One Sneeze Destroys A Magical Civilization

Chapter 270 The Essence of the Spell Sequencer

With all the red-robed wizards retreating and the Zhentarim collapsed due to the killing of Manshin, Luskan finally fell under the control of Zuo Si.

To be precise, it is controlled by the core members of the organization—the liches.

Because he himself has always lacked interest in such things as operation and management, so many times he only roughly sets a basic policy, and the rest is left to play his subjective initiative.

In particular, Vanessa, who has become the de facto second in command, is very keen to lead such things for some reason, and she never tires of it.

Using the large population and immigrants brought from Mindan Island, he easily resolved the means of Luskan's local residents trying to resist the new ruler through non-violent non-cooperation.

After all, the original permanent residents of Luskan were only about 15,000.

Counting those who died in battle, those who were transformed into undead creatures, and those who were thrown into quarries and mines for hard labor, there are almost a few thousand young adults in total.

Therefore, most of the remaining residents in the city are women, children, the elderly, the sick, and the disabled, as well as a small number of merchants, guards, and members of the Thieves Guild.

So when the members of the Thieves Guild and the Ratmen in the sewer were cleaned up, the entire city had actually lost the capital to resist.

If they do not choose to cooperate, they will soon be completely replaced by immigrants and become the bottom of society.

As for the unscrupulous businessmen, they were arrested one by one in less than two or three days and all their properties were confiscated.

Then use these wealth and materials to hire people to rebuild houses and repair roads, and restore the ruined battlefield to its original state.

When the people have money, they will naturally be able to buy daily necessities such as food and clothes, thereby revitalizing economic activities that have completely stagnated.

Not only that!

Simbu, who has always hated slavery, personally took Storm Silver Hands to go outside the city to liberate those farms that depended on slavery to operate, and gave the slaves the status of freemen.

Under the instruction of Zuo Si, if the liberated slaves are willing to stay and continue to work in this job, they will not only get generous remuneration, but also promise to guarantee safety.

The reason why he didn't distribute land to these people was that Luskan was too close to the mountains on the Spine of the World, and various monsters and barbarians invaded one after another.

Human beings must unite to build fortresses and manors like fortresses, so that they can barely resist external threats and protect their lives and properties from being violated.

If it is taken for granted that the land is distributed to one independent family after another on a household basis, it may be discovered after a few weeks or even months that these families will all die in all likelihood.

As the saying goes, what is suitable is the best.

If you just mechanically copy other people's successful experience without understanding and the actual situation, it is basically no different from murder.

Although the confiscation of the property of illegal merchants made Luskan temporarily lose the ability to conduct maritime trade, but with dozens of large ships full of various goods from Amn, Waterdeep, and Nelanthir Islands, the Luskan fell into a dead silence. The city is full of vitality again.

A large number of special products from the extreme north transported from Icewind Dale were bought by merchants in the south at high prices, and hunters, middlemen, adventurers and loggers also had rich incomes.

Standing on the top floor of the recently restored Arcane Brotherhood Tower, Simbu watched with great interest the drastic changes that Luskan had undergone in a short period of time, and smiled and praised: "I have to admit, you are indeed an expert in this regard. A good ruler. Because you always know what people of all classes need and can give them what they want."

"No, you are wrong. It is not me who is outstanding, but the efficient bureaucratic system established by Vanessa. If there is no grassroots executor who can implement the policy, then even the best policy will be misinterpreted and used, and it will become An excuse for exploiting the lower classes and corruption," Zuo Si replied casually.

As a modern person, he may be the one who clearly understands how important an efficient and well-organized bureaucratic system is to a city or even a country in the entire Faerun continent.

And in terms of dealing with corruption and abuse of power, the Liches will not tell you about laws, human rights, evidence and the like.

Once they discover the object of suspicion, they will often directly choose to use prophecy magic to confirm, or they will use veritaserum, detect lies and other potions and spells.

Anyway, as long as this guy really did it, it is absolutely impossible to escape.

Therefore, from the establishment to the present, the bureaucratic system of the Neilansir Islands has maintained an efficiency and cleanliness that the outside world cannot imagine.

Even those who have turned from businessmen to mayors and officials know that there is a pair of undetectable eyes watching everything in the dark.

If anyone dares to cross the line, he will inevitably suffer the most severe punishment.

As for running away, don't even think about it.

