Chapter 204 - 203: Becoming Stronger Little by Little

Chapter 204: Chapter 203: Becoming Stronger Little by Little

’Just average Luck today.’

Gu Su stood before the wooden counter of the Yin Soul Shop, his gaze sweeping over the three items laid out side-by-side as he couldn’t help but mutter.

All three items glowed with a faint white light, showing no trace of green.

Clearly, today was another day with no Green Armor.

Then again, while he hadn’t come across any good Green-Quality items, today’s three offerings did look somewhat interesting. They were all types he’d never seen before.

From left to right, the counter held:

A dust-covered chip with fine, visible circuitry. Its edges were worn, as if it had been forcibly torn from some machine.

A half-full glass jar of green, viscous liquid. Faint, tiny fragments could be seen floating within.

And a wooden bird. The carving was rather intricate, but unfortunately, it was broken, leaving only half a body and a single wing.

Gu Su reached out to pick up one of the items, and the information for all three instantly popped up.

[Ghost Net Chip (White Quality): From the body of a robot under the Ghost Net’s Control. Contains information the robot had learned. (Price: 16 Gold Coins)]

[Half-Used Strong Acid (White Quality): Used Strong Acid. Appears to contain some fragments of flesh and blood. (Price: 12 Gold Coins)]

[Soul-Trapped Yellow Oriole (White Quality): A wooden carving of a Yellow Oriole infused with part of a Soul. Upon use, it can summon one White-Quality Undead or Eerie. (Price: 11 Gold Coins)]

After reading the descriptions, Gu Su had a good idea of what he was looking at.

’Even without any Green Armor, these three items really aren’t half bad.’

’Especially that wooden Yellow Oriole. Eleven Gold Coins for a White-Quality Undead... you can’t lose with a deal like that.’

He tapped the counter, tossed down some Gold Coins, and bought all three items.

Carrying the pile of miscellaneous items, Gu Su left the Yin Soul Shop and followed the perimeter wall toward the Swamp Forest.

The early morning sun cast its light upon the wall, making the dark red stains left by the Dragon Blood Baptism stand out with stark clarity.

As he walked, he turned the half-broken wooden Yellow Oriole over and over in his hand, examining it.

’It’s supposed to have a Soul trapped inside, but it doesn’t feel special at all.’

’Just ordinary wood and an ordinary carving. If it weren’t for the description on the Attribute Panel, I wouldn’t have given it a second look if I saw it on the ground.’

Gu Su didn’t overthink it. He simply gave it a light squeeze.

CRACK—

The wooden Yellow Oriole shattered, turning into a small pile of splinters that trickled through his fingers.

At the same time, a faint gray mist rose from the splinters, coalescing before Gu Su into a vague human silhouette. The mist quickly dissipated, revealing a corpse standing on the spot.

It was a Zombie.

Its skin was ashen, its clothes were tattered, and its eyes were rolled back in their sockets. It stood ramrod straight, awaiting Gu Su’s command.

Gu Su stared at the Zombie, momentarily stunned.

’I thought an item infused with a Soul would summon a Spirit Body, like a Ghost, similar to Alice. I didn’t expect to get a Zombie, and a completely ordinary one at that.’

However, when he opened its Attribute Panel, he found this Zombie was actually somewhat interesting.

It had no name and no special background, but the Talent section clearly displayed a single word: Craftsman.

Gu Su’s interest was piqued, and he read on.

This Craftsman Talent wasn’t for large-scale construction like building houses or machines. It was focused on creating small objects—wood carvings, stone engravings, clay sculptures, all of them palm-sized trinkets.

Most importantly, the items it created could sometimes have a quality rating.

’The limit might only be White Quality, but White Quality is still a quality. That’s much better than some random junk I’d just pick up.’

Gu Su thought for a moment. An idea came to him.

The basement just so happened to contain a woodcarving workshop he had salvaged from another Mobile City. It had been sitting empty and unused, full of tools and materials.

’Even if this Zombie can only make small objects, the woodcarving workshop is a perfect fit for it.’

He waved at the Zombie, signaling for it to go find a place for itself down below.

The Zombie gave a stiff nod, then turned and shuffled toward the basement. Its steps were slow but steady.

Having dealt with that, Gu Su continued on his way.

Before long, he reached the edge of the Swamp Forest.

The newborn swamp shimmered faintly in the morning light. Tiny Blood Waterfleas drifted on the surface, and the trees, their roots half-buried in the silt, were already beginning to sprout new buds.

Deeper in the woods, three Empty Tombs and two occupied Gravepiles lay hidden in the mud. A few Slimes could occasionally be seen crawling past, leaving viscous trails behind. As for the Corpse Rat Swarm, they wouldn’t appear unless they were needed.

Gu Su pulled out the half-full jar of Strong Acid. As he removed the lid, a pungent odor immediately wafted out. Without hesitation, he raised the jar and poured its contents into the swamp.

The green, viscous liquid poured out, striking the swamp’s surface and sending up a fine spray.

The moment the liquid made contact with the murky water, it let out a SIZZLE, releasing small puffs of white smoke.

But before the white smoke could even rise, it was suppressed by something.

From the depths of the swamp, several dark-red Slimes wriggled over at high speed, as if drawn by a delicious scent. Fine bone fragments were now clearly visible inside their translucent bodies—remnants from when they had transported the Dragon Blood-infused soil.

The Slimes swarmed the area doused with Strong Acid. Their bodies pulsed as they began to frantically devour the solution before it could disperse.

As the green liquid was absorbed into their bodies, it mixed with their natural dark-red color, turning them a strange, grayish-brown.

Standing on the bank, Gu Su watched the Slimes scramble over one another to devour every last drop of the Strong Acid. The corner of his mouth twitched.

’These things really will eat anything. Dragon Blood, Strong Acid... if I keep feeding them like this, I’m afraid I’ll end up raising a swarm of monsters that will devour anything they see.’

’Still, I can’t be bothered to worry about it. The more the Slimes eat, the faster they’ll grow. And their rapid growth is a good thing for a Graveyard Demon.’

He looked away and started walking back.

He still had one last item in his hand: the dust-covered chip.

Gu Su held the chip up to his eyes, examining it in the morning light.

The dense circuitry on the chip’s surface was clearly visible. A few solder points on the corners suggested it had been removed from some sort of machine. Though dusty, it was mostly intact.

’The Attribute Panel said it contains knowledge, something that can be learned.’

After a moment’s thought, Gu Su tucked the item away.

’Libraries, academies, schools, classrooms... I don’t have a single building for learning or education yet, so I’ll have to save this for now. It won’t be too late to use it later, once the Graveyard Demon has developed further.’