Academic gathering with Lich colleagues

Lyle sighed.

Walnuts, dried fruit.

Chapter 296 The Birth of Appetite

The spinal wheel, manipulated and taken from its storage container, expanded to its original size in the real world—it was number 357. Just as Lyle had predicted, there was nothing unusual about it, but how did it react?

The manipulation, performed in front of the judge, conducted a simple examination. "No abnormalities found, Your Honor. I believe there is no possibility of sentience..."

"Lies! He's covering up the Plague Doctor's crimes. Elijah couldn't be without thought. She clearly accepted my gift. I placed it on her tentacles myself and watched her put it into her body. She couldn't be without intelligence." The poison umbrella roared in the shimmering hand. This idea was a significant blow to the light bat, which had already entered a state of morbid infatuation.

The judge was not angered by the poison umbrella's outburst in the court; he simply tapped his gavel lightly and responded with the lich's characteristic indifference and bluntness.

"The Biological Protection Law was itself written by the necromancer lich to regulate itself. As the compilers, they have absolute authority to interpret these rules. Mr. Poison Umbrella, the necromancer lich is absolutely the authority to interpret these original rules..."

The judge's words turned icy as he looked at the trembling light bat under the oppressive force. "We respect the facts, Mr. Poison Umbrella. We will uphold your rights, but we will not allow you to abuse them. You should shut up for a while."

The poison umbrella stopped howling, as if it had accepted the cruel reality that what it had experienced was just a dream.

Lyle was released on the spot, and Mr. Poison Umbrella had to pay compensation for his damage, which was coordinated by the Light Bat and the Necromancer Figure Company.

The judge left, and Lyle looked at the dejected Mr. Poison Umbrella sitting in the defendant's seat, and an idea came to mind.

"Boss, we should go back... Hey? What do you want..."

Lyle approached the Spine Wheel 357, which was positioned in the very center, and Nia displayed tentacles clinging to his arm.

“I’m doing what I’m supposed to do; I’m pursuing the truth. This is my creation, and I need to understand her secrets, to understand… the truth.”

Poison Umbrella raised his little head and looked at the figure wearing a bird-beak mask, surrounded by swirling, coiled tentacles.

Nia's flesh and blood merged with Number 357's; they originated from the same source. Using Nia's connection, Lyle closed his eyes.

“So… that’s how it is…” Nia’s tentacles returned to their original position. Lyle turned around, and the reflection from the lens of his bird-beak mask shone on Mr. Poison Umbrella.

"Want to try again, Mr. Poison Umbrella? Let's reenact the pursuit of you by Agent 357 and witness the truth together."

The poison umbrella cried out joyfully again, "Can I touch her again?"

Lyle stepped back, giving him space.

"Of course, my friends must also be very curious about this phenomenon, spontaneous behavior without intelligence."

Shining and the others looked at the suddenly enthusiastic doctor with some confusion.

"Why does it feel like the boss has suddenly become excited?"

The Light Bat Poison Umbrella quickly flew to the Spine Wheel and looked solemnly at the Plague Doctor. "Plague Doctor, although I am very grateful for your act of atonement, in the face of the truth, everything will come to light."

Lyle wasn't angry; he showed plenty of patience.

"Do what you want, Mr. Poison Umbrella."

“How absurd. Come on, Init, let these arrogant liches see our bond.”

The poison umbrella called out the name of his beloved once more, as if hoping for a miracle.

To the astonishment of the three members of the figure club, a miracle truly occurred.

From the inner side of the tissue attached to her spine, three slender fleshy tentacles extended from the spinal cord of the spinal cord at its base, like the antennae of a snail, slowly reaching towards the poison umbrella. They changed direction as the light bat moved, like the tentative outstretched fingers of a young girl.

The poison umbrella let out a joyful cheer.

“Do you see that, liches! She has a soul, she is my lover.”

The smug poison umbrella danced in the air, proudly displaying its true nature to the astonished lich.

