Chapter 776: The Horrifying Acrobatics of the Disaster Splicer
March 21st, early morning.
Ziggurat, outside Leipzig.
Albert Lore scratched his messy hair, took his water cup, yawned, and walked out of the laboratory.
Because the lab was quite cool, he wore a thick woolen robe even in the summer. The dark color was simply because it was more resistant to stains, so even if it got stained with blood or oil from cooking, it wouldn't be too noticeable.
Ever since he had a complete falling out with the military, Albert no longer stayed in the Star Antimony Laboratory in Lionheart City. He packed up his things and returned to the Spirit Tower.
Once he stopped cooperating with the royal alchemists who had to write a report and wait for approval after each round of experiments and hold regular meetings of more than two hours twice a week, Albert suddenly felt like he was alive again.
——As expected, it has to be the Ziggurat! Home is still the best!
In the Ziggurat, people walked along the street without even glancing at each other, without even paying attention to each other. It wasn't like in Lionheart City, where everyone would chat him up and say hello, yet he didn't know anyone. He felt tired when he started talking, but if he didn't, people would call him arrogant.
There was no one here to manage his schedule; he could go to bed and wake up whenever he wanted. He didn't have to force himself to attend morning meetings; he could just get his food and eat it in the lab next to the corpses, instead of having to worry about missing meals if he missed them.
He could write his lab notes freely, using characters that only he could understand, because he didn't need to turn in a lab report. He didn't need to write normal characters stroke by stroke, nor did he need to use those long-winded and formal terms - after all, he had only just reached the fourth energy level at the age of twenty and had never learned those terms.
I don’t know where those alchemists got these rules from… Clearly, a long time ago, those alchemists still inherited a set of terminology.
...Of course, it may be because of this historical background that the royal alchemists are particularly concerned about "unified terminology and behavioral norms."
Perhaps the alchemist was accustomed to this kind of order... but he wasn't a true alchemist after all, merely a "disaster splicer" with a modicum of alchemy under his belt. With an owl-like sleep schedule, he forced himself to wake up at the same normal pace as the other alchemists. He already felt like he was on the verge of sudden death... and the information he gained during the promotion ceremony gave him the final push.
"It's strange. I'm sleeping less, but I don't feel as sleepy..."
Albert sighed, walked to the faucets that were everywhere in the corridor, turned on the tap and filled a cup with fluorescent green potion. While waiting for the potion to be filled, he took off his glasses and wiped them with his sleeve.
——That is “Compound Mixture No. 1”.
Using the knowledge of alchemy, potions, and necromancy, the Ziggurat concocted three compound potions: green, red, and yellow.
The exact formula was kept secret, and the students all knew it was probably not a good thing, so it was best not to ask... Anyway, the effect was strong enough.
The effect of "No. 1" is to dispel fatigue, invigorate the spirit, and clear the brain after an all-nighter. The downside is that your tongue will glow for a while after drinking it.
Albert drank it all with a chug, then turned on the second tap and poured a cup of blood-red potion, which looked a little lighter because it was mixed with some residual fluorescent green potion.
This is "No. 2", and its effects are to protect internal organs, prevent sudden death, repair joint injuries and replenish strength.
After drinking these two glasses of "water", Albert patted his belly uncomfortably.
——I was quite hungry originally, but now I feel like I’m full.
"Senior. Good morning."
At this moment, a light and somewhat hoarse voice sounded.
That was Aurora's voice.
Albert immediately figured it out, so he turned around and asked, “Are you awake, Aurora?”
The girl behind him had long, soft, platinum-blonde hair. Her already small face was mostly obscured by her hair, making it look like her head was only a tiny bit.
Her delicate, doll-like face was expressionless, like a corpse—it was this lifeless beauty that made Albert's heart beat.
She is now the youngest fourth-level necromancer in Xingti - with the joint efforts of Albert and their mentor, she has once again broken the record set by Albert.
This beautiful girl, who looked like a princess, was not wearing a beautiful long or short skirt, but was strolling around the Tongling Tower campus in a purple pajamas.
"Not asleep."
Aurora answered briefly, standing beside Albert and taking a glass of "Number Three".
Her speech was always strange and incoherent. Their mentor, Fernando Brunzwick Jr., could always understand Aurora, but Albert always had to ask "what" in confusion before he could get detailed explanations.
When Albert left, he considered that Aurora would need someone to take care of her, otherwise such a naive girl might be deceived. So after asking Aurora's personal opinion, he transferred Aurora's file back to the Ziggurat.
Also brought along was the petrified "corpse" of his mentor, Fernando Brunzwick Jr.
But it's strange.
After the mentor got into trouble, although Aurora still spoke incoherently, Albert felt that he seemed to be able to understand Aurora's words slowly.
“…Number three?”
Albert looked at Aurora with some doubt.
