Chapter 336: Be Your Lord Dai Sen Well

At the human camp, "Dai Sen" looked a little pale, wolfing down pastries in big bites.

Just now he had suddenly felt a sharp pang of weakness in his chest; he suspected it might be low blood sugar, but even after eating several pastries in a row, nothing changed. How could that be? Did he need to take medicine now?

A subordinate scrambled in on hands and knees, gasping: "Reporting, my lord, An, Anthony has def-, def-, my lord has arrived before the camp and requests an audience with you, my lord. He says that as fellow bishops, servants of God, he invites Dai Sen, my lord, to meet at the camp gate."

"Dai Sen" went white in an instant. He knew exactly what sort of person he was — Anthony actually wanted to see him? What was he to do?

"Which direction did he come from? The Dwarf King didn't react at all?" "Dai Sen" pressed down the panic in his heart, slipped his hand back into his sleeve, and pressed something.

The subordinate answered with a strange look: "He, he came straight from the dwarves' camp."

"Dai Sen"'s legs went soft. Anthony had actually come from the dwarves' camp — what did that mean? It meant the Dwarf King had already thrown in with Anthony?

"Dai Sen" deliberated for a moment; on the surface he was thinking, but in truth he was huddled in his sleeve, pressing that thing.

It was an emergency communicator, using an extremely covert method that produced almost no fluctuation at all — a very secret means of communication, the kind those gamblers often used to rig hands and collude while playing cards.

The method was covert, so the information it could carry was small — only a faint warmth — but it was enough to transmit a signal of danger.

But the message had been sent out, and no reply had come back.

"Dai Sen" could only brace himself and ask: "How many men did Anthony bring?"

"Only himself."

"Dai Sen"'s eyes lit up at once: "Really? Only himself? What nerve. Come on, let's gather everyone and hack him to death at the gate."

The subordinate hesitated: "My lord, Lord Anthony also said he knows your greatest secret. If you don't want it leaked, you'd best go see him alone. Also, even if we gathered everyone, we probably couldn't cut him down. He's halfway between our camp and the dwarves' camp — if we bring too many, he'll definitely run."

"Dai Sen"'s whole back went cold. His greatest secret? Could it be that the time he peeked on the minotaur auntie next door bathing as a child had been discovered?

Bah — he was Bishop "Dai Sen" now, so surely…

The communicator in his hand still hadn't responded. The ominous premonition in "Dai Sen"'s heart grew heavier and heavier. With no other choice, he had to brace himself and head to the front of the camp.

On the open ground in the distance, Anthony stood leaning on his staff; before him was a basket covered with a black cloth, no one knew what was inside.

Seeing Dai Sen appear, Anthony said nothing at all, just pointed at the basket in front of him, then withdrew several dozen meters on his own.

"What's that supposed to mean? Telling me to go look at the basket? What's in it?" Dai Sen muttered, puzzled. He casually pointed at one subordinate and said: "Go, see what's in the basket."

But that subordinate had only taken two steps when Anthony's voice rang out: "I advise you to go look yourself. That's your greatest secret — if anyone else sees it, you won't be able to go on living either."

The subordinate hesitated and looked back at him. "Dai Sen" hesitated too, gritted his teeth, and walked over himself, gathering holy power in his body, watching Anthony warily.

The other party had already withdrawn several dozen meters; whatever the danger, he could still retreat in time.

When he was about the right distance away, "Dai Sen" waved his hand, blew the black cloth off the basket, and looked inside. What he saw made him plop down on his backside in terror — he saw his own head.

"Dai Sen" knew at a glance it was real, and instantly understood why he had felt that pang of weakness earlier, why the communicator had never responded — because "he himself" was dead.

From the camp behind him rose the fluctuation of a Wizard's Eye — clearly someone had seen Dai Sen startled and released a Wizard's Eye to see what was in the basket.

Dai Sen suddenly recalled Anthony's words about "greatest secret," threw himself at the basket instinctively and yanked the black cloth back over it, then whirled around and roared: "Who's casting Wizard's Eye all willy-nilly?! I'm discussing confidential matters with Lord Anthony — spying on military intelligence, are you?! Drag him off and chop his head off!"

"Ah? No— I'm not doing it on pur—" A startled cry rang out from the camp, then quickly fell silent.

Anthony strolled over at his leisure, greeting with a smile: "Lord Dai—Sen." The name was deliberately drawn out, carrying a tone of looking down from above.

But how could "Dai Sen" be in any mood to care about that? He stared at Anthony in panic, feeling as if the hand of fate had a tight grip on his throat.

Anthony said with a smile: "Lord Dai Sen, this impostor posing as you happened to run into me. Well, how do you like this gift?"

An impostor?! "Dai Sen" stared wide-eyed, looking at Anthony in disbelief.

Anthony leaned his head in and said softly: "You can still be Lord Dai Sen — endless wealth in your hands, loyal warriors under your banner, countless beauties of every race at home, and an ally who backs you to the hilt."

