"This inferno's been raging for over forty minutes and shows no signs of stopping."A veritable blizzard of incinerated Ice-nest Worms shot into the sky, their cremated remains drifting down like grayish-white snow.The deck of the Nyxstar, and the sea around it, was already buried under a thick layer of this "ash-snow." Even Yang Yi and Suna were coated in it, their faces, hair, and clothes dusted with a fine powder that was impossible to clean. All they could do was stand back, scarves wrapped over their noses and mouths to avoid breathing in the remains.Ten minutes later, Yang Yi suddenly felt a wave of dizziness.He quickly checked his stats. His health was hovering in the low forties and still dropping. The frostbite on his right arm was getting worse. In his frenzied state, he couldn't feel the pain, but that didn't stop the injury from festering.He chugged a regeneration potion to stabilize his health, then looked back up at the sky, his gaze following the endless river of blue light to its source on the northeastern horizon."What the hell is over there…" he muttered.After nearly an hour of this, he figured the number of worms had to be in the hundreds of thousands. In terms of believers, that was probably upwards of ten thousand. If this dragged on, he wasn't sure he could hold out.He pulled out a second regeneration potion, keeping a close eye on his health bar.Beside him, Suna stared at Yang Yi's shattered, purpled right wrist, a rare flicker of worry crossing her eyes.Finally, after another ten minutes, the Life-hearth incinerated the last batch of Ice-nest Worms.The ash-snowfall from the sky ceased.But it came at a price…The Nyxstar was now frozen solid in the sea, fused with the surrounding glacier.Despite the raging fire within the Life-hearth, its warmth was confined, unable to heat the entire ship. The extreme cold from the Ice-nest Worms had seeped through the deck and into the hull, causing the Nyxstar's temperature to plummet to what was likely below minus 100 degrees. The sea followed suit, freezing into a single, massive sheet of ice.Yang Yi and Suna walked to the base of the ship, the ash-snow already past their thighs. As they prepared to board, Suna grabbed Yang Yi's arm."The hull is incredibly cold. You'd better not touch it directly, or you'll tear off a layer of skin," she warned.She rummaged through her satchel and pulled out two pairs of woolen mittens, handing one to Yang Yi."This is…" He was a little surprised."I knitted them from leftover fire-fleece spider wool," she explained.[Name: Fire-Fleece Mittens][Type: Treasure][Quality: Fine][Description: Mittens knitted by the witch Suna from fire-fleece spider wool. Lightweight and warm, without compromising finger dexterity.]It seemed you could craft gear with sheer skill, no recipe needed.They pulled on the mittens and climbed aboard the Nyxstar. Even with only one good hand, Yang Yi's physical conditioning made climbing the ladder a non-issue.The deck was also buried under a thick blanket of ash. Yang Yi ordered his skeletal arms to start clearing it. The extreme cold had a limited effect on them, just making them a bit more brittle and prone to freezing.Soon, the skeletal arms had shoveled the soft ash off the deck, revealing the planks beneath.Also uncovered were several frozen skeletal arms, buried in the snow, their bony fingers still locked in a death grip on about fifteen Ice-nest Worms, all of which had shattered.The moment Suna saw the worms, she moved to examine them, but Yang Yi stopped her."Be careful. Their body temperature is extremely low. Don't touch them directly. It's better to have the skeletal arms take them to the lab for you," he advised, °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° swaying slightly.The frostbite was becoming unbearable. Half his body felt like a block of ice, and he couldn't stop shivering.He needed to heal his hand with Limb Restoration, and fast.Yang Yi had Suna help him move the Life-hearth back to his room, then prepared to use the spell.He took out all the severed pieces of his hand from his ring and laid them out on the table. A quick count confirmed it: five fingers, the main palm piece was there. It was just missing a few fragments and was covered in cracks.Next, he had Suna bring him the Long-legged Sardines, which were frozen stiff in blocks of ice. He needed her to chop off their heads and lay them on the table. These were the sardines he’d been raising in his cabin, now turned into fishsicles by the worms' cold. It took Suna some effort, but she eventually prepared all thirteen of them.By now, Yang Yi looked terrible. His lips were black, his face was deathly pale, and his shattered wrist had begun to ooze a dark, blackish blood."Are you sure this is going to work?" Suna's expression was grave. "Why don't you listen to me and just cut off the arm? At least you'd save your life.""I'm sure," Yang Yi's voice was weak, but firm with confidence.He carefully positioned the largest piece of his palm, making sure it wouldn't reattach backwards, and arranged the fingers in the correct order. Then, he activated Limb Restoration.Strange runes materialized out of thin air, crawling over his severed wrist before transforming into tiny spiders.Suna's eyes lit up, and she watched, utterly mesmerized. The spiders spat out silk threads, stitching Yang Yi's hand back together like master tailors, filling in the missing pieces with the flesh and blood of the Long-legged Sardines.The entire process took about five minutes, longer than any of his previous castings, probably because the frozen meat was interfering with the spell.But the result was nothing short of miraculous. His right hand was restored.The skin tone was a little different from his original color, a bit paler—no doubt thanks to the sardine filler—creating a distinct line where the new skin met the old at his wrist.All five fingers were there, all perfectly normal human fingers of the correct length. There was nothing out of place. Except…At the base of his right pinky finger, like a cosmic prank, an extra appendage had sprouted: one of the long legs from a Long-legged Sardine. It was about the length of his index finger. To his astonishment, he could even control it, flexing it, stretching it out… he could probably even kick someone with it."Uhh…"An awkward expression crossed Yang Yi's face. He turned his stiff neck to look at Suna. "So… could I trouble you to perform a small surgery?""Pfft! Hahahahaha!"Suna couldn't hold it in any longer and burst out laughing.It was the first time Yang Yi had ever seen her laugh like that.An hour later, the surgery was a success. Suna had amputated the extra leg and bandaged the wound. Not that it was necessary; thanks to the regeneration potion, the wound was already scabbing over.His right hand was fully restored.The only downside was the ruin of his webbed gloves; now he only had one. They weren't warm, but they were waterproof, slip-resistant, and great for climbing. He pulled the remaining glove onto his right hand to cover the paler skin, making it look normal.Meanwhile, Suna had thrown herself completely into researching the Ice-nest Worms.The creatures were incredibly fragile and frigid, shattering at the slightest touch. Direct contact would cause severe frostbite. Suna was being extremely cautious, wearing a protective mask and the kind of thick, insulated oven mitts you'd use for baking.Using a glass rod with a rubber-tipped end, she carefully picked up a fragment of a worm's leg and held it over an alcohol lamp. The "alcohol" was actually Pale Worm grease.It took several minutes of roasting before the ice-like leg fragment even began to melt. She then dropped the slightly thawed piece into a nearby beaker of hot water. The entire beaker instantly froze solid, the water turning to ice. She then placed the frozen beaker back over the lamp to heat it…"It seems the worm's body absorbs heat," Suna observed. "The higher the temperature of an object, the more heat it absorbs, and faster. Once it reaches a certain point, its body melts and turns into… seawater!"She'd come to this conclusion after boiling the beaker dry and finding nothing left but a small deposit of sea salt.

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