“System, extract Alchemical Elements.”
【Confirming, extracting Alchemical Elements… Extraction successful!】
Along with the cold prompt, the massive corpse of the second-rank Live Iron Golem began to dissolve.
It didn’t burn or melt.
Enveloped in a white light, it transformed into countless tiny specks, each glowing with a different light. Drawn by an invisible vortex, they surged rapidly into the void. The whole process took only a few seconds.
In its pce, only a corroded patch of ground remained, smoking slightly.
【Extraction yielded:】
【Flesh: 7 units】
【Flora: 0 units】
【Salt-Gold: 18 units】
【Ether: 37 units】
【Soul: 0 units】
Pandora looked at the numbers and nodded. Not bad. Not bad at all.
She started crunching the numbers in her head.
Seven units of Flesh made sense. According to Dulles’s notes, this kind of second-rank golem was basically a “disposable” strategic weapon. They burned through life energy like crazy. It had been dead for over a day, and most of its guts had already leaked away as pus. Getting seven units out of it was a steal.
Eighteen units of Salt-Gold. So that’s where they got the “Live Iron” name. A rge part of its body was made of the stuff, which was packed with the “Salt-Gold” element and didn't just… leak away like flesh did.
But thirty-seven units of Ether… now that was the real prize. A chunk of that had to be the leftover “Frenzy Mist” it sucked down, but the conversion rate felt off. Maybe the golem couldn't process it efficiently, or maybe a day was too long. Either way, she wasn't compining.
This harvest would greatly enrich her “inventory,” providing a solid foundation for the potion she was about to brew and any future alchemical experiments she might cook up. She even felt that the tiny knot of anxiety about the upcoming advancement—half-forced, half-chosen—had loosened just a little.
Her current pool of Alchemical Elements, after consecutive days of accumution, could now be described as “plentiful.”
It all started the night before she torched Arthur’s armory. Back then, out of caution, she’d checked her resource pool. It was a pittance, just seed money, with the rgest categories, Flesh and Salt-Gold, hovering around 40 points each. Flora and Ether were even scarcer.
Then came the vilges. She cleared two of them. But with so many eyes from the manor on her, she couldn't just drag every corpse into a corner for a secret extraction. She had to act like a real “cleaner,” finding unattended spots in the chaos of battle to do her work.
But with such a rge base, the final result was still significant. A hundred zombies. They became the bedrock of her fortune.
After that, the special bear-shaped zombie she’d encountered in the Forbidden Forest was also, in a simir fashion, dragged to the creek and quietly extracted when she got back to the manor yesterday. The bear, though it looked nasty, didn't give much more than an ordinary zombie—no qualitative change. It was more like an “extra-rge” order.
Then came yesterday's battle in the research facility. Those fifty-some ordinary zombies—she hadn't directly extracted a single one. But the massive cloud of Ether-rich “Frenzy Mist” had been thoroughly vacuumed up by her System.
Based on her recollection, that absorption was equivalent to more than thirty ordinary zombies. The Ether content of the “Frenzy Mist” was clearly much higher than the withered husks of the regur zombies.
So, after that extraction, her resource pool, especially the Ether, looked downright healthy:
【Flesh: 740 units】
【Flora: 179 units】
【Salt-Gold: 882 units】
【Ether: 429 units】
【Soul: 0 units】
And now, adding in the windfall she’d just scored from the second-rank golem:
【Flesh: 747 units】
【Flora: 179 units】
【Salt-Gold: 900 units】
【Ether: 466 units】
【Soul: 0 units】
The biggest category, Salt-Gold, was about to break 1,000. A number she hadn't even dared to dream of before. The smallest, Flora, was long past 100, enough for her to run some basic pnt-based alchemical experiments.
Only “Soul”…
Pandora stared at the lonely, stubborn “0” and felt a familiar flicker of annoyance. Whether it was a first-rank or second-rank golem, they were just flesh and metal puppets. No soul inside. And the “Frenzy Mist” was just an artificial energy drink, also soulless.
As for the few people she’d killed on the way… their numbers were small to begin with, and with Aurora or Betty usually around, it had been inconvenient. The result was this completely unbanced resource sheet. Everything else was over 100, some close to 1,000, but the “Soul” category was a big fat zero.
She made a mental note. If she got the chance, she should still try to stock up on Soul.
However, she wasn't about to start butchering innocents just for a few points. She didn't consider herself a good person, but she hadn't fallen that far.
But… if Arthur and his gang decided to come “deliver” it themselves…
A cold smile touched Pandora’s lips.
Well, she couldn't be bmed for collecting the delivery fee.
“Let's go. Back to the manor. Time to see how to brew this potion...”
She stood up, brushing the dust from her hands. The creek water was clear, reflecting her eyes, which were even colder than the creek itself.
“We don’t have much time. We need to hurry.”
“Yes, My Liege,” Elsa replied with a bow.
………………
Not long after, Pandora returned to Dougs Manor.
Because she’d sent almost the entire manor’s combat and non-combat staff out to “clear zombies,” the pce felt hollow. It was so quiet you could hear the wind whistling through the corridors.
Pandora had Elsa clear out an unused herb room.
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