Chapter 273: Chapter 254: The Divine Artifact of the Rose Spider Queen Chapter 273: Chapter 254: The Divine Artifact of the Rose Spider Queen Amberser never worried about not being able to find those rebellious Drow.

Since these subterranean elves were plotting a rebellion, they naturally wouldn’t take their eyes off the movements of Withered Rose.

The explosion earlier must have rocked this Gloomyland to its very core.

At the very least, anyone with a bit of sense would surely send someone to investigate what had happened.

Amberser and Melina leading such a large group of escaped slaves was certainly the prime focus of their surveillance since they wanted to gather intelligence from these slaves.

Therefore, waiting passively was the best method.

When Melina spotted the spider-transformed Drow lurking in the shadows, Amberser also sensed someone spying on him.

“Father, they have come. Should we flush them out of the shadows?” Melina asked.

Amberser didn’t answer but instead asked, “What do you think?”

Melina immediately fell silent, knowing that this was Amberser’s way of testing her, urging her to think for herself.

If they didn’t capture these spider-transformed Drow, wouldn’t they have to continue performing under the enemy’s watchful eye? And who knew how long that would last. If they captured this spider-transformed Drow, would that not alert the mastermind behind the scenes and deter further contact?

These two choices tugged at Melina’s mind, leaving her unable to determine which was better.

Amberser offered no hints, waiting until she had thought for several minutes before saying, “Do you still see that spider-transformed Drow?”

Melina pretended to glance nonchalantly into the distant darkness and then replied, “It’s still there.”

“So, after thinking for so long, has the situation worsened?”

Melina quickly realized and asked, “Father, do you mean that as long as things haven’t gotten worse, we should continue?”

Only then did Amberser offer guidance, “When faced with a dilemma, choose the option that surely won’t worsen things. If you hesitate, it means you don’t have enough determination to take the risk, so don’t take it.”

This was a lesson Amberser had learned during his days as an adventurer.

Young people always hesitate when facing opportunities, longing for greater rewards but fearing the potential adverse outcomes.

Amberser didn’t know how many times he had suffered before realizing that if he couldn’t venture forth without hesitation, any failure would be accompanied by complaints, leading to a vicious cycle.

So rather than taking risks, it’s better to be thoroughly prepared for the next opportunity and then gamble decisively without hesitation.

Melina understood Amberser’s point and resolutely chose to pretend she didn’t see anything.

After a while, the spying spider-transformed Drow disappeared. Melina was somewhat anxious, fearing she had given herself away, but Amberser continued to reassure her, telling her to do what she was supposed to do.

Melina was now the leader of the tribe, and her subordinates comprised several different races. It was one thing to be mixed during the escape, but now that they had settled down, many problems had come to light.

The Drow Elves sought to completely dominate the tribe, the Fungus Folk did not want to lose their homeland, and the few Subterranean Dwarves and Dwarves just thought about fleeing. They were well aware that living under the Drow was no different from living under the Undead, and in some aspects, the Undead might even be preferable, since the Undead wouldn’t kill a slave for fun, but the Drow would.

Haven’t they already gained their freedom? Why not take the chance to escape now?

Now was the time to test Melina’s leadership.

And Melina wasn’t doing well; she had no way to balance the conflicts between the various races, only relying on brute force to suppress all dissenting voices. This approach was bound to lead to problems sooner or later.

However, it didn’t matter much, as they weren’t here to farm; they just needed to keep the tribe together for a short period. Amberser believed it wouldn’t take many days before those rebellious elves would come to Melina to discuss cooperation.

As for the opposition, they were less patient than Amberser had anticipated, not even requiring a few days. Less than half a day had passed, and a spider-transformed Drow appeared on the outskirts of this Fungus Folk Tribe.

The huge spider body of the spider-transformed Drow made everyone tremble with fear, ugly, massive, and laden with danger, an oppressive presence for escaping slaves.

This time, Melina didn’t need Amberser’s reminder; she went straight up to confront the spider-transformed Drow.

The spider-transformed Drow, with a row of eyes on its forehead, stared at Melina and said, “Heh, you have more courage than I imagined. A Drow, enslaved by the Undead for so long, yet still retains this amount of pride; truly rare.”

Melina crossed her arms and said disdainfully, “A sacrifice so worthless, speaking to me with that tone, have you forgotten the teachings of the Rose Spider Queen?”

Spider-transformed Drow were all male because the transformation ritual was extremely cruel and the risks were very high. Female Drow would never willingly take such a risk.

The command of the Rose Spider Queen did not care about which faction the Drow belonged to, if one was of this race, they had to abide by this rule. Therefore, after Melina so forcefully expressed her discontent, the expression of this Spider-transformed Drow became a bit ugly.

However, the Spider-transformed Drow did not immediately prostrate and knock his head on the ground, instead, he retorted, “I am here to talk to you on behalf of our mother. I represent the dignity of my mistress, don’t think about pressing me with rules. Besides, you Drow who are raised by the Undead, can you still hear the voice of the Spider Queen?”

Though he said this, his tone was no longer as arrogant as before.

