Chapter 124 – The Backup Plan

Under Punk’s pressure, Hett easily confessed his “crimes,” though this reluctant confession lacked detail and completely portrayed the Weimi Family as victims, making it sound utterly heartbreaking enough to move listeners to tears.

However, by combining some divination spells, Punk learned that the situation was not as “innocently deceived” as Hett claimed. Whether Hett was truly deceived didn’t matter at all—what Punk focused on was Tisha Xia’er’s arrangements in Doleiz City.

With the “confession” of this “traitor” Hett, Tisha Xia’er’s plans held few secrets.

In summary, it involved using Hett, a high-ranking noble, to conceal the traces of the Tisha Xia’er Church, employing Zweig to acquire the perfume industry and spread the plague, while simultaneously binding Doleiz’s nobles to their war chariot.

It must be said that if Tisha Xia’er hadn’t gone mad later, such arrangements could indeed be considered clever. But now, with the foundation of the Tisha Xia’er Church—Tisha Xia’er herself—having issues, this “network-style” setup not only failed to serve its intended purpose but instead exposed the church’s traces.

Hett sold out all the important strongholds of the Tisha Xia’er Church without any hesitation, thinking he had offered a pledge of allegiance and would surely gain Punk’s protection. Little did he know that Punk had never considered cooperating with this presumptuous family from the start. Or rather, cooperating with Punk would only make the family’s destruction more inevitable, because Punk had already decided—once the Tisha Xia’er Church matter was resolved, the plundering would begin!

Completely ignoring Hett’s pleas to stay, Punk left the Weimi Family’s residence and leaped onto a high wall in one step. He coldly gazed at the Lord’s Castle located in the city center.

“It’s time to begin, Tisha Xia’er! And… Mr. Kaiskaser, having received my benefits, it’s time to repay the favor.”

Punk thought to himself, while using the judgment of divination spells to time it perfectly, and boldly activated the “foreshadowing.” A flash of gray light vanished from the high wall in the darkness, resembling a giant eye suddenly opening in the dim night, staring into the darkness!

At the same time, in the Lord’s Castle, Kaiskaser had just eagerly knelt to the right of Gollat and began another round of tedious persuasion. However, the lord, obsessed with women, showed clear impatience. The only reason he came to listen to Kaiskaser’s “report” was that the loyal Knight Commander had pestered him to the point of annoyance. Now, he wanted to dump all authority onto the other party to avoid being bothered with these “troublesome matters.”

As fate would have it, Punk actually didn’t know—though Kaiskaser often sought audiences with the lord, he hardly ever got to meet Gollat face-to-face.

And the foundation for Punk’s backup plan to take effect was precisely Kaiskaser and Gollat meeting in person!

Originally, Gollat could have escaped this calamity, but… on the very day Punk activated the backup plan, this utterly unlucky Gollat made an appearance!While Kaiskaser was desperately trying to persuade, he suddenly felt extreme discomfort and pain in his abdomen. The sensation came so swiftly that before he could react, he vomited a mouthful of blood.

The blood wasn’t red but an eerie grayish crimson, its faintly sweet scent instantly permeating the entire hall.

This was Punk’s contingency plan—a highly concentrated plague virus concealed within the “Qi Circulation Potion”!

Since Bahanger refused to act against Tisha Xia’er, he would be forced to take action. After all, aside from the antidote in Punk’s possession, only Tisha Xia’er currently held the cure. To save Gollat, Bahanger would have no choice!

Simultaneously, in the forging room, the dwarf warrior abruptly halted his descending hammer. Just moments before, the battle aura he had left on Gollat’s crown detected a sudden surge of dense magical energy spreading everywhere. This magical fluctuation was identical to the plague afflicting the sick refugees outside, only a hundred times more concentrated.

“How could this be? Could it be… Damn it!”

“Boom!!”

Bahanger didn’t even care about the nearly forged Mithril. He immediately channeled his battle aura and frantically crashed through the forging room’s wall. With a deafening roar, he shattered two thick brick walls in succession, bursting directly into the Lord’s Castle’s council hall.

