Chapter 11: Little Carter's Revenge

Li Bin was momentarily stunned and about to say something when Reed suddenly grabbed his arm and asked the man, “What’s your relationship to Lord Carter, the city lord?”

Li Bin looked closely and realized that this man did indeed bear some resemblance to Carter, so he left the matter to Reed to handle.

“What’s my relationship to Carter?” The man burst out laughing, though he quickly had to pause, gasping for breath from his injuries. “You see me here and yet you don’t know what Carter means to me?”

“Of course not. But I can sense Carter’s blood running through you. Tell me your story, young man.” Reed lifted the man effortlessly.

“I’m also called Carter. I’m the grandson of Lord Carter,” the man replied, shooting Reed a glare. “Of course, you can also call me Little Carter.”

“You’re the grandson who’s been missing for years?” Li Bin asked with disbelief.

“What’s there to doubt? You think I enjoy this identity?” Little Carter retorted coldly.

“What, you’re not satisfied with it?” Li Bin sneered.

“Of course not. If it weren’t for this damned identity, maybe I wouldn’t have ended up like this,” Little Carter replied bitterly.

As it turned out, the Carter family was a large clan with a very unique family skill—they could temporarily channel the magical power accumulated by all members during meditation into one individual. This ability had allowed Carter, at a young age, to challenge the legend of Silver Dragon City. But since this transfer was only temporary and sometimes unreliable, Carter decided to change things; he wanted to make it so that all the family’s mystical power from meditation would be permanently concentrated in one person.

Naturally, such an idea sparked internal strife within the Carter family. Though Carter ultimately obtained most of the family’s power, the clan was nearly destroyed, and he was forced to flee to Uyada City.

After becoming the city lord, Carter again felt his magic was insufficient. But by then, there was no one left in the family to provide him with power, so he set his sights on his own son. After more than a decade’s effort, and at the cost of his son’s life, Carter finally developed a new family skill: as long as there was one Carter left alive, all the magical power gained from meditation would be transferred to the family’s head.

Things could have ended there, and Little Carter might have lived a decent life, but Carter’s political enemies accidentally discovered this secret. They kidnapped Little Carter, the family’s heir, intending to research the Carter family’s unique skill.

However, all the records were with Carter. His enemies, after much effort, got nothing and ended up imprisoning Little Carter, hoping to win him over in time.

At this point, Li Bin had lost interest in the story. “I understand. What do you plan to do now? Want me to help you get revenge?”

“No need,” Little Carter struggled to say. “You’re a necromancer, aren’t you? Can you turn me into an undead? I want to take revenge myself.”

“Turning you into an undead is not a problem, but you should know—I’m currently against Carter. Is that going to be an issue?” Li Bin replied coldly.

“Against Carter?” Little Carter chuckled. “That’s what I want as well. How about you count me in?”

Li Bin glanced at him, then stepped forward and grabbed his right arm to inspect it carefully. “You’ve completely depleted your magical power, your body’s been tormented for years, your bones are in poor shape, and mentally you’re not well either. You can’t be made directly into a ghost warrior—it’s quite a challenge.”

“Give me a chance,” Little Carter pleaded, struggling to his feet.

“Alright, as it happens, I have a way, but the success rate is less than twenty percent,” Li Bin replied offhandedly.

“Don’t worry, I can do it,” Little Carter stood tall before Li Bin, his gaze full of unwavering resolve.

Li Bin nodded, and with a wave of his hand, the Soul Shroud behind him turned into a stream of black mist and enveloped Little Carter. Slowly, what little flesh remained on Little Carter slipped away, revealing stark white bones; his eyes became twin green flames. Then the black mist swirled around him and transformed into a tattered suit of silver chainmail and a short magic wand.

Little Carter examined his new appearance and looked at Li Bin, puzzled. “A lich?”

“That’s right,” Li Bin replied with a smile. “Are you satisfied with this new form?”

“It seems alright, though suddenly shifting from a mage to an archer type will take some getting used to.”

“Oh, please. You just got your life back and you’re already bargaining? If the master hadn’t taken a liking to you, I would have killed you long ago,” Reed interjected.

Little Carter glanced at Reed and saw that he seemed ready to draw his sword at any moment. Hastily, he turned to Li Bin. “Master, is there anything I can do for you?”

“I’m searching for Carter’s secret treasure vault. Do you have any leads?” Li Bin casually set the map before Little Carter.

Little Carter glanced at the map, noticed three red dots marked on it, and immediately understood what was going on. He pointed to one of the red dots and said, “Whoever drew this map is something else. Even such a hard-to-find spot was located!”

Li Bin looked where he pointed and realized it was the place he had considered the least likely—right across from his own munitions factory, where the owner often greeted him when he left his house.

“You’re sure you remember correctly?” Li Bin asked.

“No mistake. Even though this map differs somewhat from the one five years ago, the spot five hundred seventy-one meters south of City Hall can’t be wrong,” Little Carter replied with certainty.

Li Bin’s heart sank. Leading a team out in the open like this must have alerted Carter long ago. If they were even a little cautious, there was plenty of time to move everything.

Before he could finish the thought, Reed, having reached the same conclusion, dashed outside without hesitation. Li Bin hurried after him with his troops, fearing Reed might suffer some loss.

Little Carter, seeing all this, didn’t know what to say, so he quickly followed Li Bin toward the destination.

But when they arrived, the munitions factory was already deserted. Reed searched around outside and said, “No signs of a large-scale move. They probably didn’t leave through the main entrance.”

Li Bin thought for a moment, then summoned Samsara from across at his own munitions factory. “Now you’re the only one who can help us find what we’re after...”