In the dead of night, the castle laboratory was brightly lit by candlelight as Isabel buried herself in organizing the day's experimental data.
Before Anbaixiu's return, Isabel had never had so much data to sort through.
It was not that Isabel lacked diligence, but rather that her experimental pace lagged far behind Anbaixiu's.
Her lich teacher could control over a dozen Mage Hands at once, functioning like an entire assembly line all by himself.
Not only that, Anbaixiu possessed a far sturdier foundation in alchemy than she did; in the span of a single breath, he could come up with several different formulas along with their respective concoction procedures.
Although he could not divine a potion's ultimate result out of thin air, every adjustment he made was well-aimed and deliberate. As a result, the experimental data Anbaixiu produced in a single day was staggering.
Isabel might not have accumulated this much data to record even in half a month.
And it was not merely recording it; everything had to be categorized and organized.
To verify the final results, Anbaixiu had even spent half an hour teaching Isabel how to tabulate statistics, generate bar charts, pie charts, and the like.
Isabel remarked that she had never heard of such statistical methods under her previous teacher—or perhaps that master had kept them hidden all along.
In any case, once she pondered it herself, Isabel found this method of organization vastly clearer. Even filling out the tables gave her a much sharper grasp of how variations in material dosages affected the outcome.
"The gap between Teacher and me really is far too wide," she murmured with a sigh.
If Anbaixiu had been the one to discover that slime, he probably would have concocted far more and far superior potions by now.
Her passion for learning burned higher than ever; even burning the midnight oil felt effortless.
Beside her, her maid Cardina felt a twinge of pity and urged, "Milady, are you still not going to sleep? Can't this wait until tomorrow?"
Isabel replied without looking up, "No, that won't do. Teacher told me to deliver it to him tonight as soon as it's finished. Bring me another bottle of Vigor Potion."
"But..." Cardina could not help grumbling, "Sigh, your teacher is far too demanding."
Isabel had been staring down at her notes, but upon hearing Cardina's words, her head snapped up. She warned in dead earnest, "Cardina, never speak ill of Teacher. Not a single word, ever! Do you understand?!"
Cardina had served Isabel for quite some time now, but she had never heard the young lady speak in such a stern tone. Cardina knew she had said something foolish. It seemed the young teacher's relationship with Miss Isabel was even closer than she had imagined—not a single harsh word against him was permitted.
Could it be that the two of them...? Pondering it, Cardina did not think it unreasonable. Isabel was beautiful, and that lord appeared young and handsome; on the surface, they made quite a matching pair. It was just that Miss Isabel was far too kind, while that lord was so harsh and demanding—he simply didn't look like a good person at all.
While Cardina worried that Isabel was being deceived by a scoundrel, Isabel was far more terrified than her maid—terrified that Anbaixiu might have overheard Cardina's complaint. After all, her teacher was a lich!
Isabel had seen with her own eyes how Anbaixiu disemboweled two adventurers who had broken into the castle and turned them into undead. She had even helped clean up the lab afterward.
Although Anbaixiu treated her reasonably well, Isabel constantly reminded herself never to provoke him. Cardina was a good person, and Isabel had no desire to see her corpse laid out on the dissection table come morning.
With vastly different thoughts churning in their heads, the two women settled into their overtime work. Meanwhile, Anbaixiu reclined in his long-missed armchair, chatting with his friends in the Elegy Poetry Society.
Though his previous journey through time had cost an immense fortune, the harvest had been equally magnificent.
If nothing else, acquiring the heroic spirit of Arthur Ryan alone was an earth-shattering prize.
Previously, Rose of Decay had been quietly gathering materials around the Orc Mountains, completely without the leisure to bother with Anbaixiu. Now that a ceasefire had been declared among the orcs, Rose of Decay had returned to the Underdark. It was time to talk about Arthur Ryan.
[Rose of Decay: Can you be sure that it's truly Arthur Ryan's heroic spirit?]
[Ultraman Tiga: I can't. That's why I sent word to the elves. The former Elven King was Arthur Ryan's companion on adventures for many years, so I believe he can make an accurate judgment. According to Catherine, the Elven King should come see me in about half a month.]
According to Catherine's reply, the old elf took the matter with utmost gravity. If not for the mountain of unresolved troubles the elves were currently facing, he would have flown over to Anbaixiu's side this very second to reunite with his old friend.
[Rose of Decay: Then let's wait until it's confirmed.]
Rose of Decay didn't seem particularly concerned. Anbaixiu had thought she would be eager to meet this venerable ancestor—or perhaps itch to convert Arthur Ryan's heroic spirit into a specter.
A deal could have been negotiated. If worse came to worst, Anbaixiu could even lend him to her for a few days to beat Arthur Ryan black and blue; she would probably be willing to pay good money for that.
Yet Rose of Decay remained completely lukewarm, prompting Anbaixiu to ask out of curiosity: [You don't seem very interested in Arthur Ryan. He's your ancestor, the founding emperor of Ryan! Even if it's hatred, shouldn't you care at least a little?]
[Rose of Decay: Why should I care? It wasn't Arthur Ryan who turned that country into what it is today.]