"Vanessa? That lich?" Simbu's eyes flashed a trace of curiosity.

She had always thought that liches, like red-robed mages, were extremely cruel, selfish, and cruel bastards.

Otherwise, he would not have bet with others to see who can kill a hundred liches first.

But the Liches of the Arcane Society are obviously very different.

Although many of them still give people a very selfish and evil feeling, they have been doing things according to the rules and rarely affect the lives of ordinary people.

Zuo Si smiled and nodded: "That's right. Vanessa is a very good executor, and she can always carry out my intentions and orders perfectly. Without him, I don't think the Neilansir Islands would be able to With the current prosperity, Luskan's transformation plan will not be so smooth."

"Understood. You're using these powerful undead spellcasters to intimidate the bureaucrats and make sure no moth ever appears among them."

As the queen of Agoralon, although Simbu's control over politics and power is far from being as good as Alustriol's, she is not an idiot, and she immediately understood the position occupied by the liches in the ruling structure .

In many cases, they are not managers, and they do not even directly participate in the handling of daily affairs, but only exist as a role of conveying orders and supervision.

Only when someone tries to start a rebellion, or if there is a lot of corruption in the bureaucracy, will the liches come forward for a merciless cleanup.

In this way, with such a sword of Damocles hanging above their heads, officials will naturally maintain a sense of awe, and will definitely think twice when accepting bribes.

In fact, the root cause of large-scale corruption, corruption, and bribery is that there are serious problems in the supervision and judicial systems, which cause bureaucrats to lose their most basic awe.

Coupled with a fluke mentality that the law does not blame the public, it will be difficult to restrain it once it spreads.

But liches who are undead are different, they don't care about the law and don't blame everyone, and they won't be soft-hearted just because there are too many people who make mistakes.

Therefore, the effect in terms of deterrence is directly full.

"That's right. In fact, I originally wanted to enter the judicial and judicial system of the Church of Tyr, the God of Justice. But due to the massive use of undead as labor, I can only give up this idea." Zuo Si shrugged his shoulders and replied.

Out of curiosity, he once visited a judicial trial presided over by the Church of Tyr, the God of Justice, when he went to Neverwinter.

The whole process, whether it is submitting evidence, defending, appealing, or the final judgment, has a bit of a modern social court.

And because the hosts are all priests and believers of the God of Justice, both the legal provisions and the sentencing are very appropriate and beneficial, neither too strict nor loopholes for criminals to take advantage of.

If possible, Zuo Si really hopes to bring this judicial system into his sphere of influence.

It's a pity that it is impossible for the two parties to reach an agreement on the use of undead creatures.

In contrast, the church and voters of the goddess of magic have a high tolerance in this regard.

At least Kelben, Simbu, Elastra, Storm Silverhand, Dove Silverhand, etc., did not show any obvious signs of distress when they saw a large number of undead being sent to work in farms and mines outside the city. disgust.

"Hahahaha! Many people say that I am a lunatic! But in my opinion, you are the real lunatic. You have recruited so many liches as your subordinates, and you have transformed the undead on a large scale. The cooperation of the church of Tyr, the God of Justice? I really want to pry open your mind to see what weird ideas are packed inside."

Simbu laughed out of breath.

She suddenly found that the young man in front of her was very interesting, and her personality and ideas were unexpectedly compatible with her.

Especially in terms of the attitude towards the enemy, they all advocate killing them all without leaving any future troubles.

This is completely different from the view that Elminster always likes to be merciful, and Kelben prefers to maintain balance.

In fact, the Queen of Storms is the most unusual of the many voters of the Goddess of Magic.

The reason why the outside world thinks she is crazy all day long is that most people can't keep up with her thinking speed.

"Don't laugh, I'm serious."

Zuo Si shrugged helplessly.

"In my opinion, killing and turning those pirates, bandits, orcs, goblins, gnolls and the like who only know how to destroy but not engage in production and creation and turn them into undead can alleviate the general problem of labor shortage in the entire Faerun continent to the greatest extent. .

And with these undead workers who are free and do not need to eat, drink, or rest, they can produce amazing food, steel, stone, wood and other necessities in a short period of time, thereby ensuring the continued stability of prices.

There will be no famine or skyrocketing prices due to natural disasters or other reasons.

Most importantly, the undead can be transformed into an army to resist the invasion of external forces when needed.

