Chapter 64: Seize the Time
But as time passed, the surface of this thing seemed to slowly begin to wriggle.
Marcus watched everything in the containment room through the remote camera. He didn't know if the experiment had succeeded.
But the enchanted candle had already been used, so whether it succeeded or failed, that was all that could be done.
At this time, the research facility was secure. Marcus first notified everyone to enter the facility. He decontaminated first before following behind everyone.
Marcus went to the second containment room first and put the pile of wax-like substance on the ground into the deep space.
Then he sealed the chemical salts that killed the snail, intending to store them in the isolation room later for the researchers to analyze.
Then he continued to check the situation in the last, third containment room.
Marcus did not choose to enter the third containment room and forbade anyone to enter.
In the third containment room, two items were placed close to the iron door.
The first item was the body of a deceased criminal, his left eye was pried open, pointing at the right hole.
The second item was a four-foot-tall Venus flytrap with oval leaves and trap-like structures at the end of its branches.
One of its leaves was painted with a lifelike eye, pressed tightly against the left hole in the door.
Did the plant have consciousness? One could say yes, and another no; Marcus didn't know.
He only knew that the Crossroads didn't allow animal consciousness to be brought out of the story world.
As for plants, he had indeed brought ginseng out of the story world—five roots in total, three of which he sold.
One of them, recently harvested, he cut off and gave some to his mother; the other, the best-looking one, remained in his private space.
He wasn't particularly short of money in reality, and he was too lazy to sell any more. Compared to his exploration of the supernatural, he had long lost interest in pursuing real-world wealth; enough was sufficient.
However, Marcus was certain that the relatively fresh ginseng, recently harvested, still had a chance of survival; with scientific methods of transplantation, it had a high probability of survival.
Therefore, Marcus was certain that ordinary plants could be brought out of the story world.
However, it's unclear whether Ray, after his mental strength increased tenfold, actually possessed the body of the corpse or the Venus flytrap.
The Body Snatcher's ability, while described as possession, is actually a kind of exchange mechanism.
Marcus simply doesn't know if Ray, after a tenfold increase in mental strength, can exchange with a corpse out of thin air, thus directly rendering Tomie's body unconscious, or possess the Venus flytrap, replacing the body with a plant consciousness.
Currently, Marcus doesn't know whether the wax formed from Tomie's body contains the consciousness of a plant or Ray, or simply no consciousness at all.
He chose the Venus flytrap because it has the ability to trap and digest insects, making its behavior somewhat animal-like.
He originally considered orchids, considered highly responsive plants, or algae, which grow and reproduce extremely quickly, but ultimately abandoned those choices, opting instead for the Venus flytrap because it actively traps prey.
Now, it's just a matter of waiting for the wax to revive.
Looking at the wax in the deep space, Marcus had already cleaned the deep space and stopped putting anything from Tomie's world into it.
The fear is that some debris or creatures, already contaminated with Tomie's cells, might enter the deep space and be directly reinfected with the wax, giving rise to Tomie's humanoid consciousness.
Just like bacteria, Tomie's current task is to completely sterilize the wax and await further changes.
Marcus used a remote-controlled robotic arm to remotely control the process, placing the Venus flytrap and the corpse into two separate isolation chambers.
He also placed a coded cage in each chamber, containing three lab mice in each.
Because he wasn't sure if Ray would still have the ability to possess from the Venus flytrap or the corpse, he dared not touch them; being possessed by Ray would be the worst possible outcome.
Each cage had a card that read:
"The mice and plant will be destroyed in three days. The cage code is 514. If Mr. Body Snatcher enters the mice, please open the cage to avoid destruction."
Ray's weakness is that after possessing a body, he doesn't know the memories of the possessed body, so simple codes can verify whether it is indeed Ray.
Marcus didn't intend to stay in the research facility waiting for the results; the strange rules within the Crossroads made him feel a sense of urgency.
If he just wanted to coast through life, he could enter the story world once a month, or even less often, staying far away from the plot and only collecting the basic 500 survival points.
But if he did that, those three story worlds would only yield 1500 survival points.
No, he hadn't even seen the second story world, and he couldn't guarantee he'd stay far from the plot.
The Crossroads teleportation was random, within a 500-mile radius; who could guarantee they'd be lucky enough to stay away from the core of the plot every time?
What if he entered a horror scenario and his initial identity was that of a victim?
There were also people in the Crossroads who entered the story world many times a month, each time just hiding to collect 500 survival points, but there were always times when they were unlucky and would be teleported directly into the core of the plot, then die from supernatural causes.
Being at the mercy of fate was something Marcus had already experienced once. He didn't want to experience it a second time.
So instead of cowering and leaving survival to luck, it's better to fight within the limited scope of the plot he understands, at least giving him a measure of control.
The Crossroads Space isn't something anyone can easily exploit; otherwise, such methods would have spread far and wide. After all, even the most naive person who has survived several plot worlds has at least a brain to think.
Therefore, he must continue to act, seizing every second to strengthen himself in this plot world where he at least has some degree of control.
If he waits passively and Ray fails, it means a huge waste of time.
While pondering this, Marcus dealt with the Venus flytraps before finally checking Detective Moretti's phone. He discovered that the department had sent him a message three hours earlier:
Ms. Stevens, the teacher suspected of ordering students to dismember Tomie, escaped from Riverside State Hospital last night and is currently near Memorial Hospital.
Upon seeing this message, Marcus recalled an episode from the "Memorial Hospital" arc, where the escaped Stevens appeared.
So, there's also a recently transformed Tomie inside Memorial Hospital.
Marcus checked the address of Memorial Hospital on the map, confirmed that everything at the research facility was arranged, and then headed towards Memorial Hospital.
This time, he used Detective Moretti's identity again; the detective's credentials were more suitable for investigation and questioning.
(End of Chapter)
[Power Stone Goal: 500 = +2 Chapters]
[Review Goal: 10 = +1 Chapter]
If you liked it, feel free to leave a review.
20+ chapters ahead on P2treon DarkFoxx