My wife is an immortal black snake.

Page 106

Even if Duke Nikolai's soldiers were well-fed and robust, they were still mortals whose minds had been dulled by cannibalism. But those flesh puppets were a real problem...

"Those flesh and blood puppets... does anyone have any ideas?"

Thinking of this, Theresa turned to her sisters who were organizing their gear and asked them a question. Upon hearing Theresa's question, the previously noisy ponies instantly fell silent, each wearing an awkward expression. It was unclear whether they were embarrassed because they hadn't thought about it yet, or embarrassed because they couldn't seem to resolve the issue no matter how hard they tried.

And without a doubt, as spies in Kazimierz, the ponies of the Duchy of Kosichea must have thought about this—but the problem is, they have never actually fought against flesh golems and have no idea what their behavior patterns are.

So all we can do is share our observations and then get together to discuss what we should do.

"In short, those flesh golems seem to be nocturnal creatures that need to rest during the day. Every morning they're in a state of hibernation-like state; their skin and muscles begin to loosen and bleed, and their desire to move is much less." Lily, who was maintaining her crossbow bolts, pursed her lips and voiced her thoughts: "But I can't guarantee they're really hibernating during the day... After all, the reason they're active at night might be because Duke Nikolai wants them to be active only at night. If that's the case, then during the day their energy will still be very high."

"Let's consider the worst-case scenario. Have you identified their weaknesses?"

"No, not yet. These giant golems, each over 3 meters tall, are covered in exposed flesh and metal plates pressed directly against it. Their weapons are probably mutated hand organs, like spears or blades... But then again, some of the flesh golems don't have armor plates, but rather white armor that looks like bones... Whether those guys are stronger or weaker, we have absolutely no idea."

In short, flesh golems have the following characteristics: they are over 3 meters tall, made up of the flesh and blood of a large number of individuals, with a large amount of flesh and skin directly exposed to the unprotected environment, and metal plates directly embedded in the flesh to protect their weak points, namely the chest cavity and the head.

However, there are still many differences between the flesh golems: some lack armor plates, instead possessing proliferating bone-like organs for protection. Their weapons also vary: some golems' hands have transformed into sharp, inelastic, spear-like organs; others have become blades; and still others have their hands severed at the elbows, with large chunks of Originium crystals embedded in the fracture surfaces, suggesting they could launch some kind of spell directly...

Based on their differences, the creeds gave them several fitting code names: first, according to color, the flesh golems with armor plates were called "Big Black Guy," while those with white bone armor were called "Big White Guy." Then, based on their weapons, they had strange names such as "Big Black Guy with a Long Spear" and "Big White Guy with Dual Swords."

But it was quite fitting, so after Teresa communicated with the snake scales for a while, the snake scales also chose to use their names to refer to the flesh puppets.

"For now, we've concluded that the white giants are generally stronger than the black giants... In short, their weaknesses should be their protected chests and heads. But do we have crossbows with high penetration and other equipment? If not, their unprotected necks should be the area where we can inflict the most effective damage."

"You mean, just cut their heads off? Let's not even talk about the height difference... how are we supposed to accurately strike their necks with our knight's swords? We're the best spies, not the best warriors, not those bomb-wielding Gauls." Mars scoffed. "Of course, if they were here, that would be ideal... sigh, even we and the Serpent Scales might not be able to inflict any effective damage on those flesh golems. And Theresa, have you forgotten that flesh golems possess a terrifying ability against us?"

"Terrifying power—ah...you mean..."

"Yeah, if we get within about 50 meters of them, we seem to feel [fear]... a kind of inexplicable fear. My legs went weak. If I weren't a knight, I would have run away by now, okay?"

Simply put... Flesh Golems don't seem to be a suitable unit for "close-range elimination".

It's not just because they look intimidating, like close-quarters combat killing machines... but because these flesh puppets all share a common [Originium Arts].

That is [fear]. No matter what level of training you have received, no matter if you are the most steadfast warrior... as long as you still have emotions, you will be affected by this Originium Arts.

