to the touch.
Their surfaces were smooth, without any obvious veins or bright spots, except for an occasional, extremely faint, firefly-like glimmer at their core. They floated quietly, like two sleeping, ominous seeds.
Zhang Su reached out and carefully cradled the mature black Tai Sui, about the size of a basketball. It felt cool and slippery to the touch, heavy, with an unsettlingly subtle, elastic texture that seemed to pulsate with life.
He carefully observed the deep darkness and asked, "Yuan Shu, are these Tai Sui alive or dead?"
[Analysis in progress...] Yuan Shu's voice immediately sounded, [Target: Black Tai Sui embryos/mature bodies (eight in total), Status assessment: Feigned death. They have lost their life link and energy supply channel with their specific rare human hosts. In order to maintain a minimum level of existence, they have actively entered a state of deep hibernation, with all physiological and activity responses reduced to almost nothing.]
"Feigned death?" Zhang Su pondered. "Then if I find them a rare human host, they can come back to life?"
"Correct," Yuan Shu affirmed. "Once they come into contact with the life field of a rare individual that meets the conditions for parasitism, they will be immediately activated, attempting to invade and parasitize the new host to restore their activity and growth. This process is irreversible."
A hint of amusement flashed in Zhang Su's eyes as he looked at the cold, black substance in his hand: "So, would I be considered a rare race? What would happen if I implanted this thing into my own body?"
"[Absolutely not recommended, Director!]" Yuan Shu's voice carried an unusually stern warning. "First, while your physiological structure is highly similar to the rare races of this world in macroscopic form, there are fundamental differences at the cellular, genetic, and deeper levels of life information levels. The Black Tai Sui's parasitic mechanism is specifically designed for rare people and cannot successfully establish an effective link within your body. Forcibly implanting it will only trigger a severe rejection reaction, causing it to go out of control or self-destruct, resulting in unpredictable harm to you."
[Secondly, and most importantly—you are the Director of the 'Curtain Foundation Management Bureau,' chosen by the Foundation, a special being who embodies the 'Containment Protocol' and the 'Contamination Immunity.' Your life essence transcends the ordinary realm of the extraordinary, possessing extremely high natural resistance to low-level contamination and parasitic anomalies. A mere extraordinary derivative, at most Sequence 7, has no right or ability to 'contaminate' your body! It cannot even touch the edge of your core existence!]
Zhang Su was taken aback by Yuan Shu's powerful and even somewhat "protective" declaration, and then felt embarrassed. "Ahem... Yuan Shu, you're... praising me a bit too much, aren't you?"
But upon closer reflection, he realized he possessed the "cheat codes" of the Foundation, the Source Hub, the Containment Protocol, and Contamination Immunity... He had to admit that the Source Hub was right.
In Yuan Shu's eyes, his position as "director" was probably not something that a mere Black Tai Sui could covet.
For a superhuman below Sequence 7 to reliably defeat him now would probably not be so easy.
"Alright, alright, I got it, I'm not going to be a guinea pig." Zhang Su waved his hand, quickly skipping the topic. He then asked a more pressing question: "So if... I pulverize these Tai Sui, like I did with the masks before, and only extract their extraordinary properties before containing them, will doing so cause their overall 'rank' to decrease? And consequently weaken my abilities as well?"
"Yes." Yuan Shu's answer was concise and affirmative. "The enhancement mechanism of the containment protocol is based on the complete existence status, energy level, and the sum of the 'mystical connections' inherent in the 'containment object' itself. The complete Black Tai Sui, especially this mature form, not only possesses its own extraordinary characteristics, but also, as a 'seed' or 'offspring' extending the power of the 'Blood Ancestor,' it has established a profound mystical link with that high-ranking existence, the 'Blood Ancestor.' This link has greatly enhanced its 'status weight' at the time of containment."
If it were pulverized and only its core properties were crystallized, its mystical link to the Blood Ancestor would be significantly weakened or even severed, and the properties themselves might lose some integrity due to the stripping process. The end result would inevitably be a decrease in the overall level of the contained object, weakening its amplification effect on the Director's abilities. Therefore, pulverization is strongly discouraged.
"Understood." Zhang Su nodded, completely abandoning the idea of crushing them.