Skinwalker Belle – Chapter 355 – System, Start Work!

The Dunkleosteus, though puzzled as to why its master wanted to keep those foul-tasting “rotten scraps,” faithfully carried out the order nonetheless.

In just twenty minutes.

The Jiaoren clan, which had once ruled the lakebed with impunity, became history entirely.

Apart from a group of female Jiaoren deliberately spared and herded to the center of the city square, not a single intact bone remained of the male Jiaoren.

The lake water had already been stained a pale crimson.

Lin Fan descended slowly to the center of the square.

She didn’t spare so much as a glance at the pile of female Jiaoren. Instead, she turned to face the Merfolk, who stood there paralyzed with fear.

“Your turn now.”

Lin Fan’s voice was soft, yet it sent chills down every Merfolk’s spine like they’d been plunged into an icy abyss.

Hathaway trembled all over, her golden tail hanging limply against the ground.

She looked at the gruesome remains of the Jiaoren in the square, then up at the colossal beast above, still licking its teeth with lingering relish.

As clever as she was, she understood in an instant.

The Jiaoren were gone.

From now on, this stretch of water belonged to the Merfolk.

Provided, of course, that they survived this day.

“Great One…”

Hathaway took a deep breath, swam forward, and prostrated herself at Lin Fan’s feet in the most abject submission imaginable.

She lifted her head, her tear-streaked face etched with resolve.

“The Merfolk… wish to surrender.”

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“As long as you spare my people, Hathaway is willing to give everything—my life, my soul.”

“Furthermore, I will select girls of Level Four and above from our clan to attend to you, at your every command.”

Lin Fan raised an eyebrow in mild surprise.

This woman had something to her.

Not only had she agreed to the terms, but she’d even voluntarily offered up her females of Level Four and above.

Most crucially, she understood the situation.

With the Jiaoren wiped out, the Merfolk no longer had natural enemies.

By sacrificing these few dozen clansmen, the remaining Merfolk could monopolize the Spirit Energy-rich lakebed resources and rebuild their numbers.

All things considered, it wasn’t a bad deal.

“You’re quite clever.”

Lin Fan extended her hand, her ice-cold fingertips tracing lightly across Hathaway’s milk-smooth cheek.

“Far cleverer than that toad.”

“Since you’re so sensible, I’ll give your Merfolk a chance.”

Deep within the Spirit Lake, a massive subterranean Rift yawned like an abyssal maw, silently inhaling and exhaling the water around it.

This was the fathead’s lair.

There was no safer place than the doorstep of a Level Seven mid-phase ancient beast.

“Guard this spot. Devour anything that approaches.”

Lin Fan patted the Dunkleosteus’s forehead, hard as granite.

The fathead nuzzled obediently against Lin Fan’s palm, then turned its colossal body to block the entrance of the Rift like an insurmountable mountain of bone, its murky dead fish-eyes watching the surroundings with wary vigilance.

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Lin Fan turned and swam into the depths of the Rift, followed by the motley procession behind her.

The space inside the Rift was vast. Thanks to geothermal activity, the water wasn’t as frigid as outside—it carried a hint of warmth instead.

Luminous moss grew along the surrounding rock walls, casting the enclosed space in a sickly green glow that carried an eerie, sinister atmosphere.

“Alright, stop trembling.”

Lin Fan found a flat boulder and sat down, her black dress not a single drop of water clinging to it thanks to the protection of her Mental Barrier.

She looked at the motley collection of “spoils of war” before her, in quite high spirits.

Forty-two Jiaoren females above Level 4, forty Merfolk females above Level 4.

Add to that the three hundred-plus Jiaoren females who, while low-level and ugly, made up for it in sheer quantity.

This was practically a bountiful harvest.

Hathaway knelt at the very front, her golden fishtail twitching restlessly.

She looked at the dim surroundings, then at Lin Fan’s emotionless purple-gold vertical pupils, and the fear in her heart swelled without limit.

“My lord… we…”

“Shh.”

Lin Fan raised a finger to her lips.

“It’s time to sleep.”

As her words fell, an invisible wave of mental energy instantly radiated outward from her as the epicenter.

No pain. No struggle.

Whether it was the noble Level 4 Merfolk or the ugly low-level Jiaoren—even Hathaway, a peak Level 6 powerhouse—all of them rolled their eyes back and lost consciousness in that single instant.

Rеаd oո KatReаԁіոɡCаfе

Like machines whose power had been cut, the previously crowded and noisy Rift fell silent in an instant, leaving only several hundred bodies swaying gently with the currents.

“System, get to work.”

Lin Fan stretched lazily, a hint of anticipation in her voice.

[Detecting organisms meeting criteria…]

[Beginning batch production…]

[Estimated time: 7 hours 35 minutes.]

“Over seven hours?”

Lin Fan pursed her lips.

Down here underwater, with nothing to look at but rocks and fish, those seven hours were going to be a drag.

“Might as well make use of the time.”

Suspended in the water, Lin Fan focused her mind, and the vast Spirit Energy circulation system within her body began operating at full speed.

…….

……

When the system chime sounded again, Lin Fan slowly opened her eyes.

The several hundred bodies that had filled the entire Rift had all been transformed into Skins.

[Production complete.]

[Obtained: Epic-grade Skin x1]

[Obtained: Perfect-grade Skin x81]

[Obtained: Excellent-grade Skin x342]

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Lin Fan waved her hand, and the Skins scattered across the sky all vanished into her System Space like birds returning to their nests.

Only the Epic-grade Skin radiating a cerulean glow remained.

[Skin: Hathaway]

[Quality: Epic Grade]

[Talents: Siren’s Song (large-scale mental control through singing), Water Element Affinity (all attributes +30% in water, Mental Strength and Spirit Energy recovery +50%)]

“Tsk, not a combat type after all.”

Lin Fan toyed with the cool, smooth Skin in her hands. She’d expected as much, but she was still a little disappointed.

Hathaway’s talents leaned more toward support and crowd control. Her one-on-one combat ability probably couldn’t even beat that Deer-folk chieftain Bambi, let alone compare to the Medusa Bloodline.

“Still, this face is genuinely something else.”

Lin Fan studied the Skin’s exquisitely beautiful features. This was pure natural exotic charm—far superior to those plastic surgery faces.

Stowing the Skin away, Lin Fan began tallying this haul.

Combined with what she’d hunted in the forest earlier, she now held 181 Perfect-grade Skins in her possession.

In the old days, that would have been an overnight fortune.

But now…

Lin Fan furrowed her brow.

“System, if I want to fuse all five Epic-grade Skins into my main body, how many Perfect-grade Skins will it consume?”

[Reply to Host: According to calculations, fusing one Epic-grade Skin requires approximately 25 Perfect Grade Skins as fuel, totaling 125 Skins.]

“How many?!”