「The night passed uneventfully.」

The following morning, Li Ang, slightly disguised, rode his bicycle to various places in Yin City, collected packages of gifts both large and small, and brought them back for Miss Chai to open herself.

Faced with a variety of boxes, Miss Chai pressed a hand to her heart to calm herself. Her sharp nails sliced open the boxes, and she carefully took out an LCD TV, a PS4 Pro, an Xbox One, game discs, comic albums, and various figurines. Her expression was even more solemn and serious than when she had been at Guhan Temple.

To prevent this 'cloud gamer' from damaging the electronic devices, Li Ang helped set up the equipment, casually instructing Miss Chai not to break the game controller.

Miss Chai nodded vigorously, placed the PS4 controller on the glass coffee table, and rubbed the buttons with her two index fingers. Her starry eyes eagerly watched the TV's startup screen, her legs jittering non-stop.

This kid is beyond saving.

Feeling like he had raised a good-for-nothing, Li Ang helplessly shook his head and went into the Automated Pet Box to continue fine-tuning the bugs.

A new Trait had increased his Sanity Value cap, allowing Li Ang to use the Biological Template to modify bugs for longer periods.

After several hours of hard work, Li Ang had modified a new batch of Soldier Bees within the swarm.

This batch of Soldier Bees looked almost nothing like regular bees. Instead, they resembled oversized yellow dragonflies. Their pollen-carrying legs had degenerated significantly, their bodies became more slender, the muscles controlling their wings grew stronger, and the number of plate-like receptors (the receptors most related to smell) on their antennae doubled.

Li Ang named this batch "Scouts." These Soldier Bees were fast fliers with great endurance and a keen sense of smell. If Li Ang sprinkled a drop or two of a very rare pheromone—composed mainly of queen bee substance, fatty acid larva pheromones, alarm pheromones, and other pheromonal components—somewhere, these Soldier Bees would automatically travel to the pheromone's location. They would then perform scent reconnaissance and return to report to Li Ang.

Li Ang still couldn't decipher the exact composition of the pheromones. However, these Scout Soldier Bees could demonstrate the specific direction and relative distance of the pheromone's source to Li Ang through dances of varying patterns.

In some cases, the modified Scout Soldier Bees were more useful than drones—they could fly out 20 kilometers at a time, rest briefly, and then fly back.

"I've finally made the first batch of usable weapons, although there are only thirty of them," Li Ang said.

Having expended a considerable amount of Sanity Value, Li Ang rubbed his temples. Using the Biological Template, he created ten hard chrysalises, each with many ventilation holes, and placed ten Scout Soldier Bees inside, inducing them into hibernation.

If necessary, he could take out the chrysalises, the size of plastic cups, and reawaken the Scout Soldier Bees within.

The other twenty Scout Soldier Bees were returned to the Beehive by Li Ang.

Thanks to the persistent modifications by the Mutant Worker Bees, the Beehive—originally a simple wooden box—had transformed into several hexagonal columns, each a meter in diameter. A continuous stream of mutant bee larvae hatched there every day.

"The sugar water is being consumed so quickly," Li Ang said, scratching his head. He let the diligent bees continue their bustle while he walked into the Alchemy Workshop.

He calculated the time. The materials he had thrown into the Forging Furnace last time should be almost ready as equipment.

Inside the Alchemy Workshop, now much more cramped than before, the display panel of the steampunk-style Forging Furnace showed zeros. Below the furnace's trapezoidal funnel, a spacious metal drawer extended.

A pale arm, still emitting steam, dangled from the drawer. Under the light from the strip lights installed in the ceiling of the Alchemy Workshop, one could vaguely make out what appeared to be a humanoid object lying inside.

Unperturbed, Li Ang walked over, moved the object from the drawer of the Forging Furnace, and placed it on a workbench next to the furnace.

Undoubtedly, this was a Humanoid Puppet. It had a humanoid silhouette, its entire material quite pale—neither gold nor wood nor stone nor iron. It was cold and hard to the touch, as sturdy as a special alloy.

The Puppet had no hair, and its facial features were uncarved. Its elbows, ankles, and other joints were connected by flexible, smooth spherical articulations, allowing its fingers and toes to move freely.

Its only distinctive feature was its armor. This was a form-fitting, red-and-white suit of light armor that covered its entire body. The chest piece consisted of thin plates adorned with the ornate curved lines characteristic of gothic armor, its edges trimmed with gold. Where the chest plate met the limbs, it was connected by fine scale mail.

"Judging by its appearance, is this puppet supposed to be female?" Li Ang mused.

Li Ang rubbed his chin. In his vision, lines of descriptive text appeared above the Puppet:

[Name: Qinge Armor]

[Type: Puppet]

[Quality: Ordinary]

[Special Effect 1: Soul Accommodation. The user can entrust their God Soul within the Qinge Armor and control the armor remotely.]

[Special Effect 2: Levitation. After inserting the God Soul, the Qinge Armor can float in the air. Its flight speed is comparable to the movement speed of the God Soul.]

[Special Effect 3: Punch Rush. After inserting the God Soul, the Qinge Armor can unleash a series of punches forward. The speed and damage of each punch will stack. The strength of the Punch Rush and its duration depend on the strength of the God Soul.]

[Special Effect 4: Petrification. After inserting the God Soul, the Qinge Armor can petrify objects through bodily contact.]

[Special Effect 5: Healing. Once the God Soul leaves, the Qinge Armor will slowly heal itself.]

[Equipment Requirement: God Soul can leave the body.]

[Note: Controlling the Qinge Armor will cause the God Soul to consume energy normally.]

[Note: The strength of the Qinge Armor depends on the strength of the accommodating God Soul.]

[Note: Disrobing the Qinge Armor, a clear song lingers.]

"..."

Li Ang sighed. "Should I say I expected as much? The ritual track materials from Williams Mansion indeed can create a puppet that houses a God Soul.

"Despite wearing red-and-white armor, its name is Qinge."

Li Ang was just making an offhand remark. He naturally understood that the term 'Qinge' could refer to the Verdant Woman, the goddess of frost and snow, or simply a beautiful young woman.

No matter how you looked at it, the Qinge Armor with its pronounced curves didn't seem like something Li Ang could use—not to mention he didn't possess any special skills for soul departure.

It can only be for Chaichai.

Li Ang stored the Qinge Armor in his backpack and walked out of the Automated Pet Box.

At that moment, Miss Chai had been playing video games for several hours straight, wearing headphones, her eyes wide open, deeply engrossed in controlling Master Kui on screen, slaying deities of all kinds.

"Stop playing."

Li Ang removed Miss Chai's headphones and, despite her complaints, paused the game. He then took the Qinge Armor out of the backpack and placed it on the ground.

"Uh..."

Miss Chai looked at the puppet with its clear bodily curves, her face reddening slightly. Pointing at the puppet, she spoke to Li Ang with an odd expression, "This is..."

"What are you thinking?"

Li Ang's face darkened as he tapped Miss Chai's forehead with his knuckles. He then briefly explained how to use this piece of equipment.