"Alright, Mr. Bunian," Luo Wei complained. "You're giving me a headache with all that yelling."

  "Whether the Fire God came to see me or not—you're his follower, right? Just ask him yourself. Why are you yelling at me?"

  "Seriously," she muttered, "doing something and then refusing to admit it. Think being loud makes you right? You're obviously just covering up your guilty conscience..."

  Whether Luo Wei's muttering was too loud or Zachary's hearing too sharp, either way her words drilled straight into his ears, making his face flush red with anger.

  "Liar! All lies! Just wait—I'll pray to the great Fire God right now! I'll expose your bullshit!"

  Luo Wei's expression changed. "What? You're going to pray to the Fire God right now?"

  Zachary caught her panic and laughed viciously. "Hahaha! Fear! Tremble! You despicable creature! I'll make you know the price of blasphemy! The great Fire God will strike you down!"

  "I knew it," Luo Wei said bitterly. "You don't actually want to pray to verify anything. Just because I criticized you a bit, you're running to tattle to the Fire God again."

  "Fine, go ahead and tell on me. You have the Fire God's blessing, I have the God of the Undead's blessing. Worst case, we both tell on each other. Let's see whose god is stronger!"

  Zachary exploded with rage. "I didn't! You cunning bastard! You're deliberately twisting my words to provoke me! I get it now—you're the one with the guilty conscience! You're afraid I'll verify the truth with the great Fire God!"

  "Who's twisting whose words?" Luo Wei sneered. "Since you say I have a guilty conscience, hurry up and pray! Ask your Fire God whether I lied or not!"

  "It's weird—I'm not covering your mouth. If you want to verify with the Fire God, just do it!"

  "You did it but won't admit it. Just standing there yelling and stalling. Why be so fake?"

  Zachary was so angry his hair stood on end. His eyes looked ready to shoot flames. He clenched his back teeth, his bones crackling throughout his body, but he forced himself to hold back the urge to curse. He squeezed out a prayer from his throat.

  "Great God of Fire and Craftsmanship, Hephaestus who holds dominion over volcanoes and flames, forging and craft—I am your faithful follower Rudolf. Please answer my question. Did you—"

  "Did you enter my dream and tell me to release you," Luo Wei suddenly interrupted, her tone contemptuous. "Ask it my way. Don't add your own spin."

  Zachary glared at her viciously, swallowing his anger and praying to the Fire God again. "Great God of Fire and Craftsmanship, please answer my question. Did you enter Luo Wei's dream and tell her to release me?"

  "Also," Luo Wei added, "ask him if he said you were weak and pitiful, and told me not to torture you."

  Zachary clenched his fists. "Great God of Fire and Craftsmanship, did you say I was weak and pitiful, and tell her not to torture me?"

  Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.

  "He knows I'm a follower of the God of the Undead, and he praised me! Said I have the same character as the God of the Undead!" Luo Wei lifted her head proudly. "If you don't believe me, ask him if he mentioned the God of the Undead."

  Zachary ground his teeth. "Great God of Fire and Craftsmanship, did you mention the God of the Undead?"

  After finishing the three questions, he closed his eyes. A flame-shaped mark appeared on his forehead, and red fire blazed around his body.

  "The Fire God hasn't responded yet?" Luo Wei urged. "Why so slow? Aren't you the Fire God's most faithful follower? Did you make him angry?"

  Zachary couldn't take it anymore. His brow twitched. "Shut up!"

  "Okay, okay, I'll shut up." Luo Wei closed her mouth.

  Zachary concentrated on sensing the Fire God's oracle. Half a minute later, he slowly opened his eyes. His already pale face turned ashen gray, looking as ugly as storm clouds.

  "What did the Fire God say?" Luo Wei watched his expression carefully.

  She was a bit worried. Given the Fire God's temper—so similar to Zachary's explosive personality—would he curse her and the God of the Undead when responding to Zachary?

  Zachary's heart twisted in agony. His fists clenched and unclenched, unclenched and clenched. When he answered her, it seemed to drain all his strength. Each word came out with difficulty: "You... didn't lie. The Fire God really... did come to you."

  All three questions—the Fire God's answers were all "yes." Not a single "no."

  Luo Wei's worry was unnecessary. Gods generally acted aloof before their followers. When transmitting oracles, they let followers interpret them on their own rather than speaking directly.

  A god as eager as the God of the Undead—you couldn't find a second one in the whole world.

  "Since the Fire God has proven I didn't lie, Mr. Bunian, you can come out now."

  Seeing Zachary not move, Luo Wei continued, "I'm very sorry for keeping you locked up so long, Mr. Bunian. According to the Fire God's oracle, I've prepared some delicious food. Come out and fill your stomach first, then I'll have someone escort you back to the mainland. Does that work?"

  Zachary's face alternated between pale and flushed. "I said I'm not going anywhere today! I'm not leaving! The Fire God did come to you, but that wasn't my idea! I didn't beg you to let me out!"

  "I know, I know," Luo Wei nodded perfunctorily. "Of course it wasn't your idea—it was all the Fire God's idea. How could you beg for mercy? But as a mere mortal, I don't dare disobey the Fire God's wishes. We're both followers of gods—don't make this hard for me. Please come out."

  Zachary's feet gripped the ground. Patrick couldn't even push him. Who knows what he was insisting on.

  "I didn't ask a god to plead for me," he said stubbornly, eyes locked on Luo Wei. "Even if I leave, I don't need a god's help."

  Luo Wei said coldly, "Then what do you want? If you don't leave, the Fire God will come looking for me again. Are you deliberately getting revenge on me?"

  "I will leave," Zachary clenched his fists until his knuckles turned white. "But not because you feared the Fire God and released me. I, Rudolf, am honorable and upright. I don't stoop to bullying others with power. I agree to help you. I'm walking out on my own merit!"

  Luo Wei straightened up, her dark eyes looking at him seriously. "What did you say? You agree to help me? You'll give me your soldiers? You're sure?"

  "I can't give you my soldiers," Zachary said hoarsely. "I can only lend them to you. Or if you want a certain number of people, within my capabilities, I can help you recruit them. You can train them yourself."

  The price he offered was exactly what Luo Wei wanted. She'd never planned to take his soldiers anyway. What use were soldiers whose loyalty was already pledged elsewhere? From the start, she'd only wanted him to recruit people for her.

  Asking for his soldiers was just her usual negotiation tactic—trying to lift the roof before opening a window.

  Zachary was an old hand. He'd probably seen through Luo Wei's little trick, so what he offered hit exactly what she wanted.

  But Luo Wei still had to play it cool. "Mr. Bunian, you finally admit you have soldiers. Since you've agreed to help me, can you tell me your real identity now?"

  She was genuinely curious why he was called Zachary one moment and Rudolf the next. And why would a Mystical Smith go to the Northlands pretending to be a slave trader, secretly recruiting soldiers?

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  patreon.com/BZDXG - Unlock a HUGE stash of advance chapters now!

  Dive deeper into the story ahead of everyone else!