From the end of the world

Chapter 162 Soul Regeneration 2
There was a small reception room in the Luoshan office. Ma Zao was sitting on the sofa concentrating on investigating the broken arm, and Zhu Shi was beside her. Lu Youxun and I were sitting on the other side.

"Lu Youxun, you said before that Chen Long was captured by Ying Lingyun at a time and place you didn't know, and then he was mentally transformed. Is that right?"

Seeing me bring up the previous information again, Lu Youxun was startled at first, his face turned gloomy, and then he nodded: "Yes, that's what I said. If I had realized Ying Lingyun's conspiracy in advance, perhaps Chen Long could have avoided his fall."

"That is to say, you have never witnessed Ying Lingyun brainwashing Chen Long." I said, "Did Chen Long tell you this in person? He said that he was brainwashed by Ying Lingyun, so he betrayed you?"

"People who have truly been brainwashed will not say that they have been brainwashed. Instead, they will argue that they have never been brainwashed and firmly believe in the wrong ideas implanted in them." He shook his head. "It was Silver Mask... Ying Lingyun who told me so."

As he spoke, he seemed to understand my suspicion and continued, "Do you think Chen Long was not actually brainwashed, and he betrayed me of his own will?"

"That's just a possibility I thought of," I said.

"That possibility is zero," he said without hesitation.

How can there be something with zero probability? This was my first reaction. Especially since the person who said this was Lu Youxun, who once mastered the "possibility clone". He claimed that he had even had the opportunity to summon "himself who became the leader of the country and started the Third World War". How could there be "impossible" in the eyes of such a person? Although he looks calm now, perhaps he has been swept away by emotions.

"I can see that you can't accept it, and even think that I'm being emotional... Then let me put it another way." He said, "Suppose Zhu Shi suddenly used a magical item that can seal any supernatural power to attack you from behind tonight, and then sent you to the Humanitarian Department without being able to resist, and watched you become a miserable experimental animal, allowing others to torture and manipulate you. He also told you calmly that he had actually been Ying Lingyun's subordinate for a long time, and the reason he wanted to build a good relationship with you and make friends with you was to help Ying Lingyun collect valuable experimental subjects... What would you think?"

"That's impossible." I said without hesitation, "Unless Ying Lingyun used the 'Moon in the Water' to modify her memory and cognition, it would be impossible for her to do such a thing... I see, I know exactly what you want to say."

The way Lu Youxun saw Chen Long in the past is like the way I see Zhu Shi now. We both believed that the other party would never betray us.

"But, Chen Long is now at the great perfection level, right? The great demon Yin Yue was also only at the great perfection level, and 'Moon in the Water' is just a derived item. I can understand that Chen Long, who was still at the great perfection level in the past, would be tricked, but is the current Chen Long still unable to get rid of the brainwashing caused by that item?" I wondered.

"Most brainwashing, if applied for a short time, is just an 'effect', but if it lasts for a long time, it will become a 'result'." Lu Youxun said, "Just like a healthy person who maintains a hunched posture for a long time will really become hunchbacked, even if Chen Long is now at the Great Perfection level, he can no longer correct it. Even if he is really given the opportunity to correct it, he will not have the idea of ​​returning to normal."

I looked back at the Chen Long that I had fought against before.

Although he was brainwashed, he gave me a very calm feeling, so much so that I lacked the sense of reality that I had fought with a brainwashed person. Of course, it does not mean that a brainwashed person will necessarily show fanaticism and dullness, just as there are sub-categories of "calm lunatics" among lunatics. Moreover, if he was not brainwashed, it would be difficult for me to imagine the motivation of a Wuchang of such a level to join an organization like the Humanitarian Department.

However, from a personal perspective, I don't want Chen Long to be a brainwashed person. After all, he is the first opponent that I really take seriously. It is unavoidable to disappoint the thought that this opponent is just a "puppet".

Perhaps in Lu Youxun's opinion, it is easier to accept a situation where his companions are manipulated by the enemy to defect than to defect voluntarily. Although I feel very sorry for Lu Youxun, I sincerely hope that Chen Long has some incredible secret that can justify himself.

The stationed agent took the report of my damaged soul and returned to his work. The report I received looked like a medical examination report, and the content was mostly handwritten. It was obviously written by an agent, but the handwriting was wild and like a real doctor. Zhu Shi and Ma Zao looked over with concern, but they were helpless. Lu Youxun could understand it.

He took my medical report, groaned thoughtfully, and then asked me: "Do you still feel pain now?"

