Chapter 559: Black Reaper

In the rock cave at the edge of the forest, the dripping sound seemed exceptionally empty. The air was filled with the smell of rotten moss, and the stench of rat-rats being scared into peeing.

Only to see in the center of the emerald green moss, Queen Xixi sat kneeling obediently on the flat stone slab, offering the iron jar wrapped in leather straps with both hands.

Just like offering a crown.

"Respected Your Majesty, this concubine has fulfilled the mission."

Not far from the Queen of the Nightmare Township, a living creature wrapped into a rice dumpling by white spider silk lay on the ground.

Shi Shi Laike only revealed a sharp-mouthed, monkey-cheeked head, his green-bean eyes spinning frantically, shaking with the fear of death. The tough spider silk dug into his flesh, making even twisting a luxury.

Luo Yan, standing in the rock cave, reached out to take the iron jar.

The jar was very light, less than a kilogram, but it exuded a deep, bone-chilling coldness.

Not in a hurry to check this thing, Luo Yan just weighed it for a moment before putting it away, then placed a recording crystal on the flat bluestone beside him.

The orange-yellow faint light lit up out of thin air, illuminating the dark cave, and also illuminating Shi Shi Laike's pale rat face.

"Speak."

Luo Yan's voice echoed in the cave, and the gentle and elegant expression printed in Shi Shi Laike's eyes was like a demon from the depths of hell.

"Pour out everything you have in that head of yours. If there is a single false word, or if I feel you are wasting my time..."

He paused, his fingertips tapping lightly on the surface of the iron jar.

"I will stuff you into this."

Shi Shi Laike shivered all over, swallowing the saliva in his throat with difficulty.

He knew too well what was in this jar; if he were really locked in here, the outcome would likely be ten thousand times more desperate than death.

"I'll say! I'll say! It's, it's Master Mo Ke! Soul-Shatterer Master Mo Ke!"

Shi Shi Laike screamed and offered up the name of the boss of the Rotten Meat Clan, but Queen Xixi, sitting not far away, yawned boredly.

Everyone knew this kind of thing.

Scared into a shiver by that yawn, the shivering Shi Shi Laike hurriedly changed his words, continuing in a shrill voice.

"Of, of course, not just Master Mo Ke! There are people behind him! There are Graveyard Keepers of the Ryan Kingdom, I remember they seem to be called this name! And, the, the Academy also participated! That's right! It's a big shot from the Academy!"

His voice was incoherent, but the amount of information was quite sufficient.

Luo Yan's eyebrows raised slightly.

It was just as he had guessed, the Academy couldn't stay out of this matter, and the grey-robed mage he saw earliest was indeed an insider of the Academy.

No wonder there were so many magic scrolls on the rat-men's position, as well as more rune heavy crossbows than the Dwarf Kingdom itself.

As the front line continued to deepen, I'm afraid even more incredible things would pop up later.

"The big shot from the Academy, do you know his name?"

"I, I only know one name," Shi Shi Laike stammered, "He is called Professor Edgar Kaufmann!"

Luo Yan had never heard this name.

However, he had quite a few acquaintances in the Academy, and asking Professor Hector to help inquire about it wouldn't be a problem at all.

Looking at the silent mysterious person, Shi Shi Laike racked his brains to think, shaking out everything he knew.

"Master Master Mo Ke asked me to assist this professor, dig more holes, do experiments, watch the captives caught, I... I don't know exactly what he is studying! But they did indeed produce some good things that can improve strength, it seems to be called Holy Water."

"As for this attack on Count Spinor's territory, it was Master Meilin's order! As for who Master Meilin takes orders from, I, I, I really don't know! Like a little rat like me, how would I have the qualifications to inquire about Master Master Mo Ke's friends?"

He cried with snot and tears, simply wishing he could dig out his heart to show this mysterious big shot, although no one wanted to see that thing.

Luo Yan didn't interrupt him, just thinking quietly.

Until Shi Shi Laike's crying stopped, he raised the iron jar in his hand.

"And this?"

Shi Shi Laike shrank his neck, his eyes dodging.

"It's called 'Black Reaper'... Master Meilin gave it to me, Shi Shi Laike doesn't understand the specifics!"

"Say what you know."

"Yes, yes! He said it is... as long as it is poured into the water source of Hannya City, it can send half the city's people to hell! Oh right, he also mentioned that it contains more than ten thousand Ryan people's vengeful spirits, it seems to be a byproduct of the laboratory."

Speaking of this, he himself couldn't help but shiver.

Even a rat-man who was cruel by nature would feel instinctive fear toward this kind of pure malice, especially when he fell into human hands.

Queen Xixi sighed gloomily.

"Humans, are truly too terrifying... of course, except for the Demon King."

Huh?

Wait, should I exclude him?

The Queen of the Nightmare Township fell into entanglement; she vaguely remembered that in the Demon Capital, terrifying seemed to be a commendatory term?

However, Luo Yan didn't care about this detail, just staring at Shi Shi Laike's eyes, his gaze piercing through the soul that was fearing.

Fear couldn't be faked.

This rat had already been scared out of its wits, and the stock in its belly must have been shaken out completely. If the Ten Thousand Swords Mountain was compared to a septic tank, this guy could at most be considered a scavenger.

Having lost the laboratory and materials of Bone-Burial Peak, he was already a corpse, at most it was just a matter of who he died at the hands of, and in what capacity he died.

Luo Yan put away the recording crystal, stood up, and patted the non-existent dust on his hem.

Seeing this action, a spark of hope ignited in the bottom of Shi Shi Laike's eyes. He struggled to twist his body like a maggot, his face piled with an extremely fawning smile.

