I created a foundation

The obsidian-like surface of the "rock" glows with a cold luster under the light, with lines that are smooth and full of power, so perfect that it does not seem like something from this world.

He stretched out his hand and lightly touched the arm of the "stone statue" with his fingertips.

Cold and hard.

It is like the finest black jade, yet has a heavy metallic texture.

“What a masterpiece…”

He murmured softly, his voice slightly hoarse with excitement.

He soaked the deerskin in warm water and wrung it out gently until it was just the right amount of moist.

He decided to start from the right shoulder of the "stone statue".

There was a very thin layer of dust there, almost imperceptible, but in the eyes of a perfectionist like him, it was a blasphemy.

The rich man carefully put the wet deerskin on the shoulders of the "stone statue".

He controlled the strength and wiped gently.

As expected, the dust will disappear as it is wiped, revealing the original luster of the "rock".

however.

The touch from his fingertips made him slightly startled.

Not a hard friction.

It was a kind of... indescribable faint resistance, as if what was being brushed past was not stone, but some kind of organic matter covered with a thin shell.

He paused, his brows furrowed slightly.

Is it an illusion?

He moved closer, and under the light, the color of the "stone statue"'s shoulder where it had been wiped seemed to have undergone an extremely subtle change.

That deep black color seemed to... become a little lighter?

Moreover, it no longer has a pure rock texture, but instead has a strange appearance similar to that of a moistened stratum corneum.

The rich man's heart skipped a beat.

He suppressed the inexplicable restlessness in his heart and soaked the deerskin again. This time, he increased the strength a little.

The deerskin was once again used to cover the shoulder blades of the "stone statue".

"Shua..."

An extremely soft, yet clearly audible sound reached his ears.

It wasn't the sound of dust being brushed off.

It's more like... the sound of some dry skin being peeled off.

The rich man suddenly withdrew his hand, his eyes fixed on the place he had just wiped.

There, the originally smooth and hard surface of the black "rock" now had a small piece the size of a fingernail... peeling off!

A few black fragments as thin as cicada wings were curling and detaching from the shoulders of the "stone statue", falling to the ground with an almost inaudible sound.

The color of the peeled-off areas was no longer dark black, but a kind of... strange, dark color with a slight bloody tint.

"What...what's going on?"

The rich man's voice was a little dry, and he felt sweat oozing from his palms.

He has collected countless stone artifacts, but has never seen such a strange phenomenon.

How could rocks possibly peel off like skin?

Unless…it’s not a rock at all!

The thought struck him like lightning, sending shivers down his spine.

Fear, like a cold tide, began to spread from the bottom of my heart.

But the morbid fanaticism in his eyes burned even more vigorously under the stimulation of fear.

He wants to know the truth.

at all costs.

Instead of using deerskin, he reached directly into the basin, dipped his hand in some maintenance solution, and then used his gloved fingertips to gently and tentatively scrape the area where it had begun to peel.

"Crash..."

This time, the peeling was more extensive.

Those black shells, at the touch of his fingertips, broke and fell off in pieces like dry soil moistened by spring rain.

Rustling sound.

The sound was not loud, but it was particularly harsh in this silent collection hall.

The rich man's hand froze in mid-air.

His pupils contracted sharply due to shock.

He saw it.

Under those peeling black debris, what was revealed was...

It was not any kind of mineral he had imagined, not crystal, not metal, and certainly not some unknown composite material.

It was something... something he was all too familiar with.

skin!

Yes, it's skin!

A piece of healthy wheat-colored, delicate and smooth skin, even with faintly visible pores...human skin!

Gentle.

Very elastic.

Under the light, you can even see the faint blue blood vessels under the skin.

The rich man felt his brain go blank, as if he had been hit hard by a sledgehammer.

He subconsciously took a small step back, and his heel hit the edge of the booth behind him with a dull sound.

The basin in his hand tilted due to the shaking of his body, and the maintenance liquid spilled all over the floor.

But he was completely oblivious to this.

His entire mind was completely captured by the incredible scene before him.

"Alive...alive?"

He struggled to squeeze out a few words from his throat, his voice as hoarse as sandpaper.

This is impossible!

This is absolutely impossible!

This is clearly a "stone statue" excavated from deep underground. After countless identifications, it has been confirmed that its main body is some unknown variant of volcanic rock.

How could it be...how could it be a living human body?

Is that hard black shell just a camouflage?

A layer... a natural "stone coffin" that has sealed the flesh and blood body for who knows how many years?

Fear was like countless cold hands, strangling his throat and almost suffocating him.

But deep in his heart, the extreme desire for unknown things and power beyond understanding burned like a ball of devilish fire.

If... if this really was a living "person" who had been petrified for countless years...

So, who is he?

Where is he from?

What kind of shocking secret is hidden in him?

The rich man's breathing became heavy, and his eyes swung wildly between fear and greed.

He stretched out his trembling fingers, his fingertips almost touching the exposed skin that was emitting a faint warmth.

He wanted to confirm.

He has to confirm.

Is this an illusion, or a terrifying reality that is enough to overturn his entire worldview?

The texture of that skin is so real.

The rich man's fingers were hovering less than a centimeter away from the skin, trembling violently.

After a brief moment of panic, an even stronger, morbid curiosity gripped the rich man's heart.

A strangled sob escaped his throat.

Cold sweat had soaked through his expensive silk shirt, sticking tightly to his back, leaving a cold and sticky feeling.

He just wanted to wipe off the dust on the surface of this "new collection".

But the touch, the delicate texture faintly revealed under the dust, which was definitely not made of stone, made him feel like he was struck by lightning.

The air in the collection hall seemed to freeze.

Only his heavy breathing echoed in the silence, again and again, hitting the eardrums.

The lights were dim, barely illuminating the area.

Countless priceless collections lie silent in the shadows, exuding a cold and ancient aura.

But none of them can compare with the human-shaped "stone statue" in front of him.

The indescribable feeling of oppression coming from the stone statue made his legs weak and he almost fell to the ground.

escape.

A thought was clamoring wildly in his mind.

Get out of here right now, seal this thing up, and never look at it again.