Chapter 452: Advance Party (Two-in-One)

Soon, everyone in the Wizard convoy was called outside.

The crowd stared at the youth who had been their prisoner just days ago. Seeing him standing shoulder-to-shoulder with their leader was hard to process.

But when Yan Jing performed another "miracle," their attitudes shifted instantly.

"We greet the Wizard Progenitor—"

The Wizards prostrated themselves on the ground.

They had yearned for the Wizard Progenitor's return for far too long.

Through countless pitch-black nights over the long years of oppression and exile, the humiliation had driven them to tears, leaving them to pray for a savior.

And then Yan Jing appeared.

This was the plan Yan Jing had devised after reviewing the youth's memories.

It differed from his previous role takeovers for two reasons.

First, his strength had changed. Though he still needed to keep a low profile, he no longer had to live in constant fear.

If he resorted to playing a pig to eat a tiger like before, it would only slow his progress.

Time waited for no one.

He had to enter the God Storage Land before the Dungeon mission began.

Given Wen Xu's special status, these Wizards would never let him join the advance party unless he used forceful methods.

The higher-ups wouldn't approve it either.

The identity verification alone would be a problem. Furthermore, the safety officer for this journey was not among these people.

Therefore, he didn't have to worry that a sudden change in his "identity" would cause the safety officer's favorability to plummet.

If Yan Jing guessed correctly, the safety officer this time was likely the woman who had raised Wen Xu.

That being the case, he simply abandoned the youth's original identity in front of the crowd and adopted a far more useful one.

He became the "Wizard Progenitor" the Wizard Tribe so desperately longed for.

Compared to compromising to slowly earn their trust, gradually shocking them with tricks, or simply slaughtering them all to join the advance party...

...this was undoubtedly a better strategy.

"How many people are here in total? What are their tiers?"

Yan Jing asked. "Wu Qiu, speak."

"Yes, my lord."

Wu Qiu trembled before answering. "Currently, our Wizard Tribe has over three hundred people in the Great Prison. Among them, over a hundred are at the Third Tier or above, fifty-two are at the Fourth Tier or above, twenty-one are at the Fifth Tier or above, and the Sixth Tier or above... s-six... six people..."

Her voice unconsciously trailed off toward the end.

Having only six people at the Sixth Tier or above was decent for a small faction, but the Wizard Tribe was clearly not a small faction.

This was the total population of the entire Wizard Pathway here!

Compared to other Pathways, it was like the cultivator sea crews in Haidu.

Among the cultivators, Yan Jing had learned from Guo Xie that there were three individuals at the Seventh Rank, with their commander nearing the Summit.

Moreover, cultivators were spread across other regions.

The Elite City, the Sky Domain—even here in the Desolate Forest.

Not to mention, the cultivator Pathway had only been established a few centuries ago.

"A bunch of fools."

Yan Jing spoke coldly, making the crowd lower their heads in shame.

"Let me ask you: what are the teachings of our Wizards?"

As Yan Jing swept his gaze over them, the crowd looked up and exchanged glances, their eyes filled with confusion and bewilderment.

"Did the Wizard Alliance not teach you this?"

Yan Jing asked coldly.

Beside him, Wu Qiu and a few others who had been quietly trying to prompt the crowd looked embarrassed.

Wu Qiu hurriedly explained, "My lord, most of the people here... are... are scapegoats forced to take the fall for others, as well as sin-born descendants. They... have never interacted with the Wizard Alliance."

Yan Jing understood.

It went without saying for the scapegoats. Most were old, weak, sick, or disabled. Forget about possessing "knowledge"—it was a stretch to even call them literate.

The "sin-born descendants" Wu Qiu mentioned were an even more pitiful bunch.

They were born inside the Great Prison.

They were the offspring of criminals.

They were condemned from birth, deemed to have sinful blood flowing through their veins.

Strictly speaking, they had done nothing wrong. Or perhaps, their very existence was the mistake.

"I see. So the fools on the outside are just as pig-headed now."

Hearing Yan Jing mutter this, the crowd didn't dare to speak.

Years of suffering had long since twisted the Wizards here into timid, cowardly figures. It was an instinct formed for self-preservation.

They couldn't even muster the strength to hate the Wizards on the outside, let alone insult them.

That was why, upon seeing Wen Xu, the crowd had vented years of pent-up fury on him, yet lacked the courage to actually kill him.

These Wizards seemed to have always lived in such a twisted, conflicted state.

Yan Jing studied their expressions and sneered. "You can't even hate properly, only bully the weak. No wonder you're treated like trash."

"Everyone, raise your heads right now."

