Chapter 343, "You Are Welcome to Attend"

Chapter 343, "You Are Welcome to Attend"

To put it plainly.

For this artifact to work, cooperation is required.

It's part of the guild rules that members need to cooperate; otherwise, who would obediently sit there and stare at the figurine?

Without cooperation, it's very hard for the artifact to take effect.

The cost isn't very high either—being mute for one minute per question.

"Yeah, put that way, it's indeed not very useful," Wu Heng said in agreement.

Sheila Grey speared a piece of meat and chewed on it, then continued, "This inspection actually has some benefits for us as well."

"How so?"

"Well, it's not much, but the fact that we passed this inspection will be noted in our files, and it will be helpful when we're promoted to Steward in the future," Sheila Grey said, glancing up at him. "Being appointed as a Steward isn't just about accumulating merits; character and passing inspections are very important parts as well."

That made sense.

If it were just about accumulating merits, Steward positions would be filled by people with high combat power.

That wouldn't be a good thing for many places.

It could easily lead to the formation of a guild-backed gang in some areas.

But that was just one aspect.

Human nature is hard to control.

For instance, former Blackstone Town Steward Yazde once orchestrated a plot just to prolong his life.

He killed people in Mining Village and nearly took over Wu Heng's body.

Even if someone passed the initial inspections, it's difficult to guarantee they wouldn't be influenced later by other factors.

Wu Heng looked at her, "Do you really want to be a Steward?"

"Don't you? Becoming a Steward means overseeing the guild, with a status second only to the City Lord. I don't believe anyone wouldn't want that position."

"If I say I don't want it, would you believe me?"

"No."

Wu Heng smiled and said nothing more.

He genuinely had no interest in being a Steward.

The position of Deputy Steward seemed to suit him just fine—he had almost no actual work, and if there was any, his assistant would handle it.

This gave him enough time to manage the zombie world.

"Why don't you find an assistant?"

Done talking about the inspection, Wu Heng changed the topic.

Sheila Grey replied, "No suitable candidates. I've written a letter back home, and someone should come over eventually."

"Yes, make sure to find someone trustworthy. Golden Island isn't a very safe place."

"I see you always have two followers with you—are you that scared of danger?" Sheila Grey glanced at the two figures standing by.

Unlike other professions, the combat power of a necromancer largely depends on their undead followers.

Magic and equipment came second.

"Jealous? Next time you kill a wanted criminal, I'll help you turn them into a skeleton. They could act as your guard."

Sheila Grey pouted, "Thanks, but I'm not comfortable with someone following me everywhere—especially the undead."

"You're still young. You don't know the benefits of having undead followers."

"I could be your grandmother."

"Hey! Why are you insulting me now!"

After eating for a while, they left the tavern together.

They walked back to the guild together.

......

Returning to the office.

Andviel was lying across the desk, grooming the little owl.

"Viel, did you eat?"

"I did." Andviel replied and asked, "Master, did the inspection go smoothly?"

"It went well, nothing to worry about," Wu Heng said.

"That's good."

Wu Heng sat down beside the desk and instructed, "The guild will be shuffling some personnel soon. Keep the skeletal followers with you at all times."

"Understood."

Andviel's skeletal follower was currently Bloodaxe, a level 14 beast warrior.

Tall and powerful, wielding a long-handled battle axe.

The original level 12 Fireblade had been assigned to Miss Pirate Filippa.

Wu Heng continued, "By the way, no one has notified you, but you also need to be inspected, right?"

"No, I haven't heard anything! Do I need to be?"

"I don't know. If you get notified for an inspection, don't go right away—let me know first."

"Okay, Master."

Wu Heng stayed and chatted with Andviel in the office for a bit before leaving directly.

He stepped out of the guild and looked around.

He headed straight across to the Snake Emblem Consortium.

......

Snake Emblem Consortium, VIP room.

The man in formal attire bowed, "Good afternoon, esteemed guest."

Wu Heng handed over his emblem, "Check on my request, any results?"

"Of course, guest."

The staff member bowed and exited the room.

Before long, he returned.

"Guest, we have collected one level 12 blacksmith's corpse, a level 13 drake's corpse, and the formation building 'Flame Furnace' for you."

Wu Heng raised his eyebrows.

Collecting two corpses wasn't particularly special.

After all, it had been some time since he was last here.

But the completion of the Flame Furnace was much sooner than expected.

He had ordered two formation buildings, the Flame Furnace and the Water Elemental Well.

One was a furnace for smelting metals, the other a well to condense water elements from the air to produce drinking water.

"Good, where are they?"

The staff took out a scented storage pouch, "Guest, both the corpses and the building are in here. How would you like to transport them?"

Wu Heng didn't have a storage space that large.

He said directly, "I'll borrow the pouch for now, and return it to you tomorrow."

The staff member replied, "Guest, I will arrange for someone to follow you back. Once you take everything out, you can hand the pouch back to us."

"That works."

The staff member continued, "Guest, you still need to pay 6,750 silver coins to complete this transaction."

"Fine." Wu Heng took out the required payment.

The staff collected the coins.

Aside from the pouch, they also handed Wu Heng a purple snakehead ticket.

"Guest, we will be holding our annual year-end auction on a cruise in half a month. If you have time, you are welcome to attend. We will have treasures, renowned weapons, and even rare artifacts for sale."

An auction?

This world even has those?

"Can anyone attend?"

"Of course not—only guests whose trade volume has reached a certain threshold are eligible. No more than thirty on Golden Island."

"Alright, I'll see if I have time."

Wu Heng took the pouch and left.

The Snake Emblem Consortium arranged for a staff member to follow him back home.

Back at his residence.

After telling Minnie something, Wu Heng directly traveled to the zombie world.

He arrived at a clearing and took out the corpses and the giant, rune-covered furnace. Then he returned to Golden Island to hand the pouch back to the staff.

After taking the pouch, the staff member bowed and left.

......

Returning to the zombie world.

Wu Heng looked at the two corpses in the clearing.

The blacksmith's body was kept in a coffin, while the drake's corpse was wrapped in a large grass mat.

He had the skeletons place both bodies to the side.

He cast [Raise Skeleton].

[Skeletal Blacksmith (Level 12)]

[Skeletal Wyvern (Level 13)]