Shining and the others fell silent, staring blankly at a reality beyond their comprehension.

Lyle remained indifferent, which made the eccentric thinker remind him that if the poison umbrella were to bring the judge back now, the outcome of the case might change.

“Mr. Poison Umbrella, it’s not gentlemanly to keep a ‘lady’ waiting,” Lyle “kindly” reminded the light bats flying in the air, pointing to the tentacles of No. 357. “You should respond to her.”

"Of course! My love! Feel my burning love!" The poison umbrella spun gracefully in the air, diving towards the tentacles like a bomber.

The instant his soft fur and tentacles touched.

The Yaksha shed her disguise; behind her soft, delicate tentacles, twisted, morbidly abscessed tendrils surged toward the slender poison cap. He was like an ant caught in a trap, awaiting the antlion's favor, his terrified eyes about to be covered in flesh and blood.

"Nia, make her vomit it up!"

Nia's black and red tentacles immediately took control of Spine Wheel 357's movements. Amidst the raging layers of flesh and blood, Poison Umbrella was spat out by the moving muscles. At this moment, his once intact hair had turned into bald patches, and his skin hissed as it corroded. Poison Umbrella's face was blank; the inner panic had surpassed the external pain.

Lyle gently patted his head. "Mr. Poison Umbrella, impulsive love is a devil lurking in the abyss."

Lyle had a smile on his face when he said this.

This was not a mockery of the poison umbrella's plight, but rather an understanding of the needs of the spine wheel.

She was hunting, she was preying. Without the control of a soul or brain, she craved flesh and blood to feed on, driven by instinct.

She was suffering from hunger.

Its own creation, the wheel of the spine, felt hunger.

Surprise and ecstasy were taking over Lyle's mind.

Nia must have undergone some change. Perhaps during her journey in Locarrot, at that corrupted Protoss temple, the lump of flesh she consumed allowed her to grow again, this time with the awakening of an appetite.

Nia developed a voracious appetite, and this abnormality was also transmitted to all the creations Lyle had recently made.

The feeling of hunger, the instinct to eat.

Lyle was overjoyed.

A lich, is it? Without desires or wants, is it? Andrei's friends, have you ever considered experiencing hunger?

I, Lyle Bouler, a member of the Cup of Luxury, a follower of desire.

I will change the way you act, just as the Holy Light influences this era, and before long you will be grateful to me. It's a truly joyful thought.

Liches, it's time to eat.

Chapter 297 Research Application for Hungry Bodies

Making these liches, who fearlessly court death and recklessly court foes, experience hunger would certainly be an extremely interesting endeavor. Of course, this research project is not easy, and there are still many difficulties to overcome.

How did Nia pass on the hunger? What was the anomaly when creating number 357? Why was there only this one exception? How was this variable controlled?

There's also the development of flesh and blood senses, the digestive system, and, most importantly, the lips and tongue. If liches are only allowed to eat for the sake of eating, they will at most consider this desire a burden. They need taste buds, they need to experience the joy of tasting food, and only then can they be driven to continue eating. Liches always crave novelty.

Lyle, lost in thought, ignored the sounds around him until Nia's tentacles poked his shoulder.

"Nia is hungry."

Lyle casually pulled out some dried meat from his stash. Nia was no longer satisfied with just cheese; she wanted more. Nia nestled on Lyle's head, her shark-tooth-like fangs tearing the meat apart.

Lyle brushed the debris off the bird-beak mask and spoke his heart to Nia.

"If Number 357 is craving flesh and blood, then why doesn't she just prey on me? I am also... flesh and blood."

Nia extended her tentacles and licked the debris off Lyle's shoulder. "Because Lyle is Nia. We are her kind, her master."

"I see."

Shining and the others also realized something from the previous conversation, but the lich's own limitations did not shift their focus to food. They congratulated Lyle on his new research findings, only realizing the seriousness of the matter after Lyle explained it clearly.

They were so excited that they wanted to stop all their work and immediately get involved in Lyle's research.

