After the Antasia was safely placed on the plaza, thick fog once again swirled around Seraphina. Soon the fog dissipated, and the familiar dragon girl reappeared in everyone's sight.
Seraphina completely ignored everyone's gaze, gestured for the crowd to make way, and then walked towards her Obsidian Bank, resuming her "sleep and count money" mode.
Looking at the Antasia, which had been lost and found again, Gray was speechless for a moment.
His mind went blank; he was shocked by the fact that others had accomplished something he couldn't do with such ease.
His neck seemed to be driven by gears, rotating half a circle frame by frame to look at Ed:
"This, this is the 'gift' you were talking about? Really... thank you so much."
Gray said sincerely from the bottom of his heart:
" The Antasia is my master's legacy. I inherited his trade routes and his small fortress, which means a great deal to me."
To Gray's utter surprise, Ed simply smiled and shook his head.
How can finding what was rightfully yours be considered a gift?
He clapped his hands lightly, and a Gungnir, his face contorted with barely suppressed emotion, pushed a wooden wheelchair out from the corner of the hall.
An elderly man dressed in a full set of restraints was strapped to a wheelchair. A thick Symbiotic Tree was growing from his chest. His hands and feet had disappeared, and his lower legs and forearms were wrapped in vines around the armrests and leg guards of the wheelchair. Around his neck was a device similar to a medical neck brace from the real world, preventing his neck from drooping or turning.
Gray stared in disbelief at the old man before him, who had been tortured beyond recognition, instinctively assuming that he was an experimental subject rescued by Ed's men.
But thinking back on the conversations I had with those Gungnir, I know this is completely impossible.
The Tree Worship Church only uses children under fifteen as their experimental subjects; it's impossible for someone in their seventies or eighties to be captured and used for experiments, unless they're a pitiful child...
The old man's mouth moved slightly, and just as Gray was thinking about this, he saw his smooth gums, which made Gray even more certain that this was a pitiful person.
But why is this old man's skin so pale?
What causes the dark lines under the skin?
He looks so much like...
Gray looked thoughtfully at Bennett's chest, then realized that what he saw wasn't a thick Symbiotic Tree at all.
It's clearly a huge wooden wedge that's Alienation twice and is difficult to remove...
Seeing the expression on Gray's face change from pity to shock, and then to disgust, Ed understood immediately and smiled:
"It seems you've guessed who he is."
" Blood Corpse."
"This is no ordinary Blood Corpse."
Ed took the wheelchair from Bennett from Gungnir:
"Let me introduce you to the initiator of the two small-scale wars in the past, the esteemed Count Bennett, a vampire."
"Of course, that's all in the past. I've given him a new place to go."
Gray frowned, a strange premonition creeping over him:
Where is it?
"The engine room of the Antasia. I was thinking that Xilǐ'er had also killed a vampire count, so why don't I give you this one? See if it can help you exchange for more merit points."
"You intend to have this Blood Corpse manage the engines of the Antasia?"
"No, it is the engine itself."
A few tens of minutes earlier, after assigning Seraphina's tasks, Ed and Willow began a new round of communication.
The imagination of a person in a vegetative state is unmatched, and the lich is also exceptional in practical skills.
With one providing the idea and the other building a prototype, they quickly produced a wheelchair inscribed with Psionic Energy Circuit.
Ed smiled and pulled Gray over to show him the amazing wheelchair:
"This is the gift I'm giving you."
Ed pointed to a long, curved wooden pole:
This is the brake.
Gray nodded to indicate that he understood.
Ed then pointed to another short-handled wooden stick:
"This is the electric shock controller."
"Hmm... hmm? Wait a minute?"
For a seasoned driver like Gray, who has spent decades traversing the wilderness, the importance of brakes is self-evident.
But what exactly is an electric shock controller?
Ed noticed his confusion and replied with a smile:
"Let me demonstrate for you, what if Bennett suddenly becomes disobedient..."
The Blood Corpse in the wheelchair immediately trembled, forcibly opening its mouth a crack:
"My lord, I didn't..."
Ed's expression changed:
"I said 'what if,' so you, Erduolong?"
"Grown ups..."
"They deserve to be punished!"
Ed yanked down the short-handled wooden pole, Bennett immediately straightened his back, letting out a muffled groan as his body convulsed.
Ten seconds later, the electric shock ended, and Gray thought he could smell a faint aroma of roasted meat...
Ed shrugged and said confidently:
"That's roughly how it's used. Give him a shock whenever he misbehaves. Willow has stored enough Psionic Energy for a hundred shocks here, enough for you to safely reach the Great Labyrinth City, don't worry."
After saying that Ed leaned close to Gray's ear and whispered:
"I let him hear me on purpose. Actually, I have enough Psionic Energy for two hundred shocks. You need to be careful that he doesn't disobey you and makes you use up your shocks. The old man looks like he's given in, but who knows what he's up to..."
Gray listened to Ed's gentle words, he felt a chill, like the approach of winter, on that autumn afternoon...
He looked at Ed, and realized that this seemingly harmless boy was actually pure black inside!
He wore a faint smile, yet he uttered chilling words.
A leader of exceptional intelligence, leading an army of fearless and thoughtful warriors, established a foothold in what was once a desolate wasteland within months, building a rapidly developing settlement...
They're practically enhanced versions of Blood Corpse... Thankfully, they can still communicate, and thankfully, the Graycast Corridor isn't hostile to them...
Gray secretly broke out in a cold sweat and whispered a question to Ed:
"Then why didn't you just kill him?"
Ed raised an eyebrow:
"That's such a waste! Giving it to you would be making the best use of it."
Ed held up his finger and began to introduce the conceptual product of the Second Holy See:
Currently, Bennett primarily offers three functions:
"He can use special Psionic Energy Formula to banish Blood Corpse within a certain range, so you won't encounter hordes of Blood Corpse or Corpse Tide on your way back."
"He can also summon Blood Corpse within a certain range to his side; as for what they're used for, that's up to you to decide."
"Finally, as long as he's present, the Blood Corpse put into the engine and stepping on the accelerator will work more efficiently."
Gray looked at Ed in shock:
"How did you manage to do that last part?"
Ed shook his head:
"I don't know either, but you just need to make Bennett understand that if the Blood Corpse step on the pedals too slowly, he'll get electrocuted, and he'll handle the rest himself."
Meanwhile, the newbie player [ Dog's Pavlov ], who was enjoying the scenery of the game world, suddenly felt a lump in his throat for no apparent reason.
Achoo!