Chapter 141: Chapter 57: The Level 10 Cardinal Attacks
「Early morning.」
After breakfast, Zorn settled onto the sofa near the fireplace and picked up the day’s Ogrande Steam Daily.
A fire roared in the hearth.
He ward himself by the fire, digesting his delicious al while absorbing Gang Qi and Evil Energy. As he read the daily paper, a picture of the world slowly unfurled before him.
From his quiet corner, he watched the tides of the world ebb and flow.
The past few days had been remarkably pleasant.
The weather in late October was growing colder by the day.
A cold wind blew in from the northwest, blanketing all of Ogrande City in a gray mist.
The entire city had been shrouded in a hazy fog for so ti now.
The gray mist over Ogrande wouldn’t dissipate until the spring.
He had returned the day before yesterday with the Sun King’s Golden Skeleton from Lady Sun.
He had been quite pleased with it after unsealing it.
The portion from Lady Sun was a full three tis the size of the one he had first acquired.
When he first acquired the Sun King’s Golden Skeleton, Zorn had channeled all of it into the Calamity Origin Land.
His primary goal had been to leverage as much Calamity Black Mist as possible to construct his Spiritual Realm.
Now, Zorn had already constructed his Golden Throne and Spiritual Realm.
So, he could naturally divert a portion of the Golden Skeleton to absorb for himself.
This would grant him a powerful regenerative ability.
Although Zorn’s Evil Spirit Wizard Sequence included the potent Life Absorption ability, there were tis when absorbing Life Force was difficult.
Having another ans of recovery provided a greater margin for error, which was never a bad thing.
He could also use Life Absorption to replenish the Life Force stored within the Sun King’s Golden Skeleton.
In a way, the absorbed Sun King’s Golden Skeleton would beco his hidden Health Bar.
Zorn invested two-thirds of that large portion of Golden Skeleton into his Golden Throne.
This boosted both the efficiency of leveraging the Calamity Black Mist and the growth rate of his Spiritual Realm.
As for the other third, Zorn planned to slowly absorb and integrate it into his leg bones.
This would grant his physical body a powerful regenerative ability.
After he finished reading the Ogrande Steam Daily, Zorn closed his eyes for a mont, his consciousness sinking into his Spiritual Realm.
More than fifty mbers of the Blood Race were sleeping peacefully here, ready for Zorn to take and use whenever he needed a Spiritual Shadow Bloodline Crystal Core.
As he inspected his Lower Rankers one by one, he found that even Alvin, who was usually prone to slacking, was diligent for once. He was currently invisible, absorbing Calamity Black Mist while practicing assassination techniques on an armored dummy.
Clearly, Zorn’s previous admonishnt had taken effect.
Not long after Zorn withdrew his consciousness, he heard a commotion outside.
A large, red carriage stopped outside the manor.
In addition to two public officials from Ogrande City, there was also a Witch aboard the carriage.
The Witch appeared to be in her late twenties. She wore the fitted, black uniform of an Ogrande City public official with tall black boots, and her naturally curly brown hair tumbled down her back.
Her skin clearly lacked the delicate fairness of won from Ogrande City.
It had a slightly reddish, coarse tint, clearly marking her as a Witch from the High Mountains.
Zorn also noticed the Witch’s Bracelet on her wrist, inlaid with various gemstones.
’A Combat Witch, and a powerful one at that. Level 4 Peak.’
Lately, Zorn had either been cultivating at ho or running instances in Split Mist Town.
Zorn had heard that Witches were being recruited into Ogrande City Hall.
After all, he and Bishop Teresa had discussed the list of combat-skilled Witches before handing it over to Ogrande City Hall.
Zorn rose and prepared to change into more formal attire.
The visitors were from City Hall, which clearly ant they were here to discuss how to deal with the Torlask Steam Train.
In the grand epic of Ogrande City’s history, the Torlask Steam Train was a far more dangerous event than the Rat Plague.
It would even beco the spark that ignited a war.
Soon, Zorn was in the carriage sent by the City Hall to pick him up.
Inside the gently swaying carriage, the Witch sat opposite Zorn. Though her skin was sowhat coarse, her features were well-proportioned. She had been staring intently at him for a good five or six minutes.
Even soone as thick-skinned as Zorn found it a little unnerving to be stared at so intensely.
"You’re curious about ?" Zorn offered, breaking the heavy silence in the carriage.
"A lot of us Witches are curious about you, Lord Zorn."
"After all... Lord Bishop Teresa and the priests from the other tribes all say you are our guide into the age of steam."
"They say you’re going to change things for all Witches!"
Zorn raised an eyebrow. "And what do you think? Am I?"
The Witch paused, then shook her head.
"I... I don’t know."
"But... I’ve been to your Steam Potion Factory. I could feel that the Witches working there are very relaxed and enjoy their life in Ogrande City."
"At the very least, it’s clear you don’t an us any harm. You’re not like the people from the Church, who look like they’d love nothing more than to kill us all."
"Lord Zorn, you really have brought change to the Witches."
"I believe that soon, your na will be carried on the winds between the snowy peaks, echoing across the entire High Mountain region. The Witches will rember you."
The Witch’s words gave Zorn pause.
The wages he paid the Witches were not low, enough for them to live a good life.
