Chapter 192

Chapter 192: Discovery

Inside the meeting point of the Secret Knowledge Society at the Royal Sacred Crown University, Dorothy manipulated a gecko-shaped small zombie puppet to eavesdrop on what was being said by someone called Thistle. At this moment, she had already heard some crucial information that could not be ignored.

“‘Nephnis was seen entering room 23? Yes, she came through the main entrance. Her skin and her figure, especially her waist, are very distinctive and easy to remember.'”

“What should we do? Now Nephnis is still inside the meeting point. If these two fellows see her, it will be bad.”

Hearing the conversation from afar, Dorothy, who was sitting in the library, thought to herself. Nephnis’s features were quite noticeable. Given that she was a student of Crown University, if a covert search were to be conducted within the campus, she could actually be found. Moreover, Dorothy herself was a member of the Secret Knowledge Society and was currently inside the meeting point.

Discovering that Nephnis was in a precarious situation, Dorothy planned to warn her later. However, at this moment, Thistle’s conversation with his outside members continued.

“A dark-skinned… good-looking female student?” Listening to his subordinate’s words, Thistle pondered for a while, as if recalling something, but upon careful reflection, he couldn’t recall anything specific.

Although Thistle and Nephnis were both part of the Secret Knowledge Society, since Thistle took full control of the society, he had been busy with other matters and rarely appeared in the society. Those who usually appeared before him were the most deeply infected and loyal members due to Poison Recognition, and he hadn’t seen Nephnis for nearly four months. It was normal for his impression of her to have weakened.

“Hmm… This is a clue. Since it might be a student from this school, let’s secretly investigate. With such distinct features, it should be easy to find. But I’ll leave this to Jed. You have some underground matters to attend to. Let’s go inside and discuss.”

As he spoke, Thistle pointed to the corridor ahead, covered in spider webs. Upon hearing about the underground matter, Dorothy’s eyes lit up, and she manipulated her gecko zombie puppet to follow.

Ahead of the gecko, a layer of fine spider silk covered the top of the corridor. These webs were everywhere, particularly dense at the top and bottom walls.

“Why did so many spider webs suddenly appear here? The outside looks clean, yet there are so many webs in this corridor?”

Seeing the densely web-covered passage, Dorothy felt puzzled. But when she saw Thistle and his subordinates heading towards the far end of the corridor, she didn’t hesitate and followed.

When the gecko zombie puppet touched the white silk thread, Thistle paused slightly and then continued walking forward.

“Mr. Thistle, what do you want to tell me about the underground matter…”

After walking deep into the corridor, one of Thistle’s outside members asked. Thistle interrupted him and replied.

“Oh, I remember now. The situation over there doesn’t need help right away. In a moment, you can help Jed find that female student…”

“Oh, I understand…” Hearing Thistle’s words, the outside member looked surprised. But after seeing Thistle’s gaze, he didn’t say more.

Thistle and his outside member continued walking forward through the web-filled corridor. Thistle remained serious and silent, while his subordinate looked confused. Dorothy’s gecko zombie puppet followed closely behind, also feeling puzzled.

“Why are these two so silent all of a sudden…”

As Thistle walked forward, he discreetly took out a finely crafted box from his pocket and opened it. Two black spiders quickly crawled out and onto Thistle, then down to the ground, climbing up the walls covered with silk threads.

Due to the angle, Dorothy’s gecko zombie puppet didn’t see Thistle’s actions.

Slowly, Thistle reached a stone door. He pulled the lever beside it, causing the stone door to open with a shake. After entering the stone door, Thistle and his subordinate triggered an internal mechanism, and the stone door closed again with a loud thud.

This process happened too fast, and Dorothy’s gecko zombie puppet couldn’t keep up. She could only watch helplessly as the door closed tightly, with no gap for the puppet to turn around.

Dorothy controlled the gecko zombie puppet to search for another entrance into the stone door, but found none. She stopped the puppet near the door, waiting, but saw no sign of the door reopening.

Dorothy had lost track of Thistle.

“It seems… I can’t continue tracking anymore. The information gathered this time is really limited…”

Sitting in the library, Dorothy frowned, feeling the current situation was strange.

“Forget it. Since the investigation is blocked, I should bring the puppet back. Then I’ll find Nephnis and warn her that someone might be looking for her.”

Thinking this, Dorothy manipulated the puppet to return. The gecko zombie puppet continued crawling through the web-filled corridor, heading back.

Behind the gecko zombie puppet, in a shadowy corner, two black spiders emerged and followed the distant puppet, trailing behind.

Meanwhile, behind the sealed stone door, Thistle stood with his hands behind his back, muttering with a mocking tone.

“Peeping small puppets? Hmph… just minor tricks… Now, I’ll use the same methods to find you.”

Thistle continued, and the spiders he released had caught up with the puppet. Once they tracked down the puppet’s recycler, Thistle would be able to reverse-engineer the movements of the spy.

…

On the way back, Dorothy, sitting in the library, controlled the gecko zombie puppet while thinking.

“This investigation didn’t yield much… less than usual. That Thistle always seems to act strangely…”

Dorothy thought, feeling a sense of unease. This unease stemmed from confusion.

“Why… Thistle was clearly preparing to discuss ‘underground’ matters with his subordinate, but suddenly changed his mind? Instead, he asked the subordinate to help find someone, and the subordinate seemed surprised.

“Why did Thistle enter the stone door so quickly afterward, remaining silent throughout? Why are there so many spider webs in that corridor? Other areas are clean, and why would they discuss matters in such a dirty place instead of a comfortable one?”

Dorothy continued pondering, generating possible explanations in her mind.

Although these were merely possibilities without evidence, Dorothy had a method to verify them without proof.

From her pocket, Dorothy took out a golden coin. This was one of the four lamp storage items she obtained from brushing Lu’e, and she had used three already. This was the last one.

“Has my investigation been discovered?”

Muttering the divination phrase, Dorothy tossed the coin.