Shrouded Seascape

Chapter 394: Experiment

Silence descended upon the room once again. After a while, it was Linda who broke the silence this time, "When will your eyes recover?"

"Soon. I've absorbed enough Blood Essence. My wounds inflicted by the sun are almost half healed."

"Do you have enough funds? I still have a street I can sell," Linda offered.

Audric shook his head. "Echoes are somewhat useful for normal vampires. They can use Echoes to buy blood slaves from pirates or to enjoy various luxuries on human islands.

"But once they reach the rank of Count or higher, most of them have little use for money and, by extension, no desire for it. It's impractical to expect that we can use Echoes to acquire their Blood Essence.

"I heard that the prison has collected many relics. If there are any special and powerful relics, maybe we can trade them for Blood Essence," Audric suggested.

Linda nodded in agreement without a hint of hesitation. "Alright, I'll take you there to have a look tomorrow."

With a silent swoop, Audric landed on the floor. Reaching out his hands with sharp nails, he gently wrapped Linda in an embrace.

"Don't worry. Once I reach the next rank, I'll have the power to turn others. I'll turn you into a vampire then, and we can retire at Dark Crystal Island."

However, Linda firmly declined his proposition. "Now's not the right time. I need to assist the Captain in finding the Land of Light first. That was a task bestowed upon me by the Sacred Acolyte. It's also the most important mission of the Divine Light Order."

A hint of dissatisfaction surfaced on Audrice's countenance. He felt that he had been sidelined in Linda's heart due to her faith. "Is the Divine Light Order really that important to you?"

Hearing the question, Linda placed her utensils down. "We had an agreement. You are not supposed to interfere with my faith, or else"

"Fine, fine, as you wish," Audric quickly interjected. His scarlet tongue flickered out and lightly grazed Linda's fair neck.

Unperturbed, Linda picked up her fork and knife and continued her meal.

"The Light has baptized me. I can't backslide now. I can only continue on."

"Why now? Is there a rule where followers can't leave the Order?" Audric prodded.

"There isn't. Leaving is possible, but those who leave often end up in a dire state. Being all alone and incapable of lying is disadvantageous.

"As a disciple of the Divine Light Order, others wouldn't dare take advantage of us. Our honesty doesn't make us vulnerable," Linda explained.

Audric remained silent upon hearing Linda's words. However, he made a secret resolution in his heart that once he attained the rank of Count, he would turn Linda into a vampire.

Even the lowest rank of vampires possess powerful healing powers. With that, the few nails in her brain could be effortlessly retrieved.

"I'm done. Your turn to do the dishes," Linda said as she patted her mouth with a napkin. She then stood up and headed toward the study.

Audric was taken aback momentarily. He then slowly felt around to find the edge of the table and struggled to collect the dishes before awkwardly carrying them all into the kitchen.

Just then, the sudden knocking at the door startled both Audric and Linda.

When Linda opened the door with an icy expression, she was greeted by a fish-looking humanoid creature.

"Dipp? What brings you here?" Linda asked.

"Let's talk inside," Dipp answered and self-invited himself into the apartment.

Upon closing the door, Linda turned around to see Dipp sniffing at the air.

"Is it something urgent? I'm not fond of hosting a monster with fish scales at this hour of the night," Linda remarked dryly.This chapter was originally shared via NOvel--Bi(j)n.

"Why do I smell the scent of blood? Is someone injured?" Dipp asked.

Linda cast an inadvertent glance toward the kitchen and diverted the topic. "If it's not something important, let's talk tomorrow morning."

Sensing that Linda was trying to chase him out, Dipp hurriedly added, "No, no, no. I came just for one question. I will leave once I've gotten the answer. I heard that after Doctor's death, you are overseeing the human-relic fusion experiments, right? How's the progress of the project?"

"I've just returned, so I haven't been briefed on the current status. James was managing things in my absence. Maybe you should check with him," Linda suggested.

Dipp was about to follow up with another question before he paused with a look of confusion on his face. "Wait, this scent of blood is all too familiar. My senses had been enhanced by 096, just like the Captain's. I can't be wrong."

Dipp repeatedly sniffed the air as he moved toward the kitchen. But just before he could cross the kitchen doorway, Linda quickly intercepted him and pulled him toward the main entrance.

"You were asking about the relics, right? Let's go over now, then."

"Isn't it a bit too late in the night now?" Dipp questioned.

"Not at all!" Linda remarked as she scooped up Dipp and tossed him out of the apartment. She then stepped outside and slammed the door shut behind her.

Seated inside the car, confusion was written all over Dipp's face as he stared at Linda. He couldn't understand Linda's over reaction, and his instincts were sounding to him that she was concealing something. However, he chose not to probe further.

Enduring the strange awkwardness, the car pulled up before the prison building. During their absence, a new complex had been erected right behind the main prison building, and it was dedicated solely to relic research.

The main structure of the complex was finished, with construction crews busily working on expansions surrounding it. The openings in the overhead canopy had remained uncovered to allow sunlight to stream through and illuminate the site, where workers diligently put in extra hours to expedite completion.

"They've already built so much while we were away?" Dipp exclaimed in surprise.

"The Governor's Mansion has allocated additional funding. The Captain places utmost importance on this project. He believes that these special abilities would be of value to our island, even more so than the sunlight," Linda replied in a calm monotone.

Exiting the vehicle, Dipp placed the large hood on his back onto his head to hide his terrifying appearance.

"Indeed, these abilities would be of much use. Even the bananas that Bandages had modified were bigger in size now. Speaking of Bandages, how's he doing?"

Linda had already answered the same question many times throughout the day and didn't want to repeat it again. She opted to ignore Dipp's question.

Soon enough, the two arrived at the laboratory. Various monstrous creatures were isolated in individual cells and were roaring in agony.

Dressed in white lab coats, a group of staff were meticulously documenting their observations, seemingly in search of patterns in the experiments.

Noticing Linda's arrival, the head researcher promptly came forward to welcome her. It didn't take long before a stack of documents was presented to Linda. They were marked with predominantly red lines, interspersed with a few blue ones.

Each red line indicated failure, while a blue line meant success.

Although each experimental subject was different, the success rate had increased significantly. If an individual could hear chanting sounds, the success rate would be enhanced to 84%. It was a notable increase from earlier experiments under Laesto.

Taking the documents from Linda, Dipp scanned the contents and commented, "That's impressive! Then this item would be of use."

"I have been wanting to ask since just now. Why are you asking about this project in the middle of the night?" Linda snatched the documents back from Dipp.

A gleam appeared in Dipp's eyes as he pointed toward his fanged mouth.

"I really want to try fusing with a relic."

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