Chapter 979: Aam

Crack, crack…

Su Xiao used mana to catalyze the assembled pseudo-living bones; he and Bubu Wang were already swamped with work.

At this moment, Su Xiao wore protective goggles and a loose one-piece leather suit, with various tools scattered around—hammers, super-large drills, plasma cutters, and hundreds of test tubes.

Hum…

The plasma cutter spun at high speed; Su Xiao pulled down his goggles and began processing several materials requiring cutting.

To create advanced alchemical lifeforms, catalysis alone isn’t enough—you also need practical skill.

The tedious manufacturing began; cutting and hammering sounds echoed intermittently from the room. After five full hours of labor, Su Xiao completed the preliminary work.

A three-meter-tall “skeleton” stood upright nearby, its surface engraved with vast alchemical arrays—just one glance made one feel dizzy and disoriented. Inside the ribcage, a crystal core, processed dozens of times, flickered dimly like a slowly beating heart.

Sitting on the floor, Su Xiao held a cigarette between his lips and a blue, mana-formed pointed cone in his hand, carefully engraving array patterns—this was an extremely precise task.

Bubu Wang lay sprawled on the ground, snoring loudly; this fool was useless now, so he took a nap right there.

Twelve hours later, a powerful figure stood in the lab, radiating intense pressure. On its head were two slightly curved horns, each as thick as a forearm at the base, their tips gleaming with cold light, pointing skyward—should it charge with full force, these horns could pierce straight through an enemy’s body. More importantly, frost was rising from both horns.

This figure was the Frostbite Minotaur. Though called a Minotaur, it was classified as a magical beast and alchemical lifeform, with no relation to humans.

Su Xiao’s eyes were closed as he activated the Frostbite Minotaur with mana, channeling it through the creature’s magical energy pathways; the Frostbite Minotaur’s eyes flickered with array patterns.

Activation 12%, 15%, 17%, 21%…

This process lasted nearly an hour; during this time, Su Xiao could not afford a single moment of distraction.

Activation 100%! The array patterns within the Frostbite Minotaur’s eyes fully activated.

“Roar!!”

The Frostbite Minotaur let out a deafening roar; Bubu Wang, fast asleep, jolted awake, his body twitching. He immediately sprang up, his gaze asking: “What kind of demon is this?!”

After roaring, the Frostbite Minotaur calmed down. It stared straight at Su Xiao, then, after a moment, its bovine face broke into a dopey grin.

The Frostbite Minotaur was covered in brown-yellow fur, its body shape similar to a human’s, with arms and legs indistinguishable from human limbs—except its entire frame was coated in thick brown-yellow down, beneath which muscles were tightly knotted.

Seeing the Frostbite Minotaur, Su Xiao’s first thought was: this thing is incredibly simple-minded, and extremely durable—if only it could taunt, it’d be perfect.

When Su Xiao engraved the core array, he granted the Frostbite Minotaur a small amount of intelligence—it could handle basic communication. Its intellect was light-years apart from Bubu Wang’s; Bubu Wang possessed human-level intelligence.

“Speak.”

Su Xiao gave his first command; he had engraved three array patterns related to language.

“I am warrior.”

The Frostbite Minotaur spoke in a deep, rumbling voice. Su Xiao blinked—he’d engraved the language arrays correctly, but… this ox was speaking in dialect?

“Aam.”

Su Xiao spoke. He’d originally named the Minotaur “Armstrong,” but whenever he thought of that name, his mind involuntarily conjured a long string of text: “Armstrong rotary jet-assisted Armstrong cannon.”

The name “Armstrong” was too cursed. Su Xiao simply renamed the Minotaur “Aam”—easier to call. Imagine shouting “Armstrong rotary jet-assisted Armstrong cannon” mid-battle—you’d never finish saying it before the enemy killed you.

“I am here, master.”

Aam leaned his bovine face toward Su Xiao, grinning and revealing flat teeth—utterly thick, honest, and simple.

Aam’s dialect left Su Xiao exasperated; language was random, but luckily he could understand the dialect. Bubu Wang was fascinated by Aam—he’d be his future enforcer.

“Wang.”

Bubu Wang barked; Aam immediately turned around.

“Second master.”

Aam shuffled toward Bubu Wang. Bubu Wang’s dog face twisted in discomfort—he felt “second master” was just another word for “second dog.”

