Executive Committee.

A court masquerading as fair.

Lyle stared at Mr. Law, the judge, with regret on his face.

"Junior, regarding last night, when an Andrei Academy member was beheaded by an indescribable creature, according to the survivor’s account, their skull went through ’kimchi’s eighty-one stages of fermentation’ before being discarded in the White Bone Forest. Do you have anything to explain about this incident?"

Lyle had a rough idea of the whole process, but what did that have to do with him? That thing wasn’t under his control.

The Plague Doctor shook his head.

"It’s unrelated to me."

"Is that so?" Mr. Law tapped on his iron gauntlet, almost like he was providing accompaniment to the screams coming from the Punishment Zone, "But the unknown creature we captured is covered in your soul markings. Those are your creations, aren’t they?"

"..." The Blood Nest Great Tree’s copy of the Creature Modification Skill would also replicate the creator’s markings! No wonder Mr. Crimson was so confident, he had planned to set me up from the start!

Resisting will result in severe punishment, sinking to the bottom of the prison.

Mr. Plague Doctor quickly betrayed Mr. Crimson, the main culprit.

"Those markings on the creature are indeed mine, but that’s just a copy made by the Blood Nest Great Tree. The real person who indulged that creature’s misbehavior is Mr. Crimson!" Lyle quickly played the emotion card, "Senior Law, believe me, I am a student of Scholar Teacher; we are all good liches who abide by the law. Why would I add to the workload of my dear senior?"

"I see." Upon hearing Scholar Teacher’s name, Mr. Law surreptitiously glanced around, making sure no one else was present, before leaning towards the Plague Doctor and whispering.

"Junior, are you certain that Mr. Crimson has information about that type of creature? Or perhaps, indeed, the Blood Nest Great Tree’s memory cluster contains information about that creature."

"Positive." Of course it does, just added it last night.

Mr. Law breathed a sigh of relief, and his iron gauntlet thudded against his chest.

"Leave it to me, I will make sure Mr. Crimson confesses in your place!"

"??? What do you mean ’confesses in my place’! I’m innocent, Mr. Crimson is the actual instigator. I just told the truth and stood up for justice!"

"Yes, yes, Mr. Crimson is obviously the criminal, and you are the embodiment of justice. Rest assured, once we leave this room, all sins will fall on Mr. Crimson alone." Mr. Law gave Lyle a thumbs-up, "Worthy of being my junior, such first-class acting, blurring the lines between the false and the true without any moral hesitation, truly a wicked lich indeed. However, you’re still not quite there when compared to me, your senior. We’re all amongst ourselves, no need for pretense. Let’s get down to business, you as the creator will still need to deal with the aftermath of your creations’ destruction."

At this point, Lyle was truly speechless, as Mr. Law adamantly accused him of framing others. Even with continuous defense, he treated it as nothing more than an act.

The punishment was lifted, but the blame was firmly set.

"I still have research to deal with, Senior Law, please, continue." Left with no option, he sighed in resignation.

"Regarding more than two hundred of your creations causing chaos at the academy..."

"Wait a minute! You’re saying there are now more than two hundred of those things?!" Mr. Crimson, you sure are prolific.

"...Do you even have an inkling of how many you have created?"

"...Please continue."

"As the master of these creatures, Plague Doctor, do you have any means to control them?"

"No, Senior Law. Those things are derivations from the research on hunger and flesh camouflage. During the flesh coding stage, we established their autonomy. As camouflages, they only accept commands from themselves or their hosts; however, they lack parasitic capabilities. So, there’s no chance they can be subdued."

"Having no restraint measures for such creatures, a large number of those things are a headache-inducing problem. You should understand what the outcome will be for a species that proliferates without any natural predators."

How could fantasy creations possibly have natural enemies in the real world?

"Eh?! Senior Law, you don’t mean to suggest that I, the creator of those things, should create their natural predators to limit them, do you?"

"That’s not what I meant... but first, tell me your proposal, junior Plague Doctor. Can you create a natural predator for those things?"

"Well, it’s possible, but those things were made based on the flesh knowledge suggestions provided by the Crimson Mentor. If we want to create a targeted natural predator, we’ll likely need further advice from the Crimson Mentor..." Thinking of this, Lyle couldn’t help but recall the smile on the Crimson Mentor’s face. Could it be that Mr. Crimson had this in mind all along?

Using Lyle’s creations to cause chaos, then creating new natural enemies to curb the creations...

"Wait, Mr. Senior Law, what if the predators become as rampant as the creatures they’re supposed to prey on? They won’t have natural enemies either."

Mr. Senior Law fell into thought, "Well, how about you keep creating the predator’s predators?"

Oh my, you’re not asking just for a predator; you’re asking to construct an entirely new food chain, a new biosphere.

"Absolutely not!" Lyle cried out frantically, realizing that his experiments could be indefinitely delayed if they proceeded in that way. "There must be another way."

"There is indeed another way," Mr. Senior Law handed him a piece of paper, "Actually, all Andrei creations have their natural enemies."

"We, the Liches, are the supreme creators of engineered life forms, and we’re also their natural enemies."

Lyle took the paper, "That’s right. Logically, Andrei’s fellows should never be bullied by a bunch of modified creatures, let alone let those things run rampant." Lyle looked at Mr. Senior Law, waiting for his explanation.

"The Crown, Andrei’s Crown of the Lich."

"Your creations bear the essence of the Crown, which all Liches can sense. The Liches that encountered those things weren’t afraid; they simply chose to tolerate them. Sounds unbelievable? It’s just a switch in roles. As researchers, Liches understand the importance of a free environment for their studies. They tolerate you because they know that in the future, other Liches will show them the same courtesy. Since your experimental project is a recognized large-scale Andrei project, they are concerned that the free movement of these creatures is part of the data you need to collect. Without unduly interfering with their own activities, Liches will ignore these creatures, fearing they might disrupt your experiments. Even this invitation to you was to confirm the status of your experiments."

"Plague Doctor, the document I’ve handed to you is a waiver agreement. If you sign it, then those things will be classified as expendable factors in the research experiment. Our brethren will stop observing and dispose of these creatures. Of course, you won’t be able to hold them accountable anymore."

So that’s how it was, Lyle thought, touching the crown on his head that resembled a fluorescent light tube.

"Indeed, the privileges represented by the Crown are somewhat effective. To keep those guys in line, you’re quite capable."

Lyle signed his code name on the paper.

Within the Andrei Academy, the creatures causing havoc collectively paused for a moment. In the world they perceived, the skeletal frames they had been chasing around suddenly became much colder and much more dangerous.