Miraculous Forger

"Oh, right. While you're at it, help me find someone."

"Who?"

"His name is Kalpas, though I don't know if he still goes by that name. Male, and I don't know where he lives. All I know is that he helped a village wipe out some Honkai beasts, but the villagers believed drinking his blood could ward off Honkai, so they tied him to a pillar. Alright, go find him."

"???" Executive No. 1 was completely dumbfounded.

You knew everything he'd been through, but not where he lived? Were you messing with him?

"Enough. Go find him, or I'll kill you." Chen Li patted the man on the shoulder.

Chen Li had originally planned to threaten him with his wife and children, but he felt that someone like this probably did not care about such things and would care more about his own life instead.

"Yes, Boss!" Executive No. 1 left with a bitter expression.

So what if Chen Li was messing with him? All he could do now was make sure Chen Li had fun doing it.

Considering this might be a major undertaking, he decided to rope in a few rival Moth Chasing Flame executives before beginning the search.

The more people, the greater the strength.

And there was no way he was going to suffer alone!

"Done!" Watching Executive No. 1 leave, Chen Li was thoroughly satisfied.

Although Chen Li did not entirely agree with the idea of settling internal affairs before confronting external threats, since he had resolved to turn the tide of the Previous Civilization's Honkai apocalypse and earn more Miracle Power, he absolutely could not allow these pieces of garbage in high places to enjoy the fruits of his victory!

Chen Li had seen far too many stories where the Hero defeated the Demon King, only for humanity to destroy itself through infighting afterward.

If these parasites were not cleared out, Chen Li would rather watch the world be destroyed.

Chen Li named it the Moth Chasing Flame Paradise Project.

And now, he just had to wait for the corrupt officials to jump out on their own.

"I spent ten Longevity Pills to secure enough laboratory funding for you from those greedy Moth Chasing Flame executives. You'd better not disappoint me, Dr. Mobius." Chen Li returned to Mobius's laboratory with a sorrowful expression.

"That much?" Mobius was startled.

Although Mobius had researched the Longevity Pills and discovered that they merely extended one's lifespan by preventing change, causing her to discard them like garbage, she still had to admit that their effects were remarkably good.

"Note that I'm not talking solely about this quarter's laboratory budget. So if your lab ever goes over budget or runs short in any quarter, come find me," Chen Li said.

"...Thank you." Though she was not sure whether she had accidentally sold herself in her deal with Chen Li, what Chen Li was doing was indeed helping Mobius.

"You're welcome."

"Then, my scalpel..."

"Go ahead. What kind of scalpel do you want?" Chen Li asked.

Mobius's commission could also bring him benefits, and Chen Li had no intention of passing it up.

Mobius might be poor, but she still had herself.

"First, it has to be sharp enough to cut through any experimental material."

"No problem."

The Sharpness trait was easy enough to acquire.

"Second, it should preferably be able to stimulate an experimental subject's potential."

"I'll see what I can do."

"It needs to preserve freshness too."

"That sounds a little strange, but no problem."

"And make every experiment conducted with this scalpel succeed without fail?"

"..."

"It would be even better if it could allow experimental subjects to evolve infinitely!"

"..."

"Why did you stop talking?"

"It's not like your requirements are impossible to fulfill."

"Really?" Mobius found it hard to believe.

She knew exactly how demanding her requirements were.

Even that was possible?

"I'll definitely make it for you in ten years," Chen Li promised.

"Ten years? Are you joking?"

"You were the one joking with me first, weren't you?"

"Give me a feasible option," Mobius said after a moment of silence.

"It's not actually impossible to make. The main issue is that I don't have enough forging materials. You really can wait. But I can forge you a half-finished artifact first, then add the remaining functions later," Chen Li said.

"How many of those requirements can be done right now?"

"Sharpness, potential stimulation, and preservation."

"Then those three. Do I need to specially prepare anything?" Mobius nodded.

"No need. I'll prepare everything myself," Chen Li said.

"Really no need?" For some reason, Mobius suddenly began to feel inexplicably uneasy.

This didn't match the usual pattern of her transactions with Chen Li at all.

"Really no need, because you no longer have anything that can serve as bargaining chips in a deal with me." Chen Li left Mobius with a meaningful smile, then turned and walked away.

"What's going on? Explain yourself."

"Just kidding. Where did Elysia go?" Chen Li asked.

"She went to play with little Gretel. Are you going too?"

"Lend me a laboratory. Also, go tell Elysia to stop playing for now and let Gretel recover some mood points first. I'm going to forge a wondrous artifact for you—I'll be right back! It's my turn to keep Gretel company." Chen Li waved grandly and strode forward.

Warm Wine Beheading Hua Xiong · Gretel Edition.