They all lifted their heads. Looking at those dark faces etched with cowardice, bewilderment, ignorance, and fear, Yan Jing spoke softly. "Listen well. For us Wizards..."

"...there is only one way to live in this world."

"And that is to slaughter!"

Yan Jing raised his voice sharply, causing everyone staring at him to shudder.

"Our very existence is meant to be the most hideous, abhorrent, and evil thing in this world!"

"Even if we act cowardly! Even if we compromise and beg! Even if we have done absolutely nothing wrong! They will still despise us!"

"Because we are Wizards! That is the Sin Burden left behind by history!"

"We are no longer at fault! But this is our reality!"

"Now, all the sin-born descendants, stand up."

At his words, the vast majority of the crowd rose to their feet.

Among them were many young children barely a few years old, dressed in tattered rags.

"Next, those who never committed a crime in the outside world—stand up!"

Once he said that, a large portion of the remaining people on their knees stood up.

Only a handful were left kneeling.

"Finally, those whose crimes weren't severe enough to warrant the Great Prison—stand up!"

With that, not a single person remained kneeling.

The corners of Yan Jing's mouth curled up slightly.

Then, he roared at the top of his lungs, "Do you pig-headed fools understand now? None of you belong here!"

"Every single person in this place has committed worse crimes than you!"

Thanks to his perfect vocal control, his tone was incredibly infectious. As if spurred on, a light finally sparked in the crowd's eyes.

"We do not plunder, but we will rebel."

Yan Jing lowered his voice back to a soft whisper. "That is what we must do."

"Every last one of those bastards who bullied us is going to die."

Hearing this, their eyes seemed to shine even brighter.

Yan Jing knew that some things couldn't be changed overnight, so he turned to Wu Qiu. "Which organization in this Desolate Forest has the deepest ties with us? What's their strength level?"

"Off work, off work, off work!"

At dinnertime, Ning Wei—the man who had "released" Captain Cat into the Great Prison last time—stood up from his stool. He packed up his documents and prepared to leave the small tent with his colleague to head back to the cafeteria to eat.

The two of them were in charge of recruiting for the advance party in Zone A of the Desolate Forest today.

"We still haven't met the quota for this advance party," his colleague sighed. "Looks like we're working overtime again."

"The higher-ups temporarily increased the quota. They're treating us like pack mules."

"Come on, at least pack mules have a cafeteria and dormitories. We don't have to worry about getting killed," Ning Wei offered his usual comfort.

Truthfully, he felt frustrated as well. He was a pureblood prison native, born and raised in the Great Prison.

At the age of twenty-four, he had smoothly taken over his father's position in the Great Prison.

He had been on the job for six years now.

Having worked all these years without a single promotion, he was long past tired of it.

However, he had his own way of relaxing: comparing his life to the lives of the inmates. Doing so made him feel that he wasn't suffering all that much.

"Just another twenty years or so until retirement,"

Ning Wei chuckled.

According to Great Prison regulations, the most basic First Level staff could retire at the age of fifty. Once they retired, they could leave the Great Prison and apply to settle in another Domain.

He had taken over the job the same year his father retired.

Of course—for a certain reason—he still wanted to climb the ranks.

"That's way too long," his colleague groaned.

"And I think you slacked off too long today," Ning Wei laughed, nudging his colleague's arm with his elbow. "So, did anything interesting happen outside today?"

"Pick up any girls?"

For staff members like them, perhaps their greatest joy was slacking off during work hours.

Of course, slacking off in this context meant something a little different—it meant fishing in troubled waters.

Like engaging in a little "passionate interaction" with some of the inmates.

The top boss was busy with a myriad of affairs. Maintaining contact with at least a dozen Domains, he was rarely in the Great Prison most of the time, giving them plenty of opportunities to exploit.

"Nope."

His colleague hung his head dejectedly. "The most interesting thing today was that two evildoers died over in the Desolate Forest."

"What's so strange about that?" Ning Wei asked, puzzled.

Hearing Ning Wei's question, his colleague perked up with renewed interest and grinned. "Because you'd never guess how they died."

"How did they die?"

Ning Wei blinked.

"They were killed," his colleague whispered. "By Wizards."

"Wizards?" Ning Wei was genuinely shocked now. "You mean those Wizards? No way. They actually started trouble?"

"Two minor factions have been ganging up to squeeze them dry, but today, they unexpectedly capsized." His colleague grew a bit excited as he spoke. "I just heard it from the others. Those two small factions lost their leaders all at once. Now their stock prices are definitely going to plummet."

"I've got some Wizard shares on me. It's the perfect time to sell."

"You bought Wizard stock?"

