Who hid my body?

Chapter 332 Those prosthetics are useful too?!

As Isaiah's most favored disciple, Mina was always aware of what was happening in Paradise and understood the current situation.

Simply put, Tongue and Hand-Eye, as the only two holders of multiple body parts in Peach Blossom Spring, have now reached the point of fierce confrontation, forcing the others to choose sides. Therefore, even their teacher Isaiah can no longer simply watch and observe as before. After all, once Tongue and Hand-Eye have decided the winner, it will be too late to intervene.

However, taking sides rashly is not in line with Isaiah's style; it would be too easy to be led by the nose.

Therefore, how to take the initiative is what Isaiah and Mina have been thinking about.

Fortunately, at this moment, the most inconspicuous Mr. Thumb stepped forward and, in a way that was almost self-destructive, gave Isaiah an excellent entry point.

That is, on the surface, they help the thumb deal with the tongue, but secretly they also target the thumb.

Firstly, on the surface, Isaiah's actions against Tongue were entirely in accordance with the requirements. This was because it came from the request of the Land of Covenant, and he acted only after the delegations of the Rhine and Nightmare Churches had failed. Under these circumstances, no one would doubt his identity, and he could rightfully eliminate Tongue.

After eliminating Tongue, as the one who contributed the most, he was entitled to make a claim on the Contract Land to receive one of the three pieces of Tongue's body.

Yes, Isaiah only wanted one portion. He knew very well that trying to devour three pieces of the corpse at this time was tantamount to suicide. If he dared to take them, he would immediately become the target of everyone's wrath, and the land of the covenant and the other major churches would no longer be targeting Uru, but him.

So, on the surface, Isaiah only wanted one share, so neither the Land of Covenant nor any other church had any reason to refuse this request. As for the remaining two shares, let them fight over them.

That's what's on the surface, but Isaiah's real target is Rocky's "thumb".

Because Rocky's thumb isn't publicly visible, aside from a very few people in Paradise and the Rhine, very few people know that he is also a holder of a body part. This is also related to the fact that the Eastern Church of the Rhine has always been low-key, unlike Corey of the Western Church, who is practically dead, and seems to want the whole world to know that the eye is on his body.

This gave Isaiah the opportunity to make his move. If Rocky were as flamboyant as Corey, Isaiah would find it difficult to target him.

Fortunately, although this guy appears reckless and brainless on the surface, he is actually quite cautious. Even if Isaiah really killed him, there would be no way to prove it.

Yes, this is Isaiah's complete plan.

Using the land of contracts and the requests of the Rhine and Eternal Nightmare churches, he could legitimately set up a site to kill Tongue. While dealing with Tongue, he would also take down Loki... Of course, on the surface, he would make it appear as if the despicable and powerful Tongue was fighting the brave and fearless Bishop of Rhine. In the end, the Bishop of Rhine made a mistake and unfortunately died, and he belatedly avenged him.

In this way, he not only eliminated the tongue but also the thumb, instantly gaining three pieces of the body.

Then, using the remaining power of the three body parts, he went to the agreed-upon place with Hand and Eye to take the last eye. At that time, no matter how many trump cards Hand and Eye had, they would not be his match.

He will be the ultimate winner and stand until the very end, feasting to his heart's content.

Throughout this process, no one will be able to find any fault with him; only Rhine will be able to guess the truth.

But so what? Without solid evidence, who would dare to lay a hand on him?

He is not Uru, who is wanted by the Rhine, nor is he the Seven-Tone Player who destroyed the entire Holy Sound. Behind him is the entire Star Remnant Cult.

With the Rhine having lost three great bishops, the Holy Sound destroyed, Lyre rebuilt, and the Land of Contracts unable to leave, he holds the ultimate power. Once he safely returns to the Star Remnant, even if the Land of Contracts senses something amiss, it will be too late for anything to do.

This was Isaiah's entire plan.

In Mina's view, the plan could be described as flawless.

Only one's own teacher, the wisest and most learned person in the world, could have set up such a scheme in such a short time.

From this perspective, Bishop Loki, who, like his teacher Isaiah, was a high-ranking member of the Orthodox Church... was as stupid as a child with polio.

Rocky frowned and looked at Mina with a hint of wariness in his eyes: "Miss Mina, why are you looking at me like that?"

