In the core laboratory of the Purgatory Sulfur Plane, Jeming looked at the third piece of military intelligence displayed on the Magic Network Terminal, his brow slightly furrowed.
His gaze did not first go to the task summary or plane data but habitually slid to the bottom of the battle damage statistics section.
This was also a habit he had developed.
Before truly understanding the enemy, first looking at how much one’s own side would have to pay often allows the fastest determination of the "nature" of the battle.
Then, his movents stopped.
Current number of casualties: 0
Zero.
A glaring zero.
Jeming stared at that number for three seconds and suddenly felt the temples throbbing.
Having experienced plane wars of various high difficulties, he was almost numb to the battlefield of "high mortality rate".
The wars in the Wizard World were never child’s play; it’s not surprising to have multiple zeros following casualty numbers.
But "zero deaths"?
This makes his scalp tingle more than a ninety percent casualty rate.
"Trouble..." Jeming muttered to himself, fingers unconsciously tapping on the obsidian tabletop.
According to his previous experiences on the "Justice" Plane and hearing more cases, any plane in wizard wars where "zero deaths" or "extrely low casualties" occurred had only one common point:
The enemy simply couldn’t be dealt with by conventional ans.
Wizards either "were unable to fight", or "unable to kill", or "even if they finish fighting, it was useless".
The worst situation is similar to the Justice Plane, where you don’t even have the chance to fight with them...
Jeming took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down.
Zero casualties usually indicate two possibilities:
The first, the allied power overwhelmingly crushes, the enemy is too weak to even cause casualties.
But in such a case, the military wouldn’t mobilize the "Elite Combat Unit" for support—dispatching so regular legions would suffice, so why waste resources?
Then only the second possibility remains.
"The opposite... is that kind of ’chanism monster’." Jeming rubbed his brow, recalling so unpleasant mories from before.
He adjusted his breathing and then shifted his gaze back to the beginning of the information and started reading carefully.
Plane Na: Temporary Code [Reincarnation Plane]
Plane Level: Large Scale
Civilization Type: High-level intelligent insect species
Main Opponent: Reaper Race (temporary na)
Below attached is a holographic image.
It was a creature about three ters tall, completely covered in dark purple carapace.
The head is sharp, triangular, compound eyes occupy two-thirds of the face, and the mouthpiece is four serrated jaws that can open or close, overall contour indeed resembles a mantis.
But the torso part more closely resembles the flattened oval shape of a cockroach, six sturdy limbs, and two pairs of semi-transparent wing mbranes folded on the back.
Next to the image, detailed physiological anatomy data scrolls:
Basic individual combat capability: Stable Level One Extraordinary.
Societal structure: Highly centralized hive mind, individuals possess independent intelligence but obey collective will.
Technology level: Synchronic developnt of biological technology and basic energy utilization, has mastered cross-plane detection technology.
Unique talent: Carapace possesses adaptive elental resistance, quickly generating corresponding resistance layer upon attack.
Jeming quickly skimd over, feeling a bit strange.
From the paper data, this isn’t anything sensational monster.
Level One Extraordinary individual combat capability is not considerable in front of Official Wizards.
He continues to look down at the combat strength comparison:
"Enemy High-end Combat Strength: Five Eighth Level Creatures, over one hundred Seventh Level Creatures, countless Sixth Level and below, total force estimated to surpass trillions."
"Our side has deployed: One Eighth Level Grand Mage (’Starcaster’ Artarius), three Seventh Level Wizards, approximately 1.2 million Sixth Level and below Official Wizards, three billion auxiliary cannon fodder legions."
Very standard configuration.
An Eighth Level Grand Mage leading the team, enough to suppress all enemy high-end combat strength.
Three Seventh Level Wizards are responsible for clearing the mid-level ranks, over one million Official Wizards against the extraordinary insect swarms.
Though there is a large nurical disparity, from a combat strength perspective, the wizard side holds the advantage.
According to a conventional script, this should be a textbook-style plane conquest battle: an Eighth Level Wizard strikes precisely clearing enemy leaders, conveniently guards against the enemy triggering plane origin self-destruction.
Seventh Level Wizards tear lines, Official Wizard Legions command cannon fodder legions steadily advance, within three to five years the civilization’s main body can be dismantled, the remainder is the prolonged clearing and resource extraction.
But since the military has sent a request for reinforcents...
Jeming’s finger slid to the most critical paragraph.
"Battlefield Anomaly Records (Excerpt)"
"First Contact Battle: Lord Artarius personally engaged, killing five Eighth Level Reaper Race leaders within three seconds. The enemy’s command system collapsed, and our forces advanced comprehensively. Four hours and twelve minutes later, the main defensive line of the enemy civilization shattered, with remaining resistance forces dwindling to less than three percent."
"Anomaly Occurrence Mont: When the enemy civilization was on the verge of extinction (individuals remaining below one-thousandth of the total population), plane-level space-ti fluctuations were detected. In the next instant, all combatants (except Lord Artarius) reverted to the initial invasion ti point. mory checks showed that no one retained mory of that tiline except Eighth Level entities."
"Supplentary Confirmation: All deceased wizards were resurrected, consud materials restored to their original state, and enemy casualties also revived. Preliminary determination points to a ’civilization-level ti reversal’ phenonon."
