"Probe."

"Isis, retrieve the data."

"Alright, the spiritual material is stable. Gradually increase the furnace temperature to the limit, then return to normal. Increase six times, decrease four times. Record this process, and we can start production next."

Ji Jue took a step back and closed the furnace door. A voice responded from the void: "Progress six and retreat four recorded. Sir, the potion is ready. According to your preference, extremely bitter, no sugar."

Flowing mercury parted from the sides, and a cup of potion, freshly brewed from the reactor, rose slowly. A large amount of precious materials were extracted violently, finally producing a life extension potion that life science masters would find unwatchable.

The potion, which could've extended life by forty years, was reduced by Ji Jue to less than twenty.

The missing twenty-plus years were skimmed off by his mediocre potion-making and life science skills. If sent to Hope Hospital, both the potion and the person might end up in the recycler to be broken down into raw materials.

Most importantly, it was bitter.

Damn bitter!

Just the smell made Ji Jue put on a mask of pain.

"When did I ever say I wanted it extremely bitter with no sugar?!"

"Based on previous records and analysis of your preferences, many of your actions and decisions can be deemed as 'asking for trouble.'" Isis's voice slowly stated, "I respect and understand human preferences, and support them, so I added ten portions of bitter liquid for a refreshing effect."

"..."

Ji Jue was silent for a long time and then nodded solemnly, "Thank you, damn it!"

"Interjection 'damn it,' recorded. Personalization complete," replied Isis, "Come on, buddy, don't be so damn polite."

"…Wasn't that word supposed to be taught by me?"

"Self-taught."

Ji Jue rolled his eyes, pointed a finger, and used material interference to numb his tongue and taste buds before pouring the potion down, his mask of pain growing even more hideous.

As the numbness faded, the bitterness lingered, like a nightmare. Wrinkles on his hands and face slightly receded but were still very apparent, as if engraved in his bones.

At this point, Ji Jue was already 171 years old, an 'elder.'

Despite the accelerated time making three to four weeks pass in a blink, most of it was spent on repetitive tasks. Long live time acceleration!

Unfortunately, it also made people die faster.

Ji Jue sighed, discarded the bottle, not regretting the little left inside.

After drinking it too many times, the basic life extension potion no longer worked, or rather, his now mediocre skills could only produce this level of effectiveness. Life science and potion making were vast fields, completely out of his reach compared to his original focus on spiritual and material sciences.

"Let's hurry up, Isis."

He walked out of the workshop, looked up at the sky, "After preparing for so long, results should be in."

At this moment, a breathtaking silver rainbow appeared in the sky. Endless evaporated mercury rose from the sea's edge, flowing like a majestic river across the sky, branching and aggregating, eventually covering the entire sky, forming a giant net over the world.

"Looks pretty good."

Ji Jue praised with hands on his hips, "I'm damn awesome."

"With all due respect, sir."

Isis's 'friendly' reminder sounded just in time, "Most of the preparations were done by me. Aside from your occasional bursts of inspiration and long periods of daydreaming, you only moved your mouth.

This shameless self-congratulation, is it a bit too self-aware?"

"What's yours is mine."

Ji Jue grinned, "Don't be so distant!"

"Haha."

Isis 'agreed' with a laugh, and her voice disappeared.

In its place, intense light suddenly burst from the void, flickering dozens of times before disappearing. With the mission complete, the mercury vapor scattered, raining down on all sides.

Finally, in front of Ji Jue, the water mirror projection revealed a complex, intricate three-dimensional network. Numerous intersecting red lines were highlighted.

It was an image that could be described as a CT scan.

The 'patient' of this scan was the Nether Sea Worm, now in a fixed state, eternally looping in this world.

It probably never had such a detailed examination since its creation, right?

If it knew in its slumber, it might even shed a few tears of gratitude.

"The results generally match the calculations: four layers of structure inside and out, some areas with six to seven layers. Apart from the mutated spiritual circulations, all substances within the detection range show varying degrees of physical change, anomalous activation.

The corrupted clouds in the sky, the ocean currents and storms in the sea, even the shallow molting rock flows below the crust, all show spiritual fluctuations matching the target worm."

Isis coldly reported the mapping results, "Currently, your CT scan is a success, unfortunately meaningless. Limited by detection and imaging range, what we see is just a drop in the ocean."

"Hmm, the clarity is good, very nice."

Ji Jue admired the projection, "Since this was successful, the different mappings and scans in the remaining 1,700 areas are up to you."

Isis remained silent, but in the water mirror projection before Ji Jue, three mercury-crafted question marks rose, magnified, emitting a blinding light.

