Witch Troupe and the Undead

"Boom!" The miniature houses were suddenly torn apart, and rocks, bricks, and magic formed a giant statue of the "Knights of the Round Table." The statue's palms were slightly raised, lifting Roach up. Roach used the "Holy Sword" to support the weight of his armor, and when he appeared, the crown on his head shone brightly.

Roach released one hand and waved it forward, causing some chaos among the giant guards. To be honest, his acting was really bad, and the giants had no intention of cooperating. At the same time, it was impossible for someone as arrogant as the Night King to appear on the battlefield alone, but no one could stop him from drawing aggro so firmly.

Almost the instant they appeared, the entire Pale Rebel Army, except for the Pale Slaves, ceased all movement. The commander in the distant tent let out a shrill howl, followed by a hail of javelins and sharp stones.

Even with the witch's magic sustaining it, the structure of the Colossus was still severely damaged, not to mention that these attacks even included war weapons such as catapults and ballistae.

"Boom!" The giant soldier was hit by another rock, and Livia's forehead was covered in sweat, as if she was about to collapse.

"Retreat, now!" The giant soldier withdrew his hand, placed Roach on his shoulder, and staggered toward the palace gate. At the same time, the giant's ballista turned around, and a ballista shot pierced the giant soldier's knee in front of both sides' astonished eyes. The huge stone statue crashed into the palace gate, smashing the gate open again.

Roach rolled half a circle on the ground, and before he could react, a huge impact came from his waist and abdomen, and he was sent flying out of the door again. Then the door not only closed again, but also dropped a dense fence.

Numerous defensive devices appeared on the palace walls, menacingly pointing outwards. Roach was pinned to the stone statue's base, but Lulua pulled him down in time, though he lost a large portion of his intestines and a significant amount of blood in the process.

Livia's little face was all scrunched up, her tired face showing a mixture of exhaustion and discomfort from having to tutor her child and prepare lunch for the next day after finishing a night shift. But the little witch wasn't the kind of person who couldn't think straight. Even so, she forced herself to concentrate and summon Roach's blood back, then regenerated his internal organs and stitched them up.

A normal person would have been cremated by now, but Roach only rolled on the ground in pain for a while, then tremblingly pulled out a bottle of pain-relieving potion and drank it down, and then he was much more normal.

“Now, those pale rebels shouldn’t be able to bother with you, and you can negotiate with them now,” Roach said. Although the plan was crude, the process was rough, and even the actors weren’t very cooperative, and it was hard to make sense logically, all logic and observation had nothing to do with a group of guys who were blinded by hatred and anger.

Of course, negotiating with a bunch of angry guys wouldn't yield any good results, especially since Livia was really at her limit. Therefore, the negotiation with the Pale Rebels was scheduled for the next day. And as Roche had predicted, after the Night King appeared and fled back to the palace walls, coupled with the giant's crossbow shot, the Pale Rebels also stopped their attack.

They seemed to be considering something, or perhaps the matter was too sudden, causing them to need some time to calm down. At the very least, they did not attack the giants' camp again, allowing Roach and the others to have a good rest for a day.

"Your armor is ruined; it was shattered by the ballista."

"It's alright, these giant craftsmen have agreed to forge me a new suit of armor." Leon said with a nonchalant expression, but his heart was actually pounding. The armor crafted by these giant craftsmen was indeed no less skillful than that of the dwarven artisans. It was a finely crafted suit of armor. In addition, they used rare alchemical alloys salvaged from the ruins. In terms of quality, it was much better than the original set of church paladin armor.

But, but, these giants can do everything except enchant! They can't be infused with magic!

Not to mention, paladin armor doesn't require enchantment, it requires consecration. It needs divine power to gradually permeate it. It's impossible for me to return to the church and monastery in a short time, so to complete the consecration ceremony and process by myself... that's going to be a nightmare!

If it's Lulua, then it's easier to handle. Just forge the fragments of that divine artifact into it, and that can replace the consecration ceremony and the long process.

"That's good. Then when Livia wakes up, we can go and negotiate or reach some kind of agreement with those pale rebels who have calmed down all day."

"I advise you not to be too optimistic. If you go today, they might reach an agreement with you in their anger and hatred. But if you go tomorrow, it's hard to say."

