Chapter 156

Pushing down the iron ball, Marcus immediately shoved the acceleration lever to its limit.

The wind engines hanging on both sides of the airbag accelerated, propelling the airship diagonally upward, and soon a flash erupted behind them.

First came blinding light, then a violent shockwave that swept across the entire camp, overturning doors, windows, tents, racks, vehicles, and horses alike.

After the shockwave passed, a cloud of dust surged skyward and lingered for a long time.

When it finally dispersed, a large crater appeared at the iron ball's impact point; all matter within a five-meter radius was obliterated, and the ground within a ten-meter radius had been scraped clean.

But few people died—those beyond ten meters were mostly just injured by the blast, since it was pure energy with no shrapnel or secondary damage, though the camp's structures suffered heavy losses.

"Tsk tsk tsk, it's like a meteor falling from the sky—pathetic power," Nagris complained. A meteor falling from the sky was a ninth-tier spell, a quasi-anti-magic.

"The power really is too weak. Burning through hundreds of magic crystals for this much effect? The only advantage is no casting time—it's still useful for surprise attacks," Luo Ge said.

A single iron ball consumes hundreds of magic crystals; even the wealthy Church of Light couldn't afford it for anything less than a high-value target, and it's far too restricted—unless the airship belonged to the Silver Knights, it could never have flown calmly above the camp.

"How's it look? Did the high-ups die?"

"Seems not. Chaos and order are still intact, their organizational capacity hasn't collapsed—they're probably not dead, or not all dead."

As he spoke, several Holy Spirits rose into the air. To prevent those fools from chasing them, the airship pushed its speed to maximum and soon vanished into the clouds.

"Fly the airship to the oasis yourself—Lady Lisa is already waiting for you. Once you land, follow her orders, understood? For now, you're under Wagu Li's command. You're both goblins, you should get along fine," Nagris instructed.

Marcus nodded, not a single other thought in his mind, because behind him stood two heavily armored swordsmen clad entirely in armor.

Ang transferred out the two reanimated zombies created from the heavy armored swordsmen; according to Nagris, this was to strengthen the airship's guard force and prevent it from being stolen again.

But these armored swordsmen could slice him in two with a single swing of their blades.

Of course, Marcus had no second thoughts—he'd even had the Corrosion Marks removed from his body. Now he felt utterly light, no more of the tense, constricted feeling he'd had when taking the pills.

Clearly, the Church of Light's claim that the medicine was merely to suppress his injuries was false—it was poison, used to control him.

Just this one fact made him hate the Church of Light and the Silver Knights with every fiber of his being.

Whatever Nagris said, Marcus nodded in agreement—until he heard "Wagu Li," when he finally asked in surprise: "Wagu Li? A goblin? The Wagu Li Master who won the Gear Award?"

"He mentioned something about the Gear Award. Do you know him?" Nagris asked.

"The Gear Award winner? Who doesn't know? That's the highest honor in engineering…" Marcus's voice trailed off as he noticed Nagris's sly, half-smiling expression—he suddenly realized.

This Lord Nagris didn't know Wagu Li at all… had he just called him ignorant?

Before Nagris dropped him from the airship, Marcus changed the subject: "I heard the iron ball was invented by Master Wagu Li."

"Oh? No wonder it looks so much like a demon egg cannon's projectile," Nagris realized.

…

After seeing off the airship, everyone landed under Luo Ge's guidance and entered through a cave entrance.

"The reason Darkside City has endured so long is because the terrain is too complex. Pick any cave entrance, and you'll end up in a labyrinth of interconnected tunnels—but two connected entrances don't always lead to the same tunnel. Even if someone speaks right beside you, meeting them might take half an hour. Without knowing the area, you'll get lost easily."

After following Luo Ge for half an hour, Nagris finally grasped the terrain's layout and sighed: "No wonder the Silver Knights couldn't wipe you out in centuries. The Church never disbanded them—here, it's hard enough just to find your trail, let alone clear out undead."

"Exactly. Living beings need to eat, drink, defecate, and sleep—they leave traces. But when we undead are truly cornered, we just hide in the second or third layer. They'll search forever and never find us. Only recently have more living people come in, and we keep getting dragged into their troubles," Luo Ge sighed.

Nagris's eyes flickered. "Have you ever considered these living people were deliberately driven in by the Silver Knights?"

Luo Ge froze mid-step, paused, then resumed walking with his whole frame slumped—as if crushed under an invisible weight.

"So you recognized it at a glance, Lord Nagris? Sigh… we were fools for years before realizing this. But these living people? They're just lonely, helpless, desperate souls. None are Church spies or followers. Even if we knew, what could we do? Kill them all?" Luo Ge's voice dripped with helplessness and regret.

"Not sending spies makes sense—undead would certainly use soul-searching. But as long as you don't kill them, it's fine. Living beings leave traces by eating and excreting. Even if you ignore them, they'll occupy vast areas, squeezing your space. It's an unsolvable strategy."

"Yes, I only understood this years later. Do you know who the first few groups of refugees were?" Luo Ge smiled bitterly.

"When we operated in human lands, we gathered some native undead. They all had families. The first few waves of refugees were their relatives. We couldn't even bring ourselves to kill them. Some of our undead companions, who looked thirty or forty, had to raise grandchildren for their seventy- or eighty-year-old children. When the sons died, the grandchildren grew up, and they had to find wives for them, then help raise the next generation, find better nutrition…"

"In the end, every living person was somehow related to our liches. Many liches were great-grandparents or great-great-grandparents. Some had raised grandchildren for centuries—now, just seeing them weakens their souls."

"Pfft!" Nagris burst out laughing.

