Chapter 153: Spoils of War and the Red Spring of a Wild Imagination

"Incredible," the Tin Man murmured as he watched Bourne’s flesh scatter across the ground. "When he struck just now, he had already memorized the angles at which Bourne was reassembling himself. Those threads of water looked like they were cast at random, but they were actually positioned precisely where the pieces were coming back together. The moment pressure was applied, those areas—not yet fully healed—were sliced apart all over again. Bourne's transformation was rendered completely useless."

While the Tin Man was marveling, Liu Zong thrust his spear downward, pinning the black arm directly to the earth. Immediately, the scattered chunks of Bourne's flesh dissolved rapidly, seeping into the soil of the Gummy Forest.

In the end, only the black bear's left arm and two other strangely shaped items remained.

[Wildness of the Gummy Bear King]
[Quality: Lv3 (Blue)]
[Description: A part of the Gummy Bear King's body. Can be used to assemble the Gummy Bear King. Upon devouring enough to generate the Bear King's world, it will eventually transform into a World Spirit Vein. 2/6 (Note: 5 fragments can be combined to form a Lv3 Purple Quality Gummy Bear King; 6 fragments will yield a Lv3 Pale Gold Quality Gummy Bear King).]

After placing the two pieces of the Gummy Bear King's body together, Liu Zong watched in fascination as they fused on their own, turning into a bouncy, elastic sphere of gummy candy—a rather bizarre sight.

As for the remaining two items, they had belonged to Bourne's physical form: one was a purple gummy sphere, and the other was a green bear head.

Liu Zong picked up the bear head first, only to discover that all the sugary syrup inside was completely gone; the entire bear head had been reduced to nothing more than a hollow mask of skin.

[Corpse-Devouring Bear Face]
[Quality: Lv1 (Blue)]
[Attributes: Constitution +1]
[Equipment Trait: Restores 5% health for every corpse devoured.]
[Equippable Class: Undead Minion]
[Equipment Slot: Face, Mask]
[Description: This was Bourne's true body. He survived by devouring the flesh of his own kind. Given enough corpses, he could theoretically live forever.]

[Twisted, Viscous Hide]
[Quality: Lv1 (Blue)]
[Attributes: Constitution +1]
[Equipment Trait: Opponent's weapon has a chance to become mired in sugary syrup and cannot be withdrawn (Disarms opponent for 3 seconds).]
[Equippable Class: Undead Minion]
[Equipment Slot: Skin, Cloak]
[Description: Bourne originally survived through his own power, but as his body grew increasingly massive, he deliberately neglected his own skin.]

Having reviewed the attributes of both items, Liu Zong beckoned to the Shepherd Doll, which had rendered such distinguished service. The doll stepped up before him, and without a word of command, Liu Zong directly equipped both items onto it.

In an instant, the Shepherd Doll’s face transformed into a grotesque green bear visage, and its tattered, threadbare skin shifted to a bruised purple. Had its clothes not remained so ragged and its yarn hair still dripping with water, the ragdoll would have retained no trace of its former self.

Yet Liu Zong was quite satisfied with the result. Bolstered by two blue-grade items, the Shepherd Doll finally crossed the threshold from a quantitative change to a qualitative leap, its quality rising from Lv1 Blue to Lv1 Purple.

[Frost Shepherd Bear (Purple)]
[Race: Undead]
[Level: Lv1 (7 Stars)]
[Attributes: Strength 8, Agility 6, Constitution 12, Spirit 0]
[Skills: Flesh Devouring (Enhanced), Ice Shield, Chill Aura, Water Ghoul Entanglement, Attack Reflection, Disarm]
[Description: A Shepherd Doll fitted with a bear's face. It is now consumed by an insatiable appetite to devour everything in its path. Any corpse that appears before it will become a part of its form, while its elastic hide prevents the Shepherd Bear from bloating or deforming too severely from overeating.]

Liu Zong nodded in satisfaction as he reviewed the Shepherd Bear's attributes. At that moment, the Tin Man stepped forward, looking up at the sky, and announced, "I have already notified Dorothy of your success. She will send new puppets shortly. This time, they will be of my kind—please make good use of them."

Even as he spoke, another enormous piece of candy plummeted from the heavens, shattering to reveal three cards encased in jelly. This time, Liu Zong noticed that all the cards featured the Tin Man: one displayed a red-and-yellow Tin Man with a white glowing light on his chest; another showed a red-and-blue Tin Man with several tires hung around his limbs and waist; and the third depicted a red-and-black Tin Man with a winding key protruding from his back.

Liu Zong closed his eyes, letting the three cards hover and spin before him for a moment before he reached out, pointing to the middle one just as he had done before.

As the other two cards vanished into thin air, a metal loli standing one and a half meters tall materialized before Liu Zong. She had black hair, a red dress, carried a small parasol, and her entire body was forged from grey tin.

The craftsmanship on this metal loli was reasonably meticulous, save for her eyes, which were utterly bizarre—they were quite literally two glowing light bulbs that flickered constantly between red, white, and green even when she stood perfectly still.

Her mouth was a vast improvement over the Shepherd Doll's, which had merely been painted on. At least the metal loli possessed a genuine slit for a mouth, though why someone had embedded a miniature pencil sharpener inside it remained a mystery.

The proportions of her limbs were relatively normal, and her fingers could transform into various tools at a moment's notice. Her feet, however, showed no unusual modifications, though Dorothy had thoughtfully provided her with a pair of towering platform sandals whose visible soles alone approached twenty centimeters in height.

Recalling that the loli had stood only a meter and a half tall before, Liu Zong now found himself wondering what her true height actually was.

The metal loli stowed her parasol into an equipment case that automatically popped open on her back, then flipped open a compartment on her abdomen to retrieve a can of machine-oil coffee and a piece of tin bread. As she ate and drank, she gestured toward Liu Zong, seemingly asking if he cared for a portion as well.

Faced with this spectacle, Liu Zong was somewhat at a loss for words. He quickly scanned the metal loli's attributes, praying his luck hadn't turned sour and landed him with a dud.

[Red Key-Wind (Blue)]
[Race: Undead]
[Level: Lv1 (2 Stars)]
[Attributes: Strength 8, Agility 6, Constitution 5, Spirit 0]
[Skills: Key-Wind Transformation, Domestic Maid Arts]
[Description: Originally designed to serve as a household tin maid, an improper soul injection resulted in her current state. Under normal circumstances, Red Key-Wind possesses minimal combat capability and is only suited for standard maid duties. However, when combat is required, please wind the key upon her back, and she will transform into a formidable armored maiden to fight for you (Once per day, lasting 5 minutes).]

Confronted with these attributes, Liu Zong felt a sudden urge to ask Dorothy just how boundless her imagination truly was.