Those below might not realize what's going on, but the command level would definitely sense that something was wrong—or perhaps not—after all, Roach's view of the Night King as a humanoid was that no one could predict what he would do.

"The main problem is that you don't have enough time to perform, and the young lady's magic and energy can't be sustained. It would be much better if we postponed the start of the show by one day."

However, if the delay is postponed by a day, it's questionable whether the giant guards can hold out until tomorrow. According to the plan, Roach and his group should put on a show for quite a while, and the giants will cooperate with their performance, making the other side realize that these giant guards are not executioners following the Night King, but coerced henchmen who will betray the Night King at the first opportunity.

However, the performance is too short now. Hopefully, those pale-faced people will not realize that this is acting, or they will realize that they are being acted out, so as to give them a way out as part of our sincerity.

"The wise and the foolish, I just hope they are one of the two," Roach sighed. The smart ones naturally know the purpose of this play and will naturally take advantage of the situation. At the very least, they will realize that the giants can indeed reach a consensus with them on the matter of killing the Night King. The pure fools, on the other hand, will be fooled by the play and believe that the giants have betrayed the Night King and that the two sides can reach some kind of cooperation on a common enemy, or at least not be so hostile.

The worst situation is being stuck in the middle, realizing it's all a charade but unable or unwilling to actually play along. While not being fooled, they fail to grasp the deeper meaning behind it and instead become even angrier because they feel deceived—that would be terrible.

The glowing crystals gradually dimmed, seemingly reflecting the cycle of day and night underground. The dimming was roughly equivalent to the brightness decreasing to one-third of its original level. Areas further away were also plunged into darkness. Neither the giants nor the Pale Ones had the habit of lighting lamps, so the entire underground space was shrouded in dim shadows.

Leslie is in charge of keeping watch, since mermaids don't have much fighting ability and there's no need to bring her to tomorrow's negotiations. Lulua, who was originally supposed to keep watch, needs to go to sleep early after praying to ensure she has enough strength and energy for the battle tomorrow.

Leon was left with only a soft leather inner lining and a metal helmet, which looked quite mismatched. Fortunately, the giant craftsman promised to make him a smaller set of armor the next day to make do.

Perhaps because the day had taken such a toll on his energy and stamina, Roach fell asleep almost immediately. When Alessina shook him awake, it was almost noon.

Livia sat by the fire pit, hugging her knees, her slightly messy blonde hair cascading down her back. Lulua was combing it with a small comb. Breakfast was cooking in the pot. Since most of the supplies were with Old Ma, the so-called breakfast was a strange porridge made by mixing dried fruit she carried with her with dried fish and dried meat as snacks. Even the little witch, who wasn't picky about food, frowned slightly.

After finishing their meal and resting for a while, Roach prepared the combat potions he needed. Livia distributed the magic potions that enhanced defense and reaction speed to everyone and set up a simple ritual circle to apply buff spells to everyone.

The group set off towards the Pale Ones' camp. Since neither side had much mutual trust and, most importantly, neither understood what the flags representing the negotiators and envoys looked like, they could only proceed by walking.

"..." Several pale-faced creatures guarding the outer perimeter shook their heads as they observed Roach and his companions, seemingly curious about something. These people were neither giants nor members of the pale-faced race.

Soon, a shriek echoed through the camp. The pale guards nodded to each other and then made way for Roach and his companions. This allowed Livia, who had been holding a quick-activation combat spell in her hand, to relax a little and appear less afraid or nervous.

The Pale Ones' camp was far more chaotic than the Giants' camp, especially the camps of lower-ranking soldiers and slaves, which were in complete disarray. They were even fighting each other to the death over a piece of tuber or worm. The middle-ranking camps were no better, filled with a strong stench. It was only when you reached the heart of the camp that things improved slightly.

The Pale General was a taller male than his kind, still possessing that strangely pale appearance, but his body was covered with numerous old, bluish-black scars. The tentacles protruding from his eyelids, now extinguished but thick, almost completely obscured the upper half of his face. Any less daring adventurer wouldn't even dare to look closely at his face; his mere appearance was indistinguishable from a monster.

"Hiss~" The pale general hissed, and after a long while, he managed to string together a few indistinct words, which seemed to be some kind of ancient language. If it weren't for the little witch, there would be no one here who could communicate with them.