"Second to Seventeenth Contact Battle: Multiple tactics were attempted, including slow attrition, swift occupation of core areas after decapitation strikes, and inducing internal division. It was confird that the trigger for ti reversal was when the Reaper Race civilization’s main body was on the brink of extinction (individuals remaining below one-thousandth). After each reversal, enemy tactics noticeably evolved, now exhibiting targeted anti-wizard strategies."
"Current Hypothesis: This ti reversal ability is the Reaper Race civilization’s ’near-death protection chanism,’ possibly randomly awakening among the remaining individuals after condition fulfillnt. No cost of ability usage was found (or the cost was also reset by the ti reversal)."
"Core Issue: The ability’s effect range is limited to this plane’s interior. Observers outside the plane are not affected, but everything internal (including matter, energy, mory) is reset. Lord Artarius retains mory due to the Eighth Level ’Law Solidification’ characteristic, but cannot prevent the phenonon’s occurrence."
"Reinforcent Demand: Wizards with experience in space-ti chanism research or equipped with ’cross-tiline interference’ abilities are needed to assist in breaking the ti loop of this civilization or capturing individuals possessing the ti loop ability."
Jeming closed the light screen, leaning back into his chair.
The only sounds left in the laboratory were the low hum of the Elental Pool and the light taps of his fingers unconsciously hitting the tabletop.
"Ti reversal... civilization-level protection chanism..." he muttered to himself, as related records from the Great Dao Book Pavilion flashed rapidly through his mind.
The Cultivation Immortality Realm also had similar ans—certain ancient powers leaving behind "sect restart great arrays" which would forcibly reverse ti when a lineage faced extinction, usually at the cost of a world’s Origin or the sacrifice of billions of lives.
But those were all "one-ti" with significant costs.
For the Reaper Race, who seed to be able to loop infinitely without apparent cost...
"Either the cost is hidden to the extent even an Eighth Level Wizard can’t detect it, or..." Jeming’s eyes narrowed slightly, "it’s not ’their’ ability at all."
He considered another possibility.
So ultra-grade ancient relic, a slumbering spatial-temporal concept entity, or even the plane’s self-born "self-protection will"—treating the Reaper Race civilization as "immune cells," once detecting "pathogens" (wizard invasions), initiating a reset protocol.
If it’s the latter, then the problem becos even more troubleso.
What you’re facing isn’t a civilization, but the underlying rules of a plane.
But considering the current situation, the likelihood of the latter is high.
Because the influence range of this ti reversal is too limited, confined to just one plane.
Although this plane itself is considered a large plane, it’s insignificant compared to the entire Chaotic Void.
"And the most troubleso part is..." Jeming couldn’t help but pinch the bridge of his nose, "Wizards don’t want destruction; they want conquest and plunder."
If the goal was rely to annihilate the Reaper Race, there are many ways.
Even a Seventh Level Wizard, taking action from outside the plane, could destroy the entire plane.
But doing so is aningless.
The Wizard Civilization wars across the Endless Plane for resources, knowledge, and new law understanding.
A plane capable of infinite ti reversal is itself a massive treasure trove.
If its chanism can be cracked, and even utilized...
The value far surpasses that of a hundred ordinary planes.
"That’s why the military is so cautious, why zero casualties occur," Jeming rubbed his temples, "There are no casualties because, before breaking this ability, any damage, whether to the enemy or us, is aningless."
He reopened the light screen, calling up detailed information on the Reincarnation Plane, beginning to analyze line by line.
Looking at the seventeen-cycle records, the Reaper Race’s evolution speed is astonishingly fast.
In the first cycle, they didn’t even understand basic wizardry structures, easily crushed by Artarius.
But by the seventeenth cycle, they had developed "anti-magic field" technology capable of temporarily disrupting a Seventh Level Wizard’s casting and had specialized resistance variants against Elental Magic.
"They’re learning," Jeming stared at the data, "Each cycle retains so ’experience,’ possibly transmitted via so kind of pheromone, or perhaps the individual with the awakened ti ability is guiding in secret."
"In that case, the longer it drags on, the harder the enemy becos to handle."
"But the key to breaking the ti loop ironically requires enough ’experintal samples’..."
A classic paradox.
Jeming closed his eyes, letting his Divine Sense delve into his consciousness to inventory his various tools.
Qi Cultivation Technique, Body Refining Technique, Talisman Witchcraft, Black Giant...
But facing ti reversal...
The only potentially effective might be his Inner Grotto Heaven, which is another plane and likely won’t be affected.
Yet...
"It’s not very useful," Jeming sighed.
After thinking it over, he realized that what he could do now was actually quite limited.
Break the ti loop?
That’s a riddle Eighth Level Grand Mage Artarius hasn’t solved after dozens of loops. As a Fourth Level Wizard, even with the knowledge from the Great Dao Book Pavilion, there’s little chance of breakthrough ideas in the short term.
Change tactics?
The military has certainly tried all conventional plans; otherwise, they wouldn’t issue such a "special talent recruitnt" directive.
So the remaining option, is only one.
"Without certainty whether the Inner Grotto Heaven is effective, enhance my combat power as much as possible. No matter what, strengthening combat power is never a mistake."
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