Chapter 64
Chapter 64
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 64
Chapter Title: There's a Way to Release Poison into the Demon Race's Dimension
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The aftermath of Neuron Age's massive assault on Cheonjungchon refused to die down easily.
First off, the entire Demon population within the Independent District rose up in fierce opposition, vowing strong retaliation.
On top of that, China expressed regret over Neuron Age's actions in deploying missiles and firepower onto what they still considered their territory.
Even though it had become an Independent District free from Chinese Communist Party control, it was still their land in their eyes.
Thus, Neuron Age's moves were no different from an invasion of China itself.
Of course, such expressions of regret were little more than face-saving gestures, but they effectively demanded non-interference in the Demon Independent District, which sparked controversy.
Critics raged that China couldn't even handle its own problems and was just letting them fester.
Naturally, with such tight media control within China, hardly anyone there was aware of the global backlash.
"Geon-woo, you know things are getting weirder by the day, right?"
In the space on Geon-woo's island serving as a living room, Geon-woo and Peng sat facing each other over teacups.
It was then that Peng asked the question with a grave expression.
"Weirder how?"
Geon-woo looked puzzled, unsure what Peng meant.
"The Demons. They're gunning for Earth, aren't they?"
"Yeah."
"And everyone knows it."
"That's true too."
"But actual Demon purges are dragging on. Warnings about bio armor aren't sticking, and possessed hosts can head to the Independent District without any real pushback."
"So more countries are just letting possessed hosts go if they don't cause trouble?"
"Exactly. This is a serious issue. People are turning a blind eye to the dangers of Demon possessed hosts and bio armor implant users."
"The Demons are playing it smart. Honestly, regular Awakeners cause more problems than possessed hosts or bio armor users."
Geon-woo let out a slight sigh as he said this.
Lately, possessed hosts had been clustering in the Demon Independent District and staying put.
Most new possessions worldwide were making their way there somehow, without stirring up trouble outside.
They only fought back fiercely if attacked first.
As a result, the idea that it was best to just leave possessed hosts alone was spreading.
On top of that, among those who hadn't Awakened, quite a few were turning to bio armor to gain abilities.
In a world with 400 million Awakeners, the sense of loss and deprivation among those left out fueled unexpected rage.
"Earth's rotting from the inside. At this rate, humanity might end up as the minority."
Peng saw a dark future for Earth's humans.
And Geon-woo partly agreed with him.
"The problem is not treating possession as death. People still believe the host is alive even after possession, so they take it lightly. Though I bear some responsibility for that."
If there were no way to save possessed hosts, people would have defined possession as death.
But for Onveroad users, it became known that if their avatar died, they could escape Demon possession.
Then Geon-woo created soul-extraction talismans, providing a way out even for non-Onveroad users.
Thus, possession equaled death no longer held.
"It's like they see possession as some contagious disease. That's why the Independent District feels like a quarantine zone."
Peng nodded at Geon-woo's words, murmuring in agreement.
"The Demons played it clever. They'll rise up eventually, but for now, they're minimizing hostility and just building strength."
"At least taking out Seal Holders has trimmed their numbers somewhat, but info on them has dried up now."
Peng couldn't hide his frustration.
"They've made sure even their own kind doesn't know who the Seal Holders are or where they are. Unreal."
Neuron Age and Geon-woo had taken down quite a few Seal Holders who'd crossed to Earth.
In total, they'd claimed seals from over thirty tribes.
That meant nearly half the Demon tribes on Earth had lost their leadership.
Feeling the threat, the Demons started hiding their Seal Holders.
They swapped owners multiple times to obscure identities and had seal-bearing possessed hosts blend in as normals.
Without sheer luck, hunting them down specifically became impossible.
"So what now? We can't do much right away. Just keep hunting possessed hosts?"
"It's not without results."
"No matter how many we kill, more new possessed hosts and bio armor implants pop up."
Peng shook his head.
He felt they could barely maintain balance this way.
They'd seized nearly half the Demon seals and cut off those tribes' links to the Demon Dimension.
In response, the remaining Demons ramped up activity.
Fewer tribes, but overall power held steady.
Other Demon tribes were taking over the sealed pathways.
"So what? If we don't even do this, it'll get worse."
Geon-woo knew the situation well and asked with a hardened expression.
"You mentioned doing something with the magic circle. Why haven't you?"
Peng turned the question back on him.
He meant the magic circle created by Leat Rohit of the Ravolas tribe.
It was now complete underground on the island.
