"Eternal Night Emperor" had drifted in the Sea Ruins for over two hundred years. Cobwebs covered the dim cabins, and mushrooms grew in the damp corners. Everything seemed so old and accumulated so much death energy, making it deathly still.

However, Suren gained the recognition of the "Ship Spirit," and the gloom that had accumulated in the cabins for over two hundred years was suddenly swept away.

Fresh sea breeze poured into the cabins, instantly making everyone feel refreshed. The eerie and terrifying feeling that had surrounded them suddenly became less cold and unfamiliar, filled instead with warmth.

Amidst the crew's enthusiastic cheers, this legendary warship welcomed its brand new beginning.

It was the start of another new legend.

...

The "haunted incident" was resolved, and Tani was no longer afraid. He leaned on the helm, excitedly saying, "Wow... I love this ship so much!"

No navigator could resist the allure of a Sea Emperor-class warship. As the chief navigator of the Dawn Mercenary Group, Tani felt he had to build a good relationship with this ship as soon as possible.

Besides, this was a magical ship with a "Ship Spirit."

He imitated Suren, speaking to the helm, "Mr. Ship Spirit, can we be friends? My name is Tani, nice to meet you!"

But for a long time, there was no response.

Tani turned back awkwardly, "Uh... Mr. Suren, why isn't it responding to me?"

Luo Lota retorted, "Silly Tani, Mr. Suren isn't just talking, he's using mental communication. Your level is far from that."

"Oh."

Tani had no retort, only a disappointed and dejected expression.

Suren smiled as he watched the two bickering, "Communicate with it properly, carefully perceive with your consciousness, be sincere, and you will 'hear' its response."

Tani's eyes lit up instantly, and he nodded earnestly, "Okay!"

...

As staying on Devil's Island would always attract undead monsters, Suren informed everyone to set sail. Before long, the Eternal Night set sail, slowly leaving the harbor.

The Sea Emperor-class warship had extraordinary stability. Stepping on the deck felt almost the same as being on land, with very little turbulence.

Sailing on such a giant ship, even without ambitions of conquest, would inspire a person with the ambition to look down upon the world.

After all, there wouldn't be a better sailing warship than this in this world.

This was a ship for the strong.

Although the hull of the "Eternal Night" was well-preserved, there were still many places in the cabins that needed maintenance. The members of the Dawn Mercenary Group were all busy.

Barrett directed everyone to divide into several teams. Some were cleaning the cabins, while others were cleaning the barnacles and marine life attached to the hull.

Because the tactical arrangements for the Sea Emperor-class warship were very different from the previous small ships, Barrett rearranged the duty posts and battle plans. He also called in engineers to make some small modifications to the hull to adapt it to modern warfare, discarding those hundreds of heavy but useless cannons.

Everyone was busy and happy.

Even the usually lazy Qian Tiao rolled up her sleeves and led everyone to scrub the deck together.

Suren was not idle either. Following the "Ship Spirit's" instructions, he led a group of mechanics and shipwrights to help it repair the damaged hull.

With the convenience of the Eight-Armed Spider Spears, he quickly gave the Eternal Night a full-body check.

Masts, sails, cabins, anchor chains, pipes... Inside and out, he found hundreds of places that needed repair. Most of them were small problems, but if left unattended, they would become bigger problems. The cracks in the defense barrier, the worn-out coating, and some damaged runes lacked special consumables, which the Eternal Night couldn't repair itself.

With its new owner helping to repair the ship, the "Ship Spirit" seemed happy.

It was as happy as a several-thousand-ton child, sailing happily on the sea, facing the wind and chasing the waves.

...

Ship maintenance was detailed work that would likely take many days.

No one was in a hurry to finish it in a short time.

In the evening, the crew held a simple dinner on the ship to celebrate the Dawn Mercenary Group's treasure hunt and welcome a special new member.

However, because the previous three warships had been destroyed, resources were a bit tight, so everything was kept simple.

The members of the Dawn Mercenary Group had their first group meal in the ship's restaurant.

Although the seats in the restaurant were all decayed, the atmosphere was very lively.

After everyone had their fill of food and drink, they returned to their respective cabins to rest.

Suren and Qian Tiao also returned to the captain's cabin.

With Kama and Luo Lota, his two thoughtful disciples, the captain's cabin had already been cleaned.

The spacious captain's cabin, hundreds of square meters in size, was almost impossible to imagine on the previous Tier-2 warships.

However, the room also had no furniture.

Except for the magic crystal lamp hanging from the ceiling, it was empty.

