NOVEL SIMPLE Chapter 87, Any Last Wishes?
Chapter 87, Any Last Wishes?
Yuli opened the lid of her instant noodles, slurping as she asked, “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing!” Wu Heng replied quickly.
He still found it hard to believe what was recorded in the Book of Necromancy.
It couldn’t be just a coincidence, could it?
How long had he been in Blackstone Town?
And yet, every mission he had been on somehow matched what was written in the book.
The incident with the ghost infant in the mining village, according to the mine owner's confession.
Someone had told him how to cultivate wraiths three years ago.
Because it involved wraiths, the case was immediately attributed to the work of a 'necromancer.'
So, the mastermind behind this had been planning it for at least three years.
After obtaining the ghost infant.
The Divine Punishment Sect’s Bagdong and the child-stealing warlock both came to Blackstone Town one after the other, effectively delivering themselves.
Everything that had happened was too suspicious.
The necromancer who died last night should be the same vendor he encountered at the black market.
Judging by the items he sold and the large number of rotting corpses he had transformed, he must have become a necromancer a long time ago.
And he had no chance to gather all these things.
So why did he have to die?
“What did you say when you came in earlier?” Wu Heng asked Yuli.
“What did I say?” Yuli looked up with noodles hanging from her mouth.
“You said something about what your aunt was doing?”
“Oh, my aunt went out for some business, so I came to hang out with you,” Yuli said.
“And you mentioned that if we didn’t kill the necromancer, what would happen?” Wu Heng continued to ask.
Yuli frowned, then remembered and said, “Oh! The Kingdom and the Guild were taking this seriously. If we didn’t capture that necromancer, they were going to send an investigation team over.”
The Kingdom is extremely concerned about necromancers.
They were pressuring Blackstone Town to give them results.
So, a necromancer had to die.
Wu Heng felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up.
“What’s wrong with you?” Yuli asked again.
Wu Heng thought about sharing his discovery with her to ease his mental burden.
But he chose to keep his mouth shut.
Someone who could completely control Bagdong and the child-stealing warlock’s information, a Seer could do it easily, and with Slater’s influence in Blackstone Town...
Setting all this up wouldn’t be difficult.
“Nothing, just curious,” Wu Heng said with a smile, closing the book in his hands.
“Aren’t you going to eat?” Yuli asked, looking at his instant noodles.
“I am!”
He opened the lid, chatting idly with Yuli as he began to eat.
.........
Around noon.
There was a knock at the door of his residence.
Someone from the Guild had come to inform them to go to the Guild to burn the corpses.
There were quite a few dead bodies from last night, and with the current weather and the necromancer’s threat, they needed to be burned quickly.
But since Wu Heng started suspecting that the necromancer was just a scapegoat, it felt like they were deliberately destroying evidence.
But he had no solid proof.
And neither the Guild nor the town hall could be trusted anymore.
He and Yuli made their way to the Guild.
Entering the lounge, Otruluk and Kavina were already there.
Seeing the two enter, Otruluk smiled and said, “Wu Heng, these are the books we found in the necromancer’s stone fortress yesterday. The Guild is letting you read them first as part of the reward. You can return them when you’re done.”
He placed a few skill books on the table.
There were three skill books in total.
All were old and yellowed, looking older than he was.
【Raise Corpse】【Cursed Blast】【Fireball Spell】.
Two necromancy spells, and the Fireball Spell seemed to be an offensive skill.
【Raise Corpse】 was a spell to enslave rotting corpses, similar to his own ‘Raise Skeleton’ skill.
The difference wasn’t significant.
But since rotting corpses carried severe plague effects, necromancers who dealt with the living tended to use ‘Raise Skeleton’ more often.
【Cursed Blast】 was the spell used last night that caused the corpses to explode and release poison gas. Reading about it in the Book of Necromancy didn’t seem impressive.
But seeing its effect in person was quite dramatic; it seemed very effective against the living.
