Chapter 296, Expert One
Artifacts provide special effects but also come with certain side effects.
The amber necklace can protect the wearer in times of danger, but the side effect is significant.
The main consciousness develops a dependency on the first person it sees.
This kind of side effect was something Wu Heng was seeing for the first time.
But it reminded him of some science videos he had watched.
Some small animals, after hatching, would treat the first creature they saw as their mother.
They would develop a sense of trust and dependence in their hearts.
This was very similar to the pendant's side effect, but possibly even more severe.
Wu Heng glanced at the beautiful elf still lying lazily on the couch, wondering if she had left it there on purpose for him to see.
But he quickly dismissed the thought.
No one knew he could see the artifact's panel, and ordinary people weren't familiar with the wood elves' artifacts.
She likely left it there by chance.
"Ah~!" Shanera yawned, raising her head to look at him, "Do you always get up this early?"
"It's not that early. Didn't sleep well last night?" Wu Heng smiled and asked back.
Shanera smiled, covering herself with the thin blanket as she sat up.
Her pale legs curled on the bed as she gestured toward the painting in front of her, "I heard you like oil paintings, so I thought I'd make a new one for you, but it's not finished yet."
Wu Heng glanced at the painting, surprised at her talent.
He looked at her and said, "A landscape, huh? You should paint a self-portrait and give it to me."
Shanera's eyes curved, "Why don't you ask me to give myself to you instead?"
"Really?"
"In your dreams!"
Shanera tossed her hair back and asked, "How old are you this year?"
"24! And you?"
"Me? Well, it might scare you if I told you. In terms of age, I could be your ancestor." Shanera glanced at him and added, "But the elves reach adulthood later, so we're not that far apart."
After speaking, she wrapped herself in the thin blanket and walked toward the screen in the room.
Her swaying figure, pale thighs, and the fleeting glimpse of her rounded hips caught attention.
It was hard to look away.
Sensing something, Shanera glanced back, and Wu Heng quickly shifted his gaze to the half-finished painting on the easel.
Behind the screen, the sound of clothes rustling could be heard as she changed.
"What hobbies do you have?"
From behind the screen, Shanera's voice asked again.
Wu Heng, sitting in the chair, found the situation amusing. It felt like they were on a date!
From age to hobbies.
"I usually practice swordsmanship and read literature."
"Mages seem to love reading all sorts of books." Shanera stepped out from behind the screen.
She was now dressed in light blue casual clothes.
Her full chest pushed the loose shirt up high.
She came closer and sat down again.
Wu Heng thought for a moment and asked, "What about you?"
"Me? I like painting, art, and visiting different places," Shanera said after thinking for a moment.
"Upper-class hobbies."
"Not at all, I don't like dealing with those snobs."
Knock, knock, knock~!
As they chatted, the door was gently knocked.
Then the housekeeper's voice followed, "Madam, the purchase agreement is ready."
"Bring it in!"
The door opened, and the housekeeper entered with the agreement and a quote sheet.
Shanera said, "Look at what you need to buy, and I'll arrange for it to be delivered."
Wu Heng glanced at the quote sheet.
Overseas shipping had quantity requirements, but the prices weren't high.
In Rentam City, a sack of wheat was 135 copper coins, but buying in bulk from the merchant guild was 87 copper coins.
However, the minimum order was over twenty thousand sacks.
Shanera had mentioned before that wood elf food was a major export, popular among various races.
Besides wheat, there were various types of beans and grains available in large quantities.
Among the other goods, wooden bows were much cheaper, while leather armor was priced close to the market rate.
After reviewing the prices, Wu Heng wrote down the quantities he needed, all in the tens of thousands.
Shanera sipped her tea, glancing at the amounts he was writing.
She coughed lightly and said, "Why do you need so much? What are you planning to do?"
Was he preparing to arm an army with such a large purchase of weapons and food?
"Uh, what's wrong? I thought I'd buy as much as possible."
Shanera said, "We live so close, there's no need to buy this much all at once. Transporting it in such large quantities could easily attract attention."
Wu Heng realized that she had a point.
A massive purchase of weapons and equipment could indeed attract unnecessary attention.
