Goddess Kaleidoscope

As soon as he said this, Jacob himself felt awkward. In his heart, he also wanted to stand up and punish evil without hesitation, just like Nomen, but his father had just told him how deep the water was in Yanmu City, which made him feel very conflicted.

The old duke, however, remained relatively calm. Since Nomen already knew, he figured he might as well let him continue causing trouble. Occasionally, such an outburst wasn't necessarily a bad thing. After all, the duke primarily used those criminal gangs, without truly colluding with them. So, while protecting them, he also needed to give them a warning from time to time to prevent these scoundrels from becoming too smug.

“Jacob, take a team over there and tell them that they are also investigating based on a report. Just do what needs to be done. You don’t need to protect anyone. Just keep an eye on things and make sure no one gets killed.”

"Yes, Father."

"Go."

Having assigned tasks to his son Jacob, the Duke then sent some trusted men out to deliver messages. Nomon's Guardian Knights numbered only about fifty; it was impossible for them to simultaneously raid all the dozens of meeting places marked on the map. If those men moved quickly enough, Nomon could at most destroy three or five, preventing them from being wiped out in one fell swoop.

He can then step in afterward to smooth things over, bringing together all the parties involved for a discussion, and the matter will likely be resolved.

And indeed, just as the Duke had predicted, the enraged Nomon raided five meeting places in succession, seizing a large quantity of divine liquor. This stuff was, at least on the surface, illegal; it was a contraband that couldn't be brought to light, so it was destroyed on the spot in public as soon as it was discovered.

However, Nomon was ultimately outnumbered and outmatched, and his actions were not coordinated with by the others. As a result, the Brotherhood, having realized what was happening, immediately moved the remaining sacred wine from the meeting place, leaving the War Knights empty-handed.

Afterwards, the Duke invited Nomen's superior to tea. He first "thanked" the Cult of War for Nomen's righteous act, and then subtly reminded the other party that if such a thing happened again, he should remember to inform him, the lord, before taking action, so as not to put them in such a passive position as this time.

The bishop naturally understood the duke's implied meaning and quickly said that he would definitely have a good talk with Nomon when he returned.

As for the Brotherhood, the Duke also made an appointment, but instead of offering reassurance, he launched into a tirade of reprimands, directly blaming the Brotherhood for their incompetence in managing their subordinates and their arrogance. After all, it was an illegal business that couldn't be brought to the light of day; they should at least try to cover it up normally. If this happened again, even as the lord, he couldn't protect them.

The matter suddenly escalated to such a high level that even the Brotherhood was completely bewildered. Some astute individuals realized that there might be an inside mole at play, and one of considerable rank—at least a senior council member, or even an elder.

It's important to understand that at this juncture, with the election of a new chairman imminent, this matter could easily be turned into a mudslinging attack on those who disagree with the party.

However, the Brotherhood's leadership was unaware that this was only the beginning.

The whistleblower letter did not cause much damage to the Brotherhood of the Black Hands. It was just five meeting places and a few hundred liters of "divine liquor," which was less than a drop in the ocean. It was at most a minor setback and far from causing any serious harm.

Lud was not surprised by this result at all, since he had an even bigger wave of "pills" ready to be fed to the Brotherhood.

That evening, led by Rudd, the fully armed Heroic Spirit Squad arrived at the outskirts of the Mil Mine in the north of the city. This was one of the Black Hand Brotherhood's only two, and also its largest, drug manufacturing facilities. The mine was heavily guarded, and Leopold, a highly skilled individual, was also stationed there.

After quietly eliminating several sentries, Lud occupied a high vantage point on the outskirts overlooking the entire mining area to observe the enemy's movements.

The entire mining area is located in the center of a sunken valley. The mine is situated below a nearly vertical cliff, with the entrance surrounded on three sides by five-meter-high stone walls. Guards stand watch atop the walls, making it as heavily guarded as a small fortress.

It is said that the garrison inside has more than 300 men, who are well-equipped and also have mages. If an ordinary army were to besiege it, it would be difficult to take it down without a force advantage of three to five times.

Lud naturally didn't have that many troops; he had fewer than twenty soldiers at his disposal, but he was confident that he could raze this fortress-like mine to the ground within half an hour!

End of this chapter

Behind Lude, twelve heroic spirits, led by Alvit, stood ready to fight. Each of them wore a cool suit of armor and weapons, all "divine artifacts" crafted by the three sisters. These were custom-made equipment tailored to each heroic spirit, maximizing the power of their battle envoys.

