"What do you mean protect him? No one's even attacking him. I made up the excuse about the defender team just to lure you here and teach you a lesson. Besides, even if someone has bad intentions toward Big Guy, my uncle can stop them. He's not a High Tier mage for nothing," Tang Yue proudly lifted her chin.
"Still, I insist. You know my sixth sense rarely fails. And we won't lose anything by moving the Serpent to a safer place. For example, there's a passage near the city to winding underground rivers where the upper layers have no dangerous inhabitants. We can take the Totem Serpent there—he'll molt peacefully and emerge at full strength. Then, in the country, there won't be more than a dozen people who could really harm him. Well, maybe a few more," I recalled that many Semi-Sealed mages like living in seclusion. Only someone at their level or higher could deal significant damage to the Totem Serpent.
Unlike Sealed mages, who are strictly monitored, Semi-Sealed mages aren't controlled at all and can go wherever they want. That's why all high-ranking officials, like Chairman Shao Zheng, are at the Semi-Sealed level. It gives them freedom of movement. No one wants to let Sealed mage equivalents of nuclear bombs into their territory without strict control over arrivals.
"Hm, I can listen to you. In the end, I won't lose anything except a day of my personal time to get there. But I still don't see a reason to worry," Tang Yue reluctantly agreed with me.
"Also, I know a few methods to speed up the Serpent's molting to just hours. Among them—Warlord corpses, a large number of Plague Rats bodies or their blood serum. We need to pick one and try it on the Serpent," I threw in another suggestion.
"Mu Bai, you're too paranoid. And where am I supposed to get a Warlord corpse? These beasts are rarely killed, and even rarer to take their bodies with you. You saw Big Guy's size. Even among Warlords, he stands out, but he's far from the only one that big. That Scaled Tyrant, one of the Undead generals, is no smaller. Such huge carcasses are very hard to carry unless the kill happens on human-controlled territory," Tang Yue rolled her eyes and shook her head.
"Then order your people to gather as many Plague Rats as possible. It'll also help the city get rid of pests like them. If it's about labor costs, I can even chip in. After all, it's because of my paranoia they'll have to do it," I suggested an alternative course of events.
"Hm, if you frame it as a major Magic Tribunal order for preventing dangerous situations and exterminating future threats, I can even make it official. It's a bit outside our usual profile, but if you pay enough, I think there won't be problems. But are you sure? Mu Bai, I repeat, you're just paranoid. No one's going to attack Big Guy—he can molt at his own pace. Yes, it'll take much longer, but it won't cost us a single yuan. If you have nowhere to spend money, just give it to me," Tang Yue kept trying to talk me out of it.
"Yes, I'm sure. Besides, it won't cost too much. One Galactic Vein is enough to hire a bunch of Initial Tier mages to catch these rats at a frantic pace. Middle Tier mages might even join if we tie payments to the number of Plague Rats caught," I scratched my chin and handed the mentioned Galactic Vein to Tang Yue. I have a couple of big sacks stuffed full of them. I stocked up generously back then.
"As you say. If you want to help Big Guy molt faster, I won't refuse," Tang Yue tucked the Galactic Vein into her spatial bracelet. I bet my teeth she'll sell it to herself at the minimum market price and use that money to hire people. But I'm fine leaving her a couple dozen million yuan profit—as long as the job's done in the shortest time.
"By the way, do you know Senator Luo Mian? The one who's also head of the Hangzhou Mage's Association," I shifted our conversation to another topic that interested me: the main instigator of the Serpent's murder in canon.
"Of course I know him—what do you take me for? He's a High Tier shadow mage and sits on the national government from our city. He looks suspicious, I won't argue—narrowed eyes like slits, arrogant gaze, sharp gray goatee, and a braided queue. But he's always wanted only prosperity for our city, so don't imagine things," Tang Yue gave me a stern look.
"I didn't want to talk about him. I just heard his wife owns a medical company that produces blood serums to help treat the sick. Does the Magic Tribunal buy them? Or do regular city citizens? Any quality issues?" I decided to clarify, since with how the tax authority shakes down the Magic Tribunal, any quality discrepancies—like replacing human blood with Plague Rats blood, which in canon led to an epidemic and a mid Warlord's tribe attacking the city—would be spotted immediately.
"Hm, let me think. I remember! There were quality issues, and an investigation was launched. But they pinned all blame on one company director who suicided as soon as he learned they were coming for him. They swept it under the rug, but they still watch product quality closely to avoid repeats. The company doesn't mess around either—they don't want to lose trading rights and a big client like the Magic Tribunal," Tang Yue recalled the old story.
Hm, so now Luo Mian can't create an epidemic without defective serum, and thus can't accidentally trigger a mid Warlord's tribe attack on the city? That would be great if true. But I still have a bad feeling.
"Anyway, I learned what I wanted. Put the Serpent in the Totem Bead and let's go release him in the underground rivers. Then back to the city to wait for my order for enough Plague Rats to be fulfilled," I outlined our plan for the near future.
"Hmph, you even know about the totem bead. How can I not ask questions after that?" Muttering under her breath, Tang Yue pulled a smooth transparent orb slightly larger than a fist from her spatial bracelet and aimed it at the Totem Serpent. He, understanding and overall supporting the plan, let himself be sucked inside.
The bead glowed with bright white light, and seconds later the kilometer-long Serpent vanished, his mini-version appearing in the glass orb's center. Sigh, artifacts from the last cycle are something else. From our civilization, only Qin Shi Huang came close with his Zombie Pit. And even that, though larger in internal volume, doesn't have such a high space compression coefficient as this Totem Bead.
Exchanging glances with Tang Yue, we headed out of the grotto. We had to take the Totem Serpent to a safe spot, then return to the city. I hope my bad feeling is wrong and we'll just gather enough Plague Rats quickly to finish the Serpent's molting. Then it won't matter who comes for him. Unless it's a Sealed mage, I can look down arrogantly from the giant scaly head of a peak Warlord.