...…
They were in a dark room with many bottles and jars of all shapes and sizes around them. They were filled with various strange things. The large ones were as tall as one or two people. Corpses of various races had their skins peeled and were immersed in a pale yellow potion within the jars. On the other side, small jars were stacked up in the corner. The slightly larger jars were filled with the organs of various creatures. Next to them, some palm-sized jars were filled with floating eyeb.a.l.l.s that emitted a green light.
There was a strange scent in the air that wafted out from the cracks in the jars as well as the skins of various creatures that were hanging on the wall. The owner was not simply an insane experimenter; he was a mad pervert. He had displayed the skins of various races on his walls like trophies or samples. The skins displayed belonged to not only the pariah races in the Mizobudapi World but also the Octopus people. This was something that Sauron was not fond of. His pa.s.sion for souls could no longer be controlled, but he had limits as well. He collected the corpses of Octopus people instead of killing his fellow people. Even if he was a Warlock Saint, he would not remove their right to exist.
There was an experiment table in the middle of the room. On the table, there were handcuffs, leg shackles, and a waistband that were made out of solid steel. At this moment, a human who had been completely stripped was lying on the table.
Sauron had not stopped his research on this corpse along the entire journey from the Shadow Moon Fortress to this place. Now that they had reached their destination, he had placed the corpse on the experiment table. He would do as much research as he could before the royal families came to engage in business.
There were far too many interesting things about this human. His body was warm and intact, while his Soul Power had dispersed and no longer existed. He was not dead, but he was not conscious either. The mask was even stranger. It was an external object, but it was connected to the human's nerves and could not be taken off through normal means. If Sauron tried to forcibly pull it off, this human would be done for. There was more value in a living specimen than a dead one.
Sauron was very sharp. This mask might be a treasure, and he needed to find a way to take it off.
His gaze stopped on the mask, and he stared at it for a very long time. There was a light knock on the door of the laboratory, followed by a respectful voice, "Respected and mighty Master, Tatamu is here!"
"Come in."
The door was opened and a Polyleg walked in. Polylegs had eight long, thick legs that wriggled everywhere. The eight wriggling legs were arms and legs at the same time. There were suction cups on their legs, much like Earth octopuses… but their bodies and brains were rather similar to the Octopus people. This was what the Polylegs were most proud of. Their upper bodies were most similar and closest to that of their G.o.ds, unlike the foolish taurens and dogs who had the brains of animals. Their brains were simple, but their limbs were well-developed.
Tatamu was an aristocrat Polyleg and one of Warlock Saint Sauron's lackeys. He used his wits and bootlicking abilities to follow Sauron everywhere. He had been his laboratory a.s.sistant for several decades. This time, his master had not brought him into the lab, making Tatamu rather uneasy. Had he done something wrong? Did his master no longer like him? But you see, less than thirty minutes after his master returned, he had called for Tatamu. This was enough to prove Tatamu's position in his master's heart.
A large smile appeared on its face as it rubbed its hands. It carefully wriggled its legs and tried to maintain its balance as it was afraid that there would be too many vibrations when it walked. That would be extremely frivolous. "Respected Master, you have returned. Over the past few days, Tatamu has always been worried. I looked forward to your return. You—"
Before he could finish, Sauron waved. "Fool, stop your nonsense. Come and look at this."
Once his master gave him a command, Tatamu walked quickly. His eight legs firmly stepped on the ground. Even if this would cause his elegant steps to appear frivolous, he did not care.
There was something very familiar on the experiment table. It was a human corpse. Tatamu had helped his master to dissect thousands of creatures from various races, including humans. Octopus people had conducted experiments on humans for a very long time.
They were one of the creatures that Tatamu disliked most. Humans looked too similar to G.o.ds, even more so than the Polylegs. Not only did they have beautiful heads like the G.o.ds, they even had slender and s.e.xy legs like the G.o.ds. The only difference was that humans did not have antennae like the G.o.ds. This made Tatamu dislike them greatly as, from a physiological perspective, the Polylegs were supposed to be closest to the G.o.ds, but once humans appeared, the Polylegs dropped to second place.
"Do an appraisal on the material of the mask." Sauron sat at the side. Polylegs were the most adept at such experimental ch.o.r.es. Furthermore, Tatamu was more skilled than the Warlock Saint in such delicate surgery.