As soon as Qian Tiao entered the room, she immediately exclaimed, "Suren, quickly take out the bathtub I bought last time and install it. I've been fighting undead monsters these past few days, and my whole body is pickled."

Suren couldn't help but laugh, retorting, "Qian Tiao-jie... my 'Little Void Realm' is for combat, can you please not make me always carry those weird things?"

Although he said that, there was not a hint of complaint in his tone.

Ever since she found out that he had the "Little Void Realm," Qian Tiao had stuffed a lot of things for him to carry. For example, a whole set of shower boilers and a large bathtub.

In Qian Tiao's words, it allowed her to take a hot bath anywhere, which was the most wonderful thing in the world.

This made the last bit of imperfection in sailing disappear, leaving only enjoyment.

"Tch~"

Qian Tiao rolled her eyes when she heard that, and unfastened the sword hanging from her waist.

Seeing that there wasn't even a coat rack, she thought of something else, "Oh, we also need to get a bed out. Although I don't mind continuing to sleep in a tent, it would be a waste to have such a big room without a good bed."

As she said that, she glanced at Suren and added, "You should have one with you in your space, right?"

"I do."

Suren's tone was a bit helpless, but it was more of a smile.

Anyway, the space was big enough, and he himself had stuffed a lot of weird things in it.

He looked at the layout of the room.

The years had completely eroded the partitions, so it was perfect to rearrange it according to his own ideas.

Without much thought, he pinched a sorcerer's seal with both hands, and a black vortex slowly condensed in his palms.

Then, with a muffled "thump," a redwood bed was placed in the room.

Then came a "Van Dreams" mattress, exquisitely crafted white bed sheets and quilts produced by the "Heimnat Royal Workshop," and top-grade goose feather pillows from Syster County...

These were all genuine aristocratic goods, purchased from Pirate City, and they were a very good experience.

In Hasterlin, as long as you had money, there was never a shortage of good things.

Although Suren wasn't the kind of person who indulged in material enjoyment, this fantasy world was full of dangers. He couldn't guarantee that tomorrow would come, so he wouldn't treat himself badly in terms of material things.

Within the scope of what he could afford, he would buy anything that was comfortable, even if it was a bit more expensive.

Besides, these things weren't worth much to an advanced alchemist.

Suren arranged the bed, and then threw out a few cabinets, a coat rack, a table lamp, and a small table...

Even so, the room still seemed very empty.

Suren wondered if he should turn half of the room into his laboratory.

Now that he had the Eternal Night, he probably wouldn't have to worry about the ship being sunk all the time, so he could consider making some long-term items for the laboratory.

Qian Tiao also had very low requirements for household items. She put her knife on the table, helped Suren roughly arrange the furniture, and then exclaimed again, "Alright, stop messing with these useless things, quickly get the bathroom set up, I want to take a bath."

The two of them didn't need to stand on ceremony with each other anymore. Suren didn't mind being like a tool, and said, "Got it."

As he said that, he went to look at the location of the water outlet, and instantly arranged the location of the bathroom in his mind.

Then, he pinched a sorcerer's seal, and with a "thump," a large bathtub appeared.

Then there was a steam boiler that was taller than a person, and a few simple brass pipes. This was a complete set of bathroom equipment. Burning hot water steam would drive the boiler's power system, which would then generate water pressure, automatically draw cold water, and hot water would flow out of the faucet.

Of course, a large water tank was indispensable.

These were all ordered by Qian Tiao herself, standardized bathhouse equipment.

At sea, wanting to use so much fresh water to take a bath was simply a luxury.

It was fortunate that Suren's storage space was large, which allowed him to stuff it in.

He spread out his Eight-Armed Spider Spears and busied himself with both hands and feet, nailing the pipes to the wall, waterproofing and diverting the ground, and then tested the pipe connections...

Then he threw a pile of coal into the boiler, and white steam quickly emerged.

Hot water gurgled into the large bathtub.

While Suren was tinkering with it, the two of them chatted.

Qian Tiao talked about her Tier-5 symbiote integration, saying, "The [Chronos's Void God Hand] that we snatched before is really good, and it has greatly improved me. But I tried it, and it seems I can't integrate it. Dr. Banks gave an evaluation, saying that my spatial affinity is not high, and even with the suppression of Haki and San-kai talents, the probability of distortion from integrating that material is over 80%..."

Suren frowned when he heard this, and asked, "Then what about regressing and integrating that Dark Gold-grade one?"

Distortion was a big problem with symbiote integration, and if it couldn't be solved, then it really couldn't be solved.

"That is possible."

