Chapter 460: Exploration
The fresh footprints must have belonged to the attackers from earlier. After entering the building, Ignatius Woods became noticeably impatient, hurrying ahead. Wayne had no choice but to slow his steps and follow behind, checking each room one by one.
The first floor consisted of a simple reception room, a washroom, and a kitchen, with clutter scattered everywhere.
His intuition and Observation Haki told him everything here was completely ordinary—nothing carried any trace of spiritual power.
Before long, they finished searching the first floor. Ignatius immediately headed for the staircase to the second floor so quickly that Wayne didn't have time to stop him.
Through his Observation Haki, he could sense at least two undead upstairs.
Ignatius had only taken a few steps up when his expression suddenly changed. He froze, then retreated down the stairs.
Wayne couldn't help pulling at the corner of his mouth. At the stairway's turn, he saw a figure in black pacing restlessly—head wrapped in a white Ruins-style turban.
A classic corner ambush. Absolutely idiotic.
Perhaps sensing intruders, the figure abruptly turned. Its entire body had already rotted, and even one of its eyes was missing—undeniably a corpse. Yet its aggression was shockingly intense as it lunged at Wayne, jaws gaping.
With silver-and-black gloves gripping Heavenly King, Wayne swung casually. The body hit the wall with a loud crash, then stopped moving.
A notification appeared:
[You killed a Ghoul (lv65). You gained 96000 experience (15% experience decay).]
"He's been dead for nearly half a month. Any lingering spirituality dissolved long ago. There's no soul left—he's not even a proper undead anymore." Wayne flicked off the blood from Heavenly King, calmly assessing the situation. Such scenes no longer unsettled him in the slightest.
"That was Hashim. My companion." Ignatius spoke only after a long silence, letting out a breath.
Wayne followed him over to examine the corpse. The cause of death was an arrow to the back. Judging from the wound and the footprints, Cosmo Isaac had been the killer.
Ignatius stored Hashim's body in his storage ring, then cautiously stepped onto the second floor. Wayne stayed close behind. A long straight corridor stretched before them; like downstairs, every door was wide open, including the balcony at the far end.
Judging by the dust downstairs and the state of the second floor, the attackers must have climbed in from the balcony and slaughtered everyone inside.
At that moment, the open doors banged wildly in a sudden gust. A cold, eerie wind rushed up behind them, making their hair stand on end.
A chill, sinister cloud of mist lunged straight toward them.
Bang!
Wayne had already seen it coming. Without hesitation, he drew Retribution and fired point-blank.
A bullet infused with frost, holy light, and flame shot forward, striking the mist dead on.
A shrill, feminine scream followed. A female wraith in a gauzy robe and veil materialized, her twisted features engulfed in golden fire.
Moments later, she burned into ash. Ripple energy and holy light were essentially the perfect counters to undead beings.
With the wraith destroyed, the hallway instantly returned to normal. The cold and corruption vanished at once.
"That was Sami—my companion, and one of my closest friends."
Ignatius couldn't hide the grief on his face. He pressed his hand to his chest and traced a clockwise symbol resembling a "windmill leaf," offering a silent prayer.
Wayne watched quietly. He had a hunch there was probably some tragic, melodramatic story behind this.
After a while, Ignatius resumed moving. He searched every room on the second floor, as if looking for something important, but found nothing.
Then they headed to the third floor. Upon reaching it, Wayne narrowed his eyes.
The entire floor had been configured as a large laboratory. Bottles and jars filled the room, all of them opened and spilled across the floor. Dried pools of green liquid stained the ground.
Ignatius scanned the room quickly. Seeing no more corpses, he visibly relaxed.
He then walked to a wall, pried loose a brick, and revealed a well-hidden compartment.
After feeling around, he retrieved a dust-covered notebook. He flipped through several pages with great care, seemingly verifying its authenticity.
Something puzzled Wayne—the text inside was all in ancient Elven. Was Ignatius secretly a highly educated scholar?
After a hasty review, Ignatius tucked the notebook close to his chest, then looked at Wayne and exhaled deeply.
"Thank you. I still have two companions alive. But before I can contact them, could I continue hiring you? I'll pay you well, and I'll stay hidden to avoid being noticed by the Alchemy and Craftsman Church."
"And while the contract lasts, I'll also work for you—the same way Richie Burke does."
"Work for me?"
Wayne's thoughts shifted. Ignatius's biggest problem was the enemies behind him—the Alchemy and Craftsman Church and that angel in Ruins. But the benefits were obvious. If he wanted to expand the Starry Sky Guild into a full faction, he needed NPC power. A top-tier craftsman was invaluable.
And even if the angel showed up, Wayne still had countless trump cards: two possession cards—Sword God Wayne and Time-Traveler Wayne—ready to deploy, plus temporary mental-stat borrowing to summon the Three Egyptian Gods, and even the Creator God of Light, Horakhty.
After weighing the pros and cons, Wayne looked up at Ignatius. "We can make the deal, but the terms need to change. What you're offering now isn't enough to interest me. You know very well you might bring a real angel down on us."
"How do we change it?" Ignatius asked without hesitation.
"You can decide the payment. But the work period must be extended to three years. During that time, I'll do everything in my power to keep you alive." Wayne smiled.
"Three years?" Ignatius's expression flickered. After a long, difficult silence, he nodded as if accepting fate. "Deal. I'll prepare a contract."
"Then I wish us a pleasant partnership." Wayne smiled. "Now you can tell me about that angel. Just in case, I need to prepare."
"I don't know his exact class or identity. Only that he's an old man in black, extremely old, with a very hoarse voice. He always wears a hood. He once served as the teacher of Charles VII, the former king of the Bryston Kingdom. Oh—and his name is Wendegoon."
"Wendegoon?"
Now it was Wayne's turn to be completely stunned.