Survival on the Internet: A Bizarre Start at Sea

The pale beach scene completely vanished before their eyes, and the familiar pinkish-blue light enveloped Su Zhisu and Lilia once again.

The lingering smell of rust and blood in the air was replaced by a faint light blue hue.

Su Zhisu took a deep breath, suppressing her mental exhaustion.

Lilia leaned against a coral pillar, looking somewhat exhausted, her fingers gripping the newly acquired [Binding Staff] turning slightly white.

"The instance has been reset... but the music box is still there."

"Without solving this, Shallow-2 will never be truly cleared."

Instead of leaving immediately, Su Zhisu simply stood there silently sensing the subtle changes in the strange power within her body.

Having just been confronted with the bizarre rules of the [Forgotten Music Box], especially the final message [The power of the strange is spreading towards you...], he was somewhat concerned.

"My lord..."

Lilia's voice trembled slightly, almost imperceptibly.

"That box...it's terrifying."

"Um."

Su Zhisu nodded, his gaze falling on the staff that Lilia was gripping tightly.

"But we also have some ideas on how to deal with it."

"Your new staff, and... the spoils we brought out."

He was referring to the "emotional fragments" in his inventory that emitted various negative emotional fluctuations.

Fear, hatred, despair...

These twisted forces that had sprung up in the instance became the material for his research.

"Lilia, take a rest first."

Su Zhisu's voice carried the weariness of battle, but it was still very clear.

His gaze fell on the [Binding Staff] that Lilia was gripping tightly.

"Familiarize yourself with your new staff and restore your status."

"I need to examine these emotional fragments."

Lilia nodded obediently.

"OK."

She responded softly, her eyes showing a hint of concern.

"Your Excellency, please remember to rest."

After saying that, Lilia turned around and left the lower level of the temple, carrying the dark [Binding Staff].

Su Zhisu went straight to Nautilus's alchemy laboratory.

The heavy doors slid open silently, revealing familiar alchemy equipment.

Arriving at the central experimental table, I took out some of the [emotional fragments] and arranged them according to different emotion types.

He first took out a fragment of emotion (fear), carefully picked it up with alchemical tweezers, and placed it into a specially made crucible engraved with runes.

Then, he activated the [Night Watch Heart Flame], and a wisp of dark blue flame seeped from his fingertips, enveloping the bottom of the crucible and beginning to heat it slowly.

The fragments trembled slightly in the flames, their dark luster shifting, emanating an intense sense of fear.

Su Zhisu remained unmoved, his mental energy highly concentrated, guiding the power of the Night Watch Heart Flame, like the most precise carving knife, seeping layer by layer into the outer shell of the fragment.

"Stripping...purification...stabilizing the structure..."

This is an extremely mentally taxing process.

While the Night Watch Heart Flame can purify pollution, it can easily trigger an energy backlash or explosion if one is not careful when dealing with these emotional fragments that have solidified into a tangible form.

Fine beads of sweat appeared on Su Zhisu's forehead, his mental energy was like a taut string, and time passed second by second.

As the [Fear Fragments] in the crucible continued to shrink, Su Zhisu kept adding new [Emotional Fragments (Fear)] into it.

Under the scorching blue flames, the purified substance continuously concentrates and condenses, gradually becoming purer and more transparent.

It eventually transformed into a crystal the size of a grain of rice, radiating a purple light.

[Emotional crystallization (fear)]

[Quality]: White (Standard)

[Additional]: A crystal containing pure fear energy, usable as a material for alchemy, fuel, a medium for curses, and for special purposes. It can also be directly activated through some means.

[Information]: The materialized product of intangible emotions; contamination has been removed. Obtained through the purification of emotional fragments; structurally stable.

"Success! But it takes 100 fragments of emotion to crystallize into one..."

"It's not very efficient, but it proves that this path is feasible."

Su Zhixu felt a surge of energy, and her fatigue seemed to lessen somewhat.

He began experimenting with mixing and purifying different emotional fragments.

However, when the Fear Shard and the Hatred Shard were placed into the cauldron at the same time, an accident occurred!

The moment these two completely different emotions came into contact, it was like water and fire meeting, instantly erupting into a violent conflict!

"Sizzle!"

Inside the crucible, light flashed wildly, and a chaotic, distorted energy wave suddenly spread out!

Su Zhisu's pupils contracted, and he immediately controlled the Night Watcher's Heart Flame to envelop it, increasing his output to forcefully suppress it.

The chaotic energy surged and thrashed under the influence of the ghostly blue flames, eventually managing to stabilize and form a constantly writhing, shapeless mass of shadowy matter.

【Twisted Crystal (Chaos)】

[Quality]: White (Standard)

[Information]: The failed product of forcibly mixing different emotional energies contains a chaotic will, is extremely unstable, and is prone to causing mental pollution and emotional explosion.

[Hidden Information]: It seems that some key material is missing.

"It just didn't work..."

"Forcibly mixing different emotional fragments will only cause conflict to explode, just like those twisted monsters in a dungeon..."

"However, the hidden information in the talent suggests that some kind of key material is missing?"

"Could it be some kind of strange or mysterious power?"

"Never mind, it's already difficult enough to suppress this [Twisted Crystal (Chaos)]. My current alchemy level is probably not high enough."

"There's no need to throw this thing away; it might come in handy sometimes."

Looking at the unsettling mass of shadowy matter, Su Zhixu carefully put it away.

He realized that emotional crystals could only be obtained by purifying fragments of the same kind of emotion.

The more advanced things we've obtained before, such as the "distorted malice," "relieved gratitude," and "condensed resentment," should be larger and purer aggregates of materialized emotions.

"Emotional crystallization...pure, usable emotional energy."

"And it's not just alchemical materials..."

A vague idea flashed through his mind, but due to insufficient information, he did not delve into it.

He continued to immerse himself in experiments, classifying and purifying the remaining fragments.

When the last "Emotional Crystal" formed in the crucible, the hourglass in the laboratory showed that a full day had passed.

"A day has passed...time flies."

Su Zhisu rubbed her throbbing temples, looking at the several crystals of different colors laid out on the lab table:

Purple fear, black hatred, gray despair, yellow greed, and red anger.

The gains were substantial and of great significance.

He carefully put the crystal away.

Just then, the laboratory door slid open silently.

The green-haired little girl leaned silently against the door frame, holding a scroll that emitted a faint seaweed scent in her hand.

"Little brother, you've been working on your research so hard you've forgotten to eat and sleep. You need to get some rest."

With her usual slightly mocking smile, she tossed the reel over.