Qian Tiao's tone was a bit regretful as she said, "But it's not easy to find the best one, so why would I be willing to settle for a worse one? I plan to go to the 'Void Ruins' to see if I can find some opportunities. Dr. Banks analyzed based on the information you provided, saying that the 'Toxter Void Royal Alchemy Academy' is very likely a research institute for void creatures. The ancient grand alchemists' research on life is no lower than that of today, so maybe there are some methods to improve void tolerance..."

"Oh."

Suren looked thoughtful as he listened.

This symbiote was an excellent symbiote for increasing the swordsman's physical and magical penetration. It would be a pity to miss it. If she were to integrate a similar ability at Tier 6, it would be a waste of a valuable opportunity.

If Qian Tiao had such an idea, he would naturally support her.

Speaking of this, Qian Tiao also said, "My [Rakshasa Golden Body] seems to have reached a bottleneck as well, I don't know what's wrong..."

Suren was adjusting the temperature of the boiler water, and casually said, "Could it be that the tier is limiting the development of your talent? After all, you're only Tier 5 now."

No one in the world had heard of a profession that could comprehend San-kai talents, and there was no one else to ask. Even Mr. Mirror knew very little.

Qian Tiao: "Then I don't know..."

At this time, Suren had adjusted the boiler.

He put away the Eight-Armed Spider Spears and said, "Alright."

"Wow... it's done?"

Qian Tiao couldn't wait, slightly excited, "Haha, I can finally take a hot bath."

Seeing that Suren had finished setting up the equipment and there were no outsiders in the room, she directly took off her combat kimono and hung it aside.

Suren finished setting up the boiler and was installing a simple curtain for the bathroom. Suddenly, he heard a slight sound of footsteps behind him, like a cat walking.

Turning his head to glance, he saw the naked Qian Tiao walking past him, leaving him with a graceful back view.

Suren also glanced at it, and the corners of his mouth raised slightly.

Not to mention the murderous tattoo on her back, Qian Tiao's figure was still very attractive.

She walked to the water pipe under the shower and twisted the water valve for hot water. "Whish" Clear water poured down from her head.

Suren was putting up the shower curtain, and didn't restrain his gaze, watching with great interest.

While washing her body, Qian Tiao also let out a pleasant sigh, "Hoo... comfortable."

At this time, she naturally discovered Suren's unreserved gaze, glared at him, and said speechlessly, "You've already seen it, why are you still staring at me?"

As soon as she said this, she knew it was useless.

This thick-skinned guy, how could he be polite to her now?

Qian Tiao was also helpless, but that kind of gaze made her feel very uncomfortable, so she pulled the newly made shower curtain and feigned anger, "Don't disturb my bath."

But at this moment, a sigh came from outside the curtain in Suren's faint tone: "Ah... Qian Tiao-jie, you've changed."

Qian Tiao was puzzled when she heard this, "Hmm???"

At this moment, Suren's detestable response came from outside the shower curtain: "Even a gentleman is warded off?"

Qian Tiao was stunned for a moment, then rolled her eyes when she realized what he meant.

You?

A gentleman?

You used to be somewhat...

Now?

Heh, pui.

...

In the following days, the Dawn Mercenary Group spent their days cleaning and maintaining the warship.

Perhaps because the "Eternal Night Emperor" had a dominant position among the ghost ships in the Sea Ruins, the Dawn Mercenary Group almost never encountered undead monsters after setting sail.

They traveled west and encountered many treasure-hunting mercenary groups.

Gradually, in addition to the "Black Panther Mercenary Group's" warship following them, dozens of other mercenary groups' warships also followed.

After those treasure hunters learned about the dangers of the Sea Ruins, they naturally wanted to cling to the "big legs" to see if they could get out.

And the Dawn Mercenary Group, a large group with a "Sea Emperor-class warship," was naturally the thickest of big legs.

...

Without battles, Suren's days seemed very leisurely.

Every day, he stayed in the laboratory doing various experiments and research, and hardly ever went out.

Because the Eternal Night was very large and had countless more ideal empty cabins, Suren ultimately didn't put his laboratory in the captain's cabin.

He created a laboratory area in the center of the cabin, part of which was given to Dr. Banks, and the other part was his own puppet laboratory.

The laboratory, hundreds of square meters in size, was large enough to hold various instruments. The laboratory had three parts: a mechanical workshop, where various mechanical tools and disassembled mechanical parts and design drawings hung on the walls; a biological laboratory with a separate space isolated by glass, where octopuses and the [Siren's Song] were most often soaked in the jars; and finally a puppet workshop, where various semi-finished rune constructs hung in the spiderweb-like space.

