Chapter 161: Section 162: Exterminator


    In the blink of an eye, it had already been the fourth day since the survivors arrived at the underground alchemy factory.


    This peculiar Mage Tower covered a very large area. Over these four days, the journey of the survivors had not been long. At every fork in the road, they had to use Divine Arts to judge the correct path, and every passage had to be checked for the presence of traps, mechanisms, and so on.


    All of this relied entirely on Jia Sha alone.


    For Jia Sha, the burden was considerable. Whenever he was in poor condition, he could only take the initiative to rest.


    Without the enhancement of Divine Arts like Shields and Blessings, relying solely on the flesh and blood of the people, it was difficult to contend against a transport golem.


    The closer they got to the core of the alchemy factory, the more difficult it became to advance.


    ...


    Casualties were inevitable.


    The group that suffered the most losses was the members of the Sanda Mercenary Group.


    In Jia Sha’s view, this was normal. Mixed-bloods were treated this way, and even when using Divine Healing, he always favored Zhenjin and those of the Pure Blood Clan.


    Of course, the fact that Jia Sha’s Divine Arts and Divine Power were limited was also true.


    But Sanda was discontent with this, and naturally, Zong Ge felt the same.


    Seeing that he couldn’t command Sanda, Jia Sha’s smile receded, and he quietly looked at Sanda and Zong Ge, exerting an invisible pressure.


    But Zong Ge and Sanda were not at all afraid, they confronted Priest Jia Sha directly, unwavering.


    The Guardian Knights’ faces became solemn, some of them slightly gripping their weapons.


    This type of small Crossbow Cart used in the production workshop, they were seeing for the first time. They were completely unaware of its firing rate, and the potency of the alchemy arrows.


    There was also the question of whether there were golems hidden in these ruins that could launch attacks.


    All of this needed to be probed clearly.


    And this kind of cannon fodder work was always done by people like Zong Ge and Sanda.


    This was perfectly normal.


    Many lords also employed Mercenary Groups when waging war, using them as cannon fodder.


    But as the parties involved, Sanda and Zong Ge, were naturally unwilling.


    The situation was at a stalemate, the atmosphere delicate, when Jia Sha turned his gaze to Zhenjin.


    Zhenjin smiled, “Let’s use the Heavenly Messenger.”


    Jia Sha showed no expression, while some of the other Guardian Knights frowned.


    The Heavenly Messenger took the form of a bird and was not a magical creature, but an actual bird that lived in Heaven.


    Jia Sha’s Summoning Technique, strictly speaking, was an Otherworld Summoning Technique—summoning things from other worlds to the Main World.


    Since entering the alchemy factory, this kind of exploratory reconnaissance had mostly been carried out by the Heavenly Messenger.


    However, the more Heavenly Messengers he used for probing, and the more that were sacrificed, the more disadvantageous it was for Jia Sha.


    The next moment, Priest Jia Sha stared deeply at Zhenjin, showing a worried expression and sighed, “The more Heavenly Messengers are sacrificed, the more difficult it becomes for me to summon them again, and the greater the expenditure of Divine Power. Now, casting the Heavenly Messenger Divine Art once consumes almost as much Divine Power as the Extreme Vision technique. This is quite an unfavorable exchange, if Divine Power use is too high, I’ll need to rest more frequently, which will greatly delay our progress.”


    “Now it’s already the fourth day.”


    “Perhaps the War Merchant is recuperating, and all the obstacles we encountered along the way are buying time for his treatment.”


    “The sooner we attack, the better.”


    But Zhenjin shook his head, his attitude firm, even facing a priest of the same faith, “We embarked on the ship together, encountered misfortune together, we are companions. Every life is precious, and we should do our utmost to preserve lives. If there comes a time to confront the War Merchant, every bit of fighting strength will be important.”


    Zong Ge, Sanda, and others cast their eyes over, Zhenjin still stood by their side, which was rather unexpected.


    Jia Sha blinked, then his expression softened, and he smiled, “You make a good point. I might be under too much pressure and have caused some misunderstandings. Since that’s the case, let’s continue to probe with the Heavenly Messenger.”


    “Just a moment, everyone,” Zi Di suddenly spoke up, pointing at the ceiling of the production workshop, “Do you see that place, could there be a scouting Magic Array there?”


    Everyone looked intently, the ceiling had been damaged, not intentionally, but affected by the aftermath of their skirmishes, revealing lines that sketched out the Array underneath the broken ceiling.


    Jia Sha shook his head, “I don’t know much about Magic Arrays.”


    As a priest, acquiring power merely required prayer, proving one’s devotion, and making a contribution to the sect and the divine was enough.


    Compared to him, although Zi Di was of Black Iron Level, her knowledge about Arrays surpassed Jia Sha.


    Zi Di continued, “I have seen this Magic Array before, if it were intact and activated, it would provide True Vision. Revealing Invisibility, disguises, and so on.”


    At this, Zhenjin, Jia Sha, Cang Xu, Zong Ge, and others showed a thoughtful look.


    Zi Di, “Given that the War Merchant designed and placed such an Array and hid it on the ceiling, if it weren’t destroyed, it would be undetectable from the outside. This indicates that the production workshop needs it. I believe that both the small foundation Crossbow Carts and these golems probably require True Vision to coordinate, otherwise, they wouldn’t detect disguised enemies.”


    “A good discovery, Miss Zi Di. I can cast the Invisibility Technique to test it,” Jia Sha nodded.


