Academic gathering with Lich colleagues

"Ah, I see, I understand now. Plague Doctor, perhaps you can try to increase the organ capacity and the magic capacity of this place."

Lyle simply nodded numbly, but Nia's actions remained unchanged.

Mr. Scarlet wasn't angry; he shifted his focus to another part of the tentacles' work.

“Hey, dear Plague Doctor, why not try the catapult muscle structure? It can enhance mobility.”

“Mr. Scarlet, all we need to do is create taste buds and a series of digestive organs.”

Mr. Scarlet patted Lyle on the shoulder ingratiatingly and looked down at his student.

"My best student, you are excellent, but there are still areas where you can improve. I hope you can become more well-rounded."

Lyle twirled his bird-beak mask, the simple movement, tinged with dread, resembled a broken doll from a horror movie, a gesture that was utterly menacing.

Although the single word he uttered wasn't much better.

"Rolling, rolling, rolling, rolling, rolling..." (Why is it a series of sounds? Because the muscles are still trembling.)

Why would the respectful and exemplary Plague Doctor speak so rudely to him, and why would the Scarlet Professor, a professor of Flesh and Blood Conjuration, fawn over him in a flattering manner?

Has Lyle finally risen to power?!

Mr. Scarlet looked at the crown on Lyle's head that was shimmering with an eerie light, his face filled with undisguised greed.

“The Lich King of complete submission, Mr. Plague Doctor, do you know what this means? Rules and order no longer bind you; your actions represent the power gathered by Andrei. What a miraculous power this is! Why not seize this opportunity to gather more data? There are still many impossibilities we can achieve. We've even created 'that thing'!”

Lyle rolled his eyes, looking at Mr. Scarlet, whose face was flushed red—he was already quite red, to be honest.

"It's precisely because 'that thing' has already been built that I don't want to waste any more time, because your ideas and plans, teacher, are simply endless. Wouldn't it be better if we just honestly completed our goal?"

"Time? Does that thing mean anything to us? More possibilities are our goal. Mr. Plague Doctor, you care too much about time. You can't cultivate a spirit summoning master in a hurry. We have a long time ahead of us."

Sorry, my lifespan is not long.

Initially, Lyle wasn't so resistant to Mr. Scarlet's advice; in fact, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say he was completely compliant. Furthermore, the rote learning had put his mind in a daze, and by the time Lyle came to his senses, his creation, having fully absorbed Mr. Scarlet's advice, was standing before them.

That thing.

Its sausage-like body is covered by a keratinous layer with a mucous membrane. Its two powerful hind legs are equipped with hooked claws, resembling those of a velociraptor more than a human. It possesses a single, entirely muscular tail for balance; these muscles are so developed that a flick of the tail could deliver a powerful left hook. It has no forelimbs, and aside from its terrifyingly large mouth, it lacks other facial features and, as a fatal flaw, a neck. It has no teeth, but the inner walls of its mouth, including its entire intestine, are covered with hard, raised folds of skin, capable of crushing food like a blender. The tentacles at the front of its mouth are its tongue, richly covered with sensory cells, serving as a crucial predator-detecting organ. Finally, there is its tail, which can sense vibrations.

That thing was a deliberately designed war machine, only reaching the level of a three-lock, but it was absolutely a nightmare for enemies of the same level. Its mouth could expand to 180 degrees like a flip-top trash can, swallowing enemies no more than twice its volume. Its specialized saliva could rapidly digest the food and convert the residue into a biological weapon containing strong acid, which it then sprayed out.

It looked so strange that there wasn't a good name for it, so it was simply called "that thing." (The term "two-legged creature" is now exclusively used by humans.)

When Lyle saw "that thing," he was also stunned. He and Nia stared at each other blankly, while only Mr. Scarlet cheered from the side.

"Is this the disguise Andrei the Lich after his death?"

Nia tapped the thing's scalp with her tentacles and heard a thud.

That's so strange! How could such a creature exist!

This anti-biological design shouldn't even exist in the first place. Mr. Scarlet has already enthusiastically conducted his own experiment, trying to replicate the thing, and it exploded.

"Fantastic, Plague Doctor! You have used the power of the Lich King to create something that should not exist. This is a miracle!"

