Chapter 147: Discussion

"No malicious intent. We are all dark wizards, and it is always beneficial to get to know one another. Don't you think?" Although the woman said this, her eyes remained fixed on the crystal ball in Hrus's hand.

"Young man, would you like to join our Black Cross?" The wrinkles on the woman's face deepened into an even more terrifying expression as she smiled.

"Not interested!" Hrus directly rejected the dark wizard before him. There had to be some underlying catch to someone randomly trying to recruit him.

"Don't be so quick to refuse. Over the past couple of days, quite a few sea monsters have been spotted near the coastline close to Holy Ring City, and some wizards have even caught a glimpse of a deep-sea demon whale!"

"So what if they have?" Hrus appeared utterly indifferent on the surface, but inwardly, he was startled by the woman's words. He had not expected Samuel to move so swiftly. Possessing the body of the magic-disc octopus was apparently not enough; now he had even lured out a deep-sea demon whale.

"We are all dark wizards. Don't you think this presents an exceptional opportunity for our side?" A fanatical gleam flickered in the woman's eyes.

"You want to launch an attack while Holy Ring City has fewer defenders?"

"Exactly!" The woman gave Hrus an appreciative look.

"With a massive gathering of sea monsters, coupled with that tier-three deep-sea demon whale, the various wizard organizations in Holy Ring City will inevitably have to mobilize together to fend them off. This is our chance!"

"How many members are there in this Black Cross of yours?" Hrus had already begun to hesitate about whether to join them.

"Hehe! Rest assured, once the wizard organizations of Holy Ring City send their people out, our people will be able to move freely within the city!" The woman avoided revealing the exact numbers, dodging the core of the question.

"It seems this so-called Black Cross has been lurking in Holy Ring City for many years," Hrus thought to himself. For the woman before him to speak with such confidence, she undoubtedly had her own backing.

"I can join, but I have one condition!" The moment she mentioned preparing to attack Holy Ring City, Hrus had already decided to join. Before long, he planned to leave Holy Ring City for the Frostscar Rift, and he could take advantage of this raid to reap some extra benefits. Besides, he possessed a spatial magic artifact, making things much more convenient for him than for others.

"A condition? You dare set conditions with me?" Hearing this, the woman let out a sinister laugh that echoed throughout the broken valley, as if she had heard something immensely amusing.

"How many years has it been since anyone dared utter the word 'condition' to me? Tell me, young man, what gives you the right?" The woman suddenly rushed right up to Hrus, staring fixedly into his face.

"This is my right!" Without panicking, Hrus calmly produced the Silver Rose badge.

"This is... the Silver Rose badge! You've joined the Silver Rose?" The woman looked at Hrus in pleasant surprise. She had not expected that Hrus could infiltrate the Silver Rose as a dark wizard. One had to know that these wizard organizations were exceptionally thorough when it came to background checks. With this badge, attacking Holy Ring City would become a great deal easier.

"As you can see!" Hrus said, slipping the badge back into his sleeve.

"State your condition!" The woman had already made up her mind that she must recruit Hrus.

"After this raid, I want a copy of every single potion formula you acquire!" This was what Hrus wanted. He was already planning to have others help him collect potion formulas, leaving him free to handle more pressing matters.

"That can be arranged!" After a brief moment of thought, the woman agreed to Hrus's demand. From her perspective, since Hrus had the capability to join the Silver Rose, his attainments in alchemy certainly could not be poor, making such a request entirely reasonable.

"Our primary targets for this raid will be the Ring Tower of Light and the Silver Rose. We already have people gathering intelligence on the Ring Tower of Light. As for your end, I need you to draw a detailed internal map of the Silver Rose and keep me informed of everything happening inside!" As the woman spoke, she crushed a stone she was holding in her hand.

Hrus recognized that kind of stone; it could record the surrounding imagery. Clearly, had Hrus refused to join just now, footage of him massively harvesting undead inside Holy Ring City would likely have surfaced soon.

"No problem. How should I deliver it to you?" Hrus smiled slightly as he watched the crushed stone. This sort of underhanded method was truly what dark wizards excelled at.

