This necromancer is going to seduce the beautiful girls who are already dead.

The plague school of thought Macon mentioned sounded somewhat familiar. Abyss remembered his master, Prodo, who had also created a unique form of magic based on necromancy and derived from ancient evil magic: plague magic. He hadn't learned about this plague magic from Spin and Anita's testimonies, so it seemed the two of them were unaware of this school of necromancy, and Horlicks hadn't mentioned it to them at all.

Was this plague-related school of thought also created by Chief Mage Haynes? Abyss was somewhat curious.

"Hmph, I won't stoop to your level, you little brats, let's go!" Knowing he couldn't win in terms of momentum against the six tall and burly men opposite him, Hollik decided to make a clean getaway and turned to head towards the cave.

Macon and his five apprentices laughed loudly behind him; some genuinely found it funny, while others were simply trying to humiliate Hollick.

“Master, who is that person? Why haven’t you introduced him to us before?” Sophia bent down and asked as she followed Hollik inside. “And the plague school, you haven’t told us about that either.”

"What's there to say? I'll tell you after I've taken care of him," Hollik said to Sophia irritably.

Abyss followed behind, playing the role of Anita, the victim of the harassment, and also wearing a sour face: "So just tell us now. We already know you're his defeated opponent, so why are you still hiding it?"

"Don't let him hear!" Hollick glared at Abyss, then calmed his anger and said, "He's someone I've known for a long time. We've never gotten along. He's a practitioner of the Plague School, and I'm a practitioner of the Soul Stealing School. We dueled once before, and he used dirty tricks, so I lost. But this guy spared my life in the end, just to humiliate me. Anita, I know you're a little upset that he molested you, but you have to put up with it, understand?"

"What is the Plague School? We've studied necromancy for so many years, and we didn't even know this school existed," Sophia pressed.

"The Plague school was also created by the Chief Mage. This school focuses on spreading magically imbued plagues using the undead, causing enemies to develop various symptoms. Furthermore, these magical plagues cannot be cured by medical means; you can think of it as poisoning, except that this poison is made of magic, is alive, and is controlled by the caster. Because the learning threshold is relatively high and it's quite niche, very few peripheral mages know about it." Hollik, unusually patient, said to Sophia and Abyss, "I forbid you from learning this spell. Only an idiot would learn plague magic. A true mage should study the Soul Stealing school like I do."

"Then you can't even beat someone with an idiot?" Abyss added insult to injury.

Hollick used his staff to strike the Abyss, but the Abyss easily dodged it.

Furious, Hollick wanted to yell at Abyss, but fearing Macon would hear him, he had to keep his voice down: "Wait till I get back, I'll teach you a lesson!"

The atmosphere among the three wasn't harmonious, but Abyss and Sophia were in good spirits. This shopping trip had also uncovered a previously unknown school of necromancy; an unexpected gain was certainly a good thing.

It's hard to know what other hidden abilities the Council of the Dead has. It's quite difficult to figure it out with just a few necromancers' intelligence. The Council of the Dead deliberately keeps the necromancers separated and reduces communication in order to ensure that information is difficult to circulate and prevent those who want to overthrow the Council of the Dead from easily digging it all out at once.

To uncover them all, it seems we need to infiltrate further into the higher levels.

With that thought in mind, the three of them had already passed through a long, dark tunnel and arrived at the true entrance to the exchange.

“I am a mid-level councilor, and behind me are my two disciples.” Hollick walked confidently to a double-layered stone door covered with magic circles and said to a necromancer sitting at the door with his face hidden by a cloak, “We need to go in to make a deal.”

The necromancer sitting by the door didn't speak, but simply pointed to the door, gesturing for Hollick to come over.

Abyss and Sophia both examined the thick stone door with a central opening large enough for one person to stand in. It seemed this was the device the Council of the Dead used to scan souls.

Chapter 277 The Exchange

"The magic circle on this door is very simple, just a basic circle that provides a stable flow of magic, but it has very sophisticated anti-interference technology." Abyss told Sophia, who didn't understand magic circles very well, while watching Hollik verify his identity in front of her. "And the core of this scanning device is that device embedded in the ceiling above, see it?"

"I see it. This device is quite small, but it looks well-designed." Sophia looked up and saw a small stone slab, about the size of a palm, embedded in the ceiling above the space between the two doors. The magic circle was centered on this stone slab.

