Within a ten-meter radius of the Whispering Oculus, one Jinzhou civilian after another fell unconscious to the ground, unable to withstand the mental pollution of its whispers.
“This is too cruel.” Taoqi stared intently at the Whispering Oculus, gritting her teeth so hard they nearly bled, boundless indignation threatening to overwhelm her reason.
“Shh.” Yuanwu patted her shoulder, signaling for her not to act rashly, but the subtle tremor in his frame revealed that his heart was far from as calm as his exterior suggested.
Gradually, within the reach of the Whispering Oculus, the last civilian collapsed into unconsciousness.
Scar knit his brows tightly, pressed a remote to shut off the high-voltage grid, and gave a careless wave of his hand.
“Take this batch down and bring in the next.
As for that freshly converted Tacet Discord, test whether it has normal human thought processes.” At his command, a group of Fractsidus members stepped into the area around the Whispering Oculus, dragging out the unconscious civilians one by one.
One of them walked up to the Tacet Discord that had just transformed into a Judgement Warrior, spread his palm, and asked, “How many is this?” Judgement Warrior: …
The Fractsidus member turned around and saluted Scar.
“Reporting, Overseer!
This Tacet Discord possesses no thinking capacity.” “Another defective product.
Garbage technology—can’t even achieve a one percent success rate.” Scar waved his hand in annoyance.
“Dispose of it.” “Yes, sir!” The Fractsidus members moved quickly; within half a minute, more than half of the civilians within the Whispering Oculus’s reach had been dragged away.
Outside the Whispering Oculus’s range, a large number of Jinzhou civilians were lined up in queues.
Taoqi and Yuanwu were disguised as Fractsidus members supervising the line.
Yuanwu gestured carefully, asking Taoqi if they should make a quiet retreat.
Taoqi nodded.
Keeping their composure, the two fell back, stepping slowly toward the rear of the queue.
“Hey!
Where do you two think you’re going?
Don’t you see everyone working?” A tall, stout man who seemed to be a team leader barked angrily, stepping quickly in front of Taoqi and Yuanwu with an overbearing air.
“The Fractsidus doesn’t keep useless fools!
You two, get in there right now and carry out those fainted Jinzhou natives!” The two exchanged glances, communicating rapidly with their eyes.
Yuanwu: *Did he not realize we’re impostors?* Taoqi: *Looks like it.* Yuanwu: *What do we do now?* Taoqi: *Don’t alert them.
Just do as he says for now.* The two walked toward the Whispering Oculus.
Behind them, the tall, stout Fractsidus member stared at their backs, his expression filled with suspicion.
“Halt!” the tall, stout Fractsidus member suddenly shouted.
The sudden outburst made Yuanwu and Taoqi tense simultaneously.
Their muscles locked up as they turned around stiffly.
Had they…
been exposed?
“You two fools!
You didn’t even put on your Cognition-Shielding Bracelets.
Aren’t you afraid of being corrupted into puppets?” Scolding them loudly, the tall, stout member fished two dark purple stone bracelets from his pocket and motioned for them to come take them.
Hearing this, both Yuanwu and Taoqi felt their minds stir.
Neither of them was a fool; they sharply grasped the connection between these bracelets and the dark purple eyeball nearby.
It seemed that wearing this dark purple stone bracelet rendered one immune to the Whispering Oculus’s corruption!
“Why aren’t you two speaking?” As the tall, stout Fractsidus member handed the bracelets to them, his eyes were suddenly drawn to the bulging chest of Taoqi’s uniform.
“Hey, a skinny little guy like you—how did you build up such massive pecs?” Chuckling, he tossed a light punch toward Taoqi’s chest, only for his wrist to be caught firmly in midair by a powerful hand.
“Friend, that is not something a gentleman ought to do.” Hearing Yuanwu’s deep, unfamiliar voice, the tall, stout Fractsidus member’s pupils shrank.
He immediately swung his other fist at Yuanwu while roaring at the top of his lungs, “Spies!” Instantly, the entire Tacet Field fell dead silent as every Fractsidus member turned their eyes toward them.
“Damn it, we’re blown anyway.” Yuanwu cursed under his breath.
Abandoning his disguise, he threw a heavy punch that sent the tall, stout man flying.
Ripping off his mask, he turned to Taoqi and barked, “Run!
I’ll cover you!” Near the Whispering Oculus, Scar noticed the commotion immediately.
