Star Forge Titan

"..." Gripi was stunned for a moment, then came to his senses.

Pointing to the floor of the goldsmith's shop, he said slowly:

"This is the only family I've had contact with."

"In other words, the other party hasn't confirmed the target's identity. They just want to use this method to force out the target who is still hiding in the city."

Having said that, Alvin suddenly stopped talking and silently stared at the young dwarf in front of him.

At this point, Gripi's identity can no longer be hidden. It is only a thin cover like a piece of window paper before it is fully revealed.

However, for now, both sides tacitly avoided directly addressing the matter. Whether it was the King's Choice Tournament, the covert activities of the Witch King's men, or the threat posed by the dwarves within the city, these were all pressing issues.

Furthermore, relying on the magical vision granted by divine power, Alvin was certain that Grippy had no reaction to any powerful magical items. For a high-level arcane ritual involving a fourth-tier Crowned One, the recording medium itself couldn't be as simple as a piece of ordinary parchment.

Perhaps, the legendary secret method of the Witch King.

He was not taken away by the remnants of the Witch King Seened.

This way, things become more and more interesting.

Who is spreading this rumor? And what is their purpose in spreading it?

Is the desert, which is now falling into chaos, what the other party wants to see?

Really, very, very...

A line from a movie he had heard before suddenly popped up in Alvin's mind.

'Some men just want to watch the world burn.'

Chapter 95 New Doubts

A madman may act in a completely selfless manner.

But apart from the mentally ill, most people's behavior is biased towards their own needs.

So, the question arises, who would benefit most from the chaotic desert?

Alvin asked himself, there are many people and organizations that can benefit from this, even the Fist of Freedom can use the chaotic situation to speed up the process of overthrowing the Witch King's rule.

But judging by the alliance members I've come into contact with during this period, the Freedom Fists aren't an unscrupulous anti-rule armed group. They're more like a group of fearless martyrs who, after being oppressed to the extreme, are doing their utmost to pursue their ideal state.

How could a fighter who no longer fears death give up his principles for a mere petty gain? Even the crown is not in their eyes.

So, who would want to see a chaotic, silent desert?

The answer is simple - ambitious.

The five Witch Kings rule the five largest city-states, and these five city-states rule the entire Silent Desert.

In this waterless sea of ​​dust, a social structure like this has persisted for more than a hundred years.

For a country, a hundred years may not be considered particularly long, but for the various social classes under its rule, a hundred years is enough time for them to get used to their current living environment, unless they are oppressed to the point where they cannot live at all.

From this we can see that, except for the people at the bottom of society who simply cannot survive, like those whom the Freedom Fist wants to liberate, most people have become content with the status quo.

Especially the desert nobles in the city-state, they can even get used to the high-pressure and dictatorial political environment ruled by the Witch King with a high degree of centralized power. Even if they are likely to be drained of all their vitality and turned into a handful of loose sand by a spell of the Witch King because they stepped into the palace with their left foot first this morning, they will not rise up in resistance. Instead, they will collectively learn to step into the palace with their right foot first every day.

In other words, even if such a compromising aristocratic class had ambitions, their first reaction would be to climb up within the system according to the existing "rules of the game", rather than being brave enough to challenge the Witch King.

As for the remaining merchant class in the Silent Desert that still had some strength, that was even more unnecessary. Although they seemed to have a good income and could live a luxurious life with money, all of this was based on the military protection provided by the Witch King of their city-state.

To put it more bluntly, the money in the merchant's hands was merely temporarily entrusted to him by the Witch King and the nobles for safekeeping. "Merchant" is written as "merchant" and pronounced as "money bag".

Then, daring to use the death of a wizard king to set up a game, involving the existence of the other four wizard kings...

It can only be one of the four living Witch-Kings!

The other three were obviously aware of this, so they sent their subordinates instead of participating in it themselves. It was like a proxy war.

But this made Alvin discover a suspicious point. The witch kings obviously mastered the so-called witch king secret method, otherwise they would not have become such powerful beings and ruled the largest city-states in the desert by force.

So, why did the existence that had become the Witch King send people to participate in the fight for the Witch King's secret magic?

If they simply wanted to prevent the secret technique from being leaked, the Witch Kings could have joined hands to deal with the matter together, because their interests were the same on this point.

And doing so would be far more efficient and successful than the current situation where everyone is fighting on their own and even hindering each other.

There are some inconsistencies in the logic, so let's think about the problem from another angle. The secret method of the Witch King that is being fought over is of unyielding value even to a powerful being who has become the Witch King.

"Is the so-called secret method really just a secret method?" Ivan whispered to himself:

"Who knows? At least, it must include secret rituals that can allow extraordinary people to make further progress." As she said this, Heidi wiped the blood off her hands and signaled Gripi to let go of her hand for the time being.

