This necromancer is going to seduce the beautiful girls who are already dead.

However, just as Abyss was about to use the methods commonly used by necromancers to awaken the dead in this graveyard, he was surprised to find that not only were there no living beings in this world, but he couldn't even summon a single soul. It was as if all the souls had vanished.

Previously, the Abyss had only seen such large-scale soul disappearances among the followers of the Fallen Lord, who offered their souls as sacrifices to the giant jellyfish as food in exchange for some power from Him.

What happened to the people here? Not only did they die, but their souls also vanished? Looking at the enormous altar beside him, Abyss couldn't help but feel a little puzzled.

However, the immediate goal is to find Rebecca's whereabouts, then find a way to revive her and take her out of the area. This place… perhaps he'll come back for a visit later. Abyss felt that if he were to study this place further, he would definitely discover something very interesting. This world always gave Abyss a peculiar sense of curiosity, a lingering feeling of unease always hovering in his mind. He couldn't quite put his finger on what was wrong—though overall, it certainly didn't feel quite right.

“However, finding Rebecca might not be so easy,” Abyss said, stroking his chin. “The flow of time here should be similar to our world. If Rebecca came here and died more than forty years ago, then any traces she left behind should have disappeared by now. We can only try to find her through other means. Let’s split up and search. I could have called for more people, but now that I’m in this world, I can’t just summon my undead friends with my ring anymore, so we’ll have to rely on the three of us.”

“That’s easy. As long as Rebecca leaves a mark on purpose, we should be able to find her.” Leona patted her flat chest confidently. “Logically speaking, someone as smart as her should have left a mark.”

“That’s not necessarily true. She probably never imagined that someone else would travel to this world like her,” Abyss said. “This world doesn’t have that many geniuses, especially those who can combine alchemy, mechanics, and spatial magic.”

“We just need to combine the clues we have so far,” Flora encouraged Abyss and Leona. “If the three of us focus on searching here, we’ll definitely find it.”

After a brief division of labor, the three began their search separately. Abyss, who loved graves, searched among the tombstones, while Leona searched near the altar. Flora attempted to use divine magic in this world but failed; her prayers went unanswered. Therefore, she was now practically no different from an ordinary girl (unless she possessed the superhuman strength to slap a burly man away). Her task was to search the area around their current location.

Abyss walked through the graveyard, a place that could be described as truly desolate, devoid of not a single living being, nor even a single undead. Only now, with Leona and Flora by his side, did Abyss feel a little more comfortable.

Without their companionship, Abyss might have been so frustrated that she wanted to commit suicide by now.

“Wait… why would I think of suicide…” Abis immediately sensed something was wrong.

He chanted a spell, and the magical catfish was summoned. He quickly took a bottle of magic potion that could dispel poison from the magical catfish's mouth and drank it without hesitation.

There's a problem with the toxins in this air!

The potion, powered by magic, quickly took effect in Abyss's body. He could clearly feel his stomach heating up and him starting to sweat. He didn't know how effective his potion would be, but he had to speed things up before suicidal thoughts took hold of him.

The cemetery was completely empty; there wasn't even a trace of any tomb sweeping. In front of each tombstone was a stone slab covered in dust, but there was nothing else besides the dust.

No trace of Abyss was found in this place.

Flora didn't seem to have found anything either. She carefully bent over and searched every trace on the ground, but to no avail.

Leona, who was doing something else entirely, possessed the best physical abilities of the three and was the fastest runner. In a short while, she had already run a lap around the altar and was now searching the surrounding area from the altar's center. Abyss wasn't worried that her eyes would miss any clues, but he had a feeling that she might overlook something important due to carelessness.

Let's go check on Leona together later. Maybe the three of us can notice something if we go together.

"ABC! The place where Rebecca is lying, isn't it in a clear spring where sunlight shines on the surface?"

Leona suddenly shouted from the other end.

Abis looked up and answered loudly, "Yes, have you discovered anything? It seems there's no water source around here."

"Of course I have it!"

As Leona spoke, she suddenly lunged toward the altar and smashed a small section of the wall off it with a slap.

"Don't cause trouble!"

"Come in with me! I, a princess of the empire, would never crawl through such a tiny window on the altar!"

Chapter 8 The Factory of Unknown Purpose

Abyss and Flora were both somewhat surprised. What had Leona discovered? They quickly went to Leona's side and asked her what she had found.

"Hmph, now you know how powerful I am, right?" Leona stood triumphantly in front of the wall she had smashed, pointing inside. "Look, what's inside this altar?"

Abyss and Flora looked closely and realized that the altar was not a sacred temple or a palace where some people lived, but a factory.

Although Abyss had never seen the various devices inside the altar and didn't know their specific functions, he was certain that this place was used for production. He saw pipes, valves, and gears on these devices, and even some conveyor belts. These were still novelties in Hay-Tver; only some large, powerful factories in Lavoisier used such equipment. After all, generally speaking, no factory had such a large output that it needed conveyor belts.

"Is this a factory?" Abis asked with interest, intending to stick his head inside.

