When those Silvermane Guards brought light sources and descended the staircase, they saw Bronya.
She was already squatting on the ground, studying the remains of the monster that Zeig had killed.
Unfortunately, the corrosive power of Abyss Flower was too thorough—the remains no longer looked like their original form.
Around her were still a large number of other monsters bound by chains.
"Captain, these are…"
"They were once people."
"Could it be… these are the nobles' secret weapons? Captain, is the pile under your feet the ones that are already dead?"
"They don't seem that strong."
Bronya was silent for a moment, then slowly walked up the stairs and said gravely:
"You all handle these. If you think the difficulty isn't enough, feel free to cut the chains and fight them fairly."
About ten minutes later.
A large group of Silvermane Guards came screaming back up from below, covered in wounds!
The monsters down there—now freed from their chains—had glowing green eyes, as if they hadn't eaten in ages, biting at anyone they saw!
Their speed and strength were downright terrifying.
One of them, after gnawing off a Silvermane Guard's arm, had its wound visibly wriggling and regenerating at an alarming rate!
Seeing all this happen left Bronya above stunned as well.
"You… really cut the chains?"
Those chains had sealed the monsters' most critical joints. Once released, their combat power would surge dramatically.
"No! Captain—it was the chains falling off on their own, like someone was controlling them!"
"Wait… where's the Count? The Count's gone!"
"What?!!"
Originally, after seeing the remains left by Zeig underground, they had thought these monsters were weak.
Who knew each one would be so vicious!
The chains coming loose was probably the Count's doing!
Seeing Silvermane Guards continuously withdrawing from the basement, Bronya pursed her thin lips:
"Once all Silvermane Guards are out, block the entrance with heavy objects. Starve those monsters for a few days, then burn them to death with fire."
"Captain, didn't you say they were people? If we do this…"
"They're already dead. Do they look like people to you now?"
"…Fair point."
After the last Silvermane Guard withdrew, the others dragged over extremely heavy military supply crates to seal the basement entrance.
As for what was inside the crates—naturally, it was Silvermane Guards.
"…"
Because it had happened so suddenly, they only had time to bring empty military crates—nothing loaded yet.
So for the time being, the heaviest batch of people were holding them in place.
The other Silvermane Guards ran to fetch stones or metal objects to replace the ones inside.
Until the entire crate was filled and locked tight.
Only then did everyone breathe a sigh of relief.
"The Captain said that huge pile of remains down there was killed by that gray-haired guy—he really is ruthless."
"Didn't expect the one he was assassinating wasn't the Count. Did we do all that for nothing?"
"Anyway, no casualties is already a blessing."
Bronya stared at the military crate trembling under constant impacts from below and said gravely:
"I'll report this discovery to the Supreme Guardian. This intelligence is far more important than that assassin."
…
Underworld.
Rivet Town.
Inside a certain cavern, Zeig was currently being showered with praise from countless people.
"Kid, you're amazing! That guy had been missing for ages—you actually dragged him out from under the old Count's protection and killed him!"
"…His whole family are scum."
"Right—you weren't planning to wipe out his entire family? How's that going? Have you taken out the others yet?"
Zeig sat cross-legged in the cave, surrounded by a circle of rebels.
They all looked radiant—this time they truly regarded this gray-haired guy as one of their own.
Zeig glanced at them and smiled:
"Sigh, actually I just got lucky. That fat old man happened to be plotting how to overthrow the regime and got discovered by the Silvermane Guards."
"So while they were fighting, I just picked up the scraps."
Hearing Zeig's account, the others nodded:
"So that's how it was. We thought you were actually that badass—able to assassinate someone right in front of so many Silvermane Guards and walk away unscathed."
"Still not bad. It's a good start."
"We acknowledge your strength now. You're still a bit behind Brother Dao, but if you follow him and learn properly from now on, you've got a chance to get stronger."
"?"
Zeig raised an eyebrow, his gaze immediately falling on the man leaning against the wall resting in the distance.
That was the backbone here—Brother Dao.
Although Zeig had claimed it was only thanks to the chaos that he managed to kill the target, he had previously hospitalized Gepard.
Was a feat like that still not as good as Brother Dao's?
"Uh, let me ask weakly for a second."
Zeig quietly asked a few people sitting closer:
"What are Brother Dao's feats? Is he really that strong?"
"Heh, makes sense—you're new here so you wouldn't know."
"You remember that Vagrant possessed by the Stellaron causing chaos in the Underworld, right? Brother Dao was among those resisting the invasion back then."
"He chopped up a ton of those ice spikes the ice giant threw at us!"
Zeig said disdainfully:
"And? That's it?"
Chopping up things enemies throw—sure, it's cool, but with practice anyone can do it.
"Of course there's more!"
"Remember when the Executor went to the glacier with the prospective Supreme Guardian, and she awakened that Creation Engine?"
Zeig nodded.
He had seen that giant thing—Bronya had been piloting it at the time.
"Once, while the Overworld folks were chasing Brother Dao across the snowfield, they deployed the Creation Engine again!"
"And guess what?"
"What?"
"Brother Dao ripped off one entire arm of the Creation Engine! The Overworld people are still trying to repair it even now!"
"You haven't seen that big guy around lately either, right?"
"…"
This series of glorious feats all entered Zeig's ears.
Many of them involved Brother Dao clashing with Cocolia's side.
Escaping encirclement by Bronya, Gepard, and Seele alone, then single-handedly defeating the Creation Engine.
Another big shot!
"Badass!" Zeig gave a thumbs-up straight away.
Truly, the real experts are among the common folk.
"Kid, your wanted poster is all over the city now. That Seele even declared she'd avenge Gepard and challenge you to a one-on-one. What do you think?"
"If I win the one-on-one, can she be my wife?"
"Unfortunately, no—even if you win, you won't get away. The remaining Silvermane Guards will surround you."
"Then what's the point of fighting."
Just as Zeig successfully infiltrated the group and was about to hand out another round of Furong Wang to everyone—
A player wearing a black hood was dragged in by two people.
"Brother Dao—this chick wants to join us! She says she's the universe's number-one beautiful girl, ended up stranded on this planet, had her livelihood camera smashed by Silvermane Guards, and now wants to join us to fight them to the death!"
"?"
Zeig looked up and unintentionally locked eyes with the dog-woman whose hood had been removed.
Golden eyes met pink-and-blue pupils, instantly sparking fierce electricity.
After only a few seconds of silence, Zeig shot to his feet, while the other also shouted indignantly.
The two pointed at each other simultaneously:
"She (he) is a spy!! Spy!!"
"?!?"
…