Just now, after the two confirmed that there were no pursuers, they quickly returned to the Golden Sands Chamber of Commerce under Heidi's control with the goblin's body and the surviving dwarf captives.

Seeing the implant on the unconscious dwarf's head, the sorceress immediately frowned her willow-like brows and stared at the strange magical device intently.

Only after confirming something did she let Alvin and Gripi take the dwarf captive, who was tied up tightly with ropes, to her secret wizard laboratory underground.

First, the curse was removed. This part, Ivan could still understand. Heidi's method wasn't the orthodox academic method. She used an innocent white mouse as a target, then, again, used language as a medium, cleverly bypassing the dwarf's defenses. The suicide command implanted in the dwarf's consciousness was transferred to the mouse through his repeated words.

Next, how the mouse, with its limbs and tail imprisoned, would commit suicide was not a matter of concern to many people. In Heidi's words, this kind of magic was very rare and worth preserving as a specimen for research.

After the curse was removed, the surgery to remove the implant went smoothly. At least the magical device on the dwarf's temple was successfully removed.

However, the material Heidi used to fill the remaining brain and skull after the device was removed is more difficult to describe.

"Boss, are you sure it's okay to treat the wound this way?" Gripi was silent for a moment, but finally couldn't help asking:

"You think cotton and wool felt can't be used for this?" Heidi asked confidently.

At this moment, Heidi stuffed a large piece of pink wool felt made into the shape of a brain into the wound on the dwarf captive's brain, which looked very lifelike. On the outside, she filled the gap in the skull with a piece of colorful cotton cloth, which was embroidered with dense spells with fine thread. From time to time, a faint white light symbolizing positive energy and magic flashed by.

"Uh." Although common sense told Gripi that this didn't make sense, the breathing of his fellow tribesman who quickly stabilized after the operation showed that he seemed to have left the most dangerous stage.

"I have to say, the witch's methods are really surprising." Alvin sighed, looking at the recipient with a bit of surprise in his eyes.

This seemingly nonsense method actually utilizes several sophisticated substitution spells, and this is also the essence of the witch's spell, that is - lies.

The filling, which seemed to be made of cotton and wool felt, relied on Heidi's spell to replace the part of the magic device that maintained the life of the implantee, while at the same time cutting off the other part of the function that suppressed self-awareness.

This is very necessary. The magic device that was forcibly implanted into the dwarf's brain looks inconspicuous, but in fact it reaches deep into the brain.

In other words, the right brain of the transformed slave gladiators was damaged to a certain extent during the implantation process, and without the maintenance of the implant, this part of the brain function would be lost.

Ivan suddenly remembered that during the battle, all the slave gladiators used their right hands to wield their weapons. This hadn't caught his attention at first, as most people were right-handed.

But seeing the horrific wound, he couldn't help but suspect that the other party might have considered this aspect when choosing the implant location.

"From what you've said, the mastermind behind this isn't going to stop. What about the other dwarves in the city?" Heidi asked casually.

Her view on this matter was relatively rational and cold. As long as Grippy completely ignored it, the other party would stop after killing some dwarves, because no one would make a meaningless investment that would not get any return.

But this kind of thing was clearly not the right time to tell Grippy. He was in a state of extreme excitement, like a powder keg ready to explode at any moment. Heidi naturally wouldn't offer such advice now; her ability to control people's hearts wasn't so poor.

"As the passive defender, it is indeed a bit troublesome to solve this problem." Alvin also nodded.

"So?" Gripi asked subconsciously:

“So, we have to take the initiative.”

Chapter 96: Crying Doll

"Take the initiative?" Greeppi looked puzzled.

Alvin did not give a direct answer, but instead asked another question.

"Is it the Sorcerer-King Menes who rules Ismailia, or someone else?"

Heidi, who was hearing this, raised her eyebrows and immediately realized what this young fellow was planning. The corners of her mouth couldn't help but rise slightly, and a meaningful smile appeared on her face.

"Of course it's Menis..." Gripi answered subconsciously, then he immediately stopped talking and showed an expression of sudden enlightenment.

"Yes, since the ruler here is not the mastermind behind this, he naturally cannot act recklessly, even if the other party's true identity may be another Witch King."

"So, we just need to eliminate his followers, and we can stop the killing of your people in the short term." Alvin frankly stated his simple plan.

"Wait, that would let the other party know that we really care about this matter, right? Wouldn't it really attract more attacks?" Gripi frowned and expressed his possible concerns.

"Not necessarily." Alvin waved his hand.

"Imagine a hunter chasing a hare. He suddenly discovers that all his hounds have died mysteriously."

"Will his first reaction be to suspect that the rabbit killed the hound? Or will he turn his attention to other hunters who are also chasing the hare, those who are also armed with dangerous weapons?"

