Oqili died without ever understanding—why didn’t Saul run?

Of course, before dying, he had fiercely resisted. Even after a desperate “last burst,” putting his life on the line, he still wasn’t a match for the Old Witch.

Or rather, he still died under the spell tool Baisec Demon Mirror.

In the end, Oqili was covered in blood, thin as a stick.

The Old Witch waved a hand to stir the dirt, burying the three corpses.

She cast a wary glance at the distant cluster of tents and, before anyone else could arrive, quickly left the area.

When the Old Witch had gone out to track Oqili, she’d had her doubts.

Although Saul had returned voluntarily, no one could guarantee he wouldn’t escape again while she was out.

At one point, she even considered crippling Saul before leaving.

Her perfect body transformation was now just a sliver from completion. Yet even that sliver was beyond her ability to complete on her own.

With no other option, she had to use magic to temporarily imprison Saul—and at his request, she locked him inside the laboratory.

Ever since discovering someone had escaped from the magic-suppressing prison, she hadn’t trusted her confinement methods as much.

So after eliminating Oqili, who might have exposed her whereabouts, the Old Witch immediately rushed back.

With no need to search for anyone, and focused solely on returning, it took her just a day to reach her hidden underground lair.

When the Old Witch burst back into the residence in a panic, Saul was still obediently inside the lab, fully engrossed in his experiments.

Relief washed over her—briefly—but when she saw the lab in shambles, the heart she’d just settled almost leapt out of her mouth again.

“What are you doing?!” The Old Witch ran to Saul in two steps and elbowed at him.

But Saul stepped back before she could touch him, dodging the strike.

“I figured, with Oqili already gone, I’d be next on the table. So I made some modifications to the previous formula.”

The Old Witch looked at the “dough” on the table. It had become a gray, semi-transparent, slightly quivering sphere. It suddenly reminded her of a dessert she’d eaten long ago called “pudding.”

But no matter how appetizing it looked, it was now nothing like the original base material for the transformation.

“You… you…” The Old Witch was so furious, even her little fingers were twitching. “Do you think you’re going to die anyway, so you’re wasting my magic materials to get back at me?!”

She waved her wooden stick in front of Saul’s face, twitching as if she was going to skin his face the next second.

Saul extended his index finger and gently touched the tip of the stick, pushing it away from his face.

“If that were the case, why wouldn’t I just run? Even if you caught me again, I’d at least get half a day of freedom, wouldn’t I?”

The Old Witch could tell from Saul’s calm and composed demeanor that he wasn’t acting out of helpless hysteria or sabotage.

Still, she was heartbroken over the rare materials wrecked in the lab.

“So, you’re ready to get on the operating table?”

Saul nodded. “Yes. I don’t have full confidence, but I’m willing to take the risk for the sake of my knowledge.”

In the Old Witch’s eyes, Saul had become the very embodiment of someone whose mind had been broken by reading too many books.

“Then get on it.”

“One moment.” Saul raised a hand and took out a piece of parchment from nearby. “I made some major modifications to the materials over the past few days, so the experimental process differs from the original.”

He handed the parchment to the Old Witch. “Since we’re the only two people left in the lab, that means only you can operate the experiment. I need to walk you through the specific steps and precautions. If you make a mistake and the experiment fails, I’d be dying in vain.”

“Here, there are two possible starting points. Because the new dough—ah, the base material for the perfect body—has strong permeability and adhesiveness, we can apply it directly all over the body. But for better absorption, I recommend removing the outer layer of skin first, then applying it completely…”

As the Old Witch listened, her already wide mouth nearly stretched enough to swallow a watermelon.

She’d always thought dismembering the living and dissolving fat was brutal enough, but compared to Saul’s outlined procedures, at least hers allowed people to die quickly.

Eyes wide, she suddenly had the urge to open this young man’s skull to see what was inside.

Didn’t he realize the tendon-stripping and skin-removal procedures described on the parchment would be applied to him?

Seeing Saul speak calmly and without fear, the Old Witch suddenly felt a sense of humiliation—like she was being looked down on.

“Enough!” She snatched the parchment from Saul’s hand. “I can understand this. Now get on the table!”

Saul looked at the parchment fragment left in his hand, shrugged, let it go, and watched it flutter to the ground.

“Alright.”

He lay down voluntarily on the operating table.

Seeing how obedient he looked, the Old Witch felt oddly unsettled. A strange sense of displacement crept in—like the one lying on the table was her.

She took a deep breath, walked over to the new dough, and carefully reread the contents of the parchment.

Most of it she could understand, only a small portion was unclear. Yet to her surprise, the logic held up.

The only way to know whether it would produce the perfect body she sought was to proceed with the experiment.

Suppressing her unease, the Old Witch picked up the gray, jelly-like “dough.”

Just as she was about to use a stick to peel the boy’s skin, she suddenly remembered a critical question—one she had nearly overlooked.

“Wait! How many uses does this base material provide?”

Saul, who had already closed his eyes on the operating table, turned his head, opened his eyes, and smiled. “Only enough for one full-body transformation.”

The Old Witch’s hand trembled. “Is there any more of the base material?”

“Uh…” Saul lifted his head slightly, glanced around at the wreckage, and said, “If you happen to have a second lab and storage vault…”

Her hands trembled again—this time snapping off a corner of the wooden bucket.

“Oh, I see now. No wonder you’re being so obedient. You’re certain your formula is solid, and now you’re trying to steal my research!”

Saul didn’t show the slightest embarrassment at being called out. He just looked very serious as he asked, “If you’re that reluctant to use the materials, you can lie on the table, and I’ll conduct the operation.”

Now, the dilemma was the Old Witch’s.

Should she use the only base material she had on a higher-probability experiment, knowing she’d gain nothing and would have to risk everything again to gather new materials?

Or should she go up herself and endure the risk of a failed transformation?

Seeing that the Old Witch couldn’t decide, Saul settled in comfortably on the cold table and closed his eyes to rest.

He hadn’t slept a wink in four days, rushing to finish every part of the experiment before her return.

Now that the base for the perfect body—a soft, bouncy, pudding-like material—was ready, he knew:

No matter what the Old Witch chose,

He had already won!

(End of Chapter)

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