Brushing Off the Dust After the Deed Was Done

The dim underground space was terrifyingly silent. Annie slowly opened her eyes, and the patterns in the rock came clearly into view.

She felt cold beneath her, as though she were lying in a puddle.

"Li!"

She called out instinctively, but apart from the echo, there was no other sound.

She struggled to recall what had happened before she lost consciousness. It seemed that while she had been falling from high above, a rock had struck her and knocked her out.

As for why she was here, she did not remember a thing.

Just then, she sensed something strange. A dense surge of water vapor was drawing near, while a heavy force in the air seemed to pour into her chest. When the two forces converged, a familiar scent of mud emerged.

Her palm pressed against the ground without her meaning to, and something bizarre happened.

The hard stone instantly turned into a pool of clear water. After rippling a few times, the water became sludge.

"This..." Annie stared at her palm in shock. Since when had she gained such an ability? Uneasy, she tapped another stone.

In an instant, the stone turned into sludge.

"What's going on?"

Annie hurriedly backed away, but at that moment, countless wisps of dust and water vapor gathered and all rushed into her chest.

In the blink of an eye, she grew twice as tall. Her slender back gradually swelled, as though something new were about to grow from it. Two streams of air converged above her head and entwined with her snake hair, faintly taking the shape of a crown.

As the crown gradually formed, she suddenly became sensitive to the water and earth energy around her. The currents gathered, churned, and surged into her limbs and bones beyond her control, and she shot up another stretch in an instant.

"I can absorb water energy?"

The moment she murmured those words, she discovered that her mouth itched terribly. Her already fully developed teeth were actually growing again.

They became sharp and hard.

The bizarre transformation gave Annie quite a fright. In that brief moment, she had already grown three times taller and was nearly reaching the ceiling of the underground space, yet she was still growing uncontrollably.

Something must have happened while she had been unconscious.

She hurriedly looked around. As her body rose higher, her field of vision broadened as well.

She saw a skeleton frame with a belt hanging from it. The belt was tied full of frogs. They croaked wildly, trying to break free, but a red cord had bound them tight as iron.

Beside the frogs hung a small bottle filled with bright red **. Next to the bottle was a parchment letter.

Annie bent down and grabbed the parchment. Written neatly across the cover were the words: "For adorable Annie!"

Annie was somewhat bewildered. She recognized the handwriting. It belonged to Li Ziran.

She was especially careful, afraid that her enormous palm might tear the letter apart by accident. Slowly, she opened it.

"Stupid Nizi, when you wake up, do you feel like you've changed a lot? I need to apologize. I performed a little surgery on your chest again without getting your permission."

Annie pulled open the front of her clothes. A thin scar was faintly visible across her chest.

"Maybe you'll look at your wound. Don't worry, when I operate, I never leave complications behind. Oh, I should get to the important matter. Your heart was gone, so I gave you a new one. It should be able to gather swamp elements and similar powers. Right, the thing hanging from the rope beside you is Medusa, and the bottle contains my blood. Just dab it on your forehead, and you'll basically recover. That's all I can do. Oh, right, you might evolve toward becoming a Swamp Dragon in the future. You need a region rich in Water Element energy. The Wasteland isn't suitable for you.

If you wake up, keep heading south. There's a rainforest there, and you'll be able to grow quickly. That way, you might barely be able to protect your tribe.

Medusa really makes me drool with envy!

Oh, and one last important thing. Don't be so foolish around people anymore. It may be cute, but you won't live long that way!"

Annie looked at the end of the letter. She had wanted to find more, but unfortunately, only blank parchment remained.

She lowered her head to look at the Thumb Bottle full of blood, then at the belt full of frogs, and finally at the scar on her chest. "Am I cute?" she murmured.

As soon as she spoke, the confusion in her eyes had already vanished. She closed her eyes, and a smug curve gradually formed on her lips. "Hehe, our souls have been woven together, Li Ziran. Do you think you can get rid of me?"

Clearly, she had gained an ability Li Ziran had never foreseen.

Her body gave a slight shudder. Water Element and Earth Element energy boomed within her chest. Under that elemental impact, two bony protrusions on her back instantly burst free of the restraints of her flesh and became two soft green wings.

The instant the wings appeared, countless black-and-yellow currents rolled around them. In the blink of an eye, the wings hardened and developed intricate patterns. With a gentle flap, they directly whipped up a black-and-yellow tornado that scraped the space itself, opening crack after crack.

Drops of water appeared within those cracks, while soil compacted around them, forming a tiny independent space.

The space trembled lightly, and Annie vanished from where she stood. The belt on the skeleton frame and that bottle of blood vanished with her.

