Chapter 557 - 221: I’ll Eat You (Part 2)

After more than ten days of training, she carried herself with a greater sense of composure and competence. The aristocratic bearing she’d had since childhood hadn’t faded; in fact, it was now tinged with a sharp, martial air.

In fact, she wasn’t the only one. The hundred Guards standing in neat formation before her had also undergone a transformation.

With the exception of Haisa, who was already an Extraordinary, the other Guards had used a Secret Technique from the Eternal Life Association to transition from ordinary people into Extraordinaries. As a result, their figures had grown more alluring and their skin far more delicate.

The greatest change, however, was in their bearing. Possessing Extraordinary Power had given them a foundation of confidence, and they were no longer the timid women who had once let pirates bully them with impunity.

Clelia watched a few of the spars, then left with a dismissive curl of her lip.

Although the Guards’ strength had improved significantly, a fight between Extraordinaries who hadn’t even reached captain-level was hardly enough to hold her interest.

But she knew it would take a long time and a great deal of patience for these Guards to reach the level of the women she remembered.

CREAK.

Clelia left the training area. Seeing the three "women" still studying quietly on the stage, she took a breath, straightened her posture, and walked toward them.

"...Lilith." Miss Zombie spoke the Gonzalez word with a stiff, expressionless face, like a teacher testing a student’s memorization.

The white-haired girl’s vacant eyes were fixed on the parchment. With a small hand gripping a quill, she spelled out two words in Oldes: "Tina. Calamity."

"Correct!"

Pavla clapped her hands from the sidelines in praise. "Tina, you’ve already finished everything in *Gonzalez (Proficient)*. You can start on *Gonzalez (Mastery)* next."

"I’m sure if Wei’en knew how fast you’re progressing, he’d be just as amazed by your talent. You know, most linguistics professors at the City-State Academy only reach the ’Mastery’ level of Gonzalez at best."

"’Tina. Genius.’ A faint, almost imperceptible smile touched the white-haired girl’s otherwise cold face.

’Genius?’

Clelia walked over, pulled out a chair, and sat down. "Tina’s progress is certainly fast. What about you two?"

’Over the past few days, she’d come to realize that Little White Fur’s power was completely at odds with her appearance. It was a bizarre, unsettling kind of strength.’

’Putting aside the terrifying doll that Little White Fur was always swinging around, there was the matter of Pavla. Clelia herself couldn’t even harm Pavla, yet Little White Fur could wipe the floor with her.’

’Her strength was almost inhuman...’

Shawa glared at Clelia with her ghastly white eyes before sharply turning her head away, clearly having no intention of acknowledging the First Officer.

’Did these people really want her to become a Necromancer Scholar? She was just a poor, modified zombie...’

Pavla was silent for a few seconds, then quietly rose and moved to the side. She took out some ingredients she had prepared earlier, tied on an apron as if nothing had happened, and asked, "How does sashimi sound for tonight? Oh, and Wei’en just taught me how to make fried potato chips. I hear they’re delicious."

’She was just an ordinary, pious believer in the great Dawn. She didn’t need to become some knowledgeable scholar...’

’Okay, she had to admit it. When it came to Gonzalez, her aptitude was merely average.’

’Even if she managed to brute-force memorize the vocabulary, her practical application was still a notch below Tina’s. As it stood, translating a scroll of the Era Relics was completely out of the question for her.’

’Then again, as far as she could recall, there weren’t many scholars in the Dawn Church who were fluent in Gonzalez beyond the ’Mastery’ level, were there?’

’Perhaps the followers of the great Dawn were cursed by that bizarrely complex Gonzalez language...’

’Yes, that must be it!’

"’Tina. Chips!’ The white-haired girl set down her quill and padded over to Pavla, her eyes fixed on the heating iron pan.

’Other than studying, her favorite thing was potato chips. It would be even better if Wei’en was the one making them for her.’

The clown doll dangling from Tina’s hand had its two button eyes flicker. ’Did I hear that familiar word? Potato chips?’

’Hee hee hee... I want some!’

’Even if I’m being violently suppressed in the Calamity World, I have to eat them! They’re delicious!’

Clelia: ...

’Did my question just now go too far?’

"Uh, is Wei’en coming out later?"

"He just came out a little while ago," Pavla replied, peeling a potato. "He said his research project has reached a critical stage and told us not to disturb him."

"Hm??"

’He came out?’

CRACK.

Clelia’s face fell. A single name was forced from between her gritted teeth: "Ronan!"

’That bastard actually dared to lie to her. The next time they went out, she was going to hang him from the crow’s nest for a few days!’

...

...

At that moment, in Wei’en’s workshop, only a wall away from the stage.

In the past few days, the workshop had undergone significant changes.

In addition to the workbench, drill press, and apparatus provided by the specter, several other large pieces of equipment had been added.

These included a Crystal Ball for analyzing the physical data of Undead Creatures, a forge for smelting alloys, and a large Isolation Array to prevent contamination.

Just then, Wei’en was wearing a pair of strangely-shaped goggles, holding a pen and paper as he observed the zombie bound hand and foot on the Binding Platform before him.

Through his lenses, the captain-level zombie was covered in a layer of gray mist. The mist enveloped its entire body, pulsing like waves from the point between its brows and spreading outward with every fluctuation of its Origin Core.

Its arm, however, flickered with an eerie red light, making it seem as if the limb and the zombie’s body were two separate entities that had been crudely stitched together.