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Amberser looked at Isabel, who was trembling with fear, and originally wanted to praise her a couple of times, but estimated that opening his mouth would be enough to scare her into fainting.
She hadn't always had this attitude before.
Heh, such a face-reading human.
After waving Isabel away, allowing her to escape the laboratory as if it was her salvation, Amberser solemnly placed two bottles of Living Mercury Solution on the experiment table.
Soundproof barrier, detection prevention barrier, prophecy spell counteraction... A series of spells were cast, and the laboratory was completely sealed off by Amberser, not even air could flow.
Only a lich like him could stand it, as living people would suffocate in there.
Feeling that everything was ready, Amberser finally opened one bottle of Living Mercury Solution.
The one that cost five hundred Gold Coins.
A bottle the size of a human head, filled to the brim, a pity that it was diluted with real mercury.
Mercury, not to say that it's worthless, but compared to the Living Mercury inside, it's indeed a cheap substitute.
Using various tools to separate out the mercury, Amberser managed to obtain a piece of Living Mercury barely larger than a fist, and furthermore, it was Living Mercury that had completely lost its vitality.
"Truly cutthroat, not a single bit of the real stuff in this five hundred Gold Coin bottle."
But now, what Amberser needed was a corpse.
Stretching out a finger, magical power coalesced between his fingertips and then sprinkled down like a faint glow onto the lifeless blob of mercury solution.
Necromancy Spell: Corpse Manipulation.
Standard casting gestures, perfect magical structure—as a lich of Legendary Rank, even the corpse of a Giant Dragon had to blink under the spell cast by Amberser.
However, the blob of mercury solution had no reaction whatsoever.
The Corpse Manipulation Spell fell upon the substance, sparking into a burst of light, with the magical energy dissipating without a trace.
"Fuck! Magic Resistance?! Is it that outrageous?!"
Amberser had considered many possibilities for failure, even if the mercury solution couldn't be classified as a corpse, that would have been acceptable. Magic Resistance, however, was completely unexpected.
"Have they lost their minds, what on earth are those maniacs from Alchemy City trying to create?!"
The creation of new life was already a preposterous proposition, but Alchemy City had zealously chased after it for hundreds of years, an obsession Amberser could somewhat comprehend.
But to create some sort of Mercury Slime with strong Magic Resistance, had their brains been kissed by the Goblin God?
Magic Resistance is an extremely rare trait, found in certain naturally noble races like the High Elves, whom Amberser despised with a passion—they were born with formidable Magic Resistance, and most spells, especially charm types, simply bounced off them.
The Dragon Race was the same; unless the magic was of Legendary Rank, it was very difficult to penetrate the defense offered by Dragon Scales. The most widely known dragon-slaying magic involved setting up a self-detonating Explosion Spell, to detonate inside a Giant Dragon once it swallowed you, shattering its internal organs. But that trick became too common, and even the inherited memories of dragons included this tidbit: "Humans, can't be eaten raw!" Dragons would thoroughly roast a human with dragon flame before consuming.
Returning to the main point, Magic Resistance is a very rare trait, and Slimes naturally lacked it. It must have been the lunatics of Alchemy City who had managed to confer the trait by some unfathomable method.
"Their initial aim certainly wasn't to create a lowly creature like a Slime. After they failed, they then falsely claimed it in an attempt to cover up their real intentions. Are they sick in the head, or do they want to commit sacrilege against the Deity again, as if the seven sh*t-like High Towers weren't enough and they wanted more?"
Amberser felt as though he had unintentionally gotten entangled in the sordid affair between Alchemy City and the God of Alchemy. If you're a Deity, just strike them dead already, he thought. Instead, you mock them for hundreds of years, as if afraid of not raising a nemesis capable of deicide.
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Indeed, the thoughts of deities are not something mortals can fathom.
Despite his cursing, Amberser wouldn't call it quits. He had spent several thousand Gold Coins, after all—he couldn't just let that go to waste.
Several more magic spells were cast, and without exception, all were neutralized by the Magic Resistance of the mercury solution. However, Amberser also found out that this thing's Magic Resistance wasn't as terrifyingly strong as that of a Giant Dragon. With the effects of his Legendary aura, he was still able to successfully control the corpse of the Mercury Slime.
After all, he was Legendary, and even if Amberser was a bit sloppy, the enhancement effect on magic was still there. By using the power of Legendary, he could break through the Magic Resistance of the Mercury Slime.
But the magic used for Corpse Manipulation felt extremely awkward; this thing was just a pool of mercury. And, for some unknown reasons, the Alchemy Association had tinkered with it, leaving it without any organs typical of a regular Slime. To Amberser, it was something completely foreign; he even struggled to control the rudimentary movement of the Mercury Slime.
After further inspection, Amberser came to a conclusion.
This Mercury Slime was a thorough failure; what they had created was a deformed, soulless husk. It was less of a creature and more of a corpse that hadn't completely died after its soul was extracted.
No, even that description wasn't sufficient.
It's like a machine missing many parts, and on top of that, it seemed to have been shipped without an operating system, leaving only the mount points for a motherboard inside, without a trace of the actual motherboard.
Therefore, these Mercury Slimes produced had no response except for the biological instinct to consume metal. And due to the lack of internal organs, they couldn't survive long even with regular feeding, only to die slowly.
It's a pity that these things had no souls; otherwise, they would have been mass-produced "tormented souls." Liches absolutely adored such things. In the Undead world, these tormented souls were the real hard currency, even more valuable than Gold Coins.
"Pity my Pseudo-Soul is also a fake with no soul. It lacks the soul property of generating malice after being tormented. Otherwise, it could have been a path to wealth."
Amberser was still pondering how to make money from this thing. If all else failed, he had to at least restore the Living Mercury's metal devouring effects. Otherwise, how would he explain it to Headless Bro, since he already took the deposit? There was no way he could refund it.
After half a day's research, Amberser reached a conclusion. He understood too little about Slimes, and although several ideas for modification swirled in his head, he couldn't deduce them further.
He didn't have many materials on hand and couldn't afford to waste any.
"I need to look up some information first."
Amberser flipped open the Necromancy Codex and accessed their Lich chat group, typing in the following message:
[Diga Ultraman: Dear seniors, does anyone have a good understanding of Slimes? I have some questions and need some advice.]
[Crown of the Headless Knight: Kid, are you trying to scam me with a fake?]
Amberser: ...
How did he see through the problem with just one sentence? The grand Headless Knight, an Undead with no head, was too clever by half—shame on your race!
Having underestimated the Headless Bro's sensitivity to his secret stash, Amberser could only answer honestly.
[Diga Ultraman: I'm not scamming. I'm trying to fulfill an order. Alchemy City is having some serious financial trouble and prices are skyrocketing.]
Amberser shared what he had seen and heard, but he kept the part about selling fake drafts a secret. He just mentioned that they temporarily could not get the goods, so he was considering how to replicate the Mercury Slime on his own.
To his surprise, after reading Amberser's tale, the Headless Knight responded with a commanding reply: [Isn't it just a matter of paying more? I'll pay! Speed is what matters most!]
Amberser was stunned by this boastful proclamation.
Headless Bro, just how much have you squirreled away for your secret funds?!
Amberser even began to consider whether he should find himself a Bone Dragon to be a kept man for.
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