2337 - Existence Record
Middle Sector 100—
“….” Jabba focused intensely on the Trent Bark Board spread across the length of the table.
Unknown how many hours, or even weeks, had passed as he observed that board in the same manner. The rate of his breathing and the slowness of the blood pumping through his body indicated that he was maintaining his body in a semi-hibernation state so that he wouldn't need food or drink…
He held an ordinary ink pen in one hand, supported his forehead with the palm of the other hand, and his eyes were wide open.
His muscle mass had returned to a reasonable level for a human after he had jumped back to the Emperor Rank through physical strength. He sat there with bulging muscles, but without a single tattoo, and his hair was still braided into thick braids, shaved on both sides.
If Robin walked in on him now, he would think he was seeing the same scene he had seen in his tent in Greenland after he had defeated the War Masters. There was only one difference… Jabba's eyes were not glowing with that other color, not even a little, as he looked at the board.
And also…
On the board, there were no strange patterns and overlapping engravings, but rather… numbers and letters?
"Tsk..." Finally, Jabba moved a little, sighing in annoyance. He then stood up and slowly walked to the side, toward an extremely wide table cluttered with a massive number of blood samples.
Jabba went to the far left, picked up a random vial, opened it, and stared into it.
Then—
Jabba's eyes were no longer still.
*Click*
They emitted no light, but they were no longer motionless.
Jabba's ring-shaped irises began to spin rapidly for several seconds as he stared at the blood. Anyone watching his eyes, which had become like a vortex in that moment, would find that within that vortex, a series of numbers and letters began to appear.
As for Jabba…
He was seeing something else.
There was something like a small window above the vial, resembling a record written in strange letters and numbers—something he himself had only come to understand after years. Letters and numbers shimmered in the same color as the blood beneath them.
Jabba, who looked slightly exhausted, began to read:
[Cosmic Identity]
Category: Living Being
Base Identity: Beast
Existential Age: 157,000 Years
Affinity: Wind, Poison
Essential Traits: Flight, Coiling, Poison Injection
Secondary Traits: Thermal Vision, Rapid Recovery
Mutations: Giant Wings, Abundant Poison Glands
Identity Stability Degree: 49%
Potential Identity: Wild Flying Serpent
"Huh?" Jabba lifted the jar slightly in surprise. "An Identity Stability Degree of 49%? How?!"
He began staring more intently at the blood, and more random letters and numbers started to appear, as his exhaustion grew.
Under each of those main headings, a massive number of mathematical equations could be seen—equations Jabba had grown accustomed to over the years.
Among them all, Jabba focused on the Identity Stability item and began scrutinizing every detail of it, wanting to reach the reason that had brought the percentage down to just 49%.
Identity stability, in these cases, usually refers to how close a creature or substance is to its origin.
Humans, for example, are the purest race among the intelligent beings he had examined. Their Identity Stability Degree ranged between 91% and 94% in the individuals he had tested. As for other mutated or transformed races, the number was often between 70% and 85%, depending on the extent of the transformations and the distance from the human race.
Even among beasts, the more a beast was mixed between several races, the lower its Identity Stability Degree fell. But he had never before encountered a stability degree below 50%... So what did it mean that the instability had become greater than the stability?
Did the part that makes it a serpent and the part that grants it wings want to separate, for instance?!
"Ugh!" Jabba kept trying until he could no longer hold the jar.
*Bam!*
He dropped it with a great shock and staggered back toward the table where he spread out the Tablet.
"Whew~" Jabba rubbed his forehead to improve blood flow, then grasped an Energy Pearl in his left hand, picked up the pen with his right, and began to write...
More numbers and letters filled the Tablet, and more complex equations, which looked like algebra problems, began to pile up.
"..." Jabba paused his hand for a moment, his brows furrowed, then glanced upward at several unfilled spots, and then at what he had just written...
Slowly, he reached his hand upward and began adding several missing equations.
"..."
Jabba slowly withdrew his hand, his face expressionless.
The equations on the Tablet were fully complete, yet he did not look pleased.
Instead, he immediately began rereading everything from the start... once, then three times, then five times.
Only then did his expression begin to shift to shock.
He had torn up more than fifteen such Tablets just this week alone!!
Quickly, Jabba leaned over the Tablet and read it for the sixth time, then shouted:
"Oh my god!!"
He grabbed his head, as if it were about to leave him and run away!!
Then, quickly, he rolled up the Tablet, placed it in his Ring, and rushed out the door.
Silence—
As soon as Jabba stepped out, he found himself in a vast hall with over ninety people, each carrying a stack of papers or standing with several others in what seemed like productive conversation…
“…” Jabba immediately showed a hesitant and embarrassed smile, feeling as though every eye was looking at him with displeasure and contempt.
These people were part of the Researchers of the Sky-Opening City in Middle Sector 100. Among them were also a number of the Truth Chosen. All of them, technically, were under his supervision, yet this was the first time he had seen most of them.
“…”
“…”
Murmur, murmur
After only a few seconds of surprise caused by the opening of the door that was never opened, everyone returned to their conversations, those walking continued on their way, and the one who had been shouting resumed his yelling.
“Phew~” Jabba let out a breath. “It seems they don’t know me, just as I don’t know them… Good.”
Then he resumed walking forward with quickened steps.
“Haha, Lord Jabba, master of the Sky-Opening City, has finally decided to come out?!”
“…?”
“………….?!!”