Chapter 235: Paying to Tag Along?

Chapter 235: Paying to Tag Along?

“Is this Irene’s work? Where did you find it?” Loris asked, watching Zheng Yichen, who was once again panting like a dog, haul the ruins out of his Personal Space and into the underground cavern excavated by the Alchemical Puppets.

She knew without even entering. She sensed the faint, unique aura fluctuations of a Witch emanating from the ruins. They were weak due to their age, but as a Witch, her sensitivity to the presence of her kind was sharp.

“I followed a lucky young man to it. I thought it could be useful, so I brought it directly,” he replied.

“…Reckless,” Loris said, staring at Zheng Yichen for a moment. Even she would have to expend considerable effort to pull such a large set of ruins into a Personal Space. Zheng Yichen? Without the support of the Magic Weapon Summoning Book, he would have drained himself dry from opening the Personal Space portal too wide.

“I had the means, okay?” Zheng Yichen insisted stubbornly. “And such a good thing would be a waste not to bring back.”

“You could ask Irene to make a better one.”

“That would definitely require an exchange. It’s better to just take this one she discarded.” Zheng Yichen shook his head. Asking Irene indeed could yield something better, but it wasn’t necessary right now. For operating the underground base, these ruins were sufficient. “Come on, Loli, you have a good eye. Help me clean this up. Strip away all the parts that aren’t part of the main structure. This thing is too bulky.”

Without proper handling, the ruins simply took up too much space.

Loris nodded without a word and entered the ruins. Zheng Yichen waited outside for about half an hour. Then, the entire structure underwent drastic changes. Most of its areas turned to powder under the influence of some force. The powder filled the newly opened underground space, prompting Zheng Yichen to quickly flip through his book to find a wind Magic spell to gather all the dust together.

Otherwise, taking a few breaths in such an environment would probably be no different from breathing smog. Loris’s cleanup was swift. She directly reduced the ruins’ volume by eighty percent. The remaining parts were all magically suspended by her. After observing the skeleton-like remains of the ruins, stripped down to their framework by the decomposition, Zheng Yichen stared for a while. No matter how he looked at it, it resembled a 3D-style Magic Rune Array. However, he didn’t know exactly which type it was.

This remaining less-than-twenty-percent portion was the true core of the ruins. Looking at its structure, Zheng Yichen immediately began drafting some design plans in his mind, preparing to fill in the missing sections. “What are those parts connecting to the ground?”

He looked at the six sections at the edge of the ruins’ core that pierced into the ground, muttering to himself in slight confusion. He glanced at Loris. In that instant, it seemed Zheng Yichen caught a fleeting glimpse of her rolling her eyes. “I don’t know everything. Study it yourself.”

“Ahem, I understand,” Zheng Yichen coughed lightly. He postponed the research for later and returned to his Laboratory. Scratching his head, he took a sip of a specially brewed Magic Potion drink that helped with concentration. Looking at the schematic of the ruins’ core displayed by a recording spell nearby, Zheng Yichen thought for a moment, then took out a piece of scrap paper and began designing. He wasn’t aiming for a complete design yet, but to figure out how to utilize those empty spaces.

As for the remaining usable space, it could be filled in gradually later. Right, he also needed to reserve energy transmission routes in the design. These routes couldn’t be too deep. They needed sufficient safety while also allowing for easy and quick inspection and replacement. Otherwise, if a problem arose someday and the faulty spot couldn’t be found, it would be a real headache…

Hmm, wait. They could actually place some detection Alchemy Tools along the reserved transmission routes specifically to monitor the flow of energy.

As he designed, the stack of scrap paper beside Zheng Yichen gradually grew. Lily, who had come to his Laboratory, watched his focused expression and silently retreated. Now he had left yet another impression on her: besides being a bit scatterbrained, he was also a research-obsessed dragon! He had shown some restraint during their earlier travels, but now that they were settled, situations like this from Zheng Yichen had become all too common!

She went to a Training Ground in the underground base. Looking at the few active Ghost Maids inside, her expression firm, she walked over. These Ghost Maids were of the Warrior type. Ever since discovering they were quite skilled fighters, Lily would seek them out during her free time to ask for advice. Even though they couldn’t communicate directly with spoken language, Zheng Yichen had made her a writing board for them.

