The black sun hangs high

Chapter 305: Spider Spider
Are you moving?

Hughes opened his eyes in the dream sanctuary and saw Theseus standing beside him, staring with a "worried" expression at the various objects piled up around him.

Among these items was a giant tortoise shell preserved in some kind of magical gel, and three kinds of blood taken from different magical creatures—they were packaged in jars of different sizes, displaying different eerie colors in the dim light.

Of course, in addition to these, there was also the "Traversing Spider Eyeball" that Hugh had brought to the Dream Sanctuary but had not "sacrificed" to, as well as a large bag of heavy universal gold coins.

The piles of items, large and small, made the spot where Hugh was located look like a distribution center for goods.

Facing Theseus, whom he hadn't seen for only a day, Hugh slowly stood up, stretched his body, and then said, "I'm about to go on a long trip, so naturally I need to prepare properly... I remember you said before that it's not suitable for me to perform any 'sacrifice' before my magic undergoes a qualitative change."

With that, Hughes raised his hand and gently patted the heavy bag of gold coins twice: "Now everything should be alright, right?"

"of course."

The chaotic shadow that formed Theseus's face trembled slightly, and his previously comical "expression" quickly faded. He spread his hands toward Hugh: "People who play a lot of role-playing games are always like this. As soon as they 'level up,' they open the character panel and stare blankly at their skill books... Hmm, I can understand."

"Tsk."

Hughes frowned. Theseus's words sounded sarcastic and made him very uncomfortable.

Instinctively, he felt there was probably something fishy going on.

However, Theseus seemed unwilling to discuss the matter further. After giving a few perfunctory remarks, he slipped back to his previous seat and began his conquest of the "stars and the sea" once again.

So Hughes arranged the “materials” he had brought into the Dream Sanctuary according to their importance in his mind.

Among them, the most important is the "Eyeball of the Spider That Could Not Be Sacrificed" that could not be sacrificed before. Theseus mentioned before that this offering could bring a very significant "escape ability". Based on the biological habits of the Spider, Hughes judged that it could most likely bring him magical powers such as stealth or fast movement.

As for the other items that were just brought in, Hugh was less able to make a judgment.

The giant turtle shell, encased in magical gel, may be associated with some form of protection, while the three different blood sources are the fine-scaled sea serpent from the ocean, the fanged wolf from the plains, and the giant-billed seabird, which is more common near the sea.

Then there's the large bag of gold coins, all of which were "exchange conditions" that Hugh had seen before in the Dream Sanctuary.

Looking at the huge bag of gold coins, Hugh felt a strange sense of emotion.

When he first arrived in Vann, he was even struggling to find twenty universal silver coins, but now, the bag he had withdrawn in advance, containing more than five hundred universal gold coins, was no longer his primary target.

At this moment, the enormous disc existing within Shug's spiritual world was operating at a stable rate.

After Hugh's magic successfully broke through the original threshold, the details on these metal discs became richer—the pale green patterns extending from the central area now emitted a soft fluorescence, each of which was connected to the grooves on the disc. Although there were no "residents" inside these grooves at the moment, Hugh could see that the radiance symbolizing magic was constantly gathering inside the grooves.

Inside these grooves, an extremely precise mechanical structure is operating non-stop. The gears of all sizes make a very regular, slight sound as they mesh, which makes Hugh irresistibly drawn into it.

"Alright, let me see... who will be the first to move into the 'new room'."

Hughes breathed a sigh of relief, picked up the container holding the spider's eyeball from the table, and walked down the corridor.

Associated with this sacrificial item was a vending machine.

The machine was completely out of service, and all the various drinks that should have been inside had vanished without a trace. This made Hugh feel quite regretful. Every time he passed by this empty vending machine, he would miss the drinks he used to buy when he worked overtime.

Only after experiencing so much did Hugh realize that working overtime in an air-conditioned room while drinking carbonated beverages could actually be considered a kind of wonderful thing.

The vending machine was placed next to that "rest corner".

The vending machine was empty. Through the transparent glass door, Hugh could see the black mist swirling inside. This mist not only existed inside the vending machine but had also seeped into the touchscreen on top of it. Hugh could even see the mist darting around on the flickering screen.

This scene is very eerie.

It even made the strange term "cyber magic ghost" pop into Hugh's mind.

As Hugh approached, the black mist imprisoned inside the vending machine's compartment reacted, shedding its initial abstract state and beginning to expand—the so-called vending machine, which appeared to be merely the boundary of a giant cage, actually contained an even more astonishingly vast space inside.

Deep within this space, an outline was slowly approaching Hugh's direction. It initially appeared distant and blurry, but as the distance shortened, its outline and shape became clearly visible.

It appears to be a giant spider crawling inside the machine.

Such a sight would be enough to make those with a severe fear of spiders dizzy, but for Hugh, such a scene was nothing.

As the spider approached, the electronic touchscreen inside the vending machine also began to change.

The deep colors, completely integrated with the electronic screen, twisted and turned, eventually forming the specific conditions required for the sacrifice at the very center of the screen.

Seeing this, Hugh opened the container in his hand.

Inside this specially treated alchemical container, several enormous grayish-white eyeballs were rising and falling in the alchemical solution. Even though they had been removed from the body of the spider, Hugh could still sense the magic contained within these eyeballs.