The Book of Necromancy also recorded a spell called ‘Corpse Explosion,’ where the corpse would explode with immense power.
It was almost an unbeatable tactic.
If a rotting corpse charges at you, do you attack or not? If you don’t, it chases you; if you do and it dies, it explodes and kills you too.
Finally, there was the 【Fireball Spell】, but this wasn’t the basic spell from games; it was a high-level skill.
After the explosion, it would produce flames that would continue to burn the surrounding area.
Overall, aside from 【Raise Corpse】, the other two were quite good.
“Oh, thanks.” Wu Heng put the three skill books away.
Otruluk continued, “The rewards and merits for this mission will be distributed after they’re calculated, which might take some time.”
“We’re not in a hurry,” Yuli responded cheerfully.
Otruluk nodded, then looked at Wu Heng and said, “Your merits should be higher than ours. If you earn another level 3 merit, you could be appointed as a captain by the headquarters, and then you could have your own squad members.”
“Our squad is great as it is,” Wu Heng replied.
Yuli thought for a moment and said, “Captain, what about our merits?”
“We’ll have some, but they’ll be lower than Wu Heng’s.”
After all, it was Wu Heng who killed the necromancer, so his merits would be higher. The others, unless they made some special contribution, would have lower merits.
If everyone got the same merit, it wouldn’t mean anything.
“Oh, that’s fine then,” Yuli said, thinking it over. “If you become captain, I’ll be your deputy.”
Wu Heng rolled his eyes at her and said, “Why wait for me? You should ask the captain to make you the deputy now.”
“No, your abilities are too poor; you’ll need someone to help you.”
“Who said they were poor!”
They chatted in the room for a while longer.
The squads began gathering to prepare for the corpse burning.
The bodies were placed outside the city. The squads went directly there, confirmed the identities, and proceeded with the burning.
The Fourth Squad left the city and arrived at the burning site.
Otruluk confirmed the bodies, and after ensuring there were no issues, they piled them onto the prepared wood stack.
Wu Heng glanced at the bodies and cast a 【Grease Spell】, then lit the fire.
Whoosh~!
Flames shot up into the sky.
Everyone quickly stepped back, giving the fire some space.
After all, these were necromancer’s summons, and no one could be sure if there would be another corpse explosion or a release of poison gas.
The flames roared, and the wood crackled.
With the Grease Spell fueling the fire, there was no need to add more wood; the bodies burned well enough.
Once the bodies were reduced to ashes, and the area was cleaned up, the squad began to head back.
Yuli walked arm-in-arm with Kavina, chatting and laughing.
It seemed that after the necromancer’s death, everything returned to normal, and no one was affected.
.........
Back at the Guild, the squads went home to tend to their injuries.
Yuli was called away by her aunt.
Wu Heng headed straight to the front desk to inquire about the progress on the corpse core antidotes.
The staff began checking the records.
With a smile, they said, “Mr. Wu Heng, the production of both potions is complete. Please wait a moment!”
They were both done.
With a formula, potion production is much more efficient.
Much faster than researching a new one.
Shortly after, the staff returned.
They were holding two boxes.
“Mr. Wu Heng, these are the potions you commissioned.” The staff respectfully placed the boxes on the table.
Wu Heng opened the boxes and saw the two potions inside.
【Special Antidote】【Intelligence Guard Antidote】
After confirming the potions were correct, he paid the remaining balance.
Taking the potions, he left the Guild.
Back at his residence, he locked the door and had Barson guard it.
Wu Heng placed the Level 2 corpse core and the potions on the table.
After a quick clean-up, he swallowed them.
A powerful mental pressure suddenly surged into his mind, as if an invisible force was tearing at his mental sea.
“Damn, this feels different.”
Wu Heng instantly felt something was wrong.
This was completely different from the symptoms he experienced the last time he took a Level 2 corpse core.
Without hesitation, he quickly opened a potion and gulped it down.
