Otherworld Bone Dragon Operation Guide

Chapter 238 The Scheme of a Shady Merchant

The entrance to the Shim Cave.

Ruogejin moved his hands, and under his control, precious magic crystals were embedded into the pre-reserved holes in the alchemical components, making a series of crisp "click" sounds.

"Why is it a week late?" Roggen asked Emmanuel, his voice tinged with displeasure.

"I'm sorry, sir, this shipment is too large, and there have been some minor problems with the transport of the rough stones." Emmanuel wiped the sweat from his forehead, trying his best to suppress his nervousness.

As a powerful magical weapon, the "Eternal Star Ring" also consumes a huge amount of energy. Ordinary magic crystals are simply unusable; only the highest-grade magic crystal cores can activate it.

Although the Northlands are underdeveloped, they do produce various magical materials. Due to their sparse local population, these materials are mainly exported. This has ironically led to the Northlands ranking among the world's top exporters.

This is also why the Bell of Calamity ultimately chose to purchase locally to make up for the shortfall. The Whittaker family, to which Emmanuel belongs, is one of the merchant guilds that has long been engaged in the business of magic crystal cores.

However, according to the original plan, the goods should have been handed over en route to this location, giving them ample time to assemble and test the magical weapons.

If it weren't for the supply chain delay, things wouldn't have dragged on until now, and these outsiders wouldn't have been brought to this secret hideout.

"According to the contract, 7% of your payment will be deducted for overdue payments!" Ruogejin said coldly.

“Yes, sir!” Emmanuel swallowed.

Roggen quickly completed the installation. He reached out and activated the "Star Wall" component. Magic crystals lit up, rich magical energy flowed, and a faint cyan defensive shield rose up.

“Not bad!” Abigail slowly emerged from the cave. She squinted her cloudy eyes, examining the magical weapon on the ground with only two components, and ordered, “Assemble the ‘Star Core’ part as well. I want to test it as a whole.”

Ruogejin opened his mouth, wanting to dissuade him. Lighting up the component was one thing, but actual testing meant a huge consumption—even the shortest run would mean consuming tens of thousands of gold coins.

If Abigail wants to conduct other tests, the costs will be even more immeasurable.

But in the end, he simply lowered his head and respectfully replied, "Yes, sir."

He then turned around and gave the order, and the bears immediately began assembling the "Star Core" components.

"Go and rest over there," Roggen said to Emmanuel, who was in his way.

Emmanuel, suppressing his trembling, slowly walked to the edge of the cave and sat down beside the stone wall. In his heart, he had already cursed Benny Finn a thousand times.

Benedict Whittaker, Emmanuel's uncle, is known for his extreme lechery, and despite his advanced age, he still indulges in all sorts of tastes.

This lecherous old man must have offended some powerful figure in Shafur Town, for he was killed despite being heavily guarded. Even the fact that his family had placed two elite guards in the escort team was to no avail.

The assassins used a vicious weapon never before heard of, one that sent chills down the spines of all who witnessed it. The two elite guards only suffered a day more agonizing deaths than the ordinary guards. According to eyewitnesses, their deaths were extremely gruesome.

Benny Finn deserves to die, but the fact that he secretly transported a batch of high-grade magic crystals under the guise of collecting taxes has led to their loss!

These crystal cores did not belong to the Whittaker family alone. For this transaction, the Whittaker family used their territory as collateral to purchase them on credit from several merchants and nobles in the North.

So when the goods disappeared, the Whittaker family was immediately plunged into a dead end. Those creditors who owed them money were truly prepared to tear the family members to pieces and then divide up their territory!

With no other options, the Whittaker family had no choice but to take a desperate gamble and use their ancestral forgery techniques to attach a thin crystal core to the outer layer of a flawless magic crystal, disguising it as a superior magic crystal core.

This method requires complex and specialized processes, and the Whittaker family went to great lengths to barely manage to assemble this batch of counterfeit goods.

In the past, they only dared to use this trick on customers without connections or unsuspecting victims. This is because while counterfeit goods could fool initial inspections, the energy density of a magic crystal is only a fraction of that of a crystal core.

If it's used in a real-world setting, it will definitely be exposed!

As originally planned, Emmanuel delivered the counterfeit goods at the transaction location to complete the deal. Emmanuel then absconded with the remaining payment, and the entire Whittaker family immediately fled with the money.

By the time the buyer officially activates the magical weapon and discovers the problem with the goods, who knows how long it will be—by then they will have long since left the troublesome North!
But what Emmanuel didn't expect was that not only did he not receive the final payment, he was also taken here as a prisoner.

The buyer has already installed the crystal core and lit up the "Star Wall" component. This should work fine for a short period, since the magic crystal does possess magical properties.

But the other party will conduct actual tests next, which will definitely expose him, and then he will be doomed!

