This Lich Requests More Remuneration-Chapter 181 - 168 A Special Way of Traveling

Chapter 181: Chapter 168: A Special Way of Traveling

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Chapter 181 -168: A Special Way of Traveling

It’s really no wonder Amberser doesn’t always keep his word; after all, as a Lich, occasionally doing something evil ensures he doesn’t forget his true nature. Otherwise, what kind of Undead would he be if he were constantly being bowed and knelt to by Paladins? What would his fellow Undead friends think of him?

An ordinary Undead might extract someone else’s soul but still struggle to perfectly read their memories.

The soul is fragile, and the clash between control and struggle can damage it, which is why most Undead are dull and dim-witted.

Only those who willingly become Undead retain most of their rationality.

But Amberser was different; his Pseudo-Soul ability allowed him to forcibly create a soul from scratch, and after years of study, his understanding of the soul far surpassed that of ordinary people.

This Goblin’s soul was unraveled into threads by Amberser, and the memories were on these soul filaments, not a single detail missed.

“Let me see, hunting, eating, sleeping, eating, eating, eating… Are you a glutton or what! Ah, this, this sad Bard… No way, even a tree hollow is not spared…”

Amberser slowly read the Goblin’s memories, most of which were boring, meaningless eat, drink, and excretory activities, with the remainder being content of a highly distasteful and disgusting nature.

The soul filaments shattered to pieces in Amberser’s hands, turning into starlight and scattering. After skimming through all the pointless stuff for quite a while, Amberser finally found the information he needed within this Goblin’s soul, but it put him in a difficult position.

Katherine appeared beside Amberser, asking curiously, “What’s wrong? Can’t find the right path?”

“The path is there, it’s not far from the West Coast, but the problem is that we need to cross several Druid Tribes in the Emerald Dream Forest. The Druids of the Emerald Dream Forest have made a decision to envelop most of the forest with a Dreamweave Barrier. Anyone approaching would fall into an eternal slumber.”

“Why? Why is it that wherever we go, things are never smooth?” Katherine complained.

“What else could it be? It’s because of Laine’s mess. The Golden Kingdom has been utterly defeated and has already lost half of the desert. The Emerald Dream Forest fears that Laine will attack them too, so they started preparing for war a long time ago. The ceremony was completed half a year ago. The Dreamweave Barrier covers the Emerald Dream Forest, making it impossible for outsiders to enter.

“These Goblins were also expelled by the two types of barriers. The Emerald Dream Forest is now in a state of war, so many tribes that usually don’t obey have been expelled.”

Amberser wished he could annihilate Laine right there and then, those religious fanatics causing trouble every day, making their neighbors live in fear and anxiety.

However, Amberser suddenly had a moment of inspiration and said to Katherine, “No, it’s wrong, I can’t go, but you can. Elves are not affected!”

Thanks to the blessings of the Elven Gods, Elves possessed absolute free will. Their minds were immune to the influence of drugs and spells, and things like Sleepytime Tea were completely ineffective against them.

Katherine retorted, “Aren’t you the same? Undead don’t need to sleep, either.”

Amberser, however, shook his head and said, “No, you underestimate the abilities of these Druids. The effect of the Dreamweave Barrier is not dependent on whether you need sleep or not. Any foreign bug that enters the Dreamweave Barrier will fall into slumber, even if that bug only lives for one day and never sleeps.”

Every kingdom has its own forte, and the Emerald Dream Forest is named after the Emerald Dream. Just like the City of Dawn is an undead no-go zone where even Legendary Undead who venture in are inevitably purified.

Such barriers, created by merging the entire power of a kingdom, are not something individuals can resist. Even weaker Deities would suffer greatly were they to enter.

It’s only because the Elven Gods are strong enough that their blessings might be able to withstand the Dreamweave Barrier.

“You mean to say, you want me to carry you through this Dreamweave Barrier?”

With a hint of eagerness, Katherine retorted, “Last time, when I single-handedly played a game with a group of Paladins, it was tense, but also thrilling. I now feel that I’m a seasoned Adventurer ready to take on a challenge by myself.

Amberser shook his head and said, “No, no, my original plan was to head to the West Coast together first to retrieve the Divine Artifact hidden by the Elf Tribe. But I didn’t expect the Druids to be in such a tight spot, so I’ve changed my plan.”

Katherine looked at Amberser skeptically.

“Are you planning to con the Druids out of their money again?!”

“What are you talking about? Do I look like that sort of person to you? I’ve always been… aboveboard with money, adhering strictly to the agreed rules. Don’t make unfounded accusations. I’ve never conned anyone.” Amberser earnestly defended himself, then, regardless of Katherine’s scornful gaze, continued, “I mean, the Druids are quite tense right now. They’re terrified that Laine will make a move against them, so your presence is very important to them.”

But Katherine countered, “Me? I only represent myself. I’m no longer the Elf Queen, as you know.”

This shut-in Elf had also come to her senses now. The last time they tricked the Paladins, she had almost dragged the Elf Tribe’s reputation through the mud, and if it weren’t for Amberser’s smooth talking, she would have turned into a swindler in cahoots with the undead.

“No, you’re missing my point. The Elf Tribe is currently in a weakened state. Who is your real rival? Is it the Dwarves? No, your true threat comes from your allies, those religious fanatics who can chop people up in the name of Holy Light and justice. This is a golden opportunity to strengthen the bond between the Elf Tribe and the Druids of the Emerald Dream Forest.”