Suren was also grateful that he finally had a relatively stable space to place the instruments he needed. With these instruments and tools all in the same room, it was also convenient to use them.

One day, in the laboratory.

Suren was hunched over the workbench, studying the [Four-Colored Elemental Heart], with a gargoyle with a large hole in its chest beside him.

This treasure of the ancient goblin civilization was indeed the most top-notch energy core. He had tried installing it in the gargoyle before, and its combat power instantly soared by a large margin.

Now the gargoyle could inscribe runes of various elements and solidify various formulas. Suren could inscribe all the alchemy he mastered on it.

He selected some formulas suitable for puppets, such as the spatial [Teleportation], [Void Penetration], the fire-type [Dragon's Breath], and the ice-type [Ring of Frost]...

Attack, defense, control, displacement, all elemental formulas were available.

In layman's terms, the current gargoyle was roughly like a Tier 5 or 6 omni-elemental magic alchemist, and it was also very resistant to beatings.

The [Four-Colored Elemental Heart] was enough to support it in using various formulas. This was the power of the ultimate rune construct, the "Alchemy Golem."

Among those of the same tier, it was almost invincible.

Even Suren himself felt that if he encountered this kind of omni-elemental opponent, he would almost have no way to defeat it.

Fortunately, this was his own puppet.

However, no matter how powerful it was, there was only one core.

Suren wanted to decipher the lost part of the technology on this Elemental Heart, and then create more elemental cores.

It was fine if he didn't study it, but once he started researching it, he realized that the ancient goblin civilization's attainments in the field of energy cores were truly terrifying.

The puppet master lineage inherited a part of the elemental cores, and there were also some on the market, but even with Suren's solid knowledge, he could not understand more than 20% of it.

The difficulty of analyzing this [Four-Colored Elemental Heart] was very high.

Despite the development of alchemy for so many years, forming various different schools, after simplifying it, the basic theoretical knowledge was actually only so much.

This elemental core used the four basic elements of the universe: earth, wind, water, and fire, and almost brought the application of these basic laws to the extreme.

The more Suren studied, the more he discovered that the ancient civilizations' grand alchemists had already gone very far.

He didn't expect to be able to completely analyze this ancient core. Imagining creating a secondary elemental core with 50% or 30% of the effectiveness would be a super huge advancement for the energy core field in this era. It would be completely sufficient to meet the needs of ordinary puppets. At that time, the combat power of the rune construct legion would also increase by a large margin.

...

The laboratory was very quiet. If you listened carefully, you could hear the subtle sound of the pen tip sliding on the paper.

At this moment, Suren was observing the details on the elemental core with a high-powered loupe, and then the spider spears behind him were gradually drawing the complex ancient runes on the paper.

Not seeking to understand, but to copy them down, and then test their functions one by one, and slowly analyze them.

This was a very energy-consuming and time-consuming task.

He would need to spend a lot of time on it for the next year or two.

Suren was busy, and not far from his workbench, there was also a small workbench.

As a disciple, Kama was also practicing the teaching tasks assigned by her teacher, and she was going to create her own puppet.

This little girl also cherished the opportunity to be with her teacher, and showed extraordinary diligence, seriousness, and concentration.

Suren also felt that this disciple was very worry-free, and he didn't need to say much, just give her occasional pointers.

The master and disciple would often fall into hours of silence in the laboratory, with no one speaking, and each of them would be busy with their own things.

Kama was carefully carving a puppet with a carving knife.

But at this time, she suddenly saw a blue light suddenly light up in the instrument next to her. She was stunned for a moment before realizing what had happened, and she exclaimed, "Teacher, look quickly! The puppet heart has been successfully charged!"

Suren also looked over, and his eyes narrowed slightly.

This charging machine was set up a few days ago, in order to repair the [Boyle's Mechanical Puppet Heart] and let his other disciple come out first.

However, the core component of this thing was a Tier 8 green dragon's dragon crystal with almost exhausted energy.

It was not easy to charge this thing.

Suren found some possible methods in ancient books, and tried several of them to no avail. Recently, he was using an isotopic element decomposition charging method, and he didn't expect it to actually work.

Kama looked at the mechanical heart with anticipation and asked, "Abelke, how do you feel?"

At the same time, a mental message came from the puppet: "Teacher, sister, I feel great! That 'life force' is stronger."

Kama was overjoyed and looked at Suren.

"Hmm."

Suren nodded, checked the alchemy array he had set up, and sorted out some thoughts.

