Chapter 258: Avatar

Chapter 258: Avatar

“Uh… Can you tell me what kind of idea you had when you chose this appearance?” Dan Marina propped her chin on her hand as she examined the Alchemical Avatar that had just been unpacked before her. Even though she was right there, Zheng Yichen had still insisted on packing it into a box and delivering it to her, letting her unpack it herself…

In his words, doing so gave the receiver a certain level of satisfaction, indicating that what she received was a fresh, untouched item. Although Zheng Yichen was right—after unpacking it herself, she did feel her mood improve by a tiny bit—the moment she saw the image of this Alchemical Avatar, that slightly elevated good mood instantly transformed into a state intense enough to unleash a Hadouken.

That face looked far too familiar. About a few hundred years ago, when she was only in her teens, it pretty much looked like that. While there were some slight deviations, the difference was just a matter of artistic style, which didn’t affect the overall beauty. In fact, paired with its hairstyle, it gave off a new kind of aura. To sum it up, it was quite good. However, this black hair and black eyes appearance was truly rare in this world.

Black hair and black eyes weren’t nonexistent in this world. Beings with these color traits usually belonged to races with some kind of negative-type power , like races born with a strong affinity for dark elemental power. Those people not only had black hair and eyes, but their skin was black too. If they stood by the roadside on a dark night with little light, passersby would have a hard time spotting them.

“This dragon likes it!” Zheng Yichen picked his nose, feeling quite satisfied with Dan Marina’s reaction, which showed a bit of surprise. Of course, he was also very satisfied with the Alchemical Avatar he had personally spent a great deal of time designing. “This is the most special Alchemical Avatar I’ve ever made. If it weren’t meant for you to use, I even planned to do some additional experiments, to see if I could create a true Alchemical life.”

“Hmm? What an interesting idea.” Dan Marina smiled, quickly moving past that slight discomfort in her heart. She then gave extra attention to this Alchemical Avatar. Never mind the appearance; once she got used to it, it seemed quite pleasing to the eye. Since Zheng Yichen chose this hair and eye color, he definitely had some idea in mind, especially since she keenly noticed a trace of nostalgia that Zheng Yichen inadvertently revealed.

It wasn’t nostalgia for the Alchemical Avatar’s appearance, but for the hair and eye colors. As for other aspects, she had no complaints. Zheng Yichen’s design was very thorough; when she looked at that blueprint before, she already knew it. The blueprint had detailed parameters marked, even the exact specifications for a single fingernail.

With such high-precision design, how could there be any abnormalities in the body parts? Every part was quite perfect.

She gently tapped the skin of this Alchemical Avatar with her finger. It was smooth, soft, and resilient, exactly like the skin a young girl should have, perhaps even with a better feel. Yet, who would have thought that this smooth, resilient skin contained defensive and regenerative powers far surpassing even plate armor?

“Idea? More like a fact, okay.” Zheng Yichen rolled his eyes. “Although this Alchemical Avatar isn’t a natural product and can’t gain intelligence like that magical meat stone—fusing with it to become an elemental-like being—do you think all those materials fused into her are fake? If left alone, she would probably undergo some strange changes in about fifty or sixty years.”

“Fifty or sixty years… not a short time. I’ll make use of her during this period, then.” Dan Marina smiled, able to understand Zheng Yichen’s current mindset. It was simply the deep anticipation a researcher feels toward unknown, uncontrollable situations. She wasn’t a research-obsessed dragon like Zheng Yichen, but she had met many people.

She had even seen those crazier than Zheng Yichen. Once, some researcher, having nothing better to do, removed his own arm and forcibly transplanted a Magical Beast’s arm onto himself. Although he faced significant rejection later, requiring magic to suppress it—which caused considerable trouble—he eventually had to reattach his original arm.

That one was still somewhat rational, having kept his original arm. If he had thrown it away back then…

“Take it, take it… Hmm, though it might be a bit unkind, I should still mention: if she really undergoes certain changes in the future, bring her to me once.”