"You mere human, get out of the way! Let me go first. What if there's something dangerous in there?" Leona grabbed Abyss's clothes and pulled him back. The women's clothing Abyss was wearing now was covered in all sorts of lace, and it felt much better to grab than his previous cloak.

Leona then led the way into the altar. As she walked in, Leona recounted her discoveries from outside the altar.

"I never expected there to be a factory inside this altar, but when I went around to the back of the altar, I heard some faint sounds, the sound of flowing water and some low rumbling. The walls of this altar are very soundproof, and I couldn't hear anything when I was there. If I were an ordinary person, I probably still wouldn't be able to hear it now, but I am a super genius after all, and my hearing is many times better than that of ordinary people, which is why I discovered them."

You said you haven't discovered life in this world yet, so if there's a sound, it must be a natural sound, like wind or water. But this sound is coming from the altar, so it shouldn't be from nature. I feel like something's not right.

According to your recollection, before you came to this world, when you opened the portal, some images flashed through your mind, one of which was a girl lying in the water, with sunlight shining on the surface of the water…

Abis nodded repeatedly: "Yes, you're right. At first, I assumed that the sunlight was reflecting off the water because it was in an open environment, but I didn't realize that the sunlight might be coming in from inside the window!"

"Hehe, how about that? I'm pretty perceptive, aren't I!"

Flora seemed delighted: "As expected of Leona!"

"Ah, my Leona, you are truly reliable, as sensitive as a wood elf's eardrum!" Abyss gave Leona a thumbs-up, a compliment that was quite distinctive to him.

Leona glared at Abyss and strode forward.

The factory had no entrance, and it was unclear what motivated the people climbing in and out of the windows. However, the equipment inside was complete. At the end of this floor, the three discovered a staircase leading upwards. This building, several tens of meters tall, not only had ordinary stairs for people to walk up, but also a vertical hoist. The power source for this hoist was unknown, but its design resembled the lifting platforms used by workers in high-rise buildings.

The hoisting ladder had no roof, and those standing on it could see the tracks leading upstairs. Abyss didn't want to waste time climbing the stairs with Leona and Flora, so he hung the two girls on his body as before and used wind magic to ascend.

"I can hear the sound of water too!" Flora quickly exclaimed in surprise.

Abyss nodded; he too could hear the gurgling sound of flowing water, though the flow seemed small. Along with the water's flow, the rumbling sound Leona had mentioned earlier could also be faintly heard, like some heat-driven machine operating at very low power.

With the sound in place, finding its source became much easier. The Abyss stopped when it reached the middle level, leaving the track through the exit originally intended for ordinary people to exit via the hoistway, and stood on the ground here.

The sight before them made the three of them exclaim "Wow!"

This floor wasn't a factory, but a large pool filled with a clear liquid. The pool was roughly the same size as the altar, even many times larger than the large public bathhouses favored by the Eastern Empire. The sounds of flowing water and machinery they heard came from a machine inside the pool, which was pumping liquid from one side and releasing it from the other. Although the flow was small, it prevented the pool from becoming stagnant.

Just as Leona had expected, a window was at the far end of the opposite side, the only source of light on this floor. The rest of the floor was dark, except for the area near the window where the liquid in the pool reflected a bright light.

The liquid was clearly not water. Abyss couldn't smell it clearly because he was wearing a gas mask, but Leona and Flora immediately noticed that something was wrong with the liquid.

There was a scent of magic potion mixed with a pleasant floral fragrance, but neither of them knew anything about magic potions or what these things were.

“Abyss, the liquid in this pool isn’t water,” Flora tugged at Abyss’s sleeve.

Abyss casually removed his gas mask. Since it was now confirmed that it wasn't effective at preventing the inhalation of toxic fumes, and Abyss felt himself constantly contemplating suicide, he figured he might as well take it off and use his sense of smell. He had to speed things up; if he didn't make good use of the time before the toxicity truly affected his actions, he'd waste a lot of time on detoxification.

“Hmm… I haven’t smelled this potion before, but this floral scent… it’s the flower of Hay-Twer, the scent of a potion that can be used to make perfume.” Abyss walked directly towards the pool. “We can’t see what’s inside right now, let’s go in and take a look!”

Without hesitation, the three of them stepped into the pool.

The liquid in the pool seemed to have very special properties. When you stepped into it, there was no feeling of dampness; instead, it felt as if you weren't stepping on anything at all. A faint magical power flowed through the liquid.

The closer the three of them got to the window, the clearer they could see what was there.

In the water, a pair of snow-white bare feet were the first thing that caught their eye.

Chapter Nine: "Kiss Me"

When the three men got close enough to the girl lying in the water, their eyes were drawn to her beautiful face.

The potion in this pool must have had a very good preservative effect. Even after lying in it for more than forty years, the face of the girl in the white dress was still so vivid and beautiful, as if she had just been sleeping quietly at the bottom of the water.

Her jet-black hair swayed softly in the water, and her delicate and pretty face resembled a perfect work of art. Her eyes and mouth were closed, her long eyelashes fluttered gently in the water, and her pink and slightly upturned lips were tightly closed. Her expression was serene, and she looked tranquil and beautiful.

