Industrial Cthulhu, starting from the island lord

Chapter 291 You cannot use this body
Richard nodded, but did not speak directly. Instead, he took Hughes to a laboratory.

There are many laboratories in the Eastern Test Field. The Fire Moths can build their own laboratories as long as they apply to Zeus - of course, if the funding is too outrageous, it will be sent back for revision.

This laboratory belongs to Richard. The most eye-catching thing when entering the room is a metal dissection table. The surrounding walls are lined with shelves with various specimens and notes piled on them.

Few people among the Fire Moths chose to study biology. This was a less enlightened era. Dissecting animal corpses was fine, but if one wanted to dissect human corpses, they would almost certainly be met with hostility from mainstream society.

Compared to technologies like steam engines, the medical level here is terribly backward. When people encounter injuries or illnesses, they prefer to go to the Vatican for treatment, and the priests there are happy to use some extraordinary potions in exchange for people's faith.

The famous Holy Water No. 1 can heal wounds quickly. Pour it into your mouth and the wound will start to heal immediately.

Simple and crude.

With these powerful and convenient extraordinary medicines, who would be willing to go to the trouble of studying medicine?
Even modern medicine on Blue Planet may not be as effective as holy water.

Therefore, medical research talents like Richard are even more valuable.

Richard led Hughes into the house, then took a huge box from the shelf. Judging from its size, it should be the one containing the blue-haired girl.

Richard is a superhuman. Although he is not good at frontal combat, his strength is far beyond that of ordinary people. He opened the box easily, placed the girl on the dissection table, picked up two pairs of gloves, handed one to Zeus, and motioned him to put it on.

After Hughes was dressed, Richard began to explain calmly.

"The word 'body' originally means the home of the soul. Strictly speaking, all bodies are considered bodies, such as you and me who are having this conversation here." He pointed at the two of them.

Hughes's eyes were strange, and Richard probably didn't know that the person standing in front of him was really a shell.
"Of course, these are all owned bodies."

"Do you have a master?"

"Yes, there are bodies with owners everywhere, but empty bodies are extremely valuable." Richard pushed his glasses. "Empty bodies have many uses, the most important of which is to accommodate the arrival of evil gods."

"How does an empty body come about? Is the soul dead?"

"That's not impossible, but it would have to be an abnormal death of the soul."

Xiu Si blinked, and it took him a moment to react: "What consciousness? Do we need to extract the soul from the body?!"

"Indeed, it requires extremely cruel means. This will inevitably break the soul, and the success rate is not high. This behavior is an absolute taboo in any church and is an extremely evil practice."

Pulling out people's souls alive!?

Only cultists would do such a thing. Wait, aren't the Fire Moths cultists?
Seeing Hughes's unfriendly look, Richard quickly explained: "Although the world calls us cultists, we have never done such things. We got our bodies from the Candlelight Society."

What he said seemed to be true.

The worker Zeus was killed by the priest of the Candlelight Society. Although it is unknown what means these fire-chasing moths used, they did get the worker Zeus from the Candlelight Society to summon the evil god.
"From what you said, there are other ways to obtain the body, right?"

"Obtaining a body depends entirely on luck, but a truly blank body can be used for more than just summoning evil gods." Richard nodded. "Actually, this is what I'm talking about—a natural blank body, or the projection of an Outer God in this world."

Outer god?

Xiu Si's heart moved. When Chloe communicated with the worker Xiu Si, she had called him an Outer God, but he had never found a suitable opportunity to ask.

"The so-called Outer Gods are actually a general term for beings that we currently cannot understand and that have descended into the human body."

"Compared to the evil gods, the characteristic of the evil gods is that they are unable to communicate, unable to truly communicate. Some evil gods may appear to be able to communicate, but after in-depth contact, it is discovered that they can only obtain information one-way. Either they talk non-stop, or they only listen."

Zeus frowned. This was indeed very strange, as if even the existence of the evil god was incomplete.

Moreover, this characteristic reminded him of the Noisier, that noisy steam engine that only talks but never listens, and is fundamentally different from the Machine Spirit.

"Evil gods are always accompanied by pollution. They either bring pollution or absorb it. This is an iron rule. However, Outer Gods are different. They don't necessarily pollute."

"Huh? Not necessarily? Does that mean there's still a possibility of contamination?"

"Yes, most Outer Gods are actually very dangerous, and only a few are valuable. We once accidentally obtained an Outer God that descended into a human body, but he disappeared inexplicably."

That should be the worker Zeus. The reason why it disappeared is probably because the flesh and blood of the Pirate King, the god of the sea, was left behind when he pulled Caster into the Temple of Poseidon.

Zeus guessed that it was because the body purified the Moth Lord and possessed some of its power. Its status was too high and the Pirate King could not bring it in. Therefore, Castel disappeared, but it was left behind.

"Although Outer Gods may bring risks, they also possess immense value. Some Outer Gods can bring knowledge, prophecies, and even change entire eras. They are extremely valuable. Therefore, once a blank body is discovered, most will be used to summon an Outer God. And if we want to save Chloe, we need this body."

Having said that, the two of them looked at the dissection table together.

"Is she a shell?"

"Yes, and it's an extremely rare natural shell, not a low-quality artificial one that can only be used to summon evil gods." Richard looked at the girl with a complicated expression and sighed, "But unfortunately, you can't use it to resurrect Chloe."

"What?" Xiu Si was startled and stood up anxiously. "I remember saying before that all we need is an empty body for Chloe to use. This body can bring down the evil god, so why can't Chloe?!"

Richard had an expression that said "I knew you would ask this". He turned around and took a glass bottle filled with clear liquid. After unscrewing the lid, he carefully dropped a drop on the blue-haired girl's forehead.

The next moment, the girl's tightly closed eyes trembled, and then two streams of black liquid flowed out like tears.

"This body has been contaminated. It can guide Chloe's soul here, but the moment she wakes up, she will be instantly corroded by this pollution."

(End of this chapter)