Chapter 146 Joining Forces

A moment later, three undamaged white loaves of bread were sent back by the goblin, Kabi.

However, Kabi did not look happy at all!

To be honest, nobody would look pleased if, while hiding in a secret room and joyfully appreciating their collection of treasures, they were suddenly struck on the head by two loaves of white bread. To make matters worse, the final straw was a small, delicate female hand that materialized out of nowhere right in front of its face and tossed a white loaf directly at it.

No body, no arms, just a fair and tender female hand floating in the empty void... Such a terrifying spectacle nearly scared Kabi out of its wits. Had it not quickly received its master's telepathic message, it would have undoubtedly thought it was being haunted by some vicious female ghost!

Taking up the three loaves of bread one by one, Greem relied on the chip's precise scanning and perspective functions to verify their integrity once more. The previous spatial teleportation had neither altered their material properties nor disrupted their physical structure.

Greem pushed the white bread into Alice's hands once again and smiled. "This time, try delivering the bread directly into my hand!"

The moment he finished speaking, surging flames erupted across Greem's entire body, and a hazy high-temperature force field instantly enveloped him. Through the arduous training and constant companionship of this past period, Greem had gained complete control over his elemental flames.

Even with the flames spreading all over his body like this, they would no longer damage the wooden chair beneath him or the books surrounding him. However, the clothes he wore would still inevitably be incinerated if they were not protected by wizardry power.

A look of disdain appeared on Alice's cute, slightly chubby face as she said with displeasure, "Do you really think my spatial teleportation is omnipotent? If my spatial teleportation could even penetrate your elemental defense, do you think you could have defeated me?"

"You can try your best and let me see what kind of effect we can achieve!" Greem encouraged, extending his right hand, which was wreathed and steaming with fire.

Seen from a distance, that layer of flames seemed to be burning directly against Greem's skin. However, upon close and careful inspection, one would notice a bright red elemental film tightly and seamlessly clinging to the surface of Greem's skin, isolating it from the elemental flames.

This was the product formed by the combination of the Flame Body and the high-temperature force field!

If one day Greem could advance to become a full-fledged wizard and completely elementalize his mental power as well, that film would completely disappear, turning him into an acquired elemental lifeform. By then, even if his vitality could not rival that of true elemental lifeforms which possessed no end, it would still be long enough for him to leisurely explore this endless multiverse!

Right under Greem's watchful gaze, ripples formed in the void near his flame-wreathed right hand. Alice's bread, traveling through space, clearly could not penetrate that dense and resilient high-temperature force field and was forcefully squeezed out of the spatial interlayer by the energy membrane of the force field.

Once it lost the protection of spatial power, the white bread turned to ashes the moment it touched the protective flames.

Later on, Greem successively withdrew his flame protection and high-temperature force field, but unfortunately, Alice was still unable to teleport objects directly into his hand. While this left him somewhat disappointed, it was also within reason. If Alice's spatial teleportation could casually penetrate a target's elemental protection, then across the vast world, what kind of opponent of the same rank could possibly stand against her?

She could easily teleport a vial of explosive potion directly into an opponent's heart, or stuff a bursting fireball right into an enemy's belly... Just thinking about such a scenario sent chills down one's spine!

After trying repeatedly without success, Alice finally grew impatient. "What on earth do you want me to do? Just passing things back and forth like this?"

"I simply need you, at certain special moments, to be able to pass things I require directly into my hand!" Greem once again expanded the high-temperature force field, enveloping both himself and Alice within it, before speaking of his purpose with utmost seriousness and gravity.

Alice glanced around her, looking at the barrier clearly meant to prevent outsiders from prying and eavesdropping, and nodded silently as if she understood something. But the next second, she placed her hands on her hips with disdain and said, "Why should I listen to you and do something that is utterly impossible? Don't expect me to help you out without any benefits!"

Greem smiled slightly, flipped his hand, and an elemental crystal core emanating intense elemental fluctuations appeared in his palm. Looking at its dazzling exterior, its crystal-clear texture, and sensing its tide-like elemental rhythm... Alice could not help but swallow a mouthful of saliva.

It was that wizard-grade crystal core! This was the true form of the terrifying lava monster that had defeated her! Yet looking at it now, not only did it fail to evoke the slightest sense of fear, but it also faintly radiated a trace of exquisite beauty and perfection!

"Are you going to give this to me?" At this moment, Alice's breathing almost stopped. Her eyes widened into saucers as she held her breath, waiting in suspense for Greem's answer.

