Just what, exactly, was the mercury lake's mercury?

From dusk to full dark, Shen Cong still hadn't figured out the puzzle — but one thing he knew: this lake of mercury was surely important to him, an iron person.

The natural carrier vehicle Hell Plant Armor could actually absorb it — even if it rejected it in the end, that necessarily meant some condition wasn't being met.

"What if I switched to the Core-Totem Great Vajra to absorb it?" A sudden notion struck Shen Cong.

A natural carrier vehicle had no Talent and couldn't enter the Lv1 Pure Gold Era, but the Core-Totem Great Vajra was already in the Lv1 Pure Gold Era — Activity solidified, its whole framework turned to metal-iron, a metal alloy of the same special properties as metal-change.

"Perhaps the Lv1 Pure Gold Era Great Vajra can absorb the mercury."

At the thought, Shen Cong immediately loaded up a portion of mercury, mounted the Four-Legged Dragon at once, and raced off toward the Great Vajra.

Chen Xiuni, across the lake, had left long ago, back when the sunset sky was ablaze. Staying here had grown awkward — Shen Cong hadn't said a single word to her from start to finish, treating her like empty air, wholly absorbed in muttering to himself and running experiments by the lake that she couldn't make heads or tails of.

Now and then he'd stare at the mercury lake, blanking out for a dozen-plus minutes at a stretch.

So Chen Xiuni swapped in someone else — the jin person called Zhuangzi — and left ahead herself. As the Pest-Killer Squad's captain, she was very busy too.

When Zhuangzi saw Shen Cong, his eyes brimmed with hot tears, and he wanted to get chummy — but what he got in return was a thick blast of the Four-Legged Dragon's halitosis.

At some point the Four-Legged Dragon had learned to spit, and one mouthful of heavy phlegm later, Zhuangzi nearly threw up.

With the Four-Legged Dragon standing guard, Zhuangzi had no chance to speak with Shen Cong.

Now, seeing Shen Cong ride off…