Dice In The Darkness: Cthulhu Calls

Who exactly is Sirius?

When you think about it, an item like the Soul Casket, capable of bringing people back from the dead, couldn’t possibly be something as common as an everyday commodity.

With this in mind, Liu Xing couldn’t help but ask, "Mr. Chrisiano, then you should know the effects of this Soul Casket, right?"

Chrisiano nodded, speaking, "As the name suggests, the Soul Casket is an item capable of containing souls. It is said to be the result of cooperation between another race and our Ancient One clan. Due to the rarity of its materials, there are only a hundred or so Soul Caskets within the entire Ancient One clan. Furthermore, at least half of these Soul Caskets are sealed away in the secret vaults of our Ancient One clan. They are not to be used unless absolutely necessary."

"As for the Soul Caskets that have already been distributed, they are mainly held by high-ranking members of the Ancient One clan. As far as I know, our Ancient One clan had one Soul Casket in the hands of the Earth’s governor back then. Apart from that, there should be no more than two Soul Caskets on Earth. As for who possesses these remaining two Soul Caskets, I cannot be certain. This is beyond the knowledge of a low-ranking clerk like myself. However, Ryuusei, the Soul Casket you hold now, I don’t think it’s the same one as the governor’s Soul Casket because the Soul Caskets given to governors have special markings."

Liu Xing examined the Soul Casket in his hand but didn’t find any special markings. However, after Chrisiano’s explanation, Liu Xing became even more curious about Sirius’ identity.

Although the Ancient One clan discouraged reproduction and only produced new generations when needed to colonize new territories, there were still some well-known clans in the universe with populations of over ten billion. Among these billions, there were only a hundred or so Soul Caskets. Thus, obtaining a Soul Casket made one an extraordinary figure among the Ancient Ones.

So Sirius’ identity was even more remarkable than Liu Xing had imagined.

However, on second thought, the Soul Casket was not an exclusive product of the Ancient One clan but was produced in cooperation with other races. Yet, according to Chrisiano’s tone, it seemed unclear which race was the partner in this item’s production.

Could it be the fall guy Nyarlathotep behind this again? Liu Xing was starting to develop a reflex, attributing certain incomprehensible events directly to Nyarlathotep.

In the Cthulhu RPG Game, everything was Nyarlathotep’s fault...

At this point, the data analysis was almost complete.

"I see, so although the Ancient One clan didn’t understand why I could integrate the abilities of other mythical creatures, they found other means to mimic the process. They allowed weaker animals to absorb the abilities of others. However, this absorption efficiency is very low, and there is a high probability of misunderstanding the ability. Most importantly, the stability of these synthetic beasts is very poor. The more animals they absorb, the shorter their lifespan. Basically, the largest synthetic beasts only live for a day," Chrisiano analyzed.

Liu Xing nodded, stroking his chin, "Although the Ancient One clan is highly skilled in genetic engineering, it’s impossible to successfully hybridize genes from so many different animals in a short time. Moreover, these synthetic beasts are currently in a completely uncontrolled state, making successful synthesis impossible."

Chrisiano sighed, saying helplessly, "You’re right, Liu Xing. I believe the researchers’ goal back then was to find a relatively stable formula for synthetic beasts and then deploy them on the battlefield. After all, when I was expelled from the Ancient One clan, we had almost lost all our ground cities. Our Ancient One clan was very poor in ground battles and sieges. These synthetic beasts could indeed make up for our shortcomings, although the manufacturing cost of these synthetic beasts is quite high."

Liu Xing thought for a moment and decided to get to the point, "Mr. Chrisiano, can you use the equipment in this research facility to create a suitable Ancient One body now?"

Chrisiano raised an eyebrow at first, then smiled, "Ah, I see. It seems that there is already an Ancient One soul in this Soul Casket. But then again, the equipment in this research facility is not complete. Some key equipment was dismantled during the retreat years ago, and the available materials are also very poor. So, although the equipment in this research facility can create an Ancient One body, the data on this body is very poor, even trash, you could say. I believe the Ancient One comrade in the Soul Casket would not want to use such a body. After all, we Ancient Ones have a saying: ’No matter how good the Soul Casket is, it can only be used once.’"

"Soul Caskets can only be used once?" Liu Xing was somewhat surprised, looking at Chrisiano. He hadn’t expected such a statement.

Seeing Liu Xing’s expression of astonishment, Chrisiano explained, "As I mentioned earlier, the materials for Soul Caskets are extremely rare. Therefore, there are only a hundred or so Soul Caskets made by the Ancient One clan. The most important material for Soul Caskets is the Soul Gem, the core of the Soul Casket. This Soul Gem is only a name provided by that mysterious race because our Ancient One clan has never discovered such a gem in the universe. These Soul Gems are also graded. Different grades of Soul Gems can preserve souls for different lengths of time and with different degrees of completeness. According to your Chinese Daoism, the highest-grade Soul Gems can preserve three souls and seven spirits intact, while some lower-grade Soul Gems, although they can preserve souls, will eventually lose them."

"But regardless of the grade of the Soul Gem, when the soul it contains leaves, the Soul Gem will be completely scrapped, turning into what appears to be a decent ordinary gemstone. Therefore, the Soul Casket is a disposable item. So, I think the owner of the Soul Casket in your hands, Ryuusei, would choose a truly suitable Ancient One body for resurrection rather than just randomly selecting a body. After all, it’s about the second half of its life, unless it wants to retire like me in human society."

