After snatching three full lamps from Samanra’s trio, Zhang Ye had pocketed over ten million more points, bringing his total to over 130 million. Therefore, his primary goal in heading to the Black Zone was to see if he could help Labella lift her taboo; farming points was a secondary concern.
The Black Zone was quite far away, and it took Bolabo over two hours of full-speed running to arrive.
From a distance, they could see the black soil of the Black Zone and the gray mist floating in the air—that was likely the poison mist.
“Bobo, can you call her out?” Zhang Ye asked.
As for Zhang Ye taking the liberty of giving him a nickname, Bolabo chose to selectively ignore it.
He replied, “Yes, I’ve already informed her through our mental link. She’ll be out soon.”
Zhang Ye nodded, and the group waited outside the Black Zone. Since the interior was filled with poison mist, it was better not to enter.
Meanwhile, Zhang Ye began parsing the poison mist.
He discovered that the mist was also generated by a secret realm taboo and could be manually parsed.
Once the parsing was complete, he could eliminate the mist in specific areas.
Zhang Ye immediately began the manual parsing.
He stood at the edge of the Black Zone. On one side was red earth, while the other was black, creating a very distinct boundary.
Above the boundary line, a gray magic circle floated before Zhang Ye. That was the Parsing Magic Circle for the poison mist taboo. Zhang Ye needed to rely on his own understanding of magic to find a way to cancel the taboo and crack it.
He took a brief look and found that although the poison mist was potent and covered a vast area, it was actually quite simple. With his understanding of magic, he would be able to crack it quickly.
Countless mana threads extended from his body, drawing and sketching on the magic circle to erase certain runes and magic lines. Beside him, Lina and Renomon watched with expressions of pure confusion.
Lina couldn’t help but ask, “Brother Ye, what are you doing?”
“Cracking the poison mist taboo,” Zhang Ye replied without turning his head.
Lina and Renomon tilted their heads, still looking bewildered.
Was Brother Ye really cracking a taboo by waving mana threads around in empty space?
Indeed, that magic circle was only visible to Zhang Ye, though he wasn’t aware of that fact at the moment.
In less than five minutes, the magic circle suddenly made a “click” sound. Several sequences within the circle began to rotate before finally shattering and vanishing.
The gray mist in a large area before them dissipated instantly.
Lina and Renomon were stunned. They hadn't expected Zhang Ye to actually crack the taboo.
Involuntarily, their estimation of Zhang Ye rose another level.
Anyone capable of lifting a taboo possessed an extraordinary understanding of magic. It was hard to imagine that Zhang Ye had such profound magical insight.
In reality, while performing Magic Innovation, Zhang Ye’s magical understanding had been improving exponentially.
With the gray mist gone, their vision cleared, revealing many black Rock Beasts gathered inside.
These black Rock Beasts had a liquid-like substance flowing over their bodies. Upon closer inspection, Zhang Ye thought it looked a bit like mercury, leading him to guess that these Black Silver Rock Beasts were likely highly toxic.
Suddenly, the group saw the gathered Rock Beasts in the distance grow restless. They all fell prostrate on the ground, trembling uncontrollably.
At the same time, Bolabo showed a joyful expression. “She’s here!”
In the next instant, a silver figure appeared before them. One second she was on the horizon, and the next, she had arrived right in front of them.
Zhang Ye jumped in surprise. He looked at the newcomer, then back at Bolabo, and finally couldn't help but ask, “You said… she’s your sister?”
Bolabo nodded. “Yep.”
“Are you sure?” Zhang Ye asked, pointing at the person before him.
“I’m sure. Why?” Bolabo asked.
“No… Why are you a lump of a pangolin while she’s a human?!” Zhang Ye blurted out.
Indeed, the Labella standing before Zhang Ye looked entirely human!
Or rather, she was in a humanoid form!
Her hair drifted as if it were flowing mercury, her skin was silver, and various parts of her body were covered in silver armor that concealed her private areas. She had refined features and a tall, elegant figure.
It was hard to believe she was Bolabo’s sister.
Zhang Ye had assumed Labella would just be a different-colored version of Bolabo!
Zhang Ye couldn't resist parsing her.
