Forgotten Photo Studio

Chapter 97 Soul Calling
"It is to keep his soul active, so that his memories and emotions can 'feed' the sealed 'Abyss' source, maintain its stability, and delay its complete erosion of the host. We are closely monitoring it to ensure that this 'feeding' process is controllable."

"Now his soul has left his body, and the seal is out of balance. Summoning his soul is not to save him personally, but to stabilize this 'vessel'! We must 'press' Xu Yan's soul back before 'Abyss' realizes that the host is out of control and tries to break free! To continue his mission as a 'vessel' and 'food'."

“Until… ‘Abyss’ is completely devoured and assimilated into his soul, and that is when it will manifest in its most complete form, that will be the only time for us to carry out the final ‘harvest’.”

The phantom's voice finally faded into absolute coldness:

"The situation must not be chaotic until his piece is completely exhausted."

As soon as he finished speaking, the illusory figure vanished like smoke.

"Crack!"

The bronze bell, which served as a communication medium, could not withstand the cold will and immense information contained in the final words, and instantly shattered into countless fragments, scattering across the ground.

The judge stared at the fragments of the bronze bell on the ground, his eyes flashing with golden light, like a candle flickering in the wind.

After a long while, he seemed to recover from some kind of pressure and hoarsely shouted to the outside, "Come in."

The metal door slid open, and the lamplight, shadows, and the drill arm controlled by Xu Yan entered one after another.

The lingering spiritual pressure in the room caused the oil lamp in Dengying's arms to sway wildly.

"Set up the formation..." the judge's voice sounded as if it had been sanded, "...prepare to summon the souls."

As soon as he finished speaking, a heavy creaking sound of machinery came from the ground.

The floor of the central area slid open silently, and a strange structure resembling an inverted black tower slowly rose up—that was the Tower of Rewind.

The tower is neither made of gold nor stone, and is covered with twisted, seemingly writhing funerary inscriptions.

The core of the tower is not a physical entity, but a constantly rotating dark blue vortex, within which countless shrill, pale light threads struggle, emitting wails that reach the very depths of the soul.

Upon seeing the tower, the lamplight emitted a hoarse sound and turned deathly pale.

"This 'Retrospective Tower'... was last activated ten years ago when we dealt with Xu Haoyu, resulting in the loss of three Silver Level I experts..."

He paused, his cloudy eyes glancing at Xu Yan's fleshy body on the stretcher, and added:
"Moreover, in cases where the soul has been separated from the body for too long and the traces have almost disappeared, it's best to have a close blood relative or someone extremely familiar with him as a 'guide' to call upon him; this will increase the success rate..."

Xu Haoyu!
The name, like a red-hot iron rod, pierced Xu Yan's consciousness.

Hearing that name through the drill arm's ear, a mix of cold hatred and sharp pain almost overwhelmed his control over the body.

He forcefully suppressed the instinctive reaction of his drill arm muscles, locking all the turbulent emotions deep within his consciousness.

Only inside the metal drill arm, a very faint sound of friction between components, caused by the instantaneous surge of soul power, could be heard.

They dared to use that evil object again! And it was aimed at my father!

The judge glanced coldly at the lamplight, interrupting his suggestion:
"We can't worry about that now. Today, we either summon his soul back, or..."

He didn't say anything more, but his resolute killing intent had already spread.

"Activate the tower array, search the heavens and retrieve souls!" the judge commanded sternly. The entire iron coffin area emitted painful groans.

The talisman suddenly flashed with a blinding blood-red light!
The dark blue vortex at the heart of the tower suddenly accelerated, emitting a terrifying sound wave as thousands of vengeful spirits screamed simultaneously!
Through the senses of the drill arm, Xu Yan felt a dizziness on a spiritual level. It wasn't just a sound; it was more like a mental storm targeting his memories.

The drill arm contains fragments of his own hazy childhood memories.

The sweat and metallic smell of the training ground were stirred up by this force, almost leaving him.

He had to firmly anchor himself to the core belief that "he is Xu Yan" in order to avoid being swept up and assimilated by this massive soul-summoning ritual.

A semi-transparent ripple spread rapidly from the tower, like a deathly ripple, instantly penetrating all physical barriers and sweeping across the entire Jiangcheng!

At that moment, a blurry and pale face was briefly reflected in all the mirrors, water surfaces, and smooth glass in the city, and even in the suddenly contracted pupils of pedestrians—Xu Yan's face!
At the same time, countless fragmented, chaotic whispers, filled with pain and confusion, surged like a tide into the depths of the consciousness of every sentient being within the iron coffin zone:

“Xu…Yan…”

"return……"

This isn't a call to arms, this is fishing! This is forced conscription!

Through the senses of the drill arm, Xu Yan "saw" all of this, and a cold anger and a complete understanding welled up from the depths of his soul.

They didn't want to save him, but rather to forcibly seize his last remaining consciousness from the world and stuff it back into his body, making it a qualified, docile "cage" to contain the "abyss" they feared!
He thought of his father.

"After execution, the soul is archived."

So this is what "archiving" is all about: dismantling, studying, and even replicating the essence of a person's soul!
The shrieks from the Tower of Recall grew increasingly shrill, and the dark blue vortex expanded violently, almost bursting the tower apart.

The spiritual pressure in the Iron Coffin Zone rose to a terrifying level, the air became viscous like liquid, the green flames of the lamplight were compressed to the size of a bean, and the shadowy figure almost dissipated under the distortion of the spiritual pressure.

"Sir! The soul fragments are too scattered, and the rejection reaction is violent! Cracks have appeared in the tower base array! Forcibly increasing the power may cause the soul energy to backfire!" The voice of the lamplight was filled with fear amidst the violent fluctuations.

"Not enough! Far from enough!" the judge roared, his golden vertical pupils bloodshot. "The senses are too weak! We must 'capture' him before his remnant soul completely dissipates! Maximum power! Immediately!"

He formed a hand seal and changed it again, then suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood, which turned into a blood mist and merged into the hand seal.

With the blessing of the original power of a Gold-level transcendent being, the Tower of Recall suddenly trembled!
boom--! ! !
The dark blue vortex at the heart of the tower spread out like an explosion, and countless pale soul lines, like evil spirits breaking free of their restraints, lashed and pierced wildly in all directions.

The vast majority of them converged into a terrifying torrent, rushing towards Xu Yan's body on the stretcher!

In that instant, a sudden change occurred!
The old-fashioned camera that had been lying quietly on Xu Yan's chest, with its dark "same-life lens," seemed like a single eye awakening from its slumber, silently emanating a layer of dim light.

All the pale soul lines rushing towards the physical body, upon touching this halo, were greedily swallowed up by the camera, like rivers flowing into the sea.

The inside of the camera lens transformed into a bottomless vortex, frantically plundering the soul power gathered by the Tower of Rewind.

Click...

Boom!
A sickening cracking sound came from inside the Tower of Regression, the tower shook violently, and the runes on its surface flickered wildly.

(End of this chapter)