Volume 1: Stranger in a Strange Land Chapter 10 Name

Zhou Mu was very familiar with the style of this map.

Although it only depicts a small area in the southern part of the Mountains of Sorrow, the style of this map is exactly the same as when Zhou Mu opened the map interface in the game.

There can't be such a coincidence.

In other words, there may be clues to an old acquaintance hidden behind this map, but it is not clear whether the other party is an enemy or a friend.

Of course, judging from the fact that the other party handed the map to a summoner, it seems more likely that he is an enemy.

But no matter what, he couldn't miss this clue.

Zhou Mu stared at the man, trying his best to make his voice sound intimidating.

"Where did you get this map?"

silence.

"You don't want to say it or you can't say it?"

Still silence.

"So you can't tell me?"

Looking at David who remained silent, Zhou Mu continued to ask.

David answered through gritted teeth.

"Except for the origin of this map, I can tell you everything else."

"I'm not interested in anything else. This is the only thing I want to know."

"Then you can kill me."

He was somewhat surprised by the other party's answer. Since he had surrendered so decisively before, he was definitely not the kind of person who would face death with indifference.

If the other party could choose to die so calmly, then the reason manipulating him probably wasn't greed or loyalty.

It should be fear.

After all, death is not the worst destination in this world.

"I know some methods that can punish a person's soul when they reveal certain secrets. But coincidentally, I also have some methods that can make your soul suffer the same torture..."

"You don't even know..."

David directly interrupted Zhou Mu's threat.

"You don't know what it means to be tortured, nor do you understand what true terror is. You can threaten me with your power to exile the Shambler, but don't think I will be afraid. I tell you, your power is nothing compared to that master."

"Very good, I finally have some clues. Tell me who that master you are talking about is, and I promise to give you a quick death."

The other party immediately shut up.

"Do you think that as long as you would rather die than speak, I can't do anything to you? If you have such an idea, I advise you to get rid of it immediately."

Zhou Mu waited for a few more seconds, and seeing that the other party was still ready to die, he could only sigh helplessly.

"Well, it's your choice. To be honest, even if you do deserve to die, I don't really want to do this."

After saying that, he turned around and looked behind him.

"Liliana."

“Ah… yes.”

Liliana replied as if she had just woken up from a dream.

Seeing that the girl looked distraught, Zhou Mu couldn't help but frown.

"It's not your fault."

Liliana's eyes suddenly turned red, and she choked up as she spoke.

"But how should I tell their families this sad news? How should I explain why I was the only one who survived? How should I face them? I don't know..."

Zhou Mu picked up the discarded lead-colored staff from the ground, and then handed the staff to the trembling girl.

"Tell them that the culprit is dead."

Liliana looked up at him in surprise.

"This is the only thing you can do to bring some comfort to the relatives of the deceased. The rest can only be left to time."

After saying that, a dark beam of energy shot out from Withering Chill and hit David who was tied to the side head-on.

He fell backwards.

Zhou Mu walked over and half-knelt in front of the corpse that had just lost its life. He loosened the Withering Cold in his hand, and the staff did not fall to the ground, but floated beside him as if it had life.

His right hand was covered with a hazy black shadow, and he just reached his hand into David's body - his hand penetrated into the body like an illusory ghost, and then pulled out an equally illusory .

That is the soul of David Orbis.

He looked a little confused at the moment, and it was not until he saw his own body lying on the ground that he seemed to understand what .

+Where did that map come from? +

Zhou Mu did not speak, but used his own will to make the sound of the soul.

Use your own will to govern the will of others.

Master-level necromancy [Command of the Dead].

The expression on David's face changed from initial confusion to dullness, and then immediately to endless pain.

+What is the name of the adult you are talking about, and where is he? +

Seeing that the other party still did not answer, Zhou Mu estimated the extent to which the other party's soul could still withstand and used [Law of the Dead] again.

The other party's soul began to tremble violently under Zhou Mu's command, and it seemed that he could hardly maintain his human form. After a few seconds, he gritted his teeth and squeezed out a few words slowly and with difficulty.

"Father of...Flocks of Crows, City of Thorns..."

He was unable to finish his words, because when he spoke the first word, three scratches suddenly appeared on his soul, and with each additional word he spoke, the scratches became deeper.

