A mage's journey begins with a battle mage.

Chapter 97 Shaping Agents

"I did it! I did it!"

Early in the morning, a series of wailing and howling came from the Logistics Management Department.

That was Jiang Shuzhou's excited voice after his success. Although no clinical trials had been conducted yet, magical examination showed that the shaping potion did indeed have the ability to soften the body.

He held a transparent potion in his hand. The potion was colorless and odorless, and it was clearly a shaping potion, inspired by the flesh-dissolving and flesh-softening techniques from the Gospel of Flesh and Blood.

After searching for herbs with similar effects and mixing them multiple times, Jiang Shuzhou finally succeeded in creating the shaping agent after dozens of failures.

A whole night of improvements transformed a deadly curse into a gentle miracle.

That's at least in theory.

Hayes and Dwarin, who were standing nearby, finally breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this. As assistants, they had been doing odd jobs for Jiang Shuzhou all night and hadn't slept yet.

Jiang Shuzhou was full of energy and showed no signs of fatigue from staying up all night. They, on the other hand, felt light and airy, as if they were about to fly.

"You guys go and rest. Remember to look for me when you come to work; the clinical trial hasn't started yet."

Seeing the two swaying precariously, as if they were about to fall asleep at any moment, Jiang Shuzhou couldn't bear to torment them any longer, so he let them go back to their room to sleep.

"Sigh, so young, and can't even stay up all night, really..."

Hearing Jiang Shuzhou's words, Hayes was speechless. How could that be the same?

Some people work as leaders, while others work like beasts of burden.

Jiang Shuzhou sat on the bed and began practicing meditation. Time flew by, and it was time to go to work.

"Take this set; everything you want to ask is inside."

Hayes numbly handed a manual to the player in front of him, which contained answers to all the frequently asked questions.

"Brother, is it really true that people who believe in God can't join the Mage Alliance?"

Hayes completely ignored this question, which he had been asked countless times.

The answers were posted on the wall by the door, but these people seemed to be mentally challenged and kept asking questions.

He's become numb.

"Holy crap, logistics officer!"

"That's true!"

"Bro, are you male or female?"

Ignoring the players' comments, Jiang Shuzhou pulled Hayes out of the crowd.

"I have important business to attend to today. Those who wish to apply to become mercenaries, please go to another office."

Jiang Shuzhou explained to the players that he had ordered the guards maintaining discipline to remove everyone from room 14. He knew the players' nature best; if they weren't removed, the things in the office would be looted as souvenirs.

"My lord, where are we going?"

"I went to the prison and made some connections with the warden, Shawshank. He allowed me to go there and select a few prisoners to conduct experiments on."

Shaping agents are ultimately for human use. Although animals can be used, it's best to achieve the desired result in one step. In any case, these criminals deserve to die anyway, so they might as well give up their lives and make a final positive contribution to society.

Inside the brightly lit laboratory.

"Master Navis, I've long admired your name. Your invention of the electric chair is truly a masterpiece! It has greatly improved our work efficiency!"

Oh no, this person has actually heard of my invention.

"Oh, not at all. They're just some useless little inventions with no technological content."

"Haha, I've prepared ten prisoners for you. I hope you won't mind that there aren't many."

How dare you talk like that? This is a beauty product. At most, it might look ugly because I'm not skilled at sculpting people. How could it possibly be damaged?

However, a large sample size is always a good thing, so Jiang Shuzhou didn't dwell on it too much.

He casually picked up the prisoner's file on the table and began to look at the criminal records of the experimental subjects.

Prisoner's Name: William Hafton

Charges: Fifteen counts of murder, framing, pleading not guilty, and violent resistance to law enforcement.

Case Details: William Hafton, a restaurant owner, used his position to murder at least fifteen children over five years, framing his partner. His crimes were discovered after a trial by an arbitrator. During his arrest, he attempted to violently resist arrest and has been sentenced to death.

Prisoner's Name: Jason

Charges: Twenty-two counts of murder, violent resistance to law enforcement.

Case details: ..."

Prisoner's Name: Freddy

Charges: ...

Case details: ..."

Good heavens! Jiang Shuzhou exclaimed, "Good heavens! Everyone here is extraordinary. They are all freaks and serial killers. I wonder where they got so many weirdos."