What he said was: "Fellow countrymen, rare, how did they come here?" It seems that these pale people still remember their original appearance, or rather, the appearance that humans should have. He believes that Roach and his companions are fellow countrymen from the surface outside the Underworld. However, this is not surprising. Hating the Night King does not mean that they hate their former fellow countrymen. Rather, they yearn to return to the human world, even in this distorted and deformed form.

“We came down the upper passage. Above is a creeping mine. Some kind of sealed object is changing everything around us. We’re here to investigate.” Roach expressed his meaning and core message as concisely as possible, which made the Pale General silent for a few seconds.

"A sealed object?"

"Ah, right, it should be a sealed artifact. They're trying to move the Underworld Palace into a mine and release what's inside. I suspect that sealed artifact is related to the Eternal Night King."

"..." The Pale General made a series of short, sharp sounds, which confused Livia. She couldn't understand the meaning of those words, but she could feel a kind of anger and hatred spreading like an out-of-control flame. Soon, the Pale General calmed down a little.

"Fellow countrymen, why are you with monsters, giant lackeys?"

“Those giants were also slaves imprisoned by the Night King. The king kidnapped their ancestral descendants and held them hostage,” Roach said. The Pale General let out a sharp voice, and several Pale Guards appeared at the door. Leon grabbed his sword hilt with a swish, and Alessina drew both swords directly. Fortunately, the Pale General waved his hand to signal the guards to leave.

"Liar, giant, lackey."

"No, it's true. The skeleton in the arena outside is their ancestor. It's not hard to prove." The Pale General fell silent. They had also discovered the skeleton outside and were even preparing to draw the giant's Greatsword of Resentment and forge these resilient skeletons, which still retained some magic, into weapons.

“Therefore, we all have the same goal,” Roach pointed to the palace gate, “to smash it open, rush in, and smash the Night King’s head.”

"Giants, obstruction, distrust"

“Their purpose in stopping you is because the Night King has coerced them into protecting the palace, not because they are targeting you. Theoretically, anyone who tries to damage the palace will be attacked by them,” Roach argued.

“We do not trust them,” the general repeated, “unless they make way.”

"This might be a bit difficult, but we do have other compromises." Roach briefly described his plan, which was to stop the Pale Ones from attacking the giants. They had a destroyed golem, and if they entered with the golem, they wouldn't be attacked by the giants.

Moreover, as long as these pale beings do not attack the giants or attempt to climb the bridges or attack the palace buildings, the giants will not stop them.

Of course, there is also a bug that is stuck here. The giants are supposed to protect the entire outer area, including the palace, the outer walls and gates, the statues in the upper city, and other key parts. Now the Pale Ones have bypassed the outer checkpoints. As long as they stop trying to besiege the gates and walls and instead hand the passage back to the giants, the basis for the forced hostility between the two sides will be gone.

As for the rest... it's about how to repair the golem. Then the little witch drives the golem to charge and open the city gate, with the other pale people and giants following closely behind.

If the giants can't set foot in the upper city, then just pretend you didn't stop them. If the giants can, then you should chase the "intruders" into the palace. As for what happens inside... the oath doesn't forbid the giants from attacking the golems and puppets!

Chapter 403 The Golem, Standing Tall on the Earth

Giants' Camp, Elder's Room. "That's basically it. The Pale Ones have agreed that as long as you stop blocking their path to revenge, they will stop attacking you," Roach reported to the elders, summarizing the results of their communication with the other side.

Although the play was a failure, a basic consensus was eventually reached. The point on which the two sides could not reach a consensus before was that the play could only be performed by outsiders. If the giants themselves were to do it, it would be tantamount to deceiving themselves, and it would be almost impossible to succeed.

Furthermore, the two sides lacked a common foundation of trust. On the contrary, Roach and his group of outsiders were more suitable as a bridge between the two sides. This is why when two opposing camps want to conduct peace talks and communication, they often use third-party channels instead of sending envoys directly to each other.

“We cannot allow them to enter the Upper City and Bridge District, much less condone their attack on the Palace.” The elder shook his head in refusal. “But, before…” Roach frowned. These giants hadn’t attacked the witch’s colossus before. Although it could be considered a kind of bug-exploiting behavior, they were still not attacked after they came down from the Upper City. You have to understand, they really intruded into the Palace area and came out.

