The black sun hangs high

Chapter 311 "Large-Scale Procurement"

"Incredible! They can talk directly now!"

Hearing the sound, Hugh couldn't help but raise his eyebrows and smile. He gently pressed down on Justina's head twice, then took out two full magic crystals and stuffed them directly into the tiny creation in front of him.

Justine naturally wouldn't refuse Hugh's feeding. It couldn't wait to digest the previous crystals, so it arched its body forward and wrapped the two new pieces of food in its soft, translucent body. Through its body, Hugh could see Justine quickly gathering all the crystals together, like children eagerly scooping food from their plates.

So far, the clear message that Justine has been sending has always been related to eating.

This behavior indicates that it has officially entered a phase of accelerated growth, and everything that Hugh had fed it before, whether it was magic crystals or "color of life," has been completely digested by "Justina" and has brought about very obvious changes to it.

As Hugh calmed down, he was surprised to find that the magical connection between himself and "Justina" had become more stable and clearer. As the soft shadow in front of him continued to draw magic from the magic crystal, the channel connecting their thoughts and intentions became stronger and stronger.

Based on this, Hughes naturally began to try to communicate more deeply with this special "offspring".

Compared to before, Justine's responses have become much richer. In addition to the classic "hungry", she has also begun to try to convey more clear messages to Hugh.

Justina's memories are too mixed, and a significant portion of them were damaged by the previous impact in Seren City. As a result, she often makes some very strange and funny mistakes when organizing her language, such as mixing the common language with the dialects of some remote areas, or using some words incorrectly in context.

This process was quite interesting, reminding Hughes of children who had begun to learn to speak but whose vocabulary and pronunciation were very limited.

However, thanks to the magical connection between the two, even though Justine's expressions were very chaotic, Hugh was still able to understand most of the meanings. Through these jumbled messages, Hugh further confirmed her condition.

Hughes raised his hand and gently patted the edge of his offspring's body with a slow, rhythmic touch. This gentle touch from his "father" made it feel safe and comfortable.

"As its power continues to recover, the damaged memories also begin to be repaired, which clearly helps it to re-embrace its consciousness and establish a clearer self-awareness."

"During this stage, its demand for magic and life force will continue to increase, which is reasonable, since only sufficient power can support the memory reserves it once possessed. However, for now, the magic crystals can still meet the demand, so I don't need to rush to use the remaining 'color of life'."

At this moment, due to the continuous "feeding" and Hugh's soothing, the little creation gradually calmed down. It seemed to have entered a state similar to sleep, with its body only trembling slightly. The "cat ears" on its head, which had changed according to Hugh's preferences, also went limp and merged back into its body.

So Hugh carefully lifted Justine with his mage hands and opened the wide-mouthed jug, letting it "flow" into the jug along with the magical crystals inside his body.

As a less-than-ideal father, Hugh is full of expectations for the future of this strange being.

Of course, Hughes was also aware that he needed to be as cautious as possible.

Justine can certainly continue to grow, but in this process, the memories and perceptions that are beneficial to Vaan must take the lead.

Hugh picked up the large, now somewhat heavy water jug ​​and carefully applied several protective magical rituals to it. Then, he snapped his fingers, summoning a cluster of roots of destiny and using it to create a small illusion that enveloped Justina's resting place.

I hope everything goes smoothly for you as you grow up...

He silently murmured a sentence, then put the kettle back in its original hiding place.

The wind and waves outside grew stronger, and even Hugh was feeling a bit uncomfortable from the jostling. So he changed into light and loose clothing and turned to lie down on his bed.

Because of the fierce conflict between the Dark Abyss Spider and the Palace Hounds, he didn't even have time to complete the sacrifice of the other magical offerings he had brought in. To this day, those valuable materials are still inside the Dream Sanctuary.

"Finally, I have time to deal with you all..."

With this thought in mind, Hugh quickly fell asleep and began to fall into that strange spacetime.

……

As Hughes embarks on a new journey, Theseus, who spends all his time "neglecting his duties" in the Dream Sanctuary, has disappeared without a trace. This faceless god seems to have left in a hurry, not only without leaving any hints, but also without saving the computer game he was playing.

Out of a helpful spirit, Hughes casually saved Theseus's work before getting back to his own tasks.

The benefits brought about by the improvement in strength are quite obvious.

For these ancient creations within the Dream Sanctuary who prefer to act according to their primal instincts, tangible power is the most effective form of communication. Ever since Hugh last came into contact with the Dark Abyss Spider, the hostility these ancient creations have shown towards Hugh has begun to noticeably decrease.

They still appeared incredibly greedy when faced with the "offerings" Hugh offered, but after accepting them, they did not attack Hugh again, but instead obediently accepted the change in their circumstances.

The drawer that requires "five hundred universal gold coins" is a shrunken office desk drawer, which looks almost identical to the drawer where Hugh obtained the Touch of Calron, except that the surface of this drawer is covered with a strange shimmering light, a veil of golden radiance and black mist.

After the entire bag of gold coins melted into the flowing light, the drawer popped open easily. However, Hugh did not suffer any further attacks. He only saw five bullets shimmering with strange light inside the drawer.

In terms of style, these bullets are basically the same as the universal bullets in Vaan. However, when Hugh picked them up, he could feel waves of heat emanating from them. Under the light, the surface of the bullets would constantly flash with some strange scale-like patterns, which inevitably reminded Hugh of the scales of some large lizards. At the same time, a message also emerged from the depths of his spiritual ocean.

