<h4>Chapter 237: The gift</h4>


    "Don''t ''eh'' me medic 7, report his stats!"


    The officer urged the bespectacled woman.


    "Just now, the system... my appraisal was rejected..."


    Medic 7 raised her shaking hand and pointed at the spot where the message lingered in her vision just a second ago.


    "...?"


    The officer shook his head and stared at her in confusion."


    "The system rejected the appraisal? How is that even possible...?"


    He asked taken aback.


    "The message said, you don''t have the authority to appraise the King of Pride..."


    Medic seven exined while slowly turning back towards the blue undead standing tall and looking down on everyone surrounding him.


    "The king...? That corpse puppet''s rank is king...?!"


    The officer gritted his teeth.


    A corpse puppet can never be stronger than its master - that universal truth was well known even amongst the Sloth soldiers since there have been corpse puppeteers working together with them in the past.


    From various zombies, ghouls, flesh golems, vampires, and death knights, all the way to liches - not a single corpse puppet has ever been known to have a rank higher than lord because if they did, they would break free from their master''s control and wreak destruction upon all the living as a cmity.


    "Tsk... why does it seem that a bunch of weaklings like you are looking down on me...?"


    Zombie clicked his tongue and shook his head with an annoyed expression.


    "...that said, I did get my title upgraded, haven''t I? It even came with a skill..."


    The blue undead furrowed his brows and rubbed his chin, straining his shackled brain to remember something.


    "WHY AREN''T YOU DOING ANYTHING?!"


    Mika used that chance to scream at the Sloth soldiers, but with the giant violet fireball hovering just above the undead''s head even though he moved his left hand, none of them dared to make a move - not without a direct order at least.


    "Ah! That''s right! Something about ruling!"


    Zombie''s eyes widened and he smiled when he vaguely recalled the thing he wanted to.


    "If I remember it correctly, it''s not an offensive skill at all, so using it won''t count as attacking! Khahaha! That''s so ni..."


    "WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?! HELP ME!"


    As Zombie was nodding to himself in satisfaction, Mika has interrupted him with her howls of despair.


    "Shut your face."


    "HMFGH...!"


    Zombie''s eyes shone with a cold white light and Mika''s mouth closed against her will.


    "Good, it works."


    Zombie smirked and looked at every Sloth soldier encircling him.


    "Drop your weapons and step aside."


    *ng*


    As soon as those words left the blue undead''s mouth, every Sloth soldier has obeyed them without a hint of hesitation.


    And they didn''t just lower their weapons, they literally threw them on the ground like trash and rushed away, they even formed lines on the sides of the path that Zombie was going to take, making way for the undead as if he was a guest of honor on a parade.


    "Good."


    "MGGPHHHPHH!"


    Zombie made the giant violet fireball disappear without a trace, then smirked with satisfaction and casually walked off, dragging the ashen-haired girl - who was constantly trying to get away and scream but failing at both of those activities - behind him.


    "Yo! I''m back. And I brought a gift!"


    In front of the horrified Dandelions, terrified Mary, shocked Arion, and surprised Blueberry, Zombie raised his left hand and greeted Cranberry with lighthearted cheer.


    "MGGPPGHH...!"


    And then he snapped his right arm and made Mika fly and crush right at the red-haired girl''s feet.


    "Haa..."


    Cranberry sighed and shook her head.


    "Zombie, the gesture itself is lovely..."


    She opened her eyes and smiled warmly at her undead.


    "...but, this gift..."


    Then her eyes and voice grew cold when she looked down at the furious girl crawling at her feet.


    Mika was ring at her with pure hate and her body was glowing with a crimson red light that could only mean the activation of multiple powerful skills.


    "...I hate it."


    *CRUSH*


    "!!!!!!!!!"


    While Mika was preparing to attack and using all of her strongest skills in order to wipe out the hateful girl in front of her from existence, the red-haired girl herself didn''t bother with something as unnecessary as that.


    She simply moved her leg and stepped on Mika''s head, smashing it deep into the ground, causing a small earthquake and knocking the wrathful girl out cold.


    "Yeah, you''re right, it sucks..."


    Zombie sighed and looked to the side in disappointment.


    "I''ll just return it."


    *WHOOOSH*


    But then he shrugged his shoulders and snapped his right hand back - forcing the unconscious body of the ashen-haired girl to fly...


    *WHAM*


    ...and crashnd right at the feet of the white-haired Corvus, who was still frozen in the same spot where Zombie had left him.


    "You two wentpletely insane!"


    Shanks grabbed his head and shouted, his whole body shaking.


    "Really? I just think we just spend too much time surrounded by monsters so our good manners might be a bit rusty."


    Cranberry looked at him and raised her brow doubtfully.


    "Have we even done something wrong though?"


    Zombie titled his head in confusion at the rat-faced man as if he was the one out of his mind.


    "You must realize what you are doing! You are threatening the Sloth soldiers on their home ground, you are smacking around the daughter of the avatar of wrath...! Don''t you want to return to the society?! Because everything you are doing is making your situation worse!"


    Shanks took a step forwards and exined feverishly gesturing with his hands.


    "Like... can our reputation even get any worse after we killed off all those Envys while rescuing Lairs...?"


    Zombie tilted his head even more and crossed his arms.


    "..."


    The Dandelions and Mary looked at each other...


    "Yes! Yes it can! And you, youngdy, should know exactly why!"


    Shanks waved his hands and turned to Cranberry.


    "The fact that you two were the ones who did it was not revealed to the public! Only a very small group of people knows what happened! The actually useful and important branch of Envy family - the one doing the spying and the one you did NOT eviscerate - is strongly pressuring the royal family to not pursue you since you''ve essentially got rid of the nuisance ruining their reputation and stealing their achievements left and right."


    He took another step forward.


    "Youngdy...! If I may...!"


    "...?"


    But he wasn''t the only only one.


    The copper-eyed bodyguard, Ti, let go of Lairs''s hand and also stepped towards the red-haired girl and her undead.


    "From what I''ve learned before we were forced out of the pce, the queen doesn''t bear any ill will towards you!"


    Ti spoke up timidly at first but then her voice grew more confident.


    "Ha! Is that so? That''s odd. I would assume that after the charm skill I used on...! oh no..."


    Cranberry scoffed and smirked mockingly, but then she furrowed her brows and finally ended up wide-eyed from realization.


    "The Greed''s greed knows no bounds..."


    She sighed and started massaging her forehead.


    "...yes..."


    Ti nodded.


    "Yes, sure, don''t exin anything to me! Because that never got us into any trouble!"


    Zombie clicked his tongue and scoffed angrily at Cranberry.


    "Haa... I''ll tell you when the time is right. Right now we need to hurry and get to the avatar of sloth and not bother with the royal family."


    The red-haired girl breathed out and dered.