Deep in the Living

"This young man! Even I would be seriously injured if struck by that knife, and if it hit my head, I might even die on the spot.

Even though it's just in the state of mature plants, it can gain plant growth along the way and deliver such a slash at the last moment! Truly worthy of being my best friend.

I really want to dissect his body and perform a transmutation on him!

If I could create an alchemy zombie, it would surely be one of the greatest works in history, and the entire refinement process would surely be enlightening for me.

No, no, Luo Di is my close confidant; I can't do that. Even if I were to do it, it should be when he is at the brink of death, with enough justification to do so.

Better go check the situation..."

Professor Noel quickly approached, and as he walked, he glanced at the nearly destroyed Human Body Exhibition. Although a bit saddened, at least he had thoroughly eliminated Master Jiang's great threat, making the overall result still satisfactory.

If Luo Di had chosen to return to Vortex Town and left him alone here,

Professor Noel wouldn't have allowed the candle to wick the old geezer's body, but the result wouldn't be much better. Mr. Rose would surely take advantage then.

As he walked further, he suddenly slowed his pace.

A rose petal suddenly drifted over.

Professor Noel's nerves immediately tightened, feeling more tense than when facing Master Jiang.

The alchemy zombies he had prepared in advance, buried deep underground, started to activate, as if there was a huge body cellar at the foundation of the exhibition.

However,

the passing petal did not cut him but rather landed steadily in front of him.

Something rested at the center of the petal,

a key forged from gold, engraved with exquisite rose patterns.

"This is... the key to the West District! That guy!"

Just as Professor Noel was in shock, a voice came from the Corner, or perhaps most monsters living in the Corner could hear it; it was a special announcement:

≮The Corner organization & Dungeon Keeper [Jiang Mansion], as its founder Jiang Huaishan is deceased, has been delisted due to no inheritors or successors within the organization, and the relevant rights have been revoked.

A new organization [Rose Manor] will be established on the territory of Jiang Mansion, obtaining the dungeon entrance's keeping rights, led by "Mr. Rose."

The organization Mr. Rose previously belonged to, the [Human Body Exhibition], will be fully transferred to "Great Alchemist - Noel Castinov."

Rose Manor will have a one-month protection period during its founding phase, during which no monster or human may engage in invasion.≯

Upon hearing the Corner's intelligence, Professor Noel disdainfully commented:

"Rose, you've already considered all sorts of scenarios; this current situation should be the one with the least profit for you.

Even so, you've gained a brand new organization with a dungeon, more rights in the Corner, and can avoid my harassment.

Fine!

Since you've left me with this mess, I'll cherish it, as it's something we once created together.

But, without the external publicity, relying solely on my alchemy zombies, the number of visitors will likely dwindle.

The structure of the Corner is changing, Vortex Town has basically become the center of the Corner, and information is starting to become transparent; not many fools will be misled here for human experiments.

Since the exhibition rights have fallen into my hands, I might as well take this opportunity to relocate.

Anyway, I'm too lazy to repair it, and my personal displays can't support such a large exhibition. I might as well directly transfer my exhibits and personal laboratory, and rebuild a brand-new, smaller exhibition in Vortex Town.

With the introduction of someone like Luo Di, there shouldn't be any problems.

By then, there will surely be no lack of visitors, but I can't refine them. As for the corpse materials, I'll have to figure out a way to get them from outside.

Oh right... Luo Di also mentioned a school in Vortex Town, where I might find someone who shares an interest in research."

Professor Noel, in high spirits, patted his bald head and quickened his pace.

He had to quickly bring his close friend back to heal, and see if there was anything left from the scene to salvage.

Even if that old zombie had no physical body, as a top-tier monster, it would surely leave something behind after death.

If he could obtain Master Jiang's pituitary or body remnants, Professor Noel might be able to use human body refining to create a powerful subordinate similar to Master Jiang.

But as the professor approached, he witnessed a horrifying scene.

Luo Di, with half his abdomen gouged out, lay on the ground, unconscious, while mist surrounded him, and the sound of something feeding could be heard.

As he approached the mist,

Professor in a moment's glance thought he saw an entirely snow-white, obese person, crouching in an extremely ugly posture, picking up and eating the scattered chunks of flesh from the ground.

"Who!!"

Noel thought a third party had intervened and hurled a metal pipe directly over.

The pipe tore through the mist, piercing through and embedding itself in the woods hundreds of meters away. But it did not hit anything, and the fat white person vanished as the mist was penetrated.

Gradually,

the mist receded, or rather, it seemed to be accumulating toward something.

The object lay beside Luo Di's palm, a mass of red, a thing Noel had seen before. Luo Di's deal with Noel was based on this object.

"A relic!? This thing has devoured all of Master Jiang's remains... it's transforming, growing! I've never seen such a strange human relic before.

Earlier, Luo Di mentioned wanting to use my alchemy zombies to feed this thing, but it seems unnecessary now."

The professor squatted in front of the object, closely observing its transformation.

The originally mouth-bearing red egg-like entity was now writhing incessantly; a series of corpse-like black veins surfaced on its exterior, turning its overall hue to a zombie-like dark black.

But soon,

this blackness gradually faded, and the relic itself reverted to a fresh blood red.

This was different from previous times of absorbing ordinary monsters; this absorption was of the renowned Master Jiang in the Corner, though incomplete, the essence remained.

A single devour was enough to satiate it... there were even some surpluses.

Growth,

eyes, nose, and ears all emerged, transforming the entire relic into something resembling an oval red head.

However, all these facial features remained closed, seemingly awaiting further changes once Luo Di, the holder, awoke.

"Human relic, Corner privileges, these are things that, as a monster, I cannot touch.

It is heard that Vortex Town has established contact with the Human Exploration Bureau, perhaps I could take the opportunity to visit, to learn about human things, which will surely aid my research.

Perhaps, my professorial role at Luo University might come in handy then."

...

Time unknown, how much has passed.

Luo Di's consciousness gradually awoke on the Moon, continuing his previous path, a journey to the kingdom.

The staircase beneath his feet had initially only reached 1/7 of its full length, still far from reaching the kingdom's gate, requiring enough victims to accumulate the steps.

But now, the steps have grown longer! And they continue to extend.

Previously, each step was crafted from a single corpse.

Yet the corpse before him defies this concept, continuously extending upward as dark mist constructs the steps.

The ultimate formation is a black dragon's corpse, directly halving the remaining distance between Luo Di and the kingdom.

Standing on the topmost step, gazing down at the dragon's head.

Luo Di realized that the deadly confrontation he staked his life on was won by him.

Ssssffff!

With a sound of licking, he awoke.

He was no longer at the Human Body Exhibition, now lying in a familiar room, a temporary guest room at the Screaming Inn.

Gust was sitting at the bedside, licking the wounds on his body, which had mostly healed.

As the two were about to speak, Luo Di suddenly felt a burning and swelling sensation in the palm of his left hand. Turning it over, he saw a face had grown in his palm.

A face similar to Joke's, yet somewhat different.

Just the facial contours were similar, but upon closer inspection, there existed notable differences.

Inside this thing seemed to be something attempting to convey a message…

≮Unknown relic has reached saturation≯