func (p *parser) parseNumeric(b []byte) int64 {
	// Check for base-256 (binary) format first.
	// If the first bit is set, then all following bits constitute a two's
	// complement encoded number in big-endian byte order.
	if len(b) > 0 && b[0]&0x80 != 0 {
		// Handling negative numbers relies on the following identity:
		//	-a-1 == ^a
		//
		// If the number is negative, we use an inversion mask to invert the

			// Prefer local disks
			prefer[index] = disk.Hostname() == ""
		}

		written, err := erasure.Decode(ctx, writer, readers, partOffset, partLength, partSize, prefer)
		// Note: we should not be defer'ing the following closeBitrotReaders() call as
		// we are inside a for loop i.e if we use defer, we would accumulate a lot of open files by the time
		// we return from this function.
		closeBitrotReaders(readers)
		if err != nil {

	// Use the maximum parity (N/2), used when saving server configuration files
	MaxParity bool

	// Provides a per object encryption function, allowing metadata encryption.
	EncryptFn objectMetaEncryptFn

	// SkipDecommissioned set to 'true' if the call requires skipping the pool being decommissioned.
	// mainly set for certain WRITE operations.