Chapter 247: Reverse Shell Listing

It was truly terrible……

She had originally thought this would just be a simple daily quest——go out and patrol the nearby goblin gathering spots, give those restless ones a bit of deterrence.

After all, goblins, this kind of small humanoid creature, although not strong, always need to be knocked around from time to time; carrot and stick to make them qualified cannon fodder subordinates.

But who would have thought——

This seemingly easy job would actually encounter such an accident.

Seeing a strange man appear in this goblin nest, currently questioning the goblins, Minsala Banrui and another True Soul originally intended to go up and interrogate him.

Yet unexpectedly, that person merely glanced sideways casually……

Minsala completely submitted to his will……

Until the other party released a certain formless restraint, this dark elf only then woke as if from a dream.

But by that time, it was already too late; she had been stripped of her weapon, her movements restricted.

Everything happened too suddenly; this dark elf still hasn't figured out to this day whether she accidentally fell under a "Dominate Human" spell, or was charmed by something else.

But now——

She already understands the principle that the situation is stronger than the person.

If the other party wished, she might not understand how she died even until death; after all, under that one glance, her will was instantly controlled by him.

But coincidentally, the other party released his control over her, letting her regain clarity……

Clearly face all this happening, clearly face this fear……

Minsala understands, she must submit.

"Minsala Banrui……"

The Magic User repeated the dark elf's name, then smiled.

The next moment, the scalpel in his hand spun two circles, then swung down in one stroke, cold light flashing.

"……!!"

Minsala gritted her teeth tightly, barely managing not to cry out; she felt the ropes on her body loosen.

Cutting the ropes binding the dark elf, conveniently inserting the scalpel into the wooden table, Xia Zhi turned and left, tossing down a sentence:

"Clean up the corpses, then come find me; I have questions for you."

"……"

"……"

The dark elf stared with wide eyes, lying on the crude operating table panting violently, eyes full of the luck of having survived a disaster.

A moment later, she slowly sat up, simultaneously subconsciously looking toward another table not far away.

The Mind Flayer corpse on that tabletop lay there quietly, having lost all vitality, disgusting fresh blood flowing all over the floor……

Looking at this scene, Minsala suddenly felt a wave of nausea and disgust.

——That insect, her own head also has one.

——That fate, similarly could be her own fate.

This sense of fear was like a formless large hand, tightly gripping her heart, making her whole body feel a chill, as if falling into an ice cellar.

No, not right, it shouldn't be like this……

Her loyalty to the Supreme True God, shouldn't be repaid with such a return……

But, but…… why does her own head have a Mind Flayer Tadpole, and why would she actively accept such a thing……

In a trance, she vaguely felt something seemed off; her memories also seem a bit off.

Amidst the chaos, the dark elf also forced herself to act, not daring any delay.

That person just now ordered her to handle the corpses……

This matter isn't difficult, can even be said to be exceptionally easy, but the main thing is whether she cooperates or not, obeys or not, attitude good or not……

She is very clear, if she doesn't honestly handle her companion's corpse, afraid she'll have someone else handle her own corpse.

Driven by the dual pressure of fear and survival instinct, Minsala forced herself to act quickly, not daring to continue delaying.

And in the process of enduring the disgust and fear, as she handled the corpse of her companion who had transformed into a Mind Flayer, her faith in and sense of belonging to the Supreme True God wavered more and more.

She began to doubt herself.

………………

………………

Not long after.

The dark elf who had handled the Mind Flayer corpse raised her head again, discovering the surroundings were already empty.

——No one supervising.

——Also no one left behind to guard.

Besides the busy goblins and the occasional sound of tools, no other abnormal signs remained, as if nothing had happened at all.

The goblins busied themselves as always, diligently mining ore around this abandoned mine.

Everything appeared so peaceful and natural, because this was exactly the work they were originally arranged to do.

After all, this small open-pit mine is still quite valuable; although it was abandoned, it wasn't abandoned because the ore vein was exhausted, but because of a certain disaster.

Ore is always a rigid demand.

Especially for an ambitious evil cult, such resources are even more indispensable.

Forging weapons, armor, etc., all kinds of places will use them; as they develop and grow, this demand becomes increasingly intense.

And the nature of the evil cult itself determines they cannot openly purchase large amounts of armaments like ordinary transactions.

After all, hiding themselves, avoiding unnecessary attention, is their most important mission at present.

The time for great undertakings hasn't arrived yet; premature exposure is foolish behavior.

Therefore, to arm a large army, the equipment shortfall had to be made up from other sources — smuggling, for instance, or forging it themselves.

"..."

"..."

The dark elf hesitated for a moment, but ultimately lacked the courage to seize this chance and attempt escape.

That person was too terrifying; although the contact was only very brief, it had undoubtedly left an extremely deep shadow in her heart.