Emmanuel cowered in the corner, cold sweat pouring down his face, racking his brains for a way to escape.

****
Not far away, two ragged human slaves were struggling to carry a heavy box.

“There’s something wrong with that merchant representative,” Rupert said in a low voice. “We have something wrong with him too,” Zeflin replied irritably.

The workload of moving things had increased dramatically in the past few days, but the two men's treatment had actually improved. Not only did they receive food and water, but they didn't even suffer any new wounds—the overseers finally realized that after killing the slaves, they would have to do these hard jobs themselves!

“Slow down,” Zeflin said, panting.

The two were wearing shackles that sealed their magic, so Zeflin couldn't keep up with the strong Rupert.

"Give it your all, let's get it over there quickly," Rupert urged.

"So eager to work for the enemy?" Zeflin looked at Rupert with a puzzled expression. "Are you out of your mind?"

"Let's hurry over there so we can find a chance to talk to that merchant representative!" Rupert explained. "I think he's also trying to escape. Anyway, once the work is done, these people will definitely kill us—we might as well try anything!"

The two carried the box to the designated location and put it down. Surrounded by bear-men who couldn't understand Zeflin and Rupert's common language, they spoke without restraint.

“I’m not questioning your judgment,” Zeflin sighed. “I just don’t believe in your luck.”

"What's wrong with my luck?!" Rupert exclaimed in frustration.

"You kept telling us not to provoke powerful enemies, but what happened?" Zeflin gestured towards the direction where Abigail and the others were standing. "You led us straight into the heart of the biggest enemy group, without even a turn!"

Three days ago, the two successfully tracked down Rosalia, the town's most beautiful girl, near Karanin Village, and then followed her to this area. Before they even saw the Him Cave, they were grabbed by the neck by the Archmage Roggen, who descended from the sky.

There was absolutely no suspense throughout the entire process!

“Didn’t I send a distress signal using an animal messenger?” Rupert said. “At least the squirrel managed to escape!”

To this end, he even sacrificed the oak leaf badge he carried, turning it to dust to complete the spell. This caused him a pang of heartache—he had abstained from alcohol for almost a year to save enough money to buy the badge!
Zeflin hesitated, since Rupert's proposal was logically sound.

So, should we go over there?

The priest's gaze darted back and forth between Emmanuel and the bear-men around him, his heart torn between his inner turmoil and his own.

****
On the distant eastern horizon, ten dazzling points of light suddenly appeared, followed by more that gradually formed a string.

Abigail's eyes narrowed sharply, and her wrinkled hand rose swiftly. With her movement, "Eternal Star Orbit" floated up from the ground. The star core was not yet fully assembled; only the "Star Wall" and "Starburst" components responded to the summons.

Radiant magical patterns spread across the two rings, flying over to surround Abigail and slowly rotating.

Abigail manipulated the powerful magical weapon and immediately took to the air, his cloudy eyes observing the approaching bright spots in the sky.

The flying objects, trailing long, fiery tails, were terrifying in number—they quickly filled the sky like locusts. They pierced the air with sharp whistling sounds, hurtling towards them at an alarming speed.

It seems to be a magical weapon unlike any seen before, Abigail judged.

"Hmph!" She was extremely displeased; how dare someone be so audacious as to launch a sneak attack on them!

Abigail quickly switched "Eternal Star Orbit" to combat mode. The two rings emitted a crisp mechanical sound as they disintegrated into dozens of exquisite fan-shaped components.

The portion belonging to the "Star Wall" quickly arranged into three ring-shaped defensive zones, swirling and dancing around her. Dense magical power surged like a tide, and a tangible cyan shield rapidly formed around her, its surface flowing with complex magical runes.

The "Starlight" component in the central ring retracts inside the shield, forming a spherical shape, and begins to quietly accumulate energy.

Abigail activated her full perception and quickly locked onto the drones lurking on a nearby hilltop. She snorted coldly and raised her hand, unleashing dozens of sharp wind blades that shot out with a piercing sound.

Three drones took off almost simultaneously to evade, but were still accurately hit and exploded into pieces in mid-air, falling back to the snow like raindrops.

Abigail then turned her attention to the swarm of rockets in front of her, and more magic gathered at her fingertips.

The blessing of "Eternal Star Orbit" gave her full confidence that no matter what kind of monsters came, she could defeat them all!
****
On the ground, Emmanuel was terrified to see the "Star Wall" equipped with the counterfeit crystal core operating at full power. He disregarded everything else and immediately ordered his guards to flee in the chaos, wishing they could use both hands and feet.

"Let's run too!" Rupert saw an opportunity and tried to pull Zefferin along. But the priest pulled back and held him firmly in place.

“Don’t go!” Zeflin insisted. “This time, listen to me!”

(End of this chapter)