Chapter 118: The Power of Knowledge

Crack!!

A soft cracking sound rang out. Zheng Yichen felt as if his eyes had been hit head-on with a hammer. It hurt so much that a few tears squeezed out from the corners of his eyes. It took him quite a while to recover. He put away the telescope and gave up on the idea of scouting the army campsite. Just now, his observation must have triggered the enemy’s anti-detection magic.

It was a good thing he was a dragon. If he were human, his eyeballs would probably have exploded by now.

“MMP, I’ll remember you guys!” Zheng Yichen muttered resentfully. He stopped paying attention to the situation over at the Sanctuary Church and looked farther away, toward the Witch’s location. He could not see Loris’s figure, but that entire area was a lifeless, barren wasteland.

The ground was dark and rotten, as if it had been corrupted after choosing the undead race while playing the Throne game.

He examined it carefully. This time, it was even worse. The telescope in Zheng Yichen’s hand exploded into powder, and his eyes suffered another powerful blow… almost causing him to fall from the sky. “Oh my god, Loli, you set me up.”

Rubbing his eyes, which were truly tearing up this time, Zheng Yichen’s mood could be imagined. It was bad enough that he had been hit by the enemy’s anti-detection magic earlier, but now he faced an even stronger anti-detection magic from his own ally. This was really frustrating. Zheng Yichen decided he would definitely teach this disobedient fake loli a lesson when he got the chance.

Looking at the pile of powder in his hand, the large telescope had been blown to bits by the anti-detection magic’s backlash. The remaining fragments decayed and weathered away at a visible speed. This was likely Loris’s magical trait. Just like Dan Marina’s inducing trait, Zheng Yichen had seen Loris’s Witch ability before, so it was normal for her magic to have such a characteristic.

Otherwise, that giant serpent he encountered back then would not have been wiped out completely by just one whip from Loris. This trait was also very stable. Just because he could ignore the effects of Loris’s ability did not mean others could. Merely this anti-detection magic alone could probably kill a large number of people who tried to observe Loris’s situation!

Rubbing his eyes, where the soreness had mostly faded, Zheng Yichen let out a soft sigh. He picked a spot to set up a temporary camp. The Alchemical Puppets needed to be hidden well. With the current unclear situation, his limited strength should not be exposed. The Transport Aircrafts were too big… but Zheng Yichen had a special Otherworld concealment method. He simply dug a few large pits and buried the Transport Aircrafts underground, even adding a tunnel for easy access to the supplies inside.

“Now, it’s time to wait.” Zheng Yichen rose into the air again. He did not use magic but relied solely on his own vision to observe his surroundings. Anti-detection magic, as the name implied, was triggered when it sensed the probing waves of detection magic. Eagle Eye was a type of detection magic.

As long as Zheng Yichen used his ordinary eyes to look, things would not be too problematic, and he would basically not trigger any anti-detection magic. However, relying on just his eyes, the distance was too far, making it difficult to see any specific details.

While waiting, Zheng Yichen did try to see if he could make contact with Loris. Unfortunately, the Sanctuary Church had sealed off that area so tightly that Zheng Yichen simply could not easily cross the Lockdown Zone. If he tried to force his way through, he might be detained on the spot. Because of this, Zheng Yichen had no choice but to patiently wait and, in the meantime, practice controlling the Alchemical Puppets.

These Alchemical Puppets were combat types with fairly good fighting abilities. Of course, given the current situation, Zheng Yichen was still not very satisfied unless they could fight one against a hundred. How great would it be if he had a neutron star golem?

Pushing aside such daydream-like thoughts, Zheng Yichen hid in the clouds and observed the movements of the various groups gathering. He analyzed their situations in detail. One piece of good news was that these people were not harmonious. The Witch Hunt could bring them great fame and benefits, but because so many were participating, these rewards would be shared. This led to rather deep conflicts among them, since more people meant less profit for each.

On the other hand, fewer people could bring more benefits. Thus, even before the battle began, they were already tripping each other up along the way, with those without backgrounds being the first to suffer.

Most of these people wanted to seize this opportunity to snatch a bit of profit. After all, they had no background and certainly no knowledge or resources to speak of. Even gaining a little bit of power would be a huge benefit for them. These people were mostly freelance Mercenaries or Adventurers.

“Hmph, fight, fight, best if all of you bash each other’s brains out…” Zheng Yichen watched with malicious glee!

He waited for two days. During this time, the terrain in the area where Loris was located did not change much, but anyone who was not blind could see the anomaly happening there. The entire region seemed shrouded in a layer of black Mist. Any creature that ventured inside would instantly decay, and even with protection, they could not last long.

This might seem like Loris’s power increasing, but it was actually not a good thing. No matter how much strength grew, if it could not be controlled, it would only harm oneself and others. During the two days, the participants of the Witch Hunt had essentially all gathered.

Seeing this, Zheng Yichen felt utterly helpless. The number of people gathering reached tens of thousands… plus the Sanctuary Church’s army. So many people gathering here for just one Witch? This was really too much importance!

Moreover, none of these people were ordinary. If regular armies could join, the number would probably double. The wealth of a Witch made not only major powers but even nations extremely greedy. Beyond monetary gains, the knowledge accumulated by a Witch alone was an even greater treasure. Whoever could obtain it would see their power or national strength skyrocket in a short time.

Zheng Yichen himself was the best example. He now had high attainments in both Alchemy and Engineering. On one hand, there was the bonus from Earth’s knowledge; on the other hand, it was the foundation provided by the books collected by the Witches. Even without a teacher, any problem Zheng Yichen encountered in Alchemy and Engineering could be found with corresponding solutions in the collections of the Underground Library, often with more than one method!

It could be said that Zheng Yichen’s progress in these two disciplines was so fast purely because it was built upon a vast foundation of knowledge. With no troubles or obstacles, of course everything went smoothly without hindrance.

As for the future, if he ever encountered a problem that could not be solved by the books in the Underground Library, then by that time, his level in Alchemy and Engineering would have conservatively reached the top tier!