Chapter 599: Chapter 599. A Deal with the Lower World

“That will never happen,” Wai Kung answered while bowing another time.

“Your Magnificent, I have another request,” Wai Ling said.

“Don’t mistake me granting you permission to assemble the army as a generosity,” Zee Whang uttered. “I am not here to fulfil anyone’s request.”

“I understand, but we need an experienced general to lead the army,” Wai Ling said. “Xuang Feng served the longest in the military and had faced Echos’ army before. He is the ideal candidate to lead our army. Can you be so kind as to release him from prison?”

Zee Whang leaned forward. “That runt has the gall to come and demand that I send a reinforcement after he failed, both in invading Echos and repelling its retaliation. Even worse, he lost my precious mental regulator. He should be glad I didn’t execute him on the spot.”

“I am not defending his faults. I simply think that he will be useful to help us drive Echos’ army from our nation,” Wai Ling insisted.

“Why do you not just say you want me to free your love?” Zee Whang’s voice became loud. “This is why I hate humans. They are never honest. Always saying something from their mouth but hiding something else. Just say it! You want me to free the man you love. Say it!!”

“I… I wish for Your Magnificent to free the man I love…” Wai Ling said.

“There! It isn’t so hard, is it? Fucking idiot!” Zee Whang yelled. He leaned back on his bed while gasping for air. His body condition was not suited for an outburst.

Everyone was silent as they waited for Zee Whang to catch his breath.

After some time, Zee Whang’s breathing finally returned to normal. He told them, “Go get him from the jail in the basement. I’ve already input the code. You will find his cell unlocked. Now, get out of my sight!”

The four bowed silently and returned toward the elevator. The elevator’s door closed after they entered, and the elevator moved downward.

Zee Whang closed his eyes to rest, but it didn’t last long before he was disturbed again. A beeping sound was heard. All his battle puppets on this floor suddenly turned toward the same direction.

In that direction, a black mist swirled out of thin air before transforming into a man in a black robe. This man walked toward Zee Whang after his abrupt entrance.

“I thought they never leave,” the man in the black robe said.

“… One of these days, Li Zhong, you need to tell me how you bypass all my security measures,” Zee Whang said.

“Hehe. Here, this is this month’s supply,” Li Zhong said. A pile of crystals that exuded soft purple light materialized beside him. He then said, “Your turn.”

Zee Whang pushed one of the naked women away before pressing a button beside his bed. A control panel appeared. He input some commands into the control panel. A small portion of the floor next to his bed opened. Several battle puppets exited the open floor carrying the Mental Regulator’s receiver modules.

The ones they carried had backpacks, but the backpacks were different from those that contained explosive devices. The backpacks were larger and had multiple light indicators.

“Only seven?” Li Zhong asked. His tone sounded disappointed. “I thought our agreement was that you supply us at least ten each month?”

“I can give you ten if all you need is the same as the previous ones I gave you last month, but you want a device that can affect cultivators as strong as the ones at the Spirit Stage, don’t you?”

“We call it Malicious Stage, but yes. That is the kind of mental regulator we want,” Li Zhong replied. “Are these seven strong enough for that?”

“Not yet,” Zee Whang answered. “But I’m close. I’m still experimenting. That’s why I can give only seven instead of ten. Experimentation means many tests, which translates to a lot of waste. Consider the three missing devices as the sacrifice for future success.”

“Sacrifice…? Or are you trying to con us? I know you only require only a few of these Tainted Aetherium Crystals to make these Mental Regulators. You use the excess to build the giant version like that one behind you, don’t you?”

“Of course, I’m not doing this out of the goodness of my heart. My target is to have one Mental Regulator in each of my nation’s largest cities. Only when that was achieved can I call this nation my own. Come to think of it, are you certain you don’t want me to build the transmitter version? Those devices you requested can only affect one individual.”

