"Master, those humans are attacking the Relic. That goblin is hiding inside. I heard the sound of an explosion," Scarface said, floating forward a little.
"Do you think I didn’t see anything?" Elma sneered, looking down at the Ghost before her.
"That goblin is very cunning. At the time, he..." Scarface gesticulated, floating in front of Elma. When he was close enough, a fierce light flashed in his eyes and he lunged, intending to possess the human Warlock.
But just as his fingertips were millimeters from Elma’s face, he found he couldn’t move forward an inch. His entire body froze in mid-air, like a floating statue.
Elma slowly raised her right hand, where a cross-shaped mark on the webbing of her thumb glowed red. "I knew you were trouble all along. I bet you didn’t expect the Soul Enslavement Technique, did you?"
She had always used the Soul Burning from her left hand to punish Scarface. This was the first time she had used her power of Enslavement, specifically to keep him from harming her.
"It seems summoning you was the wrong choice. Goblins really are all greedy, stupid trash," Elma said, pulling a blackened Bone from her pocket. This was the very Bone she had used to set up the Summoning Array, and the Magic Scroll for the Summoning Magic had cost her a large sum of Gold Coins.
"Master, don’t! I’ll obey..." Scarface realized what she was about to do and immediately begged for mercy. It wasn’t because he knew he was wrong, but because he wouldn’t be able to become a leader anymore.
"Heh, heh, heh." Elma gripped the Bone and squeezed hard. As she increased her strength, the Bone, already corroded by Dark Magic, snapped with a CRACK and was crushed into several pieces.
"Aaargh—" Scarface howled in agony. He had no idea that directly destroying the Spiritual Artifact used for a summoning would cause a Ghost such pain. The agony was several times worse than Soul Burning, like great saws being dragged back and forth inside his body.
His form grew fainter and the white smoke began to dissipate, but his pain only intensified.
"I... I can’t accept this!" Scarface screamed, his voice like the shriek of metal scraping violently against glass, so jarring it made one want to flee immediately. "You... you’ll come to a bad end! I’ll be waiting for you in the Nether Sea!"
As the white smoke dispersed, Scarface vanished completely, leaving only a small pile of white powder on the ground—Soul Dust.
Elma looked down at the remains on the ground, the corner of her mouth curling up. She then walked over, opened the window, and casually tossed out the bone fragments. BANG. The fragments flew through the air, exploding into dust before they could hit the ground.
’Now I have to rely on myself again.’ She sighed, closing the window. ’It’s not a big deal if I can’t find that goblin, but I definitely need to find what the Mirror Man wants, and soon.’
Her power had been granted to her by that person. She was now a famous genius Bloodline Warlock in Plantagenet City and a special test officer for the Adventurer Association. If she couldn’t fulfill his requirements, she would not only lose her Magic Ability, but her very life would be at risk.
’No, I don’t want to lose all of this. It’s everything I schemed and fought to obtain. I paid such a high price.’ Elma clenched her fists. ’On what grounds was *she* born with all of this?’
She looked out the window. It was still noisy outside, which greatly annoyed her.
The townspeople were still gathered around the corpses of the Giant Spiders. The sounds of chatter and shocked cries filled all of Yangjiao Town. She had also heard that many of the Giant Spider corpses had been transported to other towns.
’Something’s not right. Why would Count Valentine go to the trouble of fighting these monsters?’ Elma walked to the window, watching the people on the street. ’Don’t these nobles usually not give a damn whether commoners live or die?’
She had lived in Plantagenet City for a long time and had dealt with many nobles; she knew their true colors well. ’I seem to recall hearing some talk... something about a Relic.’
’Could the thing I’m looking for be in the Relic?’
’Heh. I’ll just find someone to ask. That’ll clear things up.’ Elma’s eyes narrowed as she chuckled. With a wave of her hand, a long, black Cloak floated over to her.
Not long after, in a small alley, an Adventurer clawed painfully at the Star Realm Python coiling around him. "That’s it. I’ve told you everything."
"So Philip was killed in the Relic?" Elma asked in a relaxed tone, looking at the Adventurer, who was being squeezed to the point of suffocation. "What’s in the Relic that could kill them?"
"I don’t know... Some say it was a Heart Stealer, others say it was a group of crazed goblins... but you’ve seen them now, haven’t you? Those giant spiders." The Adventurer desperately gripped the python, his voice intermittent and full of pain.
"Did you just say someone from the Storm Brotherhood escaped from a dungeon in Black Lion City?" Elma pressed. She didn’t quite believe the propaganda Count Valentine was spreading. She felt this whole affair was very similar to her own experience, as if the infuriating figure of a goblin was behind it all.