“I wonder what methods they used to make such a powerful device so small.” Abyss was very interested. “Miniaturization of sophisticated magical devices has always been a big problem, and the Council of the Dead has shown me two miniaturized devices. One is the shield-generating stone we use to avoid shadow demons, and the other is this stone slab that can scan souls. If I can get my hands on this thing and take it apart to show me, I might be able to learn a lot.”

“There’s probably not much of a chance to get this unless we expose ourselves and forcibly take it,” Sophia said, glancing at Abis.

“Well… there’s nothing we can do right now,” Abyss replied with a hint of helplessness. “Although it’s right here, there are too many necromancers coming and going, and there’s someone specifically assigned to guard it. I’m afraid it won’t be so easy for me to cause any trouble. Taking the device isn’t difficult, but that would definitely expose the fact that we’ve already arrived on the island. That would not only make our actions more difficult, but Rebecca and the others might also encounter difficulties. Divine magic isn’t omnipotent, especially when the other side also has gods helping them.”

"Go inside first, that necromancer in the back is giving you disgusting looks," Sophia said. "...Even though he's a man, I'm still a little jealous."

"Jealous?" Abyss glanced at Sophia, then, remembering the opposite gender concepts of dark elves and humans, immediately understood. "Oh, okay, I won't let him touch me next time."

Since Anita and Spin were both Hollick's students, Hollick, as a mid-level councilor, had the right to bring his students into the exchange, so the two followed Hollick into the exchange.

Upon entering the exchange, a large space unfolded before them.

In stark contrast to the pristine state of the cave outside, the interior of the exchange was exquisitely renovated. The floor was paved with large, smooth stone bricks carved with beautiful patterns, the walls were painted white with high-quality paint, and potion lamps hung steadily from the ceiling. Several windows were opened in the walls, and inside sat staff members whose faces, like the person at the entrance, were obscured. Above each window were signs indicating the function of each window.

The shop was fully stocked with potions, herbs, magic array materials, weapons, armor, and more. The largest window was marked with a sign that read "Slave." Next to the window was a large iron door that could allow two people to pass through at the same time, and wails could be heard coming from inside from time to time.

"Go shopping by yourselves. If you go and mess with that bitch Macon again, I'll break your legs." Hollick clearly had no patience to take his two infuriating apprentices shopping in the supermarket, and he waved Abyss and Sophia away.

Abyss and Sophia were naturally delighted; with Holick around, they couldn't freely observe everywhere.

This exchange uses currency. Necromancers can exchange their crafted items for gold coins minted by the Council of the Dead, and then use these coins to buy goods at various counters. Anita and Spin each had savings, and now that they're in prison, these savings will become the mission funds for Abyss and Sophia.

The two deliberately avoided the necromancer Mekansm and his equally lecherous disciples, and wandered around the exchange.

"The magic arrays inside this exchange are really dense. What are they for?" Sophia noticed that there were magic arrays in many places on the walls, and there were also many magic arrays in those windows, with the light of magic circuits flickering inside.

Abyss carefully examined the numerous magic circles throughout the exchange for a while, then said to Sophia, "These must be magic circles protecting the exchange. If we launch an attack from here towards the window, the magic circles will be activated before the attack, protecting the people inside. The magic circles on the walls can monitor whether anyone inside the exchange is using magic. Although I haven't used this magic circle myself, judging from the various nodes, if you use illusion magic here, your body will flash very clearly. Hollick didn't tell either of them at all; what an impatient master!"

"Oh, I see. It's to prevent people from using illusions or other tricks to cheat?" Sophia immediately understood the purpose of the magic circle on the wall.

Although the Council of the Dead is an alliance of necromancers, these necromancers, who have long abandoned their creed, have no regard for morality. The only reason they formed an alliance was the fear of suppression from the Church if they did not. Therefore, morality cannot restrain them; only coercion can. Only by letting the necromancers know that causing trouble in this exchange will be severely punished can they be prevented from harboring any wicked thoughts.

"The magic array here is really well designed. I wish I could capture the chief array master among the three Venerables of the Council of the Dead to work for me." Abyss sighed. "Such talent is wasted on ruling these outlaws instead of going to the mainland."

