Chapter 404: Time of Death
Thus, he was the most familiar with what kind of songs were stored on this spaceship.
The dance track echoing within the spaceship now was clearly not Zane's style, nor did it exist on the ship's playlist.
Moreover, Zane didn't sense any energy fluctuations linking to the ship or its systems.
In other words, Jasper had conjured this song out of thin air.
This didn't mean the song was Jasper's original work.
Rather, it suggested that Jasper likely possessed an ability akin to Zane's eighth-dimensional axiom, [Divine Descent of the Realm], which could alter reality.
This realization astonished Zane.
Due to the intangible nature of Jasper's soul form, even Zane couldn't discern his true dimensional level.
Now, Zane began to take this seemingly foolish soul in front of him seriously.
At that moment, Roma suddenly slapped her golden magic diary shut and tossed it toward Jasper.
With a swoosh, Jasper transformed into a vortex and was sucked into the pages of the book.
Zane and the others watched as Jasper's translucent soul form became trapped on the spread pages, struggling desperately yet unable to escape.
Rocket gestured to Groot, pointing silently at Roma, who stood with her back to them, her white robes fluttering, warning him not to provoke her.
For once, Groot obediently nodded, then stealthily extended a slender vine and slammed the golden book shut.
The group seemed to faintly hear another wail from Jasper.
After some time, Zane finally persuaded the now-calmed Roma to release Jasper from the book.
By then, Roma had started to suspect that the troublesome soul was likely connected to the former elder lord Fulcrum of the bald-headed Watchers that resided in her home.
Reluctantly, at Zane's request, she released the disheveled Jasper.
Zane looked at the slumped Jasper on the spaceship floor with a mocking smile before pointing at him.
A sphere of light sank into Jasper's milky-white soul form.
In an instant, Jasper grew a tangible body, his face once again brimming with vitality.
His entire demeanor became lively and animated.
Zane knew that to explore Earth in this universe and search for more clues, a Jasper with a physical body would be far more useful.
However, just as Jasper's newly formed body revived, it disappeared again in an instant, returning him to his entirely white soul state.
Zane tried repeatedly to recreate Jasper's body, but each time, it would inexplicably dissipate within moments.
Hearing the commotion, Roma paused her writing, setting aside her grievances, and cast a dazzling multicolored magical halo toward Jasper's soul.
In no time, the halo condensed into a dark ring around Jasper's chest.
"This indicates that this soul before us is incomplete," Roma explained.
"It's highly likely that a portion of his soul remains within his original body. And that body is currently being occupied by an unknown energy entity."
"That's why the body you're shaping for him based on his soul waves disintegrates almost immediately. An incomplete soul cannot sustain a body formed from condensed energy."
"Therefore, we must locate Jasper's original body and retrieve the remaining fragments of his soul to complete it."
Zane listened to Roma's analysis and, finding the critical issue, remarked:
"After all this time, his body is still intact?"
"So, I hypothesize that a lifeform of the same dimensional level as Jasper in his lifetime has occupied his body after death."
"Moreover, such a lifeform is likely parasitic in nature, lacking strong or complete independent consciousness."
Roma looked at Zane and the others, paused briefly, and continued:
"Actually, there's another possibility—this Jasper guy may not have been dead for very long."
"As we can't gauge the passage of time while in a wormhole, different universes might also have varying time dimensions."
Understanding Roma's implication, Zane grabbed the digital screen from Lorna's hands and handed it to Jasper's soul.
"You should still remember when you died, right?"
Jasper took the screen, glanced at it, and suddenly froze, his eyes widening in shock.
"Oh! My goddess of Death! I've only been dead for a day and not even 21 hours?"
He then looked at Zane and the others, gradually recalling and speaking slowly:
"I remember it was morning. I had just woken up at home."
"I'd had a very long dream—whether it was good or bad, I couldn't quite tell."
"All I remember is, after waking up, I sat dazed on my bed, feeling as if a solid iron block was lodged in my chest. Everything in the world seemed unbearably dull."
"I really wanted to return to see my beautiful, kind, and sultry goddess of Deat*..."
"Then suddenly, I felt my nose itch and blew it hard."
"What came out was a huge blob of black snot, spreading out larger than my bed..."
"Ugh…" Everyone cringed and backed away in disgust.
Rocket couldn't help but quip, "Seriously, dude! You might've just set the world record for grossest event ever!"
Jasper shot Rocket a cold glance with his translucent eyes before continuing:
"I thought it was incredible, too. As I was about to get off the bed to 'investigate up close'..."
"That black liquid suddenly floated into the air and wrapped itself around me completely."
"After that, I became what you see now, and the rest is a complete blank."
As he finished, Jasper gave Zane a sly look, as if silently saying, 'Hey, buddy, I just kept one of your secrets from your crew again.'
To his disappointment, Zane wasn't even looking at him. Instead, Zane was locking eyes with Roma, the one Jasper pined for.
After sharing a meaningful glance with Roma, Zane walked over to Jasper, grabbed the digital screen from his hands, and said,
"Looks like you don't have much else to share."
"Now, just tell us where you used to live. Maybe we'll find more clues there."
Skynet took the screen and listened as Jasper described, "147 Chandrel Street, Galiton."
As soon as Jasper spoke, Skynet pinpointed the location on a satellite map and zoomed in on a high-resolution image of an ancient castle.
"Is this it?" Skynet asked, showing Jasper the screen.
"Yes," Jasper confirmed.
In an instant, the massive spaceship transformed into a stream of light, absorbed into Zane's Divine Realm.
Zane then took Lorna's hand, and with a flash, they disappeared from outer space.
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