"Yes, that’s what everyone’s saying. The wanted posters have already been sent here." The Adventurer’s eyes rolled back in pain. He was at his limit.
"Kill him." Elma didn’t even glance at the Adventurer, simply turning and walking slowly toward the mouth of the alley. ’It seems I need to take a trip to Black Lion City.’
’I should get some results this time.’ She patted the Star Realm Python’s head, smiling. "You’re quite good at finding people."
She smiled as she watched the python retreat back into a Star Realm rift, then pulled her hood down and walked into the crowd on the street. No one noticed the Adventurer’s corpse in the alley, twisted like a wrung-out towel.
......
’Mm, this really doesn’t taste good.’ Shire frowned, sampling the mush from the pot.
Bai Mao had made it using Tree-man Fruit. She had tried several different cooking methods, but the result was never very good.
The fruits contained a large amount of starch. Eaten raw, the texture was mediocre, a bit dry and sour. If boiled directly, they turned into a mush that was barely edible, but the taste was certainly nothing to write home about.
Even though Bai Mao had added a lot of salt and seasonings, it was still no good.
"This... what do we do?" Bai Mao pouted, looking at Shire. She was at a complete loss with this food that her leader had gone through so much trouble to bring back. The leader had even told her that this would be one of the tribe’s main food sources in the future. As long as the Tree-men were alive, they could harvest a large amount of this fruit every year. If stored properly, it could effectively alleviate the tribe’s food problems.
But now, after many attempts and even asking Mary for advice, she still hadn’t found a good way to prepare this fruit. She felt useless, unable to help her leader.
Shire smiled at his "Head Chef." He knew why she was anxious. Ever since he had put Bai Mao in charge of the entire tribe’s meals, she had treated it as her number one priority and had been very successful.
’If it’s mostly starch, it shouldn’t be too hard to work with.’ Shire stroked his chin, recalling various cooking methods from his past life. ’It looks like a potato, but several sizes bigger. The texture is a bit different, though. I can probably adapt some recipes.’
"You can cut them into small chunks or strips, then heat up some oil," he said. He thought for a moment, deciding to try making "french fries." ’If this works, we can use similar methods to prepare them.’
"We don’t have much oil," Bai Mao said, pointing to a nearby glass tank that was less than half full of oil.
Shire turned to look and saw it was the same glass tank they had used to catch Slimes before. "Is this all the oil we have?"
Bai Mao nodded.
’That really is a bit low.’ Shire paced over, scrutinizing the glass tank. ’I always figured our food here couldn’t compare to what I had in my past life, so I never paid much attention to the tribe’s diet. But looking at it now, it seems our fat intake is seriously lacking.’
’That makes sense. The animals in the forest are all lean, and the fish in the underground river don’t have any fat either. The fact that Bai Mao and the other female goblins managed to collect this much is a testament to their hard work.’
Shire knew that if a person’s fat intake was too low, it would lead to malnutrition and a weakened immune system. They would also eat more to compensate for the hunger caused by labor. Furthermore, in the cold of winter, it would be detrimental to the tribe’s survival.
"I’ll figure out a way to solve this problem," he said, nodding calmly at Bai Mao. "Don’t worry. We’ll have more oil to use soon."
Shire looked at Bai Mao’s delighted expression. He knew this girl unconditionally believed whatever he said, but he didn’t actually have a better solution right now. The Tree-man Fruit needed oil for cooking, their daily diet needed it, and even weapon maintenance required oil. For now, they could only acquire some through trade, but that wasn’t a long-term solution.
He asked Bai Mao to try some other methods, then went to the Teleportation Room, preparing to have Mary purchase some oil.
However, he first received an intelligence report and several large boxes sent by Mary.
’Valentine is starting to display the Giant Spider corpses all over his territory?’ Shire frowned as he read the report. ’Mary is actually worried about our safety. She’s a good person.’
’Hmm? He’s preparing to raise taxes on the merchant guilds? That old fox has it all planned out. First, stir up public panic, then flaunt his own achievements to minimize resistance to the tax hike.’ He glanced up at the wooden crate before him. ’Next, he’ll definitely display the Giant Bee corpses. That’ll complete the whole marketing campaign.’
’They’re searching warehouses for any hidden equipment belonging to the Count’s Mansion? That’s tricky. It means I can’t sell off the gear from the Storm Brotherhood and Philip’s men for the time being. I can’t even get it out of the territory.’
’I’ll just have to wait.’ He sighed. ’I was planning to see if that honey-selling Island Merchant would take it, but it looks like that’s off the table now.’
Just as he finished writing a new shopping list and was about to send it off with a batch of Healing Potions, Broken Tooth came running over in a hurry.
"Leader, a white horse."
"A white horse?" Shire’s eyes narrowed. ’Has someone found their way here?’