: Have you ever seen a dragon?

Soul-Strike Flintlock Pistol

[Category: Weapons]

[Quality: Blue Rare]

[Description: A special weapon jointly developed by the Necromancers' School and the Alchemists' Guild. The gun body is forged from the ashes of the dead, and the bullets directly attack the target's soul, ignoring physical defenses.]

[None of the following are permanent entries]

[Special Feature: Fusing demonic ashes with the gun body permanently grants a unique attribute.]

[Note: This thing is indeed more effective than magic. —Song Ci]

Price: 1 D-grade Demon Soul

Qiao Ye's lips twitched.

According to the description, after Song Ci was shot, he also made one himself?

As expected of a necromancer, his skills are indeed impressive.

This gun itself isn't very high-level; it's only of blue quality.

It can strike the soul directly, equivalent to true damage, but it only has the power of a flintlock pistol, and its effect may not be significant against powerful demons.

Therefore, the exchange price only requires the soul of a D-rank demon.

but--

This gun can grow!

By enchanting with demonic ashes, new attributes can be continuously added.

The upper limit is immeasurable.

"This is it."

Qiao Ye chose to redeem.

[Would you like to consume 1 D-grade Demon Soul to exchange for the 'Soul Strike Flintlock Pistol'?]

【Yes. 】

A faint light flashed, and an antique-looking flintlock pistol appeared in Qiao Ye's hand.

The gun body is grayish-white, feels like bone to the touch, yet has a metallic feel.

The stock of the gun was engraved with dense runes.

Qiao Ye put the gun away.

"Let me wake up," he said to the dream-servant, adding a special reminder, "Let me wake up directly in reality!"

It's time to go back and rescue them.

The maidservant nodded and touched his brow with her hand.

The world around them spun instantly.

……

Under a blood-red sky, Qiao Ye opened his eyes.

Everything remained the same as when he entered his dream.

Not even a second of real time had passed.

Sienna lay on the ground, the hole in her chest no longer bleeding, but her breathing was so weak it looked like it might stop at any moment.

Qiao Ye opened his palm, and in his palm lay the crystal bottle given to him by Song Ci.

Flames of blue and gray danced inside.

Qiao Ye didn't hesitate and uncorked the bottle.

Flames drifted out.

It landed on the wound on Sienna's chest.

Then--

boom.

The pale flames instantly engulfed her.

Instead of spreading, the flames contracted inward, like an invisible giant hand gripping Sienna's entire body.

Qiao Ye saw her body shrinking.

It's not an illusion.

It really is shrinking.

A height of 1.7 meters, shrunk to 1.5 meters, 1 meter, and half a meter—

Then the flames suddenly exploded.

Qiao Ye subconsciously raised his hand to cover his face.

When he put his hand down—

There was nothing on the ground.

Only a group of coalition combat uniforms lay scattered in a pile.

Sienna is missing.

Qiao Ye paused for a second.

Then he heard a faint cry.

"Meow—howl?"

The sound was like a cat's meow, and also like a dragon's roar, a childlike voice.

Qiao Ye lowered his head.

A small creature emerged from the pile of clothes.

It's the size of a palm and looks like a cat.

Its entire body is covered in bright red fur.

But it has the characteristics of a dragon.

Two small dragon horns stood atop the center of his forehead.

It has two small, fleshy wings on its back, which haven't fully grown yet and droop like two small fans.

Its tail is quite long, with a small tuft of hair at the end.

It was struggling to climb out of the pile of clothes, using its two front paws to dig at them.

Then he plopped down on the pile of clothes, tilted his head back, and looked at Qiao Ye with his golden dragon eyes.

"Qiao Ye?"

The little creature tilted its head and said, "Have you gotten bigger, meow?"

Qiao Ye: "..."

Qiao Ye: "Sienna?"

The little creature looked down at its own paws.

stunned.

She looked up at Qiao Ye again.

stunned.

He looked down at his own paws again.

"Meow—!!!"

The voice was filled with shock, disbelief, and a hint of collapse.

……

After a long time, with Qiao Ye's explanation, Sienna finally accepted the situation.

"You mean, you witchers have a skill that can only be used once in your lifetime, allowing you to be reborn?"

Sienna squatted on the ground.

"But why do I look so much like a cat right now?"

If it's Nirvana, shouldn't I directly transform into a human child?

This is actually not difficult to understand.

Song Ci had warned that it was completely unpredictable what life form the undead phoenix would take after using its soul fire.

Sienna's ability to retain some dragon characteristics is already a result of the power of the dragon totem.

But Qiao Ye couldn't talk about the Soulfire, so he had to find an excuse.

"Have you ever seen a dragon?" Qiao Ye asked.

"No meow." Sienna shook her head.

She had only ever seen dragon totem shapeshifters, never real dragons.

Qiao Ye nodded. It's easier if we haven't seen it before.

"The dragon's form is ever-changing."

Qiao Ye said, "An ancient Chinese person once said that a dragon can be big or small, can rise or hide, and can change with the times, just as a person who achieves his ambitions can roam freely across the world."

"Maybe there's a kind of dragon that looks just like a cat."

Sienna roughly understood what Qiao Ye meant.

"Now that you mention it, I think I can indeed feel the power within my body."

She said, "The dragon's power is very strong. Much stronger than before, meow."

Sienna opened her mouth and gently exhaled.

"Meow—"

A small ball of golden flame floated out of her mouth, flickered in the air, and then dissipated.

Dragon's breath.

Qiao Ye asked curiously, "Aren't you a shapeshifter? Could you try transforming from a dragon into a human?"

Sienna closed her eyes.

I strained my whole body and held it in for a long time.

Nothing happened.

She tried again.

Nothing has changed.

the third time.

A wisp of smoke rose from her body, and then—

The fur became fluffier.

Sienna opened her eyes and looked at Qiao Ye.

"I can't go back to my original form for now," she said, "but it doesn't matter, as long as I'm alive."

Sienna had a feeling that the shapeshifter's power was still within her.

There is still hope of turning back into a human.

She looked down at the pile of clothes and rummaged through it with her paw.

"I can't wear these anymore, meow."

Qiao Ye picked up the pile of clothes, folded them, and stuffed them into his backpack.

"Keep it for now," he said. "Just in case it can turn back later."

Sienna nodded.

She stood up and took a few steps.

The posture was a bit awkward, but after a few steps it became much smoother.

"Qiao Ye".

She suddenly called out Qiao Ye's name, "Can I ask you for a favor?"

"you say."

Sienna looked at the four corpses of her teammates not far away.

Their eyes were wide open, still bearing the marks of their tragic deaths.

"I'm not feeling well right now, could you please help me bury them? I'll repay you in the future, Meow!"

Sienna felt she was not a good captain and had failed to protect her teammates.

At the very least, they should be laid to rest.

But this did remind Qiao Ye.

"Don't bury it yet!"

He said, "I need to ask them first if they have any last wishes, and I'll help them fulfill them later."

They entered America to save their fathers, and even gave their lives in the process.

Qiao Ye also wanted to do his part to help them rest in peace.

Sienna: ? ? ?

She looked at Qiao Ye, completely bewildered.

What kind of ghost story are you telling?

The person is dead, how can you ask them?

Can you make a corpse talk?