Taking Luskan as an example, I arranged 200 undead workers in each farm to provide a certain degree of protection for those farmers when monsters or wild beasts invaded.

If it were human beings, not to mention how much it would cost to recruit and train so many soldiers, the daily food consumption alone would be an astonishing figure, and it would also bring a heavy burden to the farm itself.

Sometimes I really can't figure out why a kind god like Tire, the god of justice, who advocates establishing order and hopes that the people can live a good life, excludes undead labor, which is both economical and prosperous, from the options outside.

Is the so-called definition of good and evil so important?

Just watch, under the non-stop production of these undead laborers, the granaries in the Nelanther Islands and Luskan will soon be full of food and various strategic materials.

With a stable and cheap food supply, births can be encouraged by providing welfare, and the population will explode in the next 20 to 30 years.

I will prove to the world that the undead are not a scourge in themselves, nor are they the most dangerous enemies of all living beings, as it is supposed to be.

Just the opposite!

As long as they are used properly, they can become the cornerstone of the prosperity of a city or even a country. "

Simbu nodded approvingly: "Judging from the current development trend, this goal is very likely to be realized.

If the artificers of the Imasca Empire had thought of this, they would not have brought the gods from another world over by opening the interplanetary portal to plunder slaves, and eventually lead to their own demise.

But you'd better be careful, low-level undead are very easy to control.

If someone uses them to create terrorist attacks, then people will inevitably fear and even resist the appearance of undead around them. "

"Please don't worry about this. Don't forget, in addition to being a voter of the Goddess of Magic, I am also a voter of the Goddess of Poison and Disease. If someone dares to play this set of indiscriminate attacks with me, then I don't mind playing Their sphere of influence poisons and spreads plagues. I believe Mansong should have a deep understanding by now."

While saying these words, the corners of Zuo Si's mouth raised slightly, showing a chilling expression.

He will not forget the vengeance against Manshin and the Zhentarim.

In fact, on the second day after the battle ended, a large number of soldiers and bureaucrats began to be poisoned one after another in the main strongholds including Dark Fort and Zhentil Fort.

It is estimated that it has completely spread now, and the number of deaths and permanent disabilities must be at least several thousand.

You must know that these people are not civilians, but the army and officials used to maintain the foundation of the dictatorship.

With such a high price, it is estimated that Mansong is completely devastated right now.

After all, this move basically caused Zhentil Castle to lose its proud elite army.

Not to mention launching a war of foreign aggression, even self-protection has become a big problem.

Obviously, Zuo Si knew that if he used the plague, Mansong would definitely take the opportunity to spread it to the surrounding area, so he changed his strategy very smartly, that is, poisoning.

Although there are divine spells such as [slow down the poisonous hair] and [neutralize the poison] in the magic spell, they can be treated, and even the reserved antidote can be used to deal with it.

However, since the toxin released this time has a very severe effect and will cause permanent disabilities in a very short period of time, it is meaningless even if it is cured. Instead, it is a headache to deal with these disabled soldiers.

Unless Manshoon is willing to repeatedly use the wish spell at great cost, the army at Zhentil Keep and Darkhold will be greatly reduced.

And this kind of downsizing will cause the sphere of influence he controls to become extremely unstable, and it may even be taken advantage of by hostile forces.

"Avengers must be revenged, and this is what I like most about you. Elminster, Kelben, Lila, and Erastriol are all too weak in dealing with their enemies, and they don't treat the Zhentarim and the red-robed mage at all. Waiting for the evil organization to form a deterrent directly leads to the latter becoming more and more unscrupulous when planning conspiracies."

Simbu's tone clearly revealed his dissatisfaction with several other voters.

On this matter, she had long ago had a fierce quarrel with Elminster, who was the head of the electorate.

After all, from the map, Agoralon is located on the peninsula to the west of Serre, and it has always been a country that the red-robed mages want to occupy and annex.

Therefore, as the queen, Simbu can feel the threat most personally, so her attitude and reaction will naturally be more radical than other voters.

"I completely agree with your point of view. To deal with those guys who are making progress, it is most important to form an effective deterrent to make the other party feel jealous. Otherwise, if every failure is not painful, it will only encourage their arrogance. In this regard , I have a natural advantage. Because poisoning and releasing the plague are always the most destructive and cheapest ways to destroy the entire social structure. Maybe we can form an alliance and deal with the red robes headed by Sazhastan."

