Chapter 359, Skeleton Ronin
Together with Sheila Grey, Wu Heng went to his office.
He took out the spatial ring obtained from the gnome.
During the capture of the gnome, Sheila Grey and the squads were involved, and some members were slightly injured.
The spoils of war still needed to be divided.
One by one, the items were taken out.
Two oversized puppets, three human-shaped puppets, some material parts, carving tools, daily necessities, gold and silver coins, and a book [Detailed Explanation of Ghost Puppets and Runes], as well as the spatial ring.
"Are these puppets valuable?" Wu Heng asked.
Two oversized puppets—one that could spray oil and another that could spit fire.
Their attacking styles were strange, and among the parts, there were even components for launching crossbow bolts.
It seemed they were interchangeable.
The three human-shaped puppets were probably the ones used to impersonate 'Wu Heng' to kill the Merchant Group head.
One of them held a long-handled hammer made of wood.
It was relatively rough in construction.
"Puppet masters are quite rare; they might be hard to sell. We could hand them to the Guild for some merits," Sheila Grey said, standing up to inspect the puppets.
She lifted a layer of armor off the outside.
The structure inside the puppet was indeed quite intricate, not like a simple skeleton with just a basic frame.
Runes were etched onto the puppet's frame.
It was clearly an occupation requiring both manual dexterity and high intelligence.
"We can ask the squad if anyone wants them; if not, let's trade them for merits."
Sheila Grey nodded in agreement.
They sorted the remaining items.
Divided by value, they made several shares, ready to distribute to the squads.
This gnome puppet master had quite a bit of money.
Even with so many people involved, everyone could still get a decent share, more than from an ordinary bounty.
It was worth the effort.
After splitting the spoils, Sheila Grey left to handle her own matters.
...
In the afternoon.
The squad sent to capture 'Captain Ewald' returned.
Unsurprisingly, the man was missing.
Whether at the tavern where he stayed or on his ship, he was nowhere to be found.
It was as if he had vanished from the world.
The ship's first officer and some key members were brought back to the Guild for questioning.
The merchant ship was also impounded and not allowed to leave.
Imiro was very firm on this matter. If they found the captain, he would likely kill and interrogate the corpse directly.
Continuing the investigation.
Of course, the man would never be found.
He had already been killed by 'Karlema.' Unless Wu Heng killed Karlema and interrogated him, it would be almost impossible to find out where the man went with their current investigative methods.
And Wu Heng wouldn't do that.
Doing so would easily drag himself back into the chaos.
...
In the steward's office.
"Steward, you wanted to see me?" Wu Heng opened the door and walked in.
Imiro put down the documents in his hand, "That person wasn't found. If he didn't escape, he must have been silenced. He will soon be placed on the wanted list, and he shouldn't pose any more threats to you."
"I'll follow your arrangements," Wu Heng said, then continued, "I want to look into some of Ewald's background. I'm quite curious about why he tried to harm me."
Imiro replied, "I'll have someone look into his family and background. Assassinating a Guild deputy steward isn't something that just ends because we can't find the person."
"Hmm, thank you, steward."
"With this, the investigation into the Deer Antler Merchant Group is concluded. The body will be returned to their merchant group."
The corpse had been kept in the morgue for several days.
It was time to send it back.
"I have no objections."
"For now, that's all. I'll inform you if there's any progress on this."
"Alright, I'll be leaving then."
Imiro nodded, "Go ahead."
Wu Heng left the steward's office and began walking back.
On the way, he ran into Sheila Grey.
"Where are you heading?" Sheila Grey asked.
"Heading home, just finished everything. What about you?"
"Yeah, all done."
Wu Heng thought for a moment and said, "How about I treat everyone to dinner tonight, to thank you all?"
"The Guild is quite busy right now. A group dinner celebration might not look great," Sheila Grey replied.
"Then some other day, whenever we're free."
Sheila Grey nodded.
Wu Heng then asked, "When is Karlema leaving?"
"I just heard him tell the steward that it's tomorrow, he's got a ticket for the morning ship."
"Oh, I thought he was planning to settle down here."
"I don't really like him either."
They talked as they walked, and Sheila Grey returned to her office.
Wu Heng left the Guild and headed towards his home.
...
Back at home.
Minnie and Andviel came out from the room to greet him.
"Master, how did it go today?" Minnie asked.
Wu Heng replied, "It's all settled. The investigation is clear. Andviel, you can return to the Guild tomorrow."
"Understood, Master," Andviel nodded.
Minnie clung to his arm and asked, "What about that bad guy who framed you?"
"He's no longer a threat."
"Was he an old enemy?" Minnie continued.
