Chapter 306: Hydra Interest Study Group in the Puppetry Class
Kara’s body was in terrible shape. The skin of her flesh parts was rough and lusterless, many capillaries had turned into black mesh due to blockage, and pus seeped from the joints where the mechanical parts connected. A foul odor emanated from within.
Owen frowned, but he endured the nausea and removed the casing from Kara’s torso, revealing the mechanical parts inside.
For some reason, Kara didn’t stop Owen. She let him tinker with her body.
This was interesting. Owen didn’t believe that his little trick could scare someone who dared to modify herself to this extent. Besides, as a teacher in the Puppetry Class, did she only have one trick up her sleeve?
“An artificial heart, a blood filter… Is she using potions to replace hormones?”
“So much of her intestines are missing. As expected, it’s messed up.”
The more Owen disassembled, the more excited he became. He even took out Warm Baby to scan Kara.
Compared to sticking his hand into Kara’s body, Owen preferred this more refined method. Mainly, the oozing pus was too disgusting. Even if he cleaned it all up, he couldn’t psychologically accept it.
The appearance of Warm Baby confirmed Kara’s earlier guess. She shut down some of the targeted devices in her body, completely exposing her insides to Owen.
However, this didn’t mean Kara was now at his mercy. The mechanically modified parts of her head remained a forbidden zone. Owen could even guess that her mechanical eyes must have been specially modified. They might be able to shoot out ray magic like Finger of Death. Her mouth might be fitted with a sonic device capable of unleashing a Banshee’s Wail. Even her nostrils could probably shoot out poison needles.
Warm Baby, after completing the scan, projected Kara’s body structure. Owen, with Intelligence Enhancement activated, quickly absorbed and understood the content.
Although she taught in the Puppetry Class, Kara’s self-modifications mostly employed alchemy techniques. After all, only alchemy could sustain her broken body until now.
Unfortunately, her skills weren’t enough, and she couldn’t afford to hire a Legendary figure, causing her condition to worsen. Now, it had reached a point where it couldn’t be maintained. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have risked attacking Owen.
However, Kara’s attack wasn’t aimed at killing Owen and stealing his bloodline. It wasn’t because she couldn’t bring herself to do it, but because it was unrealistic.
Judging by Owen’s bloodline aura and attire, he was clearly someone with power and status. There were many such students in the Academy City. Who didn’t have a few life-saving cards up their sleeve? If she really wanted to make a move, without figuring out all of his cards, the success rate wouldn’t even reach 30%, unless it was a Legendary figure making the move.
So, Kara was gambling, betting on a sliver of hope. And it seemed she had won the bet.
Since he came to the Puppetry Class, he was indeed interested in someone like her. Even if he just treated her as a toy, he had to fix her first before playing.
“Come with me. The equipment and materials here are too poor.” Owen put the disassembled Kara back together and said, somewhat unsatisfied.
Kara, who was completely reliant on Owen to save her life, naturally had no objections. She rolled up all the blueprints on the table and followed him to the villa district.
Back in his room, Owen relaxed considerably. He handed his coat to the Slime Maid and then said to Kara, who was staring at the Slime Maid, “Go to my private laboratory.” As he finished speaking, the tightly fitted floor beneath his feet began to sink, leading them into Owen’s meticulously crafted underground laboratory.
Similar to the laboratory in the castle, it was divided into work areas, storage areas, living areas, and garden areas, covering hundreds of square meters, leaving Kara stunned.
She knew Owen was a new student this year. How long had he been here? He had already dug such a large space underground. If he was given a few years, wouldn’t he build an entire underground city beneath the Academy City?
Owen didn’t care about Kara’s thoughts at the moment. He directly had her lie down and then conducted various more detailed examinations.
After a thorough examination, Owen discovered that Kara’s self-modifications weren’t done in one go. He could see that it was a process that continued intermittently for many years.
The most interesting thing was that the missing part of her body was actually caused by a separation surgery, meaning she was a conjoined twin.
Owen didn’t ask Kara where her other half went, nor did he ask why she had become like this. Instead, he began to modify her.
T-Virus enhancement, bio-organ transplantation, and finally, mechanical modifications.
Kara’s condition was dire. Even Owen had to pay a considerable price. He even called Bryan and Emily online to form a research team to save her life. However, to further improve her condition, he needed time to observe and refine.
After the modifications were complete, Kara very consciously placed herself beneath Owen, even though she was a teacher and he was just a student.
These things didn’t matter. Owen had given her hope of living and becoming whole again, and she would pay any price for that.
“As a member of the Puppetry Class, I hope to progress alongside other students. Therefore, I plan to establish a Puppeteer Interest Study Group. I hope Teacher can help promote it.” Owen cast Cleaning Charm on himself and changed into another set of clothes before speaking to Kara, who was familiarizing herself with her newly structured body.
“As you command.” Kara bowed with one hand on her chest, her resolute demeanor making Owen wonder if he had just announced the formation of a study group or a killer organization.
Actually, there wasn’t much difference, because the emblem of the interest group was a hydra with a distinct puppet and golem style.
Owen now understood that there were too many people watching the powerful noble students and the gifted commoner students in the Academy City. Let alone recruiting them, even just contacting them would attract too much attention.
Plus, his current radiant appearance was simply too eye-catching.
So, after arriving at the Puppetry classroom, he had a new idea.
A remote classroom, low-key students, a teacher who had become his puppet… Was there a more suitable place for Hydra to begin?
The only problem was Kara. Owen couldn’t guarantee her loyalty, even though, to a certain extent, her life was in his hands.
Therefore, Owen didn’t intend to reveal his true purpose yet. He would take it one step at a time, starting with the interest group.
There was more than one teacher in the Puppetry Class. Kara was responsible for teaching puppet construction. Another younger teacher taught puppet manipulation.
However, compared to the lifeless Kara, the other teacher was more ambitious. Except during class, he could be seen in the Alchemy Department showcasing his puppetry skills, hoping to attract more students to the Puppetry Class.
To put it bluntly, he looked down on the ordinary students in the Puppetry Class who had no money, no power, and lacked talent. He wanted to recruit noble or gifted students so that he could increase his influence in the academy and live a happy life of promotion, a raise, and marrying a rich and beautiful woman.
Unfortunately, the students weren’t fools. If they had a brighter future, why would they go out of their way to learn something unpopular? So, Owen’s arrival was unbelievable to him, and he was overjoyed. Like a butler in the Puppetry Class, he immediately came to Owen’s side, offering the most attentive service.
