Extraordinary Voyage-Chapter 467 - 428 Poison Plague School

West side of the Balboa Isthmus of the New Continent.

This area already belongs to the domain of the Broken Star Sea, naturally cut off by the continent. The deeper you venture into the Broken Star Sea, the closer you get to the unknown lands of humanity, which also means more danger and mystery!

On the official level of the Kingdom. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

Even the Hilus, who have the most explorers and the fastest progress in ocean exploration, have only dipped their toes into these waters, without delving too deeply.

Perhaps only when gold mines, silver mines, or other great interests appear there, will it spark another wave of oceanic exploration fever.

At this moment.

Hundreds of kilometers from the Balboa Isthmus, on an unknown volcanic island that has never appeared on human nautical charts.

Pitter-patter...

Clouds have been lingering over this island for a month, and the light rain that seems to mold one’s very bones has lasted a month as well, and looks like it will continue for a long time.

Well, perhaps it’s not just "seems." On this island, which already has sparse vegetation but is located in a tropical humid climate.

Deadwood, treetops, ground... even stones that appear purely inorganic are covered in mold, green, white, red, yellow. It looks stunning from a distance, dangerously stunning.

This is truly a case of a "plum rain" (mold rain)!

Near the center of the island, from a cave only one person tall, winding through cracks in the ground deep underground, reaching more than 200 meters.

There lies a massive Crystal Cave.

The cave extends beyond three hundred meters, filled with magnificent, luminous giant crystals, the longest nearing fifteen meters and weighing sixty tons, the shorter ones as tall as ordinary pine trees, all semi-transparent gold and silver.

Beautiful beyond compare and priceless at the same time!

However.

At the bottom of the cave, there is a churning magma chamber, keeping the temperature here persistently at 50 degrees Celsius, and the humidity at 98%. Such temperatures and humidity levels are a deadly threat to humans.

If a normal person were to come here without any protective gear, they wouldn’t last ten minutes in this paradise before being utterly obliterated.

Moreover, aside from the temperature and humidity, even more hidden dangers lie here!

A casually dripping droplet of water holds over two billion bacteria.

The types of bacteria together possibly exceed one hundred, mostly captured by flowing water in the Crystal Cave formed between ten thousand to sixty thousand years ago, remaining in this relatively closed environment to the present day.

Thus, 90% of these types are ancestral-level bacteria that do not exist in the outside world.

However, this Crystal Cave, full of lethal dangers for ordinary people, is an invaluable treasure for some.

Drip... drip...

By the faint light emitted by the crystal pillars.

You can vaguely see, below the large crystal clusters resembling beams in the cavern, five figures in black robes, faces deathly pale, standing motionless there for an unknown duration.

"Those three despicable guys are really not punctual. How long do I have to wait here by myself? In this humid place, the decay rate of my darlings is just too fast!"

A sharp, indiscernible voice rings out from the midst of the five figures, indicating that among these five who look like corpses, only one might actually be "alive."

However, judging by their similarly indistinguishable appearances and the green threads like sutures spreading beneath their skin, perhaps the one "alive" isn’t so "lively" after all.

But it was just as he finished speaking.

Swish! Swish! Swish!

A shadow descends as if from nowhere from the crisscrossing giant crystal pillars, agilely leaping back and forth.

Landing atop a crystal pillar, it perches like a great insect, endless mockery spewing from its mouth toward a companion:

"Hiss hiss hiss, Living Corpse, you’re still so afraid of death, never forgetting to bring along those stinking corpses you’ve collected wherever you go."

As a fellow Black Wizard in the same School, he certainly knows the other’s background. The companion hidden among these fungal strain living corpses is a ruthless one who turned himself into a mycelium incubator.

The Black Wizard called "Living Corpse" doesn’t show weakness and immediately retorts:

"’Insectoid,’ what right do a fellow who’s completely abandoned his own body to mock me? Turning into a louse has indeed made you quite fast!"

The eldest brother does not mock the second brother.

"Head louse" is a facultative parasite that can live a free or parasitic life. The later-arriving "Insectoid" used his human body to nurture a giant "head louse."

Letting this fearsome parasite turn the tables and gradually replace his own body. In the end, turning into such an "Insectoid" with two legs and four arms, possessing a chitin exoskeleton.

Chattering...

"Ha, what a lively scene, I just arrived but already hear you quarreling. If only you all had such enthusiasm in normal times!"

In the voices that seem to resonate from their heart, a figure with eyes and mouth and a mushroom cap on his head, like a human-shaped large mushroom, slides down floppily along a crystal pillar.

Where he passes, he leaves a trail of wet, slimy residue like a snail.

