"Alright, let's give it a try first."
Hel looked at the biological recovery pod before her — it only carried a purple-quality trait, [Biological Restoration]. So, after removing that, she replaced it with three new ones: [Bloodline Editing], [Biological Creation], and [Cybernetic Reconstruction].
"Honestly, I'm not feeling too confident about this…"
She muttered as she approached the pod and opened its interface.
To her surprise — the interface was identical to that of a bio-editing chamber.
"It actually works?"
But a new issue arose immediately — where would the input materials go?
So Hel and Niv circled the coffin-like pod several times, searching for a compartment, until Niv finally suggested:
"Maybe… you're supposed to put the materials inside the pod?"
"Uh… doesn't that sound kind of… unscientific— no, I mean, unmagical?"
"Do you really think your powers are very magical, Master?"
Niv's retort left Hel momentarily speechless — then she gave a wry smile and nodded.
"Fair point. My abilities are anything but magical. I never really thought about it before, but now that you mention it, my use of item traits has been a little… conservative. I'll need to research this properly when I have time. For now, though — let's try your idea."
Hel reached into her spatial ring and pulled out a pile of materials used for crafting bodies, tossing them into the pod all at once. When she closed the lid, the interface immediately popped up a notification — "Materials ready."
"Looks like you were right. Now let's see if this thing can actually make a body."
After a few more adjustments, Hel pressed the final Confirm button.
The massive metal coffin began to rumble and shake, the air filled with rhythmic clanging sounds from within. Moments later, it stilled — and the metallic lid slowly opened with a hiss, releasing a cloud of thick, hot steam.
When the vapor cleared, a small loli-sized body lay inside.
"It actually worked… but seriously, how is this even working? There's nothing magical about this at all."
Hel sighed again, but quickly steadied herself and got back to business. She collected all the traits she had installed back into her inventory.
As for the editing machines left behind — she didn't waste them. Under her direction, Niv had the mechanical golems dismantle them into scrap, loading everything into storage rings for transport.
Next, Hel shifted her consciousness to the City of Biotech and stripped the editing units there as well.
After several rounds of synthesis, she finally obtained two red-quality traits —enough to craft two red-tier editing chambers.
However, when she tried installing them on one of the metal coffins, the entire thing began to creak under strain. Before she could even test its functionality —
CRACK!
The structure collapsed, disintegrating into a pile of glittering metallic dust. The three red traits popped back into her inventory.
"What the…"
Hel crouched down and rubbed the shimmering dust between her fingers.
"Looks like metallic degradation — similar to when a high-rank transcendent tries to use a low-grade weapon. Red-tier traits correspond to roughly seventh-tier materials…but these pods are made mostly from mithril, or metals of similar grade. So the materials simply couldn't withstand the traits' strength."
She narrowed her eyes.
"In other words — item traits do have installation limits. The restriction just isn't visible on the surface. Maybe I can reinforce them by embedding higher-tier base traits first."
That reminded her of something — the vampiric sword she'd once made for Lily. Back then, she'd forged it with mithril, but she'd also embedded components from that magic grimoire into the blade —a lucky improvisation that had prevented the sword from shattering outright.
And at that realization — Hel's expression changed.
"Oh no."
She gasped and immediately had Morrigan dash to the Desire Energy Reactor beneath the city.
The Desire Crystals forming the pool were only red-tier, yet they were supporting a tri-color trait —two full ranks above their grade.
If her hunch was right, the pool might be on the verge of collapsing just like that metal coffin.
Abandoning all thought of refining the Desire Energy, she just hoped she wasn't too late to recover her first tri-color trait.
When she flung open the underground gates — a wave of thick pink vapor surged outward.
Hel instinctively held her breath, covering her mouth and nose with her arm as she waited for the haze to settle. When it finally thinned, she saw the aftermath.
The massive storage basin was half-melted, and what used to be a vast lake of Desire Energy had been reduced to a few scattered puddles. And yet — the [Desire Extraction α] trait was still functioning, continuing to refine what little energy remained.
"Phew… good. Thank the gods this basin was so massive. Otherwise, it would've gone up in dust like that metal coffin."
From the look of it, the enormous structure had barely managed to endure the tri-color trait's destructive pressure. Had she arrived a few hours later, it might have disintegrated completely.
Without wasting a moment, Hel hurriedly removed the trait. Only then did she finally glance down at the remaining puddles of Desire Energy.
"Is it just me… or do they look a bit different now?"