Grippy's eyes widened, and he was about to say that he was not some damn wild rabbit, but when he thought of the huge difference between the Witch King and himself in both strength and power, the Dwarf Avenger suddenly had no desire to refute, and even inexplicably agreed with this statement in his heart.

"If that hunter is cautious enough, at least for a short period of time, he will not release his hounds carelessly again to avoid being attacked by other hunters again."

The black-haired boy's expression was calm as he spoke, but Heidi sensed a strong sense of confidence in it. The sorceress's eyes shifted, and it was unclear what she was thinking about.

"Sometimes, weakness can be a weapon."

"So, the problem now is to find the locations of the other groups of whippersnappers and slave gladiators."

"I can provide some help with this." Heidi took out an ugly doll.

Although it looks ugly and the stitches are deliberately of different sizes, it can still be seen that the prototype of this doll is a stupid and ugly sub-human goblin.

Pulling out a short wand from deep within her collar, the sorceress pointed at the motionless doll and began to chant a spell.

"Doll, you are not a dead thing, you are a living soul." The spell recited in ancient Saga language vibrated in the air.

Alvin felt that the magic contained in it gradually began to interfere with the material world in a special way.

This is the powerful talent that Heidi possesses as a witch of the third-level special class, a spellcasting talent that can use language as a medium to influence the real world - Hissing Illusion.

In the past, in the virtual game world of Palladio, Alvin had also seen lucky companions obtain this hidden profession.

Although the abilities it displayed in its later stages could not be compared with those forbidden magics that could destroy the world, it was in no way inferior to several of the most powerful high-level spells in terms of weirdness, and could often produce miraculous effects in unexpected places.

"Me? Where am I?" The ugly goblin doll screamed in shock.

"Quiet." Heidi waved the magic wand in her hand, and a silver needle with a thin thread immediately flew out of the sewing kit next to her. Accompanied by a series of strange cries of "Oh Oh Ga Ga Eeeeee", the needle and thread flew up and down and forcibly sewed the doll's mouth.

"Lead us to your companions." The female mage gave orders in a tone that allowed no room for refusal, and she acted in an extremely tough manner.

As a creation, the doll could not go against the will of its maker, so it had to float in the air and begin to lead people.

"Although it's just fragments of the deceased's thoughts left in the remains, this crying doll can at least point out the approximate location of the target before it completely disappears." Heidi put away her wand and gave a somewhat unsettling explanation with a sweet smile.

Although the dolls were not actually made from corpses, the witch's skills were indeed quite strange.

Ivan sighed in his heart, then gave Gripi a look, and the two of them left the laboratory side by side with the crying corpse doll.

Before the sun rises, they must eliminate as many combinations of whippers and slave gladiators as possible so that the mastermind behind the scenes will feel enough pain.

After that, Alvin planned to have a good talk with Grippy about the Witch King's secret magic.

As the person involved, the other party should obviously know more unknown inside stories.

However, when leaving, a sentence encrypted by Heidi's magic suddenly reached Ivan's ears, and the content of the sentence made the black-haired boy pause.

Then, he walked out of the underground laboratory calmly, as if he had heard nothing.

After watching the two leave, Heidi turned to look at the silver implant that was still stained with blood.

"A forced curse inflicted through language, and an implant that requires advanced alchemy to create. Humph, these don't look like the style of the Silent Desert." The female mage muttered to herself, stretching out her hand and floating above the implant.

"Knowledge and magic, truth and freedom."

As she muttered the brief secret words, a humble emblem suddenly lit up on the blank surface of the implant. It was a simplified pattern composed of numerous irregularly undulating rectangles. The central quadrilateral was not as regular as the others. It was the lowest, and its top had a slanted cut that symbolized a fracture.

"Sure enough, someone inside the City of Thousand Towers is researching forbidden magic, and has even established a cooperative relationship with the local rulers of such a remote area." Heidi snorted.

"Oh, if the old fogies in the Spire Council knew about this, it would be very, very interesting."

Of course, Alvin had no idea what the sorceress was mumbling to herself.

Now, he and Grippy had come to the possible hiding place of another group of flagellants and slave gladiators.

This is an underground casino. Even though it is late at night, all kinds of noisy voices can still be heard from inside.

"Gripi, your appearance is too conspicuous, so you will be responsible for the perimeter security work." Without giving the young dwarf a chance to refuse, Ivan continued:

"Or, you could consider cutting off your hair and beard and disguising yourself as a sturdier halfling. That way, it would be harder for witnesses to immediately recognize you as a dwarf."

"..." Hearing this, Gripi couldn't help but swallow the words he wanted to refute.

If it was just cutting off his proud cactus-colored Mohawk, he could have gritted his teeth and accepted it, but the beard, which he had spent his entire adult life trying to grow to this length...

Great Father of Forge and ancestors of the Dwarves, this is really too difficult for the Dwarves!