Chapter 180: Another Name for Oxidation

After Kongsha revealed her identity, she didn’t speak right away. Her crimson lips were pressed tightly together, the edges paling with a sickly hue from how hard she was clenching them.

“Saul, I waited ten days for you. I already know your answer… but I still want to ask again.” After a long silence, Kongsha finally spoke. Her voice was full of weary compromise. “What will it take for you to help me this once?”

Saul was stunned. He had just remembered the agreement he made with Kongsha.

“Let’s talk inside first.”

He pointed to the room beside them—his dorm.

Kongsha had clearly been waiting for him here on purpose and followed behind Saul without hesitation.

His dorm was still a mess. The large boxes stacked by the wall only needed to be resealed to be ready for moving again.

Kongsha glanced over the items in the boxes and murmured, “So you’re confident you’ll advance to Third Rank soon—so confident you didn’t even bother to unpack?”

“No, I’m just lazy,” Saul replied, quickly clearing off a chair for her while he sat directly on one of the sturdy boxes.

Hearing the familiar tone, Kongsha felt a flicker of hope. He didn’t sound annoyed by her sudden appearance, at least.

“Saul, I really need that Whisper of the Elves. Just let me open the bottle and listen for a few minutes—no, just a few dozen seconds is enough. If you’re worried, I can give you more in return. Magical tools, scrolls…”

Saul frowned, troubled. “Senior Kongsha…”

“Just call me Kongsha. Who still qualifies as your senior now?”

Saul blinked, unsure what she meant. But when he saw the subtle resentment flickering in her eyes, he figured now wasn’t the time to press for answers.

So he played dumb and skipped over that line.

“Alright. I’ll take the risk this time.”

Kongsha immediately perked up, her posture straightening. The wide cloak couldn’t hide her striking figure.

“Good—good…” She was so excited she began to ramble. “Let’s go tonight, alright?”

“Tonight?” Saul hesitated but understood—she couldn’t wait, and she was afraid he might change his mind. “Fine. Tonight, 7:55. Kongsha, wait for me at the Bronze Gate. I’ll bring No. 117 and open the door. We’ll make the exchange in under a minute.”

Kongsha nodded quickly.

After agreeing on the details, Saul said seriously, “Kongsha, this isn’t our first trade. I hope it won’t be our last either.”

Kongsha froze. Then she realized Saul was warning her not to play any tricks.

If it had been any other Second Rank apprentice talking to her like that, she would’ve taught them what it meant to respect their seniors—what the coldness of the Wizard Tower truly meant.

But this was Saul. And to her surprise, she didn’t feel the slightest bit of displeasure.

Unknowingly, the dynamic between them had completely shifted.

Saul was now the rising star in “that man’s” eyes, and she… was nothing more than a discarded pawn.

The agreement settled, Saul followed Kongsha to her dorm. There, he received two locator device schematics and three powerful sorcery tools. Among them was Iron and Fire, the very weapon Saul had once used to kill Sid.

Seeing Saul run his fingers over Iron and Fire with genuine delight, Kongsha forced a smile, despite her low spirits. “After I saw you use this to counter Sid, I realized even wizards can’t rely solely on Magic and mental power. So I started collecting a few tools.”

Saul didn’t get greedy. He only took the two tools he could carry with him, then left Kongsha and headed to the Second Storeroom.

On his way past the second floor of the East Tower, he noticed there was no eyeball placed outside the second corpse room.

Which meant that even after all this time, Hayden still hadn’t made a decision to follow him.

Saul felt a bit disappointed, though not surprised.

Compared to gaining strength, Hayden seemed to prefer staying in a safe, stable environment.

Choosing to follow Saul meant facing the unknown dangers of the wizarding world again.

A shift in mindset couldn’t happen overnight.

If Hayden ended up refusing him, Saul wouldn’t be shocked.

He kept walking, passing safely through the dark corridor and three metal doors, returning to the Second Storeroom.

While studying on the 18th floor, Saul still returned daily to check on the storeroom and see if any tasks had been assigned by a mentor. He just didn’t stay here as long anymore.

This time, he’d read some notes on the 18th floor that gave him new inspiration for his wizard body modification experiment—prompting his return.

Otherwise, he wouldn’t have bumped into Kongsha on the way back.

Lighting a candle, counting the corpses, checking the communication pen…

After completing his routine, Saul eagerly made his way to the long table.

He spread out the materials he’d prepared over the past few days, then opened his notebook.

He no longer wrote in the common Noah script. Instead, he’d switched to Necrotongue, the language most compatible with dark elements.

The characters of this language were filled with sharp strokes and emphasized both visible and hidden symbols—much harder to learn than Noah script. Saul had only recently grasped the basics, hoping to master it through constant practice.

On the slightly yellowed pages, Necrotongue recorded his thoughts on the formulas for Soul Eye and Plastic Bone Soul Resin more faithfully than Noah ever could.

Saul reflected on their similarities.

One shared trait was that both were based on normal human tissues, processed with Magic, mental force, and other treatments—endowing them with qualities of living organisms.

In other words, these Soul Resins were purified toward a more humanoid form.

After all, living humans were among the best and most stable vessels for souls.

But because of this, these resins also had clear flaws. Just like humans—relatively fragile beings in the natural world.

“So how do I minimize Plastic Bone’s weaknesses?” Saul picked up his pen, thinking as he absentmindedly scribbled. “Soul Eye does it by shrinking the pupil and reducing the lens’s light transmission—but the cost is massive loss of vision.”

“But what about Plastic Bone? Should it resist electricity? Oxidation? Or heat? Seems like very few wizards research how to change the material’s nature…”

“And magical oxidation isn’t the same as the old chemistry kind. Maybe I shouldn’t even call it oxidation. Maybe… it should be called corruptive transformation?”

Just as Saul wrote that, a sudden knock came at the door.

Bang bang bang bang bang!

The knocking was frantic and impatient.

“Who is it?” Saul immediately stood up, switching his pen for Iron and Fire, the weapon he’d “borrowed” from Kongsha.

There was no response from outside.

Saul, weapon in hand, walked past the shelves and the horde of corpses until he reached the main door.

“Who is it?” he called again.

“Haywood.” A low male voice finally answered. After a brief pause, he added, “First Storeroom.”

Although his first impression of Haywood hadn’t been great, Saul quickly opened the door.

“Two specimens were just delivered. They’ve already been processed by Mentor Kaz.” Haywood’s odd-colored pupils flicked across Saul’s face. He stepped slightly aside, allowing Saul to see what was behind him.

“Specimens? Is that what you call corpses?”

“They’re not ordinary corpses.”

Saul stepped out and saw, behind Haywood, two enormous transparent cases standing as tall as a person.

Inside each box lay a man.

If they had been beautiful women, the scene might’ve evoked the image of Snow White’s crystal coffin.

But these were men—and men Saul recognized.

Herman.

Bill.

(End of Chapter)

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