Who is Mars? Although she has no morals whatsoever and keeps muttering that she's going to kidnap the good young man from the administration office and drain him dry when she gets back, she is, after all, a knight who has been on the battlefield of hell and a corporate spy who has undergone countless brutal training sessions!

Even with such a resilient [though not unwavering] will, she almost got so scared by the flesh golem's special Originium Arts that her stockings got wet when she got within about 50 meters of it—with such a large-scale Originium Arts related to [fear]... how are we supposed to deal with these monsters?

They couldn't come up with a good plan, and after a little thought, they could only decide to use the large ballistae on the landships to deal with them. If that didn't work, they could use explosives to blow off their legs and then deal with them slowly.

This was a bit troublesome, but fortunately, there were only two flesh golems on the Alpha landship. Including the flesh golems on the remaining two landships, as well as the flesh golems around the military factory that was relocated to the landship, the total number did not exceed 10.

The ten flesh puppets, along with approximately 1200 of Duke Nikolai's personal guards surrounding them, were a possible solution, according to Theresa and Paul, if they could communicate with the soldiers inside who already harbored rebellious intentions towards Duke Nikolai...

Then, taking into account the previously planned scheme of using local resistance forces to incite riots before taking action, Theresa believed that the entire operation was meticulously planned. Now, all they needed to do was to diligently perform their duties during their free time, and once their boss sent a message informing them that they could proceed, they could immediately take action.

"Seeing how confident you are, I have a feeling this operation might end up going wrong." Looking at Theresa's confident face, Lily, who had finished maintaining her weapons, shrugged and complained about Theresa's inexplicable confidence: "Maybe you shouldn't be so confident. After this operation, it's questionable how many of us sisters will be alive."

"It's alright, it's alright. Anyway, the boss's requirement for us is to complete the mission as much as possible while minimizing casualties—cannon fodder work can be left to those who surrendered, right?"

“That makes sense…” If they weren’t the ones doing the cannon fodder work, then casualties would be very low. Lily agreed with Theresa’s reasoning, but then she suddenly realized something—why was Theresa, who had previously claimed she wanted to slack off, now so eager to do so?

She recalled the strange sounds recorded on the tape recorder that had been placed in Theresa's office.

It seems to have been sent after the boss went in?

Crackling sounds.

And there was also Theresa's voice, a mixture of crying and laughing...

Is it possible...

Lily glanced silently at Theresa's backside. She realized something, but said nothing, only planning to swindle her money when they got back.

Chapter 229

Theresa suddenly felt a sense of foreboding creep into her mind. She instinctively shivered, but didn't know why.

Could something really go wrong on this mission? Would she end up losing a few of her sisters? Theresa wiped the cold sweat from her forehead. On one hand, she felt it didn't matter if a few of her shameless sisters died, but on the other hand, she kept muttering things like, "How could that be?"—after all, no matter how shameless her sisters were, they were still sisters, and if they really died, she would still feel lonely.

Afterward, she rallied her spirits and had her sisters prepare for another "exploration trip" that evening. Then, she sat in the armchair that had been brought into the room but was now exclusively hers, rocking back and forth as she waited for the time to go out.

Subsequently.

It was 11:45 PM on June 23rd. With a silent snake scale falling from the ceiling, Teresa's work for the evening officially began.

"same as usual?"

"The same as always. But this time, we'll go to the area around the military camp of the Duke of Nikolai, and you'll make contact with those rebels."

After a brief exchange of intelligence, the two sides decided that Snake Scales would go to scout around the military camp of Duke Nikolai to find any "new enemies" that they might not have discovered, while Theresa's Creed would contact the armed resistance members they had already made contact with and had indeed obtained some of. They planned to keep them quiet for a few days before starting their work.

Now that the work plan has been finalized, the next issue is implementation.

"Sigh, I think those rebels are pathetic. Besides the men, it seems quite a few children and women have also gone to the battlefield?" Mars muttered, examining his disguise in the mirror. "Sigh, so pitiful~ They just have to live in a cannibalistic place~ But cannibalism exists everywhere in the world, that's for sure~"

"And then again, we are women too, and we went to the battlefield, so why don't you have any self-awareness, Mars?"