Despite his sighs, Abyss didn't forget to check out the potions for sale at the exchange.

Besides the Chief Mage and Chief Array Master, the Three Venerables also include a Chief Alchemist who isn't a professional mage, but whose strength is considerable. According to the reports from the two slaves they rescued earlier, they will be involved in the mass production of some potions, and this Chief Alchemist should have been involved in the formulas for these potions. Buy some potions and bring them back for Rebecca to try; perhaps she can find some new inspiration from them.

The two walked to the potion window, where the mage in charge of selling potions noticed them.

"What kind of potion do you want?" he asked simply.

Sophia, now playing the more sociable Spencer, leaned over the window, looked at the various potions on the shelves, and said, "Which one tastes better? Can I try a small cup before deciding?"

The monk in the window was silent for a moment, then looked up: "Are you using this place as a bar?"

Chapter 278 Enticing Technology

Sophia's plan to impress the Abyss completely failed, as neither the Abyss nor the eye-rolling mage inside the window seemed to understand her little joke.

"Ahem... Can I see what kinds of potions you have here? I'd like to buy some new ones today," Sophia said, suppressing her embarrassment, to the mage sitting by the window.

The mage inside then took out a book that looked like a recipe and handed it to Sophia.

The sign listed the names, effects, and prices of various potions, providing detailed information so the mage sitting at the window didn't need to explain anything. All the staff exuded impatience; it was unclear whether they were naturally like that or had developed that trait from working there for so long.

The two of them browsed through the potion list together. The potions listed had quite a comprehensive range of functions, including potions that enhance spellcasting, healing potions, potions that change body form, and various potions whose effects weren't very powerful but each had its own uses.

Unfortunately, the potions here don't seem to be very potent; most only have a single effect. It's unrealistic to expect to become much stronger after drinking these potions.

"Aren't the potions here a bit weak? Don't you have any better ones?" Sophia looked up after reading the catalog and asked the mage sitting by the window.

The mage snorted impatiently and said, "Don't you know your place? Outer members can only buy these potions. More potent potions can wait until you become a councilor. That dwarf over there is your master, right? Kill him and take his place."

"What kind of potions can we buy once we become councilors? Can you show us?" Abyss asked at this moment. "Just look, we won't buy."

"What's the point of looking at anything if you're not going to buy anything?" The monk at the window posed a profound question.

“Indeed.” Abyss thought about it and it seemed to make some sense.

“Your access level is insufficient, so you cannot see it. If you want to know, ask your master,” the monk added.

It seemed unrealistic to expect that impatient old man Hollick to tell them what potions a mid-level councilor could buy, so Abyss and Sophia had to give up for the time being.

"Then give us two bottles of every potion you sell that meets our clearance level. We have enough money." Sophia sighed and pointed to the shelf behind the mage. "We plan to stock up on some for later use. We need to be prepared before we try to kill our master."

The mage inside chuckled coldly, but didn't seem to object to the disciple killing his master. Without further ado, he took out two bottles of each of the potions from the back. As he placed these potions on the windowsill, several magical circuits lit up on a wall next to the window, displaying a number—the total price of the potions—the magic array here even had an automatic price calculation function.

"There's such a magic circle? That's really impressive." Abyss was amazed by the magic circle. "I didn't notice it before, but this automatically calculating magic circle is really interesting. I want to design one and put it in Eternal Night City. It should be very popular with the alchemists there, since their alchemy involves a lot of calculation."

Sophia readily paid the bill, instantly halving Anita and Spin's savings. However, they didn't care about the money; it was just temporary mission funding. Once they cracked the Necromancer Council's soul scanning ability, they could find other necromancers to replace them.

Just as Sophia finished packing up all the potions on the windowsill and was carrying them on her back, another scream came from inside the iron door next to the slave window.

Both of them looked in that direction and then exchanged a glance.

They still had to go and check on those slaves. Although they had a mission to complete, there were people who needed to be saved, and neither of them could ignore them.

“We must rescue these slaves,” Abis said to Sophia in their shared thoughts. “Rescue as many of them as possible before they are bought.”

“We probably don’t have enough money right now,” Sophia replied seriously. “Although this is half of Anita and Spin’s savings, it’s estimated that it can only buy about ten slaves, not including young and strong men.”

