Chapter 73
Chapter 73
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 73
Chapter Title: It Seems I Can Mass-Produce Out-of-Spec Jiangshi
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“What business brings you here in person, my lord?”
Geon-woo was receiving Lord Kolon, who had shown up out of the blue, in his underground hideout.
Even after the attack from Helparis, Geon-woo hadn’t relocated his hideout.
He’d only added a magic circle a little deeper underground; otherwise, he was still using the previous facilities as they were.
It was a show of strength—a provocation.
A message to Helparis’s new leadership: come find me anytime.
“I need your help with something urgent, so I had no choice but to come myself. I couldn’t exactly expect you to come to me.”
“Help?”
“You could’ve visited once in a while. Would that have been so hard?”
“What kind of help do you need?”
Despite the disappointment in Lord Kolon’s tone, Geon-woo kept pressing for the point.
He knew full well that listening to complaints would only put him at a disadvantage in any negotiation.
“Ugh. You’re a real piece of work.”
Lord Kolon scowled at Geon-woo’s attitude.
But he soon composed himself and met Geon-woo’s gaze squarely.
“The demons’ offensives have suddenly intensified.”
“Demons? I haven’t noticed anything like that.”
“It’s quiet on this front. They’re maneuvering around you just like before.”
“I’ve been buried in experiments for a while, so I guess they’ve been up to no good in the meantime. Those demons.”
“Thanks to the otherworlders’ help, we’re holding on somehow, but we’re being pushed back bit by bit.”
“The users are stepping up more than usual, huh?”
“You must’ve heard—lately, soul stone yields have spiked. The otherworlders say it’s some kind of event period.”
“Is that so?”
“They’re saying it’s about double the average compared to before.”
“Double?”
Even Geon-woo was taken aback by the word “double.”
That meant a 100% increase in drop rates.
If Onboroad were truly just a game, they’d be worried about soul stone values crashing.
But now that soul fusion was known to vastly boost avatar growth potential, there was no devaluing of soul stones.
If anything, with more stones flooding the market, more people were chasing the dream of soul fusion they’d previously given up on.
This was creating a bizarre situation where the increased supply was actually driving up soul stone prices.
Geon-woo, obsessed with his research, had been oblivious.
“You didn’t know?”
“I haven’t left this place for a while. So I haven’t heard the outside news.”
“I see.”
“So, how exactly do you want my help? Sounds like this area’s fine.”
“Well...”
“No special requests, then? You just want me patrolling everywhere—north, south, east, west? To keep the demons in check.”
Geon-woo guessed from Lord Kolon’s expression, and the lord nodded.
“We’re losing ground so slightly it’s barely noticeable, but if it keeps up, we might not be able to hold. Your involvement could turn that tiny disadvantage into an advantage.”
Just his presence could put the brakes on demon movements.
Geon-woo and the Dark Phoenix mercenaries held that kind of position.
“Hmm, it’s been a while since you asked, but I can’t right now.”
But Geon-woo wasn’t in a position to move.
His experiments with the demon dimension and various Molti were in full swing; he couldn’t step away.
“No, wait...”
“I’ll lend you some mercenaries instead. Take them with you.”
Geon-woo cut off Lord Kolon’s budding protest by mentioning mercenaries.
His personal guard couldn’t be separated from him.
But the soul terminals linked to the White Scale Unit worked anywhere in the same dimension.
So he could loan out the Dark Phoenix mercenaries—the Jiangshi White Scale Unit—to Lord Kolon.
“And I’ll throw in one special-grade mercenary on top.”
Geon-woo dangled the term “special-grade” before the astonished lord like it was something extraordinary.
“Special-grade?”
“In some ways, stronger than me.”
A true monster.
Geon-woo said it with confidence.
The special-grade mercenary he mentioned was actually a Jiangshi made from Tarlod Molti’s corpse—and in terms of raw destructive power, it outmatched Geon-woo.
That Tarlod Molti Jiangshi occupied one slot in his White Scale Unit soul terminals.
“Stronger than you? You’ve really got a mercenary like that?”
Lord Kolon knew Dark Phoenix was special.
He’d already suspected that the bizarre entities created by the otherworlder Geon-woo were Dark Phoenix.
He’d been wary ever since watching them devour creature and demon corpses.
So Geon-woo’s words now were tantamount to admitting he’d created something overwhelmingly powerful.
Lord Kolon’s shock wasn’t just at the mercenary being stronger than Geon-woo—it weighed heavier on the fact that Geon-woo had made it.
That implied the potential to produce more such mercenaries.
“Take it out for a spin. You won’t be disappointed. But in return...”
“In return?”
“It’s got a big build. And it can’t reveal its true nature, ever.”
“Big build, and can’t show its identity? You mean...”
“Just put two and two together. No need to confirm.”
“Right. Yeah, that makes sense. Got it. Thanks.”
“Well, I need field testing anyway, so it’s a good opportunity for me too.”
Geon-woo flashed a broad grin in response to Lord Kolon’s gratitude.