The dwarf warrior was filled with regret. He had been vigilantly monitoring all professional energy fluctuations near the Lord’s Castle recently, even diverting part of his attention during forging to inspect any magical disturbances around Gollat, all to prevent his Lord from contracting the terrible plague. But…

Bahanger never expected the plague to be hidden within Kaiskaser, who had come for an audience, then erupt with lightning speed and immediately infect Lord Gollat.

Though Bahanger’s fragmented battle aura provided timely protection for Gollat, the plague outbreak was too rapid and concentrated. Gollat, having no professional levels whatsoever, unsurprisingly contracted the dreadful plague on the spot.

In his fury, Bahanger instantly used his battle aura to sweep all residual plague viruses out of the castle. Yet even so, Gollat’s illness had become an irreversible reality.

“Ti-sha-Xia’er! How dare you insult the honorable Heavy Hammer Clan! From this day forward, I, Bahang Hammer, swear eternal vengeance upon you!”

Witnessing Gollat collapse in confused unconsciousness, Bahanger’s eyes burned crimson with rage, his beard and hair bristling wildly.

Gollat had contracted a magical disease for which no cure had yet been developed. Without immediate access to the antidote, Gollat would undoubtedly face certain death.

Gollat was the last surviving member of the Heide Family!

If the Heide Family—whom Bahanger had sworn to protect—were to perish…

The breaking of this solemn promise would mean the tarnishing of the Heavy Hammer Clan’s honor. According to clan tradition, Bahanger would forever lose the right to bear the “Hammer” surname. For an old dwarf who valued honor above all else, this was utterly unacceptable.Blinded by rage and single-minded, Bahanger gave no thought to any so-called mastermind behind the scenes. In his mind, since the plague was caused by Tisha Xia’er, then she alone should bear all the blame.

Moreover, the urgent task was to quickly find Tisha Xia’er and force her to hand over the antidote.

“Damn it! Damn it all! I won’t allow the glory of the Heavy Hammer to be shattered!”

Bahanger, looking as if he had gone mad, tightened his grip on the hammer handle, then turned his nearly flame-spewing eyes toward a group of terrified officials and roared:

“Hurry up and gather all the soldiers! We march immediately to subjugate the Tisha Xia’er Church!”

Feeling the terrifying aura emanating from Bahanger, several officials fainted on the spot. The remaining ones, barely holding on, felt bitter inside. They had been busy exploiting refugees and had never investigated the Tisha Xia’er Church. Now, they didn’t even know where the other side was—how could they possibly launch a campaign?

But seeing Bahanger’s murderous glare, no one dared to say they didn’t know. After all, Bahanger’s Battle Aura was already enveloping his hammer layer by layer. If any official dared to utter “I don’t know” while this lord was in a frenzy, they might never get to “know” anything again.

The officials trembled as they stood together in silence, but silence could never extinguish the fury in Bahanger’s heart. Seeing so many officials not answering him but wasting time instead, Bahanger’s rage surged, and he immediately lost his rationality. He raised his hammer high, and in the next moment, a pulsating yellowish-brown Battle Aura slowly took shape at the hammer’s head.

“I’ll say it one more time—subjugate Tisha Xia’er now! Are you ignoring me?!”

“Oh God! We’re finished,” an old official said in despair.

Just as all the officials thought they were doomed, a slender hand gently stopped Bahanger’s hammer.

“Enough, Master Bahanger. Please calm down. Anger will never solve problems. If they don’t know something, killing them won’t help.”

“It’s you again, you pretty boy!”

Bahanger shook off the hand blocking his path and roared at Kangkai’s handsome face, spittle flying out at bullet-like speeds.

“I don’t want to hear useless talk! If you can’t tell me how to find Tisha Xia’er, I’ll smash you along with them today!”

Seeing Bahanger’s fiery eyes and the Battle Aura compressing in preparation for a fight, Kangkai knew this nearly irrational dwarf wasn’t joking. But he showed no trace of fear, only sighed softly and slowly said:

“Although I don’t know… I do know that there is someone who definitely knows.”

(End of Chapter)