Madam Slyther?

The three Mutated Dogs ran circles around the Zombies.

Although Wu Heng had cleared the area twice, scattered Zombies were still being drawn over by the noise.

Yet the Mutated Dogs showed no intention of stopping. Every so often, they would turn back and madly tear into the Zombies.

Before the other Zombies could surround them, they turned and kept running.

They had truly mastered the art of kiting.

Just as they were toying with the Zombies, a sudden clattering sound came from nearby.

Tap~ tap~ tap tap!

The three Mutated Dogs abruptly stopped.

Following the sound, they saw a strange-looking Bone Dog hugging the white metal pole of a bulletin board with its forelegs, its hips swaying continuously.

Its hollow eye sockets stared at them from afar.

While its lower body kept swaying.

The Mutated Dogs stared at the Bone Dog in surprise. The Bone Dog released the pole, its hollow eye sockets still pointed in their direction.

The Mutated Dogs cautiously stepped forward twice, and the Skeleton Poodle retreated two steps.

Seeing that the Skeleton Dog was timid, the three Mutated Dogs abandoned the Zombies behind them and charged at the Skeleton Poodle.

After shaking its hips at them twice more, the Bone Dog turned and ran toward the rear.

It quickly dashed beneath the building ahead and slipped into the stairwell.

The three Mutated Dogs did not slow down at all. Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—like arrows loosed from a bow, they followed it into the stairwell.

They pursued it all the way to the fourth floor before finally stopping, warily eyeing the densely packed humanoid bones on the stairs.

When they turned to leave, they discovered that groups of humanoid bones had flooded in behind them as well.

Wielding cleavers, they charged straight at them.

The bones from above and below launched their attacks at the same time.

Crowding together, they pounced upon the three bewildered Mutated Hounds.

Violent impacts and fighting echoed throughout the stairwell.

Wu Heng and Bartholomew stood outside.

Together with the remaining Skeleton Warriors, they cleared out the Zombies that had followed the Mutated Dogs over.

They had all been drawn from nearby, and there were quite a few of them arriving in waves.

By the time the Zombies below had mostly been cleared out, the battle in the stairwell was gradually nearing its end.

Clack~!

The stairwell door made the sound of Lockpicking.

Sword One and Sword Two emerged, covered in blood and looking somewhat bedraggled.

It seemed the battle was over.

Wu Heng led Bartholomew straight into the stairwell.

The Skeleton Warriors standing on the stairs had entered Standby State, standing upright where they were.

Scattered white bones covered the ground beneath them. It looked like quite a few Skeleton Warriors had died as well.

On the third and fourth floors lay three corpses that had been chopped beyond recognition.

"Carry them out!"

The Skeletons worked together to carry the three Mutated Dogs out of the stairwell and toss them into the open area.

Wu Heng walked over to the black dog with a body like a horse and began using the Bone Manipulation Technique.

Summoned Creature exceeds the summoner's ability range. Unstable factors increased...

As the Bone Manipulation Technique was cast, the notification about unstable factors appeared as well.

It had appeared twice before, but nothing unusual had happened.

He had no idea what exactly was unstable about it.

Very soon, the first Skeleton Dog rose from the ground, shook its body, and flung off the blood and flesh clinging to it.

Skeleton Hound (Level 7)

Without its fur, its skeletal frame looked even more like a horse.

Its pale bones were thick and sturdy, but the ribs in its chest were especially thin. Blue Soul Fire flickered within its hollow eye sockets.

It was actually a level-seven Skeleton Dog, the same level as Bartholomew.

"From now on, your name is Skinny Dog. Got it?" Wu Heng said.

Skinny Dog did not respond and merely stood there.

Wu Heng did not care whether it understood. "Go stand by over there."

Skinny Dog walked to the side. Wu Heng used a short spear to poke through the chunks of flesh.

Sure enough, at the spot where the corpse's head had been, he found a white, fleshy object.

A Corpse Core.

Wu Heng was delighted.

This was good stuff. It was worth even more than a level-seven Skeleton Dog.

He had Sword One bring over a plastic bag to put it in, then continued casting the Bone Manipulation Technique on the remaining two corpses.

The two Skeleton Dogs rose one after another.

Skeleton Hound (Level 5)
Skeleton Hound (Level 5)

These two Hounds were only level five.

After ordering them to stand by at the side, Wu Heng continued searching through the corpses.

Sure enough, he found another two Corpse Cores.

This time, he had obtained three Corpse Cores in total. What an incredible haul.

After carefully wrapping them up,

Wu Heng directed the Skeletons back to the rooftop. After telling Sword One and Sword Two to keep watch over the Skeleton Dogs, he returned to Blackstone Town.

Blackstone Town, Adventurer's Guild.

After the muscular man with the battle axe finished collecting his bounty, Wu Heng stepped up to the counter.

The staff member gave him a professional smile. "Mr. Wu Heng, is there anything you need?"

Although he did not come here often, he had become a familiar face among the staff.

Especially after being praised at the Town Hall, he had gained a little fame.

"I want to post a commission."

"You do not need to queue to post commissions. Just fill out the commission details in the lounge and hand them to us."

That was a thing? No one had told him.

But it was not really anyone else's fault. He truly did not visit the Guild much.

"Oh, all right. I'll fill it out and bring it over next time."

The staff member smiled. "What commission would you like to post?"

"An Alchemy Commission. I have a Potion Recipe and need three doses of the potion made." Wu Heng took out the recipe.

When he had commissioned potions last time, he had included the recipe.

Now, he could directly commission the potions.

It also saved him some troublesome steps.

"All right." After recording the details, the staff member said, "An alchemist will be assigned to prepare them. They should be ready in roughly two to three days."

"Okay!"

After registering the commission, Wu Heng left the counter, allowing the people behind him to step forward and make their inquiries.

As he stood there, considering whether to go say hello in the lounge,

another staff member approached him. "Mr. Wu Heng, Captain Ortluk would like you to come to the Guild."

Well, now he could not avoid going.

I should have left faster.

He entered the Fourth Squad's lounge.

As soon as he pushed open the door, he saw Cavina seated on the sofa, reading some documents. She wore a beige short-sleeved shirt and fitted leather pants.

Her straight, long legs were particularly eye-catching.

"Cavina!" Wu Heng greeted her first.

Cavina glanced at him with her beautiful eyes. "Let's go. The deacon and the captain are waiting for us."

"The deacon? Did something happen?"

"I'm not sure either. We'll find out when we get there."

The two chatted as they walked, arriving outside the deacon's study.

They knocked lightly on the door and entered after receiving a response.

Three people sat inside the clean and orderly study.

The deacon, Yazde; the captain, Ortluk; and a mature woman in a fitted purple gown.

Her brown hair cascaded over her shoulders. Her eyes were bright, her finely arched brows long, and her figure slender yet voluptuous.

She sat with her legs crossed, and a leopard lay beside her fair calves.

A leopard?

That was pretty fierce. She kept something like that as a pet?

It was about the same size as the mutated Teddy. He wondered which of the two would be stronger if they fought.

"Deacon, Madam Slyther, Captain," Cavina said first, politely greeting the three.

Madam Slyther...?

Thanks to '08a' for the 100-coin donation.