Nicole Bailando

The great windmill atop the mill turned slowly, stirring the currents of the Elemental Tide and bringing travelers a rare bit of coolness.

The sky outside gradually darkened, and the clamorous slave market finally welcomed a rare moment of quiet.

Creatures who had labored all day poured into this ordinary windmill from every direction.

The great millstone platform, fairly quiet during the day, was now packed tight. Curvaceous women moved among the crowd around it; this was the best time of day for their business.

Barrels of rum were carried out from the mill's storeroom and poured into the cups of the various customers.

The liquor was strong but cheap. Dwarves loved it most, and Li Ziran could drink some as well, though it went to his head. He preferred red wine, grape wine, or cocktails.

Li Ziran found a corner. His cheeks were already somewhat flushed, and he propped his face on one hand as he watched the wine in his cup sway endlessly. He needed to think about what to do next.

First were the two Elfstones. They were precious things, best handed over to an auction house. That way, he could make a fortune steadily and without anyone the wiser.

But Li Ziran had another idea: using them himself.

Karen had shown him in detail how to modify one's own body through a Corpse Witch. That meant Li Ziran could transplant magical organs into himself and become a mage.

Moreover, he currently had two Lunar Meridians and a mid-level fire mage slave. If he possessed a Corpse Witch, he could instantly transform himself into a mid-level fire mage.

Mages were undoubtedly the strongest survivors in this world. With their unique magical organs, they could manipulate the Elemental Tide. This ability allowed them to tear through the void, create Derivative Spaces, and contend against top-tier beings such as dragons and giants.

With a mere gesture, they could destroy heaven and earth. That was true survival ability.

Not like him now, living in constant trepidation by relying on Frog Transformation.

If he became a mage, he would need a special wand, and its core would undoubtedly have to be an Elfstone.

He wanted to use the Elfstones for himself, but crafting a top-tier wand required an amount of money too great for him to even imagine.

Then there was the issue of corpses. He had to build good relations with Necromancers. Those picky fellows were especially fond of unusual corpses.

If he had managed to obtain the corpse of a Cannon Elephant from the Thornflower Slave-Trading Corps last time, or even one of the Crocodile Warriors, he could have gained some bargaining power before the Necromancers. Unfortunately, that wastrel Karen had sacrificed everything.

The Medusa in his hands was decent, but there were too few of them. The most valuable things were the scattered remains of a Corpse Witch. A Necromancer might be interested in Karen's head, but that little bargaining chip was not enough to make one teach him Soul Replacement and Corpse Witch summoning.

He needed to obtain a batch of special goods.

They had to be breathtaking!

"Honored guest, is it all right if I blow on it like this?" The Horse Dwarf held Li Ziran's clothes high as he spoke, continuously blowing on them with his mouth.

"Blow a little longer," Li Ziran said simply. He needed the clothes to dry as quickly as possible before setting off.

There was some distance from Mading'er Town to the Undead Nest. He had decided to leave after finishing this cup of wine, or he would not have resorted to this crude method of drying his clothes.

"Sir, care for a drink?"

Before the voice even reached him, a heavy wave of perfume had already rushed over.

Li Ziran disliked this sort of gaudy woman and instinctively wanted to refuse, but something was tossed beside his wine cup.

A frog.

Wolf—the very one he had transformed and thrown into the pool earlier.

Only then did he raise his head to look at her. What met his eyes was an exquisitely beautiful face beyond imitation. She was tall and slender, her voluptuous figure wrapped in a leather skirt as though it would burst free at the slightest touch. Her brown-blue hair had been permed into large curls, and with a casual toss of her head, an acrid wave of perfume swept over him.

She was a peerless beauty with a scorching figure. If Li Ziran had been a little taller, he would have been able to see clearly into the ravine before her chest.

This woman did not look kindly upon Li Ziran. One leg was planted directly on his stool, while she played with a dagger in her hand, its cold gleam flashing.

Such behavior naturally sparked a round of heckling, especially from such a stunning beauty.

Had trouble come looking for him?

"Your man?" Li Ziran bit through his index finger, about to dab his blood onto the frog's brow and undo the Transformation Spell.

But the woman did not allow the blood to land on the frog's brow. With a whoosh, the dagger she had been twirling between her fingers shot through the gap between Li Ziran's fingers, pinning his palm to the wine table along with it.

That beautiful move immediately drew a shriek from the mill. Several nosy hippos cried out:

"Kid, time to pay back your romantic debts!"

Li Ziran smiled helplessly. It truly was a fine hidden weapon technique, but if he were frightened by something so simple, then he would not be Li Ziran.

He pulled his fingers free from beneath the dagger, calmly drained the rum he had ordered, then bent down and took the wizard's robe from the Horse Dwarf's hands. Draping it over himself, he smiled at her. "Let's talk outside."

Without caring about anyone's expressions, he walked straight out of the windmill.

His composure in the face of danger made the girl pause, but she soon broke into a strange smile. Her fragrant tongue lightly licked her lips as she casually tossed the frog onto the table.

Ding!

The dagger pierced precisely through the frog's throat, nailing it firmly to the center of the table. Bright red blood dripped down the table's edge, drip by drip.