When he said "ally," Anthony patted his own chest.

Dai Sen suddenly realized what Anthony meant, and his heart began to pound uncontrollably. This was a path he had never once imagined.

Anthony continued in a low voice: "Apart from Guli Anni, no one can tell you two apart. As long as I don't speak, even Guli Anni cannot deny your identity. You can enjoy everything that belongs to Dai Sen completely. I've heard Lord Dai Sen likes mature beauties of every race — do you like that?"

Anthony's tone was exactly like those demons', making "Dai Sen"'s blood rush up, nearly unable to hold himself back.

But suddenly thinking of something, "Dai Sen" shook his head in difficulty.

Anthony said with a smile: "Some unspeakable trouble? The Mark of Corrosion?" As he spoke, he pulled a bottle of pills from his bosom.

"Dai Sen" answered quietly: "The Mark of Rot."

One "corrode," one "rot" — but the effect was ten times stronger. However, Anthony had long been prepared; he pulled out another bottle: "An enhanced version."

"Dai Sen" still shook his head: "Just taking medicine isn't enough for the Mark of Rot — the skin will still scar. It needs a special technique to remove it."

Anthony was still long prepared; he pulled out a stack of vouchers — beauty and spot-removal vouchers, for use at Meishencheng.

During this period, in order to target Meishencheng, "Dai Sen" had read a great deal of material on the place, and his understanding of it ran deeper than that of the vast majority of people.

Covert intelligence was hard to come by, but things like the scope of operations and effects could be gathered through normal channels. Those noble ladies just back from Meishencheng would absolutely describe everything about it with the greatest enthusiasm, then become the center of attention at every gathering.

"Dai Sen" let out a breath; with no more worries left, he said in a low voice: "Lord Anthony, what do you need me to do?"

Anthony smiled faintly: "Be your Lord Dai Sen well."

Dai Sen nodded. From now on, he was Dai Sen — the kind without quotation marks.

As for Anthony's words, he understood them too. To be his Lord Dai Sen well — when they needed him to do something, Anthony would notify him separately.

If he couldn't grasp even this kind of talk, he wouldn't deserve to be one of the "stand-ins."

"Then what are we meeting about this time?" Dai Sen asked.

Anthony gave him an approving glance — this was about getting their story straight — and said with a smile: "I uncovered your secret and used it to threaten you into surrendering to me."

"What secret?" Dai Sen asked.

"I don't know. Make one up."

"When I was little, I peeked on the minotaur auntie bathing."

"…Your tastes really are one of a kind. Come on, I'll slap you one — that way your drop in strength can be explained too," Anthony said.

"Alright, my lord, go easy — I'm only a high-ranking priest." After saying that, Dai Sen suddenly leapt back a step and shouted: "You think a rumor like that could make me submit? You wish! Fist of Truth!"

After Dai Sen finished shouting, holy light erupted from his body.

Holy light also erupted from Anthony's body, and at the same time he loudly cursed: "Reckless fool — I gave you a chance, but you don't cherish it. God says: die!"

The holy light erupted by the two enveloped their position, making the camps of both sides in the distance impossible to see clearly, with only the continuous thunderous sounds reaching their ears.

"Holy Shield! Light of Judgment!"

"Wall of Sighs! Hand of Balance!"

"God says: Beneath my gaze, all turns to nothingness—Eye of Nothingness!"

"God didn't say that! Take this staff!"

Boom! With a tremendous crash, a figure was sent flying backward out of the light—it was Dai Sen.

Dai Sen crashed to the ground, coughing up fresh blood, and shouted loudly: "Anthony, you bastard! You actually hit someone with a staff!"

As the light faded, Anthony twirled his staff with great vigor and was about to charge over: "God says: It's okay to hit, this is a shepherd's crook."

Dai Sen struggled to his feet and scurried back to the camp. There were also people coming out to meet him. Seeing someone coming to receive him, Anthony 'reluctantly' stopped.

After Dai Sen returned to the camp and spoke, the story became 'Anthony used secrets to threaten surrender, Dai Sen sternly refused, and was wounded by Anthony's underhanded staff strike'.

Anthony did not deny this version, instead cursing Dai Sen for being useless, unable to withstand even one staff strike.

Because the Dwarf King had clearly sided with Anthony, the plan to attack Meishencheng naturally couldn't proceed. The moment Dai Sen got home, he was immediately summoned by Guli Anni.

Dai Sen's body doubles were not traditional scapegoats; they could go out on their own to negotiate with the Wang Ting, wander around the Church Court, and each possessed considerable strength.

As long as he didn't pull out the Divine Fire, even Guli Anni couldn't tell which was real, unless Guli Anni had Anthony's observational ability.

Anthony also figured out through some habitual small gestures that there were at least three of them, but couldn't determine who the real one was. Now it's clear—the one with the Divine Fire was the real one, and he was beaten to death.

