Core Survival Gear

A message suddenly popped up on the light screen.

[Warning: An unknown echo exists within your soul]

An unknown echo?

Tsk, even the system couldn't figure it out. It seemed the original owner's situation really had been bizarre.

But Isolde soon shifted her attention to her skill list.

[Passive Skill: Witch's Mask]

[Current Status: Mutating... Mutation successful]

[Skill Type: Concealment / Deception]

[Skill Description: 1. You may transform into the appearance and class of someone you have devoured, concealing your original attributes, faction, and title. This appearance can cultivate skills, but cannot use skills above advanced rank. 2. When a target with lower intelligence than yours investigates you, they will automatically see your disguised identity.]

This disguise skill had arrived at just the right time.

She now possessed a BOSS identity. If she couldn't hide it, players would treat her like a wild monster and grind her on sight wherever she went.

This was practically the core skill of her new identity.

[Soul-Binding Thread] was her core basic attack skill. It could be used for simple attacks or restraints, making it extremely useful.

The following [Purifying Light] and [Weakness Mark] had both come from Meng Yinyin and Luo Qi. They were not especially powerful skills, but they could be used by her disguised identity or serve as minor skills.

Meanwhile, as a newly born major BOSS, she only had three active skills: [Exclusive Skill: Strangulation], [Exclusive Skill: Blood Feast Substitution], and [Exclusive Skill: Banquet Adjudication]. It was truly rather unimpressive.

What was more, the latter two skills had to be used within the Castle's range. They were practically dungeon mechanics.

Fortunately, her [Soul Thread] had a high upper limit. With a little cultivation or reconstruction using basic skills, she could create many new skills.

Besides her active skills, she also had two passive skills.

[Castle Authority]:

[Skill Description: 1. Through portraits and Faceless Attendants, you may sense all activity within and around the Castle. 2. You may alter the Castle however you wish. 3. You may invite other living beings to reside here, and the Castle will accept them unconditionally. 4. The Castle may occasionally express its emotions to you.]

[Home-Field Advantage]:

[Skill Description: The Castle has a low chance of helping its owner unlock new skills.]

Isolde stared at the last entry for two seconds, and her mood finally improved with genuine sincerity.

Now she was truly the Castle's rightful owner.

She had dreamed of starting out with a house of her own. She had never expected that dream to come true in such a roundabout way.

Isolde continued reading.

At the bottom of the dark crimson screen was a line of small text outlined in blood-red lines.

[Soul Contractor: Lia]

[Contract Status: Absolute Obedience]

Isolde stared at the line marked [Contract Status] and suddenly remembered that if both parties were bound by a contract, they could share attribute increases to a certain degree.

Now that she had become the Castle's owner and risen in status, Lia, as her contractor, might also benefit from a bit of the experience bonus.

But when she looked more closely, Isolde's expression faded.

Defense unchanged, agility unchanged, strength unchanged, intelligence unchanged.

Was that reasonable?

That... was also quite reasonable.

Isolde looked at Lia, her gaze falling on her thin, stiff frame.

If you think this book is good, please remember to add it to your bookshelf so you can find it next time.

If she were a natural life-form, her body would grow along with her. Her muscles, bones, and magical circuits would all be gradually adjusted by the leveling rules.

But Lia had been made.

Her skeleton, body, and soul had not grown naturally.

Isolde rested her chin on her hand thoughtfully, as if she had found a line of thought.

So Lia wasn't incapable of growing. Her method of growth was simply different from that of ordinary people.

Isolde had Lia step closer, then examined her carefully in the daylight from outside.

If Lia were regarded as a person, she was badly damaged. But if she were regarded as a weapon... she was the most suitable weapon imaginable.

She had loyalty, strength, and execution ability, and she could understand commands.

The only problem was that the original owner had clearly failed to maintain her properly after making her.

It was like obtaining a piece of heavy machinery capable of leveling mountains, only for its previous owner to make it serve tea and water every day without even bothering to change its oil.

What a waste. Such a terrible waste.

Fragments of memories surfaced in Isolde's mind.

A dim basement, a formation covered in blood-red lines, a silver box filled with ashes, and things resembling remnants of souls sealed inside tiny glass bottles.

The original owner had once crouched beside a pile of severed limbs, excitedly flipping through a black leather-bound book.

Isolde immediately went to the desk and began searching through the materials the original owner had carelessly scattered around.

This one wasn't it.

This one was about preserving rotten flesh.

This one was even more horrifying. It taught people how to implant embryos into insect eggs.

This one...

Halfway through flipping through them, Isolde's fingers suddenly stopped.

An old book covered in yellowed paper peeked halfway out from beneath a pile of parchment.

There was no title on the cover, only a dried eyeball nailed to it.

She reached out and picked it up. The eyeball immediately turned, as if confirming its owner.

The next second, the pages flipped open by themselves.

A pungent scent of cold ash rushed toward her, and Isolde saw the contents of the first page.

[Low-Tier Puppet-Making Manual]

[Creator: Isolde]

The contents were more complicated than she had imagined.

Making a Puppet was not as simple as picking up a few bones and stuffing some soul remnants inside.

First, one needed suitable soul remnants.

Ordinary souls were too complete. Their overly clear memories and emotions would cause them to backlash against their creator.

Soul remnants that were too fragmented, meanwhile, could not carry commands. Stuffing them inside would only create a twitching lump of rotten flesh.

The most suitable ones were extremely rare soul remnants mutated amid mass death, resentment, fear, and obsession.

They were broken, yet resilient enough.

They had no complete sense of self, yet retained certain powerful instincts.

Isolde's page-turning slowed.

She suddenly understood that the Faceless Attendants in the Castle did not count as truly successful Puppets at all.

They were merely the original owner's test subjects.

They could walk, carry trays, and execute simple commands.

They looked much like servants, but in truth they were merely disposable items crudely pieced together from soul remnants and chunks of corpses.

Lia was different.

Lia was the only Puppet capable of maintaining a stable form, possessing clear obedience logic, and independently judging simple situations.

In other words, among the original owner's pile of immoral research, Lia was the sole finished product.

Isolde looked up at her.

Lia still stood quietly.

She did not know that she was being analyzed as a "work," nor did she know that the young lady before her had already moved her from the category of "maid" to the list of "core survival gear."

Isolde closed the book and lightly tapped the cover with her fingertips.

A bodyguard who could block blades for her, move cabinets, beat people up, dispose of corpses, and even thoughtfully ask whether she needed a vomit basin naturally had to be upgraded properly.

Who would ever think their external equipment was too powerful?

No one.

Especially someone like her, whose strength had only just evolved from a chick into a chick capable of pecking people.

If you think this book is good, please remember to add it to your bookshelf so you can find it next time.

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