The Last King Of Darkness
Chapter 220 - 162 The First Time

Chapter 220: Chapter 162 The First Time

The imposing Dead Ash Mountain Range blocked the entire north from Rod’s view.

Its height was such that even with his Eye of the Soul, he couldn’t see the end, and its length was said to reach thousands of miles, with a width varying between fifty and several hundred miles.

This massive mountain range spanning the earth marked the boundary between two continents—the Gray Soil Continent to the south and the Dead Soil Continent to the north.

Valkyrie Lily once taught them how to cook monster meat and told them that without the Dead Ash Mountain Range, the Trolian Kingdom would soon be destroyed by the monsters from the Dark Great Plain, and those terrifying entities would not allow the kingdom to survive until the second sunrise.

Therefore, the Dead Ash Mountain Range was the kingdom’s most crucial northern barrier,

The main structure of the stone workshop was inside the mountain, with only a larger platform-like building outside. Huge piles of square stones were stacked beside the platform, waiting for transportation.

The dim firelight cast from inside the mountain produced long shadows, stretched by the numerous levers, iron frames, and mechanical hoists. Black fog rolled close by and occasionally encroached into the firelight, making everything look rather unsettled.

Two guards on the platform immediately rushed to report the approach of a light orb.

Head of the workshop Lars rushed out with a bunch of foremen to greet Rod and Mephit.

Lars was a round-headed bald man, whose features appeared somewhat comical, and his gaze flickered between the two for a moment before he quickly concluded that Rod was the leader and proceeded to clutch his hand while starting to wail.

"Wuwuwu, you’ve finally come, our people are almost all dead! Everyone is struggling to survive! Wuwuwuwuwu."

Dressed as a mature adult, Rod gently patted Lars’s bald head and said with a steady smile, "Don’t be afraid, we’re here now, so you’re safe."

"Really?" the bald man asked with tears in his eyes, looking blurry.

Rod forcibly swallowed the urge to vomit and thought, Brother, you’re not a beauty, so please don’t use a beauty’s gestures, okay?

"Of course, who doesn’t know the reputation of our Big Carve Bell Tower?"

The bald man apparently hadn’t heard of it, but influenced by Rod’s aura, he felt slightly more settled.

Next, he detailed the events of the past few days.

The stone workshop was established at the easternmost part of the Dead Ash Mountain Range, and its main task was to extract raw stones from within the mountain, processing them through various procedures into defensive construction materials.

One of these procedures involved submerging the raw stones in a solution containing the ashes of specific monsters.

But three days ago, the facility began to suffer attacks and destruction. Suddenly appearing monsters not only killed the workers but also absorbed part of the solution.

Given that the workshop’s main structure was inside the mountain, it could only be assumed that the culprit was some kind of evil spirit.

Two reinforcement squads had arrived, both failing to find any traces, and were forced to hire hunters to resolve the issue.

"Alright."

Confidently, Rod spoke.

"Leave it to me; have the workers evacuate, and I’ll find and kill the evil spirit right away."

The bald man was endlessly grateful and kept saying before leaving that as long as they could eliminate the danger, he was willing to agree to any demands they might have.

Rod didn’t think much of it at first, but Mephit called out to him.

"Do you have Puppet Stones here?"

Upon hearing this, Lars’s expression immediately darkened, and after sending the foremen away, he said in a low voice, "My dear hunter, to be honest, the quality of our stones here is poor, and we are unable to extract so many."

Mephit said calmly, "I want a complete piece."

Under the dim lighting, a moment of ferocity crossed Lars’s face, but he quickly recovered.

"You are under my employ."

"We can declare the mission a failure."

"Other hunters would come."

"No, most hunters have gone to the front lines to resist the Black Tide, and those that remain wouldn’t take on such a troublesome task. The guardians of the defense zone are also very busy, and your minor issue will take a long time to draw their attention."

Lars fell silent for a while, and Rod noticed he was gauging their relationship.

Rod immediately stepped closer, shoulder to shoulder with Mephit, showing their unbreakable friendship.

"Alright."

Lars said through gritted teeth.

"If you can eliminate this threat within a day, I’ll give it to you."

Mephit said calmly, "It’s a deal."

Lars walked away with a sullen look.

Rod looked at her with interest and asked, "Is this considered extortion?"

Mephit replied indifferently, "No, half of this ghost spirit issue is his own doing. It’s normal to demand additional compensation in such situations."

"The monster was his doing?"

"No, he didn’t want the monsters to appear, but he was too careless and left too much black sediment in the soaking liquid for the stones, which attracted some ghost spirits."

"Oh."

Rod quickly realized that having been in the Black Fog for millions of years, even rocks, inanimate though they are, would be corroded to some extent.

The soaking liquid was to wash away these corrosions.

These corrosions probably also had illegal uses, as well as side effects. Lars, being greedy, had caused this tragedy to occur.

"Such a man should go to the Internal Affairs Court."

Mephit said calmly, "He will end up there, which is why he’s so eager to get this sorted. If the situation worsens any further, he could be sentenced to the black death penalty."

The black death penalty involved placing a person in a prison cage, sending them into the Black Fog to be infected and turned into a monster, and then dragged back into the firelight to be burned to ashes.

Erasing a person’s identity to die as a monster was the Trolian’s harshest punishment, and even many Doomsday believers did not wish to face it.

Rod smiled, "Then we should indeed make a good deal out of him; Mephit, do I get a share?"

Looking at him with pale silvery eyes, where frost seemed to gather, Mephit said,

"Hey, what are you thinking?" Rod retreated warily a few steps, "I’d advise you against having any sneaky ideas, you can’t handle my power, and you’d die the moment you try anything."

Mephit lowered her gaze and said gently, "My payment can be given to you."