The necromancers of the Council of the Dead mainly purchase slaves for two purposes. One is as experimental subjects, as the special nature of necromancy requires mages of this school to use more living people or corpses for experiments than other schools. The other is as laborers and servants. Mages are high and mighty masters who are too lazy to do many things themselves, and this is especially true on the continent they rule. Many mages will buy some young and strong slaves to work.

Therefore, the better the physical condition of the slave, the higher the price. Not to mention that some slaves are specially trained and can use battle aura or limited magic.

Anita and Spin's money was probably far from enough to buy the slaves in this exchange. They had just been asked again by the Abyss in Helheim how many slaves were in an exchange, and the answer was that there were usually hundreds, and they would be replenished every now and then.

"Let's go in and take a look first, and then we'll figure out a solution."

Abis, adhering to his consistent belief that problems that cannot be solved should be investigated further, decided to go in and take a look first.

The two men walked up to the slave window, and the person inside immediately knew they were going to see the slaves. They manipulated a small magical mechanism, and the iron door opened with a click.

On the way to the slave quarters, the screams of slaves echoed continuously, from men, women, and children. It seemed someone was currently selecting slaves inside; it was said that slave traders would stimulate the slaves to test their vitality. The more energetic the slave, the more sought-after they were. The two slaves rescued from the Abyss earlier were both too weak to sell cheaply—because such frail slaves were unsellable. They were even offered free shipping; someone would deliver them to the door, cash on delivery, to prevent these physically weak slaves from becoming completely worthless after they died.

Soon, Abyss and Sophia entered a large cell filled with numerous cubicles, each holding many slaves behind iron bars. Mekon, the plague-wielding necromancer who had just humiliated Holick, was selecting slaves there. One of Mekon's apprentices saw them enter, patted the others around him, and they all turned to Abyss with lewd grins. Of course, Abyss and Sophia ignored them; these people dared not cause trouble inside the trading post.

A staff member approached and said, "What kind of slaves are you looking to buy? We have a few extremely weak slaves here that we're selling at a low price. Are you interested?"

“Let’s take a look first,” Sofia said.

Then, her eyes suddenly lit up, and she looked at the Abyss, saying to him through mind sharing:

"By the way, Abyss, who said we have to spend money to buy these slaves?"

Chapter 279 The Flaming Plan

Abyss and Sophia walked to the front of the slave cell and looked at the slaves inside.

Most of the slaves here were terrified. When they saw the two approaching, they desperately tried to back away, fearing that they would be chosen.

The slaves were divided into different classes by the slave traders and imprisoned in separate cells. The weak were in one cell, the sick in another, and boys, young men, and strong men, as well as some attractive female slaves and handsome male slaves, were also imprisoned separately. As soon as a buyer selected one of them, the slave trader would use an electric shock spell that caused excruciating pain to make the slave scream in agony in order to assess the slave's current condition and finally determine the price according to certain standards.

Macon was selecting attractive female slaves, and judging from his and his disciples' expressions, they were not entirely satisfied with today's selection.

In the room specifically for holding beautiful female slaves, there were only two trembling girls. One of them was blind in one eye, and the other was sitting weakly against the wall, too weak to stand up. Clearly, neither of them caught Macon's eye.

The staff member responsible for serving Macon seemed to have gotten impatient with him, casually picking at his nails: "These are the only two, take it or leave it."

"No, no! I don't like them! What's with today's slaves?" Macon complained to the staff beside him. "Are there really only these two? You're not lying? Aren't there any others? I want healthy women! Healthy ones!"

"I said no, is it not okay if the blind one is okay?" the staff member said lazily.

"Of course, someone who's blind won't do! Her face is asymmetrical, what's there to look at? Are you all pig-brains? Putting a woman with a scar on her face into this cell?" Macon said sarcastically. "Are you trying to sell her for a little more money and then embezzle the extra cash?"

Although the staff here weren't mid-level councilors, they were protected by the Council of the Dead and weren't afraid of Mekansm at all. The staff member who had been mocked by Mekansm sneered, saying, "Even if we embezzle it, it's none of your business. Why don't you take a good look at yourself? The two girls here are so pitiful, everyone likes them. Who knows what kind of aesthetic standards you, you freak, have?"

"Pfft." Abyss suddenly let out a contemptuous laugh. Although the laugh was not loud, it was heard clearly by Macon.