SSS-Rank Evolving Monster: From Pest to Cosmic Devourer-Chapter 85: Lab 420, Fixed

"Ocean Crucifixion Divine Steel."

"Heaven Mending Powder..."

"Bark of the Phoenix Tree."

The names floated down the golden scroll like whispered legends, each one carrying the weight of a myth. As Ricky’s eyes moved from line to glowing line, a growing sense of awe settled in his chest. The deeper he read, the more the vastness of the collection struck him.

This was no mere hoard—it was a sanctuary of knowledge, refinement, and forgotten miracles.

Contrary to his initial expectations, the majority of listed items weren’t weapons or armor but auxiliary treasures—rare materials used to refine divine artifacts or brew heaven-defying pills. Items that could alter the body, temper the soul, or strengthen the very foundation of one’s spiritual space.

There were celestial lotus petals known to bloom once every thousand years, the powdered scales of an extinct beast king, and strands of ethereal fire that never extinguished, all resting patiently within the vault, awaiting the hand of someone worthy.

At first, Ricky felt a brief pang of confusion.

Why so few weapons?

But then he understood.

Divine Researcher Saint Selene Veylor had never been a warrior in pursuit of conquest—her true obsession lay with unraveling the mysteries of mana, the fundamental truths of creation. To her, weapons were tools—useful, yes, but not worthy of obsession. What she truly loved were materials, relics, anomalies. Each treasure was a key, a piece of some vast, eternal puzzle.

Still, it would be wrong to say there were no weapons.

There were plenty. So many, in fact, that Ricky could probably equip an elite battalion of cultivators and still have enough left over to outfit a second.

Swords made from crystallized lightning, daggers that phased between realities, bows carved from dragonbone and strung with the sinew of space-walking beasts—each weapon bore a presence, a silent power that lingered between the glowing lines of the scroll.

But one in particular caught his eye.

Soul Reaver Crescent.

Stage 2 Artifact – Celestial Rank.

An ethereal scythe, its curved blade forged from rare voidsteel—so thin it bordered on transparent, yet so dense that even divine treasures would crack beneath its edge. The weapon didn’t just cut flesh; it cleaved through life itself, severing threads of vitality and feeding them back to its wielder. With every stroke, it drank deeply, granting its master an unnatural resilience—an inexhaustible tide of stamina and spiritual clarity.

Ricky’s breath hitched for half a second. Now that’s something I wouldn’t mind swinging.

Even for someone like him, born in the body of a mosquito and forced to claw through evolution, the idea of wielding such a weapon stirred something primal inside.

He kept reading for a few more minutes, flipping through exotic names and their cryptic descriptions, his thoughts a blur of admiration and curiosity.

Just as he was about to close the scroll and return to the moment, his eyes froze.

There, nestled in a quieter section of the list, was a name that glowed a shade dimmer than the rest—subtle, easy to miss.

But it called to him.

A flicker of intrigue danced in Ricky’s mind.

What’s this...?

---

"Storage Ring?"

The words left Ricky’s mandibles in quiet awe.

It looked like nothing more than an unassuming black band—simple, without ornamentation—but to Ricky, it may as well have been a treasure of the highest order. A spatial treasure, even a basic one, was incredibly valuable in this world. And now, one was right within his reach.

As soon as the thought bloomed in his mind, the Guardian Spirit’s lips curled in amusement. With a casual flick of her wrist, a faint ripple passed through the air. A moment later, a jet-black ring materialized, hovering just before him.

It radiated a subtle pressure, yet it was faint—dormant. Waiting for its master.

Without hesitation, Ricky reached out and slipped it onto one of his slender forelimbs. The moment it made contact with his body, a cool, flowing sensation spread across his limb like a stream of moonlight washing over skin. The ring bonded immediately.

He didn’t waste time marveling over it. Instead, he channeled a sliver of his spiritual force into the artifact. His consciousness was instantly pulled inward.

What he saw stunned him.

A vast, quiet chamber—ten meters wide and ten meters long—unfolded within his mind’s eye. The walls glimmered faintly like polished obsidian, smooth and silent, almost breathing. It was empty for now, a blank canvas, but to Ricky, it felt like he had unlocked a new world.

He withdrew his mind after a moment, a flicker of satisfaction glinting in his compound eyes. Finally, he had something worthy of hoarding his gains.

As he turned his attention back to the Guardian Spirit, his thoughts sharpened.

Dark Shadow was still healing—though her aura had grown terrifyingly dense, she hadn’t fully recovered yet. That meant downtime. And downtime in a place like this could only mean one thing: exploration.

Ricky voiced his intent without delay, his tone eager but composed.