A Legendary Professional?

She wasn't certain, and lacked the experience to judge.

But the one thing she could be sure of was... attempting to flee right now was absolutely not a wise choice.

Taking a deep breath, she still walked slowly toward the direction the youth had just left, treading carefully.

Nearly a hundred goblins were busy mining in the mine; a strong goblin chieftain was supervising — actually, supervision wasn't really needed; this was mainly to create the surface appearance that everything was "normal."

While Mingsala was anxious and uneasy, she also faintly perceived this point, and instantly felt a chill of dread.

What is that person preparing to do?

If it was simply a case of seeing injustice and acting bravely, that would still be understandable.

But the other party didn't touch the goblins; instead, he directly took control of them and made them maintain their original state...

Isn't this planting nails inside the Supreme True God Sect?

Worrying over this, she then caught sight of that figure up ahead.

Dressed in white robes, a style never seen before, exuding a rather exotic feel; the youth stood on the heights of the mountain looking down, yet he wasn't paying attention to the open-pit mine below.

He was gazing up at the sun in the sky dome, his expression appearing somewhat strange —

Like a scholar studying some abnormal phenomenon with great interest.

In any case, Mingsala didn't quite understand; she subconsciously felt she must be having an illusion — the sun can be seen every day, what's there to study?

Walking carefully to a spot not far from the youth, she sensibly lowered her head, maintaining an attitude of utmost trepidation.

"..."

"..."

The other party didn't acknowledge her either, but continued studying the sun for a good long while.

Then, he withdrew his gaze thoughtfully, and casually glanced at the dark elf —

That single action nearly triggered a stress response from Mingsala; luckily she forcibly controlled her limbs, making no reaction at all.

"You're somewhat restless, somewhat fearful, and even more so uneasy in mind..."

The Magic User looked the dark elf up and down — head bowed, eyes lowered — and spoke with a smile.

"Although you dare not show impatience, you still feel I'm deliberately keeping you waiting, right?"

"N-no, I wouldn't dare—" Mingsala's heart gave a sudden jump; she buried her head even deeper, acting even more subservient, thinking this was still some kind of test.

"Wouldn't dare? Meaning it's not that you don't have the feeling, but that you don't dare show it?"

The youth smiled indifferently; although he had no intention of testing her, since she was this cooperative, he naturally didn't mind playing along.

Xia Zhi was of course not deliberately keeping Mingsala waiting.

He was genuinely curious about the sun, or rather — he was curious about everything in this world.

His insight and consciousness had long since crossed the subatomic limit; this also meant his cognition and understanding of the world had reached a terrifying level.

In his eyes, the spacetime of the physical universe was no longer smooth; even in the vacuum there were endless quantum foam...

— Of course, a Magic User wouldn't maintain this kind of vision all the time normally.

So when he switched over, he discovered the world's foundational composition had changed; this was no longer the familiar physical universe composed of atoms.

This otherworld possessed completely different laws and rules.

As a result, everything suddenly became interesting — from the ten thousand things on the ground to the sun in the sky, he suddenly developed a strong interest in them all.

However, there was no need to explain this to the dark elf.

Looking at Mingsala with head lowered, her whole body emitting waves of fear, Xia Zhi smiled gently.

From the first moment he captured her, he had already realized this target's value, because beneath her oblivious surface consciousness lay a mind shattered by fear.

The subsequent experiments and surgery also proved this point.

That Supreme True God controls the chosen by implanting insects in their minds, and the chosen are called "True Souls."

— If the Supreme True God Sect is a sect, then this stratum is the Inner Disciples.

— The stratum truly qualified to access certain internal affairs and know many of the sect's secrets.

But the insect in the head puts "True Souls" under the direct control of the so-called Supreme True God; this is slightly troublesome.

So Xia Zhi thought it over and initially formulated a strategy to bypass it; after all, he planned to use this evil cult for a shell listing, so some planning was necessary.

The first guinea pig just happened to fall into his hands.

"Alright, raise your head and show me your value—"

The Magic User's voice came: "I spare your life; in return, you will work for me... nothing too troublesome, just continue climbing upward within the Supreme True God Sect."

"What?"

Mingsala was instantly shocked, raising her head in disbelief.

She had thought this person at most sensed some grand conspiracy, which was why he didn't immediately strike to eliminate the goblins, fearing to alert the enemy...

How now it seems the other party appears to have a different idea in mind?

After a slight hesitation, the dark elf gritted her teeth: "The Su-Supreme True God is a very powerful existence; you-you don't need to choose to be its enemy—"

"Tch, what Supreme True God..."

The Magic User was noncommittal: "I'm still the Star Sea Supreme! You'd do better to believe me than it; at least I won't put insects in your head."

(Chapter End)