“Heh, don’t worry. If that really happens, I’ll get along with her just fine too.” Dan Marina smiled. Even with the possibility Zheng Yichen mentioned, once used by a Witch, the sheer massive Spiritual Power unique to a Witch would be enough to permanently suppress such a development.

Of course, considering this was an Alchemical Avatar personally crafted by Zheng Yichen, maybe there really would be some extra change. Dan Marina didn’t really mind such a possibility. An Alchemical Avatar was ultimately just that—an external object. No Witch would treat it as their real body to use.

Even though Qin and others were constantly using Alchemical Avatars now, that was due to their own circumstances. If there were a way to completely negate the environmental impact caused by Witches, the usefulness of Alchemical Avatars would sharply decline. Why use a fake when you have your own body?

Dan Marina patted the head of this Alchemical Avatar. The avatar’s eyes, which originally held no spark of life, suddenly became lively in the next moment. Dan Marina and the Alchemical Avatar looked at each other, both revealing a knowing smile. Seeing this, Zheng Yichen slightly curled his lip. Smiling at yourself… really having nothing better to do…

“What’s her name?”

“Lena, I guess. After all, the main appearance is based on you.” Zheng Yichen said after a moment’s thought.

“So unoriginal!”

“Damn! Look at this dragon’s bloodshot eyes—dare you say I wasn’t sincere?” Zheng Yichen rolled his eyes and pointed at his bright dragon eyes, the corners thick with blood vessels. This was the glorious result of over twenty hours of hard work. “Here, this is for you. I’m going to sleep.”

Zheng Yichen tossed a small note he had prepared to Dan Marina and then walked toward his room with a long yawn. Freed from the state of high concentration, after delivering the goods, waves of deep exhaustion washed over him uncontrollably. Creating an Alchemical Avatar not only required intense focus but also precise manipulation of materials and careful control of Mana usage, all of which took an extra toll on him. His Spiritual Power had been worn down significantly during this time, adding to his fatigue.

She quickly glanced at the contents of the note. It was a simple Instruction Manual, containing some of Zheng Yichen’s research conclusions regarding the Evil God Essence and the Flesh Stone. After reading it, Dan Marina would pretty much fully understand how to truly utilize this Alchemical Avatar’s capabilities.

Though doing this might seem somewhat redundant, since he took on the task, seeing it through to the end was necessary. Telling Dan Marina these things could also help her avoid some detours, possibly reducing the adaptation time from at least ten minutes to about three.

“Tsk tsk, sleeping so deeply.” Dan Marina poked Zheng Yichen’s head, wanting to tickle his nostrils, but was met with a stern glare from Loris, making her withdraw her hand.

“Take your things and leave quickly.”

“You’re kicking me out already? I feel like ever since you met Little Dragon, your temper has gotten much fiercer. Fine, I’m leaving.” Seeing Loris look like she might take action, Dan Marina gave an embarrassed smile and immediately headed out with the Alchemical Avatar following her. For a Witch who had lived so long, multitasking wasn’t particularly difficult.

Looking at the deeply sleeping Zheng Yichen, Loris gently waved her hand. The room’s lights instantly went out, plunging it into darkness. A small figure leaned against his claw.

Kaja City, Zheng Yichen’s house.

Irene, who had practically made this place her temporary residence, immediately checked when she felt disturbances in some Magic Barriers she had set up outside. Seeing it was Dan Marina who had arrived, she withdrew her attention… Wait, who was that young girl following her? Her daughter?

No. Irene frowned slightly. A Witch’s descendant? Was that possible? She had never heard of such a thing. But that young girl looked far too similar to her. As for it being something else? She couldn’t detect anything…

Putting down the book in her hands, Irene took small steps out of her room and positioned herself in the living room, blocking the way. Dan Marina bumped into her as soon as she entered. “Who is she?”

Irene got straight to the point.

This reaction made Dan Marina chuckle softly. The question sounded just like the loud interrogation a primary partner would make upon discovering their lover bringing an unknown woman home.

“You guess!”

