Chapter 197

Chapter 197: New Characters

At the King Campus of the Royal Sacred Crown University, outside the meeting point of the Secret Knowledge Society within the inner area, external members hurriedly moved about. The somewhat mentally unstable members were scattered throughout the large room, muttering to themselves in corners. In one corner, Nephnis sat quietly, intently reading an open book on the table before her.

The title of this book was “The Queue of the Queen Bug,” a novel that personified the lives of several bugs in a jungle. Within the story, these bugs had a vast and complex family structure where offspring absolutely obeyed their parents, who in turn obeyed their own parents, creating a hierarchical network that ultimately culminated in the greatest queen bug.

The novel described the operation of the extensive bug family system through the perspective of several bugs. It detailed how they hunted, waged wars, and dealt with disasters, with an omnipresent theme of worshiping the elder bugs and the great queen bug.

This was the secret transmission book given by Thistle to the students of the Secret Knowledge Society, originally a single book split into eight volumes. By inflating the content with unnecessary words, it became a series of eight books.

Due to the increased word count, the poison recognition content was diluted. Each volume contained very little poison, making it difficult to detect. Ultimately, this allowed the poison to spread unnoticed among the society’s members. If not for Nephnis’ extraordinary item inherited from her tomb-raider grandfather, the entire society would have been completely controlled by Thistle.

The book Nephnis was currently reading was the third volume of “The Queue of the Queen Bug.” She had obtained it from her highly contaminated friend. Once she finished reading the fourth volume, she would gain access to the inner area.

Nephnis carefully flipped through the pages. After reading forty or fifty pages, she rubbed her eyes. While reading, she noticed a slight anomaly in her state. She pretended to rest by closing her eyes, but actually began praying internally.

“Upon the endless expanse of this world, the convergence point of infinite destinies, the door and key to boundless truth, the great Akka who records all… I pray to you again, protect my spirit, cleanse the pollution of knowledge…”

As soon as the prayer ended, Nephnis felt her mind become clear. The slight anomaly that had been lingering in her thoughts suddenly vanished. She even felt refreshed.

“This works again… It really does…”

After finishing her prayer, Nephnis reflected on how subtle yet effective it had been. She knew her prayer had made a difference.

Without the protection of her necklace, Nephnis was nearly done reading the third volume and felt no inclination to worship Thistle. This proved that the mysterious deity known as Akka truly existed! He had answered her prayers and protected her spirit.

The mysterious society known as the Rosy Cross worshipped a true deity!

“Thank you, Akka, thank you for your protection…”

After completing her prayer, Nephnis silently thanked the deity in her heart, despite her limited understanding of Him. Since He possessed divinity, she knew she must be respectful.

“The Rosy Cross… A mysterious society that worships a hidden deity. Its members include many adults and what appear to be teenage girls. I wonder what their true nature is, what their goals are. What are they truly watching in the school? What is their connection with the Eight Pinnacle Nest?”

After her gratitude, Nephnis felt a sense of curiosity and questions. Despite her limited understanding of the mysteries involved, this only deepened her interest in the unknown.

“A mysterious society under the protection of a hidden deity… It’s quite intriguing…”

Continuing to read the secret transmission book, Nephnis turned the pages once more.

…

In the library of the King Campus, Dorothy sat in a corner, reading a mundane book titled “Structural Mechanics” while responding to Nephnis’ prayer, helping to neutralize the poison. On the table in front of her were several thick books, mostly related to mechanical structures and engineering.

She once had the idea of inventing things like airplanes in this world but lacked the foundational knowledge. Now, at the Crown University library, she could use her free time to catch up on the necessary basics. Perhaps if she found time, she could get Beverly’s support to create something meaningful.

“Hmm, Nephnis is quite fast. This is her second prayer already. There isn’t much left in this book. At this rate, she’ll finish it in less than six days.”

After clearing the poison from Nephnis, Dorothy thought about how impressed she was with Nephnis’ reading speed and the spiritual attributes extracted from the secret transmission book.

