58: Chapter 58 Assembling the Undead Knight

"I give you my word."

This promise was fulfilled three days later.

Saturday, June 20th, 9:45 PM.

Yan Zheng sat in front of the workbench in the Underground Room, with the neatly arranged material table in front of him and three locked steel bolts behind him.

He closed his eyes, extending his Mental Power to its maximum range to perform a final environmental check.

Within two hundred meters, the specks of light representing living people were pitifully sparse, most of them concentrated in the apartment building across the street—all civilians huddled at home, afraid to step out.

In the distance, toward the West District, the edge of his Mental Power could vaguely capture a large number of heat sources moving and gathering rapidly.

Exactly 10:00 PM.

The first gunshot came from the west; even across seven or eight blocks, the dull echo could still be heard.

Then came the second, the third, and the fourth.

The dense sound of gunfire merged into one, interspersed with the sounds of explosions and clashing metal.

Yan Zheng opened his eyes.

Yan Zheng: ( ˵ ꐦ ˘ ͈ ω ˘ ͈ ˵ )

"The feast begins."

He reached out and tapped the dark silver icon on the system panel.

[Undead Knight assembly program initiated. Estimated time: 4 hours. Mental Power consumption: 80%. All control links to Undead Creation will be automatically disconnected during assembly. Confirm?]

"Confirm."

[Program started. Phase 1: Skeleton construction. Please place the main skeleton material in the center of the assembly array.]

Yan Zheng took a deep breath, lifted the reinforced bones from The Hand's ritual with both hands, and gently placed them into the groove in the center of the assembly table.

The moment the black-patterned bones touched the groove, a layer of dark silver light spread from the edge of the table toward the center, flowing like Quicksilver and completely enveloping the bones.

Yan Zheng's Mental Power was forcibly extracted by the system, like a tube inserted into his temple, beginning to drain it at a steady rate.

"Phase 1, skeleton construction, estimated time: forty minutes."

He sat cross-legged on the floor in front of the workbench, closed his eyes, and his consciousness was pulled into the system's assembly interface.

It was a void of black space, with the glowing reinforced bones floating in the very center, splitting, extending, and reorganizing at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Yan Zheng: ( ꐦ ˘ ‸ ˘ )

A tibia split off from the main skeleton, elongated, and curved, forming the prototype of the left leg.

Then came the right leg, spine, ribs, shoulder blades, and skull.

The generation of every bone was accompanied by the continuous consumption of Yan Zheng's Mental Power, as if someone were using a tiny spoon to constantly scoop out his brain.

It didn't hurt, but it felt empty.

A slow, continuous sense of being hollowed out.

Forty-two minutes later, Phase 1 was complete.

A two-and-a-half-meter-tall black skeleton floated in the void; the dark patterns on the bones pulsed like blood vessels, exuding a cold aura.

[Phase 1 complete. Phase 2: Genetic fusion injection. Please insert the Epidermal Keratin Strengthening gene and the photon absorption/release gene in sequence.]

In his consciousness, Yan Zheng reached out and pushed the dark red keratin gene crystal toward the skeleton.

The moment the crystal touched the ribs, it shattered into countless particles and began to spread along the surface of the bones.

Gray-white petrified scales began to grow from the sternum, covering the ribs, spine, and leg bones piece by piece, like a suit of armor being put on.

Yan Zheng used his Mental Power to guide the distribution of the scales, thickening the torso, thinning them on the limbs, and leaving space for movement at the joints.

"Eighty minutes, eighty percent coverage."

He could feel warm liquid flowing in his nasal cavity.

It was a nosebleed.

Yan Zheng: ( ꐦ ⌓ ꐦ )

He couldn't bother to wipe it; his Mental Power could not be interrupted.

Next was the photon gene.

The golden miniature Sun was picked up by Yan Zheng from the table and sent into the skull area of the skeleton.

The moment the golden ball of light touched the skull, the entire skeleton trembled violently.

Rejection reaction.

The keratin scales and the photon gene began to fight for the same territory; the dark red and golden energies pushed against each other on the surface of the skeleton, like two snakes intertwined in a fight.

The consumption rate of Yan Zheng's Mental Power suddenly doubled.

"Don't rush, don't rush."

He muttered to himself in his consciousness, manually guiding the energy flow of the photon gene toward The Hands and skull.

"Scales go to the torso, photons go to the extremities; you each manage your own territory, don't fight."

The tug-of-war lasted for a full hour.

Yan Zheng's temples were throbbing, the back of his head felt like someone was hitting it with a hammer, and blood from his nose dripped onto his chin and then onto his collar.

But his Mental Power was like an extremely precise scalpel, cutting the spheres of influence of the two genes inch by inch, forcibly isolating them into their respective areas.

Finally, the struggle ceased.

The gray-white petrified scales firmly covered the torso and limbs, while the golden halo was concentrated in the palms of The Hands and the eye sockets of the skull.

[Phase 2 complete. Real-time compatibility value: 79.3%. Phase 3: Catalytic activation. Please insert the catalyst.]

Yan Zheng: ( ꐦ ˘ ͈ ꈊ ˘ ͈ )

"79.3, five points lower than estimated."

"The rejection reaction ate up some of the compatibility."

"Catalyst, injecting in stages."

In his consciousness, he picked up the tube of pitch-black blood of the black sky, poured out half first, and let the ink-colored liquid flow down along the spine of the skeleton.

The moment the black liquid seeped into the bone marrow, the entire skeleton emitted a low hum, like a sleeping engine having its first cylinder ignited.

The boundary line between the scales and the photon gene began to blur; they no longer repelled each other but formed a thin transition zone.

"It's stabilized; now for the second half."

The remaining blood of the black sky was injected, the hum of the skeleton turned into a continuous vibration, and the entire Undead Creation began to exude an eerie aura between life and death.

[Real-time compatibility value: 82.1%. Entering final phase: Energy cycle activation. Please insert auxiliary materials.]

"High-temperature energy residue, the final piece of the puzzle."

Yan Zheng released the orange-red gaseous substance from the container and pushed it toward the core of the skeleton.

The moment the thermal energy rushed in, it was like a welding torch inserted deep into the skeleton; the interfaces of all materials melted, locked, and solidified under the high temperature.

Yan Zheng's vision became completely blurred; only a mass of chaotic light and shadow remained before his eyes, and the continuously jumping numbers of the system panel sounded in his ears.

[Final compatibility value: 81%. Includes catalyst bonus.]

[Assembly complete. Activate?]

Yan Zheng's trembling hand groped in the void and touched the "Activate" button.

"Live."

He pressed it.

Dark green phosphorus fire ignited in the skeleton's eye sockets, like two lamps lit by the wind.

But this time it was different.

The phosphorus fire was streaked with golden threads, like gold leaf embedded in an emerald.

Yan Zheng: ( ✦ ᗜ ✦ )

His consciousness was ejected from the assembly interface and abruptly returned to reality.

In the Underground Room, a glowing Undead Creation was slowly standing up from the assembly table.

Yan Zheng slumped on the floor, his face covered in nosebleeds, his lips pale, but the corners of his mouth curved into an extremely satisfied arc.

"Welcome to this World, sir."