Chapter 797, The Entire Plan
The corpse continued, "No, it was the Crown Prince's men who made the first move. Later, a few times were us."
The three of them exchanged looks.
So before the Second Prince made his move, the Crown Prince's forces had already acted.
That didn't quite make sense.
It wasn't strange that the Crown Prince had people planted in the city, but he didn't have direct conflict with Wen Mansa.
In fact, letting Rentam City fight with the Second Prince would be more beneficial to him.
Wu Heng continued asking, "Tell me everything you know about this entire event."
The corpse replied, "We had planned to assassinate Wen Mansa, but before we could act, the Crown Prince's people struck first, messing up our plans and throwing everything into a deadlock."
After hearing the corpse's words—
—they finally understood why the answers from the previous killer corpses didn't match.
They were following orders from different people.
Wu Heng continued, "What do you know about the Level 18 Professional who's arriving soon? Spill it."
The corpse paused, then said, "Not much. When he arrives, he'll meet me at the tavern. Then we'll coordinate with those still in the city to assassinate Wen Mansa."
Wen Mansa and Slater both narrowed their eyes.
They'd really gone all out, bringing in a Level 18 Professional.
That was quite the move.
For the fourth question, Wu Heng asked, "Where is the Second Prince?"
"In Nilaria City."
Nilaria City!
That name had come up before during corpse interrogation at Surted Fortress.
Several orders were issued from that city.
For the final question, Wu Heng said to Wen Mansa, "Get some paper and pen ready. We'll record this."
Wen Mansa nodded and pulled out writing materials from her space ring.
Wu Heng looked back at the corpse. "List every person you know that was planted in Rentam City."
The corpse paused again.
Then began listing names, and Wen Mansa quickly jotted them down.
After five questions, the corpse collapsed back onto the ground.
...…
"Looks like the Crown Prince's involved in this too," said Slater.
Wen Mansa added, "Back when Erno was still the City Lord, Ekow Kingdom already had spies in the city. Not surprising, but I don't know why they suddenly made a move."
Erno was the previous City Lord.
He had close ties with Ekow Kingdom.
When Wu Heng split control of half the city, Ekow even sent troops to help.
They all got wiped out back then.
"No need to worry about the Crown Prince yet—let's deal with the Second Prince first," Wu Heng said, eyes shifting to the other corpse.
Wen Mansa asked, "This one's probably high level. Want to convert him into a skeleton?"
"No, the info is more important."
This corpse was a Level 15 Professional, no longer considered high-level to Wu Heng's current army.
"Okay, your call."
Wu Heng cast [Dead Talk] on the second corpse.
The burly corpse sat up, waiting for questions.
...…
"Where is the Second Prince located?"
"Nilaria City!"
"Who supports the Second Prince?"
"Various wealthy merchants and nobles from different regions. Quite a few people."
"What's the Second Prince's relationship with the Secret Cult?"
"Unclear!"
"How many high-level Professionals are around the Second Prince?"
"Probably a few Level 18s."
Last question remaining.
Wu Heng asked, "What level is the Second Prince himself?"
"Not sure, but I think somewhere between Level 12 and 15."
The five questions ended. The corpse laid back down.
...…
Wu Heng waved a hand, and the skeletons carried the two bodies away.
Wen Mansa left to organize arrests based on the list.
Wu Heng stood in place, thinking about the intel he'd just gathered.
So, the Second Prince had two plans.
First, he tried to propose a political marriage with Wen Mansa to test Rentam City's stance. If successful, it could prevent war and secure funding.
If Wen Mansa refused, he'd switch to assassination.
But the Crown Prince's preemptive strike caused Wen Mansa to go into hiding.
Which messed up all of the Second Prince's plans.
Now, as a last resort, they were sending a Level 18 Professional to kill her directly.
The Second Prince's reasoning was clear—once the Adventurer's Guild's investigation team left, war would resume.
And they couldn't beat the skeleton army.
But why had the Crown Prince acted?
Wen Mansa being alive would help tie up the Second Prince. That should've been to his advantage.
Then a new possibility occurred to Wu Heng.
Maybe the Crown Prince caught wind of the assassination plan and feared Wen Mansa might actually die.
So he launched a few failed attempts to scare her into hiding.
And now, Wen Mansa's self-isolation had lowered the risk of her death.
These two were really dragging their fight right into Rentam City.
"So what's the plan now?" Slater asked beside him, as the Golden Leopard yawned at her feet.