"Hmph, a fool who overestimates himself!"

After saying that, she smiled at the crowd and skipped out of the windmill in a few light steps.

The abrupt act left everyone unsettled. They all knew that was not a frog, but someone a wizard had subjected to a Transformation Spell.

Even so, that alone was not enough to shock them. The key was that the dagger's owner was such a young and beautiful woman.

Li Ziran had not gone far. He happened to see the frog nailed to the table and secretly sighed, but he did not stop her. Nor did he have the power to.

The girl's seductive allure stirred his heart, but not enough for him to abandon his bottom line.

After about half a minute, she caught up with him.

The dry heat of the Wasteland mixed with her perfume, more intoxicating than the strong liquor inside the mill.

"Wait for me! Are you trying to wear me to death?"

Li Ziran rolled his eyes and smiled. "If someone from the Madelong Family could be worn to death, then shouldn't Venetian rats be flying into the sky?"

The girl gave a coquettish snort. Ignoring the looks of those around them, she directly linked her arm through Li Ziran's, pressing her whole body against him. "Why are you so devoid of charm? I came all this way just to see you."

"What are you seeing me for?" Li Ziran asked. "We mind our own business and stay out of each other's way. Your father still has a warrant out for me. Last time, he hung me from a tree for an entire day and made me swear not to look at you one glance too many, or he'd gouge out my eyes!"

"Really?" The girl pretended not to know. "But you've already looked at me several times, haven't you? Let me count. Once, twice, three times... at least a dozen times, right? So should I dig out your left eye or your right?"

"You decide," Li Ziran said casually. "What, your father finally let you out? And what's with this outfit? All flashy and gaudy. Who dyed your hair? Those huge curls too. Don't you ever think about how old you are?"

"I'm already eighteen! Why can't I get big curls? Hehe, feeling guilty now, aren't you? I knew you liked this kind of girl." The girl was as delighted as if she had discovered some earth-shattering secret, utterly unconcerned that she had just disposed of a life.

"Nonsense!"

"Oh, excuses are just concealment. You said that yourself. Hehe, I noticed long ago—you secretly glanced at me several times just now. Just as I thought, with charm like mine, how could I possibly not be worthy of you?" The girl proudly examined her new appearance, deliberately tossing her brown-blue curls before Li Ziran again.

"Enough playing around. If you have something to say, say it!" Li Ziran did not dare entertain thoughts of romance.

This girl's treatment was as different from Wolf's as heaven and earth, naturally because she possessed absolute strength.

Li Ziran's high-level VIP was named Nicole Malando, the cherished pearl of Malando City in the Wasteland.

Malando City was named after Malando, the head of the Malando Slave-Trading Corps. It was one of only three slave city-states in the Wasteland.

Malando was something of a legend. Starting with a tiny Slave-Catching Group, he had built himself into a slave lord who owned an entire city-state through the slave trade.

He now commanded ten slave-trading corps, three independent large-scale slave markets, and a core slave auction house. He was the slave overlord of the eastern Wasteland.

Nicole could allow Li Ziran to make use of the advantages of this city-state.

Nicole had been born with congenital heart disease, and when she was sixteen, her heart had nearly stopped beating.

Li Ziran had successfully transplanted the heart of a Wind Elf into her, saving the girl's life and elevating her into one of his few high-level VIPs.

And for a high-level VIP, Li Ziran would give almost anything.

Li Ziran knew better than anyone that the more he gave, the more he would receive.

Whenever he looked at this girl, Li Ziran always felt some regret. The previous operation had not been perfect.

Because of the Wind Elf heart, her hair had changed from its original golden color to its current brown-blue. Yet she had not gained the Wind Elf's ability to refine wind elements from the Elemental Tide. The only thing she had inherited was a Wind Elf's natural affinity for daggers.

At first, their relationship had been fairly ordinary. Li Ziran collected corpses from her, while she learned some Wasteland survival experience from him.

But one day, Nicole had suddenly made a high-profile declaration before Brando that she wanted to become Li Ziran's woman.

And so, his disaster began.

In the name of seducing his daughter, Brando had hung Li Ziran from a tree for an entire day and forced him to swear a solemn oath that he would never look at Nicole one glance too many again.

Li Ziran had broken plenty of oaths. He did not take them too seriously.

After escaping Bailando City, he occasionally did business with Nicole and promoted her to a high-level VIP, but he had not conducted any more large-scale corpse purchases.

Although Brando turned a blind eye, Li Ziran's business channels had multiplied over the past two years, and he had deliberately begun reducing his reliance on Bailando City.

It had been roughly two years and three months since they last met. He had never expected that when he saw her again, she would already have blossomed into such a graceful young woman.

"It's nothing. I just missed you," Nicole said gently.

"Tell me the truth. If you don't, I'm leaving. You know my time is precious." Li Ziran quickened his pace.

Nicole immediately grew anxious and said, "No, no, no! Why are you still so impatient? I'll tell you the real matter. Aren't the Elves about to make a pilgrimage? I was wondering if you could do me a small favor."

This small favor was no longer a social courtesy like Wolf's.

For a princess like Nicole to seek him out, the trouble was definitely not small.