Chapter 123 - 122: The Corpse Witch’s Poison Laboratory

Chapter 123: Chapter 122: The Corpse Witch’s Poison Laboratory

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"Got it. I’ll find a way to get the architectural blueprints."

Gu Su fell silent for a moment before finally, slowly speaking.

’Looks like it’s time I started learning about the special structures inside the Mobile City.’

With that in mind, Gu Su didn’t linger. He turned and headed toward the basement.

As soon as he entered the basement, Gu Su noticed a distinct change.

In the farthest corner, several separate rooms had been partitioned off with old wooden planks, simple yet orderly.

However, as Gu Su looked closer, he saw that a row of simple shelves had been neatly constructed along the outside of the planks. On these shelves were transparent containers filled with a dark green liquid, looking like some sort of hydroponic system.

’Are those hydroponic racks?’

A flicker of confusion arose in Gu Su’s mind. His pace quickened involuntarily as he walked over for a closer look.

He saw that the containers were filled with numerous bizarrely shaped plants. Most of them had dull, dark-green leaves tipped with fine thorns, and they looked like some kind of herb.

But these were clearly not the four types of plants Gu Su had previously grown hydroponically.

This made Gu Su quite curious.

Just as Gu Su was about to get closer to get a better look at the herbs, a voice called out from one of the rooms. "Those herbs are poisonous, and the water is poisonous, too. My Lord, please don’t come any closer."

Gu Su turned at the sound of the voice and saw a Corpse Witch in a tattered black robe emerge slowly from the partitioned room. He stood with his head slightly bowed, awaiting Gu Su’s questions.

"You grew all of this?" Gu Su asked, glancing at the hydroponic Poisonous Grass. "Where did you get the seeds?"

"Yes, My Lord."

"The rhizomes are from the Yin Soul Shop, from the day before yesterday," the Corpse Witch explained, nodding slightly.

"We’re researching the feasibility of soaking Poison Ore to create Poison Water, then using that water to grow Poisonous Grass and refine it into poison. This here is the first generation of the poison-cycle system we’ve constructed. It’s currently in the initial experimental stage."

Gu Su was left a little speechless by the Corpse Witch’s words.

He wasn’t an expert in poisons, but as an Undead Mage, he had studied the basics back in vocational college. So, he naturally understood the feasibility of their approach.

’Using Poison Water to grow Poisonous Grass, which is then refined into poison, creating a self-sustaining cycle. It’s a great idea, but the effort involved would be enormous.’

’Poisonous Grass doesn’t just grow anywhere. If even one thing is off, the plants will just up and die on you.’

And yet, the Corpse Witches had actually succeeded.

Gu Su couldn’t help but marvel at it.

"How did you do it?"

At this question, the Corpse Witches exchanged glances, their faces blank. They all shook their heads.

One of the Corpse Witches stepped forward and slowly said, "My Lord, we’re not sure how we did it either.

We just kept at it, and eventually, it worked."

Apparently, their initial idea was simply to build a basic Poison Laboratory in the basement. They wanted to add a hydroponics base for poisonous materials and a poison-processing factory to create an integrated system for production, research, and application, allowing them to study poisons systematically.

But unexpectedly, as they began building and planning the layout, one of the four—though no one knew who—proposed the idea of a "poison water cycle."

Then, everyone began to chime in, continuously refining the concept. The territory they occupied expanded, the depth of their research increased, and in the end, it became what stood before him.

The Corpse Witch paused, then added, "If we hadn’t needed to pull people away to help sort the books My Lord sent as they arrived, this operation would likely be even larger."

Gu Su looked at the blank-faced Corpse Witches staring at each other and couldn’t help but shake his head in resignation. ’So it’s a product of collective intelligence,’ he thought. ’No need to dig into the specifics of how they did it.’

He lifted his chin, a hint of anticipation in his voice. "Since your research is looking so impressive, aren’t you going to show me inside?"

The Corpse Witches snapped out of it, quickly stepping aside to clear a path and respectfully ushering Gu Su into the partitioned room.

In other words, their Poison Laboratory.

This Poison Laboratory’s equipment and materials were all pieced together from junk.

The walls were cobbled together from scrap Metal plates, their surfaces polished smooth and etched with fine measurement lines.

The lab bench was a converted wooden crate covered with a thin plastic film. On it, a simple yet tightly sealed reagent diversion apparatus was at work. Poison Water from a thick-walled ceramic base flowed slowly through a neatly bent, hollow copper tube, dripping into a container below. The joints, secured with high-temperature wax and copper rivets, were perfectly sealed, not leaking a single drop.

Nearby, a manual centrifuge had come to a halt. Its heavy Metal rotor was still, and the separated venom and impurities were clearly visible.

On a nearby heating tray, several test tubes filled with the juice of Poisonous Grass were being kept at a constant temperature. The tray’s base, cobbled together from heat-resistant plastic sheets, had clear measurement lines etched onto it. A transparent glass viewing window allowed for direct observation of the subtle changes within the juice.

Close at hand, a precision mixer was spinning rapidly. Its mixing head, a flattened, spiral-shaped piece of rebar, whirred smoothly inside a container, blending venom with other reagents.

On the edge of the lab bench were stacks of yellowed scrap paper, densely covered in black ink. They recorded experimental data, reaction processes, and preliminary conclusions. The notes were messy, but they showed a certain rigor.

In a corner, a few inconspicuous glass vials were stacked neatly. Their surfaces were covered in fine scratches, and they contained viscous, different-colored venoms. The vials were sealed airtight.

Seeing Gu Su’s gaze fall on the vials, one of the Corpse Witches quickly stepped forward and explained respectfully, "My Lord, these are the poisons we’ve managed to refine so far. They’re still in the experimental phase, so they don’t have names yet.

This is the toxicity report we’ve compiled. Please, take a look."

As he spoke, he picked up a relatively neat stack of papers from the lab bench and presented it to Gu Su.

Gu Su took the report, his fingers flipping quickly through the pages as his eyes scanned the experimental data and toxicity analysis.

As someone who had only attended vocational college, Gu Su might not have been able to understand a complex laboratory report, but he could still make sense of some of the data.

The report was a bit messy, but it was logically structured and filled with detailed data. Most importantly, it documented a process of repeated experimentation.

’In other words, this stuff can be replicated and mass-produced.’

After turning the last page, he looked up at the Corpse Witch and asked calmly, "How are these poisons used? And what’s the current production yield?"