"I'll adjust the quantities then."
He ordered five thousand sacks of grain, including flour and soybeans, and two thousand each of wooden bows and one-handed battle axes, along with twenty thousand sets of leather armor.
After finishing the adjustments, Shanera nodded and asked, "The merchant guild has its rules; a 50% deposit is required. Do you have enough money?"
Wu Heng nodded, calculated the cost, and then took out two large barrels of silver coins, placing them in the room.
"These were from the pirate group, uh, confiscated."
Shanera smiled and nodded, signaling for the housekeeper to count the coins before storing them away.
She then asked, "Would you like to stay for breakfast?"
"I've already eaten. I still need to stop by the guild."
Shanera didn't press him, "Alright, let's meet again next time."
"Hmm."
Waving goodbye, Wu Heng left Shanera's residence.
......
It was almost noon by now.
Wu Heng passed by the guild and went directly to the Snake Emblem Consortium across the street.
After being led to the reception room.
It wasn't long before the middle-aged staff member in charge came in.
"Sir!" The staff member bowed slightly.
Wu Heng asked directly, "Any updates on my commission?"
"Please wait a moment, I'll have someone check for you." The middle-aged man left to give instructions, and when he returned, several coffins were brought in.
The middle-aged man said, "Sir, we've gathered five bodies this time: one from a level 15 professional and four from level 10 professionals."
Hearing about a level 15 professional, Wu Heng's eyes narrowed slightly.
He had a few skeletons from combat professions, but none from life professions.
Wu Heng stood up and walked over to the coffins.
The staff opened the lids, revealing the male body inside with six arms crossed over its chest.
The middle-aged man began to introduce it, "Elnard, from the Bemira tribe, level 15 'Alchemy' specialist, 245 years old, died of natural causes."
As expected, he was from the Bemira tribe and was an alchemist.
Wu Heng had recently come into contact with this race, known for their darker skin, thick eyebrows, full lips, and most notably, their six arms.
Other than that, their height and body size weren't much different from humans.
The body in the coffin was shriveled and withered, like a dried corpse.
But that wasn't important.
A level 15 alchemist was exactly what Wu Heng needed.
And the more, the better, especially if they were higher level.
After all, he still hadn't made a breakthrough with his tier 3 corpse cores.
Crack, crack, crack~!
One by one, the coffins were opened.
Wu Heng suppressed his excitement and continued looking, while the middle-aged man introduced the rest.
"Bradley, human, level 11 leatherworker, 45 years old, died in a crime of passion!"
"Mijat, gnome, level 12 goldsmith, 32 years old, died from drowning."
"Konovalova, dwarf, level 12 blacksmith..."
"Ferroz, human, level 10 blacksmith..."
The middle-aged man introduced each, listing their names, races, professions, and levels.
Apart from the level 15 body, the other four didn't seem to have been dead for long.
Two were blacksmiths, one a leatherworker, and the last a goldsmith.
Goldsmiths, responsible for crafting jewelry and fine items, required a lot of skill.
Wu Heng felt that this was a decent haul, better than the gardeners and cooks from last time.
"This works. How much do I owe you?" Wu Heng asked.
The middle-aged man said, "The four tier-3 bodies total 2,700 silver coins, and the tier-4 body is 1,500 silver coins."
Wu Heng nodded and paid the amount.
After the housekeeper finished counting the silver coins, the transaction was complete.
Wu Heng closed the coffin lids, stored the bodies, and said, "Keep gathering bodies for me. Besides these life professionals, if you find any wyverns, collect them too."
"Certainly, sir. I'll make a new commission for you."
"Good!"
After signing the new commission, Wu Heng left the consortium and headed home.
......
Back at home.
Minnie ran out of the room.
"Didn't you go to Shanera's place? Why are you back so late?" Minnie asked.
"I finished there early, then went to the guild." Wu Heng wrapped an arm around her as they walked inside.
"Oh." Minnie continued, "What would you like for dinner, Master?"
"You decide."
After exchanging a few words, Wu Heng headed up to the fourth floor.
He opened the portal and went to the zombie world.