Initially, Lude did indeed want to use the three sisters' abilities to quickly achieve industrialization, and then mass-produce firearms with near-modern capabilities to arm the regular troops of Pine Town. He would then lead this army to sweep across the land and teach the natives of the other world what it meant to "change times".

In any case, the mainstream of the mortal world is still swords and magic, and the development of weapons and equipment does not need to completely replicate the development path of Earth. Therefore, in addition to the conventional long guns and short cannons, Lude also tinkered with a lot of unconventional gadgets according to his own preferences.

But after the initial excitement subsided, Lud began to consider the drawbacks of doing so. The thought of equipping the peasant soldiers of Pine Town with these weapons brought to mind the famous scene of "the black man handing an AK47 to the gorilla."

Moreover, there is another awkward problem: even if these guns are enchanted and enhanced by the three sisters, they are still just weapons for killing, and cannot harm the gods in the slightest.

Lud still remembers the time when everyone was testing the new guns made by the three sisters in the underground palace. Before Lud could demonstrate how to use them, Aina excitedly grabbed a revolver and performed a deadly "reverse grip," and unconsciously pulled the trigger.

But after the gunshot, there was no bloodshed or carnage. To Lud's astonishment, Aina stood there unharmed, the bullet deflected by her chest.

Therefore, Ludwig adjusted the original equipment development plan, temporarily abandoning the large-scale deployment of equipment to mortal armies, and instead producing a small batch of enhanced special equipment to arm Heroic Spirits who serve as combat-type divine messengers. This is the "Heroic Spirit Armament" used by Alvette and the others.

However, the main force leading the attack tonight was not these spirited young ladies, but another kind of "new equipment" - rockets.

Technically speaking, the rockets that the three sisters hastily produced in one night were essentially just large-sized firecrackers with an effective range of about five kilometers. Their accuracy was entirely dependent on luck, and only their power was decent.

This was just an idea that Ludwig came up with on a whim. He didn't expect the three sisters to be able to produce the "Guardian-2" immediately, so it was fine as long as it was usable.

Two hundred rockets in total have been set up on wooden frames, and the three sisters are manually calculating the launch angles, striving to ensure that a single salvo can cover the entire mining area.

If individual shots aren't precise enough, make up for it with quantity. Extensive firepower coverage is a good habit!

At this moment, the eldest sister, Atropos, gave Lud a thumbs-up, indicating that everything was ready and the rocket could be fired at any time!

"Let's begin then."

At this time, the guards at the Mil mine were unaware that they were being targeted from several kilometers away, and most of them were sleeping in the barracks.

As the Brotherhood's largest narcotics lab, the Mill Mine is not the private property of any one elder, but rather the communal property of the Brotherhood. It is directly under the jurisdiction of the Grand Master, with three senior councilors responsible for its daily management. Elder Leopold, who is stationed there, is more like a high-ranking bodyguard.

Besides this workshop, the Navarro family also has a smaller workshop on their estate, but its output is only about a quarter of that of the Mil mine, and it needs some key raw materials from the mine, so it does not have independent production capabilities.

Since its establishment, the workshop has been safe and sound for more than a decade without any major incidents. Moreover, compared to the unprecedented external intrusions, internal theft by staff is more frequent. Therefore, the management inevitably tends to be "loose on the outside but tight on the inside".

On the wall of the main gate, several guards on night watch were gathered around a fire. Although winters in the south of the kingdom are not as freezing as in the north, the outdoor temperature at night is still close to freezing. The main gate of the wall faces the windy pass of the mountain valley, so if the guards stood still, their limbs would go numb from the cold in less than fifteen minutes.

Several guards warmed themselves by the fire, chatting and cursing their superiors who had assigned them the night watch as idiots who would be cheated on by their wives sooner or later. For a moment, the cold night didn't seem so unbearable.

At that moment, one of the guards vaguely heard some strange shrieks mixed in with the howling cold wind. He turned his head to look outside the wall and suddenly discovered that a large number of "meteors" were streaking across the night sky.

The guard was stunned for a moment, wondering if he was seeing a meteor shower. After staring at it for a while, he realized that the orange-red meteors seemed to be heading in their direction.

"Holy crap! No way, guys, hurry..."

Before the guard could warn his companions, two hundred rockets rained down on them, instantly engulfing the entire Mil mine. Flames and thunderous explosions shot into the sky, turning the entire mine into a raging inferno.