Zuo Si offered an invitation for cooperation.

Of course, he didn't care much about Aglaron, a country full of half-elves, he just hoped to establish a good ally relationship with Simbu.

"Are you sure? You know that the war between Cyre and Aglaron has been going on for many years. If you form an alliance, it means that you may participate in this protracted battle at any time." Simbu challenged in surprise raised eyebrows.

Zuo Si responded with a smile: "I've never been afraid of a challenge. Confronting one of the most powerful spellcasting organizations in the entire Faerun continent can provide a good experience. What's more, wouldn't it be you, Ling Hongpao mages?" Is the frightened Storm Queen sitting in town?"

"Pfft ha ha ha! You are very good at talking, no wonder Alaszhuo is so interested in you. It seems that you are bound to get my exclusive sequencer magic." A playful look appeared on Simbu's beautiful face. smile.

It has to be said that one of the seven Northland sisters counts as one, and they are all standard beauties with elven blood.

Even the Storm Queen, who looks the sloppiest in appearance, can instantly attract the attention of others as long as she takes a shower and grooms her a little.

It's a pity that she never cared about this, and sometimes she could smell a sour smell when she got close.

"Exploring and learning unknown magical knowledge is the highest pursuit of my life. As long as I can achieve this goal, I don't care what price I have to pay for it."

Zuo Si didn't hide anything, and openly admitted his desire for the mystery of sequencer magic.

Although Planeswalker's card system can also achieve this to some extent, but as the saying goes, if you don't overwhelm yourself with a lot of art, who would think that you have too many cards in your hand.

Simbu nodded in satisfaction: "I like your straightforwardness. Since you have shared with me the secret of being a planeswalker and are willing to help plant spies inside the red-robed mage at the right time, I will Let me tell you about the mystery of sequencer magic. But you have to make sure you don't spread it out."

"Please rest assured. Except for myself and the Lich who is completely under my control, no outsider will know the mystery of the sequencer." Zuo Si assured without hesitation.

When Simbu heard this, he immediately raised his eyebrows and showed a very strange expression.

Because the guarantee she originally wanted was not to pass it on to any outsiders.

But Zuo Si was lucky, and directly expanded the scope to the Liches of the Arcane Society.

But considering that the planeswalker is powerful enough to rival the power of the gods, these liches will never be able to escape their control, so it seems that there is no big problem.

In the end, Simbu did not raise any objections, but explained the principle of sequencer magic in very concise language.

Contrary to what Zuo Si thinks, sequencer magic does not mean compressing and storing several magic spells in the ordinary sense, and triggering them with a gesture when needed.

Just the opposite!

It's more like "borrowing" spells from elsewhere.

The word "borrow" is used because the spells triggered by the sequencer often have two sources.

One of them, of course, is that the caster himself has set up a secret spell storage location in advance, and when needed, he will connect to the magic net through the sequencer itself over a long distance, and release the stored spells one by one.

Since the stored spells themselves will last for a very long period of time, it is equivalent to adding a series of powerful additional continuous spell bombardments on the basis of the spell slots that can be obtained every day.

As for the other one, it is to "borrow" from the spells remembered by others by establishing a stable connection.

For example, Zuo Si can establish a stable connection with his liches through sequencer magic.

When it is time to release the sequencer, the liches will be notified in advance and complete the preparations for casting the spell as quickly as possible.

All he has to do is channel the spells through the Weave and pour them all over the heads of his enemies.

To sum it up simply, the essence of the sequencer is a magic storage technology and spell bit borrowing technique.

I am afraid that except for the Goddess of Magic who are used for Silver Fire and the real legendary mages, it is almost difficult for ordinary spellcasters to complete this kind of ultra-long-distance magic energy transmission.

"How, are you disappointed? The famous sequencer is actually not fundamentally different from items such as magic storage rings and wands."

Simbu took a sip of hot cocoa from his cup, with an expression of great enjoyment on his face.

A woman's nature of liking chocolate and sweets is perfectly reflected in her at this moment.

Since she tasted it for the first time a few days ago, the queen has completely fallen in love with this special product from the Maztec continent, and she is going to bring a few hundred catties with her dimensional bag when she goes back.

For Aglaron was in the east of Faerun, next to Cyre where the red mages ruled.

The New World trade that emerged from the west coast has not yet been extended by merchants.

