Ch. 356 - Collecting Souls

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Based on Yang Yi’s description, Tricia immediately understood what it was.

“This is the residual Souls of Pain. It’s usually common in places like execution grounds, battlefields, slaughterhouses, and the like. Witch laboratories conducting evil experiments have them too!”

Tricia said viciously.

“These are fragmented Souls of Pain. They’re generally invisible to the naked eye. If left alone for too long, they’ll dissipate on their own. They can also be eliminated through various methods, such as high temperatures or holy water. They pose no obvious danger. However, if someone stays in this kind of environment for too long, people with weaker constitutions are more likely to become ill, and it’s also easy for resentful spirits to be born.”

Tricia added an explanation.

“Souls of Pain… fragmented souls…”

Suna pondered over Tricia’s words.

Yang Yi, meanwhile, took out some holy water and prepared to sprinkle it over the area to get rid of these filthy things.

“Wait!”

Suna suddenly took out a stone bottle and handed it to Yang Yi. It was about the size of his palm.

The bottle was somewhat crude in workmanship and appeared to have been made by Suna herself.

“This is a soul container I made using the stone shell of an Abyss Soul Stone and an adhesive. Try it and see if it can hold souls.”

Yang Yi took the bottle. It was very light, like it had been made from lightweight clay. The glue on it had not completely dried yet, so he could only hold it by the bottle’s neck.

“You glued this together using the bodily fluids of the Abyssal Scavenger?”

He looked at the somewhat familiar mucus.

“Yes.”

Yang Yi nodded and prepared to use the container to collect these fragmented souls.

Only he could do this job, because neither Suna nor Tricia could see the Souls of Pain, let alone collect them.

Moreover, if Tricia got too close, the light radiating from her body might even disperse these souls.

“Come out of my pocket,” Yang Yi said to Tricia.

“Hmph! Who wants to stay there!”

Tricia flew directly out of the laboratory, while Yang Yi began collecting the souls with the bottle and its cap.

It worked.

Although these souls could not be touched directly, the bottle and its cap, which were made from fragments of Abyss Soul Stone, could make contact with them. It was probably related to the material the bottle was made from.

Ten minutes later.

Yang Yi had collected a full bottle of them. He also cleaned the second floor, where the Abberation specimens were stored.

These souls were invisible to the naked eye, but once they were placed inside the bottle, they could be seen. However, unlike the fluorescent liquid inside the Abyss Soul Stone, they were another kind of black liquid that continuously writhed and was somewhat more active than black mist. The two might be connected in some way.

He returned the bottle to Suna. The temperature inside the laboratory also returned to normal, and at the same time, the bottle displayed an information prompt.

[Name: Bottled Soul of Pain]

[Description: A fragmented soul that remains in the final moment of life while wailing in agony. It can be collected and used for alchemy. It is considered an inexpensive consumable material.]

After that, Yang Yi had nothing to do for the time being.

He borrowed some of the specimens from the second floor of the laboratory, planning to go to the execution rack and test their hunting effects.

He couldn’t expect these specimens to have effects as powerful as the Large Dark Core or the Rat King’s Head, but there was no harm in trying. What if one of them produced an unexpectedly powerful effect?

The specific effects were as follows:

[Evaluation: Deep Diver’s Head. A look of astonishment remained on its face, as if it had never expected to die like this.

Effect: Sailing speed +5. Slightly reduces the noise produced while sailing, decreasing the likelihood of being attacked.]

[Evaluation: Dwarf’s Head. Its mouth is wide open in a furious roar, as if unwilling to accept its death.

Effect: Ship durability +500.]

[Evaluation: Abyssal Scavenger’s bodily fluid. It possesses extremely strong adhesive properties. Once placed inside a bottle, the bottle can no longer be opened normally.

Effect: Ship durability +2,000. Increases the probability of obtaining supplies while fishing by 25%.]

[Evaluation: Cyclops’ Eyeball. It was removed intact, but the parasites on it are still alive and have been placed inside a bottle.

Effect: Ship durability +1,000. Strength and Constitution experience growth +10%.]

[Evaluation: A Monkey Bat with its internal organs removed and made into a specimen. Some cloth has been stuffed inside it, making it look extremely lifelike, almost like a living creature.

Effect: Ship durability +200.]

[Evaluation: A living Brain Worm, displaying the ship owner’s disgust toward parasites.

Effect: Ship durability +200. Slightly increases the hostility of Brain-Eating Demons.]

...........

After going through the entire process, he had tested almost everything he wanted to try.

Among them, aside from the Cyclops’ Eyeball, almost none of the other specimens were worth equipping.

During his training sessions afterward, he could try equipping the Cyclops’ Eyeball. That way, the rate at which his experience increased would be further improved.

After finishing the tests, Yang Yi returned the specimens to Suna and reminded her to get proper rest on time.

He then went to the bow of the ship, confirmed their course, and let the Old Captain focus on sailing the ship.

He himself returned to the captain’s cabin and prepared to read for a while.

Tricia was also inside. She was resting in her little house, emitting a strong light like a desk lamp.

Normally speaking, Light Fairies did not need to rest, but that did not stop her from slacking off, lying around doing nothing, staring blankly into space, and passing the time.

Yang Yi, meanwhile, simply treated her as a desk lamp and began reading by her light.

“When will the clothes you promised me be ready?” Tricia asked.

Yang Yi had promised to give her a new set of clothes to replace the rags she was currently wearing.

“Tomorrow.”

Yang Yi had already delayed it for two days, so he decided to make them for her tomorrow. He would modify the Rat Fur Set that he couldn’t sell.

He searched through his bookshelf for a while.

In the middle of it, a small booklet titled Beware of the Despicable Foreigners caught his attention. He took it down and began reading it carefully.

The book was actually a series of connected mystery stories, similar to those strange-occurrence and ghost-story magazines that used to be sold in roadside convenience stores in the early 21st century.

In summary, the stories were meant to tell readers that there was a group of people in this world—

No one knew where they came from, nor where they were going, but they would suddenly appear in this world, bringing chaos and death with them.

They could appear anywhere and were extremely skilled at disguising themselves. They might even be right beside you.

They might even be you, the person reading this book...

After finishing the book, Yang Yi felt utterly baffled. He immediately turned the book over and searched for the author, but found nothing.

There was no author’s name on the cover, and most of the books he had purchased were like this.

Only a small portion of them, mainly books with obvious religious themes—had the name of the organization that published them printed on them, such as the Holy Radiant Church.

“Tricia, how did you discover that I was a foreigner?” Yang Yi asked.

“I guessed.”

“Because I know that foreigners truly exist. They aren’t just legends. There are records of them in the Holy City,” she replied. “Actually, quite a lot of books were originally circulated from the Holy City. They’re repeatedly copied and then sold.”

“I see.”

Yang Yi nodded in response and continued reading, occasionally asking Tricia questions so he could make up for his lack of common knowledge about this world.