Zog stretched out a claw and poked the unlucky fellow on the ground.
The man was already bloated from the water. Pressing his face made water spew from his mouth.
'These Fishmen are too earnest,' Zog thought. 'I told them to capture the man and bring him back, but I didn't think they'd haul all two hundred fifty or sixty pounds of him across the sea without even stripping off his armor.'
Worse, they thought they had failed their mission. Now they were all kneeling in a neat row, confessing their mistakes over one another.
"Lord Emissary, he was alive when we caught him. We don't know how he died."
"Yeah, we don't know."
"Maybe he couldn't swim and drowned."
"Impossible. I was holding his head up."
"And I did that thing to him."
"Which thing?"
"You know, the thing. The mouth-to-mouth breathing thing."
"Yeah, the breathing thing."
"But he still died. So we don't know how he died."
"Right, we just don't know."
"Lord Emissary, please don't tell the Mother of the Sea. We'll definitely complete the mission next time."
"Please, don't tell the Mother of the Sea."
Zog's head was starting to ache. It seemed none of the species under his command could communicate normally.
The Undead and the Zor couldn't squeeze out a word to save their lives. The goblins and Beastmen just spouted gibberish. And now he had a bunch of Fishmen who were all motormouths.
He pried open the man's mouth, pressed hard on his chest, and a gush of black blood surged out.
'That makes more sense. He was a Death Warrior. Most likely carried poison on him and committed suicide the moment he was caught.'
After placating the Fishmen, he sent them back to the sea through the tunnel.
Zog's Toy Store was no longer the simple three-story building it had started as. The goblins and Zor were masters at digging tunnels, and the entire block underground had been transformed into a complex network of passages.
Besides the toy store, it also connected to the slums and the direction of Shudian.
The doctor and patients were also hidden in the tunnels; the small boat heading out to sea was just a Smoke Bomb.
Dragon Island was a safe place because it was protected by a Dragon. Now that the Dragon was in the tunnels, they were, of course, safe Dragon tunnels.
As for this Church Warrior, if he thought he could protect his secrets by committing suicide, he was seriously underestimating Dragons.
He didn't have any proper Mages under his command, but he was certainly not lacking in those who studied the Necromancy School.
He summoned a Beastman Priest to cast Speak with Dead on the Warrior.
Of course, if the dead man considered the Caster an enemy, the Magic wouldn't work. Fortunately, he probably didn't know who had sent those Fishmen.
The Priest waved his Magic Staff and chanted the Spell. The dead man on the ground looked as if he was about to rise, but was suddenly pinned down by a force.
The Priest was taken aback. He tried to cast the Magic again, but it failed once more.
"It seems... his body has been treated. It cannot be imbued with Life Force."
"I see. You can go back for now."
'No wonder the Church has gotten so big and powerful. Their information security is even stricter than an assassin's organization.'
But Zog wasn't out of options. A professional's job should be done by a professional. And as it happened, he knew someone who understood the Church—no, an Elf, to be precise.
Zog was notorious in the "good" alignment, but among the "evil" alignment, his reputation was sterling.
"Xin 104, is the drum kit finished?"
"It's finished."
"Excellent. Bring it out. It's time to socialize."
「Half an hour later, in Furin's residence.」
At Zog's repeated requests, a very reluctant Furin consumed a massive amount of Magic Power to teleport him, the drum kit, and the corpse to the Dark Nether Realm.
The destination was a theater.
This was a very special theater. Its scale was comparable to the largest theater in the Sutton Kingdom, yet it had not a single seat. Its internal structure was designed entirely to serve the acoustics.
It could only be called a theater because its owner had named it the Avenger's Theater.
On the empty stage, in front of a giant pipe organ, the Spider Elf Roline was immersed in her performance.
The music was strange, cold, and filled with despair, causing listeners to uncontrollably spiral into all sorts of horrifying associations.
Zog was no exception.
