"Right? I'm Tree Worship Church, of course I want to give you the best."
Ed was already used to incorporating PUA and favor-selling into his daily conversations, casually waved his hand. Two tree branches once again supported Gray's neck. He was still very weak, Ed was worried that his head tilting around would affect his breathing and recovery.
"Tell me, you must have a lot to say."
Gray's throat bobbed; he had almost lost the ability to saliva, but instinct still made him pretend to moisten his throat.
Looking at the seemingly effortless young man in front of him, Gray had a fleeting feeling that this might all be a trap.
But upon closer reflection, it seems completely impossible, since neither manipulating Blood Corpse nor making them appear out of thin Blood Corpse is a simple matter.
Someone with this ability would never stay near an area that even dogs wouldn't want, after all, that's where Blood Corpse are... one of the most terrifying Calamity in this world.
Gray lifted his eyelids and looked at the boy:
"Let me confirm, this isn't an interrogation, right?"
"Of course, I wouldn't use interrogation as a method against a friend."
Ed shook his head and said:
"If you don't want to talk about it, you don't have to. As for the cost of saving you... you can work for me to pay it back. Don't worry about faction affiliation. I have no intention of opposing Graycast Corridor, and you're not the only one working for me part-time. I have quite a lot of experience in this area."
Gray thought for a moment and felt that Ed wasn't an unreasonable person. Furthermore, the Graycast Corridor had already decided that he should try to win over this force that could export grain. So he pressed on:
"What if I'm willing to tell you?"
Ed's eyes darted around, and a smile immediately appeared on his face:
"It's simple. If you're willing to tell me something that interests me, then the treatment fee can certainly be waived. You'll also be provided with accommodation here, and you'll only need to do some work that I assign you, and you'll even receive a salary. You can return to the Graycast Corridor whenever you have the chance; I absolutely will not detain you."
As the saying goes, practice makes perfect, and Ed was already quite adept at communicating with these "temporary workers." Moreover, Ed didn't think merchants would have any more steadfast beliefs than knights who adhered to their principles.
Gray looked at his lower body and said with a hint of helplessness:
"Forget about returning to the Graycast Corridor, I can't even walk right now."
"Don't worry about that, I'm very confident I can fix you, provided the Graycast Corridor welcomes people in a vegetative state..."
The two exchanged brief thoughts on body repair. One was a cyborg whose body had been mostly replaced by machines, and the other was a so-called Master of repair. Surprisingly, they had a lot in common on this topic.
However, when the topic turned to Gray's plight, the businessman's expression turned serious:
"I suggest you run away quickly, take your people to the heart of the Tree Worship Church, the Blood Corpse are coming!"
They let them run away right away?
Ed looked at Gray:
What is Blood Corpse?
"You haven't heard of Blood Corpse?"
Clearly, Ed had never heard of such a thing, and he frankly shook his head, so Gray began to tell him what he knew about Blood Corpse.
Former vampires, now members of the demon race driven to madness, originally planned to sweep across the world under the leadership of seven Blood Grand Duke. However, three were sealed away, and four were trapped at home fighting amongst themselves...
In this light, the Eternal Domain and the Graycast Corridor are truly like guardian deities, having made a significant contribution to preventing this continent from becoming a happy homeland of vampires. Everyone owes them a debt of gratitude.
I have no idea what this so-called empire and bone Alliance in the south are all about...
If they're also patching up the holes... then what is the Tree Worship Church doing?
Does this mean that the Tree Worship Church also has its own problems to solve?
It can't be that everyone is doing good deeds while the Tree Worship Church is indulging in human experimentation and doing nothing of humanity, can it?
As Gray recounted his story, Ed pulled out a rather large piece of paper from somewhere, on which a simple "world" map was drawn.
This is what he saw at the Holy City Records Office through Baluo's eyes. It only roughly marks the sphere of influence of the Tree Worship Church, while the surrounding parts are somewhat blurry, which is consistent with their closed-door policy.
Ed held the map up to Gray, too embarrassed to admit that he didn't even know where the castle was, and simply said:
Please complete this for me.
Gray picked up the charcoal stick with his right hand and began to draw on the map, bit by bit. Fortunately, he quickly confirmed the location of the castle, marked the corresponding spot on the map, and then began to mark and divide the area from left to right.
In Gray's writing, from left to right, the northern part of the continent features the Tree Worship Church, a narrow strip of land severely affected by the Demonic Tide, devoid of any intelligent life except for some nomadic tribes (a region even dogs don't want), the Eternal Domain and the Graycast Corridor existing side by side, and the Demon Realm, which occupies a huge area in the easternmost part of the continent.
Ed stared at the map in thought, and after a while, he pointed to the Demon Realm and asked Gray:
"How come the four Vampire Progenitor and their families have taken up such a large area?"
Gray replied helplessly:
"Vampires are not actually the most powerful among the demon race. The reason they can assimilate everything like this is simply because their race is more adapted to the world after the Demonic Tide has invaded."
"Apart from a small number of races that went extinct due to magical pollution, most individual demons still live in the form of Blood Corpse, including some powerful demons."
"These demons, in terms of combat strength alone, may not be weaker than the Blood Duke; they are only reduced to slaves because their resistance to assimilation and infection is not strong enough."
"So the territory they occupied hasn't changed much since before the Demonic Tide broke out."
"Over the past few decades, the Eternal Domain and the Graycast Corridor have advanced quite a distance eastward, both constantly encroaching upon the Demon Realm."
These two gatekeepers sound pretty formidable... The Demon Realm is the one looking like the victim.
Ed processed Gray's intelligence for a moment, then pointed to the area where the two gatekeepers, known for their resilience, were located:
Why are the Eternal Domain and the Graycast Corridor at each other's throats?
A look of surprise crossed Gray's face:
"How... how did you know the two sides were at war?"
Most people, upon hearing the story above, would assume that the Eternal Domain and the Graycast Corridor are good friends who help each other and are jointly annihilating the demon race. They would not immediately associate the war with the two sides.
Ed looked at Gray helplessly:
"You mentioned this to me casually when we last met..."