"No, just a merchant ship captain, probably connected to either the secret cult or the pirates," Wu Heng said.
"Oh, I thought it was an old enemy!"
"Doesn't seem like it."
The three of them entered the living room together.
Minnie brought some fruits from the kitchen and said, "Can I go out to buy some things tomorrow? It's not great to keep asking Sister Shanaila for help."
Wu Heng nodded, "Sure, take a skeletal servant with you, and if there's any danger, come straight back."
"Hehe, got it!" Minnie smiled, picking up two pieces of fruit and feeding them to him.
With the crisis averted.
Wu Heng and the two women felt a lot more at ease.
Otherwise, there had always been a sense of crisis weighing on their minds.
They discussed what to have for dinner to celebrate.
The two women prepared, while Wu Heng headed upstairs.
...
Passing by the third floor, Wu Heng entered the radio room.
Confirming there were no new messages from 'Philipa.'
He headed directly to the fourth floor.
After a quick wash, he opened the portal and went to the zombie world.
Exiting the dormitory, he went straight to the backyard.
He took out 'Keramu's' corpse and had the skeleton untie the straw mat, removing the armor from the body.
Keramu's armor looked pretty good.
But the breastplate had a slash mark left by one of Imiro's strikes.
It looked beyond repair.
After placing the removed equipment aside.
Wu Heng cast [Raise Skeleton].
The necromantic magic enveloped the body, and the flesh began to fall away, revealing pure white bones.
A ghostly blue soul flame rose in the eye sockets, and the skeleton sat up from the ground.
[Skeleton Ronin (Level 17)]
Level 17!
Not Level 16.
Just one level away from 18.
No wonder he was so reckless, causing chaos everywhere. If he'd reached Level 18, even if he had killed Wu Heng, there could have been reasons for pardoning his crime.
But now, he was Wu Heng's skeletal servant.
Wu Heng's strength had also increased to a certain extent.
Once he stepped out of the flesh.
Wu Heng began to check the skeleton's attributes.
[Skeleton Ronin (Level 17)]
[Attributes: Constitution 33, Strength 35, Agility 38, Intelligence 22, Perception 34, Charisma 12.]
[Traits: Hollow Skeleton, Intermediate Soul, Battle Dancer.]
[Specialties: Leather Armor Specialization (Advanced), Single-Edged Sword Specialization (Master), Basic Swordsmanship Specialization (Intermediate)...]
[Abilities: Disarm Sword Technique, Precision Strike, Nimble Speed, Sharp Flourish, Intuitive Dodge, Lethal Finisher.]
Wu Heng looked through all the abilities.
He raised his eyebrows slightly.
From the overall attributes, the Ronin was an agility-type melee class.
Agile in movement, with decent strength and perception.
Wu Heng also took a closer look at the abilities.
Besides various combat abilities.
He focused on [Battle Dancer] and [Intuitive Dodge].
[Battle Dancer]: Agile in movement, skilled in swift and precise swordsmanship, proficient with conventional swords, Agility +5, Perception +3.
Increased agility and perception.
[Intuitive Dodge]: Able to sense danger and dodge instinctively.
Whether it was his machine-gun fire or Andviel's sniping from afar.
Keramu could instinctively make dodging moves.
Especially during sniping from a distance, although he didn't completely evade the bullet, his movement had prevented a fatal shot.
Dodging sniper bullets—something even movies wouldn't dare depict.
Wu Heng was quite satisfied with the skeleton's attributes.
Only the tattoo abilities and the mist ability were missing.
"From now on, your name is still 'Keramu,' put on your armor!" Wu Heng ordered.
Keramu walked over and started putting on the removed armor.
After putting
138. After putting on the armor.
Wu Heng took out the Mist Condensing Evil Sword and handed it to him, "Use this weapon."
The skeleton took it and held it in its hand.
Wu Heng watched it for a while, confirming there were no changes, then led it back.
The side effect of the Evil Sword was that it affected the user's mind.
Technically, skeletal servants shouldn't have such things.
Moreover, the Evil Sword could teleport behind enemies when it touched mist; it would be interesting to see how to utilize this.
...
With two skeletal servants, Wu Heng returned to the courtyard.
Qi Hancai also came over from a distance.
She glanced at Keramu, a hint of curiosity in her eyes.
Previously, he had a dual-wielding skeleton, which fought quite aggressively.
Now, the bodyguard had changed.
She glanced a few more times before looking away, saying, "The military came yesterday and sold us some military supplies."
Hmm?
Wu Heng frowned.
The old factory had a relatively low valuation for military equipment. In the past, they had tried negotiating.
They wanted a better exchange rate for food.
