Chapter 273: Coating

Chapter 273: Coating

The idea of ultimately killing Dan Marina was abandoned after she brought out a bottle of Water of Life. Loris knew very well how valuable this thing was, let alone such a large bottle. A tiny sip could allow an ordinary person to live at least two hundred years longer. If this entire bottle was consumed, ignoring physical limits and the soul’s natural end, living for several millennia wouldn’t be a problem.

However… Loris thought for a moment. It seemed that aside from those hidden old beings of certain races, the longest-lived existence she knew of was only a little over a thousand years. As for the history of the Sanctuary Church, it was only a bit longer than the early days when Witches first appeared. In any case, it certainly wasn’t longer than the lifespan this bottle of Water of Life could bestow. Back then, the Sanctuary Church was still a small, unknown church.

From some gradually disappearing records, many churches that worshipped gods were still active back in the day. That period was the best time to eliminate the Sanctuary Church. Yet, the Sanctuary Church was like the protagonist of that era, everything going smoothly for them. While other churches gradually disappeared as their gods vanished, the Sanctuary Church alone developed at a speed as if on a highway.

Eventually, it became power ful enough to stand against the alliance of Witches.

“Anyway, my curiosity isn’t actually that strong. I promise I won’t pry into this matter until the Little Dragon makes a statement, okay?” Dan Marina said with a giggle. The killing intent Loris had shown earlier gave her a slight scare. Just what big thing was Zheng Yichen planning that made Loris react that way?

“That’s not enough. You also need my permission.”

“Okay, okay, I’ll listen to you.”

“How disgusting.” Loris coldly drove Dan Marina out. This was Zheng Yichen’s room, and she didn’t welcome others here.

What was Zheng Yichen doing at this time? Dan Marina walked with light steps. Without needing any guidance from a Ghost Maid or the increasingly numerous Alchemical Puppets active in the area, she easily found Zheng Yichen. At this moment, Zheng Yichen was still carefully and intently working on a piece of the divided crystal.

Seeing his serious expression, Dan Marina pulled over a soft chair and picked up a notebook nearby… Hmm, Zheng Yichen’s new book? Coating?

She glanced at Zheng Yichen’s cautious demeanor. She wondered what new thing he was planning to create this time. Just using the residue left by Irene’s Supermagic Crystal as a base for a new item… Thinking about it, it was probably quite special.

Even if the final quality wasn’t as good as the Supermagic Crystal, even if it was slightly or half a grade lower, in the ordinary human world, it would definitely be a Divine Artifact. As for the Supermagic Crystal, don’t be fooled by Irene just releasing a shield that one time. If that thing really exploded… Dan Marina thought for a moment. It seemed she had accidentally come across a notebook Zheng Yichen was organizing earlier. It mentioned things like Nuclear Bombs and hydrogen bombs, along with some experimental notes.

The feasibility of Mana fission… The feasibility of causing fusion changes after compressing Mana to a certain degree under specific conditions… Hmm, it was just a theory. But Dan Marina read the simple introduction about hydrogen bombs in the notebook… She had never seen such a thing, but from the description, Irene’s Supermagic Crystal exploding would likely create a similar scene. Not to mention the intense Magical Radiation released after the explosion. That high-concentration Magical Radiation would cause even Spellcasters caught within it to lose control of their Mana and die.

As for ordinary Humans, they could instantly be homogenized into ‘Mana Crystals’ by the high-concentration Supermagic Environment.

However, judging from some traces in the notebook, Zheng Yichen had set it aside long ago. Probably because the conditions for implementation weren’t sufficient. If the conditions were met, wouldn’t he give it a try?

Irene would definitely develop a strong interest in the contents of that notebook. However, up to now, Zheng Yichen hadn’t shown any intention of bringing it out, even after learning about Irene’s abilities. He probably didn’t want such knowledge to spread. Naturally, Dan Marina wouldn’t idly bring it up to Irene. After all, according to the description in the notebook, that thing was an absolutely forbidden weapon. Once related knowledge spread,

many countries would be unable to resist delving deeper into its research. After all, whoever mastered such a weapon could easily determine the course of a war, even without fighting, simply by brandishing it.

