CHAPTER 26

Zhuo Ge poked the unlucky guy on the ground with a claw.

The poor soul had already been submerged in a floating sac. When pressed on the face, water still trickled out from his mouth.

These mermen were so honest. Zhuo Ge had asked them to catch someone and bring him back, but they hadn’t even bothered to take off the armor. They had stubbornly hauled the 250-260 pounds across the sea.

And they still thought they hadn’t done the job right. Now, they were all kneeling on the ground, chattering nervously while confessing their mistakes.

“Master emissary, he was alive when we captured him. We don’t know how he died.”
“Yeah, we don’t know.”
“Maybe he couldn’t swim and drowned.”
“Impossible, I was holding his head.”
“We even did that.”
“Which one?”
“You know, mouth-to-mouth.”
“Right, mouth-to-mouth.”
“But he still died, so we don’t know how he died.”
“Yeah, we really don’t know.”
“Master emissary, please don’t tell Mother of the Sea. We’ll definitely get it right next time.”
“Please don’t tell the Mother of the Sea.”

Zhuo Ge’s head was about to explode from all the nonsense. It seemed like none of his subordinates could speak normally.

The undead and drow had been silent for half a day, while the goblins and orcs always started with their own confusing language, and now these mermen couldn’t stop talking.

He pried open the dead man's mouth and pressed hard on the chest, causing black blood to gush out.

That made sense now. He was a suicide soldier, likely carrying poison with him, and when caught, he chose to end his life.

He reassured the mermen and sent them back through the tunnels leading to the sea.

Zhuo Ge’s toy store was no longer just a three-story building. The goblins and drow were masters at digging tunnels, and the entire block underground had been transformed into a complex labyrinth.

In addition to the toy store, it also connected to the slums and the direction of the vertical shops.

Doctors and patients were hidden within the tunnels, with the small boat sailing out only as a decoy.

The reason Dragon Island was a safe place was because it was protected by dragons. Now that the dragons were in the tunnels, it was obviously a safe dragon tunnel.

As for the church warrior in front of him, if he thought suicide would keep the secret safe, he was seriously underestimating dragons.

Zhuo Ge didn’t have any real mages under him, but he had more than enough necromancers.

He summoned an orc priest to communicate with the dead soldier.

Of course, if the dead believed the caster was an enemy, the spell would fail. Fortunately, the warrior didn’t seem to know who had sent the mermen.

The priest waved his staff and began chanting a spell. The dead man on the ground seemed to be stirring, but suddenly was held down by some unseen force.

The priest was a bit surprised and tried the spell again, but it still failed.

“It seems the body has been tampered with, unable to be revived.”

“Understood, you can go back now.”

It was clear now that the church had its reasons for growing stronger; their information protection was even more stringent than that of assassin organizations.

But Zhuo Ge wasn’t without options. For professional matters, it was best to leave it to the professionals. Luckily, he knew someone who was well-connected with the church. Or rather, it should be said—an elf.

Zhuo Ge had a notorious reputation in the “Good” faction, but in the “Evil” faction, his name was well-respected.

“Xin 104, is the drum set finished?”
“It’s done.”
“Great, bring it out. It’s time to socialize.”

Half an hour later, at Fulin’s residence.

After Zhuo Ge repeatedly asked, Fulin reluctantly used a huge amount of magical power to teleport him, the drum set, and the dead body to the Shadow Realm.

The destination was a theater.

This was a very special theater, on par with the largest theater in Sutton Kingdom, but without a single seat. Its internal structure was completely designed to enhance sound effects.

It could only be called a theater because its owner had named it the Avenger Theater.

On the vast stage, in front of a massive pipe organ, a spider-shaped elf named Lolin was performing passionately.

The music was eerie, cold, filled with despair, and made the audience involuntarily imagine all sorts of horrifying scenarios.

Zhuo Ge wasn’t exempt.