So there are no cocoa beans, cocoa powder and finished chocolate for sale there.

Zuo Si shook his head lightly: "How is it possible? The ultra-long-distance magic energy transmission provided by the sequencer magic alone is a genius creation in my opinion, not to mention the genius of building a magic storage secret room." A pioneering feat. As a warlock, you have reached heights that many mages have never been able to achieve."

"Why does this sentence sound like a bit of discrimination against warlocks?" Simbu put down the cup in his hand and questioned.

"Don't worry, it's just because of a certain pyromancer's performance of stretching his hips, which made me inevitably have a little prejudice against the profession of warlocks." Zuo Si explained with a smile.

Undoubtedly, most of his knowledge of warlocks comes from "follower" Alena, and Aisha, a magic item merchant far away in Calimport.

Since the relationship with the latter is purely commercial, it has never been in its state of battle.

This also means that Zuo Si's knowledge of human warlocks all comes from Alena, who often gets into trouble.

Since being summoned, this passionate and violent woman with a personality like flames has personally participated in at least twenty tavern fights, which is a typical example of indomitability, and even has the title of "Queen of Nightclubs" by Askatla.

Some hooligans and gangsters also worship it as an idol.

In order to avoid unnecessary trouble and loss, several hotels and restaurants directly put up signs to prohibit them from entering, which is simply a disaster.

"What are your plans next?"

Simbu obviously didn't want to delve into this issue, but decisively changed the topic.

Because she had met Alena and understood how dangerous this red-haired female sorceress suspected of having the blood of the fire element was, especially for her companions.

Those large-scale flame spells are as terrifying as natural disasters in towns and villages full of wooden houses.

"No special plans. Now that Luskan has settled down, I'm going to go back to Askatla to deal with some private matters, and then go hunting a red dragon named Faircrag."

Zuo Si quickly stated her final plan before the end of summer vacation.

Whether it's transforming the dragon-born knight into a higher-level entourage, or figuring out what life is conceived in the belly of the vampire queen Badi, he must get it done as soon as possible.

Otherwise, everything will become very troublesome when Irenicus rushes back from the Fire Elemental Plane.

"Hunting red dragons?"

Simbu's eyes lighted up slightly, and he became interested instantly.

You must know that among the many voters, except for Elminster, she killed the most evil dragons.

"That's right. Why, are you interested in coming together?" Zuo Si suggested with great interest.

Simbu was obviously a little moved, but in the end he refused regretfully: "Sorry, although I really want to participate in this hunt, but considering the threat of Serre, I must rush back to Agoralon as soon as possible. After this failure, Agralong Znar Srull and his allies are likely to lose power, and if Sarzastan holds supreme power, the red mage will undoubtedly become more difficult to deal with than before."

"No matter what happens, I will always provide assistance within my ability as an ally. If necessary, I will even personally participate in the war." Zuo Si clearly expressed his position.

"Thank you. Time will tell whether our friendship is strong. Also, you are always welcome to visit my country."

Simbu pursed his lips and showed a faint smile, then opened the portal and disappeared without a trace.

Not long after she left, Kelben and Alastriol walked in from the outside.

When the latter saw the empty teacups on the table, he immediately asked in surprise, "Ayla Yulan has gone back?"

"Yes. As the queen and witch queen of Agoralon, the survival pressure she faces in ruling the country is much greater than that of Silvermoon City and Waterdeep City." Zuo Si replied casually.

Kelben couldn't help sighing slightly: "This is also a helpless matter. Agoralon is too close to Searle, and too far from the west coast and the Northland. We can't help at all. By the way, you talk about How is it?"

"Not bad. We signed a covenant, helped each other when we needed it, and faced the threat of the red-robed mages together. After all, this time I swallowed all their concessions and strongholds on the west coast, and willing to admit defeat is nothing like that Guy style."

Zuo Si can even predict how much the faction chief headed by Aznar Srull will hate himself after returning, and start to plan a new conspiracy.

That's why he started looking for more allies.

Especially the voters of the Goddess of Magic are naturally suitable candidates to be allies.

Among other things, the fact that Kelben and Alastriol came directly to help without any hesitation this time is the best proof.

Except, of course, Elminster.

The great sage and the first elector of the Shadow Valley obviously had very big differences with Zuo Si in terms of ideas, so the few meetings and conversations between the two were not pleasant.

