Chapter 498: Plunder and Plunder

“No way, how could you eat that kind of thing?” Lu Yibei exclaimed. “Wouldn’t you just drop dead after eating it?”

Even if the PL girl had helped me out so many times before, I can’t just do everything she says, right?

I’ve been annoyed with her for a long time. She’s supposedly my double, so why does she get to have expressions while I’m stuck with facial paralysis? That’s not fair!

Besides, just like she said herself, what if she’s setting me up for something terrible? Lu Yibei thought.

“Sorry, maybe I didn’t use the right words.” The PL girl waved her hand and explained, “To be precise, I want you to devour, to plunder the flesh and blood of the Beast of Inheritance.”

“Even if you put it that way…” Lu Yibei opened her mouth, then changed her tone and asked weakly, “Isn’t there any other way?”

“Aren’t we already dealing with the field of occultism? There should be other ways, right? Can’t we do something like soul transfer, clay avatar, lotus true body, or some other method of restoration? Maybe I could even get stronger!”

Lu Yibei recalled for a moment what it looked like when the jacket was covered with the flesh and blood of the Beast of Inheritance. She couldn’t shake the feeling that if she “ate” the flesh and blood, she might grow a second head, or some other bizarre organ–like… a pair of beast ears?

“You think I don’t want to help you rebuild your body with something else?” The PL girl said irritably. “But I don’t have any other materials on hand! Besides, those methods you mentioned require matching powers.”

“But the flesh and blood of the Beast of Inheritance is different!”

“How is it different?” Lu Yibei asked in confusion.

“It’s different because it’s a universal adapter–it can match any kind of power.” The PL girl said with a straight face.

“As a bizarre haunting with the special ability to copy any haunting’s power, the Beast of Inheritance’s flesh and blood often becomes a disaster, but from another perspective, it can also serve as an almost universal repair material.”

“If you can provide enough psychic energy and the original power, even the body and power of a catastrophe-class haunting can be copied for you. Of course, the premise is that you don’t get devoured by it.”

Lu Yibei, “……”

After a few seconds, seeing that Lu Yibei still hadn’t made up her mind, the PL girl’s eyes spun around, and she said sarcastically, “Lu Yibei, you’ve already inherited the remaining power of Ms. Wang Meili and become the core of that special space. That place is basically your private domain now.”

“Just imagine, a thief sneaks into the old mansion your mother left you, eats and drinks as he pleases, puts his stinky feet on the bed your mother used to tuck you into as a child, and takes all the money from your piggy bank, all the gold and silver jewelry your mother left you–wouldn’t you be furious?!”

“Of course I’d be furious…” Lu Yibei nodded deeply.

But just as the PL girl was about to fan the flames and push Lu Yibei to confront the flesh and blood of the Beast of Inheritance head-on, Lu Yibei casually added, “But that’s not what I’m thinking about.”

The PL girl crossed her arms and looked Lu Yibei up and down, puzzled. “Then what are you thinking about? Worried about being killed instead? Don’t worry, nothing will happen, I’m here…”

“No!” Lu Yibei interrupted her. “What I mean is, if the flesh and blood of the Beast of Inheritance is really as you say, able to repair anything…”

As she spoke, Lu Yibei raised her head, staring straight into the PL girl’s eyes, her face expressionless. “…then can it repair Ms. Wang Meili?”

The PL girl was stunned, not expecting Lu Yibei to make that connection. For a moment, she couldn’t think of a good answer, and could only tell her the cruel truth.

“Sorry, that really isn’t possible, after all…”

“I get it!” Lu Yibei cut her off, murmuring softly, “After all, the Ms. Wang Meili I saw before was just a projection with Qi Nanzhu’s power and memories, but without a soul, right?”

“Even her every word and action was seventy percent like my dad–she was basically a female version of him. It’s just weird.”

“But I still want to ask, what if I’m wrong? What if it really is possible?”

The PL girl, “……”

If I could, I’d really like to let you try.

But the truth is just as you said: in this special space, there is no soul of Ms. Wang Meili. Even if the flesh and blood of the Beast of Inheritance could copy her, at best you’d only get a monster with similar strength.

By then, you’d probably have to watch “her” get killed by someone else again, or even kill “her” with your own hands, the PL girl thought.

In short, the Beast of Inheritance can only copy power and flesh, but cannot bring a dead person or haunting back to life.

“Then it’s decided!” Lu Yibei raised both hands and gently patted her cheeks to perk herself up. “Let me go have a hearty meal, and then I’ll think about what comes next!”