At that moment, Li Ziran knew nothing of the changes in the underground space, much less that a Derivative Space was being born. He was currently leaning against a ** Wasteland rock, resting.

"That girl should survive, right?"

Li Ziran was not entirely certain. Although the Dragon Heart would grant her great power, surviving in this world was not as simple as possessing strength. A large part of it required brains and luck.

A fourteen-year-old girl leading a group of Medusas just to stay alive—thinking about it alone made it no easy task.

"What a pity."

Li Ziran sighed inwardly. He and Annie had undergone Soul Weaving, each fusing with part of the other's soul and invisibly forging an emotional bond. Besides, Annie had a good figure. If she were properly trained, she might even make a useful assistant.

But the thought passed in a flash. Compared with having an assistant, the Medusas behind her were far more troublesome.

Such slaves, precious beyond measure, made every slave trader drool. With his little bit of ability, he simply could not keep them safe.

It was just a pity about those forty silver coins. After the surgery, he had searched the entire camp, yet he had not found the treasuries of the Cannon Slave Corps or the Thornflower Slave-Trading Corps.

As for corpses and the like, Karen had Sacrificed nearly all of them clean.

Even now, he still only had that measly single silver coin on hand.

It seemed Barbarona's debt of forty silver coins would have to be delayed for a while. But when Li Ziran looked at the belt full of frogs at his waist, he smiled again.

Seventy-two Fishmen, sixty Snake Women, thirteen Medusa corpses, and one chief ram.

Hehe, he had even found the belt he had buried the first time.

Most importantly, there was a completely addled Human Race fire mage. Hidden inside his body was a Magic Gland worth seven gold coins.

That was not all. In his underwear pocket was an entire Corpse Witch's set of organs. As long as he brought these things to the Undead Nest, his worth would immediately multiply dozens of times over.

Li Ziran had already made his plans. Not far ahead was the famed Madinger Town. The town was controlled by Centaurs, with roads extending in all directions and flourishing trade.

He would rest in town for a day and dispose of all the Snake Women and Fishmen. After earning some money, he would first replenish his supplies, especially magical potions. Several major surgeries in a row had nearly drained his stockpile dry.

Another important matter was upgrading his surgical tools. His spiritual power had advanced by leaps and bounds, allowing him to sense finer details within living bodies. That meant he could perform more complicated surgeries.

For example, extremely difficult blood replacement, or the more complex Organ Fusion methods of the Witch Doctor system.

All of those required professional equipment. The current set of surgical tools contained too little Mithril and simply could not hold much spiritual power.

Of course, those were merely small potatoes. The final destination of Li Ziran's journey this time was the Undead Nest.

He needed to dispose of all the various Corpse Witch organs in his possession. At the same time, the thirteen Medusas would yield the greatest profit only if sold to a Necromancer.

When he had modified the Corpse Dragon's teeth, Karen had already given him an undead initiation. Strictly speaking, he was now an Undead Apprentice.

He simply had never undergone systematic study and did not understand the various spells.

Li Ziran did not ask for much—only two spells.

The first was how to enter a Corpse Witch's body with his soul, allowing him to use the Corpse Witch to magically modify his own body. The second was the crafting method for the Necromancer's Rope. This had become a sore spot in his heart; nearly all his gains from the last two years had been scooped away by this spell.

"Hey, need a ride?"

An aged call yanked Li Ziran out of his planning. It was a Red Hoof Centaur leading a merchant caravan of roughly a hundred members. Barrels of rum were loaded upon the Centaurs' backs.

Even with the thick barrels sealing it away, it seemed as though one could still smell the intense fragrance of strong liquor.

"Of course. Are you headed to Mading'er?" Li Ziran smiled broadly, his hand unconsciously reaching toward his waist.

He was full now and did not feel like robbing a merchant caravan. But if they failed to appreciate his kindness, Li Ziran would not mind making his purse a little heavier.

Unfortunately, Li Ziran's wishful calculations had gone wrong. The Centaurs were honest to the extreme. After collecting the protection fee, they directly settled Li Ziran in the very center of the caravan.

The perimeter was entirely entrusted to sturdy Centaur throwers. With such a formation, even on the Wasteland, few dared to charge in.

With no business to do, Li Ziran could only gloomily admire the scenery of the Wasteland.

Along the way, the caravan continuously took in scattered travelers. When these people saw the horse caravan, they showed hardly any wariness. Clearly, this was not their first time riding with them.

One had to admire it. Mading'er Town's ability to gain a firm foothold in the Wasteland was absolutely inseparable from these rule-abiding Centaurs. The leader of this Centaur band was certainly no ordinary figure.