Chapter 404

At this moment, the historical fragment had already entered a critical phase.

Victor Amode, the "Father of Falsehoods," was in the midst of conceiving and crafting the substitute puppet.

Luo En heard many details.

"Only souls that die in extreme agony will generate intense obsession at the moment of death; this obsession is the key to soul extraction..."

Victor recorded this in his notebook while looking at the alien woman fixed to the experimental table.

She was still alive, but there was no hope left in her eyes, only a hollow despair.

"I am sorry, I need your pain..."

His voice even sounded genuinely apologetic, yet the scalpel in his hand fell without hesitation.

The woman's screams echoed in the laboratory, but they were quickly swallowed by various sound-insulation arrays.

Through countless experiments, Victor gradually mastered the basic techniques of soul extraction.

He discovered that the souls of lives that died in extreme pain and fear would generate violent fluctuations at the moment of death, and these fluctuations could be captured by specially crafted rune arrays.

But a new problem arose.

The extracted souls were extremely unstable and often dissipated within minutes of leaving their original host.

Even if they could be preserved briefly, they could not perfectly fuse with a new body.

"The issue of soul compatibility..."

Victor looked at the special containers holding soul fragments, a look of contemplation in his eyes.

Faint light flickered within these containers, each glimmer representing a shattered consciousness.

"If I cannot directly transplant a complete soul, then... what about gradual absorption?"

A crazy idea took shape in his mind.

Rather than trying to implant a complete soul all at once, it would be better to create an empty shell capable of "growth."

Let it gradually absorb and assimilate the soul fragments of others through contact with living beings.

"Just like a parasite, slowly draining the host's life essence..."

This thought made Victor tremble with excitement.

He began to design a brand-new creation.

It was not an artificial life in the traditional sense, but an empty shell with the ability to "learn."

Victor poured all his energy into this project, integrating his understanding of alchemy, soul science, and bloodline modulation.

The most critical part was the core rune array.

The complexity of this array surpassed any of Victor's previous works.

Each rune was precisely calculated to capture, analyze, store, and fuse the soul information of those it contacted.

"You will be my most perfect work..."

Victor gently stroked the newly completed puppet, his eyes filled with a morbid tenderness.

This seemingly harmless doll was actually the crystallization of his life's work:

"You will learn from everyone you touch, absorbing their memories, emotions, habits... eventually, you will become a perfect simulator, and no one will be able to tell the truth from the fake..."

Luo En carefully observed the structure of those runes, a chill rising in his heart.

Although he could not fully understand it with his current level of alchemy, he gradually began to see the method behind it.

This array could not only store soul fragments of those it contacted but also use these fragments to construct consciousness.

Even more terrifying was that this array had the ability to learn, constantly perfecting its camouflage techniques.

"So this is the truth of your birth..."

Luo En muttered to himself, gaining a deeper understanding of Victor's madness.

The historical fragment continued to flow, and time jumped to the first time the puppet changed hands after completion.

One day, an abyss explorer discovered the deliberately left-behind laboratory ruins.

This was a burly middle-aged man with corrosive scars on his face left by the abyss environment.

His name was Tawish, an experienced loner.

"Damn alchemist, died so miserably..."

Tawish carefully searched the wreckage of the laboratory, looking for any valuable items:

"But their collectibles are usually worth a fortune; maybe I can find something good..."

When his hand touched the substitute puppet, he immediately felt a strange connection.

The puppet's eyes flickered slightly, and the internal soul-anchoring array began to activate automatically.

"Interesting little toy..."

Tawish put the puppet into his backpack, not realizing that this decision would completely change his fate.

Over the next three months, Tawish encountered fatal attacks from abyss creatures multiple times.

Every time he was at death's door, the substitute puppet would automatically activate its death-substitution ability, allowing him to survive.

But Luo En keenly observed that after each substitution, Tawish became more dependent on the puppet.

His behavioral patterns began to change subtly; he became more impulsive and more willing to take risks.

"This ability... it's so magical..."

Tawish stroked the surface of the puppet, a greedy light in his eyes:

"With it, I can explore deeper into the abyss and obtain more precious treasures..."

But he did not realize that the puppet was quietly devouring his soul fragments.

Each substitution enhanced the puppet's learning ability while making the user more dependent on this external force.

Three months later, during a deep exploration, Tawish was besieged by a group of bloodthirsty bats.

The puppet activated the death-substitution ability again, but the price this time was exceptionally heavy.

Tawish felt his consciousness begin to blur, as if something was being pulled out from the depths of his soul.

"No... something's not right..."

He struggled to stay awake, but the puppet's influence had already seeped into his bones:

"Why... why am I so dependent on this thing..."

Just then, a black-market merchant was inexplicably drawn to the vicinity.

This was a thin middle-aged woman named Julia, who specialized in acquiring all sorts of mysterious abyss items.

"Looks like you've run into trouble, friend."

Julia's voice carried the shrewdness typical of a merchant:

"Need treatment? I have some excellent recovery potions here; of course, it requires a little... exchange."

Tawish looked at her weakly, an inexplicable impulse rising in his heart.

"This puppet, do you want it?"

He took out the substitute puppet with trembling hands:

"It can save lives, but... but it has some side effects..."

Julia's keen business sense immediately detected the puppet's value.

When she used her spiritual power to probe it, she immediately felt the complex energy structure contained within.

"Interesting, very interesting..."

She carefully examined every detail of the puppet:

"This level of craftsmanship is definitely a master-level work. Deal."

After the transaction was completed, Tawish obtained enough potions to treat his injuries.

But, having lost the puppet's protection, he never came back out after habitually descending into the deep abyss a week later.

Julia, meanwhile, returned to the black market with the puppet and began to study the true value of this strange item.

"Able to simulate anyone it has contacted..."

Through various tests, she gradually discovered the puppet's astonishing ability:

"This camouflage ability is simply a priceless treasure in black-market trading..."

Julia began to use the puppet for various fraudulent activities.

She had the puppet contact different clients, then simulate their appearance and even personality patterns to conduct high-level scams.

This perfect camouflage allowed her to acquire a huge fortune in a short period.

But greed also made her ignore the puppet's potential dangers.

Half a year later, during a scam operation, Julia was retaliated against by an enemy.

The puppet activated the death-substitution ability to save her life, but the price was that her personality began to twist.

"I... who am I?"

Julia looked at herself in the mirror, feeling deeply confused:

"Am I Julia? Or those people I've simulated?"

The many personality patterns absorbed by the puppet began to mix and intertwine in her consciousness, causing her to gradually lose her sense of self.

Eventually, during a bout of personality splitting, she was killed by her own subordinates.

And the substitute puppet was transferred once again into the hands of a new master...

The historical fragment continued to flow, and Luo En saw the countless times the puppet changed hands.

Each holder had a different identity and background:

Mercenaries, wizards, adventurers...

But they all had one thing in common—a desire for and dependence on abyss power.

What chilled him the most was that every transfer was inevitably accompanied by bloodshed.

The puppet brought misfortune like a curse, and none of its holders met a good end.

Luo En realized that this was no coincidence.

The substitute puppet seemed to have a specific preference when choosing a master.

It would deliberately choose those desperadoes obsessed with the abyss, those willing to pay any price for power.