Chapter 999 — Unstable

In Cecil, a priest might not be able to channel holy light, a nun might not be able to heal, a rogue typically wielded a two-handed greatsword and a powered blackjack, and even the peak of elven beauty might in essence be bald—all of which is to say, it was perfectly normal for a "Singer" to be unable to sing.

But Gao Yang stood there mulling it over for a long while, and still felt something about the whole business was off...

But off or not, it hardly mattered—few things in this land had ever had a normal aesthetic anyway. He had already borne witness to a cyberpunk dragon nation, so at this moment Gao Yang's tolerance for aesthetic oddities was at an all-time high.

Whether the aesthetic was right or not, so long as it worked, that was enough.

He looked toward the young test subject at the center of the testing ground, who was at that moment being helped by several technicians to connect the rune socket boards and the test magitech terminal. Another technician had gone over to a nearby storage case and was carefully taking out a device that gleamed with a silvery-white metallic luster, shaped like a spinal column—the Neural Thorn.

A technician came over to Wendy's side. He first bowed to Gao Yang, then reported to Wendy: "Test subject's equipment check complete. Personnel and equipment are in good condition. We are ready to proceed with the experiment at any time."

Wendy nodded and glanced at Gao Cen, who gave a quiet "Mm": "Then let the test begin... show me what you have accomplished so far."

"Begin connecting the Neural Thorn," Wendy immediately turned to her assistants. "Prepare the neural signal amplifiers and the helmet!"

The technicians set to work. Gao Yang watched as the technician holding the Neural Thorn walked to the center of the ground and carefully pressed that silvery-white "artificial spine" against the contact points on the back of the test subject's neck. Other technicians came over carrying an oddly shaped helmet, built from several layers of stacked metal plates—strangest of all, it completely covered even the eye area. Then others began activating the various testing devices and safety mechanisms around them.

They had clearly done this more than once. In just a few minutes they were ready to begin the test.

The technicians withdrew from the center one after another, leaving only the young test subject standing there. The Neural Thorn hung quietly down his back, and the bizarre helmet covered his eyes and skull, with some manner of soft material at its rear tightly connected to the Neural Thorn's coupling end—he was waiting for further instruction. In the meantime, Wendy explained the function of this equipment to Gao Yang: "We specially designed a kind of Neural Thorn that is more sensitive than the standard model, enabling a psionic Singer to keenly perceive abnormal mental contamination. But this also imposes a certain mental burden, so an ordinary person must undergo training to withstand the pressure brought by this additional perception...

"The psionic Singer's suit carries a series of resonance substrates. Under the Neural Thorn's control, they can release specific high-frequency or low-frequency magical oscillations; the effect of the 'Song of the Deep Sea' is spread outward in this way. To further enhance its effect, we also designed a set of three neural signal amplifiers—they are not yet activated; you will see them shortly.

"...The helmet contains numerous neural contact points, used to further increase the efficiency of the connection between the psionic Singer and the suit, while also providing a certain degree of protection..."

Gao Yang listened in silence, and at last could not resist asking: "Why does the helmet use armor plates to block the eyes?"

"...To prevent loss of sanity," Wendy said with a solemn expression. "In testing we found that a psionic Singer's perception is not only greatly enhanced, but also produces various 'extra-sensory phenomena' unlike those of humans, which involve a very complex neural-soul interaction process. From the results, this extra-sensory perception causes the psionic Singer's vision to mutate—they see many things... they should not see, and these things can very likely bypass mental defenses and pierce through their barriers of reason.

"After all, although psionic Singers are soldiers who fight mental contamination, they are still mortals themselves. Once their defenses are pierced, they are not much stronger than ordinary people.

"So we designed this visual suppression device—those armor plates not only physically block the user's vision, but also, through the neural contact points built into the helmet, temporarily suppress the brain's processing of visual signals, preventing to the greatest extent mental contamination caused by visual contamination. This is far more effective than 'closing your eyes.'"

Hedy, standing nearby, could not resist cutting in: "Then their vision..."

"Please do not worry," Wendy said with a smile. "Although the eyes are blocked, in fact the psionic Singer can still 'see.'"

As she spoke, she raised her hand and beckoned to the young man at the center of the testing ground, and he immediately lifted his head and waved back—as though his vision were not affected in the slightest.

"Yes, I can 'see,'" the young test subject said with a smile, his nervousness seeming to have completely eased. "And more clearly than with my eyes."

Gao Yang was suddenly curious: "What is the world like through your eyes?"

"That... is hard to describe. I can see everything in all directions at once, including my back and the ground beneath my feet," the young test subject thought for a moment and said seriously. "It is direct perception; all information is presented directly in my mind. But almost nothing I see has color—only various shades of gray and white. That takes some time to get used to."

"The only 'color' a psionic Singer can see in this state is the 'color' of mental contamination," Wendy explained from the side. "That is the conclusion from the simulation tests Narethiel helped us run—but the actual effect still has to be verified in real combat. After all, Narethiel no longer possesses true 'contamination'; how much difference there is between the divine power she simulates and true divinity in the real world is still uncertain."

Gao Yang nodded in understanding, then let out a soft breath: "I see. Can we proceed to the next step now?"

Wendy immediately looked up at the test subject in the center: "Mr. Ex, are you ready?"

The young man called Ex raised his hand and made a ready gesture: "We can begin at any time."

"Then activate your suit—starting with the three neural signal amplifiers stored in the activation chamber," Wendy said with a nod. "Everyone else, get ready, begin recording monitoring data, and prepare to provide magical countermeasures at any time!"

As Wendy's words fell, the test subject at the center was already in motion—he worked a certain joint on the magitech terminal, and then the surface of the suit across his whole body abruptly rippled with halos of magical power. As the magical reaction gradually rose, his entire body seemed to lose the binding of gravity, and he began to float slowly up in the center of the ground!

After a few seconds of floating, he waved a hand toward the edge of the ground.

On a table in the corner of the laboratory, three diamond-shaped metal devices about the length of a forearm immediately flew up. They went straight past the staff on site and came to a stop behind the test subject. Following the motions of his hand, these metal devices unfolded their mechanical structures, blooming like flowers with rigid, sharp lines, while fine golden sparks leapt and flickered between those "petals," crackling with sound. Then they began to circle the test subject in undulating flight, as though they were some kind of agile living creature.