Chapter 986: Chapter 410: Constructing the New Life_3

"How long will it take, roughly?" Alka asked from the side.

"A setup this crude will only need three days."

Shadow Robe spoke with absolute confidence.

Alka nodded, vanished from where he stood, and returned to the outside world.

By now Lucilia had already burrowed back into Alka’s body.

Her head poked out of his chest. "It’s been so long since I’ve had such a weird experience, hahaha, I almost missed it."

As she spoke, her head sank back in. Then a pair of Spiritual Body–like hands reached out from Alka’s armpits.

Alka instantly became four-armed.

"Matilda, look."

Seeing this, Matilda couldn’t help but smile.

Then she was completely amused and burst out laughing.

Alka rolled his eyes helplessly and turned his attention to Simon. "How are the Puppet Girls now?"

"All good, already taken care of."

"Now we’ve got our hands full. First we’ll build the new body plan we designed for Lucilia.

After that we’ll start making the Puppet Girls’ components."

Simon nodded, and Matilda came along as well. Only Lucilia had no choice but to stay inside Alka’s body and help with some tasks from there.

On the whole ship, only the four of them were rushing around like crazy. Even if the others wanted to help, there was nothing they could do; they couldn’t even understand what they were seeing.

This frantic work continued all the way until the third day.

Up until the Divine Essence was finally separated out.

This was when things truly became critical.

Everyone gathered on the deck once more.

Besides Alka and the others, Ulu Liwus led Chadite, Julia, and the rest to lay out another ritual circle to the side.

At this moment the deck had become a domain that stabilized souls.

The Crystal Stone storing Lucilia’s strength floated in midair, with a mote of Divine Essence hovering beside it.

Aside from those two, on the other side stood the vessel meant to bear the Divine Essence.

It was a higher-grade Soul-Host Puppet.

What drew the eye was a round hole at the puppet’s center.

This time the puppet looked more like a... corpse, or rather, a fetus.

"Begin!"

At Alka’s word, Lucilia’s soul slipped straight out of his body.

The emerging soul flew directly into the puppet.

But the puppet’s outer form did not change in the slightest, still maintaining the plain, featureless white puppet appearance.

Seeing this step complete—

Alka guided the Divine Essence to merge with the puppet.

They abandoned symbolic appearance and turned to utilitarianism, choosing a Treasure form that suited Lucilia better.

As the Treasure fused in, fine red lines began to appear on the blank puppet and spread across its surface.

As those red lines crept outward, it was as if blood were moving through the puppet.

Then the blood became blood vessels, bringing forth more flesh.

Watching this, Alka smiled. Just as he’d thought.

In truth, a puppet carried more symbolic weight than a banner.

The true Divine Essence housed in the old Bloody Team Banner fit better as the symbol of linkage and flesh, not as the team’s banner.

The Divine Essence was never really some so‑called war domain, but a domain of Blood, Flesh, and Life.

It symbolized the connection and transmission within flesh and life.

That was why the main body’s strength could be distributed to other beings, letting them rapidly grow stronger.

And in turn, the main body’s control over its offshoots was absolute.

Strands of flesh and bloody filaments began to knit together, and the entire puppet turned into a lump of muscle, blood vessels, and mucous membrane—a mass of meat that looked a bit disgusting.

"Ugh, that’s so gross. How long do I have to stay like this?" Lucilia asked.

Her voice was coming from inside the meatball now.

"It is a bit gross, but bear with it." Alka said, and clenched the Treasure Pearl that held her strength.

A thick pink mist wrapped around the Crystal Stone that represented her power, and as Alka squeezed, it formed a cocoon.

The cocoon then began to shrink; the entire Treasure Pearl compressed down to the size of a thumb, then burrowed into the bloody hole in the meatball.

As the Gemstone went in—

Alka immediately said, "Lucilia, hold the connection steady."

One after another, fleshy and membranous strands latched tightly onto the Gemstone, and soon the entire hole was sealed up.

Magic Power began to pour into the meatball.

The soul-stabilizing ritual reversed in an instant.

It turned into an empowerment ritual instead, and the target being empowered was Ulu Liwus.

Her eyes flared with intense light as she exhaled a fierce breath onto the meatball.

The Energy she breathed out flooded over, but it was not an attack; it wrapped and froze.

The entire meatball was instantly frozen into crystal, completely encased, becoming a pillar-shaped Crystal Stone. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

"All right, it’s done."

As the words fell, the ritual ended, and everyone let out a breath at once.

Inside the crystal, the meatball was still wrapped within, but even encased like this, it seemed to be undergoing changes.

Lucilia was now completely frozen inside. She needed time, during this frozen stasis, to slowly control the Treasure and Crystal Stone within and achieve their final fusion.

"How long will it stay in this form?" Chadite asked, staring at the Crystal Stone.

"Not long. It should be done by tomorrow."

Hearing this, Chadite nodded.

Alka walked over, moved the Crystal Stone next to the big tree, and more vines wrapped around the stone, binding it firmly to the trunk.

Ensuring its safety.

"You’ve all worked hard. You can rest now."

Alka, dark circles under his eyes, addressed everyone. Simon and Matilda looked just as worn out as he did.

The past few days had run him ragged.

Now he could finally rest properly. After a good sleep, when he woke up tomorrow, Lucilia should be able to appear before everyone in an entirely new form.

With that thought, Alka returned to his room and sank into the Dream Realm.