University of Twilight, 3rd basement floor, xenomorph laboratory.

Todd, who had regained his human form, stood in front of a huge iron cage covered with black cloth, staring ahead in a daze, and was speechless for a long time.

Behind him, a group of scholars in lab coats, and a group of heavily armed knights stared at each other, and none of them dared to step forward to disturb the gods' musings.

In the huge laboratory, it was as silent as a cemetery, except for the occasional low roar or two from the iron cage.

Finally, a voice came from the gate, causing everyone to breathe a long sigh of relief.

"Your Majesty, President of the Xenomorph Society, Lady Rachel has arrived. ”

Todd withdrew his gaze from the cage and turned his head, a familiar figure slowly becoming clear in his eyes.

Dressed in an emerald green robe, Feng Yun Ting's figure is swaying.

"Long time no see. ”

Facing this woman he knew all too well, Todd actually found that his voice was a little hoarse.

Rachel walked up to Todd, and she smiled and reached out to wipe the dust off Todd's shoulder, with a gentle and natural movement.

"Long time no see. ”

Hearing Richel's words, Todd himself laughed.

Richer turned her head to look at the huge iron cage not far away, and asked, "You found a sample of the Black Plague?"

Todd waved his hand to raise the black cloth and said to Rachel, "Do you remember? I ordered the Knights of the North Island to sail southwest in search of the Black Plague. ”

"Well, I remember. ”

Later, the expedition disappeared into the vast expanse without a word of it. Todd watched the black cloth pull it up little by little, and said in a deep voice, "Not long ago, the Valkyries found the ship and managed to bring it back. ”

The black cloth was pulled up completely, revealing the contents of the huge iron cage.

A colossal humanoid creature covered in black parasites, its limbs imprisoned by four stout chains.

The parasitic corpse immediately turned from quiet to fury as soon as it sensed the light.

His body slowly grew larger, his limbs swelled as if they were inflated, and the huge soles of his feet stepped on the ground, leaving shocking cracks that caused the entire laboratory to tremble slightly.

Rachel looked at the parasitic corpse, frowned and said slowly, "I seem to know him......"

Todd clenched his fists and said word by word: "The deputy head of the North Island Knights - little Jerry." At the beginning, I personally ordered him to go to sea to investigate. ”

Rachel glanced at Todd's expression and whispered, "It's not your fault. ”

Todd shook his head slightly, and then said, "I asked you to come here because I wanted you to help me analyze some things." ”

"Well, you name it. ”

"As you can see, little Jerry fell victim to the Black Plague. His body is now nearly dead, but his soul is nowhere to be found. ”

Rachel asked, "The soul is missing, can you go into more detail?"

"I tried to contact his soul and try to get Deirdre to recall his soul, but not only did he not return to the soul space, he didn't wander somewhere, as if he had disappeared. ”

Rachel furrowed her brow and said, "Just like Karin?"

"That's right, like Karin......"

Rachel pondered for a moment, then said, "There are several possibilities. ”

"1. A creature infected by the black plague will completely dissipate his soul. ”

"Second, his soul will be withdrawn from his body, imprisoned somewhere, unable to be summoned by abilities such as conjuring spirits or soul space. ”

Todd responded: "Both of these assumptions have certain problems. ”

"Why?"

"I'll give you an example, there was a Holy Cult soldier named Bourville, who was infected by the black plague during the battle in Taylor City, but after death, his soul returned to the soul space without incident. ”

Rachel rubbed her flesh brow with a headache: "If that's the case, then the Black Plague won't destroy the soul, but it will extract and imprison the souls of some of the victims. The key question is, why are some people's souls imprisoned while others' souls are free?"

Todd said: "I asked Mary to make a statistic in the soul space, and if anyone who completes the soul link with me, if they are infected by the black plague, about three-quarters of their souls will return to the soul space in the end. ”

Rachel asked, "Do these returning souls have anything in common, such as race, age, abilities, constitution, etc.?"

Todd sighed: "Unfortunately, there is no commonality, more like a random result." ”

Rachel looked a little frustrated: "So, isn't there no clue?"

Todd paused for a moment and said, "It's not that there are no clues. ”

"Huh?"

"Some of the souls infected by the Black Plague told me what had happened to them after returning to the soul space. They could feel themselves being sucked into a dark and cold space by a powerful force. However, the constant struggle and strong will allowed them to get out of that space little by little, and finally escaped. ”

Rachel chewed on Todd's words and asked, "Do they have any other descriptions of that space?"

"They say it's shaped like a shell, but it doesn't feel any warmth or vitality. ”

"...... husk?"

Todd looked at little Jerry, who had completely lost his human characteristics in the cage, and said in a heavy tone: "Reichell, do you remember Boyle?"

Richer nodded.

Todd said, "Originally, Deirdre used the psychic ability to channel Boyle's soul into my body, which lived in my body for quite some time. ”

Rachel somewhat understood Todd's thoughts: "Are you saying that if there is a person who has an ability that can achieve the effect of both the spirit medium and the soul space, he can imprison the souls of others in the body?"

Todd nodded: "That's right, this person is the real culprit behind the Black Plague." ”

Rachel said incredulously, "But, Todd, have you thought about it?" What a huge burden it is to imprison thousands of souls in the body, and I am afraid that there are not many such aliens in the whole world......"

At this point, Rachel suddenly stopped.

Todd said softly: "There are actually such people. ”

Rachel held her chin with her fingers and said slowly, "Yes, there are indeed two people in the Council of Elders. ”

Todd said coldly, "One is the mother goddess Eleanor, and the other is the sage Sutherland. ”