Chapter 331 - The Most Evil Place in the World

The fingers danced in the air like a conductor’s, as bottles rose up in an orderly queue — one being labeled, the previous one already filled with liquid, and the one before that topped with a cap and flying towards the shelf.Each person looked like an automated bottling line, operating with a fluidity and efficiency of a high order.

Even while multitasking, they could chat and complain.

"With work like today’s, a few more days like this and we won’t need more than three or five newcomers a day. Before long, we’ll be free from this tedious task. After all, they don’t know how to complain, and they don’t mind working 24 hours a day without becoming irritable."

"Dream on, even if we get out of this task, there’s another one waiting. Lately, they’ve been fussing over the textile industry. The Lord himself has gone out to buy cotton. Once the cotton is brought back and the textile workshop starts up, do you think they’ll spare us?"

"My God! Even the matrons of the Kiss Spiderists aren’t this cruel. They’re plucking wool from a sheep as if there’s no tomorrow. Could it be that we’ll have to toil away in this manor for our whole lives?"

"Do you even have a chance to die?"

"It seems I don’t."

"So, no destruction of the manor, no end to labor."

"Let a kind-hearted Paladin or Priest come and utterly destroy this manor, this is the most evil place in the world."

Clearly, these Dwarves Bound Wraiths were extremely resentful of this repetitive, mechanical labor.

It was simply the most severe form of psychological torture in the world.

But they had no way to resist and could only vent their dissatisfaction through complaining.

"Aaaaaahhh..."

Along with a series of screams, the last Stealth Worm thief had given up on stealthy movement and had scrambled up from the ground, fleeing out of Weizemay Manor in a frantic dash.

He had only been standing watch outside, but the more he thought about it, the more frightened he became, and his curiosity about whether there were ghosts in Weizemay Manor grew.

So, after his two brothers entered the manor, he couldn’t help but stealthily follow their trail inside, only to witness a scene that made him unravel.

A group of Shadows were laboring, his two brothers had been turned into laboring Shadows, and he himself might become one too.

Not only were there ghosts in Weizemay Manor, but there were also many, and they were very, very perverted.

"Are we overstepping our bounds by doing this? If the master knows, wouldn’t he be unhappy?" Estelle couldn’t help but worry as she watched the thief escape the manor.

The three Stealth Worms thought they had infiltrated Weizemay Manor undetected.

Little did they know that every move they made was being observed by others.

Or rather, if it hadn’t been intentional, they wouldn’t have been able to enter the manor’s gate at all.

Their unique stealth capabilities allowed them to pass through physical barriers, but not through Mystlock Locks.

"Rest assured, the master will be too busy praising you to be unhappy. The master giving you the ability to open and close Mystlock Locks tacitly allows for this kind of situation to occur," Dwarves Soulsnare Daphne confidently interjected. "As long as you intuitively understand the master’s needs, you’ll never make a mistake, always be favored, never be cast aside.

What’s the greatest significance of the manor to the master now?"

Seeing Estelle’s clueless expression, Daphne couldn’t help but answer her own question with patient lecturing, "Value, creating value is what’s most important. Only by creating our unique value and getting the master’s attention can we ensure that the master will always side with the manor, preventing those so-called good and righteous people from destroying it, ensuring our safety.

Being able to summon and control a large number of Shadows from the Shadow Plane is our advantage.

But without souls, even the powerful Shadow Transformation Formation I’ve set up is useless. However, the master certainly wouldn’t let us touch those innocent souls.

But for those robbers and petty thieves who come knocking on our door, he doesn’t care.

The Shadows we have now are far from enough. We need more Shadows to improve work efficiency."

"I can understand all that," Estelle, clearly already brainwashed by Daphne, said. "What I don’t understand is why let one go? Why not keep him too?"

"It’s called casting a long line to catch a big fish," Daphne said with the air of a knowing strategist.

"..." Estelle remained blank.

Seeing this, Daphne had no choice but to patiently explain, "If we kept everyone, how would they know what’s happening in our manor? How would we attract more criminals here?"

Incredulously, Estelle asked, "With ghosts inside the manor, would people still dare to come?"

"My lady, that’s ordinary thinking. Those with abilities, especially professionals, think differently from ordinary people," Daphne couldn’t help but scoff, "Especially when there’s a strong enough lure, it can make people irrational, believing they’re chosen by destiny, believing they can do what others can’t, like acquiring ill-gotten wealth from the manor."

"Is this why you left several bottles of Ghost Grape Wine along his escape route?" Estelle was not slow-witted, it was just her previous life as an ordinary person that limited her perspective and her way of thinking. When considering issues, she always started from the viewpoint of an ordinary person, not from that of an adventurer, a professional.

Pondering her own current abilities, weren’t the matters discussed by Daphne somewhat reasonable?

"Exactly, if a petty thief who isn’t too powerful can gain something from the manor, what does that tell us? It indicates that while there are ghosts in the manor, their strength is not particularly formidable. This gentleman thief will become a benchmark.