"We're only responsible for going in, not coming out," the elder said. They were only responsible for going in, not coming out. Of course, according to their duty, anyone going in or coming out after causing damage should be stopped and attacked. But these giants themselves were unwilling to keep their oath to guard the tomb of the Night King.

The key takeaway is that "anything not explicitly stated in the oath must be done is simply ignored." Just like the Pale Ones who had already set up camp on the riverbank, the giant guards did not attack them proactively. Since they were not in an area that needed to be defended, they were left to their own devices.

Of course, there is also animosity between the two sides. The reason why they did not launch an attack was not only because the oath did not stipulate that they had to do it, but also because the giants were indeed weaker in overall combat strength, especially after losing the defense of the walls and fortifications.

“I’m curious, how does this so-called oath take effect? ​​You don’t remember the original text, but you still know what you should and shouldn’t do?” The giant elder slowly stretched out his arm, pointing to the bluish-black lines on his arm. “If they turn red, it means you’ve violated the rules or are breaking the oath.”

These lines are like countless chains wrapped around the giants' bodies. They deepen with each breach of oath, eventually triggering punishment that turns them into a perpetually wailing, slime-like creature—a fate even these giant guards would find unbearable.

"I see... I thought it would activate instantly without any warning~"

The elder, whose face was covered by a black cloth so his expression couldn't be seen, was clearly showing some subtle emotion. The gods weren't something like the Eternal Night King; they wouldn't do such a thing.

"Okay, so you mean if these Pale Ones somehow manage to bypass you and infiltrate, and then when they come out, you won't attack them?"

"Yes, but only for this time." The elder indicated that it was only for dealing with the Night King. If it were in another situation, or if these outsiders really defeated the Night King and freed them from their long-standing constraints, then the grudges with the Pale Ones would still need to be settled slowly. The Pale Ones' attitude was the same—the two sides could put aside their differences regarding dealing with the Night King, but apart from that, the Pale Ones had not forgotten the giants' suppression.

Even if the other party was coerced, some things are done once they are done. At most, the Night King is the primary person responsible, so when dealing with him, both sides can join forces. After eliminating the Night King, these giants will become the second number one enemy.

Roach had no real intention of mediating the conflict between the two sides. After all, with such a long-standing feud that had accumulated over countless years, it was already remarkable that they could join forces in the face of the common enemy, the Night King.

Of course, there's also the reason that the hatred of the Night King is deeper than the grudges accumulated between the two sides over the past thousand years. "At least he's a calamity for this world." Roach shook his head. This kind of tyrant is unique even among a group of humanoid planets on Earth.

Tyranny, tyranny, extravagance, perverse killing, incompetence and arrogance, and so on—tyrants on Earth usually possess only one or two of these characteristics, and even if they possess many, they would not possess all of them.

And this Eternal Night King, pieced together from the information from the Pale Ones and the Giants, has it all—in Roach's view, his ability to live to a ripe old age and die peacefully is practically a "stain on the gods" in this world that truly has gods.

"It's true what they say, wicked people live on for a thousand years!"

"What you said makes a lot of sense," Elder Tianjiang agreed, adding that Luo Qi was absolutely right.

After determining the giants' bottom line, Roach and the others finally had time to move the remains of the "Knights of the Round Table" golem out of the junkyard, thanks to these giants with excellent physical strength and power.

"Fellow countrymen, is this your plan?" The Pale One commander looked at the colossus remains laid out on the riverbank. "Colossus?"

“Yes, the colossus won’t be stopped by those guards because it’s not an ‘intruder’,” Roach said, examining the number and condition of the fragments. “And those giants won’t pay any attention to anything that comes out of there. They only care how they got in. As long as you can get around them, they won’t bother with you, and they certainly won’t chase you—unless…”

Unless the Night King or his agents issue a summons, the giants can charge in. "Understood. Now, cooperate, do not attack," the Pale General swayed the tentacles extending from his eyes, indicating that he understood Roach's meaning and plan.

The damage to the colossus isn't too severe, referring to its "overall structure," but its Soul Forge is completely destroyed, and several key rune cores have been destroyed, meaning only the Little Witch can attempt to repair it. Alternatively, they could acquire more Knights of the Round Table golems and obtain new Soul Forge cores from them.

Regarding this, the Pale One gave Roach and his companions a pleasant surprise. After the scaffolding was erected and the colossus was reassembled, the Pale One's slaves brought over an almost complete Soul Furnace and a large number of miscellaneous parts.

