Chapter 169: Chapter 107: Seen Through (Part 3)

[...]

"You... die!" The last remaining City Guard roared and charged, swinging his standard-issue longsword down.

Wei’en holstered his flintlock, casually snapped his fingers, and flashed to Tina’s side.

"Nico. Ruke."

Two phantom doppelgangers cast a pair of Charm Spells on the poor, Bone-Eating Worm-infested City Guard captain: "Mens. Di."

"Die... I’ll kill you... just die..."

"A sacrifice for the Matriarch! Your bones, your body—they all belong to the great Matriarch..."

"You’re finished! You’re all finished! The great Matriarch will devour the entire city-state and turn this place into an Abyssal Purgatory! Hahaha..."

Wei’en shook his head, watching the City Guard captain swing his longsword around in a wild frenzy.

’A Bone-Eating Mother Worm, a Matriarch? Since when?’

As far as he knew, according to the power rankings of Abyssal Creatures, a Bone-Eating Mother Worm was at most comparable to a second-tier Cataclysm. It was a far cry from being able to devour an entire city-state.

’Does he really think the various powers in a city-state that constantly faces danger have no way to deal with this?’

"What happened here?"

Lisi and Kali asked as they arrived, looking at the City Guard corpses all over the ground, each one shot in the head.

"There," Wei’en said, pointing at a few small, grayish-white bugs crawling out of a corpse. "Bone-Eating Worms."

"Bone-Eating Worms?" Lisi’s expression changed slightly. She exchanged a glance with Kali. "Those workers from yesterday... they were hosts?"

"Hm? Workers?"

"The case we were investigating yesterday. No wonder those workers seemed off. Turns out they were all infested with Bone-Eating Worms."

Lisi strode forward and stomped on the Bone-Eating Worms, crushing them. She said hatefully, "Wei’en, go get reinforcements from the City Guard garrison in the Yidrisu District. We’ll meet directly at the Michelle Cloth Factory."

"Kali, let’s go."

"Right."

With that, the two women ran toward a factory in the distance.

Wei’en froze for a moment. He glanced at their retreating backs, then at the still-ranting City Guard captain. ’So what do I do with this guy?’

After a moment’s thought, he summoned the Mechanical Gate and let the Mechanical Puppet, Zero, out for some fresh air.

"Baba," Zero emerged from the Mechanical Gate, hopping about with nimble limbs. Its childish voice cheered, "Look at me! I can control my body!"

Wei’en grinned. "Zero. Not bad, not bad."

He noticed a faint black aura covering its body. ’It’s already been imbued with the Death attribute this quickly,’ he thought. ’Looks like it’ll be useful soon.’

"Take this person. Let’s go."

"As you command."

Zero gave a salute, but then scratched its head as it looked at the City Guard, who was still swinging his longsword. "Is he attacking?"

"Mm."

Wei’en drew his flintlock and shot the captain through the arm. Only after seeing him drop the longsword did he nod. "Okay, now you can."

A flicker of understanding passed through Zero’s eyes. ’So that’s how you control them?’

It walked over and hoisted the City Guard captain onto its shoulder. "Like this?"

"Exactly. Well done."

Wei’en gave it a thumbs-up, then took Tina’s hand and started back the way they came. He recalled that the City Guard garrison in the Yidrisu District wasn’t far from the residential area.

"You will die! You’ll all die! Haha..."

The City Guard captain was slung over Zero’s shoulder, his arms dangling, but his legs were still struggling.

CRACK. CRACK.

"AGHH—"

Wei’en glanced back to see the City Guard’s legs go limp. Judging by the twisted, pretzel-like shape they were in, he’d be crippled for life.

’Being infested by a Bone-Eating Worm is tragic enough, but to suffer this kind of torture on top of it... Wouldn’t it have been better to just behave?’

"Was that right, Baba?" Zero asked, looking at the now-motionless City Guard captain, clearly seeking praise.

"...Great." Wei’en forced a smile and gave it another thumbs-up.

’The kid is still young, it needs to be taught... This is going to be a long road.’

Zero returned the thumbs-up as if it had received the highest encouragement, and began swinging the poor City Guard around like a toy.

"I... I... the Matriarch will kill... kill you... ki—"

CRACK.

"Mph... mmphh... mmmphh..."

"He’s too noisy, Baba."

"You’re doing great."

Without looking back, Wei’en continued his "encouragement-based" education, resolving to find time to properly teach Zero later.

’Otherwise, this kid is going down the wrong path...’

He was counting on Zero to help him make bullets, firearms, and even other Mechanical Puppets.

Tina glanced back at the commotion. When she saw that the City Guard captain could no longer speak, a glimmer of light flashed in her eyes.

’Like that?’

Then she turned her head away, and the fingers holding the clown doll twitched slightly.

For the first time, a pitiful look appeared in the clown’s fierce eyes. *Whimper... ooh-yo ooh-yo ooh-yo ah...*

(*Sob... no no no...*)

...

...

After Wei’en had Zero beat the poor City Guard captain to a pulp in front of the Yidrisu District garrison and extract the Bone-Eating Worm inside...

The garrisoned City Guard erupted into an uproar. Captain Frick, without a moment’s hesitation, took three squads—hundreds of City Guards—and followed Wei’en toward the factory district.

"How dare they use Abyssal Creatures to infest the City Guard! I’ll make them pay!"

Wei’en sent Zero back into the Mechanical Gate and asked, "Captain Frick, have you encountered this before?"

"From time to time, people from the Abyssal Sect summon Abyssal Creatures here, but we’ve never had casualties this high. Those were elite veterans stationed at the watchtowers, and to be taken out just like that..."

"Watchtowers?"

Wei’en looked at the watchtowers on the high walls to the north, his brow furrowing.

It was one thing for the Bone-Eating Worms to appear in the Laos District. But now it was factory workers and City Guards stationed on the perimeter. He had a feeling these hosts weren’t being chosen at random.