Melina also noticed the change in his tone, outwardly maintaining a stern and arrogant demeanor, but inwardly she was already eager to find the hidden hand behind this Spider-transformed Drow.

“Out of consideration for an unknown kinsman, I won’t take issue with the matter of courtesy with you. What exactly have you come to find me for?”

Not daring to waste more time, the Spider-transformed Drow said directly, “My mistress is launching a counterattack against the Undead and needs to gather all the forces. You are a slave who has escaped from the castle of the Undead, aren’t you? Join us, and together we will retake our Drow domain—Gloomyland!”

Melina was about to agree immediately, but Amberser hurriedly reminded her, “You’re a slave who has just escaped to freedom. Even if they are of the same race, don’t you know what kind of deeds the Drow are capable of? Conspiracy, betrayal, these are the Drow’s favorite strategies, every Drow is a conspiracist, they won’t agree so readily.”

Melina realized she was mistaken again, luckily she had her father there to guide her.

Struggling to think for a moment, Melina then said, “Counterattack? I get it, it’s those ambushes on the mineral transport convoys you all carried out before, right? But I’ve heard that you’ve suffered heavy losses lately. With such strength, how can you confront the Rose Queen?”

Amberser’s fingers trembled, the girl was still not detail-oriented enough. Which escaped Drow would continue to refer to Withered Rose as the queen?

However, that Spider-transformed Drow seemed not to have much intelligence either and didn’t notice anything wrong with the detail, explaining directly, “That was just part of the plan. That Death Knight, stupid as a Goblin, thinks she’s been winning all along, but in fact, she’s been losing miserably. As soon as our plan is set in motion, she will stumble into our trap like an idiot.”

“Heh, I’ve seen plenty of Undead, but even those skeletons without any intelligence aren’t easily fooled. Killing that Death Knight will be the signal for our final counteroffensive, and that idiot’s flesh and blood will become our offering… Hm? What’s that noise?”

It was the sound of joints cracking from clenching the fists too hard.

Melina’s fist was already clenched tightly, and she nearly couldn’t restrain herself from exploding that Spider-transformed Drow with a punch.

Amberser understood why the girl was depressed, if she had to endure such comments every day, that pressure was indeed substantial.

But now it was up to Melina’s own performance.

A child only a few days old, could she bear such direct insults?

Melina angrily smashed her fist against a nearby stalagmite. With one punch, she shattered the column that was thicker than her waist, startling the Spider-transformed Drow.

Just when Amberser thought Melina could no longer hold back and was about to act directly, Melina gritted her teeth and said, “That Death Knight you’re talking about is the daughter of the Rose Queen. Indeed, she’s an idiot. It’s because of her stupidity that I am in my current plight!”

Amberser suddenly felt a sense of comforting maturity from her, the child had grown. Her lies were quite natural; if she could just improve the details of her wording, they would be perfect.

The Spider-transformed Drow, looking at the shattered column, saw his originally gray-black face turn pale instantaneously. It was fortunate he hadn’t further offended this kinsman, or else a punch like that landing on him would have exploded him.

The Spider-transformed Drow hurriedly said, “So you also have a grudge against that idiot; that’s really great. Join us. With your abilities, you will certainly gain the favor of my mistress, and she will surely support you in building your own tribe!”

Melina, however, sneered, “You’ve been talking for a long time but have said nothing concrete. I still don’t know what your so-called plan is. For all I know, you could be luring us to be cannon fodder.”

The Spider-transformed Drow shook his head, “How could that be? In this battle, every comrade is precious; we are not like the Undead, we don’t have the ability to increase in number the more we are attacked.”

Melina shouted, “Enough with the nonsense! Tell me your plan!”

The Spider-transformed Drow hesitated for a moment, then said, “I cannot tell you the whole truth, but I can reveal a bit. This is the oracle of the Spider Queen; she has bestowed upon my mistress a Divine Artifact capable of destroying all the Undead!”

“A Divine Artifact?”

Melina was greatly surprised and immediately asked Amberser, “Father, they have a Divine Artifact! What should we do?!”

Melina, though only born a few days ago, had been imbued with considerable knowledge by Amberser during the soul-weaving process, such as language, writing, and some basic history. She didn’t understand much about the Rose Spider Queen, but she knew a Divine Artifact was a formidable thing.

Amberser was startled as well, for a Divine Artifact bestowed by a Deity was not something to be taken lightly.

But after thinking it over, it seemed unlikely. A Divine Artifact that could destroy an entire nation wouldn’t be granted unless the Rose Spider Queen was tired of living and was looking for a slap from Aeo. Don’t think that the Elven Gods, alien as they are, are outside Aeo’s jurisdiction here.

If it were that convenient, the Lord of the Dawn could just toss a hammer down, and Laine would unify the continent already; the other kingdoms wouldn’t stand a chance.

The Divine Artifact might be real, but its power surely wouldn’t be so exaggerated.

However, a Divine Artifact is still a Divine Artifact, and that thing is worth a lot!

Amberser directly said to Melina, “My daughter, plans have changed. We must capture the hidden hand, and that Divine Artifact, we must have it too!”