Chapter 814, How Long Must I Hide?
"Your Highness, please don't be impatient. Their goal is precisely to force us into a mistake by making us anxious," another person said.
The Second Prince stared at the speaker, voice stern. "Always telling me not to rush—then how long do I have to keep hiding here? Like a rat?"
Despite his anger, the people below remained calm.
They didn't even seem concerned about the missing officials.
The old man who spoke first replied flatly again, "This is only temporary. Once the Rentam City lord is dead and we've taken over, everything we lost can be taken back—and you'll be restored to the throne."
The others chimed in with similar reassurances.
The Second Prince took a deep breath and swept his gaze over them. "I understand the plan. I won't ruin it—but what now? Just let them keep killing officials?"
A tall, thin man stood up and said, "Your Highness, I believe we can set a trap to lure them out."
The Second Prince looked at him. "What's your idea?"
"Their real target is you, Your Highness. So send out a decoy. Once the killer appears, we strike and eliminate them."
"Another trap? We already used one at the mansion. They won't fall for it again," the Second Prince said.
"No—they'll still need to confirm the decoy's identity. That's when they'll act," the man insisted.
The others nodded in agreement. It was worth trying.
The Second Prince straightened up, eyes scanning the room. "Then go ahead with this plan. Deploy the city's elites. And what about Rentam City? It's been days—still no word? Send someone to check."
"Yes, Your Highness." Everyone nodded and stood to leave.
The Second Prince watched them go, then turned and walked into the back.
...…
Residential district.
Inside a dilapidated home, wall plaster flaked off in patches. The corner table was full of scratches.
Two patrol guards sat at the table, legs up, chatting.
"Think we'll get in trouble for slacking off here?"
"We're just going through the motions. The Commander and Minister of Intelligence are both gone. If we actually find anything, it'd be suicide."
"What level are these guys anyway? They made the Commander vanish without a sound."
"Think it's a hero?"
"If it were, they wouldn't sneak around. They'd just barge in. Let's just stick to searching quietly—don't try to be a hero."
As they spoke, sounds of a muster came from outside.
They exchanged glances, reattached their swords, and walked out.
Once the group had marched off—
A wisp of smoke floated out from the shadows, coalescing into a sultry-looking woman.
She leaned against the window, watching the guard patrols searching house by house, brows furrowed.
The Commander and Intelligence Minister were both missing too?
"Just who is in this city!"
It definitely wasn't one of their people.
They had just met this morning to guess who killed the Minister of Administration—by afternoon, two more were missing, both high-level Professionals.
Whoever it was, they were more terrifying than anticipated.
"I hope it's not that kid's people."
...…
Inside a dark inn room—
Because of the city's chaos, no new guests were staying at the tavern.
As long as Wu Heng didn't make too much noise, he'd be fine staying the night.
He sat by the window for a while.
Glenda and Benny flew back in.
"Nothing unusual," Glenda said.
Benny added, "Same here. The city's too chaotic. The streets are full of moving level beams."
"Looks like we underestimated him. He's calm under pressure—he's got the makings of something big," Wu Heng said.
Glenda thought for a moment. "What if the Second Prince is already dead? Maybe these people are just using his name."
Wu Heng and the other ghost souls looked at her. That was a new theory.
"The Second Prince is dead?!" Xiaoxiao exclaimed.
Wu Heng considered the possibility. "It's possible. Or maybe he's under control, being used as a puppet."
"That's plausible," Glenda nodded.
Just then, sounds of a second wave of searching came from outside.
Wu Heng stood up. "Let's head back to the Zombie World."
The three ghost souls reentered his body.
Wu Heng opened a realm gate inside the room and walked through.
...…
He stepped into the monitoring room of the prison.
Releasing the ghost souls, he walked to the monitors. "Enlarge the Rogue's room."
The monitor filled with a close-up of the Rogue curled up silently on the iron bed.
"No experiments yet?" Glenda asked.
"Not sure," Wu Heng replied. Then, "Xiaoxiao, go check where the Alchemy Skeleton is and have it bring the experiment records."
"Okay, Uncle." Xiaoxiao flew out.
Soon she returned. "The skeleton is coming."
The door to the control room knocked. The Alchemy Skeleton walked in, record book in hand.
"Let me see the experiment log."
The log was handed over, and Wu Heng opened it.
Skipping the animal tests, he focused on the records for [Cell 202].
First were the Rogue's level and physical status.
Then came the experiment notes.
That morning, he was fed a Tier-1 Corpse Core. He showed visible pain and struggle, skin turned blue, eyes bloodshot.
Ten minutes later, symptoms eased. Thirty minutes later, he was back to normal.
At 8 PM, a second Tier-1 Corpse Core was administered. Same reaction.
Recovery was a bit faster the second time.
Only two records—just one day had passed, after all.
Wu Heng glanced at the Alchemy Skeleton.
It had used Corpse Core ingestion—not viral injection.
That method aligned with the Corpse King's experiments.
The Corpse King raised his subjects by feeding them Corpse Cores.
"How's it looking?" Glenda asked.
The other two ghost souls looked over too.
Wu Heng said, "He was fed a Corpse Core twice, morning and evening. But his level's high, and his immunity too. No sign of zombification."
Xiaoxiao said, "What if it gives him powers instead?"
"Could happen," Wu Heng replied.
Glenda looked through the records too. "We should just inject the virus. Your ability awakenings are unpredictable—if he develops something special, it might get dangerous."
"True," Wu Heng nodded. "We'll switch to viral injection tomorrow."
Feeding Corpse Cores to awaken abilities might lead to stronger skeletons later.
But for now, he wanted to raise a few controllable level-20 skeletons first—no rush on the ability experiments.
The Alchemy Skeleton nodded and updated tomorrow's plan in the log.
"Let's go. We've got two more test subjects. We'll experiment on them tomorrow," Wu Heng said.
They left the control room—
And headed to the detention area.
Wu Heng opened [Mansion Spell], revealing the imprisoned Commander and Intelligence Minister inside iron cages.
Seeing Wu Heng appear, both their eyes filled with fear and disbelief.
They carefully scrutinized his current appearance.
The Intelligence Minister shouted, "You're Wu Heng! Wu Heng from Gold-Silver Island!"
"Wu Heng! It's you! How dare you attack us!" the Commander yelled.
With a thought, Wu Heng summoned two spectral hands inside the mansion, which smack-smack slapped both of them hard.
They instantly shut up.
"Bring them out."
Kashu and Shiny led the two out.
"Wu Heng, you're part of the Guild! Kidnapping national ministers—you know the consequences."
"By noble law, I can pay my own ransom for freedom!"
They were shoved along, still yelling.
"Put them in. Don't cause trouble for yourselves," Wu Heng said as he opened two adjacent cells, letting the skeletons lock them in.
...…
Inside Cell 202—
The Rogue pressed himself to the iron door, eyes wide as he listened to the voices outside.
He really did bring people back.