Saul tossed the male wizard’s corpse to An to play with.

He’d promised her earlier that he’d take her out to have some fun when there was time.

An’s eight spider legs hadn’t had a chance to see use since their upgrade. She couldn’t bear to ruin the male wizard’s corpse right away and instead, like Saul in the morgue, cheerfully picked through the useful materials.

Herman handed the thunderstorm top to Saul.

Saul took it, sensing the mental imprint the wizard had left on it. With his formidable mental power, he directly and forcefully wiped it away.

But he didn’t immediately imprint it with his own mental signature. Instead, he tossed it into the storage device without a second thought.

Then, step by step, he walked over to the female wizard who had been knocked five meters away. Her face paled as what little color remained drained away.

“Since I’ve taken your payment, let me take a look at your pollution.”

He spoke with no context or preamble, yet the female wizard’s eyes widened in shock.

“So you really did notice,” she murmured, blood still trickling from the corner of her mouth, stunned.

Saul crouched down and grabbed her collar, yanking her face close to his.

“Although I haven’t had this side job for long, I’m fairly experienced.” He raised his other hand and slowly traced her face until he reached her left eye.

“This eye of yours is polluted,” Saul said. His thumb suddenly transformed into a small tentacle, slithering into the gap between her eyeball and eyelid.

The wizard’s eyes opened wide with terror. She tried to escape, but found she couldn’t move at all.

Before long, her left eye shriveled like a dried-up tadpole.

With a slight tilt of her head, the eyeball—still connected by nerves—slipped from its socket.

Only then did Saul retract the tentacle, returning it to the shape of a thumb.

The wizard reached up blankly to touch her eye socket, then suddenly broke into a joyful smile. “It’s really… gone!”

She looked at Saul with a mix of gratitude and regret. “I’m sorry, Doctor Saul. Actually, someone ordered us to test you. I had no choice but to accept their demand in exchange for treatment. I’m really, truly sorry. I hope you can forgive me.”

Tears welled up in her remaining eye, so full they looked ready to fall with the slightest flutter of her lashes.

If you ignored the withered eyeball, she was actually quite pretty.

She had that fragile, obedient look.

Saul looked into her remaining eye. “Pale… beautiful…”

Her pupils dilated slightly. Her small, bloodless lips parted ever so gently.

“…fragile.”

Crack!

As Saul uttered the final word, his hand—gripping her neck—suddenly tightened.

He snapped her neck.

The wizard convulsed once. Tears and blood ran down her face together.

Saul let go, allowing her corpse to fall. Then he waited a while longer to make sure there was no chance of her reanimating. Only then did he allow An to string up the female wizard as well, preparing to bring her back to the Wizard Tower without wasting a scrap.

Herman seemed a little regretful. “Master, don’t you want to know who sent them to test you?”

“Small fry like these probably only know lies anyway.”

An hung the body on the back of the wolf-drawn carriage.

Previously, to transport materials provided by Jiajia Gu, Saul had added a wagon bed to the back of the wolf cart.

It now made the perfect container for enemy corpses.

The two consciousnesses had to return to the diary. Otherwise, when they passed the frozen Lake Rhine, the powerful forces within would drag them to the bottom.

They’d need Saul to fish them out with Little Algae and thaw them.

Before heading back, An grinned mischievously. “Just now, I thought the Master might actually take that wizard in.”

Herman let out a hearty laugh. “Even if she was forced to test you, she didn’t hold back. If anyone else had been tested like that, they might already be dead.”

Saul stored the two consciousnesses, turned, and climbed into the wolf cart. Just before snapping the reins, he muttered to himself:

“True, it was a ‘test,’ but there was no mercy. If I had died, it would’ve meant I was weak, worthless, not a threat. If I survived, I’d likely kill them both. Which means… someone else will come to assess the outcome of the test.”

“Who would go to such lengths, using such roundabout means to test me—and even sacrifice a powerful magic tool?”

As the wolf cart rolled forward, Saul opened his hand. The red top appeared in his palm.

“‘Thunderstorm Top’—so dramatic. Might as well call it ‘Red Alert.’”

…

Far from Lake Rhine, a man stood on a small hilltop, just lowering a spyglass from his eye.

It wasn’t the kind of spyglass used by sailors.

There were no lenses. At the front end of the cylinder was a single eyeball, bloodshot and bulging, as if it might explode at any moment.

“Very cautious, and ruthless too—he held back nothing,” the man said, rotating the strange spyglass in his hands. “But spotting the one with pollution at a glance… that takes real skill. Though Gorsa backing him is a problem… looks like I’ll need to quietly abduct him instead.”

The man decided to return for now and prepare for his second move.

“In the meantime, I should spread rumors that he casually kills those who come to him for help. That way, people won’t dare approach him so easily.”

“That won’t do!”

A hoarse female voice suddenly rang out behind him.

The man’s heart jumped. Without looking back, he shot into the air like a firework.

Only once airborne did he fling a burning net behind him.

But before he could check whether he’d caught anything, the air around him suddenly solidified. The man, mid-flight, froze like a specimen suspended in glass.

At that moment, a short figure wearing a massive mask appeared before him.

“Saul said it himself—cutting off income is as good as murder. And you, a mere First Rank wizard, dare try to assassinate me?” The masked Old Witch growled fiercely.

The man was stunned. No one had told him there was a Second Rank wizard in the Purity Wizard Tower!

“Who sent you to test Saul?”

The air pinning his head loosened slightly—clearly, the Old Witch wanted an answer.

But the man remained silent.

“Hmph, what’s there to hide? Your master sent you to test a no-name First Rank wizard. Clearly, he’s already polluted and on the brink of death. I suggest you surrender before you waste your life for nothing.”

Still, the man didn’t move.

His eyeballs twitched faintly, as if still calculating how to escape.

“Ugh! Annoying!” The Old Witch prepared to haul him back and hand him over to Saul.

After all, aside from skinning people, she wasn’t good at interrogation.

But just as she was about to bundle him up, the man’s head suddenly exploded with a pop.

The Old Witch quickly stepped back to avoid the blast.

She scanned the surroundings warily, but sensed no magical or mental fluctuations.

“Doesn’t feel like anyone else is nearby… could this be some kind of delayed suicide spell?”

Regardless, the prisoner had exploded right in front of her—embarrassing, to say the least.

Saul had sent her to scout for observers or stalkers while he worked on the treatments. If she found any, she was supposed to bring back a live one to the tower.

But now that she only had a corpse, she’d only be entitled to half the promised 300 magic crystals.

“Damn it, what a pain.”

Left with no other choice, the Old Witch grumbled all the way back, dragging the body behind her.

(End of Chapter)

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