Chapter 223 - 222: Post-Battle Enhancement

Chapter 223: Chapter 222: Post-Battle Enhancement

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Clutching the few items he had seized from the battlefield, Gu Su leaped nimbly from the wall. He paused for a moment upon landing to steady himself, then headed straight for the Deceitful Tree.

Walking up to the Deceitful Tree’s thick trunk, he didn’t hesitate for a moment. He gave the Deceitful Fang a gentle toss, aiming it precisely at the base of the tree.

Just as Gu Su had anticipated, the strange energy contained within the Deceitful Fang held an extremely strong attraction for the Deceitful Tree.

The moment the fang landed, the Deceitful Tree’s buried roots began to stir. Countless slender rootlets shot through the soil like nimble tentacles, wrapping firmly around the Deceitful Fang and dragging it, bit by bit, beneath the ground until it was completely devoured.

Gu Su stood by and watched quietly, a thought flashing through his mind. ’It’s a shame the Deceitful Tree no longer has its once-lush canopy, leaving only bare branches and exposed roots. Otherwise, nourished by this single Deceitful Fang, new life might have sprouted from its branches, or it might have even undergone a more significant transformation.’

He averted his gaze and turned to walk toward the Altar in front of the Deceitful Tree.

The Altar wasn’t large. It was embedded in the side of the trunk, nailed together from a few old wooden planks, its corners worn smooth and shiny.

The Altar itself was empty. Outside, however, stood two small stone lions, one on the left and one on the right, baring their teeth and glaring forward.

Gu Su placed the Mysterious Handwritten Manuscript in front of the Altar and said to the empty space within, "Bring out the previous bedtime stories. I need to copy the strange information inside."

After he spoke, the Altar fell silent for a moment. Then, the wooden plank at its base slowly flipped open, revealing a pitch-black space beneath.

The *Koba District Bedtime Story Collection* floated up from the opening. Its pages were closed, cover facing up, as it landed steadily on the Altar’s platform right next to the manuscript.

A white light began to shine from within the Altar. It didn’t cause Stinging Eyes; it was soft and gentle, like the winter sun.

The manuscript was held aloft by the light, suspended in mid-air as its pages turned one by one.

On the once-blank pages, dense text and strange patterns gradually appeared. It was the complete content of the bedtime story book, being rapidly replicated and recorded by the manuscript.

As for whether the strange information within could be deciphered, that would depend on Luck.

Gu Su stood before the Altar for a while. Seeing that the manuscript was busily flipping through its pages, he didn’t wait any longer. He turned, walked around the Deceitful Tree, and headed toward the Yin Fire Heap.

The Yin Fire Heap looked the same as always. Without a second thought, Gu Su pulled the bag of Fused Contaminated Blood from his clothes, untied the rope at the opening, and poured its contents into the furnace.

A viscous, blackish-red liquid flowed out of the bag, as thick as unrefined oil, and trickled down into the furnace opening.

Before it reached the bottom, the flames inside the furnace leaped up and engulfed the mass of blood. SIZZLE! Acrid black smoke billowed out, but the flames quickly burned it away.

The contaminated blood roiled in the flames for a moment before turning into a plume of grayish-white smoke that drifted up the chimney.

A system notification flashed before his eyes. There was no sound, just a single line of text: [Yin Qi +10,000.]

Ten thousand points of Yin Qi was roughly four to five days’ worth of the Yin Fire Heap’s current output.

It wasn’t a small amount, but it wasn’t a lot, either. This result didn’t particularly satisfy Gu Su.

Gu Su had thought the item might grant the Yin Fire Heap a new effect, but it only increased its output.

He stared at the dancing flames in the furnace for a moment, then shook his head.

’Oh well. It’s better than nothing.’

’Ten thousand Yin Qi is enough to keep the Graveyard Demon moving for a good while, so it wasn’t a complete waste.’

He turned away from the Yin Fire Heap, one last item remaining in his hand: the rabbit’s foot.

He held the Lucky Rabbit’s Paw in his palm. It was furry and warm, its four toes curled together. A red string tied to its heel dangled between his fingers.

Clutching it, Gu Su strode into the cockpit.

The cockpit was just as he had left it. A large, paneled glass window looked out onto the wilderness. Five pilot seats were arranged in a staggered formation, surrounded by control levers, instrument panels, and a Communication Puppet. The two Walking Dead pilots sat at their stations.

The moment Gu Su stepped through the door, the rabbit’s paw in his hand moved.

He wasn’t the one who moved it; the paw stirred on its own.

The object floated up from his palm, its fur standing on end. The red string untied itself and drifted in a circle before the paw transformed into a ball of green light, shattered into countless tiny specks, and rained down.

The specks of light landed on the control console between the main and co-pilot seats, where they gathered and solidified into two levers.

The levers were about half an arm’s length. They had Metal shafts, and the grips were wrapped in something furry that felt warm to the touch, almost as if it were alive.

The word "Jump" was engraved on the base of the lever by the main pilot’s seat.

The word "Accelerate" was engraved on the base of the lever by the co-pilot’s seat.

As the cockpit changed, the Graveyard Demon began to vibrate. It wasn’t an earthquake; the Demon itself was stirring.

Through his connection to the Graveyard Demon, Gu Su knew that the spheres beneath it were changing.

The spheres, which originally resembled stone balls, had been rolled through a bloody slime countless times until they were polished smooth and shiny.

Now, some of the spheres were beginning to glow. They weren’t shattered; a dim, faint light was shining out from within, as if one were looking at a lamp through frosted glass.

Inside the translucent spheres, one could see shapes huddled into balls. Some resembled turtles, others rabbits, their legs curled and eyes closed, floating peacefully in the viscous fluid.

There weren’t many of these glowing spheres, and they were scattered among the regular stone ones, making them hard to spot without a close look. But a change was definitely underway.

Gu Su stood by the cockpit window, sensing the changes below as understanding slowly dawned.

’Clearly, the Power of the Lucky Rabbit’s Paw is enhancing the Graveyard Demon’s mobility system.’ The nature of this change was still well within his control, showing no signs of going haywire, which allowed him to relax a little.

Just then, the Skeletons that had entered the manor for Scavenging all returned.

Immediately after, a massive amount of Corroding Mycelium erupted from the side of the Graveyard Demon and began to devour the manor before it.

This wasn’t the snow-white mycelium from before; it was now reddish and blood-tinged. It sprayed out, strand by strand, from cracks at the base of the Graveyard Demon’s wall, landing on the nearby ruins of the manor.

The mycelium spread rapidly upon landing. It flowed from the base of the Demon’s wall to the manor’s perimeter, washing over the ridges between fields and seeping into the cracks of collapsed buildings.

The entire manor slowly turned blood-red under the mycelial blanket, as if a living, fungal carpet had been unfurled across the land.

[Ding! Devouring Turbo Manor (Abandoned). Time required: 2 hours, 20 minutes.]