...Your intuition is quite sharp.

Mina immediately put on a harmless smile: "Before I came, my teacher told me to humbly learn from you."

What can I ask you?

"In various aspects," Mina said shyly. "I want to take over the teacher's job in the future, but I've never really had any confidence..."

Rocky's brow furrowed even more, his tone filled with anger: "So you're drawing confidence from me!?"

Mina: “…”

She forced herself to keep her expression from changing.

Just yesterday, Teacher Isaiah specifically instructed her to observe Rocky carefully.

What are we observing?

We'll observe whether he's really that stupid.

Isaiah also harbored a degree of wariness towards Loki. Just like in Paradise Country, Loki's behavior didn't seem like someone who could sit at the same table with them. Compared to any of them, even that dead Tooth, Loki seemed far too... simplistic.

Therefore, Isaiah's assessment of Rocky has always been either that he is wise in disguise or that he is foolish and mentally challenged.

If it's the former, then it will be very troublesome to deal with; if it's the latter, such an easy target will fall into the hands of others if it's not dealt with too late.

This is one of the reasons why Isaiah was determined to act quickly; he didn't want to see Rocky die at someone else's hands first.

That's why Mina kept observing Rocky and immediately reported to Teacher Isaiah if she noticed anything unusual.

However, judging from the current situation, Rocky does seem... not very smart.

"Alright, enough of this rambling." Rocky tapped the table again, steer the conversation back on track. "So what we need to do now is lure those two guys to Nameless Town?"

“To be precise, we should lead them to Nameless Town on the Night of Immaculate Purity,” Mina corrected. “It’s best not to do it earlier, because the teacher’s preparations are not yet complete, but we can’t miss the Night of Immaculate Purity either.”

“You make it sound so simple,” Loki said coldly. “But how exactly do we do it? We can’t just go and tell them we’ve set a trap in Nameless Town and are just waiting for them to take the bait, can we?” “Calm down, Bishop Loki,” Fenris said with a smile after a period of silence. “As I said, Miss Mina and I have been discussing this all night and have several plans that will make them willingly go to Nameless Town.”

"Then just say it already, why are you beating around the bush?" Rocky was still very impatient. "Of course, if your plan is for me to take action and drive them over there, then you'd better not say anything."

“Well, that’s the first option,” Fenris quickly added before Rocky could react, “but it doesn’t mean you have to actually attack them, just make a show of it and force them to come over.”

"How exactly are you forcing me?"

“The simplest kind,” Fenris said. “A city-wide manhunt.”

Rocky frowned again, but this time he didn't speak immediately. Instead, he listened to Fenris continue.

“Although this town is located in a border region of no man’s land, it is very close to the territories of various churches, so it is easy to get support,” Fenris said. “To be honest, Bishop Loki, while you were resting, Miss Mina and I separately requested support from headquarters. At present, more than half of the Star Legion sorcerers of the Star Legion delegation have arrived here from Nameless Town, and our church’s Nightmare Servants have also arrived. We have even contacted the Last Musician Orchestra of Holy Sound, and they will also arrive here tonight.”

The Last Performers of Sacred Sound Orchestra?
Loki vaguely remembered that they were a band that had been transferred back from the Land of Contracts after the Holy Sound incident. They had been hunting down Tongue ever since, trying to retrieve the complete Seven Notes from Tongue in order to rebuild the Holy Sound.

However, even after chasing Wildfire all the way and losing most of their men, they still failed to succeed.

Here it comes again?
Leaving aside the Star Legacy Sorcerers, let's talk about the Nightmare Servant of Eternal Nightmare and the Last Musician Orchestra of Holy Sound. These were all those who hunted down Tongue, but failed.

Are they getting together again to form a loser's group?

"Do you really think these guys can handle those two if they all put together?" Rocky said. "Even I lost... it was a 50/50 match. Do you really think the others can?"

“Quantity can make up for a lack of quality, and our real purpose isn’t to kill them here, is it?” Fenris said with a smile. “We just want to force them to leave, and as you said, that seven-tone player is also quite injured, so he shouldn’t be interested in getting entangled with us here. And if he really insists on fighting to the death… Bishop Loki, if I may be frank, they’ll probably die here too. You think that seven-tone player’s strength is not much different from yours, so are you confident that you can fight all of us by yourself?”