But it sat idle just shy of activation—no semi-mana field or Demon Dimension link yet.
"Activating it now would just create a semi-mana field. I'll do it if needed, but maintaining it isn't free."
That was Geon-woo's reason for holding off.
No real need for a semi-mana field yet, so it was finished but not running.
"I get that. And I'm not saying activate it right now."
Peng said it like an excuse.
"Then what?"
"We need a reason to activate it. Remember? You said we should poison their dimension too."
"Yeah, I did."
Geon-woo had thought the same when securing Leat Rohit's magic circle—strike back at the Demon Dimension.
The issue was they hadn't found how yet.
"Let's go to Onveroad."
Peng suddenly suggested it to Geon-woo, who was frowning.
"Onveroad?"
"Yeah. The Demons here are all possessed hosts. Bio armor is human-based anyway."
"And?"
"To find Demon weaknesses, Onveroad's better than here. Those are real Demons who've crossed dimensions."
"Hm. Capture real Demons and probe for weaknesses?"
"Right."
"But reading their memories never turned up any weaknesses."
"If they knew, those wouldn't be weaknesses. We need to capture unpossessed real Demons."
"Not wrong."
"Killing possessed hosts here just replaces them one-for-one anyway."
"True, but soul-extraction talismans fully kill them—no return to their dimension. That's something."
"Neuron Age can do that now too. They've got D-Catchers and mass-produced your talismans."
Recently, Neuron Age had succeeded in mass-producing Geon-woo's soul-extraction talismans.
They required soul stones, sure, but now others besides Geon-woo could extract and erase Demon souls from hosts.
"Hmm."
Geon-woo couldn't hide his conflicted look.
On the big-picture level, Peng was right.
Hunting possessed hosts and implants like this was just gradual erosion.
Without a big blow, they'd rot from within, as Peng said.
"Fine, let's go. There are possessed Onveroad users crossing over anyway. We can bag both real Onveroad Demons and possessed users in one go."
Geon-woo had no choice but to conclude that.
Right then, as if on cue, Illyeong entered the living room where Geon-woo and Peng were.
He'd formed a physical body using Yultren's proliferative metal.
"Master Geon-woo."
"Yeah, what is it?"
"Remember those monsters summoned by the Ravolas possessed host before?"
"Those? What about them? Something turn up?"
"Nothing much from the monster corpses. Even making jiangshi out of them wouldn't improve much over regular live jiangshi."
"But their size alone should make them better than plain ones?"
"The issue is no suitable jiangshi spirits for such hulks. Too mismatched, and they won't move properly."
"Hm, fair, but maybe grab beast soul orbs from Onveroad for a fix?"
"Even beast souls are just animal ones. Intelligent beast souls are rare, and matching six specific monsters? Near impossible."
"Hm, guess so. If not jiangshi, then what? What'd you find?"
Geon-woo couldn't think of other uses for the six monster corpses beyond jiangshi, so he asked curiously.
At best, materials like hides, teeth, bones for gear—but Onveroad crafters would do better.
"Something new from the souls trapped in the corpses."
But Illyeong mentioned the souls inside, not the corpses.
"Huh? Souls? They didn't dissipate on death?"
"No. I thought they escaped at death, but they were sealed inside the flesh."
"Interesting."
"Probably the System's doing."
"System?"
"These souls shouldn't exist on Earth originally. So when the body died, they had nowhere to go and stayed bound."
"If the soul lingers after body death, yeah. So?"
"Examining them gave me an idea."
"What idea?"
"I think we can send those six souls back to the Demon Dimension."
"Since they came from there, sure."
Geon-woo responded indifferently to Illyeong's words.
Didn't seem that impressive.
"Master Geon-woo."
"Yeah?"
"Not sending them as-is. Subdue them via spirit control, implant core commands as soul cores, then send."
"Implant commands into the souls?"
"And transplant the predation and proliferation factors mixed in those monster souls into your jiangshi spirits before sending to the Demon Dimension."
"Factors from the monster souls? Possible?"
"Yes. Separated them successfully, and copying's viable too."
"Then..."
"Speculation, but once the jiangshi spirit possesses a host in the Demon Dimension, it can recover its original body via predation and proliferation."
"Regain the body, then follow my implanted commands to sow chaos in the Demon Dimension?"
Geon-woo asked confirmingly, his face deep in thought.
"Yes, Master Geon-woo."
"Whoa! That sounds fun."
Illyeong answered with resolute determination, and Peng, who'd been listening, clapped in excitement.