Chapter 209

Chapter 207: Infiltration

By deliberately leaking false information, Dorothy managed to divert the main forces of Thistle, and then reported to the An Yin Bureau, providing them with the action target information regarding Thistle so that the Hunters could restrain them while she seized the opportunity to strike.

Drawing the tiger away from the mountain was the strategy Dorothy employed this time. The current situation resembled a previous encounter in Igewent with Buck; the difference being that Buck had actively attacked and Dorothy had found an opportunity, whereas this time she had worked hard to create a situation that led Thistle to be lured out.

Now, with Thistle and his main subordinates entangled with the Hunters, they wouldn’t return for a while, which was the perfect opportunity for her to enter the ruins.

In the depths of the Secret Knowledge Society, Dorothy stood before a web-covered corridor. Looking at the finely woven strands of spider silk, she was lost in thought. The last time, the entire corridor had blocked her Small Zombie Puppet’s reconnaissance.

‘The silk in this corridor… as long as it’s not a chosen person, even the slightest touch will trigger an alarm. Now, even though Thistle is outside, there must still be some guards left inside the ruins. I’d better not trigger any alarms to avoid alerting them.’

Reflecting on the corridor before her, Dorothy thought, then surveyed her surroundings and focused her gaze on Nephnis beside her.

“Nephnis, could I trouble you one last time? Can you carry me across?”

“Eh? Carry you? I’ll give it a try; it should be fine.”

“Okay, then try it. If you can’t carry me, you can also give me a piggyback as long as my feet don’t touch the ground,” Dorothy replied, stepping onto a wooden box as Nephnis lifted her in a princess carry.

To Dorothy’s surprise, Nephnis seemed to have unexpectedly good physical strength, securely holding Dorothy without needing to switch to a piggyback.

Nephnis carried Dorothy through the web-covered corridor, and since Nephnis was deemed one of their own, no alarms were triggered throughout.

Finally, after they traversed the entire web-covered corridor, Nephnis set Dorothy down and turned back to glance at the corridor filled with alarm-triggering lines. Dorothy let out a sigh of relief.

“We made it! Thank you, Nephnis. Your strength is indeed impressive.”

“It’s nothing; my major often requires me to traverse inconvenient rural areas, so I exercise regularly,” Nephnis replied, and Dorothy continued to ask.

“So… which way to the so-called interrogation chamber?”

“This path here. Just keep going straight to the end, and you’ll find a downward corridor. It’ll take you there. Although Thistle is outside now, there should still be some people guarding that place. Please be careful, Miss Dorothy.”

Nephnis pointed to a passage, and after glancing in the direction Nephnis indicated, Dorothy nodded slightly.

“Understood, thank you for your cooperation, Nephnis. You can head back now, and it’s best to stay away from here. If I need you later, I will use the documentation to notify you.”

Dorothy told Nephnis, who responded with a surprised question.

“Are you okay going alone from here…?”

“Don’t worry, even if I’m a bit younger, I’m still an Extraordinary Being and can handle the situation. It’s safer for you to leave now, Nephnis.”

Dorothy smiled at Nephnis, who, upon hearing this, didn’t say anything further and instead solemnly replied.

“Please be careful then.”

With that, Nephnis returned through the web-covered corridor, and after Dorothy released a few Small Zombie Puppets to scout ahead, she proceeded in the direction Nephnis had indicated.

Before long, Dorothy reached the staircase passage that Nephnis had described, where fallen Stone Statues lay at the foot of the stairs. Without hesitation, she let the Small Zombie Puppets go ahead a bit before following them.

Descending the stairs, Dorothy moved down a narrow passage. Soon, she heard distant, faint screams, and the first of the Small Zombie Puppets had already explored the exit of the passage.

Using the Puppets’ vision, Dorothy could see a spacious underground area supported by countless stone pillars, dimly lit with about a dozen cells made from nailed wooden boards. Each cell contained a prisoner, their bodies covered in wounds from torture. Due to the main forces being out, most of these prisoners were huddled in the corners of their cells, trembling, with only a couple of prisoners being whipped by two Cultists, letting out screams.

“So this is the interrogation chamber Nephnis mentioned? There are indeed some people left behind…”

Observing the interior of the interrogation chamber through the Puppets’ vision, Dorothy murmured to herself. She counted quickly; aside from those prisoners, there were a total of six people left. Two were whipping prisoners, two were sitting and resting, and two were guarding the stairway leading further down, possibly including one or two Apprentice-level Extraordinary Beings.

“Since that’s the case… I’ll take care of you first before proceeding down.”

Dorothy muttered, then took out her Magic Box, expanding the exit. She controlled three human Zombie Puppets to crawl out and ambush at the entrance of the interrogation chamber.

Next, Dorothy pulled out a few items from the Magic Box: a black candle, a sigil, and a stone coin carved from a special material.

Stowing the Magic Box, Dorothy moved slightly closer to the interrogation chamber and picked up the black candle, infusing it with 1 point of “Shadow,” igniting it with a faint black flame. This was an Extraordinary Item she had obtained from Lu’e, the Extinguishing Candle.

Dorothy blew out the Extinguishing Candle. Suddenly, all the lights in the surrounding passage went out, alongside the few lights in the interrogation chamber that had been dimly lit.

In an instant, pure darkness enveloped the underground space, plunging everyone into an inky blackness where no one could see their hand in front of their face.

This was the advantage of the underground space; without the influence of moonlight, extinguishing the light created a pitch-black environment, unlike the last time when Dorothy had to board up the windows in St. Amanda’s Church before extinguishing the lights.

“What! Why did it suddenly go dark?!”

“Why are the lights out! It’s so dark!”

“Hurry and find the lights to reignite them!”

The sudden darkness threw the interrogation chamber into chaos. The remaining Cultists faced the unexpected dark in panic, getting up to search for lights around them in an attempt to relight them. However, moving in pure darkness was exceedingly difficult. Many stumbled over surrounding obstacles, and numerous prisoners were startled by the darkness, anxiously looking around in their cells. Some mentally disturbed prisoners began to scream wildly in the dark.

At that moment, Dorothy wrapped the stone coin with the sigil and pressed it to the ground, then closed her eyes to activate the sigil.

“Earth Sigil…”

The sigil, seized from Lu Ke’s subordinates during a battle at the church, was activated by a Spirit Storage Item of “Stone.” In an instant, using the earth as a medium, Dorothy precisely sensed the vibrations around her. Through these vibrations, she could identify all moving targets in the interrogation chamber without needing her eyesight, including both guards and prisoners.

Prior to this, Dorothy had used the memory ability of the Seer to record the coordinates of all the prisoners and guards. At the moment the lights went out, she cross-referenced every vibration with the positions of each person before the lights went out, easily distinguishing which vibrations belonged to prisoners and which belonged to guards.

Then, Dorothy ordered the three Puppets lying in ambush at the entrance to strike simultaneously. Armed with daggers and other melee weapons, they swiftly approached the source of the vibrations of the guards in the dark.

Before long, the first scream cut through the darkness.