"Huh? At least we did it voluntarily, right?" Mars rolled his eyes and pointed to Theresa, who was also disguised not far away. "It's one thing for poor Theresa, a former knight-errant who became a spy because she was broke, but which of us here didn't volunteer to be spies for the money in the hands of capitalists? Ugh, if there were an easier way to make money faster, who would want to do this..."

"So tell me, how do you expect to make money?"

"Hook up with a rich guy, and then make money while lying in bed getting fucked."

"..."

As always, Mars's shameless discovery did not resonate with the ponies present, perhaps because they felt the same way but were too ashamed to speak up.

Meanwhile, having completed their camouflage, Theresa rose and ordered several of her sisters, who were not suited for disguise, to stand guard near the hideout. She then led the others away. To avoid being discovered by patrolling soldiers, they would take the sewers.

Fortunately, there was a hole in the basement of the building where the hideout was located that led to the sewers. It's possible that the people who were originally hiding here did this in order to escape the Duchy of Nikolai, or it could be because this place was originally a secret smuggling route for a smuggling gang. In any case, this hole has now come in handy.

"Ugh... This place... Every time I come here, I feel like my heart and lungs are about to stop... It stinks so damn bad." Mars held his breath, putting on a gas mask sprayed with incense, then was forced to throw it off by the strange mix of fragrance and stench: "[Elegant Kazimierz profanity] What a weird smell! I thought the incense would make it more bearable..."

"Are you crazy? Using incense in a toilet full of excrement and urine will only create a disgusting stench and get you a beating from your sisters!"

"How the hell did I know it would turn out like this?! But then again, those people are really something..."

"That's because the place they were hiding in was a sewer pipe leading to an abandoned city. There wasn't much sewage or wastewater flowing down there, so the smell was somewhat tolerable."

Theresa spoke calmly, then led the way into the sewers, guiding her sisters, who were covering their noses, through the sewers, following the signs they remembered.

The sewers were an extremely harsh environment with a complex network of passages. If they hadn't left behind markers made of Originium, they probably would have quickly lost their way in this warm, humid, and foul-smelling environment and gotten completely lost.

Furthermore, because the sewers were filled with methane gas, Theresa and the others had to use Originium Arts to disperse the gas in the vicinity. Even so, they carefully placed any items that might ignite the methane gas deep inside their pockets and fastened the safety catches.

They passed through many places along the way. However, as they passed through a slightly larger passage, a little colt looked at the murky, polluted river and exclaimed in surprise:

"There are loaches here? No... these are... cleaner fish?"

"The humid and warm sewer environment is very suitable for wild animals to grow. We even found quite a few Originium Bugs before... But then again, the people on the surface are living a miserable life, while the wild animals in the sewers are well-fed and watered. I don't know which side is more miserable."

"It must be a human. Humans get emotional over all sorts of things, but Originium Bugs don't."

"That's true."

The sewers of the mobile city of the Duchy of Nikolai are teeming with wild animals. Although most of these animals are inedible due to the harsh environment and the poor diet they consume, occasionally, some resilient creatures that are edible are found by the underground rebels and taken back for a meal.

However, those creatures were destined to be rare, so the rebels had no choice but to eat small insects such as cockroaches to ensure that their stomachs would occasionally feel the presence of food.

"...We're almost there."

They walked for another hour or so. When they saw the sewage river in the distance gradually drying up and the smell in the air becoming less unpleasant, Theresa breathed a sigh of relief and quickly led her sisters to the lower reaches where the resistance organization was located.

It was 2:12 AM. When Teresa and her companions arrived at the underground hideout of the rebels in the Duke of Nikolai, they were greeted by a filthy man. His body had probably not been groomed for more than half a month; his messy hair was covered with congealed mud and strange substances.

However, the rebel didn't pay attention to any of this, and Theresa knew their predicament—they had used all their clean fabric to make makeshift medical supplies, so it was perfectly reasonable that they had no resources to take care of their appearance.

