774 If Only I Could…
The sandstorm approached them, steady in motion, like a predator guaranteed of its prey being unable to resist it. A chain coiled around the diced pieces of the Zinger Aristocrat and emanated a subtle fluctuation.
A second later, a mineral clump was extracted out of the diced pieces and retracted into the sandstorm.
Zaihaya observed the sandstorm's actions, keeping her cool during the death of one of her brethren. Seeing as how the mineral lump was gathered, she thought, 'The moment those chains touch any being, whether animate or inanimate, they're able to extract some sort of mineral. I think it's whatever mineral it can condense into a Spirit Weapon.'
Zaihaya had been informed about the Influenced Region of Armoury by Inala. However, that was information from Sumatra Chronicles. With the recent string of information that had surfaced, they realised that they couldn't blindly follow whatever was written in it.
And hence, they intended to verify the facts themselves, which was why the expedition team had been dispatched. Moreover, after the verification was concluded, they could summon the Royal Zinger to the scene.
It was impossible for Inala to scour throughout Sumatra Continent, especially considering his busy schedule. And hence, the Quip Clan took charge of that. Even the task of finding Resha had been given to them.
And as they expanded the Quip Clan's trade network, one of the scouts spotted Resha, which was how Inala was able to meet up with the latter and plan for the ambush upon Brangara.
As the sandstorm closed in enough, it shot forth hundreds of Spirit Weapons in various shapes and sizes, targeting the Cloud Ship.
'Its range is 18 kilometres.' Zaihaya calculated, sighing as she understood why, 'It seems it's able to harness the powers of every single Spirit Weapon it has created. And since it has a Rutham Spirit Weapon, it can exhibit the maximum possible range capable for a Brimgan Royal.'
"But, why is the effect displayed at the 10-Life Stage?" She frowned, unable to understand, "How is it achieving the Life Stage's stacking effect?"
A Brimgan Royal achieved an insane range of 18 kilometres only at the 10-Life Stage. At the peak of the Body Stage, their Spirit Weapon range was only 1.8 kilometres. Technically, this should have been the Influenced Region of Armoury's maximum range.
But strangely, it exhibited the effects of the 10-Life Stage.
'It is as indicated, but what is the reason?' Sumatra Chronicles already stated this. After all, the Third Major Disaster was when the Mammoth Clan lost more than half its Empyrean Tusks. Moreover, the damage they sustained from this prevented them from recovering until the Fourth Major Disaster, where they had been annihilated.
The First Major Disaster had Zingers as the primary enemy of the Mammoth Clan. The Second Major Disaster had the Free Humans of the Brimgan Empire as the Mammoth Clan's primary enemy.
However, there was no external enemy during the Third Major Disaster. Rather, it was the Influenced Region of Armoury that hunted every single existence that stepped foot into the Kalahatra Desert.
When it targeted the Empyrean Tusks and succeeded, it gained millions of Spirit Weapons made using the tusks of Empyrean Tusks. These Spirit Weapons had the power of Internal Inertial Gravity in them, making them the heaviest hitters of all its Spirit Weapons.
Even though Resha managed to obtain the Major Treasure of Weapon, the Influenced Region of Armoury continued to exist and roam across the Kalahatra Desert. It had sustained some damage during the Third Major Disaster, but the extent of damage was something it could recover in a matter of decades.
'Every Major Treasure behaves differently.' Zaihaya thought as she recalled Inala's words regarding them. 'Cure hadn't built its Influenced Region, so there's nothing to say about it. Attribute wanted anyone who could reach it to fuse with it. That's why it displayed no restrictions in that manner and simply created a race. But Weapon is different.'
She thought, watching the Spirit Weapons fly towards the Cloud Ship, 'The pillar of light unleashed by the Weapon calls forth all the existences in the surrounding regions. However, it has no intention to be claimed by anyone.'
'Rather, it's just a trap.' Her expression morphed into worry as she stared at the sandstorm. 'The Influenced Region of Armoury has an insatiable appetite, intending to collect every single Spirit Weapon that can possibly exist on Sumatra Continent. So, it uses the Major Treasure of Weapon as bait to lure in more prey.'
"Leader!" Many Zinger Aristocrats shouted in alarm as the Spirit Weapons flew towards the Cloud Ship, about to make contact.
"On it," Zaihaya broke out of her thoughts and grunted, having gathered sufficient Prana in her hands already.
Primary Nature—Inhibition Bomb!
Secondary Nature—Accel Hurl!
Tertiary Nature—Prana Stitch!
The Inhibition Bomb she hurled out spread across the Cloud Ship, broken down into ribbons that were stitched onto the hull of the Cloud Ship. And then, the Spirit Weapons slammed into the hull, losing connection right as they penetrated through the hull.
Inhibition Bomb suppressed all abilities unleashed using Prana by rapidly absorbing the Prana itself. in terms of principle, it was different from the Millinger's Secondary Nature of Inhibition Dome.
And since the stream of Prana actuating psychokinesis upon the Spirit Weapons was absorbed by the Inhibition Bomb, they were unable to move anymore, stuck within the Biome Bombs forming the hull of the Cloud Ship.
17:44
Strings of Prana entered the hull and fished out the captured Spirit Weapons, bringing them into the Biome Bombs where the Quip Zingers moved about.
"It's a great Spirit Weapon," Zaihaya muttered as she grabbed the Spirit Weapon brought by a Quip Zinger. It was a spearhead with a whip-like shaft that extended to a length of twenty metres. The spearhead had the properties of heat, and vibration, and spun rapidly to drill into the target.