"So, you got the mystery of the sequencer magic from her?" Alastriol tentatively asked in an uncertain tone.

Zuo Si nodded slightly: "Well, I got it. In exchange, I also shared some of my secrets and special methods for making magic items."

"I'm very glad that there was no conflict between the two of you. You must know that Ella Silan's temper is not able to get along with everyone." Kelben said very relieved.

Elastre also echoed with lingering fear: "That's right. I will never forget that Sammaster and Simbu almost fought when they met for the first time, and I am a little worried that a similar situation will happen between you. .”

"Don't worry, we unexpectedly have a lot of common language, and we have also reached a lot of consistent views when dealing with the Red Robe Mage and the Zhentarim. By the way, with the collapse of the Arcane Brotherhood, Luskan is undergoing reform, Is there any basis and necessity for the Landlord Alliance to continue to exist?"

Zuo Si suddenly raised a very sharp question.

Because the loose organization of the local lord alliance was actually a big alliance that recognized the legitimacy of each other's rule at the beginning.

There are only two main responsibilities, one is to fight against Luskan, which has a strong tendency to expand, and the other is to deal with monster armies like the Zhentarim, Dragon Cult, and monsters that form from time to time.

Since all the cities and towns that joined it had to spend part of their fiscal revenue to support the professional soldiers provided by Waterdeep City, Neverwinter City, and Silvermoon City, it had already caused a lot of dissatisfaction.

It's just that Luskan was an external threat before, so everyone chose to swallow their anger and dare not attack.

But now that Luskan's threat no longer exists, internal conflicts will inevitably explode with the disappearance of external threats.

It is foreseeable that the Alliance of Lords will experience an unprecedented severe test.

"Well—this is indeed a trouble. After I go back, I will raise it with the lords of Waterdeep City to see what their opinions and opinions are." Kelben stroked the bushy beard on his chin with a thoughtful expression .

"I think it's better to keep the Northland Lords Alliance. At least this can effectively prevent bloody conflicts in a town due to interests."

Alustri quickly expressed his point of view.

Although she herself is bothered by the fact that the group gets together and often quarrels.

But it's better to quarrel than start a war.

What's more, without the huge threat of the Arcane Brotherhood and Luskan, the Lord of Silvermoon City is planning to flex his muscles and reproduce the grand occasion of the harmonious coexistence of various races in Myth Dranno.

It's a pity that Alustriel didn't understand that the fall of Myth Dranno itself was due to the fact that the race was too complicated, and it finally fell apart under the intensification of serious internal fighting and conflicts.

As for the dark army composed of dark elves, orcs, gnolls, titans, goblins, and demons, it only accelerated the collapse.

It is precisely because of the serious internal racial problems that the end of Myth Draenor has actually formed a severe form of multi-ethnic coexistence on the earth without any major nation-states, that is, the so-called "social consensus" cannot be reached, and every A politician is fighting for the interests of his own race, and he doesn't care about the life and death of other races.

In the final stage of development, there were even cases where each other dispatched a moment to assassinate the leader of the other party and start a civil war.

Under such circumstances, the army of darkness finally seized the opportunity to madly harass the villages around the city, and hold evil and cruel sacrifices to summon powerful demons to increase their strength.

In the beginning, those in power in Myth Drannor didn't take these monsters and the harassment of enemies seriously at all.

Possessing powerful magical powers and myths, they believe that as long as they deal with the internal enemies and succeed in taking power, it is easy to wipe out these barbarian monsters.

But who knew that when something went wrong, there were already many powerful demons in the dark army that could compete with high-level mages and even legendary mages.

As a result, relying on the overwhelming advantage in numbers, Myth Drano's army and mage group retreated steadily, and finally had no choice but to abandon his hometown and choose to flee in all directions.

Therefore, in Zuo Si's eyes, Alustri is a typical idealist, always naively thinking that he can suppress the dark side of human nature through his strong personal charm.

If it wasn't for his own strength and the fact that he had gathered a group of followers with the same idea around him, he would have died countless times.

Moreover, the situation in Faerun is much more complicated than that on Earth, and the intervention of gods and beliefs must also be considered.

Just when the three of them were discussing the situation in the Northland again, Zhentil Fort was enduring the most terrible crisis since its establishment near the mouth of the Tes River into the Moon Sea.