His parents discovering the "study materials" on his cloud drive;
Handing in his college entrance exam only to realize he hadn't filled out the multiple-choice answer sheet;
His partner demanding a fortune right when they were about to get married;
Getting "optimized" by his company at forty, but his mortgage wasn't paid off yet;
His daughter bringing home a bleached-blond boyfriend, and since she was pregnant, he was the only option...
Horrifying. Truly horrifying.
Good thing he wasn't human anymore.
It had to be said, Roline's technique was superb. She just liked to infuse her music with some weird and bizarre Magic.
Perhaps from not seeing the sun for too long in the Dark Nether Realm, perversion was the norm for the creatures here.
"A Red Dragon who has shrunk himself down. Very creative," the music stopped, and Roline turned around. "So, what reason brings the famous Zog to the Dark Nether Realm?"
Spider Elves were actually Zor who failed the Spider Queen's test and were transformed, appearing with the upper body of an Elf and the lower body of a spider.
Except for a few individuals with unique tastes, most creatures considered Spider Elves a threat.
The attitude of the Zor towards Spider Elves was even worse; they believed they had failed the Spider Queen.
But Roline still became the leader of a Zor City State, purely because her strength was too outstanding.
"I brought you a gift," Zog replied.
Roline glanced over and said, "A Fanatic Warrior of the Church. I've killed more than enough of those. For you, Zog, bringing me the dead Pope might count as a gift."
"No, no, *this* is the gift," Zog said, pointing to the drum kit. "As for the Warrior, I'm hoping you can make him talk."
Roline herself didn't care for percussion, believing it had too few opportunities to shine in an orchestra.
But the appearance of the drum kit was still very appealing. She walked over to observe it closely. The design was very thoughtful—it had a full eight pedals connected to different drums and cymbals, perfect for her eight spider legs.
She immediately realized what it was for. Like the pipe organ, she alone could achieve an effect that would normally require multiple musicians.
She could even write compositions centered around the drums.
"A very nice invention." Roline's musical talent was indeed high. She tried playing the drum kit and wasn't flustered in the slightest, despite having so many feet.
"Perhaps you should come score my Shadow of Evil."
"Shadow of Evil? What's that?"
"A medium that allows everyone to appreciate your music." The Magic Power from her playing couldn't possibly infect the audience through a Magic Crystal Stone.
"Then it's a deal," Roline agreed without the slightest hesitation. She desperately needed an audience—a normal audience, at least not the kind that would commit suicide after a few minutes due to her Magic Power.
"So what's the price?" Of course, she didn't believe Zog came just to give her a gift.
"I want to perform Speak with Dead on that Warrior."
"No problem." If someone were to count which creature on the Continent had killed the most Church members, it would definitely be Roline—more than the next few contenders combined.
She didn't understand the Church's ultimate goal, but she was certainly aware of the secrets held within its members' bodies.
She quickly removed the restriction on the corpse that prevented it from being imbued with Life Force.
Speak with Dead was different from resurrection. The latter was a Forbidden Technique beyond the Ninth Ring that belonged only to the Deities. The former's only function was to ask a few, non-complex questions.
Zog organized his words.
"The Steam Engine curse was spread by the Church, yes?"
"Yes."
"The owners of the equipment that created the curse are cooperating with the Church, yes?"
"Yes."
"Does the Church want to destroy the Steam Engine?"
"No."
"Does the Church want to limit the Steam Engine?"
"No."
"Does the Church want to monopolize the Steam Engine?"
"Yes." After answering the last question, the Warrior fell back, his passing not entirely peaceful.
Zog now understood. The Church went to all this trouble to make people doubt the Steam Engine because they probably planned to claim the technology for themselves, then release a "Blessed and Improved Version" to achieve a technological monopoly.
And those people who sacrificed their own Factories were likely pledging their allegiance in exchange for future benefits.
Zog suddenly had a bold theory.
'Is it possible that Magic doesn't actually come from the Deities, but was the result of an ancient "monopolize the Steam Engine" incident?'
However, he didn't voice his theory to anyone, instead putting on a cheeky grin.
"Could you teleport me back to Twin Tower City? If I fly back, I'll probably miss the Yo-Yo competition and the trailer I prepared for it."