It will make those less capable than him step back from the manor.

On the other hand, those stronger than him will flock to it.

And what we need are precisely these capable individuals. Ordinary humans transformed into shadows are simply too inefficient at work."

As a Dwarves Elf, having thrived in the cruel infighting of the Dwarves Elf society and climbed to a high position, Daphne’s skill in schemes and plots was undoubtedly maxed out.

Her adaptability was swift, transforming her identity in the shortest time from a devout sacrificer of the Goddess of Undead Vengeance to a loyal servant of Gaven, the steward of Weizemay Manor, tirelessly scheming and strategizing for the development of Weizemay Manor.

As she had just explained to Estelle, the most important thing was value, showing one’s worth to the manor, to Gaven.

Only by doing so could one secure more say and time for free activity.

As long as one’s value was considerable, Black Nanmu would not confine them, but become their new vessel instead.

Like now, he had to follow her lead, rather than her having to passively follow his.

"Indeed, the higher the Professional Level of the person, the stronger the Shadow created through transformation. One capable Shadow could be worth ten ordinary humans. Our control over the number of people is relatively limited at present, so we must adopt a survival of the fittest approach, replacing the inefficient with the strong, those who work efficiently." Estelle strongly agreed.

"That brings me to the second matter I wanted to discuss," Daphne said with an all-for-Estelle’s-sake demeanor. "I believe the lady has noticed in this period the difference between the shadows created by the Shadow Transformation Formation and the Earthbound Wraiths under the lady’s and young miss’s control."

"Are you talking about intelligence?" Estelle inquired thoughtfully.

"Yes, my Shadow Transformation Formation utilizes the manor’s unique power to retain as much intelligence as possible, though it’s still not able to keep it intact 100% like the Earthbound Wraiths transformed by the lady and young miss, even preserving much of their disposition."

"Isn’t that a good thing? Such shadows work without knowing fatigue or hardship, without any complaints, unlike Earthbound Wraiths who start to grumble after a few minutes of work. Did you Dwarves Elves not need to work before?" Estelle said, her words laced with barely concealed disdain.

These Dwarves Bound Wraiths were highly capable in their work, but their capacity for deceit and shirking was equally remarkable. If it had been in the past, she would have fired such workers at the first opportunity.

"Work is work, but not the kind of work we’re talking about now," the Dwarves Soulsnare knew that the one before her had reverted to ordinary human thinking. They were a group of powerful Professionals, all Slave Masters, traditionally making others perform such repetitive labor, not doing it themselves.

Daphne weighed the pros and cons, "High intelligence grants them creative ability that other shadows lack. Those work shortcuts and methods for speeding up production, weren’t they all created by these Earthbound Wraiths? Ordinary shadows struggle to replicate them, let alone innovate."

Estelle thought back carefully and couldn’t help but nod in agreement, "That’s true, every time we start something new, we use these Earthbound Wraiths, but the number of Earthbound Wraiths we can control is limited, barely a dozen even when at full capacity."

"Madam and young miss, you still have vast potential to explore, especially the unique connection between you and the manor. You can further strengthen this bond, aiming to reach the point where you are the manor and the manor is you, and your personal power will be greatly enhanced." Although Daphne was a priest, she was also an Undead Dark Priest, not inferior to the common Undead Necromancer in knowledge of the undead, especially the Shadow Plane.

During the time spent revolving around Estelle and her daughter, she had not neglected to study their current special condition.

And indeed she had discovered many things.

Whether it was their distinction or that of the Earthbound Wraiths, it all related to being bound to the earth.

Their connection to the land meant their essence was not entirely composed of Negative Energy; it also contained a portion of the vital energy supplied by the earth.

This became their internal core, which Negative Energy then saturated, creating a Balance.

Both their dual forms and their relatively complete intelligence and emotions resulted from this.

However, she could not replicate this state with her Shadow Transformation Formation, at least not with her current abilities.

Thus, her focus had to be on Estelle and her daughter. Thᴇ link to the origɪn of this information rᴇsts ɪn NoᴠᴇFɪre.nᴇt

"How can we strengthen the bond? How can we further amplify it?" Estelle, too, was full of desire for more power; no one refuses strength.

"By making more systematic renovations to the manor, transforming it into an Array that connects directly with you, something akin to the Mage Towers owned by mages," Daphne offered this as an initial idea since such a unique situation was also a first for her.

Upon hearing about renovating the manor, Estelle shook her head repeatedly, "That’s not something I can decide on my own. It requires Lord Gaven’s consent..."

"I have no objections to this matter, prepare a detailed plan when you have the time," a voice rose behind the two women... ah, two ghosts.

They were startled, hastily turning around to pay their respects, "We have seen Lord Gaven."

In Weizemay Manor, only one person could approach them silently from behind—the manor’s true owner, Gaven. It remained unknown how long he had stood behind them, eavesdropping.

Daphne, unable to hide her joy, expressed, "I will not disappoint Lord Gaven’s expectations and will do everything in my power to transform the manor into an unparalleled Mage Tower."