Standing atop the hill, Lud watched this scene unfold. He could faintly hear sounds resembling human screams, but felt no pity whatsoever. It wasn't that Lud's heart had hardened; rather, his kindness would never extend even a fraction to drug dealers!

The rocket attack was even more effective than expected. The Brotherhood guards under the fire were sent flying without even knowing what was happening. The few survivors mistakenly thought they had been hit by a forbidden spell from a great mage, and they cried and wailed like madmen.

At this moment, the fully armed Heroic Spirit Squad stormed into the mining area. The previous barrage of fire had almost wiped out the defenders on the ground, but the drug-making workshop was inside the mine. Lud was not sure if the two hundred rockets could also collapse the mine, so the Heroic Spirit Squad was responsible for rushing up to finish them off.

When the leader, Yalvit, entered the mine, even though she was mentally prepared, she was still shocked by the devastation before her eyes. It was like a living hell. Of the more than 300 guards, only one in ten survived. Those who were lucky enough to survive the explosions had basically lost their fighting ability and were wandering around the ruins like they had lost their souls.

"That's amazing! I feel like we sisters didn't even need to make an appearance!"

"Don't be careless. The master said there are experts here. It's best to be careful."

"Tch! He's just a mortal expert. I don't believe he can take two bullets from my face."

Although they spoke casually, the Heroic Spirit Squad's battle formation did not relax in the slightest. As the captain, Alvit was even more on edge, because she always felt that there were more than one gaze watching them from the shadows, like venomous snakes ready to launch a fatal attack at any moment.

End of this chapter

Because the rocket bombardment had almost destroyed all the buildings on the surface of the entire mining area, the heroic squad that broke into the ruins quickly discovered that although the enemy had indeed lost its ability to resist, the wreckage of the buildings had also buried the entrance to the mine, which would require a lot of effort to clear, otherwise it would be impossible to completely destroy the drug-making workshop.

Alvite then ordered half of her squad to clear the wreckage while the other half remained on guard. But before they could even begin, strange roars suddenly echoed from underground. Immediately afterward, a colossal humanoid creature burst forth from the ruins, swinging its fist at the nearest Heroic Spirit.

Although the young woman reacted quickly and immediately raised her large shield to block the attack, the monster's strength was extraordinary. With a loud bang, she and her shield were sent flying more than ten meters away. Although she was not seriously injured, she landed in a rather disheveled manner.

With the help of the surrounding firelight, everyone was able to see the monster's true form.

"Holy crap! What the hell is this?"

Standing atop a hill with a good view, Lud held up his binoculars and gazed at the battlefield below. The monster that suddenly appeared reminded him of a first-person shooter game that he never got a sequel to, the year he sacrificed his life. In that game, there was a monster called "tank," which looked about seven or eight parts similar to Lud.

It's obvious! This stitched-together monster is something Leopold created. The monster is about five meters tall, with a gorilla-like posture, and its massive arms, which are significantly magnified in proportion and reach past its knees, are covered with metal gauntlets.

After the monster appeared, more bizarre things ran out of the exposed mine behind it, along with a large group of "zombies," hundreds of them suddenly surging out!

These monsters are all the "creations" of Leopold. This mad old wizard was obsessed with studying corpses not only because he hoped for immortality, but also because he wanted to create so-called "perfect creatures." In the end, he only produced some indescribable stitched-together monsters.

The zombie army that emerged from the mine immediately attacked the Heroic Spirit Squad without warning. Moreover, they clearly did not include the defending troops on the ground in their friend-or-foe assessment. Many guards who were lucky enough to escape being killed by rockets were torn to pieces by these monsters as if they were enemies.

Faced with a large number of zombies, the Heroic Spirit Squad quickly engaged them in battle. Arvit, who was charging at the front, wielded two chainsaw swords and charged left and right among the zombies, killing them with blood splattering and limbs flying everywhere. Ordinary monsters were cut down like grass, and even elite monsters could only last a few more seconds.

In terms of individual combat power, the female heroic spirits have an almost overwhelming advantage, but the number of zombies is also really large. In less than five minutes, a huge number of them ran out of the mine. There were elite-level Frankenstein's monsters, as well as ordinary zombies that were humans or other animals. I roughly estimated that the number was probably over a thousand.

These monsters were previously inside the mine, having escaped the initial rocket attack. If it were just the Heroic Spirit Squad, Lud would estimate that they might not be able to wipe them all out even by dawn, given their truly astonishing, seemingly endless numbers.

