Chapter 67 Astral Body

In the dream, a wizard stood there, seemingly at the edge of the evil of this dark world. Behind him, on a rock, were a pair of eyes, dripping from which it was impossible to tell whether it was blood or liquid flame, onto the face of a pale, pitiful creature.

The wizard strolled across the dark, damp wilderness, extending eight arms with suction cups that twirled gently in the air, causing pieces of torn material to land steadily on haystacks riddled with traps.

He saw Billys and was very unhappy, saying something that was hard to understand.

Immediately, a white mist of ice appeared all around.

Billy felt very cold. He walked towards the wizard, but no matter how fast he walked, he could not catch up with the wizard.

It's getting colder and colder, almost freezing. I need to find a way to escape from here, or I'll freeze to death.

As Billis pondered this, he crawled under a tree stump that looked like a hip bone, accidentally bumping into a fast-moving tentacle.

I woke up with a start!

The temperature at the Astral Research Institute is dropping.

The drop was caused by a malfunction in the battery connected to the reservoir, and several thin-legged workers are urgently troubleshooting the problem.

The entire department was shrouded in artificial smoke, the space was deathly still, clean and cold, as if a monster might suddenly jump out from some corner.

The department head, with a light-colored beard, emerged from a dim light, his face bearing the gentle features of a kind father.

"Thank you for your hard work, Agent. You and your wife have successfully saved your brains."

Perhaps because his consciousness had been in contact with the system for too long, Billy's face was like a hot engine, his eyelids felt itchy as if they had been bitten by mosquitoes, and his head felt like it was about to explode.

The department head continued, "I don't know how to explain this to you. This operation was originally extremely dangerous, and coupled with factors such as brain rejection, it became the biggest challenge I've ever faced."

Billis felt he understood, yet it seemed he didn't.

Was the mission a success or a failure?

Suddenly, several formally dressed staff members rushed into the department and moved away several machines closest to the central control room.

Those machines were all connected to the Astral Brain, with several tubes leading to the next room.

Billis strained to lift his head and saw that the rooms that were originally next to each other had been opened up and connected into one large room.

The staff placed a brand-new box-type server in the large room, and brand-new metal pipes were connected to the astral brain.

The huge white suspended object shimmered just as it had when I first saw it.

But the brain on its left side had lost its luster, and it was no longer recognizable what it originally was.

The agent tasked with guarding it lay stiffly on the faded crescent-shaped chair, his face evenly covered with a white cloth.

I think I heard two people next door chattering about death.

"Our people were renovating the research institute when they accidentally damaged the water storage reservoir. We are currently dealing with it urgently," said the head of the department.

"He failed?" Billis asked.

The department head walked around the room a few times, but couldn't take a step.

"Unfortunately, the brain he was in charge of had already been paralyzed a week ago, but the fact that he was still conscious until yesterday makes him a very remarkable agent."

"What about the other brains?"

"They're all still here. We especially want to thank your wife. She took down the hacker in just one hour and spent the remaining three weeks with you."

Billy looked at the lady in surprise. She had clearly not slept well, and her face showed signs of fatigue and swelling.

A feeling of heartache immediately arose.

He was too weak, and it was precisely because he was too weak that he always needed his wife's protection.

Billy started shaking restlessly, broke free from Lisa's embrace, and ran to the glass to look at himself.

The person inside had a large beard, messy hair and clothes, and a noticeably thinner face; only his features were still familiar.

"Am I going to be the last one to leave my brain?"

Lisa did not answer, but stood up and helped her husband take off his dirty clothes.

The department head pretended not to hear, told another clumsy staff member to close the door, and then left the room himself.

Only the agent couple remained.

Billy felt he was becoming very strange. For three weeks, he had not eaten anything, yet all he wanted to do was smoke and drink, but he didn't want to eat anything.

Because all five brains were not protected simultaneously, the mission was a failure as a whole, and the Demon Pillar is about to awaken, bringing disaster to the other world.

“Darling, we must prepare in advance; the next battle is coming.” Billis said, leaning against the glass, “It’s probably the most difficult one yet…”

Lisa immediately covered Billy's mouth with her own.

"With me here, you're not allowed to say no."

Billis was weak all over, and apart from his eyes and mouth, he was not very flexible. Because of the large movements of the hug, his other hand accidentally touched the control panel under the glass wall, opening the gas chamber cover that was locking the astral body.

The alarm immediately went off in the research institute, summoning all the staff and the secretary, who was wearing a short-sleeved shirt.

You can see the person in charge inside. He anxiously turned the joystick on the control panel several times, looking as if his family heirloom had been stolen, and he was very unhappy.

At that moment, the lights in the central control room came on, then stopped, jumped, and then came something that absolutely could not be seen by outsiders, something that would cause panic.

The astral body came to life.

It has a brain in a vacuum, but once it comes into contact with the outside air, it will develop muscle material. Its motionless face stares at everyone, eventually fixing its gaze on Beris.

The two seemed to know each other and stared at each other for a long time.

The airlock was closed, and the astral face slowly faded in the vacuum, eventually reverting to a brain filled with data conduits.

"I really want to say thank you, but please don't fiddle with the switches anymore. The structure of these brains is more sophisticated and complex than that of any other creature in this world."

"Did he sing when he was alive?" Billis asked.

The person in charge paused for a moment, then said, "I am a scientist, not an artist, so I cannot answer this question."

"Can you play the piano?" Billis asked again.

The person in charge thought the agent had also lost his mind, so he refused to answer.

Unexpectedly, Billis quickly asked a third question: "What's his name?"

The person in charge didn't have to answer, but out of respect and gratitude, he thought for a moment and said, "How could there be a name? If we must give a name, we can only consider the excavation number of the tomb as the name."

"From which tomb was it found?"

"Number 33, Agent."

A substance resembling molten gold disintegrated from the astral body and poured into a certain area of ​​the control room.

This is something that probably hasn't been seen by everyone.

Even voices that no one else could hear entered Billy's mind.

"May I sing you one last song, hero?"

Half-asleep, Billis squinted and saw the bard carrying a lute, walking back and forth in the dim starlight.