Neither Alik nor Thor could convince the other.
In the days that followed, Thor and Douglas began actively assisting Alik with his experiments.
Thor even stopped looking for trouble with Murich.
But to them, that seemed only natural. After all, the ones Murich had toyed with were just two Faceless Ones.
And one of them was still alive.
Why not let Thor vent his anger?
Alik planned to abandon his body, fuse his soul with an inactive Red Worm, and use a hybrid tissue from a Faceless One for its outer shell.
Although the Star Gate would take some Red Worms with it, the number of people they could bring from this world was limited. In the end, plenty of inactive Red Worms would still be left for Thor and the others.
Only after joining the experiments did Thor understand why Alik had agreed to Douglas's terms. Douglas was surprisingly well-versed in Faceless Ones, too.
With his modifications, the new Faceless One material could wrap around a Red Worm more effectively, concealing the abnormal aura of the soul inside.
What was more, Douglas had provided his own special Invisibility Witchcraft Array. Even Alik might fail to notice someone using it if he wasn't paying attention.
Douglas seemed to be skilled in all kinds of research.
Thor kept a low profile. With Douglas taking the lead, he was happy to coast along behind him while secretly focusing his efforts on the more important task of directly controlling the Red Worms.
Nearly a month later, the Migration Plan made another breakthrough. With Thor and Douglas on board, the Star Gate succeeded for the first time in sending out a being that combined a Wizard's soul, a Red Worm shell, and a Faceless One Protective Shield.
They even managed to retrieve it only