Stepping out of the hotel, he was met with the sight of his massive skeleton army.
The corpses from last night that hadn't been converted were stacked in a pile not far away.
The thick stench of rotting flesh and blood filled the air.
Wu Heng walked up and cast [Battlefield of the Dead].
Flesh melted like hot wax, flowing down the corpse pile, while skeletons rose from the heap.
They rolled down and joined the skeleton ranks.
After all the bodies were converted.
Wu Heng cast Grease Spell on the rotting flesh to burn it, then had the skeletons bury the remains.
Once the zombie situation was handled.
Wu Heng took out the coffins he had collected today.
He opened the lids, revealing the bodies inside.
He first cast [Raise Skeleton] on the level 15 alchemist's body.
After a brief warning about instability, the already shriveled flesh fell from the bones, and the six-armed skeleton slowly stood up.
Its size and bone structure weren't much different from a human's.
Except that its shoulder blades, where the arms were attached, looked much broader.
After checking its exterior.
Wu Heng examined the skeleton's attributes.
[Skeleton Alchemist (Level 15)]
[Attributes: Constitution 25, Strength 15, Agility 17, Intelligence 20, Perception 18, Charisma 12]
[Traits: Hollow Skeleton, Mid-Level Soul, Multi-Arm Coordination.]
[Expertise: Leather Armor Specialization (Proficient), Military Weapons Specialization (Proficient), Alchemy (Expert), Toxicology (Expert).]
[Abilities: Alchemical Scholar, Formula Tome, Advanced Potion Research, Material Substitution.]
[Multi-Arm Coordination]: This unit is naturally adept at using multiple arms and coordinating its movements.
[Alchemy]: This unit is proficient in alchemical research, specializing in healing others and developing and crafting enhancement potions.
[Toxicology]: This unit is skilled in toxicology, studying various poisons and venoms.
[Advanced Potion Research]: Capable of developing new types of potions based on requirements.
[Material Substitution]: Instead of rigidly following formulas, this unit can flexibly use materials to craft various potions.
Alchemists didn't need to participate in frontline combat.
Wu Heng didn't have high expectations for its combat attributes.
After a quick scan, he focused on its expertise.
Aside from having expert-level alchemy, it also had expert-level toxicology.
Based on the description, this alchemist was equally skilled at crafting poisons.
He would need to be clear when asking it to make potions—no mistakes that could end him.
As for its abilities, two new ones stood out.
The first, [Advanced Potion Research], allowed for the development of high-level potions.
This was exactly what Wu Heng needed right now.
It would speed up the research on tier 3 corpse core potions.
The second, [Material Substitution], meant that materials with the same effect could be used interchangeably instead of strictly following formulas.
This would save on resources and money.
"From now on, you're called Expert One."
Wu Heng thought for a moment and gave it the name Expert One.
The reason he didn't rank it with the alchemical skeletons was to better distinguish their levels.
When he obtained more level 15 alchemical skeletons, they could be ranked as Expert Two, and so on.
Level 10 alchemical skeletons would still start from Alchemist Five.
After naming it, Wu Heng went to the hotel and found a servant's uniform for it to wear.
He then continued casting [Raise Skeleton] on the other bodies.
The blacksmiths, leatherworker, and goldsmith all rose one after the other.
Wu Heng named them according to their professions.
He looked at the skeletons standing in front of him.
Wu Heng pondered how to assign them.
The blacksmiths, leatherworker, and goldsmith were clearly meant to stay in the zombie world.
But the alchemical skeleton didn't necessarily need to stay here.
He figured it could work in his home since he had an alchemy space there, and it would save Li Yanhong the trouble of transporting materials.
After thinking it over, he said, "You three stay here, Expert One, come with me."
He opened the portal again and returned to his residence on Gold-Silver Island.
......
Back at home, Wu Heng led Expert One directly into the room next to the study on the fourth floor.
Based on the original layout, this room was where Wu Heng did his experiments.
But since he didn't have much to research, it had been sitting empty.
Now, he planned to set it up for the alchemical skeletons to use.
From now on, potion crafting could be done here, and he could get his potions immediately.
"Expert One, from now on, you'll work here."