The Blood Clan True Ancestor looked much like an ordinary vampire — pale skin, humanoid body, and pointed ears.
Hmm? Pointed ears?
Hel stared at the familiar shape, a thought surfacing in her mind. So… this True Ancestor was actually transformed from an elf?
From what Hel knew, the Blood Clan were exceptional shapeshifters — a kind of semi-undead species that reproduced solely through the Embrace Ritual. In theory, any intelligent creature could be turned into a vampire. Once transformed, aside from their sharper fangs, their appearance would remain nearly identical to their original form.
That meant this True Ancestor was, in all likelihood, an elf before her transformation.
"She doesn't have a soul either, just like the other elves," Hel murmured after sensing for a while with her mental power, a hint of disappointment in her voice.
In fact, aside from the dragons that had been chopped up like boiled chicken, most of the bodies in the storage facility were perfectly preserved.They could have easily served as top-tier materials for necromantic summons.
Unfortunately, without souls, they could not be turned into undead — not unless Hel somehow placed souls inside them herself.
She looked down at the Philosopher's Stone she had forged, made from countless souls taken from the Sacrificial Nation.
"Between the top-tier spells I've used and the energy spent constructing the Soul Network, there's barely enough power left in this thing for a few more major spells."
Hel sighed helplessly. It finally dawned on her how poor she truly was.
"The souls from the Devil Ranch have to go toward making the subterranean worms for the Soul Network. That network is the foundation for my future — I can't just divert it for fun. Looks like I'll have to see what the Insect Empress managed to collect first."
Still, when she looked back at the dragon corpses — dissected, sectioned, waiting — she couldn't help but feel a twinge of temptation.
Maybe I could 'borrow' a bit of the infrastructure souls to make a bone dragon… just for fun?
But when she checked through her little Archmage overseeing the Devil Ranch, reviewing a month's worth of harvested souls, her hope vanished.
Even counting what she already had, it still wasn't enough to craft a Saint-tier soul.
So, that plan would have to wait.
"Master, you seem… a little unhappy?"
Beside her, Niv tilted her head curiously, watching Hel sigh over the Philosopher's Stone.
"You can tell me what's bothering you. Maybe Niv can help~"
"It's nothing serious," Hel replied, forcing a smile. "It's just that we've harvested all these high-quality corpses, yet I can't put them to use. A pity, really. Never mind. I'll leave them here for now. Even if I had enough souls, I can only make peak sixth-tier undead at the moment — not Saint-tier ones."
"Does master plan to raise all these corpses as undead?"
"Of course. What else?" Hel asked, puzzled by Niv's tone.
"Well, the hybrid goblins' elemental cores are perfectly intact. Since Edwina drained their souls before death, these cores are pure elemental energy now. They're extremely rare materials — why not use them to cultivate yourself instead? There's more than enough here to help master reach Saint-tier."
"…You're right."
Niv continued, her eyes gleaming slightly. "Also, the True Ancestor's blood is the best material for refining Blood Crystals. Those crystals can rapidly strengthen bloodline-type beings."
"You mean for Lily?"
"Exactly," Niv nodded, her voice soft but knowing. She'd learned quite a few tricks from Lily lately on how to win Hel's favor — and this was the perfect time to put them to use.
"As for the Snow Elf corpses," she added, "even if master wanted to craft souls for them, you'd need to reach the sixth tier first. By then, I'm sure the Insect Empress will have gathered plenty of souls for you."
"Hmm… fair enough."
Hel nodded, agreeing with Niv's reasoning.
"Alright then, since I've already got all the bloodline imprints I need, let's go finish the last two external brains for you."
Hel returned to the Data Center and began crafting the final two external brains for Niv.
To her surprise, the process went differently this time. The brain carrying elf bloodline was made from an actual elf's brain — fitting enough. But for the Beastmen bloodline, Niv chose… a dwarf's brain.
"I thought you'd insist on a larger one," Hel said, raising an eyebrow. "I remember there were giant brains in storage too, aside from the dragon ones."
"Niv's not that silly," she giggled. "A huge brain would make the body slow and clumsy, and consume too much energy. Smaller brains make for smaller, more flexible avatars. And since each of them adds the same amount of computing power, it's better to pick something efficient."
"Then why a dwarf's brain specifically?" Hel asked, still curious. After all, dwarves already had smaller brains than most races — and Niv had somehow chosen the smallest one available. If she used that as a base, the resulting avatar might barely reach half a meter tall.
"That's a secret~"
Niv pressed a finger to her lips with a playful "shh," and then cheerfully pulled Hel along to the adjacent Biological Research Institute.
This facility housed a biological editing machine far superior to the one in the B5 lab. The B5 model could only create lifeforms roughly human-sized — but this one could handle giant-scale organisms, even dragons.
The entire top floor was dedicated to that massive device, towering like a mechanical monument.
Niv's goal was simple: to use it to create physical bodies for her external brains.
But when Hel looked at the enormous apparatus, knowing Niv's planned avatars were barely palm-sized, she couldn't help but feel a little amused.
This is like using a cannon to swat a fly.
The construction materials for Niv's avatars were the same as those used for her main body — alchemical substances refined through Hel's word imprints. The only challenge was the elemental cores each avatar required.
The ones Hel had were all too large — a sixth-tier core was practically half the size of one of Niv's tiny bodies.
So, Niv had no choice but to raid the goblins' old storage once again.
And in the corner of the warehouse, she actually found a small box containing fairy elemental cores — just the right size.