Those prosthetics are also useful?!

As Isaiah's most proud disciple, Mina had always been aware of Peach Blossom Paradise and the current situation.

Simply put, Tongue and Hand Eye, the only two holders of multiple Corpse Pieces within Peach Blossom Paradise, had reached a point of direct confrontation, forcing everyone else to pick a side. Therefore, even her teacher, Isaiah, could no longer simply watch and wait for things to unfold as before. After all, once either Tongue or Hand Eye emerged victorious, it would be too late to get involved.

However, rashly choosing a side was also not in Isaiah's style; it would be too easy for others to manipulate him.

Therefore, how to seize the initiative was what Isaiah and Mina had been contemplating.

Fortunately, at this moment, the most inconspicuous Mr. Thumb stepped forward, using a near self-destructive approach to provide Isaiah with an excellent entry point.

That is, to openly assist Thumb against Tongue, while secretly targeting Thumb as well.

First, on the surface, Isaiah's move against Tongue was completely within the requirements. This was a request from Contract Land, and he only acted after the representative delegations from the Rhine and Eternal Nightmare churches failed. Under such circumstances, no one would doubt his identity, and he could legitimately eliminate Tongue.

After dealing with Tongue, as the one who contributed the most, he would naturally be able to make a request to Contract Land and claim one of the three Corpse Pieces held by Tongue.

Yes, Isaiah only wanted one. Because he knew very well that at this juncture, attempting to swallow all three Corpse Pieces was akin to seeking death. If he dared to take them, he would immediately become the target of everyone's animosity. At that point, the wanted target of Contract Land and the other major churches would not be that Ulu, but him.

Therefore, on the surface, Isaiah only wanted one. This meant that neither Contract Land nor the other churches would have any reason to refuse this request. As for the remaining two pieces, they could fight over them.

This was the overt plan. Isaiah's true target was still Luo Qi's "Thumb."

This was because Luo Qi's Thumb was not publicly known. Except for a very small number of people in Peach Blossom Paradise and the Rhine, few knew that he was also a Corpse Piece holder. This was also related to the Rhine's Eastern Church's consistent low profile, unlike Ke Li of the Western Church, who was as good as dead and wished the entire world knew that eye was on him.

This perfectly provided Isaiah with an opportunity to act. If Luo Qi had been as flamboyant as Ke Li, Isaiah would have found it difficult to target him.

Fortunately, this guy appeared reckless and brainless on the surface, but in reality, he was quite cautious. Even if Isaiah were to kill him, there would absolutely be no evidence.

Yes, this was Isaiah's complete plan.

Using the requests from Contract Land and the Rhine and Eternal Nightmare churches, he would legitimately set up the stage to kill Tongue. While dealing with Tongue, he would also take care of Luo Qi... Of course, on the surface, he would portray it as a battle between the despicable and powerful Tongue and the valiant and fearless Bishop Rhine, where Bishop Rhine ultimately made a misstep and tragically sacrificed himself, and he, arriving late, avenged him.

In this way, he would have eliminated Tongue and dealt with Thumb, instantly possessing three Corpse Pieces.

Then, leveraging the influence of the three Corpse Pieces, he would proceed to the agreed-upon location with Hand Eye to retrieve the last eye. By then, no matter how many trump cards Hand Eye had, they would not be his match.

He would stand as the final victor, feasting.

And throughout this entire process, no one would be able to catch him. Only the Rhine would guess the truth.

But so what? Without concrete evidence, who would dare to act against him?

He was not Ulu, who was wanted by the Rhine, nor was he the Seven Sound Player who destroyed the entire Holy Sound. Behind him stood the entire Star Relic Sect.

With the Rhine losing three bishops, the Holy Sound destroyed, the Lyra rebuilt, and Contract Land unable to intervene, he was the ultimate authority. As long as he returned safely to the Star Relic, even if Contract Land sensed something amiss, they would be powerless to do anything.

This was Teacher Isaiah's entire plan.

In Mina's opinion, this plan could be described as flawless.

Only her teacher, the wisest and most learned person in this world, could lay such a scheme in such a short period.

From this perspective, Bishop Luo Qi, who was also a high-ranking official of the Orthodox Church like her teacher Isaiah... was as stupid as a child with polio.

Luo Qi frowned and looked at Mina, his eyes carrying a hint of vigilance. "Miss Mina, why are you looking at me like that?"

...He's quite perceptive.

