Chapter 236: Doing Business with Witches…

Chapter 236: Doing Business with Witches…

“Huh? An Alchemical Puppet, you’re feeling lonely too?” Zheng Yichen looked slightly surprised at the materials packed in the box. After learning Irene’s purpose, he asked with great curiosity, “How did you know I could make this?”

“Witches have their own channels of communication.”

Through Qin?

“Alright, give me two days. Should we exchange then, or…?”

“No, I can give you what you want right now. You can just send the item over later.” How to send it? Before, without a Personal Space, it would have been troublesome. But now he had one. Through the connection with his Projection, he could send things directly.

“Hey hey, I’ve got things to do too… Okay, here is fine.” Zheng Yichen scratched his head and took a book and a crystal core handed over by Irene. The notebook content in the book was about the method to crack the permissions of that Ruins. It was a foolproof guide. Any normal Spellcaster could follow the steps inside step-by-step and break through the Ruins’ permission restrictions.

As for the crystal core, it was a tool to completely conceal one’s aura. It could absorb abnormal power fluctuations within a certain range, keeping the fluctuations there always at a normal level. Even if someone probed with detection Magic, they wouldn’t find anything unusual.

Surface-level disguises, like the one Irene used, weren’t necessary for Zheng Yichen’s situation. In fact, adding them was probably overkill. Having this one item was enough.

In the Underground Base, Zheng Yichen first took out the materials that had been placed in the box from his Projection side. He snapped his fingers. Two Alchemical Puppets serving as basic assistants walked out from a hidden door in the wall and began sorting and organizing the materials in the box. Taking advantage of this time, Zheng Yichen took the crystal core to the central point of the Underground Base.

He tossed the crystal core in his hand a few times. Irene had already explained how to use it. It was very simple: just put it somewhere. As long as Magic fluctuations appeared here, it would take effect. Magic fluctuations, as the name suggested, were the ‘ripples’ produced by the flow of Elemental Power when drawn by Mana, with lingering aftereffects. In the end, it was still caused by the influence of Mana. So, just eliminating that part of the Mana that caused the Magic fluctuations would do.

Of course, using an elimination method was too wasteful, and the consumption for elimination was greater. So, Irene changed the core’s function to absorption, using the absorbed power to sustain the absorption’s consumption. It was a cycle. Any power exceeding the consumption would be stored away. The amount might not be much, but it was a form of reuse. As for other power fluctuations, it was similar: just absorb the residual power that exceeded normal levels and would cause fluctuations.

Too much? Too much would cause trouble. The stronger the Magic fluctuations, the greater the power of the Magic released. If the amount was too much, it would probably mean Zheng Yichen was planning to “dismantle the house.”

He looked up at the ceiling and tapped his nose. He hooked a finger in the air beside him. A crack opened, and he took out a crystal-like material from his Personal Space. He began shaping it using Alchemy Magic specifically for processing materials. During the process, he didn’t forget to take out one of his own notebooks. Looking at the synthesis formulas he had researched, he continuously added other extra materials to the material he was processing.

Soon, a special ‘chandelier’ was made. He clicked the crystal core in his hand into a hollowed-out spot inside the chandelier. A perfect fit!

Giving a slight nod, Zheng Yichen took out another set of materials and made the lamp part. He conveniently engraved a glowing Magic Rune Array on it. This Magic had extremely low consumption, belonging to the lowest tier of spells. As for the Mana consumption, it naturally came from the crystal core. The core had already started working the moment Zheng Yichen brought it here, as there were many places in the Underground Base emitting Magic fluctuations.

Whether it was the operation of the Necromantic Teleportation Array or the numerous lights and automatic doors everywhere, all were powered by Mana. Zheng Yichen had thought about making something like batteries, but the nature of power in the Otherworld was different. Even the motor he made for toy slot cars had problems generating electricity.

It seemed that special types of energy in the Otherworld all produced fluctuations from Elemental Power… So… Otherworldly technology. Power fluctuations were everywhere, but the fluctuations of elements were more natural, so they were subtler and harder to detect compared to Magic fluctuations. Zheng Yichen didn’t know if things like electricity or fire on Earth had similar characteristics.

