Chapter 354: Properties of Ashes

Pandora retrieved several sealed bottles from the storage rack, each labeled with care.

One of them contained a translucent, gel-like liquid. When gently shaken under the light, fine specks of luminescence shimmered within it. This was the ocular extract harvested from the “Thirty-Seven-Eyed Gelatinous Mass” in the underground laboratory.

Another bottle held a dark serum, centrifuged from the blood of the Crowcat in its monstrous form. The serum was a deep purple, nearly black—dense and heavy, leaving a dark film clinging to the glass.

According to the revised formula, these two materials would respectively replace the two primary ingredients originally sourced from zombies.

In theory, their functional hierarchies were close enough. Substitution should be feasible.

But theory was only theory.

Practical results could only be known through experimentation.

As the furnace flared to life, the temperature inside the alembic gradually stabilized. Pale blue flames danced beneath the crucible, casting its base in a warm orange glow.

Pandora’s expression was one of utter focus. Her slender fingers worked the precision instruments with practiced dexterity, every parameter held under exacting control.

Beside her, Elsa handed over materials and adjusted the flame.

Pandora extended her hand, and Elsa placed the corresponding ingredient into her palm.

No words were needed. Their thoughts flowed between them with natural ease, their coordination seamless and wordless.

To Elsa, this intimacy with Her Lady Pandora surpassed even the closeness of physical touch. It was a deeper connection—one of shared existence itself.

The direction her Lady’s thoughts turned was the direction of her own actions. The material her Lady required was the material she delivered.

This wordless harmony had been honed through days and days of collaboration. It was, in itself, the very meaning of her existence.

This was also why she largely ignored Phoebe’s presence.

Phoebe was merely a peculiar anomaly under her Lady’s study.

But she—she was the one who could follow her Lady forever.

There was no comparison between the two. Naturally, there was no need to invest unnecessary emotion in the matter.

The thought flickered past in an instant, not disturbing Elsa’s meticulous control in the slightest.

The moment the gelatinous fluid entered the furnace, it vaporized swiftly.

Hissss—

A faint sound, and the liquid became a cloud of white mist glowing with faint phosphorescence. It swirled slowly in the upper half of the crucible.

The specks of light within it flickered like released fireflies, brightening and dimming amidst the white haze.

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At the same moment, Pandora added the Crowcat serum she held. The dark-purple, viscous liquid fell from the dropper—one drop, two, three drops—piercing through the white mist and merging into the medicinal solution at the crucible’s base.

The pale blue flames licked the bottom. The once-clear liquid began to churn with turbid foam.

A pungent odor tinged with sulfur spread through the air. The smell was sharp and heavy, like rotten eggs mixed with burning rubber.

Up to this stage, the potion brewing had still been progressing successfully. Everything had proceeded according to expectations.

Pandora’s gaze remained fixed on the changes within the crucible, her stirring rod maintaining a constant rotational speed. Elsa monitored the temperature and pressure readings nearby, ready to make adjustments at any moment.

Now came the final step: adding the neutralizer.

The neutralizer’s function was to neutralize the excess acidic compounds generated in the preceding reaction stages, bringing the solution to its final stable state. The crux of this step lay in coordinating the neutralizer’s addition rate with the stirring rhythm.

Pandora raised her hand and tilted the measuring cup containing the neutralizer…

The clear liquid slowly dripped into the crucible.

One drop.

Two drops.

Three drops—

At the very moment the third drop of neutralizer hit the mixture, a sharp shriek erupted from within the crucible!

Something unexpected—something beyond prediction—had reacted!

The solution inside churned violently. The turbid foam swelled in an instant, its color shifting from gray-white to dull yellow, then from dull yellow to an ominous dark brown.

Pandora’s eyes narrowed. The stirring rod in her hand accelerated its rotation as she shot Elsa a glance.

Elsa was already adjusting the flame, reducing the temperature by a third.

The two worked in tandem, struggling to salvage the process. Pandora adjusted the frequency and direction of her stirring. Elsa precisely controlled the amount of remaining neutralizer being added.

But the reaction was too violent. Once it began, it was like a wild horse that had slipped its reins—impossible to pull back.

The solution inside the crucible continued churning for nearly a full minute before gradually subsiding.

In the end, only a failed product remained.

The potion, which should have presented a pale gold hue, was instead a turbid, gray-gold.

That gray-gold was dark and lusterless, as if muddied by silt—utterly distant from the clarity and brilliance befitting the Firefly Serum.

Pandora drew a small sample from the crucible with a test tube and performed an analysis.

Every test indicator confirmed it: a failure.

Gazing at the failed product in the tube, Pandora let out a soft sigh.

She felt some regret. But she was not disappointed.

For a researcher, trial and error was an inherent part of the work. Every failure meant the elimination of an incorrect path.

At the same time, it deepened her understanding of these anomalous materials’ properties.

At the very least, she now knew this:

Crowcat serum, under certain formula systems, would undergo a violent rejection reaction with the ocular extract from the gelatinous mass. The neutralizer’s addition had merely been the trigger.

The true root cause lay in the fundamental incompatibility between the two materials themselves.

This conclusion had not manifested in prior theoretical deductions.

Only practical operation could expose such hidden conflicts.

That was the significance of experimentation.

And it was not as though Pandora had reaped no successes at all.

In truth, her research into Rank-2 potions had long since yielded breakthrough progress. For a considerable portion of Rank-2 potion ingredients, she had already successfully implemented substitution using anomalous byproducts.

For some of the most commonly used ones, she had even identified at least two or more alternative sourcing methods.

Different substitution methods corresponded to different sources of anomalous materials. This meant that even if the supply of one anomalous material ran short, there would always be a backup available.

For the cleanup squad, this was already excellent news.

Rank-2 potions were the consumable in highest demand. Both the auxiliary squad and the Rank-3 core combatants had substantial need for them.

Compared to scarce Rank-3 materials, the acquisition channels for Rank-2 anomalous materials were more stable, and their yields were more abundant.

As for Rank-3 potions…

Even if Pandora never brewed a single one, both Poppy and Ophelia Sterling had their own reserves. Before coming here, they had prepared a fair stock.

For them, using them sparingly would be more than enough to meet their most basic needs.

Still, Pandora’s persistent dedication to this substitution research was not solely for the purpose of saving the squad contribution points.

She had her own considerations.

This, in itself, was a tempering of her potion-making craft.