Chapter 218

Condition 214

King Campus, Underground Ruins.

After considering that he had dealt with the invaders, Claudius left the depths of the ruins. His transformed swarm of bats passed through layers of corridors and stairs across the fifth level of the ruins, finally reaching the second level, where the Spider Altar was located.

In the second level, the black bats quickly coalesced within the shadows into Claudius’s figure, and beside him, the waiting Thistle hurriedly approached.

“Your Excellency, how is the situation down below? What happened to the invaders?”

Facing the returning Claudius, Thistle respectfully asked, while Claudius slowly replied, hands behind his back.

“I took care of those guys on the sixth level. Although they had some skills, they couldn’t match me.”

“All taken care of? As expected of you… Were they the Black Dogs?”

“I trapped them and killed them with poison gas in the innermost layer… I can’t check specifically… It’s unclear if they were Black Dogs, but it’s more likely that they weren’t. Their abilities and methods differ quite a bit from Black Dogs.”

Claudius said so. He had dealt with Tivyán’s Hunters many times and knew a bit about their operational styles. They wouldn’t use extraordinary beings like Flesh Puppets, and after successfully raiding a stronghold, they would immediately begin sample collection and interrogating prisoners on the spot, rather than infiltrating deep into ruins without leaving anyone behind.

Moreover, logically speaking, the An Yin Bureau knew of the existence of the ruins underground at the school and understood it was an almost valueless empty ruin. Being able to delve deep into these ruins indicated that the invaders were not very familiar with it—they were just foolish treasure hunters.

“Not Black Dogs? If that’s the case, then those Black Dogs that ambushed us earlier might have just been used by them. So who exactly are they…” Thistle pondered aloud, suddenly remembering the name Rosy Cross. He had previously thought it was just a scapegoat the Black Dogs created, but now it seemed more complicated than that.

“Who they are isn’t important for now. Our top priority is to rebuild our stronghold. I will contact the other strongholds I manage immediately and have them send personnel over. The outpost at Gold Street in the northern district is very close; their people should arrive quickly…” Claudius said solemnly, and as he listened to Claudius’s words, Thistle voiced his concerns.

“Your Excellency, we just fought with the Black Dogs at the North Pine Forest, and now a large number of the convicts have been released. This increases the risk of exposure significantly. If we continue like this…”

“Regardless of the risk of exposure, we cannot abandon this for now. The ‘Ritual’ needs to be completed one last time before we can leave. Otherwise, we’ll need to find other Mirror Moon Statues, which will greatly delay the overall progress of the Society.”

“I will find a way to deal with the Black Dogs. Our immediate task is to restore the stronghold, and we must abandon this place immediately after the final ritual ends.”

Claudius arranged this, and upon hearing his words, Thistle nodded. Just as he was about to say something, he suddenly froze, having thought of something.

“Right… our failed operation this time was based on the erroneous information I obtained last time. Those two men claiming to be members of the Rosy Cross were aware I was eavesdropping. Their conversation was intentionally leaked to me, aiming to draw me and my people into the Black Dogs’ ambush so they could launch a surprise attack on our stronghold.”

“If that’s the case, then nothing those two men said can be trusted, including what they discussed about that woman at the very beginning…”

Thistle thought to himself, recalling that several days ago, one of his subordinates reported seeing a well-built woman with dark skin enter number 23 in Green Shade Town. He remembered that he first observed the meeting between those two Rosy Cross members, and they discussed that woman, confirming that she was one of their members. Yet, in their words, her dark skin and physique had become a disguise.

At that time, he trusted the information and did not have his subordinate pursue that lead. Now it seemed that if the information he obtained was all false, then the intelligence about that woman must be true!

Realizing this suddenly, Thistle paused and immediately spoke to Claudius.

“Your Excellency, regarding those invaders… there’s actually one very crucial piece of information.”

…

King Campus, Deep Underground Ruins.

In the Ascension Hall of the Star Number Repair Association Ruins, Dorothy looked at the numerous inscriptions on the stele in front of her. It detailed the various ‘Enlightenment’ extraordinary beings of the Black Earth Tier and their advancement methods, causing her heart to swell with joy.

“Got it! It’s right here! This ruin indeed contains the methods for advancing in the Black Earth Tier, and there are actually five paths!”

Dorothy thought excitedly; this exploration finally bore fruit, and she had achieved her primary objective for coming to this school.

With a thrilled heart, Dorothy began to seriously examine the stele before her. It not only recorded the names of the five paths of ‘Enlightenment’ but also detailed the requirements for the rituals of each path. She just needed to memorize them all, then slowly choose one to prepare for her advancement.

The various paths listed on the stele also piqued Dorothy’s curiosity.

“Using ‘Cup’ as a secondary spirituality can allow advancement to Puppet Master? Could it possibly involve controlling Zombie Puppets? I’m quite skilled at this now, so I might consider it a bit.”

“If ‘Stone’ is used as a secondary spirituality, I can advance to Thunder Mage as an Elementalist. This means that the elemental expression of ‘Enlightenment’ is actually ‘Thunder’? That’s quite unexpected; the paths of ‘Enlightenment’ seem so tranquil, but the elemental expression is so violent…”

“If I choose ‘Shadow,’ I become a Dream Interpreter, meaning I can grasp abilities related to the Dream Realm. I wonder what exactly I can do with that?”

“‘Lamp’ allows one to become a Diviner. That one was to be expected. I wonder if being a professional Diviner would provide any enhancements to divination…”

“And lastly, this ‘Scholar’ doesn’t mention any required secondary spirituality, meaning it’s a pure path of ‘Enlightenment’? So, there’s a path where one only chooses a single spirituality and then delves deep? This is an eye-opener. I wonder what kind of abilities this pure path of ‘Enlightenment’ would yield.”

As she analyzed the various paths inscribed on the stele, Dorothy began contemplating which path she should pursue.

“My main ability right now is controlling Zombie Puppets; I feel that Puppet Master fits me quite well. If I choose Puppet Master, my control over Zombie Puppets might reach new heights, and from then on, my ‘Cup’ could also recover automatically to some extent, reducing the spiritual pressure.”

“Thunder Mage seems to have the strongest output capability amongst these paths. With ‘Stone’ as a secondary spirituality, my direct confrontation capability would also significantly increase, compensating for my weak points in frontal combat.”