“…” Irene frowned slightly. An Alchemical Avatar? But she used some Detection Magic to check, and the young girl before her seemed no different from a living person. Moreover, she herself was currently using an Alchemical Avatar, so she had sufficient understanding of such avatars.

If another Witch was also using a similar Alchemical Avatar, she would notice immediately. As for different types? The Alchemical Avatars Zheng Yichen made, due to his power, were difficult to distinguish at this level, reaching a point of being indistinguishable from the real thing. Others inferior to this would be even easier to detect!

What made Irene suspicious were some of this young girl’s characteristics: black hair, black eyes… but fair skin. This didn’t match races typically possessing such hair and eye colors. If you’re dark, you should be thoroughly dark all over. The only other place she had seen this combination was on Zheng Yichen— not his body, but his Soul.

Seeing Dan Marina’s subtle smile, Irene slightly curled her lip. So it was an Alchemical Avatar after all? Otherwise, this woman wouldn’t be showing such an expression. “Lend it to me for research for a couple of days.”

“Don’t even think about it. I told Little Dragon I would treasure her!” Dan Marina refused immediately. Let Irene study it for two days? With her fanatical mindset once she gets into a research state, without anyone watching, she might really disassemble this Alchemical Avatar. This avatar was different from others; if taken apart, the problems would be significant. At least during this current ‘break-in period,’ disassembling it would truly ruin her.

“She…?”

Irene’s eye twitched slightly. She didn’t hide her actions anymore, directly casting a high-penetration Detection Magic. This magic lacked subtlety, but it excelled at obtaining more detailed information. She stared intently at this Alchemical Avatar. Under the influence of this Detection Magic, the avatar’s body actually produced some abnormal reactions, just like an ordinary person suddenly exposed to cold air—even while asleep, they would react passively.

The results of the detection filled Irene’s heart with astonishment. This was indeed an Alchemical Avatar, correct? Its interior contained many obvious Alchemical structures, even though she had never seen such structures before, her keen eye could recognize them. However, some parts of those structures surprisingly showed slight gaps…

Logically, although these gaps were small, they should be enough to affect this Alchemical Avatar’s operation. Yet it was functioning perfectly fine now. Irene continued observing without a word, her brow deeply furrowed. Dan Marina didn’t interrupt her. If she didn’t satisfy this woman’s curiosity to some degree, she would keep thinking about this Alchemical Avatar.

“What… exactly did you two create?” Subsequent careful observation allowed Irene to discover additional information. The gaps in the Alchemical structures weren’t actually gaps; the missing parts had ‘transformed’ into another form. Although they still retained the original structure, their nature was already different. This difference in nature caused her earlier detection to have some errors.

The speed of this nature change was slow; the complete transformation would take over half a month. But once the transformation was complete, this Alchemical Avatar could drop the ‘Alchemical’ prefix!

“Ancient records say that gods would occasionally send Avatars to the mortal world, interacting with humans and producing descendants, giving birth to special beings possessing partial divinity…”

“Speak properly!” Irene interrupted Dan Marina. Gods? Gods had disappeared who-knows-how-long ago. By the time she became a Witch, authentic records about gods were already nearly extinct. Nowadays, talk about gods mostly referred to those weed-like Evil Gods or things only appearing in certain novels.

“Little Dragon really created a unique being!”

Irene couldn’t help but roll her eyes. Even if it was created, wasn’t it partly because of you? Without you providing that Flesh Stone, could he have made such a special being? “What exactly are you planning to do?”

“What if I said it’s for archaeological research—would you believe me?” Dan Marina blinked innocently and patted the Avatar standing beside her.

“No!”

“Then don’t believe it for now.” Dan Marina looked at the Avatar beside her. “I’m even getting a bit impatient now, wanting to quickly see her true form after the transformation is complete.”

“Before that, let me help you keep it safe.”

“Go away, go away. I still need to use it.” Like shooing away a child, she brushed aside Irene’s hand that was trying to touch the Alchemical Avatar. Who knew if, upon contact, she might leave something on it? If Irene really tried such a thing, Dan Marina would find it troublesome.