Shino turned around and beheld a voluptuous, alluring female vampire standing behind him.
"Shar?"
Lilith's gaze darted to the newcomer, and she quickly hid behind Shino, eyes wide with caution.
"Who's this beautiful lady?"
"Beautiful lady?"
Lilith sprang forward, seizing Shino's ear. "What do you mean? I'm your master! Why don't you call me beautiful lady?"
"I'm your master? You called her beautiful lady even though you don't even know who she is?!"
Shino winced, trying to escape her grasp. "Hey, hey, Lilith, cut it out!"
"Lilith?"
"You should call me Master. You're my familiar; you can't just shout my name!"
"Honestly, if it weren't for the fact that you saved me, I would have already…"
Shar observed the playful exchange, her expression unreadable.
"Lilith, the True Ancestor is waiting for you. You'd best not keep the great one waiting too long."
Lilith froze, then turned to Shino. "My familiar is coming with me. He's scared—too timid to venture out at night."
Shino twitched at the corner of his mouth, but Lilith shot him a stern look.
"Am I wrong?"
"No, you're right."
"I'm quite timid and introverted. I can only navigate through the sewer when I go out."
Shar remained silent. "Do you wish to be torn apart by the True Ancestor?"
"You should know, apart from Royal Vampires, no other vampires are worthy of meeting the True Ancestor—not even dukes."
Shino tilted his head. "Then I'll stay out of it."
"You!"
Lilith gritted her teeth. "Fine, whatever. But remember, if I don't come back for you, you need to find a way to rescue me. Who knows? Shar might be teaming up with Faerûn Baji."
Shar shook her head, speechless.
After the two departed, Shino stood alone on the street.
He touched his stomach, feeling a rumble within.
"…Suddenly feel a little hungry."
...
In the Crack Space.
Mei extracted a magnifying glass from a hidden crevice within the giant serpent.
She held it up, scanning her surroundings.
"This thing's not bad."
Mei grinned, her curiosity piqued.
Aiming the glass at an object, a flurry of text appeared before her eyes.
"Through the lens, the magnifying glass can display all the information of an object, including its hidden properties. This is just what I need!"
Mei wielded the magnifying glass, scanning each item. It revealed information in a format she understood.
For instance, Mei categorized traits into three distinct categories, and the magnifying glass displayed details based on this framework.
She first looked at the crown she had caught earlier.
The crown resembled a metal artifact, adorned with a rhombus-shaped dark blue gemstone perched atop.
[Soul Crown]
Secondary Trait: Wearing the crown allows one to see souls and to enslave the souls of the dead.
"Soul trait, not bad," Mei mused, then turned her attention to the other objects nearby.
"A chicken egg box that splits into one egg every minute?"
"Um… useless."
"A small flower that changes color randomly?"
"As sharp as a paper knife?"
"Just a normal box?"
Mei sifted through the various items, discovering a trove of junk from the giant serpent. Only a few things held any value.
Finding the rest of the clutter unworthy, Mei connected it to the trash station in the real world and swiftly disposed of the lot.
Her gaze then fell upon the giant serpent's latest output: a black sickle.
It was an imposing black sickle.
[Reaper]
Secondary Trait: The sickle cannot attack physical beings but can directly strike souls. If aimed at a physical entity, the sickle will pass straight through.
Mei gripped the sickle and twirled it in her hand. "This one is actually useful. I'll use it as an ornament."
After a moment of contemplation, she tossed the crown into a vase.
"The Soul Crown possesses the Soul Trait and the Enslave Trait. If I add a Death Trait or perhaps a Resurrection Trait, I could create a necromancer."
"Right, didn't 004 find a revived dead person for me before? That one was revived, so theoretically, he should have a Resurrection Trait."
"Um… then this potion will be called the Soul Resurrection Potion."
Mei retrieved Avee's blood sample and fed the potion to a recently deceased corpse.
Next, she extracted the blood and body material from the corpse and poured it back into the vase, resulting in two Soul Resurrection Potions in one go.
However, these were not finished products—merely semi-finished ones.
To create the complete product, she would need to administer the potion to Avee. By combining the potion with his bodily characteristics, she could refine it into a true Soul Resurrection Potion.
Then, she could extract his blood and body parts to produce two finished Soul Resurrection Potions.
Some might wonder why blood could carry traits.
It was a conceptual thing. Cut a piece off a banana, and it remains a banana, still possessing the essence of the fruit.
Similarly, a person with superpowers has blood that represents them, encapsulating their characteristics.
Other limbs could also serve the purpose, but too many mixed components might yield unpredictable results in the potion.
It was akin to breeding pets—the more varied the ingredients, the more unstable the outcome.
Yet, there was no singular source item in the world.
Take a piece of paper, for instance. It traces back to its original form: wood. It can also be recycled from toilet paper.
At the same time, paper embodies concepts like whiteness and material properties.
Mei realized there existed a hierarchy among these concepts.
For example, wood—the concept of wood itself was paramount, encompassing lower-level concepts like growth and photosynthesis.
As she pondered, Mei took out a list and marked a check next to the Soul and Soul Resurrection categories.
This list represented her conception of what a god should possess.
For instance, a god requires an immortal body, prompting her to create Vampire 008, and subsequently, immortal 009.
Thus, the condition of an immortal body was satisfied.
A god should also wield control over the lives of mortals. Mei became Death, fulfilling that criterion as well.
Next, there were nearly seven hundred conceptual assumptions.
Mei envisioned a god as omniscient, omnipotent, and incomprehensible.
Yet, the only aspect that perplexed her was how to craft a trait that embodied incomprehensibility.
Or perhaps, how to create a trait that remained unknown.