Anberxiu gazed at the trembling Isabelle, originally intending to offer a few words of praise, but then realized that his very voice might frighten her into unconsciousness.
She hadn't acted this way before.
He chuckled to himself, "Humans and their obsession with appearances."
With a wave of his hand, he allowed Isabelle to flee the laboratory, then carefully placed two vials of living mercury solution on the experimental table.
He cast a series of spells—soundproof barriers, detection shields, and counter-spells against divination. With a final flourish, the laboratory was sealed off entirely, the air itself rendered motionless.
Only a lich could endure such a place; any living being would suffocate in moments.
Once everything was prepared, Anberxiu opened one of the vials.
The vial worth five hundred gold coins.
A large bottle, heavy with its contents, though sadly filled only with ordinary mercury.
Mercury, in itself, isn't exactly cheap, but compared to the living mercury inside, it seemed almost worthless.
Using various tools, Anberxiu separated the mercury, finally obtaining a chunk of living mercury, only slightly larger than a fist, but utterly devoid of vitality.
"How heartless. Not a single genuine drop in this five-hundred-coin vial."
But for now, Anberxiu was only interested in the corpse.
He extended a finger, his magical power gathering at his fingertips before transforming into a faint glow that fell upon the lifeless mercury solution.
Necromantic spell: Control Undead.
With a precise incantation and perfect magical structure, even a dragon's corpse would have reacted to Anberxiu's spell. But the mercury solution remained unresponsive.
The spell burst into a flash of light upon contact, scattering magic energy in all directions, leaving no trace behind.
"Damn! Magic resistance?! Is it even possible to be this outrageous?!"
Anberxiu had anticipated many possible failures, even accepting that the mercury solution might not be classified as a corpse. But he never expected magic resistance.
"What are those alchemists in Alchemy City trying to create?!"
Creating new life was already an absurd idea, though the alchemists in Alchemy City had been obsessively toiling away at it for centuries. Anberxiu could at least tolerate that.
But to create a mercury slime with powerful magic resistance—had their brains been kissed by the Goblin God?
Magic resistance was an exceptionally rare trait, possessed only by certain inherently noble races—such as the high elves, whom Anberxiu despised. These elves naturally possessed a strong resistance to magic, rendering most spells ineffective, particularly charm-based ones, to which they were immune.
Dragons, too, were difficult to harm with non-legendary magic. The most widely known dragon-slaying spell involved setting up a fiery explosion and waiting for the dragon to swallow the caster, thereby damaging its insides. But after using this tactic too many times, the dragons passed down a piece of wisdom: "Humans should never be eaten raw!" They only consumed humans once they had been thoroughly roasted with dragonfire.
But back to the point—magic resistance was rare. Slimes generally lacked such resistance, meaning these alchemists in Alchemy City must have somehow imposed it on the creature.
"They couldn't have initially planned to create such a low-level creature as a slime. After failing, they probably tried to cover up their real intentions with false advertising. Are they insane? Do they want to desecrate the gods? Aren't the seven vile towers enough for them? Do they need more?!"
Anberxiu felt as though he had inadvertently stumbled into the tragic entanglement between Alchemy City and the Alchemist God. If the gods were to strike them down directly, that would be understandable. But instead, they allowed them to continue their humiliation for centuries, as though they were afraid they might not breed any future godslayers.
It seemed the thoughts of deities were beyond mortal comprehension.
Though Anberxiu muttered curses, he wasn't one to give up so easily. He had spent thousands of gold coins—he couldn't just waste it all.
He cast several more spells, all of which were nullified by the mercury solution's magic resistance. However, Anberxiu soon realized that its magic resistance wasn't as potent as a dragon's. With the aid of his legendary aura, he could still control the mercury slime's corpse.
After all, as a legendary being, Anberxiu's magic was still powerful, and using his strength, he could overcome the mercury slime's resistance.
However, using the spell to control the corpse proved awkward. The slime was little more than a pool of mercury, and Anberxiu couldn't figure out what strange methods the Alchemy City had employed to manipulate it. Unlike normal slimes, this one lacked any recognizable organs, making it a completely unfamiliar creature to him. He could barely even manage to make it slither.
After further inspection, Anberxiu reached a conclusion.
This mercury slime was a complete failure—a grotesque, soulless husk. It was more accurate to describe it as a corpse that had had its soul removed but hadn't fully died yet.
No, that description still didn't do it justice.
It was more like a machine missing many essential parts, with the motherboard screws present but no trace of the motherboard itself.
As a result, these mercury slimes showed no reaction except for their biological instinct to consume metal. And due to the absence of vital organs, no matter how often they were fed, they would only continue to slowly die.
It was unfortunate that these creatures had no souls. If they had, they would have been perfect for creating "tormented souls"—something that liches would adore. In the world of the undead, these tortured souls were worth more than gold.
"What a shame my crafted souls are also soulless fakes. There's no lingering bitterness to generate the characteristic vengeful spirits. Otherwise, it could have been quite profitable."
Anberxiu was still considering ways to make money from this. If all else failed, he could try to restore the mercury's ability to consume metal. After all, he had a debt to settle with the Headless Knight, and the deposit had already been paid—refunds were out of the question.
After a long period of contemplation, Anberxiu concluded that he didn't know enough about slimes. He had thought of several ways to modify them, but none seemed to work.
He didn't have many materials left and couldn't afford to waste them.
"I'll need to do more research."
Anberxiu opened the Necromantic Codex and logged into the Lich Chat Group, typing the following:
[Digga Ultraman: Fellow experts, does anyone have experience with slimes? I have some questions.]
[Headless Knight's Crown: Are you trying to scam me?]
Anberxiu: ...
How did he know right away that something was wrong? The Headless Knight, a being without a head, was this clever—it's an insult to his race!
Having underestimated the Headless Knight's sensitivity to personal funds, Anberxiu could only reply truthfully.
[Digga Ultraman: It's not a scam. I'm just trying to fulfill an order. Alchemy City is experiencing a financial crisis, and prices are rising everywhere.]
Anberxiu explained the situation, leaving out the part about testing counterfeit goods. He simply said he couldn't get the supplies, so he planned to experiment with creating the mercury slime himself.
To his surprise, the Headless Knight replied with unexpected generosity:
[Headless Knight's Crown: Isn't it just adding more money? I'll add! What matters most is speed!]
Anberxiu was stunned by this bold reply.
Headless Knight, how much private money do you have stashed away?
Anberxiu began to consider whether he should look for a Bone Dragon to leech off instead.
End of Chapter