It was like those magnetic drawing boards for children on Earth, incredibly convenient to use. After finishing, a pull of the magnetic rod at the bottom would erase the writing. Lily found this novelty fascinating and played with it for a long time.

“Wahahaha, at this rate, I might not get fat, will I?” After finishing most of the design, Zheng Yichen looked at the thick stack of scrap paper beside him. He stretched lazily, twisting his head to glance at his streamlined Dragon Body. It certainly didn’t look like it was getting fat. Hmm… should he make a specific schedule for his work hours too?

After a moment’s thought, Zheng Yichen directly dismissed the idea. Even if he made a schedule, he probably couldn’t stick to it himself, especially once he entered a working state. How would he know how long his focus would last?

As for having someone keep an eye on him, Zheng Yichen could only say that having inspiration interrupted felt utterly maddening.

“Hmm~ I’ll tidy up a bit, then have the Alchemical Puppets start work.” Zheng Yichen nodded. The two high-quality Alchemical Puppet cores he obtained from Loris’s Secluded Refuge, after some nurturing, had developed quite high intelligence now. Having them act as foremen, Zheng Yichen only needed to provide the Blueprint.

Clapping his hands, Zheng Yichen found the Ghost Maid responsible for moving corpses and stated his request. Without a word, the Ghost Maid returned to a room housing a Necromantic Teleportation Array. Soon, she was back. They were dead bodies anyway; the Necromantic Teleportation Array wouldn’t affect them much. Tainted by Dark Power?

It didn’t matter. What Zheng Yichen wanted to understand was the body’s structure; he wasn’t planning to use these bodies for experiments. Looking at the still-fresh corpse, Zheng Yichen scratched his head in slight distress. There were many preservation Magics, so that wasn’t strange. But such rapid delivery… did the Ghost Maids in the Forest of Illusions just wander around specifically looking for corpses in their spare time?

Even some unlucky individuals the Ghost Maids might have helped leave the forest could potentially be left to die. “Ahem, regarding corpses, while I need them, it’s not in large quantities. Please don’t change your usual routines at the castle because of this, like completely abandoning people in need. Just carry on as usual.”

His words made the Ghost Maid give him a slightly odd look, then she nodded with a faint smile. Although they were Wraiths now, they were once Human too, possessing an innate favorable bias towards Humans. As for the saying that Undead creatures loathe the living, that applies to those whose minds are influenced by the instincts of Necromantic Creatures.

Their minds were perfectly normal, just like when they were alive.

“Time to do something unpleasant again.” Zheng Yichen rubbed his claws together, snapped his fingers, and separated a Projection which picked up a scalpel to begin a thorough study. His main body continuously recorded the research process, striving for complete understanding with the least amount of dissection.

“Hehe, he’s still so engrossed. Don’t you find it boring?” In the surface of a water basin, the figure of Dan Marina, dressed in Adventurer gear, appeared. She grinned, looking at Loris. “Why not come find me? I’ve encountered something quite interesting here…”

“Less chatter. Get to the point,” Loris said calmly. Boring? She might have felt that way centuries ago. Now, most of the time, her heart was like still water. She could sit in one place staring at a wall all day without saying a word and not feel bored. Watching Zheng Yichen obsessively research those novel things was quite interesting to her. After all, Zheng Yichen’s research differed greatly from this world’s traditional methods.

Much of it broke conventional norms, and the things he developed were strikingly different. Watching these wasn’t dull at all.

“Your life is so uninteresting. Well, be careful over there recently. The Undying Witch has suddenly become much more restrained, rarely showing herself. It seems the Sanctuary Church has suppressed her. In a while, once the Undying Witch matter is settled, the Sanctuary Church will have time to look for the Little Dragon.”

“Are they that bored?” Loris slightly frowned.

“You tell me. Besides causing trouble for us Witches, how could they not be bored? Don’t underestimate the Little Dragon’s influence. The Sanctuary Church knows his characteristics. Even though they haven’t completely confirmed his ability affects all Witches’ powers, the fact that it affects some is enough for them to take it seriously.”