The PL girl showed a relieved smile, raised her eyebrows, and said, “Good, but before you set out, I have to remind you of one thing.”

“Go ahead.”

“When you successfully reshape your body, because the flesh and blood of the Beast of Inheritance is highly malleable, your body might be influenced by your will and undergo some changes…”

“I get it!” Lu Yibei interrupted, “It’s just like customizing a character’s face, right?”

“…” The PL girl shot her a glare and warned in a serious tone, “As long as you know. What I want to warn you is, don’t let any weird thoughts pop up in your head at that time. Just let it restore according to your original body. After all, the flesh and blood of the Beast of Inheritance can’t be as precise as customizing a face.”

“Otherwise, if something weird grows on your body, or in some weird place, don’t blame me for not warning you.”

“What, what weird things could I possibly think of! My thoughts are pure, seriously!” Lu Yibei said with a hesitant look in her eyes.

The PL girl glanced sidelong at Lu Yibei and murmured, “Faceless Void…”

Hearing this, Lu Yibei’s face turned pale, then she patted her chest and said, “Uh, don’t worry, I promise I won’t mess around!”

Damn it, I thought this was a great chance to restore my manly pride. Even if not, at least I could get an adult look!

And now you pull this on me?!

If, when restoring my pride, I restore the wrong part, I’d rather just stay as I am! Lu Yibei thought bitterly.

——–

Eclipse Society Base No. 4, bottom level of the Great Furnace, inside a certain laboratory.

An old man with a strange appearance lay on a rocking chair made from the skull of some exotic beast, holding a palm-sized teapot in his hand, looking relaxed, as if he couldn’t hear the constant screams and mechanical roars coming from the neighboring lab, nor smell the thick stench of blood.

Not far from him, beside a dark metal long table, several members of the Eclipse Society were busy with their heads down, sorting through experimental reports on the table. Ms. Rabbit and Shu E were among them.

Ms. Rabbit was not as laid-back as the old man. After completing the second experiment, she hadn’t received any news about the next experiment for a long time. She felt she had reason to suspect that the Eclipse Society was using this as an excuse to keep her around and exploit her labor for free.

But she had no proof!

At the same time, considering the Eclipse Society’s vast power and ruthless ways most of the time, she didn’t dare voice her dissatisfaction before she had enough strength, so she could only endure for now.

And just at this time, that damned Berses, under the pursuit and blockade of the Midnight Watchers Society, managed to escape with the entity of the Beast of Inheritance and returned to Base No. 4.

As soon as he got back, he buried himself in his long-unused lab, conducting inhumane experiments day after day. Every five minutes, you could hear a heart-wrenching scream. The entire bottom level of the Great Furnace was filled with a stench like canned herring.

This made Ms. Rabbit, who already had nowhere to vent her anger and could only suppress her violent urges by sparring with Shu E every day, even more irritable.

You really couldn’t blame the poor soundproofing and smell insulation between the labs at the bottom of the Great Furnace; it was just that Berses was making too much of a racket.

It felt just like when you’re feeling down both mentally and physically, trying to recuperate at home, and your neighbor starts renovating, with a hammer drill roaring from eight in the morning till eight at night.

Right now, Ms. Rabbit wished she could grab the Moonshadow Axe, rush over, and give Berses three good whacks on the head, just to let him know how many eyes the Rabbit King has!

“Damn it, one day I’ll take over the Eclipse Society, and the first thing I’ll do is deal with that idiot, and then…”

As she muttered, she sneaked a glance at Shu E not far away, her cheeks flushing slightly.

——–

Inside another laboratory, a hundred meters away from Ms. Rabbit’s location.

Massive alchemy devices were each sealed within their own isolated compartments. At the ends of intricately structured mechanical arms, tentacle-like flesh extended, perfectly fusing with the spines of naked Eclipse Society members.

A reactor, modified from a giant alchemical cauldron, drew terrifying heat from the deepest volcano of the Great Furnace, continuously converting it into violent streams of psychic energy to power the operation of the alchemy devices.

At the center of the laboratory, the Beast of Inheritance, its body pierced all over with steel needles engraved with solidified spell formations, was suppressed at the bottom of a rock pool filled with alchemical potion.

At this moment, its flesh seemed to liquefy and boil, surging violently, constantly replicating and differentiating into various tissues and organs.

