Chapter 665
But Adele's height seemed to be about the same as Charles's, just a little shorter... and her chest...
To say he wasn't envious would be a lie.
With that thought, Charles couldn't help but reach out and ruffle Adele's hair playfully.
"What are you doing...?" Adele, who had been snuggling up to Charles, shifted away, hugging her head with a look of innocent surprise.
"Nothing... Just let me see that thing." Charles gestured toward the necklace in Adele's hand, steering the conversation back to business.
"Look!" As soon as the topic changed, Adele seemed to forget about Charles messing with her hair, her face lighting up with a smile as she presented the necklace to him.
Charles took the necklace and placed it on the table in front of him.
This... looked like something crafted from the mutated limbs and wings of a "Glowing Bishop" or "Harbinger," transformed into a different form.
Of course, it also involved some techniques from flesh alchemy, since the mutated parts of extraordinary beings quickly crystallize into extraordinary materials after they collapse and die.
The challenge lies in how to preserve those mutated parts before they turn into extraordinary materials, and then use them for crafting.
What lay before Charles was a product of flesh alchemy that could be considered a sealed object from any perspective...
This was quite a breakthrough.
Unfortunately, for the ancient Hecate, this creation could only be deemed a failure.
The true masterpiece should be something that could transform life forms, like a quill pen.
"Is this the only successful item?" Charles asked, looking at the sealed object.
"No, so far there are three successful Level 1 items, one Level 2 item, and one Level 3 item. This sealed object is numbered 3-001," Adele explained.
"3-001?" Charles felt a flicker of curiosity about the numbering.
It seemed that his simulated self hadn’t bothered with such details.
"Didn't you set that up?" Noticing Charles's confusion, Adele clarified, "Each sealed object has been numbered for easier management and record-keeping... It was a decision made in a previous meeting."
So, the researchers had different opinions about the origins of the sealed objects until the first item, 1-001, was created, leading everyone in the lab to agree on a unified stance.
Flesh alchemy was the source of the sealed objects... To that end, they had compiled a simple set of naming rules for the sealed objects.
It was based on tiers, with the following numbers indicating the sequence, and someone even suggested adding a string of numbers to visually represent the type of abilities and side effects, as well as the origin of the sealed object.
This suggestion had been accepted, and a dedicated team of two extraordinary beings was working on standardizing the naming conventions.
However, not many were interested in this.
Most understood that this temporary alliance would inevitably fracture... it was just a matter of time.
The rules established now might not hold in the future.
Without absolute power to enforce them, it was impossible to achieve a standardized consensus on anything.
Though they were currently under Charles's command due to his pressure, it was only because their respective organizations needed the results of this research.
Once a critical breakthrough occurred... that would be the moment this fragile alliance would splinter.
"Good..." Charles nodded, asking, "Whose achievement is this?"
"It's from Long Ying; I'm the first assistant..." Adele began, listing off other researchers' names that Charles didn't recognize, "The experimental subject was provided by the Tribunal, a death row inmate."
It seemed the Tribunal's prisoners had become usable experimental materials, a clear reflection of what his simulated self had orchestrated.
"Bring me all the records from this research," Charles said, nodding. "Well done."
"Okay!" Upon hearing Charles's praise, a proud smile spread across Adele's face, as if she had come just for that compliment.
She jumped off the sofa and dashed toward the door, but suddenly, she seemed to remember something, turning back to Charles and saying, "Charles."
"What is it?" Charles looked up at her.
"You really need to take care of yourself," Adele's earlier joy was replaced with concern as she gazed at him. "You haven't rested much lately... Your current condition must be related to that..."
Adele had practically become Charles's personal doctor; she was well aware of his physical state, but it seemed she attributed his current condition to a lack of rest.
It appeared that his simulated self had indeed been pushing too hard; no wonder Adele felt he was on the brink of collapse when she walked in.
"Alright, I'll rest after I finish these," Charles replied with a smile and a nod.
With his response, Adele's smile returned, and she waved goodbye as she ran off.
Perhaps due to her smaller stature, some of the previously awkward smiles and gestures that Adele had now seemed just right.
There was no sense of incongruity.
Adele dashed out of the room, while Charles continued to sift through the remaining half-box of documents.
No wonder his simulated self had no energy to search for the minions of the "God of Existence"... the tasks he had left for her were indeed quite numerous and heavy.
However, Charles had no intention of altering his goals.
The first time doing these things would undoubtedly be time-consuming and challenging.
But if he were to execute the same tasks a second time, the efficiency would increase significantly, as many pitfalls he had previously encountered would no longer be an issue.
So, when he returned to reality using the anchor point, he should add a bit more detail to the tasks.
Charles read at an astonishing speed, and before long, all the experimental data was thoroughly recorded in his mind.
After filtering out some erroneous experiments and data, he organized a "textbook-like" guide in his mind explaining the principles of flesh alchemy.
For the past six months, the Windsor Palace laboratory had been focused on experimenting with inanimate objects, seemingly aiming to create more powerful sealed objects... but that wasn't Charles's goal.
That's because people today believed that merely creating sealed objects was already quite impressive, enough to change the landscape of the extraordinary world.
But... for Charles, simply making sealed objects was of no use.
With different perspectives come different ways of viewing problems; the dominance seen by the Huanyue Society and the Natura Medical Group held no significance for Charles.
What he truly needed was a genuine alchemical life form, a living, breathing entity of flesh alchemy, not just these trivial sealed objects.
In the next round, with his guidance, the starting point for the experiments would undoubtedly be higher... but the approach needed some adjustment.
Originally, his simulated self had placed the laboratory in the Ansu West District to conveniently oversee two labs simultaneously, and the West District was also within Charles's sphere of influence, allowing him to monitor the researchers.
Yet even so, issues had arisen in the simulation, such as hidden experimental results, small factions, and the secretive removal of experimental data...
In such cases, the deterrent effect of punishing one to warn others was limited; they would brazenly claim that those were their own research results.
Next time, the format must change.
Finding a remote, uninhabited place or an island to establish an isolated research facility, deploying personnel from the Tribunal and the Order of the Eye for strict supervision.
Moreover, everyone must sign a contract with the Order of the Eye, stipulating that after one year, anyone could take all experimental results and data out of the lab.
But within that year, anyone who stepped outside the lab would be killed without question.
This way, the speed of experimentation could be ensured without worrying about rebellion, and within less than a year, Charles could take all the data and start over, with everyone working for him for free.
As long as he used his reliable personnel for transporting experimental materials, there would be no issues.
Charles squinted his eyes, half-awake and half-asleep, finalizing this plan. Just as he stretched, preparing to wake himself up a bit, there was another knock at the door.
Knock, knock, knock.
Was it Adele returning with the documents?
"Come in," Charles said lazily, barely opening his mouth as he called toward the door.
Creak.
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