"Uh... what?"
A bewildered Miss Chai was dragged by Li Ang into the Automated Pet Box, where she had the dubious pleasure of observing the python-like Nemertean Worms tumbling and squirming around in a glass vessel, continuously sucking in fresh blood.
"What on earth is that?!" Miss Chai exclaimed in shock. "That's so disgusting."
"Disgusting? I think it's okay. Look, isn't it adorable how it flips its dorsal mouth open and uses the needles inside to poke at the pig's blood cake repeatedly?"
As the creator, Li Ang naturally had to defend his creation.
"Look at the acidic mucus it secretes from its surface. Look at its complete digestive system that sets it apart from lower flatworms. Look at its massive size and robust muscles. And most importantly, it's pink and so very feminine, with no hint of aggression at all."
His voice had barely faded when the elongated Nemertean Worm seemed to suffer an adverse reaction, wildly thrashing within the square vessel and slamming its body against the top explosion-proof glass. BANG! BANG! BANG! The impacts created spiderweb-like cracks.
Li Ang, unfazed, continued, "Look, it seems to really like you. It's so eager to break out and greet you now that you're here."
"Does this look like it's trying to greet me?!" Miss Chai couldn't help but step back and retort, "Why do I get the feeling that it just wants to suck blood?"
WHOOSH—
The Nemertean Worm coiled up, opened its dorsal mouth, and forcefully shot a glob of corrosive blood loaded with Blood Ability at the explosion-proof glass, which began to fizz and smoke from the corrosion.
Li Ang stared wide-eyed and scolded righteously, "How could you say such things about Little Pink? Look, you've hurt its feelings and made it cry."
"When did you give this thing a name? And that's it spewing venom, okay? How is that crying..." Miss Chai, glancing at the Nemertean Worm that was slowly crawling out of the opening in the glass vessel, quipped, "Aren't you going to look behind you? Your Little Pink is crawling towards you, and it's raising its body, ready to attack."
Following Miss Chai's remarks, the Nemertean Worm, which had reared up like a king cobra, lunged at Li Ang.
Before it could stab Li Ang with the needles in its mouth, he easily grabbed its body and, with a flick of his wrist, released a Ripple that completely paralyzed the Blood Ability-filled Nemertean Worm.
"Little Pink, you really are misbehaving." Li Ang hoisted the paralyzed Nemertean Worm and turned to Miss Chai. "By the way, would you like to try controlling it with your yin energy? It might look ugly, but its combat power is quite considerable."
"...I'll give it a try." Miss Chai pursed her lips and slowly stepped forward, extending a finger to cautiously touch the bloodsucking Nemertean Worm in Li Ang's hands.
A human Soul could not only parasitize living human bodies but could also temporarily reside in some objects or organisms with a heavy yin energy presence, like paper effigies, umbrellas, or black cats. Ordinary Nemertean Worms, with their exceedingly primitive nervous systems, could not be affected or manipulated by Souls. But this pink Nemertean Worm, implanted with a Blood race stomach using the Origin of Life, had evolved into a supernatural creature. Moreover, due to the abundant Blood Ability in its body—which was negative, cold, and dark in nature—it shared some characteristics with a Soul.
"I think I can influence it." Pressing her finger against the Nemertean Worm's surface, Miss Chai furrowed her brow and said, "However, I can only issue it very basic commands, like spraying toxins, and the like."
"That's enough." Li Ang's face brightened. He conducted many experiments with Miss Chai's cooperation, and they finally established an advanced modification plan for the Blood Clan Nemertean Worm.
Using the Origin of Life, he further reduced the Nemertean Worm's size. It was now about seventy centimeters long and five centimeters in diameter. Its body was also covered with a layer of light yet tough, pitch-black chitinous shell. This chitinous shell tightly enclosed the worm's epidermis and muscles, preventing any wriggling or twisting, rendering it straight with a slightly upturned tip. Overall, it looked pretty much like a crowbar.
This new type of Nemertean Worm, unable to move freely, would undoubtedly die in the wild, but Li Ang didn't need it to be mobile. Using the Origin of Life, he melted part of its trapezoidal neural network, turning it into a rigid "plant-worm." He also grew more reticular nerves around its stomach, connecting them to different areas of the worm's short, stick-like body surface.
Miss Chai only had to hold the Bloodworm Crowbar and use her yin energy to activate different areas of its Nemertean nerves. The biological weapon would then automatically trigger Blood Ability, unleashing the supernatural abilities innate to the Blood Clan. In short, he had transformed a supernatural creature into a living weapon devoid of any sentience.
This weapon, which Li Ang named the "Bloodworm Crowbar," was powered by yin energy. It could unleash high-intensity Blood Clan skills about three times. After its energy was depleted, blood and a high-concentration nutrient solution had to be injected through its mouthpiece. Including the previous Nemertean Worm, Li Ang had crafted a total of two such biological weapons. The System could actually identify these two Bloodworm Crowbars as equipment items.
[Name: Bloodworm Crowbar]
[Type: Weapon]
[Quality: Rare]
[Attack Power: Low]
[Special Effect 1: Crimson Transformation. Control the blood within a certain range, causing it to change shape. Can extract blood from weak individuals.]
[Special Effect 2: Crimson Surge. Project a corrosive blood sphere forward.]
[Consumption: 50 Spiritual Energy Value]
[Cooldown Time: None]
[Equipment Requirement: User's energy attribute must be yin]
[Note: In full condition, the Bloodworm Crowbar can unleash three special effects. To use again, it must be manually reloaded with sufficient quality and quantity of blood.]
Li Ang looked at the System's evaluation of the equipment, his eyes lighting up. A rare quality item! Even at the average price on the forums, it could sell for at least 1,000 Game Coins, and what I'd spent to make it were merely two Blood race stomachs, each costing only 100 Game Coins from the store. It seems that crafting game equipment myself is much more cost-effective than buying from the store. As time goes on, more and more players will acquire unique skills and equipment. Inevitably, some lifestyle players adept at forging, smelting, potion-making, and alchemy will emerge. At that point, the player community will no longer have to rely entirely on System rewards or the game store for items; they will be able to buy certain equipment directly from lifestyle players to bolster their combat capabilities. Various factions will undoubtedly spare no expense to recruit these lifestyle players, offering prices that Lone Wolves couldn't refuse. Moreover, with the advent of items like SOS Signals, lifestyle players—who aren't strong in combat themselves—will be able to receive comprehensive protection from combat-focused players during script missions. Thinking about it this way, it feels so unfair. Is this the game's version of the 'industrial-agricultural scissors gap'?
Li Ang thought quietly to himself, shifting his gaze to the note section at the bottom of the Bloodworm Crowbar's description. Besides the System's note for the item, Li Ang, as its creator, could also add his own. After much thought, he added one.
[Note: Can be fed animal blood, human blood, blood types A, B, AB, O, Rh-negative, Rh-positive, venous blood, arterial blood, Blood Puke, fervent blood, Raw Meat Blood, hemorrhoid blood. Remember to crush pig's blood cake before feeding and add a bit of salt for a better effect.]