"So-called wealth and minerals are nothing more than useless remnants of the Lord of Burning Fire... What do you mean? Are these 'gold coin bullets' that traveled from some other time and space?"

As Hugh pondered those words in his mind, he examined the bullets. They did indeed look rather "expensive," and were clearly disposable items, which made Hugh somewhat uneasy. He wondered what the specific effects of these strange bullets were.

After putting away the bullets, Hugh spent some time exchanging the remaining magical materials.

Perhaps because the blood of the three magical creatures was of relatively poor quality, what they received in exchange was not real magical abilities or physical companions, but three unexpected items.

In exchange for the blood of the Scaled Sea Serpent, he obtained a recipe copied onto tattered paper. Hugh's expertise in potions was average, but judging from the ingredients involved, this should be a special potion containing a large amount of toxins, the specific effects of which were still unknown.

The item obtained by exchanging the blood of the giant beaked seagull was an extremely large feather, almost large enough to be used as a fan. It seemed to be the feather of some ancient bird that had disappeared. Hugh could easily sense the rich magic contained within it, but he did not know for the moment what use this feather could have.

Then there was an item obtained through the blood exchange of the fanged wolf beasts on the plains: a uniquely styled magic dagger that looked sharp and sturdy, with a peculiar gem embedded in its center.

When Hugh looked at the emerald green gem, he felt a slight dizziness for no apparent reason. As he poured magic into the dagger, a special concealment ritual was activated, causing Hugh's figure and aura to disappear from the spot.

In terms of appearance, sharpness, and the magical ritual it is imbued with, this is a decent weapon for self-defense. However, for Hugh, who possesses various abilities and weapons, this dagger seems somewhat superfluous.

"Sending them out as weapons... seems like a pretty good option?"

After thinking it over carefully, Hughes then secured the dagger, still in its sheath, to his belt.

The last item to exchange was the giant tortoise shell encased in magical gel.

This turtle shell comes from an incredibly ferocious deep-sea giant turtle.

They are completely different from ordinary sea turtles. Not only do they swim at an astonishing speed, but they also possess exaggerated aggression. The abundant magic within their bodies makes their shells incredibly hard and exceptionally beautiful. In the eyes of alchemists, these hard shells are often important materials for making expensive tools.

However, when the owner of the tortoise shell is hunted, the magic power inside the shell will quickly begin to dissipate. To preserve the magic power, the tortoise shell needs to be placed in magic gel in time.

When Hugh removed the tortoise shell from the magic gel and placed it into the locker filled with a thick fog, a soft fluid that shimmered with an unusual light flowed out.

This fluid looked somewhat similar to the "Color of Life," and when it reached the ground, the Touch of Calron produced an extremely violent reaction.

So Hugh released all of them as the Touch of Calron requested, and in just a few seconds, these active tentacles absorbed the flowing, brilliant fluid in a way that Hugh could not comprehend at all.

This fluid, clearly associated with the deep-sea creatures, brought about a very noticeable change to the Touch of Calron.

As a dazzling beam of light entered Hugh's mental world, the groove on the metal disc that originally belonged to the Touch of Karron began to shimmer with an unusual luster. The originally simple tentacle pattern on the groove immediately came to life. Then, the beam of light followed the patterns on the metal disc and began to move towards the outermost layer, quickly reaching the new space on the disc.

A new groove was naturally chosen.

Then Hugh saw these strange lights and shadows constantly converging and twisting deep within the groove, eventually intertwining into a huge, angular carapace covered with exaggerated spikes. Hugh had seen similar carapaces on the giant sea beasts in the rats' dreams before, and he wondered if they represented the same kind of marine creature.

The changes within the groove had already taken shape, so Hugh raised his hand and quickly summoned several Karron's Touches. They looked no different from before, except that the keratin covering their surfaces seemed to have become much smoother.

With some curiosity, Hugh issued a command in his mind, and the flexible tentacles immediately twisted together.

Amazing changes then began.

Unlike the crude defensive network formed by the intertwined tentacles of the past, this time, the tentacles of Calron have achieved true "fusion." They have completely lost their original tentacle shapes and have merged into a single whole, just like the brilliant fluids flowing out of the cabinet.

A massive "shield" appeared, large enough to protect Hugh's entire body. It was like a giant carapace emerging from a groove, with indistinctly sharp spikes and extremely distinct outlines. Magical light and shadow constantly emanated from it, giving people an extremely strong sense of security.

Hugh immediately tested this unfamiliar "shield," and the results surprised him greatly.

The special protective measures evolved by the Touch of Calron are completely different from the crude defenses he had previously put together. After testing, Hugh discovered that the destructive magic that could originally cause effective damage to the Touch of Calron had become powerless. According to Hugh's rough judgment, it could even withstand the direct bombardment of lake-level and valley-level magic.

Amidst a billowing cloud of magical mist, Hugh dismantled the "giant shield" that had just withstood several rounds of magical attacks with satisfaction.

Next, there's only one thing he needs to test inside the Dream Sanctuary.

Hughes arrived in the empty corridor. He raised his palm, and the Hound's Fang, shimmering with deep light, appeared. Several magical lines extended from the gun and were tightly connected to Hughes's wrist.

(End of this chapter)