Chapter Sixty-Six: Madman

“Do you have any companions?” Viviane asked the question they all cared about most, her gaze nervously fixed on the mongrel.

“No.”

“None?”

“Mm, none.”

Hearing the mongrel’s answer, Zhou Tian and his companions all let out a breath of relief. Although from previous conversations they had already more or less guessed this would be the case, if they hadn’t heard it with their own ears, they would still have worried that there might be other fiends lurking about. If more fiends had swallowed magic pearls, then Zhou Tian and his group would have been overwhelmed.

The matter had reached this point, and in fact, their mission was almost complete. All that remained was to hand the mongrel over to the Church of Light and report the previous events—the rest would no longer concern them.

However, since Zhou Tian had already used Truth Serum on the mongrel, he naturally didn’t mind asking a few more questions before the effects wore off.

Yet, just as Viviane and the others finally relaxed and began ignoring the mongrel, Zhou Tian’s next question made everyone tense up once more.

“Why were you following the city lord?”

“To blow up this damned city.”

“What did you say?”

“To blow up this damned city.”

Glancing at each other, Zhou Tian and his companions were all taken aback by such explosive information from the mongrel’s mouth, their expressions instantly growing grave.

With a grim look, Zhou Tian managed to suppress his anger and asked, “How do you plan to blow up the city?”

“I buried many magic cores beneath the city. Using my abilities, I set them to detonate all at once, at a predetermined time. When that moment comes, the entire city of Yellowstone will be wiped from existence.”

“Why would you do this?”

“I hate this damned city and everyone in it. Why do others have parents, but I do not? Why do others have everything from birth, while I had to beg for every meal? If I can’t have it, no one else should. Let me use the power I gained to blow up this rotten city and all those damned people in it.”

“Maniac.” Looking at the deranged gleam in the mongrel’s eyes, Zhou Tian sighed, but hurriedly pressed on, “Where did you bury the magic cores?”

“They’re buried in—” At Zhou Tian’s question, the mongrel was about to answer, but mid-sentence, the effects of the Truth Serum wore off. His eyes rolled back, and he suddenly began drooling, staring vacantly like an imbecile.

“Damn it! Why did you stop? Where did you hide the magic cores? Hurry up and tell us!” The group, who had been relatively composed, instantly panicked at this sudden change. The impulsive Aphra rushed over to the mongrel, yanking his collar and shaking him while bombarding him with questions.

“It’s useless. There’s no point asking anymore,” Zhou Tian, though equally anxious, tried to calm Aphra. “The Truth Serum forces a person to answer honestly, but its effects are much too fierce. Now that it’s worn off, his mind has been damaged by the drug—no matter how much you ask, he can’t answer anymore.”

“What should we do then?” Aphra let go of the mongrel’s collar in disappointment, but then, as if struck by an idea, she turned to Zhou Tian excitedly. “Since your potion made him answer so many questions, why not give him another dose?”

“It won’t help.” Under the expectant gazes of the group, Zhou Tian had to shake his head again. “His mind is already broken. We can’t even be sure his memories remain. Another dose won’t get us any answers.”

“If that’s the case, then the situation is dire.” At this critical moment, Viviane stepped forward. “Since we don’t know where the magic cores are, we have to make more preparations.” She turned to Anna. “Anna, you should be able to reach your master, right?”

“It’s troublesome, but given the circumstances, I’ll have to get in touch with that old crone.”

“Good.” Slightly relieved, Aphra said to Anna, “Tell your master what’s happening here and have her report it to His Holiness the Pope. Only if he authorizes the use of the Church’s nearby forces can we hope to evacuate all the residents of Yellowstone City in time.”

“You mean…”

“Exactly. Since we don’t know where this lunatic hid the magic cores, for the safety of the city’s people, we must evacuate everyone first and then find a way to locate the cores.” After explaining her earlier actions to Zhou Tian, Viviane addressed the others: “Everyone, the safety of the city’s people depends on us now. Split up and do whatever you can to find those hidden magic cores before they’re detonated.”

“All right, then.”

“There’s really no other way…”

“We have no choice.”

After answering Viviane, everyone except Anna hurried out of the secret chamber, with Zhou Tian at the lead.

But as Zhou Tian and the others rushed out to begin their preparations, they seemed to have forgotten something.

During this mission in Yellowstone City, aside from clashing with the mongrel because of their task, they had, for various reasons, offended the city lord. That corpulent city lord already knew their identities, and knowing they were still alive, would surely stop at nothing to protect himself.

No sooner had they emerged from underground than Zhou Tian and his companions realized that, at some unknown point, the area had been surrounded by a great army.

Once again, they found themselves in the same predicament as before—at the city lord’s command, the soldiers of Yellowstone had encircled them layer upon layer.

“Damn it!” Though they were desperate to handle other matters, now they were blocked by the city lord’s troops. Cursing under their breath, Zhou Tian and his companions had no choice but to halt.

“By order of the city lord: whether dead or alive, a thousand gold coins for each assassin slain!”

High rewards bring forth bold soldiers. Though Zhou Tian and his crew looked like fearsome characters, the lure of such a massive bounty drove the soldiers into a frenzy, and they charged at the group with wild shouts.

“Fall back, all of you. Leave this to me.” Zhou Tian held back the eager Aphra and the others, signaling for them to slip away along the flanks. Then, he strode forward to meet the oncoming soldiers head-on.