"Knights, incomplete, intact, damaged remains, are in the upper level." The Pale Ones' meaning is simple: not all of these knights are well-preserved. Some of the remains, damaged by time, are in various secret chambers and warehouses in the upper level. Among these Pale Ones are the descendants of the craftsmen who built the tomb. Finding these areas and finding these parts from those remains is easy.

The reason they didn't use Gundam tactics was that even if the colossi were repaired, they would still obey the Night King's orders or pre-set commands. They couldn't control these colossi to fight. Instead, to prevent certain golems in the dungeon from repairing the colossi on their own, they removed the colossi's weapons and some parts.

"=w=" Facing the several Soul Furnaces in front of her, which were damaged to varying degrees, the little witch showed a happy expression. Although she could not repair a considerable number of them in a short time, the current number was enough to assemble three Knights of the Round Table.

Two days later, "Boom!" The earth shook and rumbled again, and this time it lasted longer than ever before, as if some enormous region was forcibly squeezing into the material world, compressing the mountain structure and causing this intense earthquake and collapse.

“The complete structure of the seal should be about to be replaced, and the next step should be to break the seal.” Leon’s expression was solemn, but when he turned to look at the three “Knights of the Round Table” colossi in the grid-shaped scaffolding behind him, his expression immediately relaxed.

Using only a sword and shield to seal a monster like "Earth's Calamity," whose name alone suggests formidable strength, is indeed incredibly nerve-wracking, especially since the scale of this seal surpasses that of ordinary monsters and evil spirits. However, using a ten-meter-tall dark gold golem to deal with it is a completely different story. It's like in a horror game, you suddenly have an extra weapon that can inflict damage.

The Soul Furnace is a basin-shaped structure with a trapezoidal shape that is wider at the top and narrower at the bottom. The center of the several layers of cascading rings is where the soul spheres are bound and aggregated. Livia extracted the remaining parts of the soul spheres from the cores of the irreparable golems and magic golems, and squeezed out three new ones to put inside.

This action left the giant craftsmen in disbelief. When the Night King created these golems, the ritual site and sacrifices he set up to generate enough soul spheres to power them were a spectacle. If it were possible to directly synthesize high-level soul spheres from low-level soul essence, as Livia did, the Night King's spectacle would be even more magnificent.

Not to mention the operation of using a damaged or even nearly broken soul sphere to create a new one. To give an analogy, it's like using three faulty or damaged chips to create a new chip and upgrade it to the next generation—on Earth, this would be considered unscientific, and in this world, it can only be called "this is not magic."

However, the little witch couldn't explain to everyone how she did it. In short, she used nine faulty chips to make three upgraded versions and stuffed them into the repaired Soul Forge.

Because these colossi require magic or divine power to operate, only Livia, Leon, and Lulua can pilot them. Roach and Alessina cannot, as Roach has no magic power at all, and connecting the rune disk to this thing for remote control is not something that can be done in a short time.

As a warrior, Alessina's magic or supernatural power resides within her physical body and cannot be projected outwards, thus rendering her unable to control these colossi, or rather, unable to effectively manipulate them. The three colossi knelt on one knee, their T-shaped visors opening to reveal their control cores.

With a whoosh, runic chains wrapped around Leon's limbs, making him feel somewhat sluggish.

"It must be operated with magic, not physical movements."

"I know," divine power surged in, and the blue chains turned golden. Golden flames burst forth from under every inch of the colossus's armor plates, then wrapped around the large, fairy-shaped greatsword. The golem controlled by Livia was covered with a bunch of odds and ends—spell constructs created by Roach and Livia, as well as spell props salvaged from discarded golems, activated and controlled by the witch's magic.

"Boom!" Three golems slowly walked through the giant camp. The giants did not stop them at all, watching as the golems stepped onto the stairs and walked towards the gate.

"Hiss!" The Pale One let out a sharp shriek, and countless Pale One warriors following behind the golem rushed towards the steps. The giants did not hesitate to intercept and defend, but the slaves surrounding the battle group held the giants tightly.

"Whoosh!" Dragon-hunting crossbow bolts shot out from the palace walls and crashed into a spiritual barrier. The golem controlled by Livia stretched out its arms, and a silver-blue spiritual barrier unfolded in front of it, allowing the crossbow bolts to crash into it and shatter into pieces.