Wu Heng turned and said, "We wait for that Level 18 Professional to arrive."
"If they're sending someone that strong, we better be cautious," Slater warned.
Wu Heng glanced at her, then nodded. "Don't worry. It'll be fine."
At his current strength, taking down a Level 18 wasn't a problem.
After all, he had three Level 20 Professionals.
Slater nodded and started walking away. Wu Heng moved to put his arm around her waist.
She twisted away and sneered, "I thought the great Island Lord forgot all about me."
"No way. I had stuff to deal with last time, or I would've gone to see you." Wu Heng leaned in again and wrapped his arm around hers.
Slater tried to shake him off but failed, so she let it be and walked off with a cold huff.
...…
Inside the building.
Slater accompanied Wen Mansa to handle the arrests.
Slater was only Level 12—a local steward from a remote region—but Wu Heng had assigned her an 18-level Skeletal Trickblade Servant.
That skeleton was the main reason she could stay behind to guard Wen Mansa.
Wu Heng went upstairs to the radio room.
Time to contact Golden-Silver Island.
"Minnie, are you there?" Wu Heng called through the radio.
A minute passed, then Minnie's voice came through, "This is Minnie!"
"Minnie, it's me—Wu Heng."
"Master!" came her excited voice.
Wu Heng asked, "I'm in Rentam City now. Everything alright on the island?"
Minnie thought for a second. "The partnered merchant guilds already shipped the goods out. The retail shop on the island also started selling. There's been a huge crowd every day."
"The guilds that weren't selected—any trouble from them?"
Minnie answered, "No. Sister Veil said some of them sent people to City Hall just to ask when the next round of partnerships would be."
"Alright, tell Veil to observe for now. We'll pick the next batch from among them."
"Got it. I'll tell her tonight," Minnie said, then added, "Oh right, Master, Steward Sheila Grey's parents came over—they're very elegant and beautiful elves."
So, Sheila Grey's parents had come to Golden-Silver Island.
Neither Sheila nor Shiyali had told him, but he'd overheard Xiaoxiao and Lilith chatting while possessing a skeleton.
Didn't expect them to show up now.
"Have you talked to them?"
"They speak so elegantly—even more elven than Sheila. Sister Veil picked out a gift from the warehouse and gave it to them," Minnie said while thinking.
From Minnie's tone, they seemed easy to talk to.
But he still wondered—would they stay this elegant after learning both daughters were with him?
Golden-Silver Island business wrapped up.
Minnie then asked, "Is Sister Wen Mansa doing okay? Why didn't she say hi?"
"She's busy here, but everything's fine. Just minor stuff."
"Makes sense. You're there, so of course things are under control. Why not bring her back to the island, save you from running around?"
"Depends on her. I'll ask her later."
"Hehe, then we can all live together again—just like in that little Rentam City house!" Minnie giggled.
"Alright, I've got to get back to work. Contact me if anything happens."
"Okay, Master."
Wu Heng ended the call and left the radio room.
Wen Mansa and Slater were still handling the arrest of the Second Prince's spies.
Wu Heng glanced down the stairs, then continued upstairs toward the baby's room.
...…
La la la~!
Above the crib, three phantoms were visible. Xiaoxiao floated a ribbon, teasing the baby to reach out.
Nearby, one skeletal hag swept the floor, while another folded the baby's cloth wraps.
Seeing Wu Heng enter, Xiaoxiao asked, "What's the baby's name again?"
"Wu Qin!"
Xiaoxiao zipped back, dancing the ribbon, "Little Qinqin~"
The baby giggled.
Wu Heng walked over and joined in playing. Then he sat beside the crib.
When the baby started yawning from play fatigue—
Wu Heng said, "Xiaoxiao, let her sleep. Let's go check on the zombie world."
"Fine! I'll come play with her again tonight." Xiaoxiao tossed the ribbon aside.
Who's playing with who here? You seem more excited.
"Let her nap first before you start again," Wu Heng reminded.
"Got it!" Xiaoxiao floated to the side and said, "Uncle, can you bring my mom over? Haven't seen her in ages."
"Sure, I'll fly her in soon." Wu Heng headed out and upstairs.
Xiaoxiao followed and said, "Uncle, want to give baby sister a nickname?"
"Let's see what Wen Mansa thinks first. You can come up with ideas, and I'll ask her."
"I'm Xiaoxiao. What should sister's name be?" Xiaoxiao rubbed her chin in deep thought.