As the local lord, Mansong, who had just been resurrected through the clone, was standing on the top floor of the tower with a gloomy expression at the moment, looking at the mass of corpses being burned outside, with monstrous anger bursting out of his eyes.

He never expected that Zuo Si, a crazy elector of Talona, ​​would be dissatisfied after killing himself once, and really went to Zhentil Castle to take revenge.

And it's not spreading the plague as I expected, but poisoning more insidiously and cunningly.

In just a few days, more than 2,000 strictly trained orc troops died under the ravages of poison.

As for the human army, it is also not much better, and they are dying inexplicably every day.

Food, water, clothing, and even the air can contain deadly toxins.

So far, Mansong has not even figured out what method the other party is using to poison, and how to bypass the magic alarm he set.

After several minutes, he didn't turn his head back to ask his most trusted apprentice: "Ximanmeng, how is the situation in Dark Castle?"

"They're all dead, teacher. I can only transform them into zombies through the necromancy ritual, otherwise I won't be able to stop the invasion of monsters around me." Xi Manmeng replied bitterly.

"What? They're all dead!" Mansong turned around sharply. "Why are they all dead? Didn't I have someone send you some antidote?"

"Because the location of the Dark Fort is deep in the Sunset Mountains, there is no need to worry about it spreading to the outside, so Sous not only used poison, but also released a terrible plague. Even I was accidentally infected, almost even I lost my life. What's worse, Fuzor Chambery has already started to challenge you within the Zhentarim, and tried to seize the highest leadership. Many members of the inner circle also think that it is your recklessness and stupidity It has provoked a terrible enemy that should not be provoked for the organization."

While saying these words, Xi Manmeng cautiously paid attention to his mentor's reaction from the corner of his eyes.

I don't know why, since he witnessed Mansong being killed by the thunderbolt shaped by Zuo Si with silver fire, he gradually lost his original awe, and began to re-examine this ambitious old man from another angle.

We must know that more than one hundred years old is very close to the upper limit of the theoretical lifespan of the human race.

Manson looked like a man in his forties and fifties, despite his many life-extending methods.

But Xi Manmeng knew that Mansong had secretly planned to transform into a lich or other forms that could gain a longer lifespan.

Especially the blow brought about by this fiasco made him start to wonder if there was something wrong with his magical path.

Otherwise, why would he be easily defeated by such a young junior?

Although the power of the elect given by the goddess of magic played a very important role in this process, whether it is the immunity time stop or the silver fire burst mode, it is not easy for ordinary spellcasters or even legendary mages to deal with.

But this kind of self-doubt is making Mansson lose his previous self-confidence and at the same time start to become hesitant.

This is simply a fatal weakness within the Zhentarim where the phenomenon of "down to top" is very common.

Otherwise, Fu Zuoer Chamberui would not jump out to seize power during this sensitive period.

"Damn bastard!"

Hearing of Fuzzel Chamberry's yet another attempt to take away the leadership of the Zhentarim, Manshoon looked distraught.

As a voter of Bane, the "Moon Sea Tyrant" who also possesses extremely high charisma and leadership ability, Fuzzel Chamberry is almost on par with him in status.

Even the prestige among Bane's believers far exceeds that of the leader of his mage organization.

But soon, Mansong forced himself to calm down, and asked with a serious expression: "How many people have clearly expressed their support for Fu Zuoer Chamberui?"

"A lot. The members of the inner circle alone already account for more than half of them. And after this failure, our intelligence network in the North has suffered heavy losses, and some places have even cut off their intelligence collection capabilities. In addition, the Zhentil Fort army Many deaths, your rule has begun to falter."

Xi Manmeng didn't hide anything, and directly described the worst situation at the moment.

For some unknown reason, his face looked paler than usual, and he covered his mouth and coughed twice after speaking a few words, and carefully kept a certain distance from the sunlight coming in from the window.

It's a pity that Mansong, who was having a headache about how to keep his power, didn't notice these suspicious places, and quickly made arrangements after thinking for a while.

On the one hand, he asked Xi Manmeng to take out the previously collected black information about the members of the inner ring and threaten the other party at the door, forcing him to give up his support for Fu Zuoer Chamberui.

On the other hand, he decisively ordered to stop burning the bodies of dead soldiers, but to turn them into zombies or skeletons to continue to contribute to Zhentil Castle.

(end of this chapter)