If she were to cast this spell directly, the pressure would be immense, given that it's a level of firepower comparable to city defenses. However, it would be much simpler to cast the spell using the golem's soul magic and the stack of buff structures. Not to mention, she also drew upon the "spiritual magic" of the Pale Ones to enhance her defenses.

"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!" Arrows rained down on the golem's body and feet, and pale warriors charging behind it were shot down one after another. But the rest of them did not stop at all, following closely behind the golem's footsteps, ready to rush in the moment the golem knocked open the door.

Leon's "Knight of the Round Table" moved the fastest, standing in front of the gate, gripping the runic holy sword tightly with both hands. Golden holy flames swirled around it. Although it couldn't unleash the full power of this golem's weapon, the power from the Lord of Light was enough to make up for this deficiency.

“Although it’s not quite appropriate here, but…” Leon felt the vibration and burning sensation from the chains on his wrists, his heart filled with rage against evil, and he synchronized himself with the leaping holy flames, “Destroy evil and quell wickedness!”

The Holy Flame Greatsword slashed down fiercely, the blade smashing into the thick, mixed-metal fence, as thick as an adult's arm. With a twisting sound as the blade deformed, the entire heavy outer fence was cleaved in two. Then, Leon raised his foot and kicked the city gate hard, producing a dull thud.

The door was slightly deformed, but still intact. "Let me do it!" Lulua walked over, the power of the Night God completely wrapped around the golem's arm. As a saint, she not only had more divine power than Leon, but also, due to the dark underground environment, in addition to the Earth Goddess, the power of the Night God also had a certain correction. Moreover, the earthquake meant that it was now nighttime outside, so with the double correction...

The golem's arm was completely black. It slammed its fist into the gate, instantly creating a crack. The guards and golems in the inner city frantically rained arrows at the three golems. There should have been a magical barrage as well.

Unfortunately, Livia's presence here makes it difficult for the opponent's slow-starting city defense spells to take effect smoothly—spell counterspells, especially those performed inside a moving mage tower, are naturally invincible—moreover, these spell bombardments are automated, uncontrolled spells, which means the difficulty is not too high.

"Boom!" The gate was finally smashed open with a punch, and hordes of Pale Warriors swarmed in, even at the risk of being trampled to death by the colossus. The giant guards also stopped moving after desperately trying to hold them back for a while, because an order resounded through their mental network: the giant guards were ordered to retreat into the inner city.

So the guards immediately abandoned their fight and interception of the Pale Ones and ran straight into the inner city without looking back. But for some reason, they were not moving fast. They moved slowly and sluggishly among the groups of Pale Ones. From the outside, it looked as if they were attacking the royal city together with the Pale Ones.

Inside the audience hall, there were even more golems than the last time, and in addition to the captain's unit, there was a new golem, also a refined version, completely different from the three mass-produced models Roach and his group had.

"Wow, they're so rich..."

"Yeah, they're really rich. These golems could probably buy half of the capital, right?" Roach exclaimed. Even though the cost of magical minerals wasn't as high as it is now because they weren't mined and used on a large scale back then, the labor costs for these things wouldn't be cheap either.

"It would be a waste not to use this kind of military force to unify the continent," Alessina complained. With nearly 20 mass-produced machines and the two captain machines in front of him, this size of golem legion, coupled with two or three knight orders, would be enough to conquer the continent.

Of course, this is just a joke. The reason why no one conquered the continent at that time was not because they lacked military strength, but because they simply could not gain a foothold in the wilderness. The expansion of the boundaries of order is not as fast as military expansion.

If they cannot gain a foothold, it means they will lack stable supply lines and rear bases, and every town and village will be repeatedly besieged and harassed by monsters and various enemies.

“When we leave, even if we can’t take everything with us, let’s pack as much debris as possible…” Leslie came up with a terrible idea, but it seemed pretty good. Smashing a few of these dark gold golems and taking them out would be an astronomical sum.

However, every bad idea seems like a good idea before it goes bad. The problem with this idea is—who will buy it? It's roughly equivalent to stealing and selling decommissioned nuclear warheads, and maybe even mixing in a few real ones. So the question isn't how much this thing is worth, but who will buy it? And will the buyer actually pay for it?