Oho, sounds like there's a story here. If Arthur Ryan wasn't the one who made the Ryan Empire what it was today, then who did?
Not standing on ceremony with her, Anbaixiu asked directly: [Any special intel you can share?]
[Rose of Decay: Nothing special. I never studied it in depth. All I know is that when Arthur Ryan was still alive, the Ryan Empire didn't discriminate against or persecute other races the way it does now.]
When Rose of Decay was young, she had merely belonged to a collateral branch of the imperial family. That was until one day her father became emperor—for an absurd reason: his Ryan bloodline ran thicker. Because the previous emperor failed to produce a more suitable heir, he had no choice but to pass the throne to her father.
Later, blessed with good fortune, Rose of Decay proved capable of attuning to the Dragon Tyrant Armament, making her the next heir.
And after that, refusing to be locked inside the imperial palace as a breeding machine, Rose of Decay chose to flee Ryan.
One could say Rose of Decay knew little about the true secrets of the imperial family. Or perhaps, many generations of emperors ago, the royal house had already lost most of its secrets.
Many did not even understand why generation after generation had to strive so desperately for imperial bloodline purity. After all, the Dragon Tyrant Armament just sat in the vault, completely unused for over a millennium.
And even without deploying the Dragon Tyrant Armament, Ryan remained the foremost superpower on the continent.
Plenty of members within the royal family believed such pointless torment was unnecessary; not only did it breed countless tragedies, but it also made each generation of the Ryan royal family worse than the last.
Bloodline alone was far from enough to run an empire. It required meticulous nurturing from childhood, rather than shoving whoever happened to qualify into that chair.
Yet nowadays, anyone who could make that silver-white armor in the vault emit a flicker of light could become emperor. Was it any wonder Ryan declined with every generation?
Seeing that he wouldn't extract anything more, Anbaixiu moved on to other cooperative matters.
[Ultraman Tiga: I've settled down beneath the desert in a colossal underground ruin. It's spacious enough for our cultivation. The mercury soul puppets I mentioned before—we can try mass-producing them now.]
[Rose of Decay: Good. Just tell me whatever you need. How about this: I'll have people dig an underground passage connecting the Underdark with your dungeon. That'll make transporting materials much more convenient.]
Anbaixiu hesitated, not quite daring to agree.
Sharing resources with Rose of Decay was naturally a fine idea, drastically cutting trade costs. But opening such a passage was equivalent to handing her the keys to his front door. On top of that, mercury soul puppets could self-replicate so long as they had enough metal. Anbaixiu certainly didn't want Rose of Decay discovering this; if she did, she could just take one or two back to breed on her own, and how would Anbaixiu collect the final payment then?
Yet if he refused outright, wouldn't that arouse her suspicions?
Pondering for a moment, Anbaixiu replied: [Opening a passage would be wonderful, of course, but I'm afraid it won't be that simple. Who knows what civilization left this underground ruin behind—the building materials are ridiculously durable. Catherine and I tested it; after half a day of effort, we barely left a shallow scratch on the city gate.]
[Rose of Decay: How is that possible? Even you and the Elven Queen working together couldn't break it?]
Anbaixiu took out a memory crystal. It held footage he had recorded back in the dungeon, intending to ask around about the gate's material; now was the perfect time to transmit it to Rose of Decay.
After viewing the contents of the memory crystal, Rose of Decay replied: [Utterly ridiculous. How could materials this durable exist in this world? And how could the civilization that possessed such materials have perished?]
[Ultraman Tiga: Who knows? I'm curious too. How about this: let's drop the tunnel idea and stick to our old routine—building a stable teleportation array. The cost is a bit higher, but it's the most convenient option.]
[Rose of Decay: Alright, then it's settled. Once the teleportation array is built, I'll pay a visit to your new home. By the way, earlier I mentioned seizing a legendary corpse from the orcs. I'll send you my specific requirements; craft the soul for me as soon as possible. I have an urgent need for it lately.]
Urgent need?
Anbaixiu was somewhat curious. The Undead Queen wasn't planning to launch an attack on Ryan right now, was she?
Though the Silvermoon Knight was dead, Ryan still boasted the most legends on the continent, not to mention the mightiest military force.
Not wanting to pry too deeply, Anbaixiu could only suggest: [Well, if you really need help, you could ask the others. I'm sure Gareth and the rest would be glad to pitch in.]
[Rose of Decay: Heh, don't worry. I'm not going to fight a decisive battle with Ryan right now. I've waited all these years; I'm in no rush. It's just that there are some troubles in the Underdark that need dealing with.]
Reassured, Anbaixiu replied: [Then rest easy. I guarantee I'll craft it to perfection for you. By the way, the cost won't be cheap.]
[Rose of Decay: Name your price.]
[Ultraman Tiga: While the grade of the soul can't possibly be legendary, piloting a legendary-tier undead body will cost at least ten million gold coins.]
[Rose of Decay: I'll give you twenty million. Make it the absolute best.]
Anbaixiu marveled. Truly worthy of a queen! Subtracting the expenses, this single deal would yield a profit of at least eighteen million gold coins!
Chapter 240