Chapter 264: Chapter 245 I’m Smart Now Chapter 264: Chapter 245 I’m Smart Now Gloomy, oppressive, dangerous—these words were all used to describe the Gloomyland, but they weren’t quite accurate.

This was a space far more vast than the surface world, with its own unique ecosystem and rules. Among them, one rule was most important: when you see skeletal remains and black roses, you must crawl on the ground. Being as humble as an ant might just keep you alive.

Don’t even think of running away. The black roses will catch up to you and turn you into one of the skeletal remains.

Just recently, however, someone has been defying the authority of the skeletal remains and the roses.

It’s rare to see large, flat natural spaces in the Gloomyland; many tribes live in maze-like passageways, existing much like burrowing rats.

Only those large forces with numerous people can transform the underground spaces in various ways, constructing huge buildings that allow a large population to proliferate.

Outside of these forces, it’s a terrifying world where the law of the jungle prevails.

A team emblazoned with insignias of the skeletal remains and black roses were navigating along the winding subterranean passages. They were a mining convoy, which processed the ores extracted from the veins on the spot, and then transported them to Mercury City to be forged into metal ingots.

Mining products had always been the specialty of the Gloomyland, but the master of Mercury City was turning the ores into her own specialty.

Dozens of rotting zombies were dragging a huge cart slowly along, iron chains directly penetrated their bodies, hooked onto their spines, making them look a lot like beasts of burden.

From their clothing and the parts of their faces that were not completely rotted away, it seemed these zombies had been transformed from Drow Elves.

Not only were there ores on the mining cart, but also two zombies clad in leather armor, wielding long whips, looking much like Subterranean Dwarves. Once the Subterranean Dwarves had been slaves to the Drow Elves, yet in death, it had become the opposite.

As these zombies were pulling the cart to a junction, two large shadows suddenly fell from above the passageway.

Furry long legs descended, piercing the bodies of the Drow zombies pulling the cart.

Those were two spiders almost as large as the mining carts, but where their heads should be, there was a Drow Elf torso instead.

Spider-transformed Drow, these were monsters born after Drow Elves underwent a vicious ritual, merging with spiders.

These monsters not only inherited the agility of Elves, but also many characteristics of giant spiders. Just now, these two creatures had been lying in ambush on the ceiling of the passageway, waiting for the cart to pass before they pounced.

With a clear intention, after trampling a few Drow zombies to death, the Spider-transformed Drow swung the curved blades in their hands towards the dwarf zombies.

These Spider-transformed Drow, possessing Elf torsos, wielded their curved blades exquisitely, slicing the dwarf zombies on the mining cart into pieces in the blink of an eye.

After killing all the zombies escorting the ores, the Spider-transformed Drow swung their weapons to damage the cart’s wheels.

With that, even if the Undead from Mercury City hurried over, they would only be able to move the cart away and clear the passage after several hours.

Attacks like this had been ongoing for several days.

The output of metal ingots from Mercury City had been severely affected, with daily production dropping by at least fifteen percent.

This was the Drow Elves’ counterattack. Although no one knew why this group of dark-skinned beings had suddenly mustered the courage to resist, nor where they got so many Spider-transformed Drow.

In any case, this group of Drow Elves, appearing and disappearing unpredictably, had already caused Mercury City a lot of trouble.

But this time, the situation was a bit different.

The moment the cart was damaged, it seemed to trigger some kind of magic trap. A brilliant azure light flashed, and a Death Knight clad in black heavy armor appeared before the Spider-transformed Drow.

“A Death Knight?!”

The two Spider-transformed Drow did not panic. Had it been a group of Death Knights, they would have certainly turned and fled, but one was nothing to worry about.

In previous harassments, they had encountered Death Knights from Mercury City; their combat prowess was only so-so.

Malice and cruelty were the nature of Drow Elves, traits which were immensely amplified after transforming into Spider-transformed Drow. Having confirmed there was only one Death Knight as backup, the two creatures lunged at the Death Knight.

Venom and spider-webs were shot from both sides, nearly covering any space available for evasion.

The venom of the Spider-transformed Drow had an intense corrosive property capable of cleaning away the Death Knight’s armor, while the webs were incredibly sticky, able to completely bind the Death Knight’s body.

Then, they just needed to behead the Death Knight to utterly destroy this High-order Undead.

They had used this ability to kill several Death Knights before, working together quite skillfully.

But this time, their usual tactics completely failed.

The venom fell on the black heavy armor but did not sizzle; it merely slid to the ground, and the armor was unharmed.

The flying white sticky threads were blocked by a spear, which, with a spin, tangled the threads into a clump.

Before the two Spider-transformed Elves could recover from the shock, the spear entwined with spider silk had already struck the head of one of them.

Despite being cushioned by a thick layer of spider silk, the blow still managed to break the Spider-transformed Elf’s neck, flinging its massive body sideways, rolling and then heavily crashing into the walls of the passage.