Hundreds of mechanical arms formed a ring around its body, blooming like a silver-white dahlia, ceaselessly plundering every moment.

Whenever it successfully replicated a haunting power from Qi Nanzhu’s special space, the mechanical arms, operated by Eclipse Society members, would instantly unleash razor-sharp cutting blades and psychic ability fields at their ends, stripping the power from its body and then sealing it.

Hauntings and psychics, as one of the cornerstones Qi Nanzhu used to construct the special space, though they didn’t display any special abilities within it, their powers remained perfectly preserved deep within the special space even after nearly twenty years.

Berses sat upright in the control room, overlooking the scene below.

“Report from No. 043: Successfully intercepted one instance of the Mourning Doll power…”

“Report from No. 017: Successfully intercepted one instance of the Underbed Imp power…”

“Report from No. 113: Successfully intercepted one instance of Kā róng familiar power…”

“……”

Listening to the constant reports from Eclipse Society members operating the machinery, Berses couldn’t help but let a trace of intoxicated smile appear on his face.

“My dear golden horn Secretary, I wonder what you’d think if you saw this scene right now?”

“Heh heh…”

Thinking of golden horn again, Berses let out a cold laugh, his gaze deepening, murderous intent thickening.

His hatred for golden horn wasn’t without reason. Aside from nearly being killed by that mysterious Midnight Watchers Society operator, he hadn’t suffered such misery in a long time.

Ever since he successfully broke out of Yunkang Psychiatric Hospital and escaped to the Great Furnace, golden horn’s pursuit had never ceased.

Especially after suffering backlash from using the Broken Finger Compass, golden horn had turned into a “mad dog,” relentlessly chasing and biting.

In just a few days, he traveled thousands of kilometers, his accompanying Eclipse Society members dwindling from one hundred fifty-seven to only twenty-seven. In the end, it was only with reinforcements sent by the president that he barely managed to escape with the entity of the Beast of Inheritance.

At the most dangerous moment, the distance between golden horn and him was less than twenty meters–already within the effective range of most spell formations and Spirit Pattern innate skills.

Fortunately, he had now successfully returned to the Great Furnace, where he was safe.

After all, the Eclipse Society, an organization that had loved and hated the Midnight Watchers Society for countless years, had already shaped its No. 4 base, the Great Furnace, into the embryonic form of a special space. Its secrecy and defense levels were ridiculously high–even if the Midnight Watchers Society found it, breaking through in a short time would be nearly impossible.

“Little B, you look awfully happy, huh? But if you can’t intercept enough power samples from Qi Nanzhu’s special space this time, I’m afraid it won’t be enough to turn the tide! The president will be angry then, you know!”

Hearing the voice from behind, Berses’ smile froze. He turned to look at the woman squatting on the chair, an apple clamped between her lips.

Her skin was snow-white and delicate, her eyes like lacquer dots, lips bright red, a handsome nose paired with a sharp face, her figure voluptuous like a ripe peach. The bizarre, wild-person-like outfit, ungraceful posture, and multicolored long hair could hardly conceal her beauty.

The woman’s name was Meihong Zhuang. She was the one who led the president’s elite to reinforce Berses, and also one of the president’s confidants.

“Hmph! I don’t need you to tell me that!” Berses replied coldly. “Although that mad dog Qianyu ruined things this time, making it impossible to directly seize control of Qi Nanzhu’s special space, as long as the Beast of Inheritance remains under my control, sooner or later…”

“Beep! Beep! Beep!”

Halfway through Berses’ words, the laboratory’s alarm suddenly blared, followed by the urgent voice of an Eclipse Society member in his ear.

“R-report, Lord Berses, something’s wrong! Detected unknown psychic energy fluctuation–the Beast of Inheritance’s connection to Qi Nanzhu’s special space is rapidly weakening!”

“What? Say that again?!” Berses’ face turned pale.

Noticing Berses’ change in expression, Meihong Zhuang narrowed her eyes, took a fierce bite of her apple, and smiled maliciously. “Uh-oh, Little B, looks like the slap in the face came a bit too fast, huh? What now? Someone’s in trouble!”

Berses turned and glared fiercely at Meihong Zhuang, then commanded the Eclipse Society members in a deep voice, “Everyone, increase device output to triple overclock!”

Though he didn’t know what was happening, how could that unknown psychic energy fluctuation possibly outcompete nearly a hundred alchemy devices powered by the Great Furnace’s psychic energy supply?

Snatch it–snatch it hard! Berses thought.