    Divine Arts—Heavenly Messenger.


    Divine Arts—Invisibility Technique.


    A Silver Level Invisibility Technique was not merely visual invisibility; it also involved olfactory and tactile invisibility, among other aspects.


    After being rendered invisible, the Heavenly Messenger indeed flew around the workshop safely and returned.


    “Now, we need a few brave warriors to enter the workshop and use my Invisibility to approach those foundation Crossbow Carts and destroy them,” Jia Sha said.


    A moment of brief silence followed.


    If the Invisibility Technique was cast, they could not use a Shield to protect their bodies, and if shot by a Crossbow Cart, death was almost certain!


    Sanda and the others stood still, obviously reluctant.


    “Xi Suo, it’s your turn,” Jia Sha suddenly said.


    Xi Suo hesitated, his face showing difficulty. However, under Jia Sha’s intense gaze, he nodded and agreed.


    Jia Sha’s smile showed, his eyes filled with deep meaning as he swept his gaze around the group, finally resting on Xi Suo, “Mr. Xi Suo, your contributions will not go unnoticed, I believe you need these.”


    Xi Suo nodded repeatedly, “I understand, Lord Priest.”


    “There are a total of four, we need three more people. We’ll provide two from our side, Xiong Dun, Chai Zha.”


    As soon as Jia Sha spoke, two Guardian Knights stepped forth from the crowd.


    Xiong Dun was burly, even taller than Bi Zong Ge, holding a Heavy Shield that was half his height.


    Chai Zha was a middle-aged man with a hooked nose; his weapon was a Two-Handed Greatsword.


    “We need one more brave soul!” Jia Sha called out loudly.


    “May I volunteer, Lord Priest?” Bai Ya offered proactively.


    Jia Sha looked at Bai Ya and nodded with a gentle attitude, “Of course, you can, brave young man. Clearly, you possess a certain Knight’s spirit.”


    With the four chosen, Jia Sha then cast the Invisibility Technique on them.


    The rest stayed outside the door, watching the production workshop anxiously. They couldn’t see the four’s actions, but soon after, they witnessed the destruction of the four Crossbow Carts.


    The Crossbow Carts might have originally had strict protective measures, which seemed to have been damaged, allowing the four to directly destroy these defenses.


    The four retreated successfully, Bai Ya and Xi Suo both looked excited. The two Guardian Knights remained calm.


    “Well done!” Everyone cast their admiring glances.


    Jia Sha then dispelled the Invisibility Technique on the Heavenly Messenger and had it fly directly into the workshop.


    Nothing more was elicited.


    “It seems safe now,” Jia Sha cancelled the Summoning Technique, and the Heavenly Messenger returned to its original plane.


    Only then did everyone file in.


    They began to loot the production workshop, where magical construct debris was everywhere. Some was scorched into glazed sculptures by flames, some covered in frost, and others smashed directly, from which the methods of the three Holy Domain powerhouses could be distinguished.


    “Warning! Warning!”


    “Intruder detected in production workshop 8, intruder detected in production workshop 8.”


    As they were searching, the voice of the Tower Spirit suddenly rang out.


    Everyone prepared for battle.


    They retreated outside the door in a flurry, as Jia Sha cast multiple Shields, bestowing them to the Guardian Knights, Zhenjin, Zong Ge, and others.


    “Crossbow Cart system damage detected, no defensive constructs detected, initiating exterminator release,” continued the Tower Spirit.


    Afterward, the group saw openings appear high up on the four walls of the production workshop, revealing several passageways.


    The passageways were very narrow, like the length and width of a few books stacked together.


    Everyone braced for confrontation.


    However, after a dozen breaths, nothing appeared from the passageways.


    “Damn it! Scared me again.”


    “Ha ha, it seems these exterminators were also destroyed.”


    But in the next moment, Zhenjin suddenly felt an immense sense of danger in his heart and hurriedly jumped backward. A strand of hair was sliced off and fell in front of Zhenjin’s eyes in an instant.


    “Ahh!” At the same time, the head of his comrade who had just laughed was split in half.


    The killer, slightly revealed due to the blood splashed upon it, vanished from everyone’s sight just after exposing a glint of its silhouette. sea??h thё ηovelFire.ηet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    “What was that?”


    “It appeared to be a disk!”


    “Careful, these exterminators can turn invisible!!”


    Many shouted in panic, instinctively huddling closer together.


    They had just used Invisibility to sabotage the Crossbow Carts, only now to face attacks from invisible enemies.


    Without knowing the enemies’ location, many began shooting arrows randomly.


    Jia Sha quickly utilized several Divine Arts and eventually detected the invisible exterminators.


    Under their counterattack, the four exterminators were successively destroyed, scattering into pieces on the ground.


    This round of attack left three dead, Queshan severely wounded.


    The exterminator appeared to be like a three-blade fan, with fan blades razor-sharp, a light slice could displace a person’s head.


    Cautiously re-entering the workshop, they feared that the Tower Spirit’s voice would emerge again.


    But until the rest was over, nothing else happened.


    “This kind of fan blade, even if I turn into a scorpion shell, would be hard to resist. If not for Mutation, one successful ambush by an exterminator, and I’d be dead,” Zhenjin secretly tested the Fan Blade while others weren’t paying attention, the result not very optimistic.


    “It seems I must tell Jia Sha the secret of my ability to Mutate,” Zhenjin sighed.