Back then, he hadn’t been exposed to Mana, nor did he have perception of special powers. Even if there were, he wouldn’t have noticed… Hmm, actually, elemental fluctuations related to electricity… describing it in a more common but not entirely accurate way, it was somewhat like static electricity. However, the manifestation of thunder/lightning elements was more intense. If one could actually produce electric sparks, it wasn’t about seeing static sparks when pulling on thermal underwear at night, but a matter of whether one got hurt or not.

He flicked the beautiful chandelier and nodded. As expected of something he spent three minutes making. The quality was top-notch—the kind that wouldn’t break if dropped from over twenty meters high. Glancing at the entire corridor, Zheng Yichen shook his head. He used Mana Thread to weave a tray, placed a piece of drafting paper on it, and started drawing a Blueprint while walking. The thing he designed was similar to the chandelier he just made but hid a different detail.

This was to distinguish the one containing the crystal core from the ordinary chandeliers. Something made in three minutes had a simple Blueprint. By the time Zheng Yichen reached his destination, he had already finished it and even worked out the layout for the wiring.

His current location was a ‘production workshop’ in the Underground Base. The Alchemical Puppets in this workshop had all been specially adjusted by Zheng Yichen, designed to produce specific things in a fixed manner, similar to pre-set automated programs. Their autonomy was very poor, not comparable to normal Alchemical Puppets, but their specialization was much higher.

Considering their poor adaptability, Zheng Yichen had also made specific preparations in their Soul Intelligence Core settings. For example, if an error occurred in a certain step of a Quest that was not their own fault, they would immediately place the material that caused the error into a processing box. If the error was later eliminated, the Quest would naturally proceed normally. If errors occurred consecutively more than three times, an alarm that could notify Zheng Yichen would sound, and he would come to handle it personally.

So far, however, such errors had not occurred. After all, there were no substandard materials here, and the Quests were not variable either, so logic errors wouldn’t happen.

“Hmm… Making chandeliers, no rush. About five Alchemical Puppets should be enough.” Zheng Yichen stood at the Control Console, grabbed a control lever—like a claw machine—and retrieved five deactivated Alchemical Puppets from the storage warehouse.

That’s right, this workshop was specifically for producing Alchemical Puppets—the pre-assembled kind. One just needed to insert the Intelligence Core; it was quite automated… Sadly, the Intelligence Core of an Alchemical Puppet couldn’t be copied and pasted like a computer’s; Zheng Yichen had to do it himself.

But if he could research something similar to the Tower Spirits from stories, which were practically true Artificial Intelligence, then he could mass-produce the cores for Alchemical Puppets.

After inserting the completed Alchemical Puppet cores into the bodies of these five puppets, Zheng Yichen waved his hand, letting them get to work on their own. Although the intelligence of these puppets was single-purposed, they had ‘common sense.’ Based on the information in their cores, they knew where the needed materials were placed.

“Next is Irene’s Alchemical Avatar. Tsk tsk, so many advanced materials, really makes my eyes gleam.” Zheng Yichen rubbed his claws together. “Hoho! This dragon’s artistic soul is burning! Copy, copy, copy! Who should I copy this time?”

After calculating these sorted and categorized materials, Zheng Yichen rubbed his chin. There was no fooling Irene. If he tried to make it as small as possible to reduce size, she would tell it was shrunken at a glance. Making it too big, and these materials wouldn’t be enough… How to put it? These materials were even more advanced than the ones Qin had provided back then—not in terms of quality, but in nature.

Qin’s Alchemical Avatar was called the ‘standard type.’ After analyzing the nature of these materials, the Alchemical Avatar made from them would belong to the ‘Magic type.’ Which was superior didn’t need comparison. Why do witches all like investing so much in this?

After a while, Zheng Yichen sat in a recliner suitable for a dragon, gently swaying his tail resting on the ground, looking closely at the calculation results on the drafting paper. After strict calculation for each material, he already had a design for the size.

“OK! That’s it.” Putting down the drafting paper, Zheng Yichen redesigned a complete Blueprint. This was a good habit. For finely crafted things, even with the best memory, mistakes could happen. Having a sufficiently precise Blueprint for comparison could not only reduce the chance of errors but also improve the refinement of the workmanship. Such a good habit, of course, should be cultivated. Although Zheng Yichen sometimes found it quite bothersome.