Seeing the arriving person, the "Living Corpse" and "Insectoid" who both looked bizarre yet powerful immediately fell silent.

Despite this guy’s seemingly cumbersome appearance, he was actually the strongest among them.

Like the "Insectoid," he had abandoned his human body and transformed into another biological form, becoming a "Mushroom Person" entirely made of fungi.

They even believed this individual had lost the concept of self, with the personality demonstrated merely being an expression of fungal collective consciousness.

Even Black Wizards from the same School could not discern whether this person’s current Status indicated life or Death.

Just like now, having lost the human instinct of language, he could only communicate through [Spore Cloud Mind Sensing].

After this third person arrived, the Crystal Cave fell silent.

But they were not kept waiting long.

Whoosh—

A giant wolf, as tall as a person but with mottled fur, agilely landed.

The three who had arrived earlier were already accustomed to this, merely complaining:

"’Poisonous Wolf,’ why are you so slow? You’ve been stationed on Nika Island all this time, and you’re also the convener of this meeting, aren’t you?"

Despite the others at least retaining a human shape, the last-arriving "Poisonous Wolf" had already transformed into a gaunt giant wolf, surrounded by five red cysts around his neck.

On the limited space of the wolf’s head, there was another distorted human face, making him the most terrifyingly bizarre among the group.

"As the host, I merely went to greet our guest.

Oh, here it comes."

Flap flap—

A large, jet-black crow flew in from the top of the cave, flapping its wings and perching on a tall Crystal Pillar.

If Aiven were here, he would certainly find this crow somewhat familiar.

This large crow rolled its pure black eyes, staring at the four Black Wizards below, showing not the slightest awareness of being a guest:

"Caw caw, now that everyone from the Poison Plague School is here, I will announce the Lady’s second-step plan and target, please cooperate..."

Half an hour later, the crow as a messenger had quietly left.

Leaving behind the four Black Wizards of the Poison Plague School.

"This squawking crow is so annoying, I’d love to experiment and cultivate pathogens using the body of a Shaman Wizard to see the effect.

Besides, he worships an Upper Totem God who holds the powers of [Unclean][Plague][Death], the effect should far surpass that of ordinary humans."

The five Living Corpses simultaneously rolled their murky eyes and let out a strange laugh.

"Pssh! Don’t say such foolish things, we’re currently allies with Lady Crow and her Shaman Group. For a bit of petty gain, discarding the real treasure that follows would really be foolish."

The twisted human face on the Poisonous Wolf’s head grinned, shattering his companion’s fantasy with a sneer.

"’Poisonous Wolf’ is right, even though their attitude has always been less than ideal.

But as long as we can harness Lady Crow’s power to partially manifest the School’s ultimate creation, the [Plague Tree], we can perfect the corresponding knowledge, at least giving us hope of advancing to Upper-Rank Wizard.

Once we’ve completed the elevation of soul essence and gained longer lifespans, the future of the ’Poison Plague School’ will be in our hands!"

In this sinister School, the members appeared to have fairly good relations on the surface. But the fact that they addressed each other solely by Wizard’s Name suggested their internal relations might not be as harmonious as they seemed.

In truth, faced with companions who had abandoned their humanity for power, they could not afford not to be wary within the School, lest they fall victim to their so-called companions who lacked any human morality.

The "Poison Plague School" is a new Wizard School, its power Originating from the natural world’s many [pathogens].

Pathogens are a term for microorganisms and parasites that cause disease.

Most of them are microorganisms, including viruses, chlamydia, rickettsia, mycoplasma, bacteria, spirochaetes, and fungi; the parasites primarily include protozoa and helminths.

All pathogens are parasitic organisms, and their natural Hosts, of course, include animals, plants, and... humans!

These terrifying and repulsive things all serve as spellcasting materials for the Poison Plague School, giving rise to a range of fearsome Witchcraft, which in turn has created these four monstrous Black Wizards.

"The first step, spreading the [Cyst Pathogen] in the Pioneer Colony, was well-executed by ’Poisonous Wolf.’ The second step will still be led by ’Poisonous Wolf,’ with everyone else supporting. Does anyone have objections?"

The strongest among them, the Mushroom Person, unceremoniously seized the command.

The remaining three glanced at each other, having no objections, they each assuredly replied:

"Leave it to me!"

"No problem!"

Now that even their "fellow" Nimansite People had become Sacrifices in the first round of action, moral, ethical, identity, racial, and all such distinctions between human and Non-human had ceased to exist in their considerations.

Like reckless zealots, whether sacrificing others or themselves, in their eyes, there was only that [Plague Tree] as the Mysterious Source!