The warmth of the fireplace and the laughter of his family were quietly left behind. Lind passed through several alloy gates guarded by Aster's trusted guards and engraved with concealment runes, and arrived at a very special room deep inside Blackrock Castle.
The air here instantly changed; the warm scent of the fireplace was replaced by a strange, mixed aroma—
On one side was the cold, pure, and somewhat ethereal aura of the Shadow Abyss, like the cold current of the deepest sea; on the other side was an extremely faint yet incredibly tenacious and vigorous life force, like a tender sprout struggling to survive under the frozen soil of a harsh winter, and also faintly mixed with an uncomfortable stickiness after being forcibly purified (originating from the residual influence of the God of Fusion, which, although extremely faint, is difficult to eradicate).
The room was precisely divided in two by an invisible energy barrier.
The area on the left was decorated in an exceptionally warm and cozy way, even with a touch of childlike charm.
The floor was covered with a thick, dark purple velvet carpet, so soft that it could sink into your ankles.
Several cushions of the same color were scattered around, and crystals emitting a soft, dim light were embedded in the walls. The lighting was adjusted to the dimness most suitable for the creatures of the Shadow Abyss.
Some small toys made of crystal skeletons or shadow energy (most of which Lind casually crafted for her to practice energy manipulation) were piled up in the corner.
This belongs to Weiss.
The area on the right, however, is completely different.
Apart from a large, simple stone bed covered with a clean white cushion, there was nothing else.
There were no decorations, no toys, and no objects that could cause any irritation. It was clean, even sterile, like an isolation chamber in a laboratory.
On the stone bed, a small figure lay quietly.
She looked to be similar in size to Weiss, roughly the size of a human child around ten years old.
She was curled up, fast asleep.
She had short, emerald-green hair, like newly sprouted leaves, which lay softly against her small face, making her skin appear even paler.
What is most striking are her long, pointed elf ears peeking out from her hair, suggesting that she may have some distant connection with the elves, but more likely they are traces of experimental modifications by the Zedo civilization.
Her features were as delicate as a doll's, and she looked incredibly peaceful in her sleep, her long eyelashes casting soft shadows under her eyes.
She was the "divine body" that Linde had brought back from the Zedo ruins guarded by trolls.
Compared to her mature female figure when she was first brought back, she now seems to have shrunk back to the size of a young girl.
This is a self-protective regression after the interruption of experiments within her body, energy imbalance, and the forced stripping away of the will of the God of Fusion, returning her to a more stable and fundamental form.
Linde's gaze first fell to the left.
Weiss was neither playing nor resting.
She was sitting cross-legged on the plush carpet, her eyes closed, her small, fair hands clasped together in front of her chest.
In the palm of her hand, a highly condensed mass of shadow energy was slowly rotating and changing shape as if it were alive.
Sometimes it transforms into a purple-black rose that blooms and fades away, sometimes into a shadowy butterfly with fluttering wings, and sometimes into a thin, self-entwining chain of dark runes.
The entire process was exceptionally stable, with no energy leakage whatsoever. The pure Shadow Abyss power was as docile in her hands as a domesticated pet.
The dark teardrop necklace around her neck shimmered slightly, resonating perfectly with her own energy fluctuations.
Linde watched quietly for a while, a barely perceptible hint of satisfaction flashing in his eyes.
In just two years, under his guidance, Weiss's progress was nothing short of phenomenal.
She had long since shed the initial state of "hunger" where she acted solely on instinct, and her control over her own power had reached an astonishing level of precision.
She learned how to slowly draw energy from her surroundings (mainly from the inert shadow energy crystals that Linde had specially arranged for her), rather than coveting the life force of living beings.
What Linde taught her was not to suppress instincts, but to sublimate them, transforming the primal desire to "devour" into an "understanding" and "shaping" of the essence of energy.
In retrospect, she did a great job.
Seemingly sensing Lind's arrival, the shadow energy in Weiss's palm instantly dissipated, as if it had never existed.
Her long eyelashes fluttered, and she opened her eyes.
Those deep, black eyes, reflecting the shimmering purple starlight, lit up with an intense light of affection and dependence the moment they saw Lind, like a lost young animal finding its only guardian.
"Father!"
She let out a soft cheer, scrambled to her feet, and pounced on Lind's legs like a small purple whirlwind, expertly embracing him.
Compared to two years ago, she seems to have remained unchanged, still petite and delicate, as if time has stood still for her.
This is not the growth of an ordinary creature; her "growth" is more reflected in her understanding and control of power.
Linde reached out and gently stroked her soft purple hair.
"The stability of energy shaping has improved again, Weiss. Very good."
He rarely praised her directly, but every time he did, it made Weiss especially happy.
She tilted her little face up, her smile radiant, the purple sparkles in her dark eyes twinkling with joy:
"Weis worked very hard! She completed all the 'practice questions' that Father gave her!"
The exercises she referred to were various energy manipulation tasks assigned by Linde, ranging from the simplest condensation to complex morphological changes and microscopic control.
"I know."
Linde's gaze swept over the toys in the corner; the residual energy traces on them showed that she had indeed practiced countless times.
A wisp of pure negative energy condensed at his fingertips once more, which he handed to her as if giving her candy.