According to the prevailing theory among Vaan scholars, these eyeballs are the fundamental source of the traversing spider's power, even considered its "second heart" or "second brain." Research shows that an eyeball removed from a traversing spider, if properly preserved, can remain active for a long time and can even be transplanted into another spider missing its eyeball. Some mages believe that the traversing spider's eyeballs actually possess properties similar to high-purity magical crystals, which made the traversing spider once the "most popular" magical creature in Vaan, nearly driving it to extinction due to concentrated hunting by hunters, merchant groups, and wild mage organizations.

However, thanks to their intelligence far exceeding that of ordinary magical creatures and their extraordinary self-preservation abilities, the traversing spiders ultimately managed to survive in Vaan and became the top predators in certain areas.

Hugh only knew this much about the living conditions of the walking spiders.

More than their current state and the survival difficulties they once faced, Hugh was more concerned with the specific uses of these strange eyeballs in his hands.

After carefully observing the vending machine in front of him, Hugh tentatively moved the container in his hand forward.

The mist lurking inside the machine immediately reacted to Hugh's action.

With a few strange soft sounds, the huge spider shadow imprisoned inside the container suddenly trembled. The shadow that had been covering the "spider" began to fade rapidly, and its clearest appearance was revealed directly to Hugh.

Hugh's eyebrows furrowed immediately.

Because he was certain that what was trapped inside the container was not a spider at all.

Its body has no hair, and its body looks as smooth as metal. Huge dark red spots are distributed along its head and the sides of its torso, and on this torso, there are ferocious limbs that look like blades.

These limbs looked completely different from spider legs, with no hairs on them either. Their outlines were extremely flat and sharp, as if they were pieced together from a large number of metal fragments. Moreover, at the ends of these limbs, Hughes saw sharp claws resembling those of beasts.

In addition, it has two very exaggerated chelipeds covered with sharp serrations, which also emit a dark metallic luster.

At the same time, a deep roar suddenly resounded from the depths of Hugh's mental world.

Hugh quickly looked away, and then he noticed that the palace hound, which had been dozing inside the mirror's "study," had been startled awake, and now looked as if it had been seriously threatened and was in a state of extreme tension.

Perhaps to deal with potential enemies, or perhaps instinctively to display its power, a large amount of dark abyss mist erupted from the body of the court hound, making its body appear exceptionally large and strong. Moreover, its mouth was open, and the whiskers between its sharp teeth protruded slightly and swayed constantly.

On both sides of its jet-black, narrow head, numerous dark red spots gradually appeared.

The Mirror Messenger, who was also in the study, was "reading a book." It seemed to be startled by the change in the palace hound. However, no matter how it tried to soothe the hound, it remained in the same state, as if it was about to explode at any moment.

"Ah, let me think..."

Theseus's voice suddenly drifted from behind. Hugh turned around and saw that he had also come to the side of the vending machine and was carefully examining the giant spider imprisoned inside the vending machine.

"In the common language of Vann today, its name should be 'Dark Abyss Spider'. Speaking of which, this thing is a bit of a nuisance within the Dark Abyss... At least the Dark Abyss court needs to regularly organize a large number of hunting dogs to hunt and eliminate them."

The faceless deity reminisced in a strange tone, "Hmm, I never expected to see it here again, how wonderful."

Upon hearing this, Hugh couldn't help but ask, "But I remember, weren't all the beings in this shelter personally selected and kept by you?"

Theseus shrugged and chuckled strangely: "Ah... there are so many in number and variety, I can't possibly remember them all. Besides, sometimes I don't even know what my selection criteria are. Isn't it better to leave some surprises and anticipation?"

"..."

Hughes was at a loss for words.

However, since Theseus had taken the initiative to come over, Hughes naturally wouldn't miss the opportunity to ask a question. He pointed to the vending machine in front of him and asked, "So what should I do with this thing? I haven't seen a 'feeding slot' after all this time."

"Simple."

Theseus strode forward and kicked the vending machine hard. The immense force caused the mist binding the "Dark Abyss Spiders" to tremble violently. Then, the electronic screen that had been displaying the "Sacrifice Conditions" began to twist in the light and shadow, forming a rough-looking circular notch that seemed just big enough for the spiders' eyes to pass through.

"It's resolved... but I must warn you, there might be some minor conflicts between this thing and the palace hounds that are not easy to resolve. Accepting it is fine, but afterwards, your head might be a little noisy. Just bear with it, it's not a big deal."

Hughes was absolutely skeptical of the string of adjectives that Theseus uttered.

At times like these, the credibility of Theseus's words becomes even lower than that of the leaders' "simple remarks".

Despite his inner grumbling, the task still needed to be done. So, Hugh quickly used his mage's hand to remove the pile of eyeballs taken from the spider's eyes from the alchemical solution and put them one by one into the circular opening of the vending machine.

As the coin insertion was completed, the enormous machine began to vibrate at an astonishing frequency. In just two seconds, the glass cabinet door used to seal the Dark Abyss Spider shattered into scattered black mist.

Hughes did not perceive any danger from this change, nor did the metal disc emit any warning; only the court hounds remained as agitated as ever.

And so, the Dark Abyss Spider, having successfully escaped its cage, slowly crawled out from the depths of the cabinet. It did not show any hostility towards Hugh, but instead approached him with extreme caution, its dark red eyes on both sides of its body gleaming slightly.

The next second, it lowered its body and pressed its huge pincers against the ground.

It actually took the initiative to show a submissive attitude towards Hugh.

(End of this chapter)