But what really caught the eye was a piece of paper she held in her hands, which were crossed over her chest. On it was a simple sentence written in ancient script: "Kiss me."

"This is Rebecca?" Leona stared wide-eyed at the girl lying in the pool. "She's so beautiful... I thought all alchemists looked like Lanis."

“I’m so glad that the magic I used in the graveyard just now wasn’t expanded in scope by me…” Abyss patted his chest. “If the scope of the magic I used just now had been expanded, Rebecca’s soul might have been summoned. In that case, she would have become a ghost first, and I would have had to send her soul back into my body, which would have been quite troublesome, and might have made her angry.”

"Should we resurrect her now?" Flora looked at the piece of paper in Rebecca's hand with some confusion. "Why are the words 'Kiss me' written on it?"

“Let’s ask her again after we’re resurrected,” Abyss said with a smile. “Let’s take her outside first, and then I’ll commit suicide.”

"Are you out of your mind?" Leona was startled by Abyss's words.

"Ah..." Abyss slapped his head. "The toxins in the air here are affecting part of my thinking, but not my behavior yet. Just cooperate with me, we need to finish what we're doing first."

Flora immediately became worried: "Abyss...why don't we think of a way to get rid of the poison in you first..."

Leona also grabbed Abyss's arm: "ABC, I think you should rest too... This poison seems pretty strange. Are all the people in this world dying from this kind of poison gas?"

“I have no information about this toxin right now, I can only feel it acting up inside me. I just drank the antidote potion, but it doesn’t seem to be working. If I want to force a cure, I might have to use some unconventional methods. Although it doesn’t matter to me, it might put a lot of pressure on Lanis. So, we need to revive her first.”

“I understand, she’s a genius alchemist, so maybe she can help us!” Flora immediately understood what Abyss meant.

Abyss crouched down, gently placing his arms on the knees and back of the now-resting beautiful girl, and slowly lifted her up. Her body was still soft and full of youthful vitality, water droplets clinging to her skin, her flawless, shoulder-length black hair flowing with a fragrant, magical scent, and her damp white dress outlining the graceful curves of her body. She was naturally beautiful, like a lotus emerging from the water, and even Abyss, who wasn't particularly curious about women, couldn't help but admire the superior genes of the transmigrated's offspring.

“Leona, tear a hole in the wall, we’ll jump down from here and kill ourselves…find a suitable place,” he ordered.

Leona looked at Abyss with concern, but her movements were swift. Her fighting spirit surged forth, instantly condensing into the shape of a meteor hammer. Then, with a gentle flick, Leona smashed a hole in the wall with the meteor hammer.

Fortunately, the building quality in this world is much better than in Haftwerk, so Leona's heavy blow did not destroy the entire building.

Leona understood what Abyss intended to do. Without Abyss's command, she picked up Flora and leaped down the hole first. Abyss followed closely behind, chanting a wind magic spell, and jumped out of the huge factory carrying Rebecca's body.

As Abyss slowly descended through the air, the insane thought of stopping the magic kept flooding his mind, and the urge to commit suicide grew stronger. Abyss could only try to make his descent a little faster to avoid staying in the air for too long and causing any unforeseen complications.

Leona glided to the ground with wings formed from her fighting spirit, landing almost at the same time as Abyss.

“It’s more open here, and the lighting is much better, so Rebecca should be more comfortable when she wakes up.” Abyss nodded to Leona and Flora, and gently placed Rebecca’s body on the ground.

The potion that Rebecca was soaked in had a very special property; her body was already dry in the short time it took to jump off the altar. Abyss helped her smooth out the wrinkles in her dress that had dried so quickly and then began to chant the resurrection spell.

"Rebecca Nastia Vepera. By my command, through my cycles of reincarnation, may your soul return."

Abyss placed his finger on Rebecca's forehead.

The spell worked; the girl, who had been keeping her eyes closed, opened them when the Abyss touched her brow.

Those were beautiful chestnut eyes that had not yet regained focus. Even though her mind had not fully returned and her thoughts were just beginning to function, Abyss could still see how bright her eyes had been when she was alive.

The three Abyss members squatted beside her, quietly waiting for her to regain some consciousness.

As Leona and Flora watched their new companion awaken, they couldn't help but feel a little nervous. What kind of person would she be?

"How are you feeling? Here, let me help you up." Abyss extended his hand to Rebecca with a warm smile.

Rebecca's eyes gradually regained some of their sparkle, and her pupils began to move. She sluggishly noticed Abyss reaching out to her, reacted for a moment, and then firmly shook her head.

"Hmm?" This was the first time Abyss had encountered such an undead. He had thought that someone like Leona, who acted immediately upon resurrection, was already quite remarkable. He never expected that someone would directly refuse his help.

He saw Rebecca struggling to move her body, but her body, which had been idle for too long, seemed unable to move at will. Her upper body trembled, and she struggled to raise her arms to her forehead.

She placed the note on her forehead, then pointed to the words on it with her still stiff fingers.

"kiss Me."