The internal battle of the "Wood Spirits Are So Cute" mercenary group ended in just five minutes. My undead army now had four new "elite modified undead." …
Don't misunderstand, I didn't kill them, nor was there a need to.
I simply told them that I was carrying out a special mission given to me by the wood spirits, and that I was gathering information as an undead mage … and they believed me!
Yep, they instantly believed me without any hesitation. They then tried to blackmail me by saying, "You must have a lot of Justice Points. As a righteous Holy Knight, you absolutely can't keep your Justice Points for yourself. Let's all share in the good fortune, and do this mission together." And then, I casually said a few words to them, and they voluntarily joined me.
"This rotten meat is so disgusting."
His entire body was covered in pink pieces of meat. Coupled with my specially prepared makeup techniques, the barbarian Ah Gen had now transformed into a reeking Abomination Zombie.
He had a rotting backbone, stinking rotten meat, and a fat lower body that was so poor that he didn't even wear pants. His intestines were hanging outside, his chin was misconnected, and blood was dripping from the corner of his mouth as he walked. He was the perfect Abomination Zombie!
"Actually, according to my job class, I should have disguised myself as an elegant Blood Tribe member! Under the cover of night, I should have walked on rooftops and in the shadows, using my dagger to harvest the lives of assassins from the thief guild. "
"Elegant? Also, why does this rooftop battle scene sound so familiar? Are you talking about that legendary novel called "Assassin"? "
"Yep, back in the day, I chose to become a thief precisely because I read that book!"
He kept nodding, and I felt like I was being scammed more and more. I was hesitating whether or not I should tell him that that novel was also a product of mine back in the day. It was filled with all sorts of logical errors, but since it was so fun, it mysteriously became very popular. If I really followed the main character's lifestyle and became a handsome thief, dying a hundred times in a single year would be nothing.
But as I looked at his honest smile, I couldn't help but sigh at how tough he was to still be alive. I also felt that it would be better not to ruin his worldview. Yep, I definitely didn't feel like it would be troublesome if he got angry out of embarrassment.
"Is your dream to become a highflying burglar?"
Considering this guy's size and weight, I felt that if he really did jump from roof to roof like a main character in a novel, he wouldn't have to consider how hidden he was, but rather how sturdy the building was … What if, in the middle of the night, a gigantic creature suddenly pierced through the ceiling and fell from the sky with a deafening roar … Yep, I definitely didn't try it, nor did I get stuck in the ceiling!
When he thought about this big guy being sandwiched between the ceiling and the floor, he suddenly felt very excited! Perhaps he could let him try it next time. It would be best if he wore a red cotton-padded jacket and a big beard. If he was discovered, he could still … "Hehehe, I am Santa Claus. Only good children can receive my gifts. What? Is it summer? I'm sorry, I went the wrong way. That damned gnome compass is too unreliable. That stupid unicorn didn't even know to warn me! I actually flew to the wrong hemisphere! "
Cough — cough — I seemed to have gotten distracted again. Let's get back to the main topic. This was my personal collection of a complete, evil-increasing appearance gift pack, which was perfect for powerful warriors. It was cool and practical, and its thick rotting flesh and protruding eyeballs could even increase one's Charm towards Banshees.
"… Roland, let's have a nice private chat later. I feel like you have some misunderstandings about Banshees."
Alright then, it seemed that I had accidentally said something bad about Banshees in front of the person in question. When I thought about how this former Banshee Queen was becoming more and more adept at meowing, licking, and meowing … I meant how felines usually pounced, bit, and swept their tails, I really needed to seriously consider how to explain this.
Cough, I seemed to have gotten distracted again. Let's get back to the main topic.
Thanks to my undead skin pack's disguise, the Wood Spirits Are So Cute Team — yep, the newly formed Wood Spirits (Mother) Love Team — no, the newly formed Wood Spirits Are So Cute Team no longer had any semblance of a living person.
The previously mentioned Ah Gen was wearing an Abomination outfit, and the priest Betty was wearing a cape to summon shadows, pretending to be a shadow priest who offered sacrifices to the Death God. The handsome elven traveling bard was disguised as an equally handsome Blood Tribe member, and he even applied some blood-red disguise on himself. The valiant and valiant dwarf auntie … was still a domineering dwarf auntie!
This really couldn't be blamed on my lack of makeup skills. I couldn't think of a more suitable way to disguise a barrel-sized body that weighed over one hundred kilograms but was less than 1.4 meters tall as an undead with only rotting flesh and skeletons. If she was also disguised as an Abomination, then only an undead mage with an abnormal brain would create such a miniature Undead Monster.
"Blood Tribe? A true Blood Tribe member would probably cry for a Blood Tribe member with such a body. "
Of course, in the end, I still managed to find a way to disguise her as an overweight ghoul. Although she still had the short and stocky build unique to dwarves, if other undead mages were to see her, they would only think that she was a dwarf who had transformed into a ghoul and that something had gone wrong during the transformation.
Of course … the prerequisite was that this auntie was willing to put down her wine barrel! Which Corpse Ghoul would carry such a large wine barrel on its back!? From time to time, it would even secretly scoop up a cup or two to satisfy its cravings.
However, I knew that it would be impossible to convince it to put down its "luggage." Wasn't there a saying: "Making a Dwarf put down his wine glass is as impossible as making an Elf give up their art and pride?"
"What a pity. My 'Skin Gift Packs' are all masterpieces, and they're free products of conscience. These fellows really don't know what's good for them. Hmph, sooner or later, I'll find a bad merchant who's good at scamming noobs and scam them. All they need to do is wear a hat and a pair of glasses, along with some random gifts, and sell it as a new skin gift pack. How could they have any conscience? "
"Don't be so calculative. It's already good enough that they're willing to help. Don't be so calculative."
