Chapter 511 - Divine Nature Spark

Lord Virginia returned Gaven a flirtatious sweep and said, "Do you think I lack even that much self-control? Rest assured, I know exactly how to handle this matter. Oh, and there’s some good news for you, I’ve found a way to eliminate your concerns about that shipment of yours.""What method?" Gaven asked, instantly perking up. Although the Spark of Dream Divinity was a fine thing, it was too high-end for their current needs, posing more of a hidden threat than being of immediate use. But the goods Lord Virginia referred to were a different matter entirely.

Once the concerns were eliminated, they could immediately begin assembling the sort of elite army they needed.

Those goods were none other than the same ones involved in the black-on-black plunder of the Santarin Association, which had drawn several legendary powerhouses into action, leading to the first premature outbreak of the Bane Massacre.

"Seeing it yourself will give you a clearer picture." As they spoke, the two appeared within the sealing storage room.

This place was no longer dominated by life force but by corrupting power.

The thick, almost tangible corrupting power was ingesting the life force here, also seeping into the gear, particularly eroding the vivid personal magic imprints, bit by bit.

This erosion was clearly going on for some time; most of the treasures were already fully saturated, leaving only a few powerful magic items with magic imprints by legendary spellcasters, making the erosion and saturation process more troublesome and far from complete.

However, these magic imprints were all rootless, and regardless of whether they came from legendary spellcasters, their power was limited, and it was only a matter of time before they were eroded away.

Gaven understood immediately upon seeing this and laughed heartily, "This method is brilliant! It not only solves the problem of the personal marks but also pins the blame on Moando’s cultists. No matter how they investigate, they won’t trace it back to us. I bet those legendary spellcasters are still confused by now.

It’s quite possible that Moando’s pet servants in Comanso are about to be unwittingly purged again, not even knowing why they’re being targeted."

Once Luna extracts the corrupting power from these gears, they will be as good as new and at my disposal."

Gaven knew of a small town called Yulas situated between Santiel Fortress and Far Mountain City, which had once been secretly under the control of Moando’s servants. Most of the secret tunnels and dens beneath its highland position were dug out by Moando’s servants.

But the struggle between Santiel Fortress and Far Mountain City destroyed this city, as well as Moando servants’ secret control.

The cultists had always harbored resentment towards this, frequently orchestrating assassinations. Now, pinning these events on them made perfect sense. ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴏɴ ɴovel(ꜰ)ɪre.nᴇt

Lord Virginia nodded with a smile, "The most difficult part of this task was not lifting their imprints but preventing them from tracing the power back to its source by its characteristics. While magic imprints can be removed in such a way, physical imprints must still be dealt with by you."

"Of course," Gaven said with a tinge of regret, "It’s a pity we can’t transport them to Darama in Thacel. If we could, this would be much simpler and even more useful. I could easily arm an army there and proceed with an armed migration."

"To transport all the goods there would undoubtedly be difficult, but if we only need to send a portion of what’s urgently required, there is a way." With that, Lord Virginia pulled out a cloth bag and threw it to Gaven, "I’ve already investigated its origin. This isn’t any common artifact. It’s bait released by a vile creature known as the Nightmare Serpent, capable of devouring everything, or rather, its way of feeding. Once an item is placed inside, it has a certain chance of being lost. And if one carelessly reaches inside, there’s a good chance it will get pulled in and devoured. Since it’s a living thing, your Destroy Evil doesn’t work on it, but you might try turning it into a lifeless object and then use Destroy Evil to see if it works."

This cloth bag was none other than one of the rewards Gaven received for helping the Monastery of the Just Hammer with cursed items – a Man-Eating Bag.

Since his Destroy Evil had been ineffective at that time, plus its ability to disguise itself as a Dimensional Bag, Gaven dearly wanted it and brought it back for research to discover its true nature with the help of Lord Virginia.

Many problems become much more manageable once you find the root and the origin.

After hearing Lord Virginia’s explanation, Gaven knew what to do. He immediately took out a roast chicken from his Howard Convenient Bag and threw it into the Man-Eating Bag.

The Man-Eating Bag didn’t react at all, and Gaven was not in a hurry. After waiting a while, he threw in a piece of roast meat.

This time, he clearly felt an abnormal squirming from the Man-Eating Bag as if a creature was swallowing.

Gaven remained patient, and while periodically tossing more bits of food into the bag, he made his way to the Gnoll’s grand dining hall. Once there, he continued to throw various small pieces of raw food into the Man-Eating Bag and then told the approaching Gnoll Manager from the grand dining hall, "Prepare two goats for me, empty the innards, stuff all these into them, then sew them up."

In front of the Gnoll Manager lay a pile of Dragon Tremor Bombs, no fewer than ten in quantity. Each goat’s belly could fit at least five of them.

"Right away, my lord," The Gnoll Manager, without questioning Gaven’s intentions, summoned a bunch of Gnolls and scurried off to carry out the task.

That was the advantage of the Gnolls: albeit a bit dull and silly, they were sufficiently obedient. Just a few words from their master, and they took action without questioning the reason.

They were quite efficient as well. In just ten minutes, the Gnoll Manager returned with a group of Gnolls, bearing two goat carcasses.