But Wu Heng had been busy lately and hadn't paid much attention.
And now they had sold a batch?
"What did they exchange?"
"Radio equipment, communication headsets, some bulletproof vests, helmets, all at the set external price. They came for the exchange, so we did it at the regular rate," Qi Hancai explained.
Military supplies were definitely better than civilian versions.
But in large quantities, they weren't of much use.
"Do you know why they are selling so much?"
Qi Hancai thought for a moment and said, "It seems like they're planning to leave here. Besides exchanging food with us, they've also been recruiting abilities users from a few shelters. They vaguely mentioned offering a safer place and asked if we wanted to join."
Evacuate? Before the winter roads were completely blocked?
Listening to Qi Hancai, Wu Heng instantly thought of this possibility.
It was entirely possible.
Either they found a better refuge or were regrouping with a larger force.
Both could make them decide to leave.
This was them taking unused or surplus items and trading them for food.
Fortunately, Wu Heng had agreed to give them more food earlier.
Otherwise, they might have dumped everything on them all at once.
Wu Heng continued, "First, try to gather some intel from them. As for joining, there's no need. Our place is still quite safe and stable, and who knows what their situation is."
"Alright, I'll ask around," Qi Hancai nodded, then asked, "Do we need to clear out the zombies?"
"In the next couple of days, whenever I find time."
"Oh, okay!"
The two walked around the factory.
After confirming everything was fine, Wu Heng went back to the dorm.
Qi Hancai went on to handle her tasks.
...
Gold-Silver Island.
Wu Heng came downstairs.
Minnie widened her eyes, pointing at the skeleton behind him, "It's him, the one who killed the Bloodhand."
Keramu's features were very distinctive.
Even without facial features, one could immediately recognize him by his body shape and attire.
Andviel also looked over and recognized the skeleton.
Wu Heng nodded, "After killing him, I converted him into a skeleton. It's just right to replace Bloodhand."
"Oh!" Minnie walked around it, "Guess he's making up for what he did before."
"Wow! Minnie is speaking with depth now."
Minnie smiled proudly, "I've been reading books lately."
Andviel chimed in, "All novels."
"Shoo! Sister Andviel, you're so annoying," Minnie grumbled.
Soon, dinner was brought out.
They had prepared a feast to celebrate Wu Heng's reinstatement.
After dinner.
The three went to the courtyard for some training, then returned to their rooms together.
...
In the bathroom.
Steam was rising.
Wu Heng relaxed in the tub, exhaling deeply.
Lying back, he couldn't help but think about the remaining issues.
"Only Kalema is left!"
Kalema was the only one still alive with connections to this matter.
He had even apologized to Wu Heng during the day.
Acting completely unaware.
At that time, Wu Heng wanted to reveal his actions, let Imiro check his spatial ring—maybe the corpse was in there.
"Still pretending!"
"Wait, could he have known that the ghost was tracking him and wasn't afraid to confront me about it?"
Thinking like this, it seemed quite possible!
As a mage and the Guild's inspector envoy, he might not be able to stop the ghost, but he could likely detect it.
He was prepared, so he wasn't afraid of Wu Heng speaking up.
"Cunning fox!"
"We'll see which ship you board tomorrow."
Creak~!
The bathroom door opened.
Minnie and Andviel, wrapped in towels, walked in.
Their beautiful shoulders and collarbones were exposed, along with their slender legs.
"Master, we haven't bathed together in a while," Minnie said, wrapping her arms around his neck from behind.
"We can bathe together anytime," Wu Heng smiled.
Andviel also approached, gently massaging his arm.
After a while of washing.
Wu Heng said softly, "Andviel, get in."
Andviel blushed and nodded, stepping into the tub, facing him.
As she settled in, her towel floated, exposing her bare skin.
Wu Heng held her by her ribs, pulling her towards him.
Andviel leaned her whole body onto his.
Minnie giggled, "Sister Andviel, does it feel good?"
"Don't say nonsense!"
After a while, Wu Heng pulled Minnie in as well.
Once they were done washing.
He carried the bunny girl wrapped around him towards the bedroom.
...
The next day.
Wu Heng and Andviel went to the Guild together.
Andviel had to resume her duties as an assistant.
Wu Heng, meanwhile, was there to see 'Kalema' off the island and confirm which ship he would take.
At the Guild.
Wu Heng couldn't find the person he intended to see off.
He directly knocked on Sheila Grey's office door.
Pushing it open, Sheila Grey looked up, "What's up?"
"Wasn't today Kalema's send-off?" Wu Heng asked.
Sheila Grey replied, "He left. Changed his plans last minute; he departed early this morning."
He's gone?