Alright then, although this group of scammers didn't seem to be that strong individually, at least I didn't need to divert my attention to control them. They could still be added to my combat strength. Of course, due to certain reasons, I also slightly distanced myself from them.
"A spy? It's possible for the undead to plant a spy among the living!? "
When I mentioned the information I just received, everyone's astonishment wasn't fake at all. In the minds of ordinary people and even most adventurers, the undead were a group of wild beasts that were impossible to communicate with. They would actively attack everything before them. How could such an existence possibly plant a spy among the living? Perhaps it should be said that even if they became a spy for these bloodthirsty undead, what could they possibly obtain?
Of course, this also meant that most of the adventurers in this adventuring group were still noobs. The Xiluo Empire had many spies in the human kingdoms. For nobles who possessed authority and wealth, their greatest enemy was death. Asking them to cultivate and advance in power level to increase their lifespan would be the equivalent of killing them. Undead conversion rituals were probably the easiest way to achieve "immortality."
Even if they weren't satisfied with an ugly undead body, there were still elegant Blood Tribe members as an alternative. And if they still wanted to walk under the sun, absorbing other people's life force, blood sacrifices, and other such evil rituals would also satisfy their needs.
It wasn't only the corrupt nobles. Veteran adventurers who had lost their future because they were crippled, old people who had been stuck at a bottleneck for more than ten years, or magical geniuses who were born with darkness or undead elements would all be able to obtain many benefits from the undead.
Not only was this true for the Xiluo Empire, it was the same for the Yongye Empire back in the day. Every day, the living would come to join the undead of their own volition. There would be powerful individuals who cultivated darkness, curses, and other undead elements. There were also those who were simply "Dark villains? That sounds really cool. "If it was the former, I would happily add them to the cannon fodder faction. If they could prove their own abilities by surviving, I would also make an equivalent exchange with them. If it was the latter, I would also add them to the cannon fodder faction. It was just that they would have to undergo an undead conversion beforehand … Even if they were undead, they would still be undead even if they were transformed into ghouls. At the very least, they would be able to disgust their enemies.
Facing the astonishment of these brats, I hesitated for a moment and organized my words before saying.
"What can you obtain? It's probably far more than you can imagine. For example, power and an endless lifespan. As long as you're willing to pay a small price, it'll be far faster than cultivating step by step. After all, many times, if you don't care about the consequences, the path of evil will be far faster than the path of righteousness. "
I didn't say anything else as I looked at everyone's contemplative expressions. Reality would always be cruel. Rather than blindly believing that all other adventurers were your companions, it would be better to save on this "tuition fee" and make necessary preparations beforehand.
Soon, I received the information I was hoping for from my new servant, the skeleton mage Kugar.
"A short cloaked individual with a dark green snake-shaped dagger. He has an aura of darkness? His left leg is slightly lame, and he seems to be injured? "
I looked towards my "teammates" inquisitively. After all, compared to me who had just arrived here, they should be far more familiar with the adventurers here.
Some of them then looked up at the sky, while others checked their weapons. However, not a single one of them replied. It was obvious that these people were unreliable. Or, perhaps they had no interest in other adventurers at all, nor did they try to collect information on other adventurers.
I could only helplessly shake my head as I accepted the letter that Kugar handed me. From a certain standpoint, this was quite ironic. The undead had placed a spy among the living, but had mistakenly given important information to the spy the living had placed among the undead.
The yellow envelope was quite light. It seemed like an ordinary letter had been sealed with red beeswax. It seemed that it could be opened with a single tear. However, judging from the faint magical waves coming from the envelope, there was also a common little mechanism hidden within. If the recipient didn't know the normal way to open the envelope and casually opened it, the envelope would self-destruct. The person who had set up this little mechanism would also know about it.
However, such a little mechanism was meaningless to me.
I lightly tapped on the envelope, and a small piece of ice sealed the envelope. The Absolute Zero Ice, which would bring eternal slumber, sent this mechanism into eternal slumber as well.
When I tore open the envelope, I saw that the letter was nothing but a boring digital account book. It seemed that this was a common digital password that would only require deciphering against various secret code books. Although it would be possible to decipher it if I spent some time, and I had faintly learned how to decipher it, but …
"I recall that you've never even passed your secret code deciphering and basic mathematics."
That's right. Even back in the day at the Cloud Tower, I couldn't escape from annoying numbers, engineering, elemental magic, and spell model construction.
But … what did you mean by basic mathematics!? You actually had calculus and solid geometry as your basic mathematics? Didn't you know that I chose law in my previous life precisely because I didn't want to study those annoying advanced mathematics subjects!?
"… As a liberal arts student, I hate math so much, and I hate it even more that there's advanced mathematics in another world!"
However, as a delinquent student who was constantly on the brink of passing or failing every subject, I had actually achieved the dreams of many similar students.
"Teacher Harloys, it's all up to you! I can only count on you. "
"… You only think of me at a time like this."
That's right. Although I failed my basic mathematics subjects, I always had an old grandpa … granny (cat pouncing in protest) … teacher with me!
"… The wood spirits are planning to expand … the Forest of Dreams' territory. It's expected … expected to begin on the second Sunday of May, which is three days after the letter was sent …"
Harloys was becoming more and more skilled at translating. It was evident that she had already figured out the pattern of the secret code. However, the more I listened, the colder my heart became. Harloys knew quite a high level of secret information. It was evident that there was at least a spy among the higher-ups of the adventurers.
But it was precisely because of this grim reality that I faintly had an idea. Perhaps I could even beat them at their own game!
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