As soon as he said the name of Thorn City, the scratches tore his soul into pieces.

Zhou Mu fell silent as he watched the tiny points of light floating in the sky as his soul dissipated.

This was the first time he had seen a spell that had never appeared in the game since he crossed over. He didn't even know how to stop it.

"Father of Crows... a name I've never heard of... and the City of Thorns?"

The place of Thorn City reminded Zhou Mu of some more urgent things to do at the moment.

That is to repair the Dusk Fortress, which is now in ruins.

No matter what, he couldn't let the place that held so many of his memories continue to be abandoned.

But restoring the Dusk Fortress to its original state is not an easy task. The exquisite defense system and functional design of the Dusk Fortress are the result of the hard work of the strongest craftsmen and enchanters in the continent. Zhou Mu even doubted whether he could reproduce all the functions of this unbreakable fortress a thousand years later.

Even if we have to settle for the second best and just repair the exterior frame, it will be a huge project.

The problem of ordinary building materials and labor was not a big deal. At most, he could spend more time and energy to summon elemental spirits to do the hard work. But the trouble was that because of years of lack of maintenance, all the magic-sealing runes buried inside the building structure had become inactive. He had to lay out the rune system of the entire fortress from scratch.

This is a very important task, and it must be started at the same time as rebuilding the main body of the fortress, just like laying out the wiring before renovating a house. Otherwise, even if it is repaired, the Dusk Fortress is just a stone fortress with a beautiful appearance, and it has no ability to resist the invasion of the Moon Realm monsters.

Re-laying the magic-sealing rune system requires a large amount of source silver, a magic-sealing metal that has a strong affinity for spells of various attributes.

Although his treasure hall had some reserve source silver, it was only preserved as samples and could not meet the needs of rebuilding the entire Dusk Fortress.

The largest source silver mine and refinery in the entire continent is in Thorn City, at least a thousand years ago.

This, plus the need to investigate the Father of Crows whose identity was unclear, seemed to indicate that it was indeed necessary for him to go to the City of Thorns.

Zhou Mu picked up the Withering Cold that was floating beside him again, turned around and asked Liliana.

"I remember you said before that you were studying at Offa University in Blackwater Swamp, right?"

Liliana had never studied undead magic, so in her view, the scene of Zhou Mu interrogating David's soul just now was just that he walked up to the corpse, squatted down, then stood up holding something in his hand, and then was in a daze for a while.

She nodded, then corrected herself.

"It's not Blackwater Swamp, it's Blackwater Province. Blackwater Swamp is an ancient name from a long time ago."

The other party didn't say anything more to her on this topic, but continued to ask.

"Is the headquarters of Offa University still in Thorn City?"

What does "still there" mean? Hasn't it been in Thorn City for more than a thousand years without changing?

Liliana suppressed her doubts about the other party's strange question and answered.

"Yes, I have always been in Thorn City."

"Well, after you finish your work here, you will go back to school, right? I also have some things to do in Thorn City. Since it's on the way, how about I hire you as my guide? As for the reward, I will pay you with the pendant from before. What do you think of this deal?"

How's this deal?

If it's just a guide, then this deal is a huge profit!

Although Liliana is not an expert in enchantment identification, enchanted items of this level are definitely the highest-grade ones even among the academy's collections, and are estimated to be able to be sold for tens of thousands of gold Riels at an auction.

In comparison, hiring a guide to Thorn City would only cost a dozen gold riels at most.

But the problem is that the other party is a heretic wizard who has betrayed the laws of the stars. No matter which city he goes to, as long as he is discovered, he will be wanted by the church and the local lord.

Of course, she had no doubt that this man with unfathomable strength could easily escape. But by then, as his guide, she would be in big trouble.

Moreover, more importantly, she knew nothing about this man except that he was inexplicably strong.

This is really not a deal that I can feel at ease with.

but……

The other party saved his life and helped him to avenge himself.

No matter what, this favor must be repaid.

…………

The girl named Liliana hesitated for a long time and finally spoke.

"Okay, I promise, but before that, I need to know your name."

"Name?"

So, what should I call myself?

It was not until this time that he began to think about this problem carefully.