Shortly after, as Lord Kolon left the hideout, fifty Jiangshi accompanied him—including one massive one nearly three meters tall.
The Tarlod Molti Jiangshi.
* * *
Crunch! Cruuunch! Boom! Brrrboom!
“R-Retreat! Fall back! Fall back!”
“What the hell is that thing?!”
“It looks like a Tarlod at a glance, but why’s it fighting for those lowly scum?!”
“Shut up and run for it!”
Ruuuumble! Craaaash!
“Gah! It’s collapsing!”
“The ground’s caving in from its footsteps!”
“That’s why we need to run! No chance of winning!”
“His Excellency won’t forgive us...”
“Better than dying here!”
“Ugh!”
The demons, who had been directing from the rear with creatures up front.
They couldn’t shut their mouths at the sight of the Tarlod Molti Jiangshi charging straight at them like a juggernaut.
Anything it collided with was smashed to pieces.
Though clad head to toe in armor, the demons were nearly certain it was a Tarlod.
But demon or not, in this encounter as enemies, it was far too powerful.
“That thing’s all kinds of wrong no matter how you slice it!”
“What’re you on about? Wanna die? Move!”
“Still, wrong is wrong. It doesn’t seem bound by the system’s restrictions.”
“Looks that way to me too, but the system wouldn’t allow it!”
“It shouldn’t, but there’s proof right there. That’s what’s confusing.”
“Damn it.”
As the demons sacrificed creatures to cover their escape, the Tarlod Molti Jiangshi’s rampage burned vividly into their minds.
And they instinctively sensed it retained the full might of the demon dimension’s tier.
Reason said no, but instinct recognized the Tarlod Molti Jiangshi’s truth.
* * *
= The Tarlod Molti seems like a huge success.
After the messenger from Lord Kolon departed, Ilryeong’s shoulders brimmed with pride.
News of the new Jiangshi’s successful debut had him thrilled.
“Yeah. You did an outstanding job. Ilryeong, your new refining solution was a game-changer.”
= It was only possible with your help, my lord. And even a perfect Jiangshi body is useless without a Jiangshi Spirit to pilot it properly.
The Tarlod Molti Jiangshi’s spirit was the very same one that had formed its original body.
No—more accurately, it was the only option.
The Tarlod Molti Jiangshi carried the demon dimension’s full tier, so regular Jiangshi Spirits couldn’t draw out its potential.
Like running top-tier hardware on bargain-bin software.
After several experiments, they concluded the original Tarlod Molti’s extracted spirit was the best fit.
However, that spirit had once resisted Geon-woo’s subjugation and binding arts.
Though he’d used stronger versions this time, who knew what lingered in its subconscious?
Amid this, Geon-woo, studying the Tarlod Molti Jiangshi Spirit, noticed something new growing within it.
Curious about what hid in its subconscious, Geon-woo attempted a consciousness link.
The link delved not to the surface mind, but into its deepest layers, where he found an alien energy that wasn’t his.
By chance, he realized it was a seal binding part of the Tarlod Molti spirit.
A seal on a fragment of its soul, buried in the subconscious.
Geon-woo’s focused research revealed its nature.
Surprisingly, the system didn’t just restrict demon bodies entering Onboroad or Earth—it bound their souls too.
“Unsealing that soul restriction was like catching a rat while stepping backward after a cow.”
Geon-woo murmured, reminiscing.
The system’s soul seal.
Geon-woo had undone it, but only thanks to the giant’s ring stored in his dimensional space.
The giant he’d met deep underground before.
The sole relic from that skeleton: the ring.
Pulled out by chance, it reacted to Geon-woo’s memory of the system’s soul seal, offering a solution.
“Well, without the ring, I still can’t unseal those subconscious bindings. But as long as I have it, no problem.”
Geon-woo still couldn’t interfere with the system’s restrictions directly.
Without the skeleton giant’s ring, he never would’ve broken that seal.
= As long as you head to Seoul for anything, right?
“Where’d you pick up that saying?”
= Not important, my lord. What matters is that unsealing the soul let Molti settle successfully in the demon dimension with much higher odds.
“And the bindings are way stronger now, so even unsealed demon souls are fully under control.”
= Yes. That’s key. As long as you don’t lose that ring, no issues.
“But someday, I need to do it with my own power, without relying on artifacts.”
= You should be kinder to yourself, my lord. Isn’t the treasure in your hands part of your strength too? You can’t do everything with pure skill forever.
“Fair point. But losing the ring now would be a massive setback, so I can’t help feeling uneasy.”
= Don’t worry, my lord. Soon we’ll repatriate more Molti. Then we can churn out countless Jiangshi as strong as the Tarlod Molti. And if we make them living Jiangshi too...
“Yeah. My forces would multiply dozens, hundreds of times over.”
Geon-woo’s heart raced at the thought—it wasn’t far off.
Then, purging demons from Onboroad or Earth wouldn’t be a pipe dream.