"Leave your wizard imprint, and I will contact you once you return to Holy Ring City!" With that, the woman transferred her imprint to Hrus.

Her imprint was a black rose with a skull at its center.

"Very well. Contact me when you return to Holy Ring City. I won't disturb your collection of undead any longer—unless you need help?" After exchanging imprints, the woman's attitude toward Hrus changed noticeably.

"Help?" Hrus was slightly puzzled as to what the woman meant by that word.

"Never mind, consider it a kindness on my part!" The woman raised a hand, and a ghostly light rippled outward from her palm like waves. The undead that had previously fled actually turned around and headed back.

"A little trick. Finish up and return to Holy Ring City as soon as possible. We still have a formal procedure to go through regarding your joining the Black Cross!" Seeing that her spell had taken effect, the woman turned and left with her black wooden cane, leaving Hrus alone in the desolate valley.

"This makes things much easier!" Watching the continuously gathering undead, Hrus felt that tonight's harvest would be enough to refine the Wail of the Undead.

"Come out and help!" The crystal ball in Hrus's hand was already full, so he quickly swapped it for a new one and called Mavis out. The two of them stood at the center of the broken valley, waiting for the undead to deliver themselves to their doorstep.

"That should be enough!" Over the course of the night, Hrus and Mavis filled four crystal balls, likely draining the entire valley of its undead.

Having gathered enough undead, Hrus spent a day returning to Holy Ring City. Upon getting back to his villa, he tidied up briefly before heading over to Jelin's villa, keeping his previous promise to tend to the cultivated plants.

Before long, Hrus emerged from Jelin's villa. He took a glance at the plant—it resembled a tea tree and possessed nothing particularly unusual about it. After giving it some simple care, Hrus headed back, ready to tackle the tasks immediately before him.

"Write down all the materials needed for both the reincarnation ritual and the Wail of the Undead!" As soon as he stepped back into his villa, Hrus summoned Mavis and prepared to get to work.

Hrus intended to complete Mavis's reincarnation ritual as soon as possible. His impending trip to the coast with Gurt and the others could probably not be kept secret for long, and people from Holy Ring City would inevitably be sent to investigate. Once Mavis possessed Maifan's body, she would be able to assist him to some extent.

"Alright, I understand!" Mavis also grasped the gravity of the situation. She was now tied to Hrus; if Hrus were captured, she would fare no better.

"Thirty more batches of potions!!" Hrus felt a headache coming on as he looked at the raw materials he had piled in the corner for refining dragon potions. Everything had piled up at once.

"Chip, transmit the data!" With no other choice—since he had not yet severed ties with the Silver Rose—Hrus had to honestly finish brewing these thirty batches of potions and hand them in. Moreover, he still needed to infiltrate the Silver Rose to gather intelligence.

"Beep! Transmission complete!" Seeing Mavis still writing, Hrus decided to head to the laboratory to brew a test batch of the dragon potion first.

"Done, just these!" Mavis finished writing, turned around, and found no one there.

"Where did he go?" Finding herself alone, Mavis drifted aimlessly around the villa before finally spotting Hrus busy at work in the laboratory.

Seeing that Hrus was fully focused on brewing potions, Mavis remained silent and simply stood quietly to the side, waiting for him.

"Phew, not bad!" After a long while, Hrus wiped the sweat from his brow and looked very satisfied at the pale red potion in his vial.

"This is the dragon potion, isn't it?" Mavis recognized it instantly upon glancing at the vial in Hrus's hand.

"You know of it?" Hrus looked at Mavis in considerable surprise, not expecting her to recognize it.

"Of course I do. Samuel used to brew potions frequently as well; seeing it often enough, I grew accustomed to it!" Mavis handed the list of materials she had written to Hrus.

"However, I can see that the dragon potion you're brewing must have been abridged. A proper dragon potion requires dragon blood; only potions brewed with that can truly be called dragon potions. The effects of this version might not be very good!" Mavis seemed quite familiar with the methods used to brew dragon potions, detailing them to Hrus one by one.