His expression turned surprised.
“So it’s those two rats that snuck in!” “They’re actually still alive?” “Interesting.” Watching the two manage to flee despite being surrounded and intercepted by numerous Fractsidus members, a playful smirk curled at the corner of Scar’s lips.
A deck of playing cards suddenly fluttered between his fingers, each card surging with explosive energy.
Conveniently, watching the experiment had gotten rather dull.
He prepared to take action himself and eliminate these two rats.
“Frost Bloom!” A crisp, cold voice chimed in his ear.
Scar’s legs were instantly frozen in ice.
Surprised, he turned his head to see a woman with eyes as cold as frost.
Jinzhou City Magistrate Guard—Sanhua.
She had been hiding among the Jinzhou civilians all along, waiting for the right moment.
And now, that moment had arrived.
Without a word, Sanhua’s red eyes overflowed with unreserved killing intent as she pushed her Resonation power to its absolute limit.
“Grand Crimson Lotus!” Her Resonation ability manifested a dense glacier that completely encased Scar in ice.
The massive upheaval immediately caught the attention of numerous Fractsidus members, who shifted their gun barrels to target Sanhua.
The pressure on Taoqi and Yuanwu dropped dramatically.
Just as Sanhua made her next move, the glacier shattered violently, and Scar burst free.
The explosive force shattered the former ice structure into a cloud of snowy mist.
A playing card flew swiftly through the flying ice fragments toward Sanhua.
She slashed it in two with her blade, but it exploded violently upon being cut.
The massive blast force drove Sanhua back several paces.
Abrupt applause echoed.
“To think that with all the civilians of Jinzhou corrupted into mindless fools, someone could still retain her sanity.” Scar stepped out of the frosty mist while clapping, his appreciative gaze laced with mockery.
“It seems you have great potential to become a fine test subject.” “Dogs of the Fractsidus!
You invade our Jinzhou, harm our people, and conduct such cruel experiments…
Just what is your goal?” Sanhua wiped the dirt from her face and glared fixedly at Scar as she slowly backed away.
She saw him casually spread his hands with an indifferent expression.
“Why, for the continuation of Solaris-3-3 civilization, of course.” At his words, the rage on Sanhua’s face flared even hotter, but Scar continued unhurriedly: “Think about it.
When the Lament invades civilization once more and the Threnodians across Solaris-3-3 awaken, only to find that the living beings here have already turned into Tacet Discords…” “What did you say?” Before Scar could finish, Sanhua flared with fury.
Scar suddenly burst into a morbid laugh.
“By then, everyone will have merely changed their mortal shells, yet civilization can endure in another form!
What could possibly be bad about that?” Playing cards shot forth like lightning, aimed straight at Sanhua.
“We in the Fractsidus already have an initial implementation plan for this vision.
Capturing the citizens of Jinzhou is simply to provide more test subjects for our experiments.” Having experienced the deadly power of these cards, Sanhua didn’t dare block them directly and was forced to dodge, her steps falling further back.
She was not entirely unaffected by the Whispering Oculus either.
Boundless whispers echoed in her head, and she was maintaining her remaining sanity solely through sheer willpower.
“If civilization must be sustained through such humiliating compromise, we would rather perish alongside the Threnodians!” Shouting aloud while dodging the cards, Sanhua demanded, “Furthermore, why should the people of Jinzhou become fuel for your atrocity?!” Scar’s offensive grew ever more relentless, the expression on his face wildly fanatical.
“This is a necessary sacrifice!
Once we succeed, all humanity will benefit!
Why resist?
Come, join our glorious transformation!” “Necessary sacrifice?
Why don’t you sacrifice yourself first?!” Dodging continuously, Sanhua finally drew close to the Whispering Oculus.
Her gaze briefly fell upon Jinhsi, whose body was covered in dragon scales.
A pang of sorrow flashed in her eyes before rapidly transforming into the fiery rage of vengeance.
Perpetual Frost!
She drove her Resonation power with frantic intensity, freezing two precision instruments nearby.
A sharp blade arc flashed through the air, shattering both instruments into pieces of broken ice.
“Better to be a shattered jade than a whole tile.” Seeing the two instruments shattered, the playful mockery on Scar’s face froze instantly.
“You seek death!” Furious beyond measure, his body swelled as he transformed into a horned demon, lunging violently toward Sanhua.