"Forget it, what would I do with so many Resentful Spirits."
Wayne hadn’t recruited new employees for a long time; the last hiring was just that, during which The Book of Greed had suggested several other promising talents to Lundan, all of which he had ignored.
Indeed, Resentful Spirits could bring Wayne new talents, such as Ah Bin’s super olfaction, Supernatural Sensing, and Ah Bo’s Super Vision, all of which were extremely practical abilities.
Moreover, both Ah Bin and Ah Bo had their own areas of expertise, one controlling dense fog, the other manipulating river water. As Wayne’s strength increased, The Book of Greed continued to enhance, the abilities of the two Resentful Spirits also strengthened along with it.
But, Wayne’s own progression was too fast, he felt that the Resentful Spirits were hard-pressed to keep up with his pace, and those talents weren’t as useful as digging into his own potential.
Plus, both veteran employees had the Earthbound Spirit attribute; dying in Lundan meant they took root in Lundan. If Wayne ever wanted new Resentful Spirits, he wouldn’t recruit in the Misty Hidden Forest.
The location was unclear, very likely to be some kind of alternate space controlled by the Naturalism Church Headquarters.
Recruiting in the Misty Hidden Forest was too low in cost-effectiveness; by contrast, local Lundan people were better, ready at a moment’s notice, without taking extended leaves of absence.
However, having come all this way, Wayne still decided to see what these Resentful Spirits were made of.
He delved into The Book of Greed, turned to the page where the Resentful Spirits were listed, and looked over the photos of contractible Resentful Spirits one by one.
Soon, Wayne’s expression turned strange.
These Resentful Spirits...
Similar in age to Veronica, their bodies had decayed into sludge, their minds and souls imprisoned by dark Death, becoming a kind of special spiritual body.
Like Drifting Ghosts, with semi-transparent spectral bodies, either decapitated or missing limbs, each one wearing an expression of tragic death that made one’s scalp tingle just by looking at them.
The Resentful Spirits received the invitations from The Book of Greed, and they actively responded to the chance to live once more.
The semi-transparent spectral figures shimmered, drifting pure and flawless, casting off the makeup of a horror movie set, dressing up in outfits from "The Princess Diaries."
Wayne counted them one by one, twelve Resentful Spirits, each one with a remarkable appearance before death, very much like...
Holy Maiden candidates.
"Holy Maiden trials shouldn’t result in death, shouldn’t they? I’ve never heard the teacher mention..."
Wayne muttered to himself, then closed The Book of Greed without making any contracts.
The Resentful Spirits didn’t get a response, their resentment grew heavier, and they returned to the midnight horror film set once again.
Upon first entering the Misty Hidden Forest, Wayne felt awful; these tragically dead Holy Maiden candidates confirmed the filth of Church headquarters, their strong resentment revealing they must have gone through terrible suffering before dying.
For a moment, Wayne couldn’t help but feel a wave of compassion, almost impulsively signing on twelve employees in one swoop.
Alas, it was not to be, too far from Lundan.
Wayne felt regret, about to turn the page when his peripheral vision caught Veronica beside him.
Also a Holy Maiden candidate, yet so vastly different from the others, with him, her good big brother around, Veronica certainly wouldn’t end up dead in a foreign land.
Because of Veronica, Wayne felt sympathy for the twelve Resentful Spirits again, hesitated for a while, and ultimately, his conscience couldn’t bear it, deciding to inquire with Saina after passing the trial.
If possible, include the Misty Hidden Forest in the cooperation clause.
"Ah, I’m just too kind-hearted..." Wayne sighed and quickened his pace, moving forward.
Veronica tilted her head, following behind Wayne, suspecting that dealing with society’s trash and bad women had put him under so much pressure that it’s led to his incessant mumbling over the past few days.
Should she reward him a little more?
In one corner of the forest, several large trees snapped in succession, the dense fog pushed aside by the blast of air, leaving a brief vacuum in the area.
Alex crossed his arms in front of his chest, stepped back repeatedly to just steadying his balance, and looked at his sister Dusa beside him, her eyes emitting a wisp of murderous intent amidst her despondent look.
The siblings were unlucky; after entering the Misty Hidden Forest, they failed to meet their century-old ally Windsor right away.
They landed between the villas of candidates from the Iberia and Greece divisions, and to make matters worse, these four Holy Maiden candidates had formed an alliance.
Two against four, they found themselves at a disadvantage right from the start.
Eight candidates had been set up in the Misty Hidden Forest, and Alex and his sister arrived right at their competitors’ doorstep, making their luck terribly bad.
Before they could even prepare, the siblings’ villa number 8 was forcefully demolished.
The two candidates from the Iberia division were females, one male and one female from the Greece division, outwardly sisters and siblings; whether which one was the candidate and which was the bodyguard, Dusa was still observing.
All four candidates were good-looking; even the confirmed male bodyguard had a face that was not inferior to Alex’s, a standard handsome man.
If it were two against two, Alex wouldn’t fear the opponents across from him; but at two against four, with the opponent outnumbering them, even with determination, he could do nothing.
Dusa sent her brother a look.
Stall until their allies with a hundred years of friendship arrive.
Five minutes later, on a chaotic battlefield, four against two stood clearly apart.
Both sides were covered in dirt.
Even with numerical superiority, the four candidates from Iberia and Greece only maintained an upper hand, not an outright crushing advantage, indicating the decline in talent of the two divisions, no longer the glory of former days.
Of course, it could also be said that the Frank division remained strong, weathering storms unfalteringly.
Alex gasped for breath, his gaze questioning his sister about revealing their trump card; Dusa shook her head slightly, now wasn’t the time, just wait a bit longer.