This Lich is a Better Landlord Chapter 83

Ambrose didn't want to fight James Watson right now.

An entire intact Paladin Legion... even with Withered Rose's help, this battle would be earth-shattering and wouldn't be decided for three to five days.

Not being able to win was one thing; pointlessness was another. Fighting these paladins was a purely losing proposition.

"The Ryan Empire has sent an entire Paladin Legion. A direct confrontation does us no good. Let's hide in the sewers first."

Ambrose's suggestion was reasonable, logical, and the choice that maximized benefits.

However, Withered Rose said, "Since they seek death, how can I avoid battle?"

Ambrose's soul fire jumped. Words of persuasion came to his mouth but were ultimately swallowed back down.

When the religious maniacs of the Ryan Empire saw undead, they howled and charged. Withered Rose was, in her own way, another kind of maniac. When facing the Ryan Empire, this Undead Queen would also lose her reason.

Ambrose suddenly asked Gary Watts, "President, how many Automatons are left in the City of Alchemy? Can you control all of them?"

Gary Watts said, "Originally, for safety reasons, a unified controller wasn't designed during manufacturing. But if needed, I can make a master controller."

"Make it now?" Ambrose asked in surprise.

Gary Watts said confidently, "Yes. Making it now won't take much time."

Ambrose quickly said, "Then start. Hand over the control rights of all Automatons to Lady Rose, and I will help you fulfill your dream."

"Deal."

Gary Watts agreed almost without hesitation.

Withered Rose looked at Ambrose in surprise and asked, "You want to give the Automatons of the entire City of Alchemy to me?"

Ambrose nodded. "Consider it the hiring fee for asking your help this time. We still have big business to discuss in the future; I can't let you suffer any damage."

Withered Rose looked at Ambrose, smiled, and said, "You forget, I am a Lich, and... never mind, I understand what you mean."

Ambrose: ???

Understand what?

Ambrose really just didn't want anything to happen to this major client. A Lich wouldn't die as long as their phylactery wasn't shattered, but if this body was damaged, would it affect Withered Rose's rule in the Underdark? If this rich lady's power was affected, the cooperation might fall through.

It was just that looking at Withered Rose's expression, she seemed to have understood something else.

But there was no time to chat further. Gary Watts had already created the controller while the two were talking.

This thing was extremely simple to operate. One only needed to hold this controller to issue commands via voice, and it would synchronize directly to all Automatons in the City of Alchemy.

This wretched old man, who knew how many backdoors he had left in the Automatons?

Withered Rose gave Ambrose a meaningful look, then led her guards down the high tower.

Only then did Ambrose say to Gary Watts, "Let's go. We're going to the sewers now to help you grant your wish."

Gary Watts was about to bring the unconscious Naomi along, but Ambrose said, "No need. You won't use this girl. Bringing her is just a waste of time."

"She is the most important part of the experiment. My soul is not enough to ascend to the god level," Gary Watts said in a serious tone.

"I said I could help you. Don't forget, when it comes to understanding the soul, I am the true expert."

Ambrose's words made Gary Watts hesitate for a moment.

Reason told him that following his own plan was the safest bet. But for some unknown reason, looking back at the unconscious Naomi, Gary Watts suddenly felt a sense of unbearable reluctance.

Humanity had not yet completely faded from his soul, so he pitied Naomi, this child.

But precisely because of this humanity, he needed to sacrifice Naomi to exchange for the transformation of his soul.

Before, Gary Watts had no choice, so he convinced himself that Naomi had to die. But now that Ambrose proposed a second possibility, the humanity Gary Watts had been suppressing seemed to find a pivot point, beginning to influence his supposedly absolutely rational soul.

Gary Watts felt like he was about to split into two personalities.

Gary Watts's semi-transparent body began to flicker constantly, taking a long while to calm down.

"You... you almost destroyed my will." Gary Watts finally showed an emotion of anger. With a twisted face, he said to Ambrose, "What you say had better be true."

"Of course. I wouldn't give up an artifact for a Druid girl. Let's go; we don't have much time."

Gary Watts reopened the sealed window. Ambrose cast *Fly* on himself, and the two floated out the window, flying toward the sewers at maximum speed.

Just as the two left the high tower, Withered Rose's army engaged James Watson's Paladin Legion.

Judging from the scene alone, Withered Rose's undead troops were at a disadvantage.

On one side was a well-trained Paladin Legion, with Holy Light naturally countering the undead. On the other side, the main force was outside the city; she only had a small number of Death Knights and a pile of freshly refined small zombies around her. Indeed, they were no match.