"I'm sorry, ladies, we really don't have anything to offer you..." The disheveled man, carrying the Duke of Kosiché's weapons on his back, apologized to Theresa while gesturing for them to come in. "Please come in. Recently, Duke Nikolai's lackeys have intensified their inspections of the sewers; I wonder what they're up to!"

"Searching the sewers? I remember the Duchy of Nikolai's personal guards wouldn't stoop to doing that. Those starving soldiers would at most just do a perfunctory search at the entrances and exits of the sewers, right?"

“I’m not entirely sure either. But my lads say it seems they’ve been throwing too much [strange stuff] down the drain lately, causing a blockage in one of the sewers… I guess that blocked pipe happens to be the one used by the nobles, sigh!”

The Creeds entered the massive sewer stronghold. As the slovenly man had already told Theresa, there were approximately 3000 rebels in the stronghold, more than 70% of whom were emaciated adult men.

The remaining 30% consisted of women and children. They were originally members of a mutual aid society for residents facing an economic crisis. When these women and children were unable to escape the Duchy of Nikolai, the slovenly man took them in, stating that he hoped to send these refugees out soon so that he could safely ignite the first spark of resistance in the city.

“They include ordinary Ursusians, Liberians, Felin and Rupert, and even some Gauls—in short, I need to get them out of here. Those women and children shouldn’t have been involved in our war in the first place; they shouldn’t have gone to the battlefield, or been captured and killed one day,” the slovenly man said to Theresa. “Could you arrange some places for them on the landship? They eat very little; if they can get to the Duchy of Kosiché, they can find a way to survive with their children.”

"The Duke of Kosiché and my master will not leave them unattended, so you can rest assured. But may I ask, are they all able to walk? I mean, surely no one is incapable of taking care of themselves?"

"...The last elderly woman who was unable to take care of herself and her daughter went missing the day before yesterday. We only found their bodies yesterday in a corner about two sewers away from the base, where they had committed suicide."

“I understand. So theoretically we can take the rest of them, but we can’t guarantee they will all make it to the Duchy of Kosiché.”

"It's enough if some people can survive."

After negotiations, the slovenly man got what he wanted—a deal to get the last remaining women and children from the resistance to safety. Theresa also got what she wanted: that way, she could watch with a clear conscience as the slovenly man and his men went to their deaths.

How so? If you turn actions into a "transaction"... then many things can be viewed calmly. This time, the slovenly man traded the lives of 2000 soldiers for the survival of nearly 1000 women and children. What about next time?

Theresa shook her head, not wanting to think about it anymore. She made a record of her progress, discussed the next steps with the rebels, and told them to wait for her orders. Then she confirmed a few things:

"Our boss estimates it will take another month or two before we can get started, and your food..."

"...It's alright. There are plenty of rats and cockroaches around here, and we have people who can process the meat of poisonous creatures. But just because we can hold out for a month or two doesn't mean we can hold out for five or six months..."

“Then there’s no problem. We’ll be going now—we’ll go see what’s the origin of the thing that Duke Nikolai’s personal guards came down to inspect. You guys just stay here and shrink your territory.”

...

The Creeds left the rebel stronghold. As they left, Theresa took a moment to glance at the women and children's quarters—as filthy and chaotic as ever. But that made sense; if those weaklings came to the surface, they'd probably die in some alleyway very quickly, leaving not even a bone behind.

At least if you die here, you'll still have bones. Looking at the women resting on the ground, Theresa shrugged and left.

Before they returned, they decided to check the surrounding sewer sections that had been inspected to find out what Duke Nikolai was up to. As they approached the area the slovenly man had described, Theresa noticed that the sewage in the sewers had turned a strange purplish-black.

"What is this?" Mars frowned, examining the purplish-black river. "It looks like dragon fruit. I mean, the liquid left after squeezing the purple dragon fruit..."

"There was also a hint of red mixed in..."

"How did you tell?"

"Look at your boots."

"what?"

It turned out that Mars's boots had been splashed with dirty water. She cursed under her breath, and after shaking off the sticky liquid, she found that there were indeed purplish-red marks left there.