Potion No. 3's effect was to urgently replenish mana from the Dusk Path and Earth attributes—the most orthodox way to replenish mana was through dreaming. Temporary mana replenishment required the use of power fragments from the corresponding attributes and paths in the material world.
The extraordinary creatures that meet the requirements of the dusk path and the earth attribute all have one common characteristic.
——They are all more or less related to the undead.
Therefore, Potion No. 3 is also known as "bone tea" or "bone soup" among students. While it's unknown how this fishy, muddy potion is made, it's certain that its ingredients contain familiar, fresh undead. One theory is that the remains of the discarded undead were likely used to make Potion No. 3.
Even Albert would try not to drink it if he could avoid it.
Aurora drank the muddy potion without changing her expression - but her already cold face seemed to turn even paler for a moment.
When she raised her head to drink the medicine, Albert's expression changed slightly.
Because he was taller, from this angle he could clearly see through the cuffs that Aurora was not wearing any underwear under her nightgown.
...What should I do? Should I remind her?
But that would be like saying I've already seen it, wouldn't that be impolite...
Albert's thoughts were in a state of flux.
He finally made up his mind - the mentor who could protect them is no longer here, I have to take good care of Aurora.
"Um, Aurora..."
Albert coughed lightly and reminded: “Clothes.”
"?"
Aurora glanced back at him silently, her eyes full of confusion.
"I mean...underwear."
Albert reminded.
"oh."
Aurora suddenly understood what Albert meant.
And she replied briefly: "It's okay."
——How can this be okay?!
Albert scratched his already messy hair in annoyance.
I hated myself for not being her senior, for not being able to take her away to my bedroom and talk to her in detail about how "this kind of thing doesn't exist, it's okay"...
But Albert wasn't very good at talking. Just thinking about this kind of topic made him feel a huge pressure—let alone touching on private topics, he even didn't dare to talk to Aurora normally. He was afraid that she would suddenly bring up a topic that he couldn't answer at the moment.
Seeing Albert like this, Aurora's mouth corners slightly raised for a moment.
"I'm not stupid."
She suddenly spoke and said softly, "Thank you."
"……You're welcome?"
Albert was a little confused.
He could sense that Aurora meant, "Don't worry about it, I have my own ideas, but thank you anyway."
But he looked at Aurora's sleeves that didn't even reach her elbows, thought for a moment, and took off his robe and put it on Aurora.
Albert said seriously: “It’s cold on the way back…”
But he actually had another thought in his mind - he hoped that Aurora would not be exposed to others.
Even in the Ziggurat, people generally didn't even look at anyone passing by. Let alone someone wearing a thin nightgown, even if they were walking around naked, they would just take a curious glance and then leave as usual... But Albert still had this thought.
Even though he felt a little embarrassed just to give the robe to Aurora—after all, he hadn't washed it for a week because he was busy with experiments, and now it was full of the smell of food and corpses...
But Aurora didn't despise it. Instead, she reached out and tightened the robe that hung down to her calves, wrapping herself in it.
She looked at Albert with her empty eyes and tilted her head to think about it.
So Aurora twisted her head off and handed it to Albert.
"……Um?"
Albert took the head hesitantly, holding the bottom with one hand and subconsciously combing the smooth hair with his fingers with the other hand: "Why... do you want me to wash your hair?"
That's fine. He hasn't washed the hair of other Disaster Splicers yet.
"I want to see you do an experiment."
Aurora in his arms tilted her head back and answered.
——But you want me to go back. So I twisted my head off to accompany you, and my body went back first.
Albert quickly understood what Aurora meant and suddenly couldn't hold it anymore.
"It's not that I absolutely want you to go back... If you don't have eyes, how are you supposed to walk back? Just relying on your senses? Wouldn't it be boring for you to go back then?"
He somewhat helplessly inserted Aurora's head back in, patted it to make it firmer, and said, "If you want to see the experiment, just come with me."
"oh."
Aurora responded with a bit of disappointment and followed Albert closely.
"Well, I want to wash your hair."
She suddenly blurted out a sentence.
"No, I can wash it myself..."
Albert sighed. But seeing that his junior sister was obviously disappointed, he turned his head to the right and unscrewed it, then handed it to Aurora: "If you really want it, play with it first."
Although he valued his smart brain, if it was Aurora, he would be willing to hand over his head.
"oh!"
Aurora happily took Albert's head, held it in her arms and stroked it affectionately.
——This is a terrifying acrobatic feat that can only be accomplished by two "Misfortune Splicers".
When Albert felt the softness of Aurora's chest personally, his expression suddenly changed again.
Just as Albert was thinking about how to remind her tactfully and politely, Aurora, who was usually taciturn, took the initiative to speak: "I watched the news. Two days ago."
"Ah, tell me about it then. I've been busy with my latest project and haven't watched the news in a few days."
Albert said casually: “But the news from two days ago should be called old news…”
"The king is dead, murdered by the Red Army."
Aurora continued.
"……What?"
Albert was stunned for a moment.
(End of this chapter)
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