"Of course I can't give it to you right now!" Greem replied in an annoyed tone. "However, if you can manage to teleport anything into my hand at will within a month, you can temporarily possess it!"

Hearing Greem's response, Alice looked disappointed for a moment, but then her face lit up with vigor once again.

"Is that a promise? Rest assured, as long as I put in more effort and practice, I will definitely be able to do it. But I need to inspect this treasure of yours first—let me play with it for the entire evening tonight!"

After a brief hesitation, Greem finally nodded and agreed. However, as he placed the Flame Lord puppet core into Alice's outstretched little hand, he solemnly warned, "You may take it to admire, but you must not damage its core body. And when you take it out, you must remember to maintain your defenses!"

At this point, Greem intentionally pointed a finger at the ceiling, and Alice nodded knowingly.

This was the Swamp Tower, and moreover, it was inside Greem's personal residence. He even had to rely on his own elemental defense to mask his voice instead of considering the tower's own magical wardings. This alone spoke volumes!

From this, it was clear that the relationship between Greem and the resident wizard of the Swamp Tower was not only far from harmonious, but had even reached the point of direct confrontation. Considering that her life was now bound to Greem, Alice had no choice but to start thinking on behalf of this small group.

Although Greem had not stated it explicitly, Alice could sense it. The request he made was extremely important to him—so much so that it was enough to impact his life and future!

Hmph, I'll help him out for now! Otherwise, if he dies, I'll have to be buried along with him. Besides, the request he made sounded quite fun. If it could really be integrated into her own attack methods, it might turn out to be a significant breakthrough.

Carrying faint daydreams, Alice casually stuffed the puppet core into an open spatial void and turned to leave Greem's quarters.

Compared to Greem, Alice never needed magical equipment like pouches or storage belts. She only needed to carve out a closed space bearing her own consciousness imprint within some safe alternate dimension, where she could store her personal belongings. However, with her quasi-wizard level mental power, this closed space was at most about five meters in size.

After Alice left, the room was left with only Greem, yet he still did not retract the high-temperature force field.

At that exact moment, a hoarse and low voice suddenly emanated from his body.

"Is this your plan? It doesn't look like much! Are you sure this can fool that Anderson?"

The fabric at Greem's chest writhed for a moment, and a black beetle the size of a fingernail crawled out from within, resting motionless on his shoulder. The voice from just now had come from the beetle.

"Hmph, Entique, what use is it for you to say these sarcastic remarks now? If you weren't at the end of your tether, would you have come to me for help?" Greem retorted coldly.

"Hehehe, this is merely mutual benefit!" The beetle that Greem called Entique vibrated its elytra, producing a sound akin to an insect's hiss. "Can't you tell from the information I gave you? That Anderson is not only coveting me and Mary, but has recently set his sights on you and this little girl as well. If we don't take action soon, I'm afraid we really are going to be wiped out in one go by that Anderson and become the foundation stones for someone else's flesh and blood sacrifice!"

Greem fell silent!

On this point, Entique had assessed the situation quite accurately. Synthesizing all the current intelligence, that Anderson truly was a crazed wizard who devoured people without leaving a bone. In order to enhance his own strength, he was already arranging a terrifying flesh and blood ritual.

Once the other party completed preparations, this Swamp Tower would likely instantly turn into a tomb, and none of the wizard apprentices residing here would be able to escape the fate of becoming sacrifices. Low-level apprentices might merely serve as the firewood to heat the cauldron, but quasi-wizards and advanced apprentices like them were the main ingredients of this flesh and blood ritual.

At a time like this, any attempt to stay out of it and protect oneself was sheer foolishness!

Perhaps it was seeing through this very fact that had emboldened the evil insect Entique to lodge its remaining primary consciousness inside this beetle and seek out Greem to discuss a joint alliance.

As for fleeing the Swamp Tower and never looking back, Greem had never entertained such a thought.

This was the Wizard Continent, where almost all human-inhabited regions were under the strict control of wizards. If Greem wanted to flee without a fight, Wizard Anderson simply needed to pull a few strings and designate them as fugitive apprentices. By then, no matter how high the sky or how vast the earth, there would be no place left for them to hide!

This could be gleaned to some extent from the fallen wizards and fallen apprentices of the Gloomy Crypts.

Thus, faced with this evil insect Entique who had come seeking him alone, Greem could only grit his teeth against the disgust in his heart and reach a preliminary strategic cooperation with him!

To unite and jointly fight against that terrifying Anderson!