Ugh, that thing vomited the flesh and blood it had secretly eaten onto the lab table, emitting a pungent sour smell and a hissing sound.

"That's amazing, it's alive! A new life!"

No, this thing is a blasphemy against life and a direct mockery of the laws of nature.

“Mr. Scarlet, what use is that thing to you? As you can see, you can’t replicate it; at best, it will become one of your collections.”

“No, dear Plague Doctor. Although I cannot create that thing, the Bloodhound Tree can. My forbidden creation has recorded your experimental process and inscribed it into a skill.”

"Biological creation: that thing."

"Although we don't understand the principles, we've already managed to mass-produce them without any real understanding. There are already twenty of those things frolicking under the big tree. Rejoice, Plague Doctor, we've created a miraculous population of life!"

I'm sorry, but I'm not excited at all. The thought that such a bizarre thing could be my creation makes me feel uncomfortable.

Lyle reverted to flesh and blood creation and crossed out all of Mr. Scarlet's suggestions.

With Mr. Scarlet's constant interference, a new camouflage of flesh and blood was completed.

It has a human-like appearance with all five facial features intact. Most importantly, the mouth and nose are no longer just for show.

However, the digestive system and taste buds have indeed been modified.

This is still a creation driven by magic and delusion. The mouth, tongue, and nose are only similar to human organs, but their functions are far superior. The stimulation from the tongue's touch is transmitted to the blood and flesh ducts hidden above, directly stimulating the soul that comes into contact with it, which is similar to the previous knowledge inheritance ritual.

As for the digestive tract, it is much shorter than that of a normal human. This is because this creature of flesh and blood is a living being with a certain digestive capacity; the current method simply enhances the digestive process of living flesh and blood, increasing its efficiency.

Thus, the disguise of hunger and flesh is complete.

Lyle said goodbye to Mr. Scarlet.

Before leaving the Bloodhive Tree, Lyle noticed a large patch of corroded ground and the sudden screams of some liches in the distant forest.

"Holy crap, what the hell is that?!"

Chapter 305 Royal Power? Research Priority

Executive Committee.

A courtroom displaying a sign that reads "Solutions."

Lyle looked at the judge, Mr. Law, with a disappointed expression.

"Junior, regarding last night, a member of the Andrei had his head bitten off by an unidentified creature. According to the person involved, his skull underwent 'eighty-one fermentation processes like kimchi' before being discarded in the Bone Forest. Do you have anything to say about this incident?"

Lyle roughly guessed the whole process, but what did that have to do with him? He couldn't control that thing.

The doctor shook his head.

"It has nothing to do with me."

“Is that so?” The Lawyer tapped his iron gauntlet, as if providing accompaniment to the screams coming from the punishment zone. “But the unknown creatures we’ve captured are all marked with your soul imprint. Those are all your creations, aren’t they?”

"..." The Blood Nest Tree's ability to copy and modify creation skills will also copy the creator's mark! No wonder Mr. Crimson was so confident; he had already planned to make me take the blame!

Those who resist will be severely punished and imprisoned for life.

The Plague Doctor quickly betrayed the mastermind, Mr. Scarlet.

"That thing does indeed bear my mark, but it's just a replica created by the Bloodhound Tree. The one who truly condones its misbehavior is Mr. Crimson!" Lyle quickly appealed to emotions, "Senior Law, believe me, I'm a student of the Scholar Professor, and we're both law-abiding liches. How could I possibly add to my dear senior's workload!"

"I see." Upon hearing the scholar's name, the lawman furtively glanced around to make sure no one else was there before leaning towards the plague doctor and whispering.

"Junior, are you sure Mr. Scarlet knows information about that creature? Or that information about that creature actually exists in the Blood Nest Tree's memory cluster?"

"Confirmed." Of course, it was just installed last night.

The law breathed a sigh of relief, its iron gauntlets clapping loudly against its chest.

"Leave it to me, I'll make sure Mr. Scarlet confesses for you!"

"??? What do you mean by confessing on my behalf! I am innocent! Mr. Scarlet is the culprit! I was just telling the truth and upholding justice!"