Mina immediately put on a harmless smile. "Before I came, my teacher specifically instructed me to seek your guidance humbly."

"Guidance on what?"

"On all aspects, really." Mina said shyly, "I'll be taking over from my teacher in the future, but I've never had much confidence..."

Luo Qi's frown deepened, and his tone carried a hint of anger. "So you're trying to find confidence in me!?"

Mina: "..."

She suppressed the urge to let her expression falter.

Just yesterday, Teacher Isaiah had specifically told her to observe Luo Qi carefully.

Observe what?

Just observe whether he was truly that foolish.

Isaiah also harbored a sliver of vigilance towards Luo Qi. Just like in Peach Blossom Paradise, Luo Qi's demeanor was hardly that of someone who could sit at the same table as them. Compared to any of them, or even the now-dead Front Tooth, Luo Qi gave off an impression of being too... simple.

Therefore, Teacher Isaiah's evaluation of Luo Qi had always been either exceedingly wise or exceedingly foolish.

If it were the former, then dealing with him would be very troublesome. If it were the latter, then such a soft persimmon, if not dealt with promptly, would fall into the hands of others.

This was also one of the reasons for Isaiah's determination to act quickly. He did not want to see Luo Qi die at someone else's hands first.

This was why Mina had been observing Luo Qi, reporting to Teacher Isaiah immediately if she noticed anything unusual.

However, from her current observation, Luo Qi truly seemed... not very bright.

"Alright, let's stop beating around the bush." Luo Qi tapped the table again, bringing the conversation back on track. "So, what we need to do now is lure those two to Nameless Town?"

"To be precise, lure them to Nameless Town during the Spotless Night." Mina corrected him. "It's best not to do it beforehand, as my teacher's preparations are not yet complete, but we also cannot miss the Spotless Night."

"You make it sound simple." Luo Qi said coldly. "But how exactly do we do it? We can't just go up to them and say we've set up a trap in Nameless Town waiting for you to fall into it, can we?"

"Please remain calm, Bishop Luo Qi." Fenris said with a smile after a period of silence. "As I said, Miss Mina and I have discussed this all night and have come up with multiple plans to make them willingly go to Nameless Town."

"Then hurry up and tell us, why the roundabout way?" Luo Qi remained impatient. "Of course, if your plan involves me making a move to force them there, then you might as well not say anything."

"Uh, the first plan does involve that." Fenris quickly added before Luo Qi could erupt. "But it's not for you to actually attack them, just to put on a show and force them over."

"How are we going to force them?"

"The simplest way," Fenris said. "A city-wide manhunt."

Luo Qi frowned again, but this time he didn't speak immediately, letting Fenris continue.

"Although this town belongs to the unclaimed Borderlands, it's close to the territories of various churches, making it easy to get reinforcements," Fenris said. "To be frank, Bishop Luo Qi, while you were resting, Miss Mina and I both requested reinforcements from our respective headquarters. Now, more than half of the Star Relic delegation's Star Relic Warlocks have arrived here from Nameless Town, and my church's Nightmare Followers have also arrived. We've even contacted the last Player Orchestra of Holy Sound, and they'll be arriving here tonight."

Holy Sound's last Player Orchestra?

Luo Qi had some recollection of them. They were an orchestra that was recalled from Contract Land after Holy Sound had an incident. Afterward, they had been pursuing Tongue, trying to retrieve the complete Seventh Note from Tongue to rebuild Holy Sound.

However, they chased all the way to Wildfire, and even after losing more than half their members, they still failed.

And now they're coming again?

Never mind the Star Relic Warlocks. Just the Nightmare Followers of Eternal Nightmare and the last Player Orchestra of Holy Sound – these were groups that had pursued Tongue and failed.

Now they're gathering together to form a team of losers?

"You think these people, gathered together, can deal with those two?" Luo Qi said. "Even I was defeated… it was a toss-up. Can others really do it?"

"Quantity can make up for the gap in quality, and our true goal isn't to kill them here, is it?" Fenris said with a smile. "We just want to force them away. And as you said, that Seven Sound Player is also quite injured, so he probably won't be interested in getting entangled with us here to the bitter end. And if he really tries to hold on… Bishop Luo Qi, forgive my bluntness, but they'll likely die here. You believe that Seven Sound Player's strength is not much different from yours, so do you have the confidence to fight all of us alone?"

Luo Qi fell silent.