“The Little Dragon’s Workshop… oh, the Underground Base is hidden, but as it grows, something is bound to leak. Have him go ask Irene for advice. She’s exceptionally good at hiding things anyway. With her help, as long as information about the Underground Base isn’t actively leaked, there should be no issues. I’m busy here, so that’s it for now.”

Dan Marina shook her head. Ripples spread across the water’s surface, and her figure gradually faded. Just before disappearing completely, Loris saw several Adventurers appear beside her…

That woman was mixing with ordinary people again. Not that Loris was worried; Dan Marina often did this. Joining that group of Adventurers surely meant she had her eye on something about them. One could only say those people were unlucky. Once they came into contact with Dan Marina, their future destinies would inevitably be affected. A Witch’s gift, especially from the Fate Witch, always had two sides.

And with control over these two sides, it was no longer a matter of probability, but rather — a matter of mood!

The Undying Witch had quieted down too. This was no surprise. Once, even with many Witches united, they failed to wipe out the Sanctuary Church. Instead, the Church seized the chance to counterattack, plunging the Witches into a crisis of trust from which they still hadn’t recovered. No matter how strong the Undying Witch’s immortality was, she was only a temporary nuisance. If she truly had the power to overthrow the Sanctuary Church… she would have led those Witches from the chaotic faction to cause trouble long ago.

The Sanctuary Church might seem ‘ordinary’ now, but Loris knew very well how many powerful old-timers were hidden there. If truly needed, those old fellows could all mobilize!

And Irene… Since Dan Marina suggested having Zheng Yichen seek out Irene for enhancing concealment, rather than doing it herself, clearly it was more suitable for him to handle it.

“Huh? Have me go find Irene? Did that fortune-teller predict something?” During a meal, Zheng Yichen listened to Loris’s words with some surprise, muttering to himself. He really had been planning to visit Irene recently. The initial use of the ruins went smoothly, but Zheng Yichen encountered some significant problems.

Although Irene had discarded this thing, most of its permissions were still in her hands. Zheng Yichen couldn’t modify anything on the foundation of the ruins, which was very troublesome. As for his own ability, faced with such a physical machine-like object, it was completely useless!

It was like a hacker. With a keyboard and monitor, they could roam freely in the network. But asking them to do the same by directly handling the motherboard with their hands was just deliberately making things difficult. Zheng Yichen’s ability, while special, had its limits.

Recently, Zheng Yichen planned to visit Irene once to see if he could get the highest authority over these ruins from her. Compared to something she discarded, obtaining what he wanted shouldn’t be too troublesome.

“Alright, I’ll go over right now.”

Zheng Yichen left a Projection at Irene’s place. He had learned about this from Irene before; it seemed only he could do this. Projections didn’t just consume Mental Energy; they also consumed the Soul. Maintaining a long-term idle Projection in a place was like installing a faucet on one’s Soul. This faucet was always running, and Soul recovery was very, very slow.

Moreover, it was quite important for Professionals like Mages. If the body was the main container affecting Mana’s performance, the Soul was the carrier affecting Mental Energy’s performance. Witches generally wouldn’t do this, let alone normal people. They protected their Souls diligently; why would they consume it for no reason? Zheng Yichen’s Projections, however, didn’t consume Soul, only requiring Mental Energy. That’s why he could go about it like this.

“Uh? Where is this?” Activating the idle Projection left at Irene’s place, Zheng Yichen blinked, looking around in confusion, then at his own position—a… decorative stand?

“Do you need something?” The moment Zheng Yichen ‘arrived,’ the space before him twisted slightly for an instant, and Irene appeared in front of him.

“Ahem, two things.”

“Speak,” Irene nodded. A box landed by her feet. “If it’s not troublesome, this is the exchange for this time. If it’s troublesome, the price goes up.”

“Huh? Preparing to pay to tag along?” Zheng Yichen blinked, utterly astonished.

Wishful thinking— Irene didn’t speak, but her eyes conveyed a substantial meaning.