What Use Are Those Prosthetic Limbs?!

As Isaiah's most prized disciple, Mina had always known about Peach Blossom Paradise and understood the current situation.

Simply put, Tongue and Hand Eye, the only two holders in Peach Blossom Paradise with multiple Corpse Pieces, had reached the point of openly clashing and forcing everyone else to pick a side. Even Isaiah could no longer merely watch and wait as he had before. Once either Tongue or Hand Eye emerged victorious, it would be too late for him to enter the game.

However, rashly choosing a side did not suit Isaiah's style either. It would be far too easy for others to lead him around by the nose.

Thus, how to seize the initiative was what Isaiah and Mina had been considering all along.

Fortunately, at that moment, the most inconspicuous Mr. Thumb stepped forward and, in an almost self-destructive manner, gave Isaiah an excellent opening.

That was to openly help Thumb deal with Tongue while secretly making Thumb a target as well.

First, on the surface, Isaiah's move against Tongue was entirely justified. This was a request from Contract Land, and he only acted after the delegations from Rhine and Nightmare had both failed. Under such circumstances, no one would question his identity. He could eliminate Tongue openly and honorably.

After eliminating Tongue, as the person who had contributed the most, he could naturally make a request of Contract Land and receive one of Tongue's Three Corpse Pieces.

Yes, Isaiah only wanted one. He knew perfectly well that trying to swallow all three Corpse Pieces at a time like this was practically courting death. The moment he dared take them, he would become everyone's target. Then Contract Land and the other major churches would no longer be hunting Ulu, but him.

So on the surface, Isaiah only wanted one. Neither Contract Land nor the other churches would have any reason to refuse that demand. As for the remaining two, they could fight over them themselves.

That was the public side of things. Isaiah's true target was Luo Qi's "thumb."

Luo Qi's thumb was not out in the open. Aside from a handful of people in Peach Blossom Paradise and Rhine, few knew that he too was a Corpse Piece holder. This was also related to how Rhine's Eastern Church had always kept a low profile. Unlike Ke Li of the Western Church, who was already dead beyond dead and had practically wanted the entire world to know that eye was on him.

This gave Isaiah the perfect chance to act. If Luo Qi had really been as flashy as Ke Li, Isaiah would have found it difficult to make him a target.

Fortunately, the man looked reckless and brainless on the surface, but was actually rather cautious. Even if Isaiah really killed him, there would be no evidence left behind.

Yes, that was Isaiah's complete plan.

He would use the requests from Contract Land and the churches of Rhine and Nightmare to openly arrange a killing ground for Tongue. While attacking Tongue, he would also take care of Luo Qi... Of course, publicly, he would make it look like the despicable and powerful Tongue had fought fiercely against the brave and fearless Bishop of Rhine. In the end, the Bishop of Rhine would lose by a narrow margin and die tragically, while Isaiah would arrive late and avenge him.

That way, he would eliminate Tongue and deal with Thumb, gaining three Corpse Pieces in an instant.

Then, borrowing the momentum of those three Corpse Pieces, he would head to the agreed location with Hand Eye and take the final eye. By then, no matter how many trump cards Hand Eye had, he could not possibly be Isaiah's match.

He would stand until the very end as the final winner and feast to his heart's content.

Throughout this entire process, no one would catch him by the handle. Only Rhine would guess the truth.

But so what? Without conclusive evidence, who would dare make a move against him?

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

With Rhine having lost three Bishops, Holy Sound destroyed, Lyra rebuilding, and Contract Land unable to emerge, he was the greatest authority. As long as he returned safely to Star Relic, then even if Contract Land noticed something strange, it would already be unable to do anything.

That was Teacher Isaiah's entire plan.

In Mina's eyes, the plan could only be described as flawless.

Only her teacher, the wisest and most learned man in the world, could lay out such a scheme in such a short time.

From that perspective, Bishop Luo Qi, who was likewise a high-ranking figure in an orthodox church like Teacher Isaiah... was simply as stupid as a child with cerebral palsy.

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

...His instincts were quite sharp, though.

Mina immediately put on a harmless smile. "Before I came, Teacher told me that I had to humbly seek your guidance."

