Waste Recycling

Puppets were not ordinary corpses.

Severed limbs could be stitched back on, bones could be joined, and flesh and skin could be patched up, but what truly determined a puppet's upper limit was the compatibility between its body, Soul Core, and remnant soul.

Low-tier puppets only needed to move and obey orders.

That was how Faceless Attendants came to be.

A form was pieced together from broken skeletons, then stuffed with a fragment of soul without self-awareness and restrained by a contract. Essentially, they were little different from moving furniture.

Lia was different. That meant the remnant soul used on her at the beginning had been of very high quality.

Unfortunately, her original owner had ruined her.

The more Isolde thought about it, the tighter her frown became.

If she only wanted to give Lia a new eye, ordinary materials would do well enough.

Glass eyes, undead eyes, animal eyeballs, even the lenses of low-tier magical creatures could all be fitted in.

As long as it was secured with Soul Threads and ringed with a perception spell formula, Lia would be able to "see."

But such things could only be considered patches.

Even after being patched up, she would still be damaged.

To truly upgrade Lia, Isolde would have to make her a better body or find her original eye.

"The materials need to be top-grade, and the Soul Core will need to be nurtured slowly," Isolde murmured.

There was no rushing this.

The spoils she had now were only enough to mend Lia's bones, stabilize her remnant soul, and smooth out her limbs.

She was still far from being able to remake her body.

She needed high-tier bone materials, stable soul materials, and a core capable of housing a contract.

Ideally, she would also need an uncorrupted high-grade remnant soul to strengthen Lia's Soul Core.

At that thought, Isolde abruptly stopped.

Wait.

High-tier bone materials?

She raised her head. A crow cawed outside the window, as though someone were reminding her of something in the night.

Isolde had nearly forgotten.

Wasn't that huge mass of Valen's body a ready-made treasure?

To piece himself into that Corpse Giant Serpent, Valen had swallowed who knew how many players, passersby, monsters, and animals.

The bones had been assembled, the organs stitched together, and even the magic pathways forcibly piled into place.

The thing was disgusting-looking, sure.

But from a materials standpoint, it was practically a breathing heap of high-grade recyclable trash.

Now that it was no longer breathing, it would be even easier to recycle.

Isolde clapped her hands excitedly.

She had been so focused on sorting through the trash scraps left by those three players that she had nearly forgotten the biggest loot bag in the Banquet Hall.

That would not do. One had to be thrifty in life, and a BOSS had to know how to make use of waste.

Isolde left the room and followed the corridor toward the Banquet Hall.

The Castle had already fallen quiet.

The candles on the walls lit themselves for her, blue flames swaying gently against their wicks.

The bloodstains on the floor were gradually absorbed by the formation patterns, as if the Castle were swallowing them back into its belly.

When she reached the entrance to the Banquet Hall, the heavy doors silently opened.

Valen's enormous corpse was still sprawled where it had fallen.

The Corpse Giant Serpent's body took up nearly half the Banquet Hall. Broken vertebrae lay piled across the floor, its flesh blackened and rotten, its stitches split apart one by one.

After the Silver Core had been removed, a large section around its spine had caved in, like a hollowed-out mountain of corpses.

Standing in the doorway, Isolde did not particularly want to go inside.

She knew it was material, but the sight really did ruin one's appetite.

Fortunately, she had already thrown up yesterday.

Isolde edged closer, Soul Threads dangling from her fingertips as she prepared to first rummage through Valen's corpse for anything usable.

But the moment the Soul Threads touched the corpse, the Castle's formation patterns beneath her feet suddenly lit up.

Dark red light spread across the floor tiles, coiling around Valen's remains in layer after layer.

A system prompt appeared.

[Former master's remains detected]

[Target: Valen Silvien]

[Identity: Previous Castle Master / Corpse Stitching Construct / Mutated Noble]

[Current authority detected: Castle Master Isolde]

[Activate Castle Master skill: Former Master's Corpse Dismantling?]

Isolde paused.

There was something this good too?

She had originally planned to dismantle the corpse by hand, but the Castle came with one-click dismantling.

This level of service was far more user-friendly than certain unscrupulous companies.

She did not confirm immediately, instead reading further.

[Dismantling details: The former master's remains may be dismantled into usable materials]

[Possible yields: Corpse Skeleton materials, stitched flesh, mutated organs, residual contract threads, corrupted magic crystals, noble bloodline remnants]

[Special notice: Because the former master controlled the Castle for an extended period, the remains contain part of the Castle's power and may be used as Castle enhancement material]

[Risk notice: The former master's lingering resentment may be released during dismantling]

[Continue?]

Isolde looked at the words "former master's lingering resentment," and the corner of her mouth twitched slightly.

She had dared to stab Valen while he was alive. Why would she fear a little resentment after he was dead?

Yes.

The next second, the entire Banquet Hall shook violently.

The formation patterns on the floor crawled over Valen's remains like living things. Dark red rays burrowed into the gaps in his bones, his flesh, and his broken stitching.

Valen's massive body began to collapse, as though the Castle were taking it apart bit by bit.

Bone went with bone, flesh went with flesh.

The organs were stripped away, the stitching threads pulled free, and the residual magic compressed into dark crystals.

The entire process was disturbingly clean.

Isolde stood to the side and watched the mountain of corpses be dismantled into neatly sorted piles of materials, her mood suddenly improving immensely.

Now this was more like it.

A big BOSS was supposed to drop equipment after dying.

Any BOSS that did not drop equipment was being disrespectful to players and fellow professionals alike!

Suddenly, a low hiss came from deep within Valen's corpse.

A twisted human face rose from the black blood.

That face belonged to Valen.

Or rather, it belonged to the last scrap of obsession he had left inside his corpse.

"Isolde..."

His voice was hoarse and filled with venomous hatred.

"You... ungrateful thing..."

Isolde lifted her eyes to look at him.

"Even dead, you still love lecturing people."

With a hook of her fingertip, several Soul Threads pierced straight through the fragmented face.

Isolde's expression remained calm, and her tone even carried a hint of disgust.

"You disgusted people while you were alive, and now you pop up like an ad after death. Your dungeon experience really deserves a one-star review."

The Soul Threads suddenly tightened. The remnant face was torn into several pieces, then swallowed by the Castle's formation patterns.

[Former master's lingering resentment cleared]

[Former Master's Corpse Dismantling continues]

Valen's final trace of sound vanished completely, and the Banquet Hall fell silent again.

A moment later, system prompts appeared one after another.

[Dismantling complete]

[Obtained: High-tier Corpse Skeleton materials ×36]

[Obtained: Stitched flesh chunks ×24]

[Obtained: Mutated organs ×7]

[Obtained: Residual contract threads ×12]

[Obtained: Corrupted magic crystals ×9]

[Obtained: Noble bloodline remnants ×3]

[Obtained: Castle Core Fragment ×1]

[Obtained: Former Master's Spinal Bone Fragment ×1]

Isolde's gaze settled on the final two items. They looked extremely valuable.

She stepped closer and found a pale section of spine lying quietly in the middle of the pile of materials.

The bone was about half the length of an ordinary person's body. Dark red patterns wound across its surface, and a trace of silver-white light still lingered in its cracks.

It had been the part of Valen's body closest to the Silver Core.

Although she had already dug out the core, this section of spine still retained a powerful load-bearing capacity.