"Sir, I sometimes doubt your species." Isis said curiously, "To my knowledge, a human mouth can't make such loud dog bark sounds."

"Come on, Isis!"

Ji Jue waved his fist in no concern, "Try to finish this within my lifetime. It's the dying wish of your master."

Isis said nothing.

But Ji Jue felt a chill down his spine, instinctively turning back to see the falling Mercury Rain gathered into a blade, dazzling and aiming at his heart.

He was shocked: "What are you doing?"

"It's not good, sir, I feel mutated."

Isis flatly read, "There's a sign of losing control and attacking the user!"

"Relax, it's not out of control. You just want to kill me."

Ji Jue comforted, "This proves you're capable enough to complete the job I gave you. A mere 1,700 CT scans, no problem!"

"Tsk…"

Isis didn't want to talk anymore.

Since her birth, aside from swearing, the first human emotion she learned was fatigue.

The second was, literally, exhaustion.

Two years later, when 1,700 CT scans were laid out before Ji Jue, the mercury blade aimed at his neck had turned blood-red.

For two years, controlling vast equipment, repeatedly venturing into polluted areas, the animated mercury shell eroded into a mix of crimson and black, yet the core's glowing starlight remained pure and unchanged.

Rudely waking her user with a couple of 'gentle' slaps, she laid the results before him.

The 1,700 CT projections pieced together into a colossal structure that filled the entire hall.

A myriad of intertwined spiritual flows, massive ocean currents meeting atmospheric operations, and countless mutated substances.

The sky, ocean, earth, air.

When all these tiny changes crossed and overlapped, they outlined the giant entity parasitizing the current world, nurturing itself again.

This was the essence of the Nether Sea.

The Worm itself.

Compared to this giant entity, Ji Jue was not even a drop in the vast sea.

He pushed his wheelchair, on the brink of death, wandering between the projections, his fingers tracing the veins in the void.

Unknowingly, he was entranced.

"So beautiful."

"Forgive me, but compared to your outstanding talents and fleeting inspirations, your aesthetic sense is a tragedy."

Isis coldly reminded, "I originally thought drooling over machinery was your limit; now it seems I underestimated your perversion."

"How is it perverted!"

Ji Jue glared, and as Isis expected, began mumbling about how great giant monsters were and the wonders of special effects she didn't understand.

Humans truly are strange.

"By the way, why don't you call me master anymore?" Ji Jue keenly detected an oversight, "Other than at the beginning, you never called me that later!"

Isis was silent for a long time, "If you insist on it."

"You'd agree?"

"I would consider it."

"..." Ji Jue stroked his chin, gradually suspicious, "Did you just give me two slaps?"

"Illusion."

Isis firmly responded, "I am a tool and assistant you created. How could I attack my user? It seems you're showing signs of dementia. Should I activate the care program?"

"How about you wait until the slap marks fade before saying that!"

"This was following your waking settings. Among options like bleeding, dismemberment, electrotherapy, and injection stimulation, I chose the gentlest."

"I… thank you, damn it!"

"You're welcome."

Isis's starlight flickered, her massive body bowing slightly as if curtsying.

Ji Jue waved his hand.

The return program initiated.

Before Ji Jue, the massive body gradually settled, mercury flowed and dissipated, the shell falling off. Only from the core container, strands of starlight rose, falling into Ji Jue's hands.

Forming a spiritual crystal.

"See you tomorrow."

Ji Jue grasped the crystal, merging it into his own spiritual material, using his soul as a container to maintain it within.

Thankfully, with his experience of using Mechanical Descent to hold spiritual wisdom in his soul, otherwise, he would've had no clue where to start.

Thus, he pressed the rewind button.

Instantly, time reversed, returning to the beginning.

Bypassing the rules, smuggling complete.

Ji Jue adeptly opened the exchange list, exchanged mercury, spiritual material, and containers, reconstructed the vessel, and finally, ripped his soul to extract the crystal and embed it within.

Injecting spiritual material, activating revival.

Thus, within the enormous container, the crystal disintegrated, transforming into countless starlights gradually illuminating.

As if opening eyes from a long sleep.

Ji Jue smiled, "Good morning, Isis."

"Tsk…"

The AI displeased.

"Yes, I'm also very glad to see you."

Ji Jue nodded, waving, "Time to start work. First, let's reconstruct the workshop quickly; there's still a lot of work ahead."

For an instant, Isis seemed to say something. Ji Jue didn't catch it, turning back in confusion.

Then, he saw a smiling face appear amidst the starlight.

"Okay," she said.

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