Rod smiled and replied, "It’s a deal then. Don’t worry, I won’t take advantage of you. I’ll handle this matter myself, and you won’t need to lift a finger."

Without saying a word, Mephit stepped aside.

"Humph."

Rod moved to the center of the soaking area, never before had he been so full of confidence.

"Now, let me show you, the top-tier reconnaissance skills and logical deductive reasoning of Detective Solomon."

Snap.

Rod placed his hand on the ground and opened the Book of the Past.

He swiftly rewound the time to three days ago and fast-forwarded at twenty times the speed, soon arriving at the moment of the attack.

To Rod’s surprise, the assailant was not the usual evil spirit but a glistening liquid mist with human form. It moved with a long tail trailing behind, capable of passing through human bodies.

Those who were passed through struggled as if poisoned, clutching their throats and desperately vomiting until they expelled their sticky viscera.

The place quickly became obscured by the dispersing mist as the mist-shaped monster, having absorbed the solution, chose to leave in the southwest direction—the faint fire of the stonemason’s workshop exerted a strong suppressive effect on the monster.

Most monsters instinctively avoid fire and move away from its range.

Unless attracted or provoked by something.

Rod opened his eyes and stood up, straining to recall his monster knowledge and quickly found the corresponding target.

Fog Demon.

A brutally cruel monster, mostly born in marshy environments, excel in hiding, ambush, and attack, outer layers without a fixed form, the mist comprising its body laden with deadly toxin. Precise control over Spiritual Energy was their instinct, capable of traveling through the Spirit Realm but unable to stay too long, lest they dissolve into pure Spiritual Energy.

Knight Gale had once explained in detail how to slice it with a physical sword. The Fog Demon’s weak spot was under its ribs. When it realized the toxin was ineffective, it would attempt to use its long claws to attack. At that moment, it would expose the weak spot of its humanoid body; and a diagonal cut along the depression under the rib with the tip of the sword could kill it with the least effort.

Rod relayed his findings in detail to Mephit.

For the first time, she lifted her wide-brimmed hat, and a look of surprise appeared in her light-silver eyes.

Rod smiled and said, "How about that? Shocked, aren’t you? Call me ’big brother,’ and I’ll tell you how I found out."

Mephit lowered her hat again. Although she wore a scarf, her expression seemed to hint at a slight twitch at the corner of her mouth, suggesting annoyance from the usually cold and lofty lady.

Rod didn’t mind; as long as he quickly hunted more monsters, he would become a true ’big brother.’

Heh heh heh.

Rod pursued the path along which the Fog Demon had fled.

The Book of the Past could investigate within a sixty-yard radius around him. As long as he used it every sixty yards, that would be enough.

The Fog Demon flew through the mountain wall and escaped; Rod followed it out of the stonework shop, and they easily climbed the steep walls. On a wider slope, they found the wandering Fog Demon.

In Rod’s view, its soul looked like a mist constantly changing shape, the Soul Waveform was broad and long, like tides, and the lack of prominent Spiritual Power fluctuations indicated it was in a calm state.

This was something Teresa had taught him.

The golden-glowing Valkyrie was also an excellent scout. Although her Spiritual Vision wasn’t as exaggerated as Rod’s, it was still of a very high degree.

And her skills and experience outstripped Rod’s; he had learned many extremely useful techniques while being trained by her continually.

This was also one of the sources of Rod’s current confidence.

"Stop."

Rod held out his hand to stop his companion and cautiously observed the enemy. He quickly deduced from the monster’s Soul Waveform and the slight disturbances in its Spiritual Power circulation.

It was a Fierce Level monster.

Its rank might be between Primary Rank and Middle Rank, with a Spiritual Power Strength of around 80,000 units.

According to Trolian tactical principles, a team with a total Spiritual Power Strength of over 20,000 units and well-prepared could attempt to hunt this monster.

If there was a relevant Soul Trait, the total strength necessary could even be reduced to 10,000 units.

Monsters typically far surpassed humans in Spiritual Power Strength, but humans had intelligence. If they matched opponents purely based on Spiritual Power Strength, Trolian defenses would see enormous gaps.

"You stay here, don’t move."

Rod instructed.

"I’ll buy a few oranges... I’ll clear out any nearby interference. When I hunt the monster, help me distract it a bit, but don’t overdo it. If there’s danger, get away immediately. Uh, what’s your sequence? I forgot to ask, sorry, the procedure’s still a bit new to me."

Mephit did not mock him, her tone remaining calm and unchanged.

"Enchanter with the gift of fire, Ice."

"...Oh, oh, Spiritual Fire, huh? Don’t talk in formal language. Your Trait is ice? That’s quite rare, supposedly an ominous Trait in the past, much dreaded. You’re lucky to live in this age..."

Rod tried hard to play the role of a Captain properly.

Even if he had only one team member.

Mephit remained silent, the advantage of a cold and lofty lady being at least she wouldn’t talk back; moreover, this one was even better as she showed no impatience or eye-rolling, nor did she turn her face away to ignore him.

Rod mentally gave her a thumbs-up and turned to approach several corpses wandering nearby.

These Ungraded, weak monsters didn’t even warrant him drawing his gun; with a few slick sidesteps and a series of swift punches, he eliminated them.

The novel experience of directly eliminating monsters reinforced Rod’s confidence once more.

He felt that with time, even the golden-glowing Valkyrie would have no choice but to succumb to his advances.

"Hmph, the moment to test my training outcomes has arrived."

Rod pulled out the Spirit Gun, loaded a Sealing Spirit Bullet, and grasped the Thunder Stone.

"Die!"

Bang!

The Sealing Spirit Bullet drew a white line, shooting toward the Fierce Level monster that roamed mid-air.

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