novelraw Chapter 126-2: Maid Doll, Strangeness in the Fog (2)
Chapter 126-2: Maid Doll, Strangeness in the Fog (2)
Lin Xun waited patiently.
It wasn’t until a full hour had passed that the next message finally appeared.
[You have successfully transplanted the Eyeball of the Pale Dragon of Ancient Sages.]
[You slowly open your eyes…]
[Everything in the operating room is now sharply defined, even the motes of dust in the air cannot escape your sight.]
[Due to the special nature of the new eyeball, you faintly sense that you have acquired a unique ability.]
[You have obtained the Shell Skill: Knowledge Plunder.]
[Knowledge Plunder (Epic): Every soul yearns endlessly for knowledge. To seek knowledge is the sole purpose of life. Activating this skill greatly increases the amount of Knowledge you acquire.]
[You have acquired the eyeball’s special ability: Weak Point Insight.]
[Weak Point Insight (Epic+): The Pale Dragon has accumulated vast amounts of knowledge and understands the vulnerabilities of countless lifeforms. Based on its immense repository of knowledge, even when encountering unknown creatures, it can still identify their weaknesses.][Activating this skill gives you a chance to discern the enemy’s weak points and strike their vulnerabilities to inflict massive damage. The higher your Knowledge cap, the greater the chance of success.]
Reading the skills before him, Lin Xun was thoughtful.
This was without a doubt a growth-type skill. Though the current success rate for insight wasn’t clear, Lin Xun had the Blessing of Knowledge skill granted by Omniscient True Knowledge, allowing him to continually raise his Knowledge cap.
With that cap ever climbing, it meant that every encounter with a monster could eventually result in a critical weak point strike.
A deeply satisfying thought indeed.
[Bennett boasted proudly of his surgical skills. Transplanting just one eyeball had already activated the eye’s innate special effect for you.]
[Had you used your own clumsy socket-drilling and nerve-regeneration solution, achieving this result would have been utterly impossible.]
[He rambled on as he led you back to the clinic’s front counter…]
Once they returned to the clinic’s lobby, no further game text appeared.
It seemed no more benefits could be squeezed out of Bennett.
With all preparations complete, Lin Xun exited the clinic.
[At the clinic entrance stands a fully enclosed brass carriage.]
[The brass horse’s eyes turn toward you, steam occasionally venting from its nostrils in bursts of heat.]
[Beyond the carriage lies an endless sea of white mist, the Veil of Knowledge, swallowing your remaining field of vision.]
[Do you wish to step into the mist to explore, or board the carriage?]
Stepping into the mist was suicide, Lin Xun had tested that himself.
Just as he was about to click Board the carriage, he paused and furrowed his brows.
He switched to a different shell.
[You have possessed the shell of the Corrupted Yellow-Robed Bishop of the White Moon Church!]
[You approach the carriage. The doors swing open on their own.]
[You ascend the brass steps into the carriage…]
[Since you carry the Doll Factory Route Map, Refined Copper Smelting Plant Route Map, and Multivision School Association Route Map…]
[New destination routes have been unlocked.]
[Please select your destination…]
[1. Dis Academy of the Multivision School]
[2. Doll Factory]
[3. Refined Copper Smelting Plant]
[4. Multivision School Association]
The first option was the already-explored teaching building. The other three had been unlocked thanks to the maps in his inventory.
Lin Xun chose the second: Doll Factory.
He planned to first visit the factory and see how to upgrade his Support-Type Maid Doll and unlock its additional functions.
More importantly, he had specifically switched to the Yellow-Robed Bishop shell to see whether using it would result in unique text while riding the carriage.
[You command the brass horse to head to the Doll Factory.]
[As the doors close behind you, the carriage begins to move steadily in a certain direction.]
[You sit on the velvet cushion and feel an irresistible urge to sleep creeping over you…]
[You snap your crimson eyes open, and the powerful will within your shell resists the strange drowsiness.]
[You become exceptionally clear-headed!]
[As the carriage bounces along, you grow ever more distant from Bennett’s Transplant Clinic…]
“It works!”
Lin Xun slapped his thigh in excitement.
Something was definitely up with Bennett’s carriage, Lir’s shell fell asleep instantly every time. No way a level 30 shell would get carsick, right?
[You carefully investigate the carriage and discover that the velvet cushion beneath your seat emits a subtle scent that induces sleepiness.]
[A pendulum clock hanging on the cabin wall also appears suspicious. Staring at the pendulum’s peculiar rhythm drains your energy and makes you drowsy.]
[Now that you’re on guard against both, they can no longer affect you.]
[The carriage continues to rumble along the foggy road…]
[Do you wish to open the carriage door?]
Lin Xun knew stepping into the white mist would lead to getting lost and the only way back would be to die and respawn.
“I’ll open it but I’m not stepping out.”
Unable to resist, he clicked ‘Open Door.’
[While the carriage is still moving, the doors slowly swing open…]
[The carriage races forward. Frigid wind rushes in. Outside remains a whiteout of fog.]
[You are unable to pierce the Veil of Knowledge to see anything beyond…]
Lin Xun rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
Nothing seemed particularly out of the ordinary.
Maybe Bennett had installed the sleep-inducing cushion and clock out of fear. After all, with the number of people he’d swindled, he must’ve worried that someone would come after him.
Putting customers to sleep ensured no one could trace the clinic’s location.
That did make sense…
With a merchant like Bennett, such devious schemes were par for the course. Otherwise, a black-hearted vendor like him would’ve been chopped up ages ago.
[You vaguely hear heavy footsteps from outside the carriage…]
[The sound grows louder and closer with every thud…]
[Each massive footfall shakes the entire carriage, causing the wheels to lift slightly off the ground!]
[The sheer size of the unknown creature in the mist is hard to fathom!]
[Panicking, you try to shut the door, only to see a tentacle, thicker than your shell itself, slither into the cabin and wrap around you!]
[It drags you out of the carriage in an instant…]
[You are lifted high into the air. The wind lashes your body, making it impossible to open your eyes…]
What the hell is this thing?!
Frantically, Lin Xun opened his shell menu, ready to switch to the Earth Giant…
[Through the fog, you glimpse a colossal, sky-covering silhouette. Behind countless writhing tentacles are swarms of pitch-black eyes, clustered like a hive…]
[You are hurled into a grotesquely malformed maw that splits wide open…]
[You died.]
???
Lin Xun twitched at the corner of his mouth and slowly typed three question marks.
A level 30 Yellow-Robed Bishop, devoured in one bite?
What kind of hellspawn are lurking in this Veil of Knowledge?!
[An ordinary wandering soul is reborn in the ancient lecture hall…]