What was going on? Theresa got everyone ready for battle. They advanced cautiously, and finally, ten minutes later, they saw the culprit that had blocked the sewage pipes above.

“...God of Laterano, I’ve never seen anything like this before…” Theresa stared dumbfounded at the pale, delicate limbs protruding from the sewage pipe. “These nobles aren’t content with eating people anymore; they’re starting to play with their own children?”

The things that clogged the sewage pipes in the aristocratic district were intact but dismembered remains that had been flushed into the toilets or other drainage pipes.

Whether it was the pranksters' twisted sense of humor or something else, the corpses didn't show any signs of being torn apart or cooked; they were simply sewn together into a "soccer ball."

Chapter 230

The Duchy of Nikolai has about 40 nobles of varying ranks. Among them, the nobleman named Leo is the most extravagant nobleman in the Duchy of Nikolai, besides the Duke of Nikolai himself, and his personal relationship with the Duke of Nikolai is arguably the best in the entire duchy.

On the morning of June 23, when Mr. Leo awoke from his soft bed, he saw the pale-faced maid who had woken him telling him that his young son was playing with his younger brother.

"What's the big deal? It's just a beautiful scene of family harmony." He was quite displeased that the maid had woken him up over such a trivial matter. However, he didn't do anything. He simply waved for the pale-faced, trembling maid to leave his bedroom. Reluctantly, he jumped off the soft bed that felt like it was made of skin. He took a cherry from the cool wine glass on the bedside table, put it in his mouth, and savored the juice inside. After that, Mr. Leo regained his spirits and began to change into his pajamas.

Unlike other nobles, Mr. Leo changed his own clothes. Was it because he enjoyed doing so? No. The reason he changed his own clothes was simply because his body was experiencing several abnormalities that forced him to do so.

He took off his clothes and admired the extra finger sticking out between his shoulders in the mirror—what a beautiful finger it was! Upon closer inspection, it was so smooth and tender, just like the delicate, pink, and soft fingers of a young lady who had lived her whole life in milk, fingers that smelled of milk when you bit into them.

Mr. Leo gently pressed the unusual finger with his hand, and a warm, pleasurable sensation spread throughout his body from the bend of the finger. Satisfied, he changed into his new clothes, examining the new organs growing on his body as he did so.

The fistula at the bend of his right knee was constantly oozing pus, so fragrant that Mr. Leo had to spend a lot of time tending to it every day.

There was also a corn on the sole of his left foot that looked like a finger—stepping on that spot also brought Mr. Leo a strange pleasure. He enjoyed it and was troubled by it every day; he enjoyed it because it was pleasurable, but he was troubled because the pleasure wasn't exciting enough.

Finally, there was his gaping maw—a new tongue had appeared on top of his own, a new tongue that could taste even more flavors—sweet, salty, foul, and even fishy flavors that normal people simply couldn't taste.

Overall, Mr. Leo was quite pleased with the changes in himself. He had been pleased ever since he came under the wing of the Duke of Nikolai and shared a unique banquet with him.

He felt that his previous dedication to work was the biggest folly of him! He believed that life was about enjoying oneself to the fullest, regardless of the means. If he wasn't happy while others were starving, what was?

He had always been interested in this question. But now, he didn't need to waste time in his room.

Mr. Leo left his bedroom. He yawned, trying to suppress the pleasure radiating from the soles of his feet and the fingers on his back. He walked blissfully to the dining room, where, served by silent, statue-like servants, he ate his first breakfast of the morning.

Since gaining those extra organs, Mr. Leo has felt constantly hungry. He eats three breakfasts, two lunches, two dinners, and one supper every day. Although each meal is a single serving, the total amount is still considerable.

He thought it might be because his new organs needed so much nutrition, which was why he was like this. He didn't care about anything else; he only cared about whether his desires could be satisfied.

"One more!"

After finishing a plate of bacon, Mr. Leo asked his servant to bring him another plate, and after eating all the breakfast in it, he let out a satisfied burp—he had now eaten enough breakfast for two people, enough to last him for about half an hour.