It was like discovering your “study materials” had been found by your parents;
Realizing you’d forgotten to fill out the answer sheet during the college entrance exam;
Hearing someone demand 380,000 for a marriage proposal;
Losing your job at 40 but still having an outstanding mortgage;
And then your daughter brings home a boyfriend who has a bleached haircut, insisting he’s the one because she’s pregnant…

Terrifying. Simply terrifying.

Fortunately, Zhuo Ge wasn’t human anymore.

He had to admit, Lolin’s technique was exceptional, but she liked to incorporate strange magic into her music.

Perhaps it was because of the lack of sunlight in the Shadow Realm that twisted behaviors had become the norm there.

“A shrunken red dragon, very creative,” the music stopped, and Lolin turned around. “So, what brings the infamous Zhuo Ge to the Shadow Realm?”

The spider-shaped elf had actually been transformed from a drow who failed the Spider Queen's test, becoming a hybrid with the upper body of an elf and the lower body of a spider.

Except for a few individuals with unique tastes, most creatures saw the spider elves as a threat.

The drow had a much worse attitude toward the spider elves, believing they had betrayed the Spider Queen.

Yet, Lolin had become the leader of the drow city-state solely because of her overwhelming strength.

“I brought you a gift,” Zhuo Ge replied.

Lolin glanced at it and said, “I’ve killed enough of those fanatical church warriors. For you, bringing a dead pope could be considered a gift.”

“No, no, this is the gift,” Zhuo Ge pointed to the drum set, “As for the warrior, I hope you can make him speak.”

Lolin didn’t care much for percussion, believing it had too few opportunities to shine in an orchestra.

But the drum set’s design was irresistibly appealing. She approached and examined it carefully. It was very thoughtfully designed, with eight pedals connected to different drums and cymbals, perfectly matching the eight spider legs.

She immediately realized its purpose. Just like a pipe organ, with just her playing, she could achieve the effect that originally required multiple musicians.

She could even compose music centered on drums.

“A very good invention,” Lolin said. Her musical talent was exceptional, and she played the drum set without a hitch, even with so many pedals.

“Perhaps you should come compose music for my shadow performance.”

“Shadow performance? What’s that?”

“A medium that allows your music to be appreciated by everyone,” she said as she played, her magic resonating, though it wouldn’t infect the audience through magic crystals.

“That’s settled then,” Lolin said without hesitation. She desperately needed an audience—at least one that wouldn’t die from magic after just a few minutes.

“So, what’s the price?” She certainly didn’t think Zhuo Ge was simply there to deliver a gift.

“I want to speak to that warrior’s soul,” Zhuo Ge said.

“No problem.” If anyone were to tally the creatures who had killed the most church members on the continent, it would definitely be Lolin, and she had surpassed the others by a wide margin.

She didn’t know what the church’s real purpose was, but she was well aware of the secrets hidden within their bodies.

She quickly removed the restriction that prevented the corpse from being infused with life.

Communicating with the dead was different from resurrection. The latter was a forbidden spell beyond the ninth circle, only for gods. The former only allowed a few questions to be asked, and couldn’t be too complicated.

Zhuo Ge gathered his thoughts.

“The steam curse was spread by the church, wasn’t it?”
“Yes.”
“The owners of the devices that caused the curse cooperated with the church, right?”
“Yes.”
“The church wants to destroy steam engines?”
“No.”
“The church wants to limit steam engines?”
“No.”
“The church wants to monopolize steam engines?”
“Yes.”

After answering the final question, the warrior fell back, his passing far from peaceful.

Zhuo Ge now understood. The church had gone to great lengths to make people doubt the steam engines, likely intending to later seize the technology for themselves and then release a “blessed improved version,” achieving a monopoly on the technology.

Those who had sacrificed their factories were probably making a pledge to secure future benefits.

Zhuo Ge suddenly had a bold guess.

Could it be that magic didn’t actually come from the gods, but was a result of an ancient “monopoly of steam engines” event?

But he didn’t voice this theory to anyone and instead put on a playful expression.

“Can you teleport me back to Twin Towers City? If I fly, I’ll probably miss the yo-yo competition and the trailer I planned to release then.”