The process of refining the puppet was surprisingly calm. There were no strange phenomena, no heavenly signs, or treasure recognitions. It was an ordinary, quiet process.
"Director, thank you! I am very satisfied with the puppet. Much appreciated!"
After the refinement was complete, Yi Bai did not attempt to activate the puppet immediately. Instead, he turned to express his gratitude to Quirles.
The puppet had been created swiftly, and it perfectly met his expectations—easy to carry, just as he had hoped. It was clear that Director Quirles had put a lot of effort into it, so a simple thank you seemed appropriate.
"I'm glad you're pleased. Being able to forge a puppet like this is the fulfillment of a long-standing wish of mine. It should be me thanking you!"
Quirles was genuinely appreciative of Yi Bai's attitude and responded with equal courtesy.
"Would you like to find a spacious place to test the puppet's power?"
Seeing that Yi Bai seemed uninterested in activating the puppet, Quirles couldn't help but ask. If he couldn't see the puppet he had crafted unleash its power, he might feel a bit unsatisfied.
However, Yi Bai shook his head. "I'm very satisfied with the puppet you've created, Director. The feedback I've received provides me with all the information I need about its abilities, so there's no need to test it."
Quirles: (╯‵皿′)╯︵┻━┻
Suddenly, he regretted having made the puppet so perfect.
There was no denying it, Quirles' skills in creating puppets were exceptional. Once the refining was complete, every detail of the puppet's abilities was directly relayed to Yi Bai.
The "Parasitic Puppet" was the name Yi Bai felt best fit the creation. It wasn't just because the puppet was capable of red-clad ghost-level strength—it was more than that.
Although it appeared to be a single puppet, it could actually become many!
This was because Quirles had perfectly preserved the parasitic ability of the Strawman, Jack.
Even the other red-clad corpse contributed by Jack had been flawlessly integrated into the puppet.
The gruesome corpse bound to the cross was the first stage of the puppet's activation.
Once it detached from the straw cross, it would revert to its original form and become an individual puppet capable of red-clad ghost-level strength.
Of course, it didn't have any other special abilities—its only merits were its durability and decent regenerative abilities.
The second stage of activation involved the manipulation of Jack's original body, the straw cross itself.
The straw used by the Parasitic Strawman was flexible and sharp, with the ability to grow and extend autonomously, capable of entangling and strangling. Its power was considerable.
The most deadly feature was the ability to control the straw, which could invade the body of a weakened enemy.
This allowed Yi Bai to create more puppets.
The most thrilling part for Yi Bai was Jack's special ability—Parasitism, which had three distinct stages:
Stage 1: The straw would invade the target's key organs and brain, killing and controlling the victim. The strength of the resulting puppet would be less than half of the original's, but visually, it wouldn't show any significant changes. This was crucial!
Stage 2: The puppet would take on the appearance of the mutilated corpse that Jack had once manipulated. It could tap into about 80% of the target's original strength but lacked the original's innate abilities.
Stage 3: The final stage, where the puppet fully transformed into a Strawman. The parasitic puppet would then possess all the abilities of the Parasitic Strawman itself.
In the third stage, the power of the puppet would correspond directly to the strength of the person it had been parasitizing.
However, completing this final stage of parasitism would require more time and effort, proportional to the strength of the host.
Jack hadn't even fully assimilated the red-clad ghost before his death, which spoke volumes about the difficulty of the process.
For Yi Bai, the second and third stages didn't hold much significance.
In the world of horror, strength mattered most. The parasitized puppets would easily be detected by stronger beings. Yi Bai also didn't have much time during his current game tasks to mass-produce Strawman puppets.
Let's not even mention the complete parasitism required in Stage 3—he could barely manage to get through Stage 2 in the limited time he had.
Moreover, Yi Bai's strategy was focused on the "human connections" route, rather than the "fighting and struggling" path.
Unless directly provoked, he wasn't interested in playing the role of a "ghost hunter." Why not enjoy making friends instead? Building his circle, expanding his influence—these things were far more appealing.
The more allies Yi Bai had in the horror game, the more freedom he'd have. One day, he would roam the horror world at will.
As for the parasitic abilities of the puppet? They had limited use in the horror game world. But…
What if they were used in the mortal world?
Just thinking about it made Yi Bai's heart race with excitement!
Undoubtedly, once the Parasitic Puppet appeared in the mortal realm, it would become an incredibly deadly weapon!
After all, even the seasoned veterans of the horror game could hardly reach the red-clad ghost level. Aside from a rare few—those lucky enough to bond with cursed objects, or those who coexisted with, or were parasitized by, ghosts—most human players could never hope to attain such strength.
Despite the frequent appearance of red-clad ghosts in the game, they were far more numerous than the blood-clad ghosts. For humans, attaining that level of power was nearly impossible!
Humans and ghosts were essentially beings from entirely different dimensions. Without a ghost's power or the sudden awakening of an extraordinary talent upon entering the horror game, they would never touch the "supernatural" level of strength.
The vast majority of human players relied on the game's shop feature to survive, struggling just to stay alive.
The few "super lucky" individuals who attained red-clad ghost-level power in the mortal realm were exceedingly rare—likely no more than one in ten thousand.
In such a scenario, the parasitic puppet's ability would be incredibly difficult to detect.
If Yi Bai wanted to, he could easily use the Parasitic Puppet to turn many people into his puppets, silently creating an army of puppets that would be impossible for ordinary people to detect.
Imagine—your loved ones, your friends, or even those closest to you, being silently controlled. Their organs and brains replaced with withered, yellow straw. How terrifying would that be?
Of course, the ability wasn't without flaws.
The parasitized victims would lose all their memories and emotions, acting solely on Yi Bai's orders. Over time, those close to them would begin to notice something was wrong.
But compared to the horror of the situation, such a small flaw hardly mattered.