There was nothing to argue about here. The combined forces of the three major churches – Holy Sound, Eternal Nightmare, and Star Relic – even without their top-tier combatants, it would be very difficult for Luo Qi to fight them alone.

If he really encountered such a situation, he could only run. This town wasn't small, making it difficult to surround them. As long as he found a weak point…

Wait.

Luo Qi seemed to have guessed something and asked, "You plan to surround them from four sides, but actually leave one opening for them to escape?"

Mina looked impressed, as if saying, As expected of you, and said with a smile, "That's exactly what we're planning. The opening left for the two of them is precisely in the direction of Nameless Town. This way, there's a high probability they'll head directly to Nameless Town, and then they'll fall into Teacher's trap."

Luo Qi wasn't pleased by Mina's compliment. Instead, he said coldly, "That's it? Don't you think this plan is too simplistic, or can it even be called a plan? Why would they have to run towards Nameless Town?"

"Of course, it's not just that," Mina said with a smile. "This is just the 'force'; we also have the 'lure'."

"Lure?" Luo Qi asked. "How do we lure them?"

"Do you remember the Forbidden Scholar's objective?" Fenris asked.

"To use Visas' power to create a magic array that can isolate the Divine Command Imprint?"

"Yes," Fenris nodded. "The magic array requires an enormous amount of Visas' power. A severely injured Seven Sound Player would certainly find it difficult to produce such power immediately, so Edwin will definitely go in search of new Corpse Pieces of Visas."

Upon hearing about new Corpse Pieces of Visas, Luo Qi immediately became alert. "What? Are there Corpse Pieces of Visas in Nameless Town?"

"Of course," Fenris said with a smile. "There's no place that has more of them than Nameless Town."

Luo Qi was shocked.

What the hell, Nameless Town actually has Corpse Pieces of Visas, and even more of them?!

How is that possible? That place is just…

Wait.

He seemed to have guessed something else, and the corners of his mouth twitched. "You're not talking about those prosthetic limbs, are you?"

"That's right!" Fenris nodded repeatedly, saying cheerfully, "It's those prosthetic limbs! Nameless Town is the Black Merchant's headquarters, and also the largest manufacturing point for Visas prosthetic limbs! The prosthetic limbs there combined could circle…"

"You're a goddamn lunatic!" Luo Qi interrupted Fenris, unable to take it anymore, and almost roared, "You plan to use those prosthetic limbs as bait? Do you think they're idiots, or do you think I'm an idiot?"

"Of course, we don't think they're idiots… uh, nor do we think you are," Fenris said, urging Luo Qi to calm down. "Please let me explain. Over the years, the Black Merchants' skill in producing fake Corpse Pieces of Visas has been getting better and better. From the beginning, all they needed to do was to ensure preservation, but now they can make them indestructible in a short period, making them difficult to distinguish even for professionals. Of course, we aren't planning to trick them with these prosthetic limbs. What I mean to say is, these prosthetic limbs have, to some extent, acquired some characteristics of real Corpse Pieces."

Luo Qi's eyes widened instantly. "You mean Godslaying?!"

The fake Corpse Pieces that the Black Merchants use to trick people can have Godslaying characteristics?!

What kind of 'technology changes destiny' is this!

"That's not quite true," Fenris shook his head. "If the characteristics of Godslaying could truly be manufactured, the Black Merchants would have been wiped out long ago. They can't achieve Godslaying, but they can isolate Divinity to a certain extent. Although this extent is very low, it does exist. Bishop Luo Qi, you must have seen some of the Black Merchants' high-end prosthetic limbs, right? Those goods can even be immune to the detection of some low-level divine arts."

Luo Qi's brow furrowed slightly.

He did know about this.

The minor priests in the remote churches of Rhine often fell victim to the Black Merchants, buying fake Corpse Pieces.

It wasn't that they were stupid, but rather that the low-level divine arts they possessed couldn't effectively identify them.

Of course, they were indeed stupid. Otherwise, why would they believe they could buy genuine goods from these Black Merchants…

Uh, it seems someone actually did buy them.

Thinking of that damned Hand Eye, Luo Qi's expression immediately turned grim.

And Fenris was still talking.

"These characteristics are very weak, but they do exist. And theoretically, the gap in quality can be made up for by quantity," Fenris said with a light laugh. "Therefore, Nameless Town is already a sufficiently attractive bait for Edwin. As long as we pressure him a bit more, he'll naturally take the bait."