The Spider-transformed Drow with the broken neck convulsed wildly, its eight spider legs scraping across the ground, producing sparks that illuminated the dim underground tunnel.

The black rose on the Death Knight’s chest revealed itself in the light of the flames, as did her pair of shining, different-colored eyes.

This Death Knight’s left eye was the pale blue commonly seen in the Undead, the glow of the Soul Fire, but her right eye was a fierce orange, as if it were constantly burning.

The remaining Spider-transformed Drow knew it was in deep trouble. This Death Knight was no ordinary foe. It decisively abandoned its half-dead companion and scuttled backwards rapidly.

With flexibility far surpassing that of humans, the Spider-transformed Drow’s retreat was as fast as a full-on run, instantly creating a distance of over ten meters and blending completely into the shadows.

Upon reaching total darkness, the Spider-transformed Drow melted into the shadows like dissolving, then sprinted rapidly into the distance.

The Death Knight looked into the depths of darkness with her orange eye, within which the retreating Spider-transformed Drow appeared as a shadow continuously moving outward.

“Mother was right, this eye of mine can see everything.”

Merely days after being born, Melina was entrusted with an important mission by the Rose Queen, to capture the puppeteer behind these Spider-transformed Drows, and to completely resolve the recent trouble in Mercury City.

Although Melina lacked combat experience, her body and soul had been meticulously adjusted and created.

Her right eye could see through all that was hidden, she was wearing the finest magical armor, and she had a special mount grown from the Whispering Tree.

Just these three things combined were more than enough to crush these Spider-transformed Drows.

Not to mention, Melina’s body was crafted from the remains of three Legendary Orcs, her strength and agility far exceeding the standards of a Death Knight.

Given time, she might be able to have an evenly-matched contest with the Headless Knight Gareth.

The Melina of now was still naive, and this puppet master was her trial.

Melina was extremely grateful to the mother who gave her life and decided to complete this mission flawlessly.

After the Spider-transformed Drow had fled into the distance, Melina summoned her mount and chased after it.

Melina had intentionally let the monster escape. As long as she followed it, she should be able to find the mastermind behind the scenes, right?

“I’m so smart!” Melina exclaimed with joy.

However, after following it for dozens of kilometers through the labyrinthine underground passages, Melina entered a spacious cavern. Just as she did, dozens of Spider-transformed Drows dropped from above, surrounding her completely.

The previously fleeing Spider-transformed Drow said triumphantly, “Hahaha, did you think I didn’t know you were following me?!”

Melina’s eyes widened in shock; her supposedly flawless plan had been discovered?

With a loud voice, Melina asked, “How did you find out? I was so far away!”

The Spider-transformed Drow mocked, “Idiot, don’t you know how far the sound of your horse’s hooves can carry? We’re underground, where sound can travel for miles!”

Melina said excitedly, “I’m not an idiot! I’m really smart!”

Thinking it had the upper hand, the Spider-transformed Drow continued to mock her, “Hahaha, such an idiot, as naive as a newborn baby.”

The other Spider-transformed Drows joined in the cruel laughter, delighting in trampling other’s dignity.

However, while they were laughing crazily, a black whirlwind suddenly appeared, slamming into the crowd of Spider-transformed Drows.

It was Melina, urging her mount to charge at the group of Spider-transformed Drows.

Their bulky lower halves, like bags full of water, were pierced by Melina’s lance one after another, bursting open and sending severed limbs and parts scattering. A single charge killed over a dozen Spider-transformed Drows.

The other Spider-transformed Drows tried to spit their webs to trap Melina but to their horror, they found that the webs fell powerlessly to the ground after flying just a short distance.

Some Spider-transformed Drows exclaimed loudly, “The web magic is ineffective, what’s going on!”

The ability of the Spider-transformed Drows to spit webs was half physiological instinct and half magical assistance, ensuring that the webs precisely hit their intended target.

But the Spider-transformed Drows suddenly found that the magic within them was imprisoned, completely unable to cast spells, their web-spraying as weak and faltering as the unspeakable ailments of some middle-aged men.

It wasn’t just the web magic; the Spider-transformed Drows found they couldn’t even run away. The spell that allowed them to meld into shadows was also blocked, no longer castable.

Only when the last Spider-transformed Drow was pierced by Melina’s lance did it recognize her mount, that unique blue glow the hallmark of the Whispering Tree.

“How could a Death Knight use a whispering tree for a mount?”

Melina wouldn’t provide any answer, shaking her lance and sending chunks of the Spider-transformed Drow splattering into dozens of bloody pieces.

Looking at the scattered remains, Melina wanted to smile in satisfaction but then realized, “Oh no, there isn’t a single intact body. I can’t speak with the dead now. How am I supposed to find the mastermind?”

For the first time, Melina started to doubt her own intelligence. Could she actually be an idiot?