“Overall, no issues. It understands basic commands, but lacks strong self-awareness.”

Su Xiao was satisfied with Aam’s intelligence level. Aam wasn’t smart, but his responses and combat ability were fine. Asking him to solve math problems? Forget it. Simple addition and subtraction under ten? Maybe. Multiplication? Too hard for Aam—multiplication was his nightmare.

“What’s 1 plus 1?”

Su Xiao asked. Bubu Wang stared at him, his tiny eyes saying: “Master, just how much have you crushed its intellect?”

“3.”

Aam answered without hesitation, puffing out his broad chest. Su Xiao’s lip twitched. Bubu Wang froze, questioning his entire dog existence.

For Aam, 1+1 was too hard. Seeing Su Xiao and Bubu Wang’s expressions, Aam scratched his head, sat down heavily, grabbed nearby alchemical material, and started crunching it—eating it with great relish.

Aam’s stomach was terrifying. Anything organic—he could digest it all and convert it into energy to extend his existence.

Su Xiao designated Aam as a summoned entity, so his Intelligence stat would boost Aam.

The moment Su Xiao designated Aam as a summoned entity, Aam’s blood vessels bulged, his physique grew even more robust. Su Xiao checked Aam’s stats.

Name: Aam

Type: Alchemical Lifeform · Frostbite Minotaur

Duration: 256 natural days

HP: 100%

Mana: 600 points

Strength: 75

Agility: 69

Stamina: 85

Intelligence: 30

Charm: 9

Skill 1, Frostbite (Passive Lv.39): Attacks apply Frostbite effect, reducing enemy movement speed by 10% for 3 seconds.

Tip: This skill stacks. Max 10 stacks. Duration increases with each stack; slow effect remains 10%.

Tip: Each stack doubles Frostbite duration. Max stack duration: 25 minutes 6 seconds.

Skill 2: Fearless Charge (Active Lv.30): Frostbite Minotaur charges forward at 1.5x its Agility speed. During charge, takes 50% less damage. If horns pierce enemy on impact, deals 2.5x Strength damage and applies 3 Frostbite stacks.

Tip: Cooldown: 1 hour. Cost: 40 mana.

Skill 3, Wild Trample (Active Lv.21): Frostbite Minotaur tramples enemy continuously. Each trample deals 1.2x base attack damage. Four tramples total. Each applies 1 Frostbite stack.

Tip: Cooldown: 1 hour. Cost: 35 mana.

Skill 4, Frostbite Roar (Active Lv.26): Frostbite Minotaur roars, dealing 30 damage to all enemies within 10 meters and applying 3 Frostbite stacks.

Tip: Cooldown: 5 hours. Cost: 60 mana.

Skill 5, Frostbite Bloodline (Passive Lv.30): Reduces damage taken by 25%, increases slow resistance by 70%, increases physical defense by 36, HP +1000, mana +300.

Skill 6, Frostbite Rage (Ultimate Lv.5): When enemy receives 10 Frostbite stacks, Frostbite Minotaur can activate this ability at range, forcibly freezing the target. Freeze effect spreads 6 meters outward.

Tip: Cooldown: 24 hours. Cost: 10% of max HP.

…

After reviewing Aam’s stats, Su Xiao instantly conceived a strategy: activate Charge first, then immediately begin Trample, followed by Roar—stacking Frostbite to 10 layers in seconds, then waiting for the perfect moment to trigger the Ultimate to freeze the enemy.

With Aam’s durability, even focused fire was nothing. What did 85 Stamina mean? Add 25% damage reduction—withstanding fire from three or five enemies was no problem for Aam.

A smile spread across Su Xiao’s face. Bubu Wang smiled too. The two locked eyes. Bubu Wang raised an eyebrow.

“Bubu, let’s discuss the proper way to use Aam.”

“Wang.”

Bubu Wang understood, and gestured for Aam to leave first—so their discussion wouldn’t harm his tender mind.

Confused, Aam scratched his head. As soon as he stepped out of the lab, he saw Su Xiao’s bed. He walked over, pried off a leg, and started crunching it—eating it with great delight.

ps: (Originally planned to post more chapters, but couldn’t write them—I’ve got a 30°C fever here, and the mosquitoes are making me feel delirious.)