They all call me Great Master

This laboratory that belonged to the mad Master Alchemist Geppetto contained one hundred and sixteen books and thirty-three scrolls, as well as five hundred and ninety-two pages of assorted transcriptions.

These items were all scattered haphazardly throughout the entire laboratory.

Clearly, Master Geppetto had no habit of organizing his collection of books.

This gave Arthur and Marinda quite a hard time as they sorted through them.

After all, those five hundred and ninety-two transcribed pages were not of uniform size.

Some were even just little scraps of paper.

However, soon enough, Arthur and Marinda found something.

They discovered a diary.

No!

To be precise, an experimental notebook—

Nobles cannot be trusted!

They enjoy the successes of my experiments yet report me to the Religious Tribunal for using living people as subjects!

Damn it, was it really such a big deal that I transplanted his son's head onto a pig's body?

I think it suited his son perfectly, what with him being as stupid as a pig anyway!

Today's experiment was completely meaningless!

...

Who would have thought someone in a fishing village like South Los would understand firearms?

Interesting, it's much more interesting than today's pointless experiment.

...

Aha, look what I've discovered?

The laboratory of that 'Red Robe' from the Tower of Mist.

Could this be the place where he created 'The First Gun'?

Hmm, very good, today's experiment shall be to try transplanting firearms onto a person.

...

Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!

Why is there a 'Contractual Lock'!

Why does the 'Contractual Lock' prevent me from touching the things in the display case!

...

Hmph!

I'm not coveting your things!

I am the genius Alchemist Geppetto!

...

Aha, look what I've found again!

The items in the display case were gifts from 'Black Robe' to 'Red Robe', thanking him for their brotherly love.

Brotherly love?

Hmm, today I'll experiment by stitching those two real brothers together from the fishing village, I want to see their brotherly love.

...

Confirmed, this place was just a temporary stop for 'Red Robe' before going to sea.

There is no 'The First Gun' here, nor anything of real value.

But this place can become my laboratory.

After those brothers were stitched together, they actually agreed to live as one, the experiment can carry on, I want to make them use a single heart.

...

Hmm?

The apprentice of 'Black Robe' actually appeared nearby, he even thought I was an apprentice of 'Red Robe'?

Damn it, I am the genius Alchemist Geppetto!

But, in light of his personal experimental notes, I'll forgive him, hoping his flesh can make that stupid serpent grow a bit, after all, one does not often encounter a member of the original Serpent Sect.

Just didn't expect that 'Black Robe' would get mixed up with those lunatics.

The physical burden has greatly increased after those stitched-together brothers shared a single heart, they won't last long, tsk.

...

'Black Robe' really is a genius!

What flesh!

Spirituality is the best experimental material!

Excellent!

To be able to do this!

...

Great breakthrough! My most anticipated experiment has made a major breakthrough!

Hey, the younger brother of that pair begged me to kill him so that his older brother could live, as long as his brother survives.

Hahahaha, he doesn't know that two days ago, his brother said the same thing.

So...

I let them die together.

Their souls must be very interesting.

...

Why did it fail?

The chair and desk that had previously housed those brothers' souls came to life, didn't they?

Why doesn't metal work?

...

Is the emotion not intense enough?

Or is it for some other reason?

It doesn't matter!

There are plenty of materials for experimentation!

...

Ouch! It hurts so much!

I never thought that cutting my own soul would be this painful!

But Pinocchio succeeded!

He is perfect.

And only the perfect him can become my son.

...

Why do my memories feel so disordered?

My "Spirituality" has also become chaotic!

Pinocchio has become unstable as well!

No! I can't let my most perfect experiment be destroyed just like that!

Maybe, I should try going back to Seberlin.

After all, there are more people there to serve as experimental subjects and materials, and besides, I still have some scores to settle with the nobles there!

...

The experimental notes end abruptly here.

What to say?

After reading it, Arthur felt that Geppetto deserved to be put on the burning stake.

The man could no longer be described as merely mad.

He was a complete lunatic.

As for how a lunatic became a Master Alchemist?

Clearly, the man was mad but not stupid.

Marinda, who was also puffing on a pipe, frowned as well.

Without a doubt, this lady too felt considerable displeasure towards Geppetto.

Normal people simply could not agree with Geppetto's method of experimenting on other normal people, let alone the kind of mocking tone that accompanied it.

Just like with the brothers mentioned in these notes.

What did they do wrong?

Nothing.

Their biggest mistake was probably running into Geppetto.

Simply put...

The sorrow of the weak.

Arthur and Marinda exchanged a look, both seeing such sentiments in each other's eyes. Then, they put down this notebook and started to continue sifting through the remaining books.

Marinda needed to check if there was any information on 'The First Gun.'

Arthur's task was much simpler.

He wanted to see how talented that 'Black Robe' was.

As for the difficulty of 'soul' techniques?

For him, who as Death's Child had instantly mastered the core legacy 'Rite of Souls' of the 'Black Robe' from the Tower of Mist, such difficulty should not amount to much.

In fact, that was the case—

[Soul Charging: Due to your Talent and Bloodline, the original 'Rite of Souls' evolved and advanced, granting you more methods to deal with souls. You can 'Soul Bind' your enemies' souls, or you can use those souls as material to feed your Specters, Evil Spirits, Fierce Spirits, or Evil Spirits that have advanced through your 'Soul Bind.' Of course, you can also 'Whip Thrash' them, attaching them to certain objects to animate them, giving them 'Soul Properties']

[Soul Tailoring: Souls possess memories from before, but as time passes and they are affected by your 'Death Qi,' the memories become disordered and fade. At this point, you can easily tailor their memories and learn everything you want to know]

(Note 1: When attaching souls to objects, choosing wooden items will have a significantly higher success rate, but when attaching to metal items, the success rate drops considerably)

(Note 2: After successful attachment, the attached souls still maintain reverence towards you)

(Note 3: If the attached object breaks, the soul dissipates irreversibly)

(Note 4: The attached object cannot be a living being)

(Note 5: Memories excised by tailoring will still be disordered and lost)

(Note 6: After having their memories tailored, a soul cannot advance to become a Specter, Evil Spirit, Fierce Spirit, or Evil Spirit)

(Note 7: After having their memories tailored, souls can also be attached to objects, but without any memories, and regardless of what object they are attached to, the success rate is significantly lower)

...

'Why do I feel like I'm becoming more and more evil?'

Arthur looked at the new traits [Soul Charging] and [Soul Tailoring] that appeared under 'Rite of Souls.'

He was somewhat looking forward to carrying 'alive' swords and firearms.

Of course, he was even more looking forward to Ms. Anna's free movement.

But that would come later.

Right now?

Arthur had to prepare to verify the most important gain of his journey.

He took a slight breath in his heart, looked towards everyone, and whispered—

"At this point, the 'relic' exploration is considered complete, isn't it?"