Apocalypse: Mad Necromancer’s Troops

Chapter 74: The Ritual Artifact

 

Exiting the crowded district, the Golden Cat's carriage was waiting at the corner.

 

Wu Heng boarded the carriage, followed by Yuli, who slowly climbed up, placing a thick cushion on the wooden step before carefully sitting down, grimacing in pain.

 

Slater glanced at him and spoke softly, "Did you have my niece steal something?"

 

As expected, she came to settle the score.

 

Wu Heng cleared his throat and quickly explained, "It wasn't stealing, it's just that the situation was urgent, and you weren't there at the time, so I had to take it first. If you were there, you would have agreed."

 

"Do you think you're good at making excuses?"

 

"No, it's not like that..."

 

"Since you took it, tell me what price you're willing to pay," Slater continued.

 

"How about I just buy it?"

 

Slater looked at him and nodded, "Alright, the deputy Deacon's collaboration permit, 500 silver coins. Not too expensive, right?"

 

"Fine, I'll get you the money," Wu Heng replied directly.

 

Slater was momentarily taken aback, looking at him with some confusion.

 

Given his living conditions and habits, he didn't seem like someone who could easily pull out that much money.

 

"The price just went up—1,000 silver coins."

 

Wu Heng frowned at her, understanding her true intent.

 

It was clear that asking for money was just a pretext. Running the Golden Cat and being the deputy Deacon, she couldn't possibly need his money.

 

"What do you actually want, Deputy Deacon?"

 

"You'll find out soon enough."

 

The carriage continued forward, heading directly to the association.

 

Passing through the lobby and corridors, they arrived at the association's morgue.

 

Slater's gaze fell on one of the corpses, "I need to ask him a few questions."

 

Wu Heng understood immediately—she had intended for him to use [Speak with the Dead] all along.

 

He glanced at Yuli, who pointed to her backside and mouthed, 'No choice, it hurt too much.'

 

"Alright, next time, just tell me directly. It's my duty to assist the Deputy Deacon."

 

"You sure know how to talk. Get started."

 

"You can only ask five questions, so think carefully about what you want to ask."

 

After saying this, he immediately cast the spell, enveloping the corpse in necromantic magic.

 

The next second, the corpse lying on the iron bed suddenly sat up, its gaze shifting to the few figures nearby.

 

Wu Heng gestured that they could begin.

 

Slater directly asked, "What was your purpose for coming to Blackstone Town this time?"

 

"To sell a peculiar artifact."

 

"What does the artifact do?"

 

"A sacrificial mask that enhances the effects of sacrifices."

 

At this, everyone's expressions grew serious.

 

Sacrifices? Rituals?

 

They immediately thought of the missing children from the previous day.

 

"Who did you sell the artifact to?" Slater continued.

 

"It was a commission from the Serpent Emblem Consortium. We only provided the artifact and don’t know who it was ultimately handed to."

 

The Serpent Emblem Consortium...

 

Whenever the Serpent Emblem Consortium is involved, investigations typically hit a dead end.

 

Even within the consortium, the identities of buyers and sellers are often unknown, as they conduct transactions masked.

 

"Do you have any other plans in Blackstone Town?"

 

"No, we were planning to stay for a few days and then leave."

 

That was the fourth question, and the key points had already been clarified.

 

Only one question remained.

 

Slater thought for a moment and asked, "What was your purpose in abducting children?"

 

"I like boys."

 

With that, the corpse fell back onto the iron bed with a thud.

 

This last answer was somewhat unexpected.

 

It seemed unrelated to the sacrificial mask, just a personal preference.

 

"Alright, let's go," Slater said, leading them out of the morgue.

 

It seemed she had gotten the information she needed.

 

They walked out of the morgue.

 

Slater continued, "This matter is closed. The child abduction and the killing of the criminal will be reported, and you'll receive your merits and rewards accordingly."

 

"Thank you, Deputy Deacon," Wu Heng expressed his gratitude.

 

Slater nodded, then glanced at Yuli, "Don't learn all the bad habits."

 

With that, she turned and left.

 

Wu Heng and Yuli headed to the squad's rest room.

 

As soon as they entered the room, Yuli exclaimed, "Give me a healing potion; my butt hurts."