Guli Anni wasn't at all surprised that someone had ignited the Divine Fire yet couldn't beat Anthony. He knew exactly what the Divine Fire was. A new god who had only ignited the Divine Fire but hadn't condensed a Divine Spark and awakened Divine Skills was completely meaningless.

After some explanation, Dai Sen was actually fooled into accepting it.

……

Seeing Ange was unusually not farming. Everyone was gathered around that finger bone, brows furrowed in deep thought.

After Anthony finished hoodwinking Dai Sen and returned, he saw a group of people huddled in a circle.

He curiously walked over, patted Lu Se's shoulder, and asked while leaning in to look inside the circle: "What's going on? What are you all looking at?"

Lu Se frowned and turned back, looking at Anthony in a daze. After racking his brains for a while, he said: "I forgot. Oh right, what are we looking at here? Looking at beauties?"

Anthony saw the finger bone in the center of the circle and immediately sensed the effect of some kind of power. This made his heart skip a beat. He quickly closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, a ring of golden light flashed in both eyes.

Pushing through the crowd forcefully, Anthony squeezed into the circle, poked Nai Ge Li Si, and asked: "What are you looking at? What is this? A finger bone?"

Nai Ge Li Si frowned his scaly brow and said: "This finger bone is strange. It has a peculiar power. What power was it again? Huh, what are we looking at here?"

Nai Ge Li Si also became dazed.

Anthony looked at Seeing Ange and said: "my lord, this seems to be the Power of Oblivion. Have you been affected?"

Seeing Ange shook his head, seeming to sense something. He glanced at Nai Ge Li Si, then looked up at the other dazed people.

Seeing Ange thought for a moment, arched his body, and let out a soul-piercing shriek.

The soul impact exploded like an invisible bursting fireball. Everyone who had been mentally dazed felt their hair stand on end and instantly sobered up.

"What happened? What happened?"

"What's going on? What's going on? What am I doing here?"

"The finger bone, right, right, the finger bone—whose finger bone is it?"

A group of people came to their senses as if waking from a dream. After muttering among themselves and figuring out what had happened, they all leaped back several zhang away in an instant.

Only Anthony, Nai Ge Li Si, and Du Luo Ken remained gathered at the spot.

"A purple-gold finger bone—why does it still carry the power of the God of Oblivion? Whose finger bone is it? Locke's? Or Harvey's?" Nai Ge Li Si asked blankly.

"Could it be the third Lord of Mourning? The one the little demon mentioned, the one who followed Your Majesty." Anthony guessed.

Nai Ge Li Si was suddenly shocked: "We've all forgotten who that skeleton is—could it be caused by the Power of Oblivion? That skeleton fought the God of Oblivion, got hit by the Power of Oblivion, and made all of us forget its existence?"

"Hiss, that can't be right. Is there really such a bizarre Divine Skill? The Divine Skill hit it, so why would it make us lose our memories? It doesn't make sense. It's like two people fighting, and we who weren't even there got hurt." Du Luo Ken said.

Anthony shook his head: "No, I've read records about the God of Oblivion. The description of it is exactly this—the Power of Oblivion makes the world forget everything about you, including yourself."

"Is it really that miraculous? Then why does this finger bone contain the Power of Oblivion?" Du Luo Ken asked.

Anthony frowned, stared at the finger bone, and furrowed his brow in deep thought: "I forgot. Huh, what were we just talking about? How much silver coins do I owe? I don't think I owe him any money, do I?"

Nai Ge Li Si curled his lip: "Useless. Even if you forget your own surname, it won't help. The silver coins must have already signed a contract with you."

Anthony awkwardly scratched his nose: "I really did forget my surname."

The surname Anthony referred to was naturally not this lifetime's Anthony·XXXX, but the surname from over a thousand years ago when he was still human. It seemed to be called something like 'Fei Ni Ke Gu La Ba Qi Luo De Li Si Ge La Wa Te Na Ba Si Ye Ke...'—so long that even a ghost couldn't remember it.

"What is it that made you forget your name? Alas, it is time—" Luo Ge suddenly popped up and sighed melancholically.

Anthony glanced at him with a strange expression, then suddenly slapped his chest. Black qi surged out and condensed into an undead warhorse.

"Black Horse, catch him. I'll give him some treatment so he won't get depressed again."

While Luo Ge was being chased all over the ground, Seeing Ange picked up the finger bone and gripped it tightly in his hand.

The finger bone had two segments—one was just obtained, the other had been traded back from the dimensional beast. It had followed Seeing Ange for a long time and had long since become attuned.

Just like that, Seeing Ange transformed into a brand-new Mourning skeleton, and stood there on the spot for thirty seconds.

After returning to his original form, Seeing Ange tilted his head and said: "It's called Shan Guang Fei Ti. I sense that it's still alive."