“Yes, yes, Mr. Crimson is of course the criminal, and you are the embodiment of justice. Don’t worry, once we leave this room, all the sins will be borne by Crimson alone.” Mr. Law gave Lyle a thumbs up. “As expected of my junior, your acting skills are top-notch. You’ve gone against your conscience to deceive everyone. You’re truly an evil lich. However, you’re still a bit lacking compared to your senior. We’re all on the same side, so stop pretending. Let’s stick to the facts. The cleanup after the destruction of the creation still needs to be done by you, the creator.”

Lyle was truly speechless. The lawyer insisted that Lyle had framed him, and even after Lyle tried to explain himself, he dismissed it as an act.

The punishment was waived, but the charge was confirmed.

"I still have research to deal with, Law student, you can continue." He was speechless and could only let out a sigh.

"Regarding the no fewer than two hundred of your creations that are causing riots at the academy..."

"Wait! You said there are over two hundred of those things now?!" Mr. Scarlet, you're really prolific.

"...Don't you have any idea how many you've made?!"

"...Please continue."

"As the master of these creations, Plague Doctor, do you have any means to control them?"

“No, Law Senior. That thing is a derivative of research on the disguise of hungry flesh. We set its autonomy during the flesh coding stage. As a disguise, they will only accept the instructions of themselves or the host. However, that thing does not have the ability to parasitize. Therefore, there is no possibility of them obeying.”

"There are no corresponding measures to suppress this creation, so a large number of those things is a headache. You should know what the outcome is when a creature without natural enemies proliferates."

How could a fantasy creation possibly have a natural enemy in the real world?

"Huh?! Senior Law, you don't mean that I, the one who created that thing, should create its natural enemy to restrict it, do you?"

“That’s not what I meant… but let’s talk about your suggestion first, Physician. Can you create a natural enemy for that thing?”

"It's possible, but that thing was created based on the Flesh and Blood knowledge suggestions provided by Instructor Crimson. If I want to create targeted creations targeting natural enemies, I'll probably need Instructor Crimson's advice..." Thinking this, Lyle couldn't help but picture the smile on Instructor Crimson's face. Good heavens, could that be what Mr. Crimson was thinking?!

Create chaos with Lyle's creations, then create new natural enemies like Lyle's creations...

“Wait a minute, Mr. Law, what if the creatures that are the natural enemies of that thing also become too numerous? They don’t have any natural enemies either.”

Mr. Law began to think, "How about you continue creating the natural enemy of the natural enemy?"

My God, you're not asking for the creation of natural enemies, you're asking for the reconstruction of a new food chain, a new biosphere!

"Absolutely not!" Lyle shouted in frustration. If they did that, he didn't know how long his experiment would be delayed. "There must be another way."

“There are indeed other ways.” Mr. Law handed over a piece of paper. “In fact, every Andrei creation has its natural enemy.”

"We, the liches, are the creators of modified creatures, and also their natural enemies."

Lyle took the letter. "That's right. Logically speaking, Andrei's guys would never be bullied by a bunch of modified creatures, much less allow those things to proliferate." Lyle looked at Mr. Law, waiting for his answer.

"The Crown, Andrei's Lich Crown."

"Your creations possess the aura of a crown, which any lich can sense. The liches who encountered them weren't afraid of those creations, but rather chose to tolerate them. Sounds unbelievable? Actually, it's just a role reversal. As researchers, liches naturally know how important a free environment is for research. They chose to tolerate you because they know that other liches will tolerate them in the future. Because your experimental project is a recognized large-scale Andrei project, they are concerned that the free movement of these creations is part of the data you need to collect for your experiments. As long as they don't excessively interfere with your activities, liches will ignore those creations for fear of interfering with your experiments. Even this invitation to you is to confirm the relevant experimental situation."

"Plague Doctor, the paper I'm giving you contains a disclaimer agreement. If you sign it, that thing will be considered a superfluous factor in the experimental research. Our compatriots will stop watching and dispose of these creations. Of course, you will then have no way to hold them accountable."

"I see," Lyle said, touching the crown on his head that looked like a fluorescent light tube.

"As expected, the privileges represented by the crown do have some effect. You're quite capable to make those guys behave themselves."

Lyle signed his code name on the paper.

At Andre Academy, the mischievous creatures collectively paused for a moment. In their perceived world, the skeletons they had been chasing became much colder and more dangerous.