The whip had the properties of adhesiveness, making the Spirit Weapon perfect for capture. It was a Silver Grade Spirit Weapon and extremely versatile. The length of the whip-like shaft was twenty metres because that's where it had been cut off by the Zinger Aristocrats after it had penetrated the hull.
The remainder of the whip-like shaft spanned kilometres until it reached the Influenced Region of Armoury.
"Have you recorded its function?" Zaihaya asked as she stared at two Zinger Aristocrats who had been manning Quip Zingers above the Cloud Ship to survey their surroundings.
"Yes," One of the Zinger Aristocrats shrieked, engraving a Piezo Slip on a flat plate, "We have a clear vision of how this Spirit Weapon can be used."
"Let's get as much data as we possibly can." Zaihaya nodded, "That will increase its value."
A good majority of the Spirit Weapons in the Influenced Region of Armoury didn't exist anywhere else on Sumatra Continent.
After all, to have a Spirit Weapon, a Free Human must practice a cultivation technique first, one capable of building a Human Avatar out of a suitable mineral. So, without a cultivation technique, it was impossible to create a Spirit Weapon.
Therefore, even though billions of minerals exist on Sumatra Continent, only a small portion of them have been turned into Spirit Weapons. The entire field had immense potential for exploration.
This was where the Influenced Region of Armoury came in. The Major Treasure of Weapon was capable of turning any mineral into a Spirit Weapon. These Spirit Weapons were then stored and used by the Armoury.
It seemed every Pranic Beast had some kind of undiscovered mineral in its body that could be turned into a Spirit Weapon. Even Zinger Aristocrats seemed to have one, just that even the Quip Clan had no idea about it.
Now, if the Quip Clan manages to gather a bunch of such Spirit Weapons, it could sell them to Free Human Kingdoms and Empires for a premium.
After all, the Spirit Weapons were being used by the Armoury. Their functions were clearly being displayed, which the Quip Clan recorded in full swing.
This meant that without having to experiment upon a mineral, they could obtain information about how the Spirit Weapon created using the respective mineral would turn out. This allowed them to judge whether or not to invest time, manpower, and resources into the respective cultivation technique.
Currently, Free Humans had to traverse the darkness upon stumbling across a mineral. They have to judge whether or not it would be worth it. And then, they'll have to spend decades trying to come up with a cultivation technique that can build a Human Avatar using this mineral.
There needs to be Free Humans willing to try it. And then, once they enter the Body Stage and gain a Primary Nature, only then could it be determined if the mineral was worth the investment or not.
A good majority of the Free Humans remained stuck at the Spirit Stage for all their lives, requiring strenuous resources, time, effort, and talent to enter the Body Stage. Thereby, experimentation with a single mineral took generations to complete before a verdict was arrived at.
It took faith, desperation, and a certain level of insanity to gamble on such an endeavour, which happened rarely. Hence, the existing cultivation techniques among Free Humans were products of generations worth of effort.
It was all because they had no idea if the resulting Spirit Weapon was worth the effort.
However, the Influenced Region of Armoury brought about many benefits, the primary one being able to display the effects of a Spirit Weapon. This way, the Quip Clan could simply give the Free Human Kingdom a list of Spirit Weapons possible in their region's mineral composition and their effects.
The Free Human Kingdom could then discuss and select a suitable Spirit Weapon. Since they already knew the result, and how the respective Spirit Weapon could be wielded, they only needed to reverse deduce a suitable cultivation technique.
Since they were guaranteed the Spirit Weapon's effectiveness, they could allot suitable manpower, time, and resources to the endeavour and create a suitable cultivation technique. This saved tremendous time and effort that they would have otherwise spent on experimentation with countless minerals.
As a result, Free Human Kingdoms would happily buy data about such Spirit Weapons, including the Spirit Weapons themselves from the Quip Clan for a premium, further tying them closer to the services of the Quip Clan.
The Quip Clan basically became the lifeline that allowed the Free Human Kingdom to harness their ambition of becoming an Empire one day. This steadily aligned them towards the Quip Clan's vested interests.
"Gather them all!" Zaihaya said, watching as another batch of Spirit Weapons were caught within the Cloud Ship's hull, their connection cut off from the Influenced Region of Armoury. She had been dispatched here precisely because her power countered Spirit Weapons, making her the perfect individual to gather all the Spirit Weapons that Armoury spews out.
This created the Quip Clan a solid business opportunity, as they could simply release external entities into the Kalahatra Desert and watch the Influenced Region of Armoury turn them into Spirit Weapons. Following that, they only needed to wait until the Armoury spews the respective Spirit Weapon at them, allowing Zaihaya to collect it.
"Do we have enough power?" Zaihaya stared at the orb in her possession, drawing Prana from it to heal the damage sustained by the hull, nodding upon seeing the consumption, 'Okay, the expenditure is well within prediction.'
She then nodded, watching a Zinger Aristocrat use her string of Prana like the blades of a helicopter to take flight, noticing Inala appear above the ship a few seconds later. No, he had only decided to show himself to the rest after a few seconds.
"My Deity!" Her heart raced as she stared at the calm individual flying overhead in awe, enamoured with devotion.
"Ah!" Inala didn't seem to have heard Zaihaya's proclamation. Instead, his gaze fell on the sandstorm longingly as he observed the vast expanse of the Kalahatra Desert, noticing vertical swirls of sand created by the unique draft of wind generated only at this location.
"If only I could spend some more time admiring this…" He muttered as his eyes turned moist. He then smiled wryly upon noticing Zaihaya continue to call him, sighing as he wiped his eyes and entered the ship, his expression a poker face as he asked, "Do you need another orb?"