The green dragon was the dragon of plants and life, and Abelke had survived to this day by relying on a little "life force" in the dragon crystal.

He stroked his chin for a moment and said, "The method should be correct. I will increase the energy supply, first with 15 units, and then increase it in stages. Abelke, if you feel anything is wrong, give me feedback immediately."

"Okay, teacher."

Abelke also seemed a little excited.

For five years, this was the first time he had seen hope of coming out.

Suren arranged the alchemy array on the instrument again and embedded a few precious Tier 6 wood-attributed energy crystal cores.

After activating it, the green light in the instrument became more and more intense.

Kama looked nervous, and her slender hands were pinching the corners of her clothes so hard that they were almost wringing out water.

Suren's face was calm, and the instruments brought out from Old Lingdun could clearly show the energy fluctuations of the experiment. With his [Omniscient Eye], there would be almost no accidents.

"Teacher, I feel good, you can continue to increase the input."

"Hmm, it feels a bit hot..."

"It's normal again, oh, I seem to see a gate of light..."

"..."

As energy poured into the core little by little, suddenly, a figure appeared in the laboratory.

It was a golden-haired little boy, about six years old, with a bare bottom.

When the incident at Boyle Manor happened five years ago, Abelke was six years old. Having stayed in this core for five years, the years had not changed him at all, and he was still the same as before.

Kama looked at her brother and exclaimed, "Abelke?!"

"Sister?"

The golden-haired boy looked at the familiar big girl, and then looked at his body and the surroundings. He was obviously stunned for a moment before instantly becoming ecstatic, "I'm out?"

Then he instantly realized that he was being impolite, blinked his clear eyes, looked at Suren, and excitedly and respectfully gave a chest-protecting salute, "Teacher."

He knew very well that without his teacher, he might never come out for the rest of his life.

Suren nodded: "Hmm."

He took out a men's clothing from the storage ring and smiled, "Put on your clothes first."

Seeing this, Kama quickly took it and wanted to put it on for her younger brother.

Although Abelke only had a six-year-old body, he already had the mentality of a twelve-year-old, or even more mature.

He also felt embarrassed when he looked at it, "Sister, I can do it myself."

...

Abelke, who had been trapped for five years, was very excited after coming out of the puppet heart.

The brother and sister had a lot to say.

And Suren was more curious about what he had gained in this [Mechanical Puppet Heart]. His senior, the ancestor of the Boyle family, would never have created such a thing to harm his descendants.

Although they had been in mental communication before, many things were not clear.

As soon as Abelke came out, Suren keenly captured that the speed at which his eyes focused, moved, and paid attention to points was very fast.

Suren vaguely guessed something.

Because this was also the case for himself, it was a manifestation of the ability to "multi-task" and quickly digest the external information captured by the senses.

Suren guessed that it should be because of the [B-060-Seven Aperture Exquisite Heart], but it didn't seem that simple.

He asked, "Abelke, do you feel anything unusual?"

The joy on Abelke's face had not dissipated, but became even stronger. He seemed to be very novel to the fact that he had regained his body, tried it, and responded: "No... On the contrary, I feel like my body is easier to use."

Suren thought of a test method to verify his ideas.

He took out two alchemy books at the same time, and then flipped through them, and asked, "What did you just see?"

"Teacher, I saw..."

Abelke pondered for a moment and said, "The book in your left hand is "The Secret Book of Raziel", page 172. The content written on it is: "Combine the two through the burning Vulcan, and the latter will appear as mineral water, with scum floating on it. Remove the cold mold, select the core, clear the impurities of the core with fire and salt, three times in a row, add Saturn and it will shine its shadow in the active mirror, and it will be easy..."

Suren did not interrupt him and listened patiently.

After Abelke finished reciting a page of books he had just seen, he paused and then said, "The book in your right hand is "The Book of Minerals". That page describes the characteristics of [Red Crystal Mine], combustible, highly poisonous..."

Hearing this, Kama covered her small mouth lightly, and her eyes were full of surprise.

Even Suren felt quite surprised.

Just by looking at it, he was able to memorize those words without missing a single one?

"It's a bit like a combination of 'photographic memory' and 'multi-tasking' abilities. The talent of the ordinary [Exquisite Heart] should definitely not show such strong abilities..."

Suren finally understood, and couldn't believe it in his heart: "Could it be... Double Enlightenment?!"

Abelke's five years trapped in that [Boyle's Mechanical Puppet Heart] were not wasted, but his talent had been developed to Double Enlightenment!

This talent was simply a natural puppet master!