Whether it worked or not, he drank it first.
A cool sensation flooded his mind, but it only slightly eased the mental pressure.
The feeling of his mind being stretched and torn continued.
His ears rang, and his vision blurred.
Barson, the skeleton connected to his mental strength, began to rattle as if it were about to fall apart.
“This isn’t working!” Wu Heng struggled to withstand the pressure, then opened the two remaining Special Antidote bottles and drank them in one go.
The regular potions had some effect.
Wu Heng clutched his head, his teeth grinding together.
It felt like a long time passed.
A faint notification sounded in his ears.
【Perception +5, Intelligence +7, Charisma +5.】
【Ability Unlocked: Enhanced Willpower】
After the pain subsided, Wu Heng gasped for air, sweat soaking his shirt and dripping onto the floor.
The mental pressure was gradually easing, accompanied by an increase in his perception ability.
Even without looking, he could sense everything in the room.
The effect of the corpse core was significant, but for a moment there, he really thought he was going to die.
If he had turned into a zombie, he figured he’d be a Level 2 zombie.
In the zombie world, he could probably become a leader or something, but in this world, he might be killed and sent off for research, with his parts sold on the black market as materials.
That was scary.
Taking a deep breath, Wu Heng straightened up.
He began checking the attribute changes brought by the corpse core.
First was the increase in perception, intelligence, and charisma.
These attributes, unlike Constitution and Strength, didn’t manifest physically but were more subtle.
Intelligence directly affected a mage’s spellcasting and also influenced memory and logical thinking.
Every mage was a scholar, meaning the Intelligence requirement for this profession was high, as it required understanding various books and records.
Perception quantified intuition and insight, while Charisma represented personal magnetism and social appeal, which could be quite important.
For example, if you win over Slater, you could become an upper-class person in Blackstone Town, with no worries about food or clothing.
Finally, an ability was unlocked.
【Enhanced Willpower】: Strengthens personal willpower, forming a mental barrier that blocks and dispels negative effects that harm personal will.
Wu Heng frowned.
According to modern radio shows, it seemed like he had unlocked a superpower.
But this was a passive ability.
It might be useful in another world, but in the zombie world, its effects might be minimal.
Even the Big-Head zombie didn’t seem to affect his willpower.
It wasn’t the kind of superpower he had imagined.
It didn’t seem very useful.
But having it was better than nothing.
No point in being picky.
If he collected more corpse cores, he might unlock more abilities.
After tidying up the area, Wu Heng changed into clean clothes.
Knock, knock, knock~!
The door was knocked on again.
Wu Heng buttoned his shirt as he opened the door.
He expected it to be Yuli inviting him to dinner, but instead, it was a Guild staff member.
“The Deacon requests your presence.”
The Deacon?
“Alright,” Wu Heng nodded, thinking it might be about his merits and rewards from the mission.
Otruluk had mentioned his merits would be higher than others.
After a quick tidy-up, he headed out.
As he left the alley, he told his landlord that if the curly-haired girl came by, to tell her he went to the Guild.
With that, he and Barson made their way to the Guild.
.........
By this time, the Guild was mostly empty.
The hall was deserted, with a cold, eerie atmosphere.
Wu Heng arrived at the Deacon's study, knocked, and entered the room.
The study was as neat as ever.
“Deacon Yazde.”
“Hmm, have a seat,” the Deacon said with a smile.
Wu Heng sat down beside him.
Yazde asked, “How are you finding the Guild?”
“It’s good, pretty nice.”
“Your growth has been quite surprising to me. I didn’t expect you to be able to kill the necromancer last night,” Yazde said softly, leaning back in his chair.
“Just lucky,” Wu Heng said, though he sensed something strange in Yazde’s tone.
It was as if he was holding back excitement, preparing to release something that had been suppressed.
Yazde leaned on his staff as he stood up and continued, “Do you have any last wishes?”