Tatamu carefully carried out the appraisal. He could use his long legs as hands. This was one of the reasons why Polylegs were preferred in laboratories, as they could use their limbs very adeptly… It used several pairs of 'hands' to complete the material appraisal in an accurate and conventional manner. However, the results made Tatamu feel slightly awkward.
"Respected Master, this mask is made out of a very mysterious material that Tatamu cannot recognize. This is definitely not one of the materials that we have in our knowledge base…"
"Fool, there are over ten million materials there. Are you sure?"
"Respected Master, please believe Tatamu. Tatamu would not have remembered wrongly!" Tatamu quickly said, "But Tatamu believes that it has attributes of a living creature. It is as if it is alive… It is definitely a treasure!"
"Nonsense! Of course, I already know that. But what use is it if we cannot take it off?" Sauron furrowed his eyebrows. The problem was how they would take off the mask without harming the human. He suspected that the strange abilities this human had were related to the mask.
"Otherwise, would you like Tatamu to cut it away?" Tatamu carefully raised a suggestion.
"No." Sauron furrowed his eyebrows.
After all, w.a.n.g Zhong was a criminal that he would give to the royal family. There was a warrant for his head; if his face was cut off, how would Sauron earn any money? The royal family was very particular.
Muwei City was only a few dozen kilometers away from the Emperor City. They had brought w.a.n.g Zhong so that they could prepare to hand him over to the royal family. However, Sauron felt that he could negotiate with the royal family. Ordinary people could only receive as much compensation as they were promised, but he was Sauron, a powerful Warlock Saint who was one of the top 50 strongest people among the Mizobudapi people. He had the right to negotiate with the royal family. Furthermore, w.a.n.g Zhong was half dead. Although his body system was still working, the injuries all over his body were shocking, and he looked like he would die at any moment. His elemental formation had almost beheaded this human.
Sauron felt that it would be best if he could awaken this human and heal the injuries on his body. This way, he would be able to sell the human for a higher price. Of course, through this process, he would be able to enjoy the joy of experimentation and collect experimental data. Furthermore, he would be able to obtain this mysterious mask. All these were additional rewards that he would obtain.
This entire human was a treasure, just like a crystal mountain. But Sauron was annoyed that he did not know where to start with this ma.s.sive treasure.
Beside him, Tatamu carefully said, "Great Master, Tatamu has a suggestion…"
"Speak."
"This human has suffered heavy injuries and is unconscious. Perhaps we can try to heal him. Since this mask has attributes of a living creature and is connected to his nerves, as long as he regains consciousness, we should be able to obtain the mask. But…" Tatamu carefully observed his master's reaction. "We will use up some potions."
"I had wanted to heal him." Sauron's eyes lit up. Since the mask had attributes of a living creature, this was definitely possible. "So what if we use up potions? Use the best ones! Hey, you fool, you have times when you are bright too."
"Thank you for your praise, Master!" Tatamu was over the moon. "Tatamu is extremely honored!"
The Mizobudapi people were not as skilled as humans in technology and science, but when it came to biotechnology, humans could never match up to the Mizobudapi.
Tatamu used its eight limbs and filled a large jar with the potion solution. w.a.n.g Zhong, whose body was covered in injuries, was soaked in this for half an hour. The shocking injuries on his body completely disappeared. Warlock Saints were trained in arcane skills, but they could not avoid pharmaceutics either. An outstanding Polyleg was very important and could even be said to be essential to Warlock Saints and Warlock G.o.ds. Furthermore, the Polylegs were a race that was afraid of the powerful. They were easily domesticated and were obedient.
His broken bones naturally recovered, while the cuts on his skin were sealed up at a rapid speed that was visible to the naked eye, and new flesh grew. There was a peculiar substance in the potion that caused w.a.n.g Zhong's body to turn semi-transparent while he was soaking in it. One could even see his organs as easily as if they were looking through gla.s.s. His ruptured organs instantly healed with the aid of the potion. If humans saw this potion, they would definitely be shocked and treat it as a holy item. They would hide it and desperately conduct research on it.
Not only would humans be shocked, so would the Mizobudapi people. To them, this jar of potion was very valuable. His master had asked him to use "the best ones", and Tatamu did not dare to disagree. His heart ached as he felt that it was a waste to use such precious potions on a human. However, when he thought about the mysterious mask, as well as the special value that this human had, it was worth using such precious resources. His master did not even bat an eye when he ordered Tatamu to use the potions!