For small items, he could ignore the Blueprint and start making directly. But for important things, a Blueprint was a must.

“Hey, Loli, do you need one too? I have a quite vivid Avatar design for you.” Noticing Loris, who had somehow come to his Laboratory to watch, Zheng Yichen grinned, showing his full set of Dragon Teeth.

“Not needed for now.” Loris glanced at the Blueprint Zheng Yichen had placed aside, a design completely composed of lines. To someone who didn’t understand, it just looked like a Human Form. To see through it? That would only make one dizzy.

“Alright then, shall I keep the design reserved for you?”

“Hmm?” Loris’s voice suddenly elongated a bit. Hearing this, Zheng Yichen looked over. Her expression was normal again, as if he had misheard.

Did she seem very dissatisfied with that statement?

“Ahem, if it’s yours, it’s definitely yours. No one can take it away.” Zheng Yichen quickly corrected himself, knocking on his own head. Really, had he been doing too much research and experiments lately, making his brain a bit rigid?

“Are you planning to make Alchemical Avatars for other witches too?” Loris thought for a moment and asked.

“Why not? They all seem quite enthusiastic about this thing… Wait, Dan Marina doesn’t seem very interested.” Zheng Yichen thought about it. Dan Marina also knew about Alchemical Avatars, but she truly didn’t seem to care.

“That’s due to her ability. Using an Alchemical Avatar would actually be inconvenient for her.” Loris said. What Zheng Yichen said wasn’t that far off. The Alchemical Avatars he made were indeed very popular among witches. For Qin, based on Zheng Yichen’s Alchemical Avatar, she avoided the influence of her own witch ability on the surroundings and could move about normally.

As for Irene, although her ability was special, it wasn’t without its distinctive traits. The Elemental Power in the place where Irene lived underwent a kind of refined change. If she didn’t use her power, this change was very slow. In such an environment, other Spellcasters training there could gain great benefits.

But once she used Magic, this change would rapidly intensify. Her ability would permeate herself, quickly turning the nearby environment into a high-Magic environment conducive to her efficient Spellcasting and suppressing others’ Spellcasting. More severe was the situation in her manor… Ordinary people there would be assimilated by that high-Magic environment. This wasn’t a case of uncontrolled ability but an innate characteristic beneficial to herself.

Refined Elemental Power was like water turned to ice. Turning it back into water would take some time. This situation would make her tracks easy to expose. So, if Irene wanted to move around without being confined to seclusion, she had to conceal her ability. Since Zheng Yichen’s Alchemical Avatar could conceal Qin’s ability emission, it should also be able to conceal Irene’s.

“Just, are you sure you want to do this?”

“Uh, let’s talk about it after I become truly powerful later.” Zheng Yichen thought it over and suppressed the idea. Although there were many benefits to gain here, especially those hard-to-find scarce materials that were easy to obtain from these long-lived witches, some traits needed strength to protect. In short, before he became powerful enough, it was better to keep this plan as is, only doing ‘business’ with his own people.

But business with his own people wasn’t profitable at all. Rip them off? If they just communicated a bit within their small circle, everything would be exposed. Even if the witches didn’t say anything then, Zheng Yichen felt their disapproving glances wouldn’t be pleasant to take. Faced with these people who had each lived for ages and were shrewd, it was better to speak directly. Not saying it now might mean it would come back to bite him at some point later.

“By the way, where’s Lily? The thing I asked Qin to do should have results around these two days.”

“Talk about it during dinner.”

Zheng Yichen looked at the materials placed on the workbench beside him. Once he started working, dinner would probably be delayed until who knows when. “Then let’s talk about it during dinner…”

The thing he asked Qin to do was to get an admission notice for a school, one without loopholes and through proper channels. For Lily’s sake, the fewer loopholes, the better. Ignoring specific requirements, Qin could solve this immediately. But with those requirements, it took a bit more time. However, when discussing this, Qin had given an approximate timeframe. Calculating it, it should be around these two days.