Weiss carefully took it and absorbed it as if savoring the most delicious dish, a blush of extreme satisfaction spreading across her face.
She no longer sees Lind as a source of "food," but rather as a reward, a form of love and recognition from her "father."
How is she today?
Linde's gaze shifted to the green-haired little girl on the stone bed to his right.
Weiss followed Lind's gaze, a complex expression appearing on her small face. It wasn't hostility, but rather a kind of... mutual curiosity and confusion.
"Triss (the name Weiss gave her in private) has been sleeping and hasn't moved."
Weiss reported in a low voice, like a little sentinel, "Weiss listened to her father and did not use her energy to touch her; she just watched."
Linde nodded slightly, stepped through the invisible energy barrier, and arrived at the stone bed.
The barrier exists both to prevent the energies of the two special entities from interfering with each other, and to prevent any unusual activity in the sleeping "divine body" from affecting Weiss.
Linde's deep purple eyes fell on the sleeping little girl, and golden data streams flashed silently in his eyes.
[Deconstructing the Halo] meticulously scanned every inch of her body.
His vital signs were stable, extremely weak, but exceptionally resilient, like a candle flickering in the wind, yet never going out.
The experimental framework belonging to the Zedu civilization within his body was in a strange "frozen" state, neither continuing nor collapsing.
And deeper still... that area that was once polluted by the will of the God of Fusion, and even partially merged with it, is now completely desolate.
That blasphemous aura, composed of countless pale limbs writhing and merging, had been greatly neutralized and purified by the power of the God-Slaying Metal, leaving only the most essential and indelible trace, deeply hidden in the core of her existence, like a dormant volcano.
Linde still remembers that brief, thrilling encounter, separated by countless dimensions and rules.
Just a glance from the God of Fusion, with its frenzied will to devour and merge all things, almost corrupted his senses.
Ultimately, it was only through the specific neutralizing effect of the god-slaying metal on this divine contamination that he was able to sever the connection and cleanse and remove most of the contamination from that body.
The cost was the consumption of a considerable amount of precious god-slaying metal, and it remains uncertain whether they have truly escaped the attention of that evil god.
"The God of Fusion..." Lin De murmured the title to himself, his eyes cold.
The very existence of this deity is a challenge to his concept of order and control.
This "divinely descended body" is both a dangerous hidden danger and an unprecedented research sample—to study the pinnacle of the Zedu civilization's biotechnology, and... the mysteries of the interaction between gods and the material world.
He even had a bold conjecture: Did the Zedu civilization conduct this experiment to create an ultimate vessel that could contain divinity, or even... control divinity?
The covetousness of the God of Fusion indirectly confirms the value of this vessel.
“Father,” Weiss, who had somehow slipped through the barrier (Lind had granted her access), silently approached the bedside and looked curiously at the sleeping emerald-haired girl, “When… will she wake up? Will she be hungry? Weiss, could you share some ‘snacks’ with her?”
She tilted her head and offered her own way of "caring".
She doesn't need your kind of 'snacks'.
Lin De said calmly, "Her 'food' may be different from what we understand."
He extended his finger, but the fingertip did not touch the girl's body; instead, it hovered above her forehead.
A wisp of extremely fine, highly purified life energy (originating from the [Activation Aura]), mixed with a trace of pure spiritual energy that had been rigorously filtered and contained no will, was slowly injected into the girl's body.
This is an experiment he has been conducting every now and then for the past two years, like giving a small charge to a depleted battery in an attempt to maintain its most basic activity and observe the reaction.
After the energy was injected, the girl's emerald green hair seemed to glow slightly for a moment, and a very faint trace of color appeared on her pale cheeks, but it quickly returned to normal.
She remained asleep, breathing steadily, showing no signs of waking up.
Lind withdrew his finger, unsurprised.
The "switch" of this body may not be in energy replenishment, but in other aspects—such as a specific command, a missing key, or... the need for stimulation from some extreme emotion?
Weiss stared wide-eyed at the scene, seemingly understanding but not quite.
Linde turned to look at Weiss:
“Take good care of her, Weiss. Her condition is related to a lot of important knowledge. Inform me immediately of any subtle changes through the necklace.”
"Yes! Weiss understands!"
Weiss nodded vigorously, puffing out her small chest as if she had received a glorious and great mission. "Weiss will take good care of Triss! She is Weiss's... sister!" She seemed to have finally found the right word to define her sleeping roommate.
Linde remained noncommittal.
He placed two equally special beings, both originating from non-human forces, together, perhaps with the intention of allowing them to observe, check, and even "learn" from each other.
Before leaving, Linde took one last look at the sleeping, green-haired little girl.
Zedu's legacy, a vessel of the gods, a shrunken little girl... these contradictory qualities are concentrated in one individual, making her like a beautifully packaged puzzle, waiting to be solved.
Linde, on the other hand, has enough patience and strength to wait for and push for that day to arrive.
He believed that when this "sister" truly woke up, the surprises (or troubles) she would bring him would be no less than those of Weiss.
The alloy door of the room slid shut silently, once again isolating this space from the outside world, leaving only two "children" of different shapes, both of whom are beyond the ordinary, and a strange atmosphere that lingers in the air, a mixture of coldness and vitality.
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