Shining patted the limp Light Bat Poison Umbrella in his hand. "Boss, what do we do with this guy? He looks like he's been completely defeated and can't communicate anymore."

The lover you imagine is actually just someone who wants to devour you; the greater your hope, the greater your despair.

"I don't need Mr. Poison Umbrella's compensation. In fact, if it weren't for him, I wouldn't have discovered this tiny, invisible appetite."

And so, Andrei had another heartbroken bat.

The research stalled almost immediately; their existing knowledge was completely inadequate, a significant blow to these excited newcomers. But no worries, if we can't do it, we can call in others. What does Andrei have in abundance? Knowledge and dead people.

And so, Lyle appeared in the scholar's laboratory. He brought Nia and Spine Wheel 357, awaiting the arrival of the Dragon Master. Shining and the others did not follow, because Nia's identity and abilities had crossed Lyle's line.

Nia's awakening was facilitated with the tacit approval of the scholar. As the dragon priest who once sealed the evil god, he was naturally able to understand Nia's changes, which was also the reason why the dragon was deliberately kept away for a period of time.

Nia detached herself completely from Lyle and floated in the air under his magical control. Although she hated this helpless state, Lyle's comfort and her own reverence for the scholar allowed her to quietly complete the examination.

While the scholar was talking to Lyle, Nia started playing with the silver chains that the scholar had shed.

“She’s growing. You’re right, Physician, Nia is growing into another stage.”

Evil God's Life Science? "What stage?"

The scholar spoke calmly, as if he were discussing a newly written paper.

"The stage from juvenile to mature, the stage from which evil gods begin to corrupt reality."

"Wh...what? Corrupt reality?" Lyle was stunned; he still hadn't learned the lich's composure.

"Evil gods skilled in corruption are all extraordinary, my student. You are about to experience even more bizarre and outlandish things. If you can imagine it, Nia can do it. You need to cultivate your mindset." The scholar placed the scroll he was holding back on the bookshelf. "Like now, you are planning to make the liches feel hunger, as if... as if they were still alive."

"Lyle, I must say, your imagination is truly monstrous. I eagerly anticipate the miracles that unconventional thinking and unconventional power will create. How much change will you bring to us, this academy, this era, and this world?"

The scholar's words thrilled Lyle, and Nia, back on Lyle's back, danced with joy.

"Scholar teacher, can that feeling of hunger be controlled or manipulated?"

“Of course, Lyle, that’s what you and Nia will be studying next. I’ve confirmed that it does exist. You need to understand each other, and even though you’ve already coexisted, you need to understand yourselves.”

The scholar promised to impart to Lyle the corrupting knowledge of hunger, the knowledge of how to control it and spread it.

Mr. Dragon has also made progress in creating a disguised form of flesh and blood with taste buds.

“Mr. Crimson, the Plague Doctor. Mr. Crimson’s Blood Curse Tree.” The dragon’s bones trembled. As a lich and a master of necromancy, he naturally knew what this meant.

Liches will be closely linked to necromancy. Cryptromancy created liches and will also give them new life. This discipline will surpass the past and become an important part of liches.

"Mr. Scarlet's forbidden creation possesses all the knowledge to build flesh and blood; it is a library of flesh and blood, a laboratory of flesh and blood, and a birthing room for flesh and blood. Plague Doctor, you already have access to the Blood Curse Tree Hive room; you know how convenient that is. With that knowledge, you will surely be able to perfectly sculpt flesh and blood."

Lyle looked at the excited Mr. Dragon and asked, "But, teacher, would Mr. Scarlet really be willing to impart such important knowledge to me?"

"No... He will personally organize everything for you and then personally teach you how to learn. Plague Doctor, your research results may greatly promote the art of spirit possession, which is something every mentor would be happy to see. Moreover, this will also be a great benefit to Mr. Crimson. With the Blood Curse Tree assisting you in completing the creation of flesh and blood, it will naturally learn the complete and mature techniques as well."