Amberser spoke with gravity, “I’m not asking you to deceive them, but to engage in formal discussions with the Druids. Talk about potential collaborations between the two nations, a mutually beneficial partnership. Despite the distance between your two nations, if you invest some resources to construct a national level Teleportation Circle capable of extremely long distances, you’d be able to support each other.”

“Weren’t we aiming for the Divine Artifact? Why suddenly have me discuss cooperation with the Druids?”

Katherine stared at Amberser, as if trying to see through his thoughts.

Amberser explained, “Because the situation with the Druids is particular at the moment, I’ve altered our plan. Just think about it, they are filled with unease, so if you represent the Elf Tribe on a visit, they will surely welcome you. If the talks go well, wouldn’t it be the perfect opportunity for Naomi to learn a bit of the Druid’s knowledge undercover?”

To save Harvey, they needed the help of the Time Dragon to go back to the past. Thus, for Naomi to transform into a Time Dragon, there were two conditions. The first was for Naomi’s own Druidic prowess to be sufficient to transform into a dragon, and the second was to have the Time Artifact.

Amberser had initially planned to acquire the artifact and then take advantage of the Druids, but given their current anxious state, he thought it would be more efficient to divide their efforts. After all, they didn’t know how long it would take Naomi to master the power needed to transform into a dragon. If Katherine visited openly and Naomi pretended to be Katherine’s pet, sharing insights on the Wilderness Form with those Legendary Druids, this would surely be better than sneaking around to learn their secrets.

But this way, Amberser could no longer follow Katherine.

No matter how he disguised himself, Amberser, as an Undead, was out of place with the natural environment, and he couldn’t deceive the Druids with their strong perception.

So, to avoid trouble, it was better to act separately.

After Amberser had carefully explained, Katherine finally understood his intentions. This time, she did not need to deceive anyone; a normal visit to the Emerald Dream Forest would suffice.

Although this method lacked the thrill of adventure, Katherine did not want to trick anyone anymore; after all, most Druids had good relations with the Elves.

“However, how will you pass through the Dreamweave Barrier on your own?” Katherine asked.

Amberser lacked the ability to resist the barrier and would fall into slumber as soon as he entered its range.

“I’ll take a detour.”

Amberser opted for the simplest solution.

“Won’t that waste time? How long will a detour take here?” Katherine asked in surprise.

Amberser said, “If I take you along, it would take about seven or eight days, but if it’s just me, it will only take one day.”

“How could that be? Do you think I would slow you down?” Katherine said unconvinced.

She was a Legendary Mage too, specializing in transformation. She knew the Flight Spell and Door of Randomness as well. As far as Mages were concerned, these were pretty much the only tricks for traveling. What other methods could Amberser, a Mage of the prophecy discipline, possibly have?

“I can’t explain it to you; there are some methods that only the Undead can use.”

Katherine wanted to dig deeper, but as an employee, there was nothing she could do if Amberser didn’t want to share, so she obediently took Naomi toward the nearest Druid Tribes.

Amberser drew them a map and gave them specific directions, trusting in Katherine’s abilities not to get lost in the forest.

After seeing them off, Amberser directly entered his private space and then adjusted the flow of time to the maximum.

From his laboratory, Amberser dug out a bunch of metal materials, all of which had been transformed into the property of cadavers. Initially, Amberser planned to have Big Black and Husky test them before swapping his own body, but these two were probably off somewhere wasting time, and Amberser didn’t have the time to fetch them back.

Whether it could withstand Holy Light was irrelevant at the moment. Amberser needed robustness.

Silver-white metal components, not common silver but rather the costly Mithril with high strength and much lighter than steel, were the best material for armor, although they were scarce and expensive.

However, that wasn’t a problem. Withered Rose was the largest mine owner, and Amberser could buy Mithril at the most favorable prices.

Combining Mithril with some special alloys and a carefully crafted Mana Power Furnace by Amberser, a perfect mechanical body was created.

The Soul Fire left its skeletal body and merged into the Mithril machinery.

A few seconds later, the Mana Power Furnace in his chest lit up, and Amberser came back to life.

He clenched his fist and took a few steps, Amberser said in amazement, “After loading the power furnace, the mechanical body certainly has much more strength than a skeleton frame.”

And another discovery surprised Amberser: after receiving the power of the Legendary Ranger, his control over his body was incredibly strong. With just a few minutes of movement, he had fully mastered his new body, without needing to spend hundreds of hours practicing like Big Black did.

“Better than I expected, which means even more time saved.”

Having replaced his body with a mechanical one, Amberser stepped out of his private space, along with a huge Magic Conduction Cannon.

Amberser briefly calculated the direction, aimed the cannon barrel at the sky, then opened it up and loaded in a special shell.

The special shell, also made of Mithril, would allow him to hide inside and then use the cannon’s power to shoot out.

The Flight Spell could manage at most sixty to seventy kilometers per hour, but this modified Magic Conduction Cannon could accelerate the shell to over a thousand kilometers per hour. If a Featherfall Spell was added to the shell to reduce its weight, the speed would be even more terrifying.

Of course, that was the theoretical speed; Amberser hadn’t tested it.

Today was a good day to try it out.

“This is also a sacrifice for science,” he mused.

Amberser entered the shell and then powered the Magic Conduction Cannon with his magic.

After charging for several seconds, the cannon roared, and the Mithril shell streaked across the sky, leaving a white trail.