After reviewing the file, Jiang Shuzhou felt no guilt whatsoever.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

"What do you want to do? I need to see a lawyer! You can't treat me like this!"

William Hafton was tied to a cold iron frame, like a lamb to the slaughter.

"Relax, nothing will happen."

A man in a priest's robe spoke to him.

"It might hurt a little, but that's okay."

Jiang Shuzhou picked up a shaping potion and poured it onto William Hafton's body.

"This is a small step for alchemy, but a giant leap for me personally."

The icy liquid soaked through his clothes. William Hafton was startled at first, and then an unprecedented sense of terror washed over him.

He felt his bones losing their support, and his muscles, like blocks of wax soaked in warm water, slowly collapsing and flowing downwards.

Jiang Shuzhou nodded. The experiment was a success. The next step was shaping.

He reached out and tried to pinch William Hafton's cheek.

However, what his fingers touched was a puddle of mud that offered no resistance.

This isn't softening, it's liquefying, and it's completely unshakeable.

Soon, half an hour passed, and William Hafton was still a puddle of liquid, even twitching slightly. An hour passed, and William Hafton had no vital signs. He was dead, dying in extreme pain and in extreme silence.

Something's not right, is it? This isn't what I expected.

It took two full hours for the liquid spread on the iron rack to solidify and harden again, regaining its "human" texture.

But it is no longer in the shape of a human; it is like a water stain spilled on the ground, spread evenly across the outline of the iron frame.

One person became a group of people.

"This...this isn't right, is it?"

Theoretically, this shouldn't be possible, right?

They need to replace the person; there must be something wrong with the previous person.

One death row inmate after another was brought up, and they became swarms of indescribable "people".

Finally, after Jiang Shuzhou had exhausted all the prepared prisoners, a conclusion was reached.

He seems to have failed.

"Where did it fail? It seems quite successful to me."

"Men, bring me the murloc prisoners!"

Warden Shawshank was initially uninterested in the experiment, but his eyes lit up when he saw the prisoners' miserable state.

What he saw was not the product of a failed experiment, but a completely new, efficient, and terrifying art of killing.

He saw the potential of this weapon.

As a cosmetic agent, the shaping agent was undoubtedly a failure, but as a weapon, it was a success.

Now we'll see if it works for some professionals.

"Wabi Babu? Wabi Wabi! Wai!"

A merman was brought up, speaking incessantly in merman language, and judging from his tone, it wasn't anything pleasant.

But it didn't matter; soon, he was unable to speak.

After taking a shaping potion, the originally agitated merman was instantly rendered speechless, and soon he turned into a puddle of soft mud.

"Genius! Quick, quick, quick! Upgrade to Tier 2 Murloc!"

Another fishman, the same words, and the same ending.

"This, this..."

Suppressing his excitement, Shawshank gave the order again.

"Bring the Tier 3 Murlocs over!"

Soon a merman was brought over.

Jiang Shuzhou was completely stunned. He only wanted to make a cosmetic medicine, how did it end up being used as a weapon of war?

However, he still harbored a glimmer of hope, believing that it was simply a matter of insufficient strength, and that truly capable people would not be turned into a pile of mud by the potion.

"Go to hell! You dog of the Mage Alliance, don't let your daddy... Waaah!"

This time, they brought someone who speaks Common Tongue, so I understood.

Without hesitation, Jiang Shuzhou poured the shaping potion over the fishman's head, and soon the fishman's form began to change.

Unlike other mermen, this one lasted an extra half hour before completely turning into a pile of minced meat.

"Master Navis, is there anything else you need?"

"I think the problem lies with the test subjects your prison provided. Didn't that merman last so long just now?"

You're being incredibly stubborn. That's a Tier 3 murloc warrior, and it can only hold out for half an hour. The next level up is the mid-tier.

I'm afraid only mid-level professionals could withstand this thing for three hours until their bodies returned to normal.

"Master, you jest. I wonder if you would be interested in providing this potion to the Alliance for wartime use?"

"The medicine is still being improved, and besides, it's a medicine that I painstakingly invented. Moreover, war is a waste of resources and manpower, and I'm unwilling to do it."

"So what do you mean?"

"You'll have to pay more."