A mage? A spell engineer!

Chapter 286 Roche Sterilization Method

"Good news. According to Mr. Klopp, the regional head of the cult, we have wiped out all the believers in the semi-submerged area." Klopp seemed to be using his position to build a bodyguard for his wealth, and his subordinates were all idle scoundrels, forming a reasonably decent armed force in the semi-submerged area.

Rorschach glanced at the Earl's captain of guard, a young man carefully tasting red wine and constantly adding sugar to it. In fact, Elgin and Crawford were the same kind of people.

If Rorschach were in charge of the cult, he would go deep into the lives of the people, handing out eggs and such to women and old men and women, and then casually asking them to repeat a few lines from the scriptures. That way, it wouldn't be easy to capture them all at once!

"See, that's efficiency. Learn from this!" The Earl was very satisfied and told the captain of the guard to learn from the mage Rorschach. The captain of the guard drank his wine with an indifferent expression. Anyway, he was just trying to make a living under the Earl, and he couldn't beat anyone, whether it was the cult or the mage.

The Earl was pleased and told Rorschach something he hadn't mentioned during their first meeting: "Although it was too short to get more information from you, I heard that the Marquis has a new magic advisor under his command, and everyone says she's a great beauty."

In fact, when the Earl proposed recruiting Rorschach, he also had the mentality that "if others have it, I can't do without it."

Singhlev suddenly reacted strongly: "Why didn't you tell us from the beginning!"

The count squinted at the dwarf as if he were an idiot: "Tell me from the beginning? What could you offer me in the beginning? You work for me, and I give you intelligence. That's fair."

"Alright. Do you know what the relationship is between that marquis and the magic advisor?" the dwarf asked, while secretly watching Rorschach's reaction, but unfortunately the boy had a poker face.

"I don't know, it's just a rumor, but the time it appeared roughly matches the time you provided. You can find out more details yourself!"

"Don't blame me for not reminding you, the Marquis, as the highest-ranking official recognized under the rules of the Shadowlands, is practically the monarch of the Shadow City. He's not as enlightened as I am." The Earl glared at Singlev:

"Disrespecting a marquis in his presence is a crime punishable by having one's tongue ripped out!"

"Stop trying to scare me!"

Rorschach finally spoke: "Thank you for the information and reminder, Mr. Elgin, but you're too impatient. There's bad news after the good news. The Order has a higher-level organization that will probably arrive in a few days. Although we should have already left the semi-submersible zone by then, I still want to remind you."

Now the Earl couldn't even enjoy his wine. He jumped up and grabbed Rorschach's shoulder: "So you guys offended the Order and ran away, and then I... I and the guards have to face their wrath?"

"As the lord of this place, it is unknown whether the superiors of the order will be angry or take their anger out on you."

"You guys," the count gritted his teeth, as if Rorschach were a scumbag and he had to take responsibility.

"Given our pleasant cooperation, I can offer you a method for protecting the semi-submersible zone, based on research into 'living water bodies'."

"You guys managed to handle that too?" The Earl finally realized that Rorschach was quite capable. "He was even more active today than yesterday, almost derailing the train! We had to temporarily abandon that section of the line and switch to the yellow line."

What's going on? Rorschach hadn't expected that even after Crawp was captured, the living water would become even more active. That shouldn't be the case. Could there be another reason? "Take us to see."

The Earl's train's loop route overlaps with existing subway lines, and also includes abandoned sections of track that are not yet open for unknown reasons. The sewers, teeming with running water, are located near an abandoned section of the route.

They walked carefully through the sewers. Storm City had more cloudy days than sunny days, and it rained quite often. The underground drainage system had been very well-developed since the old empire conquered it. The sewers they were using were now large enough to fit a carriage, and the arched walls were made of brick.

Of course, the water flowing through the waterway is not clean; various kinds of filth and silt flow slowly. There is very little water in the "living water body" that can move around, and it bubbles like a pot of boiling oil.

The coachman held up a lantern in front of the count, while the captain of the guard led a small group of men to "protect" him. They were all nearly brought to tears by the thick, foul odor, and everyone felt as if their nasal passages were about to rot. Meanwhile, Rorschach and his group followed behind, strolling leisurely under the "air filter" of the fumes.

The little soot sprite really wanted to pick up trash, but Freddie repeatedly stopped her. In the end, the poet simply picked her up and carried her away.

"We're here. Don't go any further!" the count shouted, his voice echoing through the pipes. "See for yourselves."

Sure enough, in the area where the water was more plentiful and deeper, the light revealed thick tentacles carrying filth, dancing wildly and pounding against the brick surface—a truly horrifying sight.

"Throw our manager out." Poor Mr. Crawford had already been handed over to the Earl and carried here by the guards. With the lord's order, four guards grabbed the four corners of the sack, swung it around for a while while shouting, and successfully threw the sack, which weighed over a hundred pounds, in a beautiful arc.

Still intoxicated, the contents of the sack didn't struggle at all. The "living water body" caught it perfectly and then brutally tore the sack and its contents to shreds.

From the moment the bags were put in place, our treatment of the person in charge became increasingly similar to that of the "dynamic groups in the Dark Zone." Rorschach neither intervened nor stopped them, watching as the Earl and his men dealt with the cult members.

Crawford hadn't actually done anything truly evil; at most, he'd abused his "maids." In Rorschach's view, the Count and the manager's fight in the semi-submersible area was like dogs fighting, but the Order's dogs were carrying "rabies," which would eventually help Mother Earth awaken. So, it was for the best.

He observed the flowing water and asked the count, "You didn't treat the other believers the same way, did you?"

"Yes." The count felt a cruel excitement at the scene. Little Coal Ball clapped his hands, while the guards at the front stepped back and gripped their spears even tighter.

"Mr. Elgin, have you ever considered that feeding a lion its flesh and blood would make it stronger?"

"But shouldn't they be full? Including today's, there are more than a dozen of them, some fat and some thin!"

Yes, the Earl thought that the Living Water Body was an individual and should have a time when it was "full". It's not hard to imagine that if it continues to run rampant, it might capture the residents of the semi-submerged area to sacrifice to the "Living Water Body". According to his thinking, sooner or later a local cult of the Shadowlands will emerge.

However, "living water" is a collection of microorganisms, and the more they are fed, the more they divide and multiply, so the limit of the population size is probably very large.

Rorschach shook his head: "Don't feed him like that anymore." With that, he raised his cane, which shone brightly.

From his cane and his other hand, five large fireballs continuously condensed, instantly whipping up scorching winds within the pipe. As the five plasma balls bombarded the pipe, which was wide enough for a horse-drawn carriage to run through, it was filled with explosive steam. If Rorschach hadn't erected a barrier, everyone would have been cooked alive by the high-pressure steam, just like the "living water" within the pipe.

After the "Roche sterilization" was completed, the boy calmed down and did not forget to use the "Stone Shaping Technique" to repair the shattered pipe wall.

Although the nutrient-overloaded microorganisms here have been eliminated, they are distributed throughout the water bodies of the entire Shadow City, and will likely continue to be distributed later. However, as long as herbs and flesh are not used to stimulate them, there should be no major problems.

Rorschach looked at the bewildered Earl: "The water bodies in this area will be quiet for a while, Mr. Elgin. I'll teach you an idea to use them to resist the Order."

"Ah, please speak, I'm listening!" The count suddenly became particularly sincere and humble towards the younger generation.

(End of this chapter)