Liu Xing nodded, realizing there was much more to the Soul Casket than he had thought.

"Alright, I’ve finished reviewing these research materials now. Unfortunately, they’re of no use to me. It seems my trip to Zekiel Island was in vain," Chrisiano sighed.

Liu Xing nodded, saying, "So, Mr. Chrisiano, are we going to leave Zekiel Island now?"

Chrisiano thought for a moment, pointing outside, "We can leave Zekiel Island at any time, but we don’t know if those synthetic beasts outside will agree. Although Ryuusei, you have certain privileges, it’s unlikely that you can control these synthetic beasts. So, as soon as we leave the research facility, we’ll undoubtedly be attacked by these synthetic beasts. Therefore, it won’t be easy for us to leave Zekiel Island now."

Liu Xing frowned, realizing that the synthetic beasts outside were indeed a major problem. After all, their group’s combat capabilities were currently very worrying...

"How about we wait until this round of experiments is over before leaving Zekiel Island?" Liu Xing asked.

Chrisiano nodded, smiling, "That’s what I was thinking too. Since I’m currently sealed, I can only use my abilities once a day. So, I can at most deal with a few synthetic beasts. As for you, Ryuusei, because you’ve lost the advantage of firearms, your combat capabilities should have decreased significantly. Plus, you’re not good at close combat to begin with. So, all of you combined might not even be able to defeat a single synthetic beast."

Although it was somewhat embarrassing, Liu Xing had to admit that their group might not even be able to defeat a single synthetic beast at the moment...

After a brief discussion, Liu Xing’s group decided to stay temporarily in the research facility and wait until the current round of experiments was over before leaving Zekiel Island.

So, Liu Xing’s group arrived at the dormitory area of the research facility.

The rooms of the Ancient One clan were also very distinctive, with almost everything in a room placed in the center, and various decorative patterns adorning the walls.

Of course, due to the hasty retreat of the researchers back then, besides important personal items, many everyday items were left in the rooms, although these items seemed useless to Liu Xing and the others.

Of course, as someone who could understand the Ancient One language, Liu Xing suddenly felt that the once prestigious Ancient One clan seemed quite "down-to-earth" when he saw the "tentacle moisturizer" in front of him, as well as a comic book titled "Super Ancient One Captain"...

Looking at Liu Xing’s puzzled expression, Chrisiano chuckled and said, "Ryuusei, although our Ancient One clan is very advanced in technology, it doesn’t mean we’re not interested in other aspects. You see, although the Ancient One clan is relatively lacking in entertainment compared to humans, we still have novels, comics, and movies and TV shows. So, Ryuusei, don’t think of us mythical creatures as too lofty or too boring."

Liu Xing nodded, realizing that Chrisiano was right. He had indeed been somewhat biased, thinking of mythical creatures as too detached from reality... But it was understandable, given that in the Cthulhu RPG Game he had encountered, mythical creatures were only described as terrifying, and their daily lives weren’t mentioned...

For example, that menacing Deep One in front of you might have confessed its love to another Deep One it had been secretly infatuated with just yesterday. Or that Ghoul preparing to tear you limb from limb might actually be a literature enthusiast. Of course, Ghoul literature could very likely be extremely bloody and violent.

Thinking like this, Liu Xing suddenly felt that this setting was strangely appealing.

After allocating rooms, everyone rested.

According to previous intelligence, this round of experiments would take a few days to complete, and since they couldn’t activate Private Room time in the research facility, Liu Xing and the others weren’t in the mood for discussions, so they rested for the afternoon.

At night, Chrisiano took out a box of canned food from the storage room of the research facility with Liu Xing.

"You might know, Ryuusei, that although our Ancient One clan has both plant and animal characteristics, fundamentally, we lean more towards animals. So, although we Ancient Ones can absorb energy through photosynthesis to sustain our daily activities, we prefer to consume meat for energy. Therefore, after entering Earth, our Ancient One clan established many ranches to breed various animals. So, most of the canned food of our Ancient One clan is meat-based," Chrisiano said, picking up a can about the size of a can of baby formula.

Liu Xing nodded but still expressed some concern, "Um, Chrisiano, you should know that there are some physiological differences between us humans and your Ancient Ones, so are these canned foods really suitable for us humans to consume?"

Chrisiano chuckled and said seriously, "Of course they are. You can rest assured about that, Ryuusei. Because you’ve already seen that the animals outside are all created by our Ancient One clan. So, since you can eat those animals outside without any problem, then these canned foods should be fine for you too. Plus, our Ancient One clan’s canned foods are quite natural, without any special additives... But I’m also a little worried that you might not be used to these canned foods, considering that the animals we breed lean more towards the tastes of our Ancient One clan."

Liu Xing nodded again. Indeed, the ingredient list on these cans only contained names of animals he had never heard of before and water.

As for the taste of these animals, they would have to wait until they were eaten later.

Hopefully, they wouldn’t be too unpalatable.

As they chatted, Liu Xing also came to understand the true Ancient One clan.

An Ancient One clan with flesh and blood.

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