Chapter 331: Chapter 331

I can’t understand all this fuss about whether clothes look good, if skin is fine, or if body proportions are normal. Hmph! How could anything I make be less than perfect? Just then, the dinner bell rang, and my stomach reacted immediately. Speaking of which, I haven’t had a proper meal in a long time, so I ran straight to the dining room.

When everyone had gathered in the dining room, all eyes were fixed on Ling.

Alka then began his introduction.

"This is the result of our recent efforts: a Puppet Girl created using Lucilia’s Treasure as its source. She can be bound to the Treasure, thus preventing its functions from being wasted. By the way, Ling’s strength has reached Three Spirals."

Juanlu heard this and sighed. Isn’t that even stronger than me?

With Chadite successfully advancing to Three Spirals not long ago, Juanlu was now the only one remaining on the ship still at Two Spirals. Now, even the puppet Alka and his team had made reached Three Spirals.

Hearing Juanlu’s sigh, Alka smiled and patted his shoulder.

"Don’t worry. After all, you only recently obtained the Meditation Method. It should be soon, perhaps in two or three months."

Hearing Alka’s words, Juanlu nodded. "About another three months or so."

Meditating outside the Homeland Sea using the Meditation Spell was indeed highly efficient.

"So, does this mean we can have a full team of 73 such Puppet Girls?" Jason asked from beside them.

If he remembered correctly, the banner could increase the number of team members by 73. And they were divided into three Levels, with contingents of 1, 12, and 60.

"So, can many of the ship’s tasks be handed over to the Puppet Girls?" This was Jason’s first thought.

Although the entire Ghost Ship was almost fully automated—after all, the ship possessed its own intelligence—some tasks still required their attention. These included necessary surveillance patrols, cargo transport, regular ship inspections, and so on. It even included maintaining the Spells on the ship. And now that he thought about it, these Puppet Girls could definitely assist them in battle. This would greatly reduce their pressure.

"They are just puppets, not humans," Alka said. "Don’t think about slacking off. Besides, at the moment, there’s only Ling. With our current materials, we can make at most a few more."

Hearing Alka’s words, Jason shrugged helplessly. It seemed slacking off wasn’t an option.

They brought Ling to the deck, where Lucilia would act as her opponent to test her strength.

"Now, attack me," Lucilia said, a steel Shield appearing in her hand.

Upon hearing Lucilia’s command, Ling stood motionless. Then, she opened her mouth and asked, "How... to attack?"

It seemed they would have to start from scratch.

Then Lucilia and Chadite began Ling’s combat training.

Fortunately, due to her core programming, Ling learned quickly. However, it was clear that all her attacking moves were very rigid, almost completely lacking adaptability.

"This method of teaching isn’t working," Chadite said quickly, having noticed the problem. "We have to teach her how to fight *in* actual combat."

Chadite decided that Ling needed to learn to attack based on the immediate combat situation—when to defend, when to dodge, and when to seize opportunities. Lucilia served as Ling’s opponent for this.

However, progress was slow.

Alka, who was recording data nearby, watched this unfold. After a moment of thought, he said, "How about this: I’ll control Ling’s body to fight, and you have her record it."

Lucilia nodded, agreeing to this proposal.

Then Alka stretched out both hands. Threads of Magic Power extended from his ten fingers, entwining around Ling’s body as he began to take control of her movements. This Magic Power thread Spell was the same type Vanessa used. Alka, however, had specialized in using it for this kind of application and found it very effective.

Under Alka’s control, Ling drew the twin blades from her back. With a push of her feet, she shot forward like an arrow, one blade striking Lucilia’s Shield.

Lucilia braced herself, deflecting the blade with her Shield, as the long needle in her hand quickly lunged out.

Ling’s free blade quickly moved to block. She twisted her wrist to deflect, took a retreating step, crouched, and then slashed upward with her other blade.

Facing the upward attack, Lucilia pressed down with her Shield, blocking it and using the impact’s upward force to make a slight jump. She delivered a sweeping kick that forcefully struck Ling’s shoulder.

The Puppet Girl, knocked back by the kick, performed a backward roll to regain her footing and create distance. Then, swords in both hands, she sprinted forward again, closing the distance once more.

Her twin blades and Lucilia’s shield and sword clashed back and forth.

Facing Ling, who was being controlled by Alka, Lucilia had to concentrate fully, especially since her own combat training was also recent.

Then, in the midst of the battle, Lucilia’s figure suddenly vanished within the shadow of the mast. When she reappeared, she was already behind Ling, her long needle touching Ling’s back.

"You actually cheated!" Alka couldn’t help but complain.

After all, Ling had just been created and had no combat Spell inscriptions on her. This was a limitation of a puppet’s body; even though her strength and internal Magic Power had reached Three Spirals, without a soul, some Spells could not be anchored to her Spiral. Alka’s solution was to inscribe Spells directly onto her shell. The Puppet Girl’s shell, in essence, was made from Spell materials, making it a natural medium. It just needed to be activated with internal Magic Power during use. By equipping weapons inscribed with Spells, she could then utilize Spell effects in combat. Thɪs chapter is updated by 𝗇𝗈𝗏𝖾𝗅•𝖿𝗂𝗋𝖾•𝗇𝖾𝗍

However, Ling, having just been made, was essentially a blank slate. She only had her internal Magic Power and decent physical constitution to rely on.

Lucilia didn’t care about any of that, merely hmphing twice.

Then Alka released his control over the puppet.

"So, have you learned how to fight now?"

When Alka had controlled the puppet’s body, he hadn’t followed any set patterns, relying entirely on adapting to the battle as it unfolded.

Ling nodded. "Recorded."

However, Alka also realized that a normal human’s combat style was entirely unsuitable for a puppet, as it would actually diminish the advantages of the puppet’s body.