The most horrifying part is that his chest and abdomen are completely open, with organs exposed, yet he still shows signs of life, his heart faintly beating, and his lungs slowly rising and falling.
Beside this half-alive corpse, a female figure is using some kind of eerie ritual dagger to carefully extract a glowing organ from the man’s body.
Her movements are extremely precise, like an experienced surgeon.
Each cut is just right, allowing the victim to maintain vital signs while extracting the maximum amount of energy.
Even more terrifying is that with her operation, the man’s painful moans and weak limb twitches clearly indicate he remains fully conscious.
"What is... this thing?"
Andre’s voice trembles, his face pale as paper, a drop of cold sweat sliding from his forehead.
"This is Cynthia’s ’little pet’."
Ron speaks calmly, continuing to display this scene more impactful than any horror film:
"Or rather, it’s her ’energy container’. See those runes? They’re not just for decoration; they form a complete energy extraction circuit, providing endless life energy and pleasure to the master through unending pain and fear."
The images in the Crystal Ball shift, showing a series of gruesome scenes:
Different men are fixed in various horrifying devices, some sewn with alien organs, others injected with potions making their skin transparent, internal organs clearly visible;
some bodies are pierced with various peculiar tubes emitting weird fluorescent light;
others have been completely transformed, almost unrecognizable as human, just a mass of writhing flesh embedded with human faces, eyes filled with pain and despair.
The final image is particularly terrifying—a room where dozens of shriveled human-like husks are stacked like trash in the corner.
These objects, once people, have been completely drained of life essence, skin gray and hollow-eyed, wrapped in a thin layer of skin over bone, without a trace of flesh remaining.
Andre suddenly stands up, his body trembling uncontrollably, face deathly pale, eyes filled with disbelief and fear.
"Is this... what would happen if I were given to her?"
With difficulty suppressing the urge to vomit, he asked hoarsely.
"No, you’d be worse off than them." Ron mercilessly points at the scenes in the Crystal Ball:
"Cynthia especially likes men of status; she believes that noble blood contains more energy. You’re a prince; she’ll make you ’enjoy’ it longer, more deeply."
He continues mercilessly:
"From my observations, she particularly enjoys corroding her prey’s will. Among those people, many were allowed to retain consciousness at first, enabling them to fully experience the process from pride to collapse. This satisfies her perverted desires more than mere physical pain."
Andre painfully closes his eyes, fingernails digging into his palm:
"You intentionally kept these... to provoke me? These images, I might never forget them for the rest of my life..."
"You’re overestimating yourself." Ron calmly replies, putting away the Crystal Ball:
"Initially retaining these records was to study the structure of her energy extraction ceremony and arrays, especially the techniques for keeping prey alive for an extended period, which are academically valuable."
He looks coldly at Andre:
"But indeed, I kept them to let you see the truth of this world.
This world never has safe zones or neutral grounds. Without fighting, you will be devoured.
If it weren’t for me, you would already be part of that pile of corpses; yet now you hesitate whether to fight for what should belong to you?"
Andre remained silent for a long time, the fear in his golden vertical pupils gradually replaced by another emotion—cold determination.
It’s a kind of ferocity only shown when a beast is driven to desperation.
"You’re right." His voice is low and steady, carrying a hint of hoarseness: "I have no choice but to move forward."
He looked up at Ron, eyes now sharp:
"The royal supply of Magic Stone Fragments has been cut off for half a year; you should have noticed this long ago, right?"
Ron nods slightly:
"I speculate that your Kingdom’s turmoil has reached its critical point. The resource chain is broken; factions begin to accumulate power independently, no longer exporting resources. This is not necessarily bad for you—chaotic situations often create opportunities for outsiders."
"Have you collected the materials I asked you to find?" He suddenly asked.
"Brought them." Andre takes out a intricately sealed pouch from his bosom:
"These items are hard to find; I almost exhausted all my connections. Especially the last piece, ’Star Meteorite Iron,’ rumored to be extracted from a meteorite, extremely rare."
Ron takes the pouch, quickly checking its contents: Star Meteorite Iron, Blood Ore Sand, Sun Flame Essence... each item is rare alchemy material, especially suitable for creating alchemy items related to bloodline.
"Very good." He nods satisfied, putting the pouch away: "Wait here."
"Wait." Andre calls out to him, "What do you plan to do?"
Ron stops, as if evaluating something:
"With these materials plus some items I’ve gathered myself, it’s enough to craft a set of weapons and armor suited for you. Although time is tight, we can ensure basic functionality."
He turns to enter the laboratory, leaving Andre and Lilia in the guest room.