Seeing this, Lud decided to take Shanis and Hydra, who were in the "reserve team," to the front line and join the battle.

Upon arriving at the scene, Lude immediately cast a Holy Light spell, which is specifically designed to counter undead. However, under the bright light, the horde of corpses showed no mercy and did not react at all. A few individuals, who appeared to be intelligent, even let out extremely sarcastic laughter.

Seeing this, Lud realized that these zombies were probably not created using dark magic or some kind of evil art. According to information about Leopold, this guy was supposedly the number one lightning magic user in the magical world, known as the "Lightning King."

So Lud ordered Shanis and Hydra to join the battle, supporting the Heroic Spirit Squad while prioritizing taking down those guys who were laughing the loudest.

He quickly went to examine the remains of a zombie that had been cut in half at the waist. He discovered that all the bluish-purple zombies had brass collars around their necks, and copper wires were embedded in the seams of their bodies, connecting them to the eerie collars like an electrical circuit. Furthermore, when he touched the remains of these zombies, he could clearly feel a tingling, electric shock-like sensation.

Lude couldn't help but wonder if these zombies were powered by "electricity".

Just as I was thinking about whether to drag a few zombies back to study them, the ground shook much more violently than before, as if some big thing was about to come out of the cave.

"Who?! Who on earth has the audacity to run wild on my turf?!"

With an angry roar, a giant centipede monster with human legs crawled out of the burrow, and Leopold stood on its back. The skinny old man looked furious, his body was covered in crackling electric arcs, and his hair and beard stood up like a frizzy mess.

Leopold was in a good mood today. While inspecting his latest batch of "experimental materials," he unexpectedly discovered a masterpiece, a Dior mane that was said to be a once-in-a-century find.

Upon seeing such "good stuff," Leopold was overjoyed. Over the years, he had been collecting all sorts of top-quality human body parts, preparing to assemble a perfect physical body. Then, he would collaborate with the necromancer Dick, using Dick's soul-transfer magic to transfer his soul into this perfect body.

Impatient Leopold immediately pulled out his scalpel, ready to cut up the "material" on the spot. However, the rocket that was used for ground control hit at that critical moment, causing Leopold's hand to tremble slightly. This resulted in the "once-in-a-century" masterpiece being turned into two "once-in-fifty-years" pieces.

Looking at the treasure he had gained and then lost, a surge of intense anger welled up in Leopold's heart. Without saying a word, he assembled his legion and marched on the ground to settle scores.

Through decades of relentless human experimentation, Leopold, this madman with no compassion for life, created a vast number of Frankenstein's monsters, which he called "experimental subjects," numbering in the thousands. This was the foundation that enabled him to become an elder of the Brotherhood.

Upon seeing that Leopold, the "primary target," had appeared, several female Heroic Spirits wielding ranged weapons immediately launched an attack, unleashing armor-piercing bullets from cannons and explosive arrows from longbows.

But these attacks were stopped halfway by an invisible force, failing to harm the opponent in the slightest. Leopold looked around and sneered in an extremely contemptuous tone.

"You...you're courting death!"

End of this chapter

Completely unaware of how ominous his harsh words would be if uttered on Earth, Leopold now only wanted to chop these invaders who had caused him to miss out on a good opportunity into pieces!

As the strongest lightning mage of his time, Leopold certainly had the right to be arrogant. The full firepower of the Heroic Spirit Squad was completely blocked by a layer of completely transparent magic barrier. Then, the old man opened his arms, and a large number of purple arcs of electricity erupted from his palms, instantly covering the entire field like a spider web.

However, these arcs of electricity were not used to attack the Heroic Spirit Squad, but rather to strike the experimental prototypes surrounding him. All the zombies covered in purple lightning let out a collective shriek, and the corpses injected with the electric arcs rapidly swelled up, each one appearing as if it had been enhanced.

"My children, tear these enemies apart!"

The zombies, enhanced by lightning, gained a significant boost in combat power. Coupled with their overwhelming numerical advantage of more than ten times, the heroic spirit squad at the forefront was forced to retreat repeatedly. Fortunately, Hydra transformed into a giant snake, which successfully halted the zombie horde's offensive.

The monster lord's combat power is beyond doubt. Although Hydra is slightly weaker than an adult dragon, it is at least on the same level. Even though the zombies are numerous and have just been strengthened, they still cannot break through her incredibly tough snake scales.