"???"

"All unexpected factors must be kept in your own hands. That is the key to saving the world."

One item after another was tossed by Chen Li into the Miraculous Forging Platform. Then, countless Source Text characters emerged one by one under the stimulation of Miracle Fire.

Sharpness, stimulation, potential, and... forever.

These four attributes were the components Chen Li intended to use to forge Mobius's scalpel. Other than the last attribute, they all came from demonic relics.

Preservation and forever could theoretically be considered equivalent.

Houraisan Kaguya was so useful.jpg

Scalpel: Forge a miraculous scalpel with numerous functions for Mobius.

Posted by: Mobius

Reward: 10–150 Crystals

Risk: Low–Extremely High

This was the commission interface after Mobius had listed all her requirements.

Who knew what Mobius might do with this scalpel?

Chen Li really had to keep Mobius under control now.

After Chen Li reduced its functions to three, the maximum reward dropped from 150 to 50, and the risk fell from Extremely High to High—within a range Chen Li could accept.

Time gradually passed, and the scalpel Mobius wanted slowly took shape beneath Chen Li's hands.

Save Your Life 3000: Even if King Yama wants you dead by the third watch, it can keep you alive until the fifth!

Effect: When this scalpel is used in surgery, no matter how severe the patient's injuries are, their vital signs will be fixed at the state they were in before the operation began, until the surgery is complete.

At the same time, usable factors such as the patient's will to live, Life Force intensity, physical strength, and mental resilience can be converted into a certain number of potential points, developing in the direction the patient desires. If the patient has lost consciousness, the scalpel's user decides the direction of development.

PS: This is a kind scalpel.

Extracting attributes for this wondrous artifact consumed 4 Crystals, enhancing attributes consumed 7 Crystals, and increasing wondrous artifact capacity consumed 4 Crystals.

A total of 15 Crystals were consumed. Profession EXP +15.

Most of the increased attribute brightness was invested into the Potential attribute.

"Somehow, even though this scalpel's functions are almost exactly the same as what I originally envisioned, it feels like it's completely different from what Mobius wanted?" Chen Li scratched his head as he picked up the Soul Steel scalpel from the forging platform.

Whatever. No matter what kind of vibe this wondrous artifact had, as long as the effects were the same, it was fine.

Mobius wouldn't be able to tell anyway.

Crystals +50

"Mobius, you really didn't disappoint me. I, Chen Li, hereby declare you, Mobius, the strongest!" Chen Li gave Mobius a thumbs-up.

"What do you mean?" Mobius asked in confusion.

"I'm just reflecting on how technical professionals like you really are the most worthy of investment," Chen Li said.

Once again, Chen Li deeply understood what it meant for technology to be the primary productive force.

The acquisition of Miracle Power was related to the strength of wondrous artifacts, but more importantly, to the scale of miracles their holders could create.

Being able to leverage 15 Crystals into an income of 50 Crystals proved that Mobius truly was someone suited to creating miracles.

But then again, miracles had no distinction between positive and negative.

The more capable Mobius was of creating miracles, the more closely Chen Li had to watch her, lest Mobius wreck the Previous Civilization.

Mobius did have bottom lines, but not many.

"So you mean I'm not worth investing in?" Elysia's somewhat aggrieved voice reached Chen Li's ears.

"Whoa, a ghost." Chen Li jumped in fright. Only when he turned his head did he see Elysia staring straight at him.

"..."

"But you can't put it that way. No matter how powerful Mobius's experimental results are, don't they still need you all to use them?" Chen Li hurriedly said.

"It feels like your explanation has no sincerity at all."

"Ahem, that's not important. What matters is whether Gretel's mood meter has filled back up. I'm going to go play with her." Chen Li changed the subject to one Elysia might be interested in.

Chen Li wasn't lying, either.

As for the greatest miracle this world could bring about, aside from defeating Honkai, Chen Li could think of nothing else.

But defeating Honkai required crystals as well.

Chen Li had a Herrscher of the Void material card that could extract from her the traits Space, Apostle of God, Herrscher, Honkai energy, or the complete Herrscher of the Void.

The most important among them was clearly the fairly bright Honkai trait.

With that trait, as long as Chen Li added another trait such as Control, Defeat, or Kill, he could create an artifact meant to defeat Honkai.

But if he wanted to reduce the cost of defeating Honkai, the traits needed to be brighter.

Just as there were differences even between traits that both guaranteed a hit.

So Chen Li's most important task right now was saving up crystals.

That was how defeating Honkai worked: Moth Chasing Flame only needed to charge forward, while Chen Li had much more to consider.

And once the artifact was created, of course Chen Li would not be the one using it.

Chen Li only needed to sit back and wait for the crystals to come in.