"Welcome to My Laboratory"

"Alright." Lan Fozi and the Demon Empress nodded. The two took several glass jars from their Storage Bracelets and placed the unconscious Evil Soul Masters into separate jars. Then the Evil Emperor drove over in a Soul Tool truck. They loaded the jars onto it, and the Evil Emperor drove the truck away from the scene with them.

Before long, two teams of Soul Masters from the Pingfan Alliance and the Aodu Chamber of Commerce arrived at the scene. The leaders of the two groups of Soul Masters and Soul Engineers were a Soul Sage and a seventh-rank Soul Engineer, respectively.

"How was it, brother? Did you find that youngster named Zandik?" the Soul Sage asked.

The seventh-rank Soul Engineer shook his head. He had monitored the entire route with his Soul Tool. "No. If the Xishui Alliance's Soul Masters wanted to capture them, there should have been a fight no matter what. But I found no traces of combat along the way, not even any lingering Soul Master Soul Power."

This seventh-rank Soul Engineer was from the Aodu Chamber of Commerce, the front operated by the Sun Moon Empire's military in Ming Capital. Its backer was Xu Tianyuan. "That young man named Zandik held an access permit from my young lady, so his background is no small matter. Since those Xishui Alliance Evil Soul Masters vanished together, we might as well assume that a Titled Douluo was protecting him. If he comes to the Underground Soul Fighting Arena again tomorrow, that will mean he is fine."

And indeed, just as that Soul Engineer had said, Kong Bo still came to compete the following afternoon. Skaven, the Xishui Alliance's representative at the Underground Soul Fighting Arena, made no response whatsoever. This proved that Kong Bo truly had a powerful expert backing him. As for the Evil Soul Masters who had gone to intercept Kong Bo, everyone tacitly agreed not to mention them.

At that moment, in the Pingfan Alliance's lounge, Ye Guyi watched Kong Bo fight in the arena as though she were speaking to someone. "Senior, you mean there is something strange about Zandik? Alright, this junior understands. The Evil Soul Masters who intercepted Zandik? I heard from several experts that they could not even find the bodies."

As for where those Evil Soul Masters were? Naturally, they were contributing to Kong Bo's research.

Yang Qing was a Soul Ancestor-level Evil Soul Master. His martial soul was the Bloodthirsty Demon Wolf, and he was an ordinary member of the Holy Spirit Cult. Under his superior's arrangements, he had been sent to the Holy Spirit Cult's branch in Ming Capital, where he served in the Xishui Alliance. He had been assigned as muscle under Skaven, the supervisor of the Underground Soul Fighting Arena. The last mission he received was to follow other Evil Soul Masters and intercept a young Soul Master named Zandik.

Then their group of Evil Soul Masters had tailed Zandik and a woman into a remote alley. What they saw next was a sight they would never forget for the rest of their lives. Nine Soul Rings had appeared around that woman. She was actually a Titled Douluo. It was the first time those Evil Soul Masters had ever encountered such a supreme expert, and then they had lost consciousness.

"Where... where am I? I'm still alive? That Titled Douluo actually spared me?" Yang Qing did not know how long he had been unconscious before he finally woke up. Once he did, he discovered that he had been bound and imprisoned inside a glass jar.

Yang Qing raised his head and saw Zandik, wearing a beaked mask, standing before his jar as though he were speaking to someone. Yang Qing saw not only Kong Bo, but also the other jars. Most of them were empty, but the contents of a small number of them made his scalp prickle. He saw that his Evil Soul Master teammates no longer had the bodies of Soul Masters. Parts of their bodies had been replaced with sections from soul beasts similar to their martial souls. For instance, one Soul Ancestor with a Bloodthirsty Mad Bear martial soul had had his fists replaced with bear paws.

Kong Bo was naturally speaking with Electrolux. "Elder Yi, it seems I took too big a step. Replacing body parts between humans and soul beasts cannot be done all at once. I can't replace everything at once; I have to take it step by step. It is just a pity that I had not yet used the Spirit Condenser to extract their spiritual power before they died. What a waste. Such a pity."

Electrolux answered within Kong Bo's mind, "You youngster are truly ruthless. You spent two and a half years watching Gundam just for this day, didn't you? Tsk, tsk. Now that you are the one holding the knife, your face does not change and your heart does not race."

"You flatter me, Elder Yi." Kong Bo took out an experimental report. "Elder Yi, look at the current report. The stronger a Soul Master's physical condition, the greater their tolerance for this kind of grafting. Those Soul Masters with bird or bat martial souls have lower tolerance than Soul Masters with bear or wolf martial souls."

At that moment, Kong Bo heard Yang Qing struggling inside the glass tank. Kong Bo smiled. "Elder Yi, look. He's awake."

Still smiling, Kong Bo removed the sound barrier around Yang Qing, and he immediately heard Yang Qing shout, "W-Where is this?"

"Esteemed sir, welcome to my laboratory. Welcome to my experiment," Kong Bo said calmly. "Although you wanted to intercept and kill me, I am someone who repays grievances with kindness. I have good news and bad news. Let us start with the good news: with my help, you will gain greater combat power."

Kong Bo pointed at a jar. The Soul Master inside no longer had hands; his hands had been replaced by bear paws, and his legs had also been replaced by bear legs. As he pointed at the jar, Kong Bo explained to Yang Qing, "In my eyes, so-called humans are merely sufficiently complex machines. If a certain part is removed and modified, the machine's performance can easily be greatly enhanced.

Since you Soul Masters pursue the ultimate in combat power, you can replace some unnecessary things and gain even greater combat power. Your flesh is too fragile. Why not replace it with stronger flesh?"

"No!" Even an Evil Soul Master like Yang Qing felt a chill run down his spine upon hearing Kong Bo's words. What did it mean to replace parts of a person with soul beast parts? He now saw that his own arms and legs had already taken on the appearance of a wolf's. This left Yang Qing both terrified and furious. What kind of madman was Kong Bo, to have modified him like this? "Y-You lunatic, you devil! Our Holy Spirit Cult will not let you go! We will not let you go!"

Kong Bo did not get angry at Yang Qing's curses. Instead, he tilted his head. "Oh my. Being called a devil and a lunatic by Evil Soul Masters... should I be happy? That is an affirmation of my research results."