Rocky remained silent.

There's no point in arguing about that. Even without considering their top-tier combat power, the combined might of the three major churches—Sacred Sound, Eternal Nightmare, and Star Legacy—would make it very difficult for Loki to win alone.

If such a situation were to occur, he would have no choice but to flee. This town is not small, making it difficult to form a complete encirclement. Therefore, as long as he finds a weak point...

Ok?
Rocky guessed what was going on and asked, "You're trying to surround them from all sides, but actually you're leaving an opening for them to escape?"

Mina, with an air of "As expected of you," smiled and said, "That's exactly what we planned. The opening we left for the two of them is right in the direction of Nameless Town. In that case, there's a high probability that they'll go directly to Nameless Town, and then they'll fall into the teacher's trap."

Rocky wasn't pleased by Mina's praise. Instead, he coldly said, "That's it? Don't you think this plan is too simplistic, or even a plan? Why did they insist on going to Nameless Town?"

“Of course it’s not just that,” Mina said with a smile. “That’s just the forcing; we have the bait too.”

"Lure?" Rocky asked. "How?"

“Do you remember the purpose of that forbidden scholar?” Fenris asked.

"Use Vessas's power to create a magic circle that can isolate the mark of the divine commandment?"

“Yes.” Fenris nodded. “The magic circle requires a huge amount of Vesas’s power, and the Seven-Tone Player, who is seriously injured, will definitely not be able to produce such power immediately. Therefore, Edwin will definitely go to find new pieces of Vesas’s body.”

Upon hearing about the new pieces of Vesas's body, Loki immediately became alert: "What, are there pieces of Vesas's body in Nameless Town?"

“Of course,” Fenris said with a smile. “Nowhere else could you find more than in Nameless Town.”

Rocky was shocked.

What the hell? There are still pieces of Vesas's body in Nameless Town, and even more?!
How could that be? That place is just...

Ok?
He guessed something else, and then his lips twitched slightly: "You're not talking about those prosthetics, are you?"

“That’s right!” Fenris nodded repeatedly, saying happily, “It’s those prosthetics! Nameless Town is the headquarters of the black market dealers and also the largest Vessas prosthetic manufacturing site! The prosthetics there could circle…”

"Are you fucking crazy?!" Rocky interrupted Fenris, almost roaring, "You're planning to use those prosthetics as bait? Do you think they're idiots or me?"

“Of course, we’re not treating them like idiots… uh, and not you either.” Fenris calmed Loki down. “Please let me explain. Over the years, black market dealers have become increasingly skilled at making fake body parts from Vesas. From initially just focusing on preservation, they can now make them indestructible in a short time, even difficult for professionals to distinguish. Of course, we’re not planning to fool them with these prosthetics. What I’m trying to say is that these prosthetics have, to some extent, acquired some characteristics of real body parts.”

Rocky's eyes widened instantly: "You mean killing a god?!"

The fake corpse parts that shady dealers use to deceive people now have god-killing properties?!
What kind of technology can change one's destiny like this!

“Not quite.” Fenris shook his head. “If the ability to kill gods could really be manufactured, the black market merchants would have been wiped out long ago. They can’t kill gods, but they can isolate divinity to some extent, although the degree is very low, it does exist. Bishop Loki, you must have seen some of the black market merchants’ high-end prosthetics, those can even be immune to some low-level divine magic detection.”

Rocky's brow furrowed slightly.

He did know that.

The young priests in the remote churches of the Rhine often fell victim to swindling from black market dealers, buying fake body parts.

It's not that they're stupid, but rather that the low-level divine arts they possess simply aren't effective at discerning them.

Of course, they were indeed foolish; otherwise, how could they have believed they were buying genuine goods from these shady dealers?

Uh, it seems someone actually managed to buy it.

Rocky's face darkened at the thought of that damned hand.

Fenris continued speaking.

“These characteristics are very subtle, but they do exist, and theoretically, the difference in quality can be made up for by quantity,” Fenris said with a light laugh. “So Nameless Town is an attractive bait for Edwin, and if we push him a little harder, he will naturally take the bait.”

(End of this chapter)