Of course, the value these Witches created for him was also very high.
Through their casual chat, Zorn quickly learned her na: Astalor.
She was a Witch from the Moon Shadow Fissure tribe, with considerable standing and combat experience.
She could summon and weave servants from moonlight and shadow, and possessed the uncanny ability to slumber within moonlight and walk through shadows.
She was a Witch with exceptional combat prowess.
***
Ogrande City Hall Building.
Conference Hall, 24th Floor.
When Zorn and the Witch Astalor arrived, more than a dozen people had already gathered.
They were either nobles of high standing from Ogrande City or powerful Transcendents.
And all of them belonged to Madam Mable’s faction.
Madam Mable, who was presiding over the eting, sat in a high-backed chair at the head of the long conference table. Her head was bowed as she reviewed a stack of docunts.
As his gaze swept over Madam Mable, Zorn’s thoughts stirred.
’Madam Mable is about to advance to Level Six.’
’It seems the resources from the underground ruins are beginning to pay off.’
After taking a seat in the corner, Zorn ntally calculated how long the Magical Castle had been in the Seventh Floor World.
’Another week of absorption should be enough to stabilize the root of the Magic Ring Tree.’
’To be on the safe side, I’ll wait a few extra days. It won’t be too late to bring it out once the root of the Magic Ring Tree Layer is completely stabilized within the Magical Castle.’
While Zorn was lost in thought, the rest of the attendees arrived.
Once everyone had arrived, Madam Mable looked up. Her eyes swept across the room as she spoke in a solemn tone.
"Everyone."
"I’m sure you’ve all heard the news about the corrupted Torlask Steam Train by now."
She paused, then continued.
"According to the detailed intelligence we’ve gathered, the threat from Saintisman, a corrupted steam train, is on its way to Ogrande."
"Ogrande City is heavily dependent on its railway for trade with the outside world."
"If the station is corrupted by the Torlask Steam Train, Ogrande City’s entire railway system will be paralyzed."
"The nurous factories that form our highly developed steam industry would also suffer from the corruption to varying degrees."
"This is a disaster Ogrande City absolutely cannot withstand."
"I’ve called you all here today to brainstorm an effective solution to the corruption problem posed by the Torlask Steam Train."
After Madam Mable finished, a nobleman in his early thirties stood up. He was dressed in a white suit with a matching top hat and held a cane. "From what I understand, although there were attempts in Saintisman to destroy the railway, they didn’t manage to destroy a long section, and the original track bed remains intact."
"This ans the corrupted Torlask Steam Train can still follow the original route here."
"If we were to destroy a large section of the railway and bury the original tracks, would that be feasible?"
Madam Mable shook her head. "That proposal has already been raised in a high-level eting, but it was rejected."
"First, there isn’t enough ti."
"Second, even if we did that, the Torlask Steam Train could still potentially follow its original path to Ogrande City."
At this, a noblewoman rose to her feet and demanded, "Madam Mable, this problem originated with the Church."
"The Holy Fierce Sun Church should be the ones to intercept and eliminate this terrifying, approaching corruption."
"But they haven’t made a move. I would like to know what the Church’s official stance is."
At this question, Madam Mable’s expression soured.
"The Church’s response was that they don’t believe the Torlask Steam Train is a major threat and that they need to observe it for a while longer."
This evasive rhetoric brought looks of stunned disbelief to the faces of everyone in the hall.
A mont later, as realization dawned, a simring anger began to rise in their hearts.
The whole point of allowing the Holy Fierce Sun Church to build cathedrals in Autanston and spread the faith of their Divine Spirit was so they would deal with Extraordinary calamities and corruption when they struck, wasn’t it?
Now the danger was here, yet they pretended not to see it.
Then what use was the Holy Fierce Sun Church?
They siphoned Faith and wealth from Ogrande City, yet they refused to take responsibility, even allowing a calamitous event to unfold.
This was exactly what an Evil God Organization would do.
"So... for now, we can only rely on our own power to solve the trouble of the approaching Torlask Steam Train."
Madam Mable suppressed the simring anger in her heart, her gaze sweeping across the room.
Her gaze paused on Zorn for a brief, almost imperceptible mont.
"Does anyone... have any other ideas? Speak up. Anything at all."
For a mont, everyone began to discuss among themselves in low voices.
"What about dispatching Transcendents to find the Torlask Steam Train and destroy it?"
"It’s very difficult to find its specific location. The Torlask Steam Train is like an intangible existence. It can only be seen when it stops at a station. Once it starts moving, it disappears without a trace."
"The Torlask Steam Train is tainted with the power of an Upper Ranker, giving it an intangible characteristic."
"At the sa ti, that Level 10 Cardinal, Chuckman Blaze, possesses unparalleled destructive power."
The ntion of Level 10 sent a chill through the conference room.
A corrupted, uncontrollable Level 10 Transcendent was truly a disaster that Ogrande City could not afford to face.
"Though our intelligence suggests he’s likely unable to leave the corrupted train, if we try to board it or attack it, we will certainly face his retaliation."
"A Level 10 Cardinal is not soone we can confront head-on."
As they discussed, no one could co up with a viable solution.
Just then, Zorn, who had been sitting in the corner, slowly rose to his feet.
"Everyone, perhaps... I have a good solution!"
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