The Guardian Spirit’s expression remained gentle and respectful. She simply gave a quiet nod of approval, her gaze calm and knowing, as if she had expected the request.

To the side, a subtle shift in the atmosphere stirred.

Noctyss.

She tilted her head, eyes narrowing ever so slightly. The words she overheard seemed to tug at something within her. Though she hadn’t taken a single step outside the hall since Ricky returned, it was clear she had been waiting—perhaps not for him specifically, but out of sheer curiosity or something deeper she wouldn’t admit aloud.

Now, hearing Ricky mention exploration, her long ears perked with interest. She straightened her back and looked toward the path beyond the hall, as if only now realizing how little of this inheritance ground she had seen.

And something else stirred in the air.

Time.

Some unspoken realization dawned in her as she noticed the difference.

Though she’d merely wandered a bit, joked around, and passed the time with idle thoughts, Ricky had returned as if from a long journey. Time, it seemed, flowed differently within these sacred grounds.

While outside, the sun and stars marched forward in unseen cycles, within these walls, the minutes melted like wax.

Noctyss blinked slowly, silently mulling over the implications.

Ricky, meanwhile, stepped forward—ready to discover what secrets the inheritance ground of Saint Selene Veylor still had to offer.

---

Unaware of Noctyss’s musings, Ricky remained focused on the Guardian Spirit, his interest piqued as her melodic voice continued to unravel the secrets of this hidden realm.

"The Inheritance Ground," she began, her tone laced with reverence, "or as Divine Researcher Saint Selene fondly called it—Lab 420—is not just a vault of treasures. It’s a complete world of its own, governed by unique laws and designed to facilitate her life’s pursuit. But for the sake of simplicity, it can be divided into three core sections."

She raised three fingers, each glowing faintly with a different hue.

"Dungeon. Garden. Working Desk."

The words hung in the air like pillars holding up a grand temple.

"The Dungeon," she continued, "is where myriad creatures were kept—some for companionship, others for study. Rare species, mutated beasts, failed but interesting experiments. Many were preserved from extinction solely by the creator’s hand."

Just as she spoke, Ricky’s thoughts surged like a storm tide, and he abruptly cut in.

"You mean... there are more creatures like the Aegis Ants?"

His voice was laced with a strange eagerness, and his compound eyes shimmered with a hunger that wasn’t entirely masked.

A shadow crossed the Guardian Spirit’s face. She stiffened, sensing something ominous behind his words.

Ricky instinctively swallowed. The memory of harvesting lifespan from the Aegis Ant stirred inside him like a sweet poison. With just one of them, he’d accumulated sixty thousand years of vitality. Sixty thousand. If there were more—if they were just lying around...

How could he not?

The Guardian Spirit seemed to guess his line of thought. A chill ran up her spine, despite her spectral nature. She stepped forward hurriedly, waving her hands as if to physically restrain his imagination.

"No, Master!" she said with a pale expression. "You absolutely must not kill them! They’re... irreplaceable. Most of these creatures are extinct in the outside world. Each of them represents a puzzle piece of history. A living miracle. They’re worth more than even divine artifacts in the eyes of research!"

But Ricky remained unnervingly composed, neither denying nor confirming her suspicions. His stillness unnerved her more than any open malice might have.

The more silent and nonchalant he appeared, the more anxious the Guardian Spirit became. Her lips trembled slightly, unsure if her pleas had even reached him.

A long moment passed before Ricky finally stirred.

He tilted his head and let out a thoughtful hum. His antennae twitched once. Internally, he sighed.

I’ll leave one or two, he decided. That should be enough for the future generations, right? freёnovelkiss.com

His eyes didn’t glint with cruelty—just the sharp, unrelenting calculation of a predator that had tasted something far too sweet to forget.

He calmly relayed this decision to the Guardian Spirit.

To his surprise, her reaction was instant and... tearful?

Her eyes sparkled with emotion as if she’d just been spared from witnessing a great massacre. Her shoulders visibly slumped in relief, and she bowed with gratitude.

"T-Thank you, Master," she whispered, voice trembling. "Truly... thank you."

Ricky said nothing more on the matter.

"Now, the second domain," she continued hastily, eager to change the subject. "The Garden."

Her tone lightened slightly as her hand lifted, painting the air with glowing sigils. "It is where the creator cultivated the rarest and most precious herbs she ever discovered or engineered. Each plant was either retrieved from the ends of the universe or created through trial and brilliance."

"In the Garden, you’ll find herbs as young as a thousand years old... and some that have lived for millions of years."

Ricky’s compound eyes widened in delight.

So not just creatures, but plants too...

The wealth of potential lifespan, power, and opportunity swirling around this place grew more unfathomable with every passing moment.

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