"Master! Great Master! You see, I've said everything I know, I still have use for you! I can lead the way for you, I can help you identify Master Mo Ke's lair! Even if it's being a watchdog, I'm more obedient than other rats!"

Luo Yan looked down at him, a playful arc hooking at the corner of his mouth.

"What do I need a rat for?"

To the north is the Twilight Province, to the south is the Campbell Duchy, to the west are the Hell Dwarves, to the east are the real dwarves... looking around, they are all his own people.

What's the use of keeping you as a buffer zone?

The smile on Shi Shi Laike's face froze instantly, like a mask cracked by freezing.

Immediately after, it was the despair and hysteria after being teased.

"You don't keep your word! You said as long as I confessed—"

"Just let you be spared from the torture worse than death," Luo Yan said indifferently, turning to walk toward the cave entrance, "But I didn't say I wouldn't kill you."

As for now?

Not keeping your word is what you said yourself.

Luo Yan didn't even look back, just waved his hand lightly toward the shadow in the corner.

"Alakduo, leave it to you."

The shadow in the corner squirmed, and a giant cave spider crawled out slowly.

Eight compound eyes flashed with cruel light, the drooling mouthparts opened and closed, making a creepy clicking sound—

It's dinner time!

"No! Don't come over—"

Shi Shi Laike's scream had just rushed out of his throat before it was sealed by a ball of fishy poison.

Then came the crisp sound of sharp teeth cutting through bone, and the sound of flesh being torn apart.

Even with Golden-tier strength, Shi Shi Laike, with his hands and feet bound, could only watch helplessly as those blood-stained jaws snapped shut.

The echo in the cave lasted only a few seconds before returning to dead silence.

This rat-man warlord who had once been a big shot in the underground world and made countless rats and mountain people tremble with fear died so sloppily in the damp cave, turning into a supplement for General Alakduo.

However, compared to what he had done, this way of dying was still a bit cheap.

"Demon King, do we not need to keep a witness?" Looking at Alakduo who was gorging himself, Hearing You You, who was floating beside Luo Yan, asked in a low voice.

Luo Yan replied calmly in his heart.

'No need.'

A witness is fine.

Do you want to call the police again?

This is fundamentally different from dealing with Elder Zakro; behind the Holy Water stands not just one family, but a group of families.

Luo Yan examined the iron jar in his hand, those complex runes shining with ghostly cold light under the magic light, like silent complaints.

Behind "Soul-Shatterer" Master Mo Ke stands the Academy, and behind the Academy, who knows who stands.

In short, let's settle the Ryan Kingdom first.

"Demon King."

Queen Xixi leaned over, curiously staring at that jar, "Does it really contain ten thousand human souls?"

Just looking at the appearance, it couldn't be seen at all.

"Not souls."

Luo Yan's index finger stroked the cold metal surface, feeling the restless energy inside, and said in a pondering tone.

"To be precise, it is filtered spiritual essence."

Queen Xixi blinked.

"What is that?"

"Simply put, it is the traces of a person's existence in this world."

People loved, things hated, memories that couldn't be let go, regrets before death, and... the karma corresponding to them.

Or, it could also be called "personality."

For those who don't care, it is as light as a feather. But for those who care, it is something heavier than the entire universe combined.

If Holy Water is "liquefied gods," then this thing is "liquefied abyss."

Demigods might not necessarily be able to withstand a few drops.

Luo Yan couldn't help but fall into pondering.

Perhaps, he should chat with Tafu about this thing...

Night ends and day breaks.

The morning sun of the next day crossed the Ten Thousand Swords Mountain and rose from the east of Hannya City.

The citizens who pushed open the windows to stretch their arms looked at the dawn in the distance.

They would never know who watched over their dreams in the darkness last night, nor would they know how many dirty things turned into ashes before dawn.

The refugee camp outside the city was another scene.

Vivian, who had been busy for most of the night, changed into a nun's habit and was walking elegantly and demurely under the morning glow of dawn, patrolling her territory.

Many survivors rescued from the front line were sent over last night, and among them were some wounded that the priests couldn't handle.

They were mainly injured by the rat-men's poison gas, some had their lungs infected, some had herpes on their bodies, looking very miserable.

However, this little thing was not a problem for Lord Vivian at all.

Professor Aidonia, the best at making poison and detoxifying in the whole hell, was her mentor, and even if she encountered problems that the Blood Clan knights couldn't solve, she could write a letter to the Demon Capital to get it done.

For the unfathomable Vivian, what had no upper limit was not just pocket money, but the super-standard treatment that even the Blood Clan of the Prince Kelin Duchy had never enjoyed.

Cheap for this bunch of humans.

In short, under the care of those doctors with strange painting styles in the "Saint Prince Kelin Hospital Knights," the vast majority of survivors sent here saved their lives.

Many people could even walk on the ground.

And these people were all filled with gratitude to Prince Prince Kelin and Prince Prince Kelin's sister without exception.

"Lord Vivian!"

A ragged teenager suddenly rushed out of the crowd and knelt heavily in front of Vivian. His forehead was pressed tightly against the dust-filled ground, his voice trembling but firm.

"Please, let me join your ranks! You saved my life. Although I have no money and have never read many books, I am willing to work like an ox or a horse for you to repay your kindness!"

This "Lord" almost made Vivian unable to hold back her singing voice.

Ooh—

Lord Bayeli above!

What a pleasant voice!

Louder!

She stopped her steps, looking down at this teenager who wasn't much younger than her, her smile still holy and impeccable.

However, the strange laughter that couldn't be suppressed in her throat exposed her inner joy.

"Kuku-ku... your piety is moving, but it's a pity, Vivian doesn't need cows or horses." ===== CHAPTER 560 =====