"Guidance about what?"

"Everything, I suppose." Mina spoke rather shyly. "I'll have to take over Teacher's position someday, but I've never had much confidence..."

Luo Qi's brow furrowed even deeper, anger creeping into his voice. "So you're looking for confidence by comparing yourself to me!?"

Mina: "..."

She barely managed to keep her expression from twisting.

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

Observe what?

Observe whether he was really that stupid.

Teacher Isaiah also held a trace of wariness toward Luo Qi. Just like in Peach Blossom Paradise, Luo Qi's performance had truly not seemed like that of someone qualified to sit at the same table as them. Compared to any one of them, even Front Tooth, who was already dead, Luo Qi gave people the feeling that he was far too... simple.

Thus, Teacher Isaiah's assessment of Luo Qi had always been that he was either wise enough to appear foolish, or foolish enough to appear mentally deficient.

If it was the former, dealing with him would be troublesome. If it was the latter, then if they waited too long to squeeze such a soft persimmon, it would end up in someone else's hands.

That was also one reason Isaiah had resolved to act quickly. He did not want to see Luo Qi die at someone else's hands first.

That was why Mina had been observing Luo Qi all this time. The moment she noticed anything unusual, she would report it to Teacher Isaiah.

But judging from things now, Luo Qi really did seem... not very smart.

"Alright, stop beating around the bush." Luo Qi tapped the table again and brought the topic back on track. "So what we need to do now is lure those two to Nameless Town?"

"More precisely, lure them to Nameless Town on Spotless Night," Mina corrected. "It is best not to do it too early, because Teacher's preparations are not yet complete. But we cannot miss Spotless Night either."

"You make it sound easy." Luo Qi said coldly. "But how exactly are we supposed to do that? We can't just tell them directly that we've set a trap in Nameless Town and are waiting for them to take the bait, can we?"

"Please be patient, Bishop Luo Qi." Fenris, who had been silent for a while, smiled. "As I said, Miss Mina and I discussed this throughout the night. We already have several plans that can make them willingly go to Nameless Town."

"Then hurry up and say it. Why are you being so roundabout?" Luo Qi was still impatient. "Of course, if your plan is for me to drive them there personally, then don't bother opening your mouth."

"Uh, the first plan really is something like that." Fenris hurriedly added before Luo Qi could explode. "But we are not asking you to truly attack them. You only need to put on a show and force them over there."

"How do we force them?"

"The simplest way." Fenris said, "A citywide manhunt."

Luo Qi frowned again, but this time he did not immediately speak. Instead, he listened as Fenris continued.

"Although this small town belongs to the unclaimed Borderlands, it is close to the territories of every church, so reinforcements can arrive easily." Fenris said. "To be frank, Bishop Luo Qi, while you were resting, Miss Mina and I each requested support from our headquarters. At present, over half the Star Relic Warlocks of the Star Relic Delegation have already arrived here from Nameless Town. The Nightmare Followers of our church have arrived as well. We even contacted Holy Sound's last remaining Player Orchestra. They will reach this place tonight."

Holy Sound's last Player Orchestra?

Luo Qi still had some impression of them. They were an orchestra that had been pulled back from Contract Land after Holy Sound's disaster. They had been pursuing Tongue ever since, hoping to retrieve the complete Seventh Note from him and rebuild Holy Sound.

They had chased him all the way to Wildfire, lost more than half their people, and still failed.

And now they were here again?

Never mind the Star Relic Warlocks. The Nightmare Followers of Nightmare and Holy Sound's final Player Orchestra had both hunted Tongue before and failed.

Now they were gathering together again. Were they forming a group of losers?

"You think those people together can deal with those two?" Luo Qi said. "Even I lost... it was fifty-fifty. Can the others really do it?"

"Numbers can make up for the difference in quality, and our true purpose is not to kill them here, is it?" Fenris said with a smile. "We only need to drive them away. And as you said, that Seven Sound Player was seriously injured too. He should have no interest in tangling with us here to the bitter end. If he truly insists on holding out... Bishop Luo Qi, forgive my bluntness, but they will most likely die here. You believe that Seven Sound Player is roughly as strong as you. Then are you confident that you could fight all of us alone?"