“It’s ‘Shadow’ and ‘Cup’… This matches the configuration of the Beastman branch. However, this time there is more ‘Shadow’ and it seems to be dominant.

“Does this indicate that the Eight Pinnacle Nest is primarily focused on ‘Shadow’ with ‘Cup’ as a secondary element? It’s possible, but not entirely confirmed. From the apprentice of ‘Shadow’ and this secret transmission book, they are likely heavily focused on ‘Shadow’. Whether they also focus on ‘Cup’ is uncertain. Large-scale societies often have multiple branches, and the Eight Pinnacle Nest is stronger than the Holy Communion, so having multiple branches is plausible.”

Through the secret transmission book Nephnis was reading, Dorothy speculated on the potential extraordinary heritage of the Eight Pinnacle Nest. Then, she shifted her thoughts back to Nephnis herself.

Her conversation with Nephnis had yielded unexpected insights.

“I never expected it. Nephnis’ grandfather might be an Extraordinary Being. He probably excavated numerous extraordinary artifacts in Northern Ufeiga. When Nephnis was young, she likely fainted after seeing the poison on those artifacts. Her grandfather then gave her the necklace to protect her from the poison when she looked at those artifacts.

“That’s why the necklace’s spirituality was so minimal; it shattered after she read just two diluted secret transmission books. Most of its spirituality was likely consumed when she was young from looking at those artifacts.”

After hearing Nephnis’ account, Dorothy was certain that Nephnis’ grandfather’s collection included ancient secret transmissions from Northern Ufeiga. She immediately asked Nephnis where those artifacts were kept.

Dorothy learned that most of Nephnis’ grandfather’s collection had been donated to a museum before his d*ath, with a small portion taken to his childhood home where he built a manor and hid the items. Nephnis hadn’t visited there since middle school.

“Those items are probably dangerous extraordinary items and secret transmissions, which is why they couldn’t be donated to the museum. Nephnis’ old home is in a neighboring county near Tiwyán, quite a distance away. If we can become good friends, perhaps I could visit her hometown during the holidays and see her grandfather’s relics.”

Thinking this way, Dorothy remained intrigued by the ancient secret transmissions from Northern Ufeiga, hoping to find useful extraordinary items.

“After helping Nephnis against the Eight Pinnacle Nest, it wouldn’t be unreasonable to ask for a couple of antiques as a token of appreciation.”

Smiling, Dorothy considered the next steps.

“But now, attention needs to be focused on the Eight Pinnacle Nest. We just need to wait a few more days until Nephnis finishes reading the book, then we can start the next phase of our plan, right?”

Looking out the window, Dorothy pondered. Just as she was about to return to her book, she suddenly felt something unusual.

Feeling the anomaly, Dorothy immediately stood up and walked to the washroom, where she took out her magic box. On the box, a gemstone flickered slightly.

This phenomenon had been explained by Audric to Dorothy: if the contents of the magic box underwent extraordinary activities, such phenomena would occur, allowing the owner to perceive them.

Now, the magic box indicated that something inside had undergone an extraordinary activity.

Without hesitation, Dorothy opened the magic box and took out an item—a thick book titled “Navigation of the Literary Sea.”

Indeed, the only extraordinary item Dorothy currently possessed that could spontaneously activate without her intervention was this book. Such activation occurred when it received information from other texts.

This meant that “Navigation of the Literary Sea” was receiving text information from another source. The magic box detected the extraordinary activity of the book and sent Dorothy a notification.

“This thing in the magic box can give instant alerts. In a way, it’s more convenient. But who could be sending me a message at this time? An old acquaintance, or a new friend?”

As she pondered, Dorothy opened the pages of “Navigation of the Literary Sea.” After checking her familiar contacts’ chat records and finding nothing new, she turned a few more pages. Finally, she saw new text on a fresh page.

It was a bold and powerful script, chunky and stamp-like, completely unfamiliar to her.