Chapter 890: The Strange Potion

"Suit yourself, it's not like anything will go wrong."

The starfish scurried along the ground on all fours, quickly leading Lin Ye to the vicinity of the massive flesh cube.

By now, the colossal cube of flesh had stabilized, no longer pulling nearby objects into its swirling mass.

The two retrieved a rocking chair and a table, settled down beside the cube, and waited for it to shrink back to its previous state.

Lin Ye continued crafting new Starfish Ornaments, since his Special Ability would become unavailable once the Exploration Mission ended.

Scarlatti pulled out a deep green flask that looked quite high-end and began brewing a strangely colored liquid over the flames.

"Is that... some kind of herbal concoction?"

Lin Ye caught a whiff of fresh grass.

"It's a rather unique beverage, nothing to do with herbs at all."

Scarlatti carefully controlled the flame's intensity, her expression intensely focused.

"Smells awfully strange. Are you sure this stuff isn't toxic?"

Lin Ye had a vague sense of unease creeping up on him.

"Hmm... if you keep talking to me, I can't guarantee anything."

Scarlatti turned the flame down a notch.

Lin Ye stopped bothering Scarlatti and redirected his attention to the Starfish Ornaments.

Roughly half an hour later, Scarlatti finally extinguished the burner and poured the grayish-green liquid from the flask into two cups.

"Here, give it a try."

Scarlatti downed the contents of her cup in one gulp.

Lin Ye poured the liquid into his mouth as well. He rarely consumed things of unknown origin, especially hot beverages.

"How is it?"

Scarlatti looked at Lin Ye with eager anticipation.

"...I'm not sure. It actually tastes pretty decent. What is this?"

Lin Ye sensed something faint, but it was so subtle, like a fleeting beautiful dream that slips away the moment you wake up.

"It's a type of potion. The ingredients come from the unstable zones. It doesn't have any special effects."

Scarlatti flashed a somewhat mischievous smile.

"Why do I get the feeling this potion is a bit dangerous?"

Lin Ye wasn't entirely certain. He had never encountered anything like this before.

"It mainly depends on the brewing technique. As long as the technique is sound, it's perfectly safe."

Scarlatti carefully sealed the flask and both cups into an airtight pouch.

"...What in the world did you just make me drink?"

Perhaps due to the change in temperature, Lin Ye sensed an overwhelming sense of danger emanating from the flask and cups.

"Don't worry. With your physique, even if something goes wrong, you'll just die a few extra times."

Scarlatti replied with a smile.

"...Well, that's certainly reassuring."

If it weren't for the World of Ashes, Lin Ye would never have drunk such a strange concoction.

Several more hours passed before the flesh cube finally shrank back to its normal size. Lin Ye picked up the cube and stored it in his loot space.

"Are you sure that deity is sealed inside?"

Scarlatti remained on high alert.

"Positive. I can return now. Feel free to leave. I'll head back to the Shelter right after you go."

Lin Ye swept his gaze across the surroundings. The flesh cube had devoured the entire city, leaving nothing but a sunken depression in the ground.

"Well then, see you next time."

Scarlatti opened an unstable portal and stepped through it, departing this Plane.

"Goodbye."

After Scarlatti left, Lin Ye didn't return to the Shelter immediately. Instead, he retrieved the rocking chair and sat down on it.

"I don't believe that mindless glutton can actually control this Plane. If you don't show yourself now, I'm heading back."

Lin Ye looked around. There was nothing nearby, and it was dead silent.

"...Fine. I suppose I was overthinking things. A deity shouldn't be afraid of a mere Seventh-tier spiritual energy user like me."

Seeing that no one appeared, Lin Ye chose to return to the Shelter.

After Lin Ye left, the rocking chair swayed slightly. A Masked Figure wearing a black mask materialized upon it.

.........................................................

[Exploration Mission Complete]

[System Rating Increased]

[Obtained Shelter Upgrade Blueprint]

[Obtained Exploration Chest x1]

[Please draw Today's Card]

"My turn! Draw a card!"

The card this time depicted a delicate box of red cookies. As the card dissipated, a dark red metal box materialized in the center of the Shelter.

[Use Shelter Upgrade Blueprint?]

"Use it."

[Collect ten Fifth-tier Mutation Creature spiritual energy cores as Shelter upgrade materials (0/10)]

Lin Ye directly submitted the spiritual energy cores he had prepared earlier. He had already gathered the upgrade materials long ago; it was just that his previous Exploration Missions hadn't dropped a Shelter Upgrade Blueprint.

[Shelter upgrade mission complete. Upgrade Shelter tier?]

"Yes."

[Upgrade Complete]

Lin Ye checked the new Shelter information:

[Shelter Information]

[Tier: Sixth-tier]

[New Feature: Expand Shelter space]

[Status: Absolute safety (49 days, 10 days remaining)]

[Note: Raise your Shelter tier within 49 days]

Lin Ye had encountered quite a few things recently, so he hadn't rushed to upgrade the Shelter's tier. On the first day of this week, one lucky member of the group chat had already completed their Shelter upgrade mission.

After the Shelter advanced, its overall space expanded dramatically. The originally cramped bedroom had been enlarged into a spacious room approaching a hundred square meters.

The basement, Storage Room, and spiritual energy workshop had also grown significantly. Lin Ye had just acquired a large batch of Crystals and Starfish Ornaments, which he could now store in the Storage Room.

Lin Ye picked up the box of cookies and opened the metal lid. It was completely empty inside.

"...Well, it turns out to be an empty cookie tin."

Even if it hadn't been empty, Lin Ye wouldn't dare casually consume its contents. That would have been far more dangerous than Scarlatti's suspicious potion.

Setting the cookie tin aside, Lin Ye opened the exploration chest. Inside was a black Starfish Ornament.

[Starfish Ornament]

[This is a Starfish Ornament that could explode at any moment. Upon detonation, it will open a stable passageway connecting to the Abyss]

[Note: Perhaps you can use it to take down an enemy with you]

'...How has this thing not exploded yet?'

Lin Ye had only sold one Abyss-related Starfish Ornament, and that one should be in the Fat Man's possession.

'...Whatever. Let it be.'

Lin Ye couldn't be bothered to think it over further. He simply tossed the black Starfish Ornament to Little Black.

Afterwards, Lin Ye took out a Crystal and checked the system information.

[Murky Rule Crystal]

[This is a Crystal that has been contaminated with various Rule Fragments, containing extremely chaotic rule power within]

[Note: Surely no one actually wants to purify this thing, right?]