Luo Qi fell silent.

There was nothing to argue about there. With the three great churches of Holy Sound, Nightmare, and Star Relic joining forces, even without counting their strongest combatants, it would be difficult for Luo Qi to win alone.

If he truly encountered such a situation, he could only run. The town was not small, making a complete encirclement difficult. As long as he found a weak point...

Hm?

Luo Qi guessed something and asked, "You want to surround them from all sides, but deliberately leave one opening for them to escape through?"

Mina looked as though she had expected nothing less and smiled. "That is indeed what we intend to do. The opening we leave for the two of them will lead directly toward Nameless Town. That way, there is a high chance they will head straight there and fall into Teacher's trap."

Luo Qi was not pleased by Mina's praise. Instead, he said coldly, "That's it? Don't you think this plan is too crude? Can it even be called a plan? Why would they have to run toward Nameless Town?"

"Of course, that is not all." Mina smiled. "That is merely the push. We also have the pull."

"The pull?" Luo Qi asked. "How?"

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

"To use Visas' power to create a formation that can block the Divine Command Imprint?"

"Yes." Fenris nodded. "The formation requires an enormous amount of Visas' power. The injured Seven Sound Player definitely cannot produce such power immediately, so Ai De Wen will certainly seek out new Visas' Corpse Pieces."

The moment he heard about new Visas' Corpse Pieces, Luo Qi became alert. "What, are there Visas' Corpse Pieces in Nameless Town?"

"Of course." Fenris smiled. "No place has more of them than Nameless Town."

Luo Qi was stunned.

What the hell? Nameless Town had Visas' Corpse Pieces too, and even more of them?!

How was that possible? That place was just...

Hm?

He guessed something again, and the corner of his mouth twitched. "You can't be talking about those Prosthetic Limbs, can you?"

"That's right!" Fenris nodded repeatedly, looking delighted. "Those Prosthetic Limbs! Nameless Town is the headquarters of the black marketeers and the largest manufacturing site for Visas prosthetic limbs! If all the prosthetic limbs there were gathered together, they could surround—"

"Are you fucking insane?!" Luo Qi finally could not endure it anymore and cut Fenris off, nearly roaring, "You're planning to use those Prosthetic Limbs as bait? Do you take them for idiots, or do you take me for an idiot?"

"Of course we do not take them for idiots... uh, nor you." Fenris urged Luo Qi to calm down. "Please listen to my explanation. Over the years, the black marketeers' skill at making fake Visas Corpse Pieces has grown increasingly refined. At first, they only needed to preserve them from decay. Now they can make them virtually indestructible for a short period, to the point that even professionals struggle to tell the difference. Of course, we are not planning to use those Prosthetic Limbs to deceive them. What I mean is that those Prosthetic Limbs have, in some respects, already acquired some of the characteristics of real Corpse Pieces."

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

The black marketeers' fake Corpse Pieces, which they used to deceive people, could possess godslaying properties?!

What kind of technology-changes-fate nonsense was this?!

"Not to that extent." Fenris shook his head. "If the godslaying property could truly be manufactured, the black marketeers would have been wiped out long ago. They cannot achieve godslaying, but they can block divinity to a certain extent. The degree is low, but it does exist. Bishop Luo Qi, you have likely seen some of the black marketeers' high-end Prosthetic Limbs before. Those goods can even resist detection from certain low-level divine arts."

Luo Qi's brow knitted slightly.

He did know that much.

The minor Fathers in Rhine's remote churches were often fooled by black marketeers and bought fake Corpse Pieces.

It was not because they were stupid, but because the low-level divine arts they possessed truly could not effectively distinguish them.

Of course, they were indeed stupid. Otherwise, why would they believe they could buy genuine goods from those black marketeers...

Uh, it seemed someone really had bought one.

The moment he thought of that damned Hand Eye, Luo Qi's face darkened.

And Fenris was still speaking.

"These traits are weak, but they do exist. In theory, the difference in quality can be compensated for with quantity." Fenris chuckled. "Therefore, Nameless Town itself is already sufficiently tempting bait for Ai De Wen. As long as we give him another push, he will naturally take the hook."