 

Wu Heng handed her a healing potion.

 

After gulping it down, she finally sighed in relief.

 

Pouting, she glared at Wu Heng, "Why was I the only one who got hit?"

 

"I'm a mage, you wouldn't want a mage to get hit, would you?"

 

"What kind of logic is that? Why should a druid get hit?"

 

"Alright, I'll bring you something good to eat tomorrow. It'll make up for it," Wu Heng said.

 

"Fine!"

 

They chatted for a while, with Wu Heng listening to her recount her experience after returning last night.

 

They continued talking until noon, then went their separate ways to take care of their own matters.

 

.........

 

Stepping out of the association, Wu Heng suddenly stopped in his tracks.

 

He quickly returned to the front desk and said to the staff, "Can you check if my commission is ready?"

 

He almost forgot the important matter.

 

The staff member began flipping through the records, "It's ready; please wait a moment."

 

Wu Heng nodded and waited for a while.

 

Soon, the staff member returned with two boxes.

 

"Mr. Wu Heng, both of your commissions have been completed. This one contains the newly formulated potion and its recipe; the other has two bottles of antidote potion."

 

Both are done?

 

Wu Heng couldn't help but smile, not expecting both potions to be completed at the same time.

 

The first one was the examination and potion preparation using the second-tier corpse nucleus, which had taken a long time. The second was the preparation of an antidote using the first-tier corpse nucleus, which was quicker since the recipe was already available.

 

"Great, thank you."

 

"Considering the materials used and the difficulty of the preparation, you need to pay an additional 115 silver coins," the staff reminded him.

 

"Sure!" Wu Heng took out the money and handed it over.

 

Then he stored the potions and left the association.

 

Returning home.

 

Wu Heng placed the newly formulated potion on the table.

 

Unlike the first-tier corpse nucleus antidote, this potion was slightly larger.

 

The bottle was about half the size of a hand, containing a pale blue liquid.

 

【Cognition Shielding Alchemical Mixture】

 

(Description: A mixture formulated to counteract specific toxins, with multiple effects including shielding cognition and neutralizing toxins.)

 

Unlike the first-tier corpse nucleus antidote, this time the name had changed.

 

It's called a mixture now.

 

The description indicated it had several effects, giving off an impressive vibe.

 

Heading to the zombie world, Wu Heng retrieved the second-tier corpse nucleus from the organ jar.

 

After disinfecting it with alcohol, he immediately swallowed it down.

 

【Strength +8, Constitution +5, Agility +2.】

 

The system notification appeared instantly.

 

Before he could even feel pleased, intense pain spread throughout his body as if countless steel spikes were piercing his skin, and boiling water was coursing through his bone marrow.

 

Then came an uncontrollable surge of rage.

 

He could clearly feel his rationality slipping away bit by bit.

 

Without hesitation, he quickly opened the potion and drank it down.

 

As soon as the potion reached his stomach, its energy spread rapidly throughout his body.

 

The pain gradually subsided, and the rage dissipated.

 

Wu Heng lay on the ground, gasping for breath.

 

It took a while before he could slowly stand up, with Bason's help.

 

"This kind of pain isn't for just anyone to endure."

 

Once he was up, he walked to the mirror.

 

He checked his reflection from side to side.

 

His muscles appeared more defined, exuding a strong sense of power.

 

He even seemed to have grown a bit taller.

 

"Can this stuff promote a second growth spurt?"

 

Looking himself over, he felt quite satisfied with the results—gaining 15 attribute points in one go.

 

The effects were simply amazing.

 

But as for developing any supernatural abilities, it seemed they didn't manifest in him.

 

.........

 

Sizzle, sizzle~!

 

As Wu Heng rummaged through a drawer, looking for a tape measure to confirm if he had indeed grown taller.

 

The walkie-talkie nearby crackled with static.

 

Then, a woman's voice came through, "Hello, is anyone there?"

 

Wu Heng picked up the walkie-talkie, "Yes, who is this?"

 

It was clearly not Li Yanhong's voice.

 

"I'm Wang Ke, the nurse from the Second Hospital. Sister Hong and the others went out this morning and haven't returned yet; something might have happened!"