Mage Manual
Chapter 342 - Chapter 342 Chapter 289 Escape

Chapter 342: Chapter 289 Escape Chapter 342: Chapter 289 Escape Buzz!

A sports car sped past, crushing the scattered sunlight filtered through the treetops on the highway. Its engine howled like a husky, a stark contrast to the elegantly silent floating cars passing by.

“Do you really think we won’t attract attention like this?” Igula, in the passenger seat, fretted. “It’s as if a strung-out old man suddenly appeared in a rose-colored college campus – must we take the highway?”

The driver, Hanna, shrugged. “Taking the back roads makes us more likely to be spotted. Besides anyone with poop on them, no one uses the back roads. Moreover, traveling in the non-motorized lane is already against traffic laws. The Duchess and Red Hat just need to check who’s been muddying up their car to find us.”

“Driving this old-timer surely draws attention, but not the type you’re thinking.”

“Nowadays, when automatic floating cars are all the rage, manually operated vintage cars also have their fair share of enthusiasts. Nothing screams ‘noble taste’ quite like nostalgia.”

“Not to mention that this Blackout Dragon model is a special edition modified by my father,” Hanna added with a slight smile. “The dragon patterns on the exterior even flicker and light up at night, making anyone who sees it think the average age of the passengers is under twenty.”

Igula raised an eyebrow. “A car modified by your father, why was it in your grandfather’s tomb?”

“Because my grandfather hated my father’s fascination with sports cars, and my father’s favorite thing to do was pee on his enemies’ corpses – not literally, but you get the idea.”

“Look, rather than worrying about how trendy it is, can you consider the passengers’ comfort first?” Ash grumbled from the back seat. “We’re almost squashed enough to get pregnant!”

At 6 a.m., the group from the Funeral Service Office left Hanna’s grandfather’s grave on time. However, they weren’t riding bicycles as before because there was a Blackout Dragon sports car in the tomb for their transportation.

As an escape vehicle, they couldn’t be too picky about the sports car–after all, it had been decades, and the fact that it could still run warranted a moment of silence for the car factories beaten down by the surge of automatic cars.

However, it seemed the ancestors of the Doran family were overly confident in their lineage blossoming, as the car was a standard four-seater–no room for anyone even slightly overweight.

With their six, first off, the young lady, being down-to-earth or not, couldn’t possibly crowd in with the workers. She took the driver’s seat; the passenger seat was decided by dice rolls, with ‘never-cheating’ Igula knocking out everyone.

Originally, Liss was to be held by Aunt Bokin, but she persistently drooped her eyelids and insisted on clinging to Ash to sleep. So, Ash had to hold Liss and squeeze in the back with the Necromancer and the young Housekeeper–too bad there wasn’t the aroma of leek pockets, or else Ash could dream he was rushing to catch the subway at eight in the morning.

“Just bear with it a bit,” Igula said. “You complain the most despite having the largest butt; these two haven’t even spoken yet.”

“Banjee, can your suitcase fit a person? I suggest stuffing this one with the foulest mouth in there; it would purify the air inside the car…”

Compared to Ash, who only knew how to complain, Harvey seemed to have a much more tasteful life, “The sunlight’s quite nice today.”

“Mm,” Banjee nodded. “It’s a good day for a thorough cleaning.”

“Can we stop around noon? I’d like Alice to get some sun.”

After a brief silence, Hanna asked, “There’s something I’ve been wanting to ask Mr. Harvey since last night, just didn’t know if I should.”

“Go ahead.” Despite being on the run, Harvey seemed in good spirits. “Just don’t ask me what I do when I bathe.”

Putting other things aside, Ash felt Harvey had quite a knack for novels–how did he manage to pique others’ curiosity with just a casual comment?

“The partner you controlled yesterday… that was the body I helped you buy last time, right?”

“Yes, Alice was a gift from you.”

“But I remember,” Hanna’s expression was extremely complex, “the body I bought… was male.”

As soon as she said this, Ash, not minding the crowd, hastily squeezed toward Banjee to draw an invisible line of no contact with Harvey.

“At first, it indeed was male,” Harvey nodded, “but after listening to Ash’s advice, I made some temporary modifications–as a Necromancer, knowing a bit of biological modification makes sense, right?–so Alice was born.”

Ash was taken aback, “What advice did I give you?”

“Sexual function and functionality.”

Harvey said, “I realized I had been overemphasizing the functionality of my partner, neglecting the potential in a corpse’s sexual functions.”

“For example, normal corpses are all fierce-looking, pale-faced, oozing bodies, and enormous in size, capable of imposing fear and pressure on enemies from a sensory perspective. However, this style of intimidation can only scare ordinary people; a normal Mage wouldn’t be afraid at all. Ash, are you afraid of corpses?”

“How could I!” Ash’s voice rose by an octave, “I’m not even afraid of living people, why would I fear the dead?”

[Ash is scared of horrifying corpses] –Hanna, Banjee, and Igula quietly noted in their minds.

“But inspired by a conversation with you, Ash, I decided to take a different approach–making the corpses look desirable. The allure of the corpse and its intrinsic combat power create a stark contrast, and then…”

Ash understood: “It would arouse fear in the enemies?”

“No!” Harvey’s voice was vibrant, sunlight catching in his pupils, making it hard to tell whether it was fanaticism or brilliance, “The enemies will definitely be captivated by this beautiful power, realizing that Necromancy is the magic faction that can bring happiness to everyone, and then become the dogs of Hagen Dazs–”

Ash asked, “Who is Hagen Dazs?”

“Our internal legend among Necromancers, the great being who endows souls to the dead,” Harvey looked at Ash, “Interested in learning about the merciful and great Hagen Dazs? Our Necromancy Faction isn’t a religion, but it’s definitely more thrilling than any religion–”

“Historically, every magic faction creates such a ‘great being’; it might evolve from the story of a Legendary Mage, or it could be about the former glory of a lost Divine Lord.” Igula explained indifferently, “Like our Spirit Faction also has a great being called Madara, who is said to be the collective consciousness of all creatures, whose vertical pupil on the forehead can make the world dance at will–although, Spirit Mages generally wouldn’t stoop to following a cultural symbol.”

The Necromancers didn’t care about the Swindler’s provocation; they had sporadic arguments during the prison break plan–or rather, everyone had argued with Igula, since only customers could enjoy Igula’s spring-like protection–if Igula was blazing ice, then Harvey was ice cold flowing fire; he disliked hurting others, only preferring to turn others into torches like himself.

“So you mean, you want to use a beautiful girl to spark interest in the Necromancy Faction?”

“Yes, isn’t this what you taught me?”

Although what Ash had said at that time wasn’t meant in this way, Harvey’s ‘beautiful girl – attract traffic’ logic subtly matched the mobile game model.

“Then why turn a man into a beautiful girl?” Hanna voiced her politically correct displeasure, “Wouldn’t a beautiful boy do?”

“I personally think that a man playing a woman has more charm.”

“Why?”

“Because I have a living example right by my side.”

Everyone looked toward Igula in the passenger seat. The Swindler hadn’t expected this to somehow be about him but wasn’t rattled, “Acknowledge you’ve got some taste.”

Humiliation only works if the other party feels humiliated, otherwise, it loses its effect.