“Phew~ Tsk, take back my previous words. It can’t be solved in less than half a year!” Zheng Yichen squinted his eyes at the processed Supermagic Crystal piece in his hand. The coating process was very time-consuming. The isolation film Zheng Yichen was applying wasn’t ordinary material either. A small bottle of coating material—who would have thought the raw materials used to make it had thousands of times its volume and weight?

After extracting what he needed, there was only this small bottle, about the size of a Human palm. This little bottle instantly drained Zheng Yichen’s small treasury, making him plan to develop a new Magic Potion before Irene finished her research, to make money quickly!

This small bottle of coating material couldn’t even process one-tenth of the Supermagic Crystal.

“You’re stopping so early today?” Seeing Zheng Yichen finish work ‘early,’ Dan Marina asked with slight disbelief. She thought he would work tirelessly late into the night.

“My mental state has some issues. I don’t plan to keep pushing myself for long periods anymore.” Zheng Yichen shook his head. Becoming overly absorbed in research could indeed make him temporarily ignore mental problems, but that was suppression, not elimination. They would eventually erupt when the time came. Rather than that, why not slowly release them in daily life? It was better to be a bit sentimental now and then than to have everything pour out at once.

“Can I see that thing?” Dan Marina asked, glancing at the bottle of coating material beside Zheng Yichen’s hand. She sensed an unusual aura from it.

“…Don’t take it away!” Zheng Yichen hesitated for a moment, then tightened the container bottle of the coating material and handed it to Dan Marina. Dan Marina gently shook the bottle. The contents were a colorless liquid that seemed somewhat viscous when shaken. Looking carefully, the colorless liquid seemed to refract multicolored light, changing constantly, like a kaleidoscope.

“There’s the aura of Evil God Essence, and also that ‘Flesh Stone’?”

“Ah~ Both are in there.” Zheng Yichen nodded. Previously, Zheng Yichen had many insurmountable aspects in his Power Core design. However, after acquiring some special materials, those difficult parts became much easier. As for adding materials like the Flesh Stone, Zheng Yichen purely took a liking to its activation effects. In any case, Zheng Yichen had already tested that thing; it could be compatible with almost everything.

Even mixing it with a bottle of Magic Potion was possible. So, adding a little wouldn’t hurt. What if it brought about some wonderful effect? After all, the Power Core Zheng Yichen was making wasn’t just a tool. To describe it in Xianxia or fantasy terms, it was an ‘inner core.’ Therefore, even without special materials like the Flesh Stone, Zheng Yichen would have to research this aspect in the future.

Now that he had this thing, it was a good chance to try it out early. However, the Supermagic Crystal remnant wasn’t ordinary stone. He didn’t know how long it would take for the Flesh Stone to completely influence this crystal. Well, it didn’t matter. Anyway, the Flesh Stone, once brushed with his own Mana, couldn’t rebel.

“What exactly did you add to it?” Dan Marina raised her eyebrows slightly. She could still sense traces of the Evil God Essence and Flesh Stone earlier, but after shaking it for a while, a strange, intertwined aura drifted out. It felt very odd. Dan Marina felt an urge not to touch this thing.

She even thought this thing could entirely be used as some kind of deadly poison.

“I added quite a few things… As for what they are, it’s a trade secret. No disclosure.”

“What if I trade it with this?”

“…” Zheng Yichen stared blankly as Dan Marina pulled out that bottle of Water of Life. He recognized it immediately as the same small cup he had drank from before. Now she was taking out an entire bottle!

“Deal!” Zheng Yichen said without hesitation. Moral integrity? What use was that?

Dan Marina directly tossed the bottle in her hand to Zheng Yichen. Catching it, he looked at her with some doubt. “I mean, you didn’t get this by paying some price, did you? If so, I don’t want it.”

“Do you think I’m that kind of person?”

“…I didn’t think so before, but now I’m a bit suspicious.” Zheng Yichen shook his Dragon head, placed the bottle containing the Water of Life on the table, and took out a formula. “Apart from some extra ingredients needed for the Supermagic Crystal, this is the main formula for the coating material. The resulting effect should be similar to what you have in your hand. Please don’t misuse it.”