“We are not like you. We have no need of weak peons, no matter how many they are,” Li Zhong said. “What we want is the means to fully control a strong cultivator. That said, I’m glad we met each other. It is not every day you find a surface dweller who is willing to communicate with a demon.”

“I prefer a demon over the humans of this world… Well, since you are here, is it true?” Zee Whang asked.

“What is true?” Li Zhong asked in return.

“I know you like to eavesdrop on me. I still don’t know how you do that, but you should have heard my conversation with those four a year ago, when they presented me with the proposal to invade Echos.”

“Mm… What about it?” Li Zhong asked.

“Is what that Wei Zhuang fellow said true?”

Li Zhong chuckled. “I’m sorry. We have a strict mandate from our superiors to never discuss that matter with people outside our realm.”

“Considering you do not deny it, I say it is most likely true then…”

“You are free to believe whatever you wish,” Li Zhong responded.

“How soon until the calamity strikes?” Zee Whang asked.

“Uh-uh. As I said, I can’t discuss it,” Li Zhong said.

“Well, a different question then. If… When it happens, can I seek sanctuary in the lower world?”

Li Zhong grinned. He said, “Prove yourself useful to us, and we will see about it.”

—————

Inside the elevator of Council Pylon, the four who had just visited Zee Whang were silent. All of them wore ugly expressions.

Wai Ling was the first to utter something, “Damn that…”

“Not here!” Wai Kung stopped Wai Ling before she said too much.

Wai Ling pursed her mouth. She was reminded that Zee Whang had invisible eyes and ears all over this building. It was possible he was still monitoring them.

The elevator arrived at the bottom floor. Down there, the hall was also filled with battle puppets. These puppets served as both security and maintenance for the building. One of the puppets ushered them to the entrance to the basement below.

The basement was Zee Whang’s personal prison complex. It housed prisoners who were mostly people who opposed or criticized his rule. This was the first time they came down. They were both amazed and distressed by what they saw.

The prison complex was huge. It equalled a three-storey structure. Thousands of cells were there. The worst thing was that all those prison cells were filled with people. When they looked down at the bottom floor below, they saw cart upon cart of corpses. Working puppets carried these carts and threw the corpses into a giant incinerator.

“This… This is…,” Zue Siao was speechless at the sight.

“Wai Ling? Is that you?” A voice called them from the side. They turned and saw a woman staring at them from one of the cells.

“You are…” Wai Ling didn’t recognize the woman at first, but soon realized. “Oh, my God! Are you Yu Nong? I heard bandits attacked your residence. Why are you here?”

“Bandits? It is so if you consider the Supreme Councilor a bandit. His puppets assaulted my house, killed almost everyone in my family, and brought the surviving ones here… Wai Ling, you must get me out of here! Please! I can’t stand another day in this place!”

Wai Ling didn’t know how to respond to the request. She turned to her father, who shook his head lightly.

“Let’s go. We are here for someone else,” Wei Zhuang said. He continued walking, following the battle puppet that ushered them.

Everyone resumed walking. Wai Ling was the last to move. He looked at Yu Nong and said, “I’m sorry,” before she left. She ignored Yu Nong’s never-ending plea to save her.

“Finally, they arrived at a prison cell designed for solitary confinement. Only one person was held inside. They saw Xuang Feng inside the cell. He was chained to the wall.

“Feng…!” Wai Ling called. There was longing in her voice.

Xuang Feng looked at her and called back, “Ling! Why are you here?”

The door to the cell was open, as promised by Zee Whang. The battle puppet went inside and removed the chains that bound Xuang Feng. Xuang Feng fell to the ground when the chains were removed. He was too weak to stand.

“Are you alright?” Wai Ling tried helping him up. Her face was filled with concern.

“They… They drug me… make me weak,” Xuang Feng replied.

“It’s okay now. We will get you out of here,” Wai Ling consoled.

“Let’s leave,” Wai Kung said. He preferred not to be here longer than they must.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep