This humanoid puppet was sculpted to simulate Lucilia’s Soul Body. Except for the private areas, it was an exact, proportionally reduced replica of Lucilia’s original physique. It resembled the mannequins art students use for figure drawing practice. The puppet had a milky-white, wooden exterior.
As Lucilia’s soul entered the puppet, it began to transform. Strands of green hair sprouted from its previously bald head, eventually forming a cascade that flowed down. The doll’s bare body also transformed. It molded itself to Lucilia’s form, directly manifesting the clothes her soul wore.
Soon, a perfect, miniaturized Lucilia stood before Alka.
Looking at the miniature Lucilia, Alka crouched down and asked, "How is it, Lucilia? Is there anything wrong with this body? Do you feel anything strange?"
The proportionally miniaturized Lucilia shakily rose from the table. Her voice was no longer the doll’s childish tone but had reverted to the pure sound emitted by her soul. "This body is so clumsy, much heavier than the doll’s. It’s difficult to use, as if sand were grinding in the joints."
Alka nodded as he listened to Lucilia. He began to diligently take notes: Inconvenient to use, inflexible, poor contact with the soul, and a certain delay in soul operation.
Lucilia continued to inspect it, moving this way and that, constantly pointing out various problems.
"But there’s one thing much better than the doll: the soul is much less strained and not as fatigued as before." Lucilia was describing the sole positive experience the puppet body offered.
This was precisely why Alka had initiated this project: to simulate the soul’s body as closely as possible, making it less exhausting to use. As long as this core function truly manifests, this experiment won’t be a failure, Alka thought. Afterward, we just need to expand and refine based on this core function to obtain a perfect puppet body.
Alka nodded with a smile. He carefully set aside the experimental puppet—from which Lucilia’s soul had detached, causing it to revert to its wooden form—and marked it with the number 0.2.
"Come on, let’s tackle these issues one by one."
"Research on Shell Puppet version 0.3 officially begins."
This was a meaningful, yet extremely time-consuming, line of research.
... ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴏɴ novel·fiɾe·net
Time passed gradually.
The Spellbound Ship carrying Alka and the others continued along its predetermined route toward their destination. Along the way, they stopped at pre-planned islands for resupply. They encountered one or two unknown pirate crews and, after fending off their attempted robberies, safely navigated out of the previous region, swiftly heading toward the Extreme Cold Triangle Zone.
When they passed over the spot marked by the golden light, Alka, still somewhat unwilling to give up, had Pororo and Julia dive down to investigate. This part of the sea is incredibly deep, Alka mused. The Treasure emitting the golden light is estimated to be submerged over 2,000 meters down, completely beyond the maximum depth Pororo and Julia can dive. In the end, they had to give up. The varying depths of the seabed mean you never know exactly how deep these light spots are; that’s the most frustrating part.
By now, a cold wind was sweeping across the sea surface, and the surrounding temperature was gradually showing signs of the encroaching chill. Alka, who was steering on deck, couldn’t help but rub his shoulders. Goosebumps had already appeared on his exposed skin from a sudden gust of cold wind. He was still in his summer short-sleeved shirt and shorts, but the air around them was growing colder. The temperature had plummeted in just a few hours.
As they pressed on, the temperature began to drop sharply. It seems we’re about to enter the Extreme Cold Triangle Zone, he thought.
The others who were free also couldn’t resist stepping out of their rooms. Jason rubbed his arms, exhaling a breath that turned into white mist in the air. "Oh my, why is the temperature dropping so fast? This is too abnormal," he exclaimed. With that, he turned and ducked back into his room, emerging a moment later clad in a leather jacket he had purchased earlier. Its inner lining even had some white fleece showing.
Everyone else, except Pororo and Julia, also changed into cold-weather gear, as they were about to reach their destination.
As for Pororo, he still remained bare-chested, seemingly unaffected by the cold wind. Julia, on the other hand, seemed completely unaffected by the cold wind; in fact, she rather enjoyed this temperature. The cold tolerance of Merfolk and Fishmen far exceeded that of humans like them.
Alka said to Chadite beside him, "I can’t stand it anymore. Can you take over for a bit? I’m going to change."
Chadite nodded and took the helm from Alka.
A short while later, Alka re-emerged, dressed in cold-weather clothing and with a scarf wrapped around his neck, before slowly stepping out. As he stepped out, he suddenly extended his hand. A white fleck drifted down and landed in his palm. Due to the warmth of his palm, the white fleck immediately melted into a droplet of water.