Ning Wei was somewhat speechless. "You must have too much time on your hands."

Wizard stock was the most garbage asset out there.

It was also a legendary stock in the Great Prison.

Almost everyone hoped to time the market perfectly and buy the dip.

But everyone who tried ended up returning with clipped feathers.

This stock essentially never went up. Rumor had it that if the top boss hadn't been continuously trading with the Wizard Continent, this stock would have hit rock bottom long ago.

"Just bought it for fun," his colleague laughed. "Guess I hit the jackpot."

"Good for you."

Ning Wei nodded, not particularly envious.

He had recently bought a highly niche stock and had already made a fortune off it.

He didn't care much for his colleague's minor gains.

Just as the two prepared to leave, a rustling sound came from behind them.

Ning Wei turned his head, just in time to see a group of dark-skinned individuals cloaked in robes emerging from the woods.

Speak of the Wizards, and the Wizards arrive.

Ning Wei paused, then called out, "We're off work for the day. Come back tomorrow."

With that, he ignored them, summoned a door in front of himself, and prepared to head out with his colleague.

To his surprise, a cloaked woman at the front stepped forward and spoke in broken Inner World common tongue. "Officer, please have mercy. Our leader won't be free tomorrow; he has business elsewhere."

"Who's going to have mercy on you?" his colleague snapped impatiently. "Get out of here!"

Knowing his colleague had always been short-tempered, Ning Wei turned to the woman and said expressionlessly, "We're off the clock. That's the rule. We'll be back at nine tomorrow morning. Tell your leader to wait—"

He suddenly paused because the woman pulled two cloth sacks from her pockets and placed them on the table before them. "Officer, please, we are law-abiding citizens."

Before Ning Wei could say a word, his colleague had already peeked into the bag. With a look of sheer astonishment, he nudged Ning Wei's arm.

Ning Wei peered inside the cloth sack, and his pupils shrank.

Not because there was a massive fortune inside, but because the contents were perfectly calculated.

It was just the right amount that they wouldn't get into serious trouble even if caught taking the bribe.

This move did not match the behavior of these socially inept Wizards at all.

Moreover, this reminded him of a certain cat.

Which was also his main source of income lately.

Thinking of this, his expression softened. After exchanging a glance with his colleague, the two of them pocketed the goods.

"Fine, come register."

"You know the drill, right? We need blood samples, physical appearance, names, and identities. No diseases. Everything has to pass inspection. Is that clear?"

"Clear, Officer... it's just—there's been malaria in the dense forest recently—"

The woman began, but halfway through, Ning Wei understood what she meant.

These guys knew that joining the advance party was a surefire death sentence, so they wanted to slip in some diseased individuals as cheap substitutes.

In other words, they were swapping out the sick individuals' blood for healthy blood to pass the inspection.

In the past, a stunt like this would have cost the exact amount the woman had just handed over—an additional fee.

But things were different recently.

As far as he knew, due to the recently raised quota requirements, many of his colleagues had been doing this sort of thing to boost their numbers.

"Fine, but you need to provide three more people than before."

Once he said this...

...the woman across the table looked somewhat conflicted. She quickly asked them to wait a moment, then hurried back to the group and slipped into one of the carriages.

Half a minute later, she returned and nodded. "We can do that."

"Alright, let's go through the process."

A total of eight people lined up in a row.

Ning Wei input their blood samples and physical appearances into the system one by one to verify them. After confirming everything met the requirements...

...he suddenly remembered something. "Do you guys have a potential criminal over there recently?"

The higher-ups seemed to have specifically mentioned paying attention to the potential criminal's status, explicitly stating he couldn't die.

"Yes, we do."

The woman immediately ordered someone to roll out the cage holding the blonde youth.

Seeing that the youth was unharmed, Ning Wei nodded. "Alright."

He pulled out a Marker Gun, aimed at the wrists of the eight people, and shot each of them once.

"In three days, a door will open beside anyone with a mark. Just walk through it."

"If you don't enter, you'll be forcibly dragged in. Also, only those with the mark can enter. Understood?"

"Understood, Officer."

The woman nodded.

With that, the matter was settled.

Ning Wei and his colleague stepped through the door that opened behind them, returning to the residential level of the prison.

The two agreed to head to the cafeteria together in ten minutes.

Before parting ways, Ning Wei looked at his colleague, thought for a moment, and asked, "Did you feel like one of those eight people had a weird look in their eyes?"

"Weird how?"

His colleague hadn't noticed.

"I can't really explain it. It just felt a bit familiar, yet strange at the same time."

Ning Wei said, recalling the scene.

"Nope. You must have imagined it," his colleague replied, then hurried off.