However, Withered Rose's troops had the advantage in numbers and could hold on for the time being.

Ambrose glanced back with some worry but didn't dare to linger. The sooner he finished here, the safer Withered Rose would be.

The two flew all the way, quickly entering the sewers.

At this time, the *Wish* ritual had been fully activated, and the environment of the sewers had become bizarre.

Gary Watts saw Ambrose stop and quickly urged, "Let's go. The core of the ritual magic circle is not far ahead. Don't waste time here."

Having recovered some humanity, he had now become very emotional, his tone of voice turning anxious and rough.

Ambrose said, "What's the use of going to the core now? To complete this ritual, the transformation of your soul is key. I'm going to solve this problem for you right now."

Hearing this, Gary Watts said mockingly, "Now? Here? I spent so many years of painstaking effort to develop this ritual magic circle, capable of using sacrifice to eliminate the humanity in the soul. It's only been a few days since you guessed my plan. You are currently in a weakened state just after respawning. what solution could you possibly have for this problem?"

"I told you, in terms of souls, I am the expert. Shut up and open your soul. Let me operate."

Ambrose reached out, grabbing towards Gary Watts's body.

Gary Watts instinctively wanted to dodge, but he quickly suppressed the urge. The ritual magic circle was already operating at the most critical juncture; there was no time to delay. Since he had chosen to trust Ambrose, he could only walk this path until it was dark.

Gary Watts closed his eyes, allowing Ambrose to extend his hand into his body.

The moment Ambrose's hand touched the semi-transparent soul body, countless black threads thinner than hair sprouted from his palm, spreading rapidly across Gary Watts's entire body.

Ambrose's palm seemed to become Gary Watts's heart, and those threads were the new nerves and blood vessels, completely taking control of Gary Watts's soul.

"This... this feeling... You are modifying my memories?! No, that's not right. You are performing a modification on my soul!" Gary Watts said in surprise.

Ambrose explained, "Correct. I can perform modifications on the soul level. Not only can I modify memories, but I can also change soul characteristics. This is my Legendary Ability: Simulated Soul. Originally, I could only fabricate blank souls with worrying intelligence out of thin air. But after years of research, I have roughly grasped the characteristics of the soul. How to modify it to get the special soul I want—this is a minor surgery I have practiced thousands of times.

"Removing humanity, evolving into a god. Although I haven't tried playing it this way, the principles are all the same."

As Ambrose explained, the black threads sprouting from his palm swam and interwove like living things, beginning to change Gary Watts's soul body into another form.

His head and limbs began to melt like wax, then split into several tentacle-like forms. The illusionary skeleton began to dissipate. The body no longer resembled a human in any way; Gary Watts's soul had completely turned into a jellyfish.

"This feeling... there is no mistake... I am evolving... and it is even better than my calculations..."

Gary Watts's voice came from the soul again, but it had become calm, no longer irritable like before.

Ambrose, however, was trembling all over. He couldn't even maintain the effect of the transmutation spell, reverting to his skeleton form.

Although the ability Simulated Soul was powerful, Gary Watts's soul was too tough. His previous soul-shaping was at the difficulty of playing with mud; now, he was carving on diamond, and doing micro-carving at that. The difficulty increased a hundredfold.

Coupled with Ambrose being in a weakened state, he had to focus entirely to complete this soul modification surgery.

But no matter how focused he was, the success rate of this surgery, in Ambrose's view, was only five percent.

The black threads suddenly began to shake frantically, like a tangled ball of yarn, starting to knot together.

Gary Watts also let out a shrill scream. The pain brought by soul distortion was far more terrifying than torture endured by the body. In this instant, he felt as if he were being sliced into a thousand pieces hundreds of times over.

"Bear it!" Ambrose shouted loudly.

One by one, Dice of Fate appeared around Ambrose. These dice were not composed of mana or any material substance but were woven from untouchable threads of fate. Under Ambrose's control, the Dice of Fate began to spin frantically, then constantly plunged into Gary Watts's body, which had turned into a jellyfish.

Ambrose wanted to change the future where the surgery failed, replacing every mistake with a success.

And he believed he could do it.

The Prophecy Fragment showed that Ambrose would preside over the *Wish* ritual in the sewers. Therefore, this soul modification surgery would definitely succeed. If it were to fail, Ambrose would have run away long ago; it was impossible for him to remain in the sewers.

What Ambrose needed to do now was trust in fate, trust in the power he had abandoned.