CHAPTER 291: EFFICIENCY BOOST

The five immediately turned back, entering the cell.

Then...

A series of violent retching sounds erupted. Except for Kiri, the others supported each other and walked out pale as ghosts...

At the same time, Kathy and the others secretly decided:

Never... never piss off Sister Elsa!

Blood Snake Princess was too tragic!

Too horrible to look at. Just recalling that scene brought another wave of nausea.

Kiri looked after them, sighing:

"Sigh, it’s just minced meat and bones. When we kill monsters, isn’t this everyday stuff?"

"How’s that the same?"

"Killing monsters we at most chop off their heads, hack off their limbs, target their eyes, hearts, asses..."

As they talked, the three women’s symptoms got way better. True, it was all just flesh and blood—nothing worth freaking out about.

"Thinking about it, that scene was nothing special..."

Diliya, who’d been puking against the wall, looked at the four women commenting on the bloody scene with bewilderment.

Is this Ember City’s new generation?

Aren’t traitors human anymore?

Wait... they really had been stripped of citizenship.

Diliya felt much better somehow...

...

Ersbah ruins, pyramid.

"Phew!"

Demi finally saw hope—an extremely brilliant light orb not far away, like a small sun driving away the pyramid’s darkness.

"What is this?"

Demi wiped sweat from her head and looked up.

Eight Auxiliary Type I alchemical life forms still floated overhead, their cores glowing faintly—seemingly guiding yet keeping tabs on her.

Sigh!

Demi deeply sighed and resumed dragging her heavy feet up the final steps.

Soon she stood before the five-meter light orb.

"What do I need to do?"

Demi voiced her question, but no response came.

She couldn’t help looking up:

"Huh? They’re gone?"

The Auxiliary Type I units that had been floating above her had vanished without a trace.

"What do these alchemical life forms want me to do?

Pushing me to climb here exhausted, now they disappear?"

Demi frowned. Nothing around except this big light orb radiating warm light.

Maybe she could touch it.

She thought this and did it.

The moment Demi touched it, a strange mechanical voice rang in her head:

[Please log in information!]

Log in information?

Demi was confused. What was that?

[Please log in information!]

The mechanical voice repeated. Demi was annoyed:

"What login information? Don’t bug me!"

The mechanical voice paused, silent for seconds as various programs judged. It made a decision.

[Student Demi, please collect advanced learning materials.]

???

Demi had a bad feeling as rows of bookshelves appeared before her, stretching endlessly.

She knew those alchemical life forms were up to no good. She immediately roared:

"No! I refuse!"

It wasn’t that she hated alchemy—she just hated forced learning. Twenty-four hours a day of endless study!

She’d been gnawing at the beginner materials in that hut for so long without finishing, and now this!

No way, absolutely not!

But the light orb pretended not to hear:

[Beginning material distribution...]

"No!!!"

Demi’s eyes went wide as rows of bookshelves materialized in reality. Tons of Auxiliary Type I alchemical life forms reappeared, dutifully lifting bookshelves and floating around Demi.

In moments, Demi was buried in an ocean of books...

[Ten thousand and one intermediate alchemy texts distributed. Please urge Student Demi to complete studies quickly]

Ten... ten thousand and one volumes???

Too many, too many!

So many that Demi was certain even spending her entire life wouldn’t be enough to finish them.

"No! You perverted alchemical life forms!

Don’t think you can steal my youth!"

Demi struggled desperately, her limbs flailing wildly against the mechanical grip of the alchemical life forms. She wanted to pursue love! She had dreams of romantic encounters, of finding someone who would make her heart race with excitement rather than academic dread! She wanted to serve a mentor—someone wise and caring who would guide her gently through life’s mysteries, not force endless volumes of incomprehensible formulas down her throat! She absolutely wouldn’t allow her precious time to get wasted on this soul-crushing mountain of books!

But... she was too weak. After just one cry, several alchemical life forms forcibly dragged her toward an unknown portal within the pyramid...

...

First dark mist layer, ice plains.

"First fortress, Origin Fortress, initially completed, currently extending ice walls.

Second fortress, Mirror Lake Fortress, expected completion within one week.

Third fortress, Meat Pool Fortress, expected to take about three weeks."

After hearing vassal Sara’s report, Carlos frowned.

"The third fortress construction speed has gotta pick up. Three weeks is too long—cut it down to two weeks!"

"Young master, we lack personnel."

Sara was helpless.

"These next days, I’ll have Black Knights capture another batch of Lulu monsters."

Carlos wasn’t sweating it. Lulu monsters were endless to catch and work to death—no big problem.

But Sara shook her head:

"Young master, it’s not the monster mine slaves, but the Psionics. All personnel are already deployed, everyone working a full 10 hours daily supervising monsters."

"I see."

Red Spirit hadn’t returned yet, and there was no good way to fill the Psionic shortage.

Even when Red Spirit returned, Carlos’s planned fourth and fifth fortresses would also begin construction—personnel might be even more tight.

Carlos thought briefly:

"Personnel numbers can’t increase immediately.

But we can increase individual Psionics’ daily supervision hours."

"Eh?"

Sara didn’t quite follow, but Yolanda beside her said thoughtfully:

"If we have them supervise 11 hours daily, overall construction progress would speed up 10%. Putting this 10% overall efficiency into specific areas would seriously boost third fortress construction by 30%."

"Exactly, that’s the logic."

Carlos looked at Yolanda with new respect—really quick reaction.

"Understood, I’ll arrange it immediately."

Sara got it—just one more hour daily. The Psionics would surely be happy to finish their missions sooner.

But Carlos’s next words were:

"Starting tomorrow, have them supervise 20 hours daily."

"???"

"Twenty hours!"

Sara and Yolanda’s faces showed disbelief:

"Young master, did you misspeak? Twelve hours?"

"Correct, twenty hours."

Carlos wrote down various materials, saying:

"Psionics’ endurance far exceeds ordinary people. Generally, sleeping five to seven hours restores full mental energy.

This is a sleep alchemy formula that can further compress sleep time to 2 hours."

"Thus, 2 hours daily sleep, 1.5 hours eating, 20 hours supervising, with half an hour remaining..."

Carlos thought the Psionics might not easily accept this.

"The remaining half hour is theirs to do whatever."

This should eliminate major problems.