It was called coating material, but this stuff was actually very dangerous. As Dan Marina guessed, it could even be used as a poison. Although it wasn’t a fatal poison, accidentally coming into contact with even a small amount could completely seal and cripple the foundation of a prodigious Talent. That was the consequence of minor contact. If someone took a mouthful, it wouldn’t be a possibility but a guaranteed occurrence.

The coating material was intended for use on the Supermagic Crystal. Before that thing was damaged, it was completely on the same level as a Fate-Killer. Naturally, the coating material had to match it to a certain degree!

“What a dangerous thing.” Dan Marina glanced at the coating material formula and the additional precautions Zheng Yichen noted. If people didn’t see Zheng Yichen’s correct usage, many would mistake this for a poison formula—one for a rare and potent poison!

“Of course. When I experimented with this stuff before, I even felt a bit ashamed.” Zheng Yichen said. Back when he used some Magical Beasts for testing, it wasn’t even the complete version. Even so, those Magical Beasts, though not dead, lost their Magic Talent and were reduced to ordinary animals.

Strangely, their Magic foundations still existed. But under the influence of that incomplete coating material, they were completely insulated and sealed off from any connection with the outside world. And he couldn’t peel off this insulating force. This stuff, when applied to objects, was a coating. But when applied to living beings, it was directly absorbed. How do you remove it?

As for the version he was using now, because he added Evil God Essence and Flesh Stone, once it coated an object, the possibility of removing it was infinitely close to zero. Over time, due to the additional effects of the Flesh Stone, this coating would slowly grow onto the object. By then, the coating and the object would be one, let alone the possibility of removal.

“Oh? And after feeling ashamed?” Dan Marina felt this matter wouldn’t be that simple. She put away the formula. Being a Witch living for a long time, one always developed some small collecting habits.

Zheng Yichen smacked his lips. “After that? After that, it was extra meals. Thinking about it now makes me a bit hungry. Time to cook!”

After hastily tidying up the experiment table, Zheng Yichen swung his tail and walked out of the Laboratory. Now that his mindset had crashed, he didn’t plan to maintain a workaholic state for long. Since he was releasing pressure normally, he should find some things to do, like learning to cook, keeping small animals for fun, teasing Loli… cough… He couldn’t afford to tease her.

Anyway, aside from regretting not being able to go out for drives often, Zheng Yichen thought this feeling was quite nice. He was returning to the simple, self-amusing mindset he had shortly after crossing over. Speaking of which, how was his old home doing now?

Maybe go back and take a look sometime in the future?

Shaking his head, Zheng Yichen arrived at the kitchen and opened the large fridge. He grabbed some ingredients. Mana shaped into a blade on his claw rapidly and neatly cut them. This wasn’t knife skills but a precise technique cultivated from often doing detailed work. A Ghost Maid nearby, holding a kitchen knife with one hand on her hip, slightly frowned as she watched Zheng Yichen unceremoniously occupy one stove.

Seeing that he had no intention of leaving and was actually determined to take over her job completely, she floated in front of Zheng Yichen and waved the kitchen knife in her hand. An outsider might think she was about to attack someone.

“Hey hey, I am your male master after all. Could you show some respect when speaking?” Zheng Yichen twitched his mouth upon understanding what this Ghost Maid meant. “Doesn’t everything require practice? I’m improving quite quickly, right? As long as it’s edible, isn’t that enough?”

His cooking might not be dark cuisine, but his talent in this area was rather average. Progress was slow, but at least it was edible, right?

The Ghost Maid continued gesturing. Seeing what she meant, Zheng Yichen couldn’t help but rub his forehead. “How can you call it pig slop… Give me two months, I’ll definitely get better. You can make an extra portion for Loli over there.”

Hearing this, the Ghost Maid’s expression improved a bit. After all, the unpalatable meals Zheng Yichen made before, Loris never refused… It was true they were edible, but compared to what she cooked, they weren’t really edible. The difference was huge!