"It still hurts a little." I thought about it and described it, "Like the bruises left on your body after you flew off a bicycle and fell off."

"It looks like it's mostly OK," he said.

"About the most?" Zhu Shi asked doubtfully.

Lu Youxun explained: "To put it simply, the damage Chen Long inflicted on him was equivalent to him slipping and tumbling down 20 steps while wearing a helmet and knee and elbow pads. Although his body ached all over, it was at most bruises, and it didn't look like he had any broken bones. Of course, it was considered an injury by the standards of daily life, but if it was by the standards of combat, it wouldn't even be considered a minor injury."

"No way, Senior Brother Zhuang..." Zhu Shi looked at me with a strange expression, "After being beaten by a Great Perfection Rank for a long time, you are still like this. How thick-skinned are you?"

"It's not entirely because Zhuang Cheng is 'thick-skinned'." Lu Youxun said, "In stark contrast to his invincibility on the defensive side, Chen Long still lacks a means of killing with one final blow, so he can only take the route of accumulating damage. However, before the damage could accumulate in large quantities, his tactics hit a wall."

"At least I am strong and healthy," I added. The conclusion of the report card was not beyond my expectations. It seems that my soul does have extraordinary durability. In addition, the credit this time is not entirely due to my soul itself.

In the process of fighting with Chen Long, I also discovered another attribute of mine.

The Monster Maker once said that my flame cannot protect my soul because it is an offensive force, but this statement now seems to be wrong. My flame can mimic the flame of the flesh. Even in the form of fire element, I can touch external objects like a normal body, so it seems that it also has the ability to become a soul shelter to a certain extent.

And this performance seems to be able to be improved. Just like the higher the flame density of the fire element's body, the stronger its various abilities are, the soul defense of the fire element's body seems to increase in the process.

The evidence is that when I am hit by Chen Long's attack when the density of my fire elemental body is high, the pain I feel is reduced.

From this we can see that there were also errors in the approach I chose when fighting Chen Long.

I shouldn't use fire teleportation so often in battle. Although fire teleportation is the ultimate means of movement close to space transfer, it must constantly decompose and reassemble one's fire elemental body in the process. If I keep repeating this set of actions, the density of the body - that is, the defense of the soul is bound to not increase.

It would be fine if I was caught in the gap of low body density, but if I was caught in the gap between decomposition and reorganization, my soul would be truly defenseless. In the game's terms, the damage reduction rate would be zero, and I would be in a critical state where I could only use my health to resist.

"Even if the injury is only the extent of falling down the stairs, it is still an injury to the soul. It would be bad to just do nothing about it, right? There should be some medicines for treating soul trauma in this office..." Zhu Shi was still worried.

Is there any medicine for the soul here? I suddenly want to give Ma Zao some.

"You'd better forget about it. Even if it's just a minor injury to Zhuang Cheng, it's the claw mark left by the power of the Great Accomplishment level. With the crude medicine stockpiled by the office, it's just like pouring a glass of water at the fire scene." Lu Youxun shook his head.

I feel a little regretful. If that were the case, it would definitely not help Ma Zao.

"Let me help Zhuang Cheng recover."

Ma Zao, who was always silent in front of outsiders, suddenly spoke.

"Your own soul should still be under load, right? But... maybe he can think of a solution himself."

Lu Youxun seemed to have come up with an idea and suggested to me: "Zhuang Cheng, your flame is your spirit, right? And the spirit and the soul are the same. Since you can transform your spirit into flame, can you also transform the flame into your spirit, or soul?"

"Is that really possible?" Zhu Shi felt as if he had heard something unbelievable.

"It won't hurt to give it a try." Lu Youxun looked at me.

Ma Zao also paid attention to my every move.

I understood what Lu Youxun meant. Since I could make my body transform between flesh and fire, and be reborn from the ashes countless times, filling wounds with fire, could I also make my soul do the same thing, and restore itself to its original form no matter what kind of injuries it received?
I think this is feasible. My body is my flame, my flame is my spirit, so my body is my spirit. If the body can do it, there is no reason why the spirit - the soul cannot do it.

In the past, I could not correctly understand what the soul was, but now I have grasped the concept of the soul through pain.

Under the gaze of the three people, I raised my right hand, summoned a fireball, and began to imagine in my mind. Now, my soul has small cracks, and this ball of fire will become the new flesh and blood of the soul, filling it up and healing all the cracks.

I hit the fireball towards my chest, and it disappeared like a stone falling into water.

The inner pain was like pine snow encountering hot water, quickly dissolving and disappearing.

(End of this chapter)