"I took all the undead with me this time because I wanted to harden my heart and shed this heavy burden. If I could lure the Silver Knights away, even better. Darkside City is huge—without them, everyone could live well," Luo Ge sighed.

Nagris shook his head. "You're overthinking it. The Silver Knights need an enemy, not to eliminate one. If you leave, these living people will become their new target."

Luo Ge's form stiffened again, falling into complete silence.

Without conversation, Nagris turned attention to the surroundings and soon noticed a pattern: every path Luo Ge chose was one where sunlight entered—or reflected in.

If two tunnels existed—one pitch-black, one faintly lit—Luo Ge always picked the lit one. Logically, as an undead, he didn't need light to see.

"Ah, that's because places where sunlight reaches we call Layer One. Its advantage? You can never get lost. Worst case, you climb up to the surface. That's our main area. Places without sunlight we call Layer Two—its tunnels are labyrinthine. Without prior exploration, I wouldn't dare take you down. Get lost there, and you won't come out."

"Oh, I thought I heard you mention Layer Two and Three. Is there a Layer Three?" Nagris asked.

"Yes. Layer Three means near-vertical shafts plunging kilometers underground—almost entirely isolated cave systems. I once found unique ecosystems and species there, but it was too complex—I never dared explore deeply."

"You see, I'm a Black Knight. After phasing, I can pierce through rock layers. If I get lost in Layer Two, I can just break upward. But Layer Three is too deep—even if I get lost there, I might die trapped forever. If Hemertos is truly hiding in Darkside City, he's most likely hiding in some isolated chamber in Layer Three," Luo Ge said.

Nagris immediately wanted to turn back. Getting lost in such a complex underground maze wasn't a joke—even if Ang was the Undead God, he'd be trapped forever.

Trying to convince Ang to abandon the idea, Nagris turned around—Ang was gone.

"Ku Ba Da! Where are you?" Nagris was stunned. Had he gotten lost here? In this place, even with their soul link, they might never find him again.

Fortunately, Ang hadn't gone far. Backtracking dozens of meters, Nagris saw the little zombie, the little angel, and Lightning crouched on a ledge. Below lay a relatively flat stretch of ground, faint traces of ridges and furrows visible.

Nagris covered her face. Okay, now she understood why Ang couldn't move on.

Just as she was about to persuade Ang to give up on finding Hemertos, the perfect excuse appeared: "Huh? This is an abandoned farmland."

Ang nodded.

"Flat terrain, good sunlight—perfect for planting."

Ang nodded vigorously.

"There's water there. Dig a ditch, channel it over—planting will be much easier."

Ang nodded hard.

"Then let's plant. Forget Hemertos," Nagris changed her tone.

Ang shook his head.

"..." Failing to sway Ang disappointed her. She couldn't help asking:

"Why do you insist on killing him? Tell Anthony—we leak the news, hide our identity. Over the years, human-elf-dwarf alliances have destroyed Hemertos countless times. Why worry he'll spread?"

"Bug plague, locusts, eat crops, don't grow," Ang said.

"You think it's a locust plague? No—even if it were, you wouldn't be this eager about anything but planting. There's another reason. Tell me!" Nagris instantly saw through Ang's evasion.

This skeleton used to be simple—say what he meant. But since Nagris opposed his endless planting, he'd started avoiding the truth. He hadn't learned to lie, but he'd learned to mention unimportant things. If you didn't press him, he'd never reveal the crucial point.

And Ang now spoke in sentences longer than five words. If he reverted to one- or two-word replies, something was wrong.

"Bug ash can grow World Tree," Ang said.

"You don't need bug ash to grow a World Tree," Nagris said, confused. Then, instantly, she realized the possibility—her consciousness snapped back to the Tomb Palace, her body darting to the farm.

In the corner of the farm, a branch of the World Tree was stuck in the ground. The soil had been mixed with black dragon soil and bug ash. Bare branches bore tiny sprouts; gray patches on their surface showed they'd once been diseased.

Yes—the diseased branches. Back then, as long as you registered, you could get them for free. Elves distributed them everywhere, hoping to find a cure for the World Tree.

After making a pact with the World Tree, Nagris asked the elves for several thick branches, planning to force fruit and harvest seeds. But later, she found too many to cultivate, so she abandoned them.

Now, one of the thickest diseased branches had been planted by Ang, sprouting new buds. The gray patches had faded significantly. A light scrape revealed fresh fibrous tissue beneath.

"This… this diseased branch… you brought it back to life? The elves will go mad," Nagris murmured, stunned.

Why were the elves so desperate? Because the World Tree was sick. Theoretically, it still had nine thousand years of life—but it was sick.

The elves spent a fortune buying twenty World Trees from Ang, clinging to a final hope: using quantity to increase probability, hoping to grow a truly sentient World Tree.

If they learned Ang had revived a diseased branch—that the World Tree's disease was curable, that it might live out its full lifespan—the elves might truly go mad.

After all, nine thousand years? Many species haven't existed that long.

"Is bug ash really that effective? Should we collect more?" Nagris felt her mindset shift. Earlier, she'd avoided going because of danger. Now, she wanted to gather more.

As if summoned, sudden screams and running footsteps echoed from somewhere nearby, growing louder. A group of over ten humans—elderly, children, the weak—emerged from the tunnel ahead.

They collided with Ang's group, paused in shock, then one man shouted in delight: "Lord Luo Ge?! Save us! Ah!"

A black insect lunged onto the man's neck, biting off a chunk of flesh—he screamed.

A cloaked figure emerged from a swarm of insects and beetles into the tunnel: "Hehehe, where will you run now? Take me to your settlement—my children are starving."