Chapter 170

### Chapter 170: Last Words

“Whew… whew… What in the world is happening?”

Inside the carriage of a speeding train, in the cramped washroom, Sodod sat on the toilet, astonished by the perception results he gained after expending a significant amount of “Lamp.”

After spending a lot of “Lamp,” Sodod finally sensed the extraordinary beings around him. However, to his surprise, it was not the “Shadow,” nor the color of the “Shadow,” he was looking for.

In the perception of the extraordinary being of “Lamp,” other extraordinary beings were represented by specific colors; “Shadow” was black. Yet, the extraordinary being that Sodod sensed this time appeared in a strange purple hue, one he had never seen before.

‘What… what is going on? What kind of extraordinary being is this? Could it be that guy is not a ‘Shadow’? No, this strange extraordinary being is far from me, at least one carriage away.

‘That guy has such bizarre abilities; he absolutely isn’t an apprentice-level ‘Shadow’. He should be a Black Earth… My ‘Lamp’ can’t compare to his ‘Shadow’, so what I’ve detected should not be him but rather another type of extraordinary being. There are other extraordinary beings on this train!’

Within a short time, Sodod clarified his thoughts and roughly confirmed the current situation, then a thought arose in his mind.

‘Right now… there’s no other choice…’

……

On the dark wilderness, the steam train continued to roar forward. Suddenly, a large amount of white smoke appeared, leading the train attendants to rush to the scene, thinking there was a fire. However, when they opened the windows to disperse the smoke, they bizarrely discovered that there were no traces of a fire. The cabin from which the white smoke originated was now empty, and the suitcase that had previously fallen to the ground had also vanished without a trace.

In a first-class cabin near the front of the train, Dorothy, who had been leaning on the couch out of boredom, looked curiously at the train attendants running back and forth in the aisle, a sliver of doubt forming in her heart.

“Is something happening outside? It wouldn’t be a fire, would it?”

Dorothy murmured to herself, and after worrying for a moment and noticing that no alarm bells rang and the train did not slow down, she concluded that it might not be a big deal after all.

‘It should be nothing serious… Oh well, I guess I’ll just sit for a while and then go to bed. In this era, without a phone to play with, it’s best to sleep early.’

As she pondered, Dorothy glanced at her ring, the Veil Ring passed down from her mother, checking the state of its spirituality. She checked the ring about every half day to ensure that it hadn’t been detected by any extraordinary abilities unexpectedly.

Although the Veil Ring had only been effective once before, when it helped repel a wave of Hunter detection back at Buck’s residence, Dorothy still checked the ring’s spirituality regularly just in case.

Originally, Dorothy thought the ring should have the same spirituality status as before; however, this time, after checking, she froze in place.

Sitting on the couch, Dorothy discovered that her ring’s “Shadow” had completely vanished—her original 2 points of “Shadow” were now all gone!

‘What’s going on? Was I detected by some extraordinary ability? And to use up all the “Shadow” at once… this means I might have already been detected?!’

Staring at the ring on her hand, Dorothy felt a surge of shock, and she immediately grew alert. She scanned her surroundings, trying to detect anything unusual. Although she didn’t find anything abnormal, she resolved that she might already be in danger.

‘My position might have been exposed. There could be other extraordinary beings on this train; I must take action!’

While thinking, Dorothy took out her Magic Box, popped it open to expand its entrance, and pulled out a Zombie Puppet Ring to wear. She began to control the Zombie Puppet stored within the Magic Box, and soon a puppet dressed in a trench coat, with a bowler hat, high cheekbones, and deep-set eyes crawled out, standing in Dorothy’s cabin. This was the Zombie Puppet Edric.

Just then, there was a knock at the cabin door. Dorothy looked towards the door, clearly sensing that whoever was outside might very well be the extraordinary being that had detected her!

Realizing this, Dorothy quickly crawled under the bed, lying still, while she commanded Edric to draw his pistol and approach the door, asking,

“Who is it?”

“Whew… whew… Sir inside, whew… whew… I know you are an extraordinary being, please open the door; I have an important matter to ask of you. Just please open the door…”

A weak voice came from outside the door, and after hearing those words, Dorothy couldn’t help but pause for a moment.

‘Someone wants to ask me for help? And that voice…’

Dorothy thought to herself, then she controlled a previously released Gecko Zombie Puppet to sneak out through the crack under the door. She looked outside and saw a man clutching his abdomen, his clothes stained with bl**d, leaning against the door frame, pale and panting. With the Gecko Puppet’s vision, Dorothy’s heart tightened at the sight.

‘Indeed, he’s injured, and it looks quite serious. From his appearance, it seems he’s not here to cause me trouble…’

Once she had confirmed the situation outside, Dorothy commanded Edric to open the cabin door. The man staggered in and immediately collapsed to the ground, panting heavily. Edric quickly closed the door and asked the man, pistol in hand.

“Who are you? What is your identity? What happened? What do you need from me?”

Edric asked straightforwardly. The man took a few gasping breaths before looking at Edric and replied seriously.

“I am Sodod Short, a captain of the An Yin Bureau in Alster. I was attacked while on a transport mission. The item I was transporting was stolen, and I was severely injured. Right now, I’m barely hanging on with the enhancement of the bl**d-Eating Sigil, but I can’t hold on much longer… whew…”

‘So, he’s from the An Yin Bureau? And Alster? That’s the city we just passed through recently, right? He says he boarded there?’ Dorothy thought as she listened to Sodod’s words, then continued to command Edric to ask,

“What were you transporting? Who attacked you?”

“Whew… whew… I don’t know, I don’t know any of that. The item was sent back by an investigation team we dispatched to the Razor Mountains. I was tasked with escorting it to the Tivyán headquarters. As for the person who attacked me, I have no idea who that is… I can only confirm he is an extraordinary being of ‘Shadow’, possibly a Black Earth, capable of traversing walls, most likely a Wall-Crosser with the primary ‘Shadow’ and auxiliary ‘Stone’…”

‘Wall-Crosser? I remember Audric mentioned it in the book he gave me. If the primary ‘Shadow’ and auxiliary ‘Stone’ go the elemental route, they can advance to become a wind mage. This Wall-Crosser seems to have been promoted through a different Advancement Ceremony…’

As Dorothy contemplated, she understood that even if the main and auxiliary spiritualities were consistent, the different Advancement Ceremonies could lead to varying ranks post-promotion, such as the ‘Thirster’ and ‘Taster’ from the “Cup.”

Just as Dorothy was deep in thought, Sodod’s breathing became increasingly rapid. He widened his eyes, looking at Edric, and continued,

“Whew… whew… Although I do not know what type of extraordinary being you are or which organization you belong to, I sincerely ask you to retrieve the item I was transporting! Then, please help me deliver it to the An Yin Bureau headquarters in Tivyán. If you can get it there, the people at the headquarters will surely reward you generously… That item is in my suitcase; while I don’t know what’s inside… it absolutely must not fall into the hands of those dangerous societies and cults… ugh… ah…”

As he spoke, Sodod began to tremble, his eyes widening as he looked at Edric, uttering his final words.

“Please… help…”

With the effect of the bl**d-Eating fading from his body, he coughed up a final mouthful of bl**d before his head tilted, and his wide eyes met d*ath.