Chapter 291: The Prowler
In the Golden Garden, within Jie Ming’s private mage tower.
He was fully engrossed in analyzing the complex data stream flowing across the light screen before him, research data concerning the divine faith network of the Elosia plane.
At that moment, the magic network terminal placed at the corner of the experiment table emitted a notification sound, distinct from the usual communication requests.
Jie Ming’s thoughts were interrupted, his brows slightly furrowing as his gaze swept toward the terminal screen.
It wasn’t a communication request from someone, but an automated notification from the official magic network system.
The message was concise, cold, and devoid of any emotion:
[Notification: Confirmed by the Wizard Camp, Name: Anita Chack, deceased 37 days ago by standard calendar in the battlefield of Plane 86547-5568 (Folded). Her direct mentor, Second-Class Wizard Jie Ming, has all related educational rewards and subsequent obligations terminated as of the issuance of this notice.]
Jie Ming’s fingers, gripping the data tablet, paused briefly, his gaze lingering on the text for about two seconds.
Then, he gently placed the tablet back on the desk, shaking his head helplessly.His expression settled into calm indifference, as if he had merely glanced at an inconsequential weather report.
He redirected his focus to the intricate model of the divine faith network, as though nothing had happened.
He had long anticipated Anita’s fate.
An apprentice who, during her academy days, lacked resolve, squandered her energy on flashy but impractical spells, and showed neither reverence for knowledge nor deep understanding of power—such a person, thrust abruptly into the brutal battlefield of planes, had a pitifully low chance of survival.
Since overcoming his own inner turmoil years ago, Jie Ming could only muster a sigh for such outcomes.
He felt regret for the premature loss of a young life, but beyond that, there was little disturbance.
It wasn’t that he was inherently callous; rather, the time scales of formal wizards and wizard apprentices were fundamentally different.
Reflecting on it, his so-called “mentor-apprentice bond” with Anita spanned, at most, a few years.
Such a brief period was negligible in the long arc of his life, now measured in centuries or even millennia.
In the vast canvas of his memories, Anita was like a mayfly, fleeting and ephemeral, leaving only a faint, almost negligible trace.
In truth, the perceived emotional detachment of many high-tier wizards stemmed from this very reality.
For those who had not crossed the threshold into formal wizardry, an apprentice’s mere sixty years of natural lifespan was but a fleeting moment in the eyes of a formal wizard, whose life could span thousands of years or more.
A single deep research retreat might outlast several generations of apprentices, reducing them to historical dust.
Even formal wizards, if unable to continuously advance, were similarly short-lived in the eyes of high-tier wizards.
Unless they were prodigies destined to shine brilliantly and reach the same echelon, high-tier wizards rarely formed deep personal connections with those of lower tiers.
After all, such bonds were inherently unequal, laden with the sorrow of inevitable partings.
Anita’s death was like a small pebble cast into a tranquil lake, its ripples brief and faint.
Yet it did remind Jie Ming of something.
After a moment’s thought, he opened his research log and added a new task to an inconspicuous corner.
Once done, he set the matter aside and immersed himself again in the study of Elosia’s divine faith network.
Time flew like an arrow, days and months shuttling by.
Unknowingly, three hundred years had passed since his return from the conquest of the Void Plane.
Over these three centuries, Jie Ming’s life had been orderly and fulfilling.
His teaching duties, long ignored by others, had become a trivial footnote, his energy almost entirely devoted to endless research.
Finally, on this day, he completed the analysis of nearly all non-special biological samples brought back from the Void Plane.
Vast amounts of data were organized and archived, countless unique biological structures, energy utilization methods, and adaptive evolutionary strategies comprehended and integrated into his knowledge system.
An old chapter closed, and a new creation began.
At the center of the laboratory, on a specially designed experiment table, a bizarrely shaped creature was fixed in place.
Its streamlined, spindle-shaped body resembled a meticulously crafted metal projectile more than a creature of flesh and blood.
Its surface was covered in a smooth, dense layer of biological keratin, glinting with a cold metallic sheen.
Its head lacked distinct facial features, bearing only a pair of compound crystal-like eyes and a suction-cup mouth for energy intake.
Short, intricately structured fin-like appendages extended from its sides, while its tail featured muscle tissue resembling a vector nozzle.
This was the “Prowler,” a disposable air-combat unit Jie Ming had custom-designed based on Void Plane biological samples.
Its design drew primarily from the peculiar creatures he and Wizard Jack encountered while exploring spatial distortion zones, beings naturally evolved for high-speed flight.
Their most striking feature was their jaw-dropping speed!
Through Jie Ming’s deep optimization, combining Alchemy Technique and bio-modification technology with genetic enhancements, the new generation of Prowlers achieved a dramatic leap in performance.
Their growth baseline was significantly raised, ensuring that even the weakest, upon hatching, could stably develop into a first-class organism.
Their potential for advancement surpassed that of their natural counterparts, with a high probability of naturally reaching second-class status and a small chance of producing third-class individuals.
Most crucially, Jie Ming’s targeted modifications drastically enhanced their speed.
A first-class Prowler could effortlessly break the sound barrier at cruising speed, second-class individuals could routinely exceed ten times the speed of sound, and third-class individuals could unleash a terrifying thirty times the speed of sound!
In short-range engagements, their breakthrough capability was nothing short of a nightmare.
Additionally, Jie Ming equipped them with a highly efficient, controllable self-destruct system inherited from the Black Giant lineage.
In critical moments, they could accelerate to their limits, becoming the ultimate weapon, combining immense kinetic energy with an instantaneous release of internal biological energy to produce a devastating impact explosion.
In essence, these Prowlers were less combat organisms and more a swarm of “living missiles” with basic biological intelligence, capable of autonomously seeking enemies and proliferating endlessly.
Their core purpose was attrition.
To this end, Jie Ming incorporated the reproductive traits of most low-tier Void Plane organisms, enabling the Prowlers to reproduce at an astonishing rate.
Hermaphroditic by design, they could lay eggs anytime, anywhere, with an equally remarkable growth rate and biomass conversion efficiency.
With only minimal biomass and energy, they could form a sizable force in a short time.
They required no complex tactics or prolonged engagements; their sole mission was to use their unparalleled speed to breach enemy defenses.
Then, at the target point, they would unleash the most dazzling—and most lethal—light of destruction.
“Air cavalry and the like are outdated. The dominion of the Void Plane should be seized by such ‘meteors,’” Jie Ming said, gazing at the finished product on the experiment table, his eyes filled with the scrutiny and admiration of a researcher beholding a perfect creation.
He inspected his creation once more, his fingertips tapping the control panel to input parameters for a combat simulation.