【Labella Silver: Two-star Saint-tier early stage Gold-Stone dual-attribute magical beast. Semi-humanoid state. Possesses extremely powerful elemental control over both gold and stone attributes.】
Well then, she really was a magical beast, just in a semi-humanoid state.
Bolabo explained, “Labella focuses on magic, and a humanoid form is better suited for mana circulation and spellcasting, so she prefers it. I focus on physical strength, so my beast form is more powerful. Of course, I can actually turn into a human too. Boss, do you want to see?”
Zhang Ye nodded. “I see… No thanks. You definitely wouldn't be as handsome as me anyway.”
Bolabo: “...”
Zhang Ye looked at Labella and said, “Hello, I’m Zhang Ye.”
“I know. My brother told me,” Labella nodded. Her voice was pleasant and melodious, yet lacked much emotion. “Let us not delay. Begin.”
As she spoke, her mercury-like eyes stared intently at Zhang Ye, filled with both wariness and expectation.
It was clear she trusted Bolabo unconditionally, but she harbored an inherent hostility toward humans. After all, it was a human who had confined her here.
Zhang Ye didn't waste words either. He nodded and performed a deep parse on her.
The system’s parsing immediately displayed the information he wanted to see.
【Area-Restricting Taboo: The taboo within the target’s body shares the same source as the taboo in the Black Zone of the Gray Rock Secret Realm and is linked to it. The restricted individual cannot leave the Black Zone. Furthermore, if any outside creature steps into the Black Zone, the restricted individual will suffer the pain of being cut. Requires manual parsing. The taboo can only be broken once the parsing is complete.】
At the same time, a magic circle manifested between Labella and Zhang Ye.
However, the others seemed unable to see it; it was only visible to Zhang Ye.
Zhang Ye merely glanced at it, and his brow furrowed.
This magic circle was incredibly complex. Even with his current understanding of magic, there were many parts he didn't understand. This put Zhang Ye in a difficult position, as he was afraid that a mistake might worsen the taboo and harm Labella.
Just then, Ella flew out and said, “If you’re worried about hurting her, there’s no need. The magic circle manifested for parsing exists as a sort of simulated projection. Only when the parsing is correct will the circle establish a connection with the world and take effect. If it’s incorrect, you can reset it at any time.”
Zhang Ye’s eyes lit up. He thought, “I see. Thanks, little Ella.”
Ella puffed out her cheeks. “Hey, can you stop adding ‘little’ to my name?!”
Zhang Ye merely glanced at her chest and then said casually, “Sure… uh… no problem…”
Ella: “How perfunctory! Hmph, I’m ignoring you!”
With that, she vanished, and who knew where she was hiding inside Zhang Ye’s body...
Zhang Ye chuckled and then cracked his knuckles. “Time to start!”
Over a thousand mana threads suddenly extended from his body, acting directly on the magic circle. Simultaneously, while cracking it, he could perform a secondary parse on the Parsing Magic Circle itself to learn the results, effects, and progress of his work, allowing him to troubleshoot and correct errors.
“Hmm… If this core magic line is severed, I can break the pain-inflicting rune group of the second sequence. But once this line is broken, the entire taboo will run in reverse. Then it won’t be as simple as pain; her body might explode… No, that won’t work...”
“What does this rune group mean? Let’s test it… Oh, it’s for secondary mana conversion and nerve stimulation...”
“No, this path is a dead end. I can't crack it sequence by sequence. I have to crack it as a whole—the kind where moving one part affects everything. I need to find the key point and then use it to perform an in-depth pseudo-crack, achieving a domino effect. Once the key point is removed, the entire internal taboo will collapse, but without affecting the operation of the Black Zone’s taboo...”
As Zhang Ye parsed, he habitually muttered to himself, leaving everyone around him completely dazed.
Renomon had some basic knowledge, but he couldn't quite follow. Like his sister, he was a practitioner, not a theorist. However, he could still tell that it seemed very impressive.
Lina was different. The more she listened, the more solemn her expression became, her eyes filled with astonishment.
The mana operation methods and rune combinations Zhang Ye occasionally revealed were practically unprecedented. She had never even heard of them, yet after performing mana calculations, she found that they actually worked!
For a moment, her eyes sparkled as she looked at Zhang Ye. She hastily pulled a small notebook—no, a magic book—from her ring and began taking notes.
...
...
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